What happens when the version of you that has been working for so long no longer fits?

This episode explores the slow process Kim took to understand herself and the resulting coming out to her friends and family.

We explore how coming out is more than a process for people to publicly step into a more self-affirming sexual orientation. Coming out is a process for anyone who has to share something about their identity when there's something at stake.

Whether it's coming out as gay, telling your kids about your separation, or admitting to yourself and your coworkers that you're burned out, publicly stepping into a new identity comes with risk.

In this episode, we get into:

• The loss of being the capable, reliable one
• Why burnout can also bring clarity, not just exhaustion
• The gap between knowing something needs to change and actually changing it
• The tension between truth and safety, and how that shapes how we navigate these dynamics

Finally, we talk about the difficulty and cognitive dissonance of staying in a situation that no longer fits, even after coming out.

Recommended Research and Reading

• ⁠Brené Brown’s Values Exercise⁠
• The Dunning-Kruger Effect and The Valley of Despair
• ⁠Adam Grant on Languishing⁠
• Staying Stuck in Cognitive Dissonance