This week is Invisible Illness Week 12. This yearly event offers online seminars focusing on issues that people with invisible illness face.
I’m a big fan of the idea that there is information we can share among all of us living with invisible chronic conditions. Notice the words: invisible (symptoms are not visibly obvious), chronic (symptoms might wax & wane but never go away) and condition (includes pain, a syndrome or disease).
After so many years of living with this stuff and working with others with similar challenges, I’m confident in saying that it’s not about the cause, it’s about experience. If you live with symptoms that create fatigue or pain, you’re part of a larger universe of people – – not just your disease subset (e.g., multiple sclerosis, diverticulitis, back pain).
Why is this important? Because there’s so much we can share with each other about this experience. So check out the people who are speaking.
And check out my interview in which I explain in detail 7 Big Ideas for Regaining Your Workplace Power.
The following is an excerpt of the article on which the interview is based. Want to read the entire piece? Email me, Rosalind@ciCoach.com, with ‘7 Big Ideas’ in the subject line.
7 BIG IDEAS for Regaining Power in the Workplace
with Chronic Health Problems
1. Focus On What You Can Control. View this as a challenge to meet rather than an obstacle in the way.
2. Ignore The Nay Sayers. Shape your work environment to meet your needs and you can reduce your stress and improve your health outcomes.
3. Coming ‘Out Of The Closet’ is a Choice. Be as public as you need and as private as you want to be.
4. You Can Thrive, Not Just Survive. Reach beyond relief for satisfaction.
5. Control Your Message. Be the creator and shaper of your messaging.
6. Your Health Challenges Do Not Have to Define You. A chronic illness is neither a source of shame nor a source of pride.
7. Look for the silver lining. Workplace success when facing illness can transform.
Rosalind Joffe, The Chronic Illness Career Coach ciCoach.com llc https://cicoach.com ©cicoach.com llc 2012 – using any or all of this, please give attribution!
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