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loopbaan re-integratie hoogbegaafdheid
That resume can wait until the warning lights on your dashboard are off
Karolien Koolhof •
"I just want to know what kind of work suits me as soon as possible." This is something I hear incredibly often from the people in my practice. They might be sitting at home, desperately wanting to participate again. The pressure from the outside world is high, and everyone keeps asking when they will start building up their hours again. But my first step is always to leave that resume and those job vacancies alone for a while.
After all, you wouldn't take a high-performance sports car onto the highway if the engine is overheating, or if it has been stalling and sputtering for months. Before we can think about a new job, we first need to create space in your head and your body. Why don't the standard rules work here? There are often two major roadblocks in the way.
The Overheating Engine
Many of my clients have spent years working in an environment that doesn't suit them at all. Think of a busy, noisy open-plan office, or a workplace with complex, unwritten office politics.
Science calls the damage this causes an increased allostatic load (McEwen, 1998). Your stress system has literally been thrown off balance by the continuous overload. Looking at this through the lens of the Polyvagal Theory (Porges, 2011), we see that your nervous system is stuck in the 'fight-or-flight' mode. Or even worse, that it has shut down out of self-preservation. Stress hormones are surging through your body and your working memory is faltering. Sometimes you just can't see a way forward anymore.
If we start looking at job openings at that moment, your body goes into a panic. Everything feels like an insurmountable mountain. Every vacancy feels like a new threat. We can only think about the future once that stress has left your body.
Idling in Neutral
This is where many company doctors and reintegration agencies miss the mark. They often say: "Get some rest and then slowly build up your hours with simple, light work."
For a fast, gifted brain, that is a disaster. Neuroscientist Karl Friston explains with his Predictive Processing theory (2010) that our brain is a prediction machine that wants to process data. If your smart brain isn't presented with enough complex problems, it starts creating its own 'noise'. You end up ruminating for hours and stressing over tiny details.
That feels like immense stress, but it's actually extreme boredom (a bore-out). Psychologist Kazimierz Dąbrowski recognized this much earlier in his Theory of Positive Disintegration. He understood that the intense restlessness in gifted individuals is often simply a very powerful engine receiving the wrong fuel.
So, what should we do instead?
Just resting on the couch doesn't work. After all, according to the Latent Deprivation Model (Jahoda, 1982), we need intellectual challenge and work to feel a sense of structure and purpose. Without that, your brain gets bored to death. But applying for jobs right away doesn't work either, because your overstimulated body can't handle it.
That's why we take a different approach. We completely remove the pressure of 'having to apply'. Then, we do two things at the same time.
First, we figure out what is causing you so much stress and remove it. We don't talk endlessly about why you're stuck, but we literally ensure that the restlessness leaves your body. At the same time, we do give your fast brain something to do. Not with mandatory tasks, but with things you find incredibly interesting. We discuss complex theories, brainstorm exciting future plans, or dive into a hobby. We let the engine rev up nicely, but on an empty road without deadlines. This way, we ensure your body gets to rest, while your brain rediscovers the joy of thinking.
Have you gotten stuck in your career? Do you notice that the standard advice of 'slowly building up with light work' is actually just making you more tense? Let's make sure your engine is running smoothly first. Once the red warning lights on your dashboard are off, we'll find the road to a great job almost automatically.
About the author
- Karolien Koolhof is a coach for introverts and gifted individuals
- Author of the book Introvert Leadership
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