Working with Chronic Illness

I just read a great post about someone who has medical issues and also wants to work for pay Almost 50 and Minimal Work Experience. JT & Dale give excellent suggestions including a referral to Rosalind Joffe, a career coach who specializes in helping people with chronic illnesses (cicoach.com).

As someone who’s also dealt with chronic illness, I have to add my two cents worth.

It is essential that you be honest with yourself about how much you can work and what kind of work is best suited to maintaining your optimal health. Perhaps that means part-time work and/or working from home one or two days a week. Maybe it means asking for non-traditional hours so you are commuting during a less crowded time.

Your job needs to enhance, not detract from, your health and life. If you tire yourself out by taking on more than you can handle over the long term, you could be out for long periods of time. That is counter to your goal of success. In addition to causing resentment among your colleagues, prolonged absences probably will result in you being "restructured out of a job" before too long.

You want to succeed. Therefore, lay the groundwork for success. Set appropriate expectations right from the start by being honest with yourself, your potential bosses, and later, your co-workers.

I know from personal experience that most people appreciate such honesty and are then able to pretty quickly appreciate the value you do bring to the team. What they don’t like is feeling misled and then having to adjust their expectations downward. And I don’t like disappointing myself by taking on so much that I can’t deliver on my promises. It makes more sense for me to have modest goals and then exceed them once in a while.

You know your body and its limits better than anyone else. You know what 100% is for you. And you also know what you need to do to do your 100% best. The biggest temptation I've had is trying to perform at someone else's 100%. That is a recipe for disaster, however. Success happens when I operate at my 100% and do what I need to ensure that I can sustain that 100% performance over time.