The pace problem

Most driven people do not have a motivation problem. They have a sustainability problem. The same qualities that build careers, high standards, responsiveness, the willingness to carry more, are the qualities that quietly erode them. Working harder is rarely the answer, because the issue is not effort. It is architecture: how goals are set, how recovery is built in, and what the drive is actually made of.

What the research says

Three findings from psychology are worth knowing. First, decades of work on self-determination theory, developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, show that motivation rooted in autonomy, competence and genuine value is more durable and less costly than motivation rooted in pressure and image. Much burnout is simply the long-term price of running on the wrong fuel. Second, research on recovery, notably Sabine Sonnentag’s work on psychological detachment, shows that it is not time off that restores people but the ability to mentally disengage from work during it. Many high performers rest without recovering. Third, research on implementation intentions, associated with Peter Gollwitzer, shows that goals specified as concrete if-then plans are far more likely to survive contact with a demanding week than goals held as aspirations.

Where coaching comes in

Psychologically informed coaching applies this evidence to your specific situation, with the added depth of clinical training: the ability to recognise when a “productivity problem” is actually perfectionism with a history, or when a boundary problem is an attachment pattern wearing a work costume. That is the difference between coaching that rearranges your calendar and coaching that changes what your calendar costs you.

Questions worth sitting with

What would your working week look like if it were designed to be repeatable for a decade? Which of your commitments exist because you chose them, and which because you did not want to disappoint someone? When did you last finish a day with energy left, and what was different about that day?

If this speaks to where you are, you can read about how I work on the Coaching page.