I am back in snowy Amsterdam, and I am having so many conversations about that scary feeling of going back to work after the Christmas holidays.
With friends and new clients, the same thing keeps coming up. They cannot help but realise they are not excited to go back to work, to say the least. Some have outgrown their role, others simply cannot stand it anymore.
Some flirt with the idea of rage quitting. Others with staying until they have not a drop of energy left in their bodies, while wondering ‘how much longer can I do this?’. None of it sounds ideal.
When you feel like this, I recommend an Ambidextrous Strategy (fancy word, right?). It means doing two things at once: Managing the ‘now’ while building the ‘next’.
Part 1: The Left Hand (How to survive and reclaim your energy today) ✋
📖 Learn something new: Use company resources to re-skill, for example in AI, public speaking, or join a new project. Gain the skills you will take to your next role.
🫂 Stay close to your people: Find the colleagues who make you smile. Even a 10-minute coffee break with a work friend can change your entire mood.
🙋♂️ Improve a small process or mentor someone: You might hate the role, but you can still take pride in your expertise. Fix one small product flaw or workflow; teach someone younger. It feels good to do good work.
🛣️ Put things into perspective: This is just one chapter in your long professional life. It’s a transition. Better things are coming.
📆 Inject excitement into your calendar: Book a trip, a class, or a workshop. Give yourself something to look forward to that has nothing to do with KPIs.
🤹♂️Redesign your workday: Work from a cool cafe, start with a morning walk, or squeeze in a midday gym class. Take control of your environment.
🦮 Find purpose outside the office: Protect one thing every day that belongs only to you. Writing, a workout, or a coffee with a friend. Remind yourself: Your real life is not inside Slack.
🚫 Lower your emotional exposure: Switch to «Professional Mode.» Be polite and competent, but minimize your emotional investment. Deliver your work and leave with your energy intact.
Part 2: The Right Hand (Building the bridge to 2026) 👉
The goal isn’t to escape, it’s to move toward something better. Use January for «Small Brave Steps.» A CV update, a coffee chat, or a new idea. Small actions create the momentum you need.
5. LOOK UP
I remember it like it was yesterday.
It was my first job. A big, prestigious corporate company. I had been there for about two years. It was December, year end, goals under review.
We had a town hall.
At that point, most people were overworked and underpaid. Complaints had started to surface. Some were even openly talking about the possibility of “looking outside.”
Then the managing partner said something that stayed with me for years:
“I know the market well, and trust me, out there it’s very cold.”
The message was clear. We should be grateful to have a warm place inside. The grass was definitely not greener on the other side of the fence.
The impact was immediate. You could see it on people’s faces. Fear entered the room. In one sentence, possibilities were erased.
Right after the town hall, the corridor conversations began:
“It is what it is» “We should indeed be grateful.”
Everyone’s attention and world narrowed to a tiny point of light. A small but powerful beam that demanded all their focus. They stopped looking up. They forgot about the enormity of the world and its possibilities.
At the time, something felt off. I could not fully articulate it then, but now I can.
After years working in different countries, industries, and roles, I have seen the massive number of opportunities that exist when you lift your head and look up. People. Ideas. Projects. Jobs. Entire paths you cannot see when your gaze is fixed on the same place.
When you stay somewhere for a long time, even if it is not a bad place, you risk losing perspective.
Always the same people.
The same conversations.
Similar ideas, discussions, disappointments.
Often with good intentions, but limited horizons.
So my recommendation is simple:
Look up.
Gain perspective.
Step outside your shelter.
Talk to people beyond your environment. See what is happening in the market. Expand your options.
The world is huge and full of possibilities!
And sometimes, despite what you were told, the grass really is greener on the other side.
