Childhood Trauma, Emotional Health, High-Performance and Your Great Work

You are not your work. But your work is an extension of you. It is your creation. An outflow of you. It’s what you have produced using a mix of your experience, energy, emotion, intention, sweat.  The trauma we experience as kids has an effect on our work. On our performance - on our contribution. Many (not all) who are entrepreneurial, high-performing, high-achieving, athletes have used trauma as a driving force for success - for their personal success - and in many cases they have a drive for creating change in the world in some way. 

Artists who make art about important issues that are hard to talk about.

Therapists and coaches who developed their expertise through healing their own pain (myself included).

Entrepreneurs who make a commitment to themselves to drive the world forward in some way - to build something great and leave the world better. 

Children who honour their vow to themselves to be better parents than their own and stop the cycle of abuse. 

Athletes who make a new way for themselves and their families through their ruthless discipline and rigour. 

Asking whether our childhood experiences and traumas impact our performance is like asking whether water is wet. Our childhood experiences - whether mostly good or mostly bad - invariably involved some trauma to varying effects that left an impact on us. These experiences made a difference in us - our souls - our psyches - our brain and body function. 

This is the reality and the complexity of humanity.

Many high-performers fear that taking the time to process and release the past causes a slowing down. It triggers some deep fear:  producing less - creating less - “If I am not excelling at my work, my art, my craft - than what AM I doing - than who AM I?”

But the truth is - the more deep work we do - the better we become - the sharper - the more honed and tuned in we become. When we take the time to heal - when we incorporate healing into our daily life we don’t risk lower performance or weakness - we actually create BETTER work - we perform BETTER.

In many ways - emotional health and trauma healing purifies the work - the art - the performance in whatever capacity (sales, art, leadership, entrepreneurship, sports). It allows us to create space within our systems to integrate. To integrate stuck energies and past hurts and remembrances. 

And this extra space, the space that kinda feels like a void but isn’t a void at all? It is the space for the soul to create even greater work. It is the space where the work can come from clarity and embodiment - rather than the darker shadow drivers that tend to go unseen and avoided.

Just look at all the movies and plays created about the private lives of the high-performers of the world. The relationship between teacher and student, coach and athlete. We love to see behind the curtain - to the life of the leader and the performer. The one who delivers, who performs, who leaves it all on the cutting room floor. 

Emotional health has A LOT to do with high-performance. A LOT to do with our local communities, and our global community. 

My passion for this work is in my blood.  If you’re a person who's ready to take your work to the next level through deeper emotional work - book a 1-1 consultation with me. Let’s begin (or continue) the journey of integration and healing - and as a result you will journey into the greatest work of your life.