Happen To Your Career - Meaningful Work, Career Change, Career Design, & Job Search Is Job Security Worth Your Mental Health? Career Burnout, Pension & Midlife Reinvention
Feb 23, 2026
A city planner’s slow burnout and the seven-year drift that eroded identity and energy. The mask of competence and how hiding emotions became a survival tactic. A late ADHD diagnosis, the discovery of solitude as baseline, and redesigning work around autonomy. Financial prepping, letting go of pension certainty, and the emotional work of leaving to rebuild life on aligned terms.
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Seven Years Of Masking Before Leaving Public Sector
- Cathy spent seven years sensing a shift before retiring from city planning and finally gave notice when she felt too tired to continue.
- She described wearing a "mask" of capability and holding emotions, then decompressing post-resignation and discovering missing parts of herself like solitude and creativity.
ADHD Diagnosis Revealed True Baseline
- A late midlife ADHD diagnosis unmasked long-standing coping strategies and explained why solitude felt restorative after quitting.
- Cathy realized solitude was her true baseline and that committee-heavy work drained her more than she expected.
Use Solitude To Relearn What Restores You
- Use post-leaving solitude to test what rhythms and creative practices restore energy before designing next work.
- Cathy leaned into writing, painting, long walks, and solo time to identify roles that fit autonomy needs.