We’re deep into the summer holidays and my focus is shattered by the disorder of the days. My baseline bonhomie has dipped as a result although I wasn’t able to make the connection until I spoke with hypnotherapist, Heather Makepeace.
For Heather, balance comes down to finding your purpose and navigating from it. As she says of her own equilibrium,
“if I go too far off my course I'm going to start with the anxiety and even the depression - all of those things start to creep in when I'm not doing what I know I'm supposed to do.”
Sticking to the brief, Heather is no stranger to midlife career wobbles. She returned home to South Africa in her 30s to join the family business but a decade on, she was faced with a difficult choice: invest and scale up but risking losing the essence of who they were - or close the doors. Heather chose to call it time. It was … hard… but as she made the decision, relief coursed through her body so strongly she can still feel its pulse.
“I had zero clients. I had zero anything and I had imposter syndrome through the roof.”
Heather now had to start from scratch. The safe bet was to get a job in finance but having long been fascinated by the mind and how we think, she felt compelled to follow her curiosity. As she says, “we make decisions with emotion, and we justify with logic”. So, in her 40s, she retrained as a hypnotherapist. These days, propelled by her purpose-led approach, Heather works with everyone from burnt-out professionals to Comrades ultramarathon runners.
“I value freedom, but it doesn’t mean a lack of security isn’t just as scary. The obvious choice would’ve been to get a finance job, which I think my husband would’ve really liked me to do. But I couldn’t do that. I had to take the plunge into the unknown, scary as it was. So I did the thing that didn’t make any sense but I’m eternally grateful every single day that I did.”
In today’s episode of The Wobbly Middle, Heather and I discuss the neuroscience behind hypnotherapy, how we can train our brains to be more positive, identity shifts in midlife, and the antidote to imposter syndrome. We also discuss the myths and misconceptions around hypnosis and whether she can really make us tell her all our secrets.
Heather’s episode was timed to coincide with Women’s Day in South Africa celebrating the courage of women. We've been lucky enough to have other remarkable South African women on the show, like Carri Simmons, who left teaching to retrain as a clinical psychologist and Donna Crous, a stay-at-home mum and self-taught photographer who became Nikon's first-ever food photography ambassador.
Both conversations are well worth going back for.
Until next time.
Px
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ABOUT THE PODCAST: Join recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. The Wobbly Middle explores that moment when we recognise the restless feeling for what is - returning ambition - and begin actively questioning our direction. It’s that in-between space where we know we want change but don’t know how to move forward.
Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories about leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously
In Season 4, she’s speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it.
These wise women tell us that clarity comes from doing and that readiness grows as you go. The message is don’t wait to feel ready to begin. Dip in a toe and see where it leads.
SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it - your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.
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