Career change, burnout and redefining success in midlife
Against Chicago’s glass towers and lakefront wind, negotiated scope, a deliberate specialist role and a practical downshift resize success around the life actually paying for it. A promotion looks perfect until the spreadsheet gains a missing column: what it costs — The Coaching Habit, Project Hail Mary, caregiver support and EEOC resources keep purpose, rights and real financial consequences visible together.
A longer view of what success costs
Chicago’s lakefront places glass towers beside open water, creating useful distance from career urgency and a long horizon for asking what success costs before another rung is accepted automatically again.
Why Letting the Ladder Go feels Reflective
The promotion spreadsheet's missing cost column, title, and dry hotel morning invite reflection on success measured against the life lived.
