When An Invisible Illness Causes You To Underperform At Work

Well this is a topic near and dear to my heart. And with every July that passes, I think back to one of the lowest points of my career. But at the same time, every July that passes is another July I get to have, and in a much happier light. And for that, I'm so so grateful.

For years I dealt with health issues invisible to those around me, and then two years ago, they became their absolute worst. I could barely function, and with that, my work majorly suffered. Because this was a chronic internal disease, there wasn't a scar on the outside of my body that anybody could see.

Therefore I must be young and healthy right? Ha.

My point in sharing this is that I know plenty of people are trying to live normally with invisible illnesses, but at some point, it's taken a major toll on their career and performance at work. The longer you remain silent, the longer you turn your head to your declining work output, and the longer you refuse to swallow your pride and ask for help, then the longer you'll continue to live like this and the further away the rest of an amazing life will be for you.

If you or anyone you know is struggling to go to work with an invisible illness, take a listen to this podcast and share with them. I get really into it about 10 min in just because, well dang, it was such a trying time in my life.

Below is an outline of topics I cover:

1. Underperformance - when it's recognizable to you and others, and what it looks like.

2. Invisible illness concerns, physical and mental.

3. Toll it takes on your job, why we often discount it and are too afraid to speak up.

4. The mental part that will quickly creep in and add to the issue if you don't address things.

5. How to take steps forward and make things so much better for yourself (without adding more stress to your plate).

Also, go check out the blog post I wrote on Working With An Invisible Illness where I share some major pieces of advice on turning things around for your career as well.

I hope it's helpful and feel free to comment or message me if you like!

To your health and greatest potential!

-Kristin