The Permission Slip

You chased all the right gold stars on your way to a life of purpose. So why does it feel like you're being punished?

The Permission Slip is the weekly newsletter for people tired of suffering in silence.

Just because the system's broken...

...doesn't mean it gets to break you, too.

✅ You've checked all the boxes: degrees, jobs, & promotions.
How is it still not enough?

✅ You love what you do.
But you're tired of being guilted and shamed into overworking "for the mission."

✅ You're an Aᐩ people-pleaser.
And you're suffering for it.

✅ You know you're not alone.
But it feels dangerous to build community when that means speaking uncomfortable truths out loud.

Welcome to the world of high achievers, reclaiming their happiness—one sanity-saving step at a time.

I laugh, I cry, I keep coming back for more.

I LOVE this email. 😊👍💓

Sooo Good!!!

Thank you so much for sharing this story today - I love having my morning coffee and reading your newsletters.

I’ve decided to unsubscribe from two other colleagues’ newsletters and put yours at the top of my list.

I love how you show up for yourself and the people in your life.

Your emails always bring sunshine to my inbox.

Oh, you are so right. Thank you for this.

A friend recommended your newsletter to me and sent me the most recent one. It resonates.

thanks for what you are doing….

You’ve got a magnet on me 😁

Today's newsletter was my first one and it was eerie to see how similarly our experiences aligned.

I absolutely appreciated your capacity to share your story. And in doing so, it helped me reframe some of mine.

I just read the first couple of sentences of "fight me." Thank you. The message was perfectly timed.

Hey there, I'm Carole.

I was a straight-As, teacher's-pet, obnoxiously-obedient kid who went to grad school to become a professor.

But tenure looked like jail so I took the leadership path. I loved it ... until I didn't.

After decades of doing everything right, I realized I'd never be able to to do enough.

Not for lack of trying—but because the better my work was, the more relentless the demands became.

Now I help high-achievers stop over-performing for abusive systems (and, sometimes, people).

It starts with giving yourself permission.

You chased all the right gold stars on your way to a life of purpose.

(So why does it feel like you're being punished?)