The next day, I wrote Mary an email with what I'd been thinking about:

Use your prior evidence.

After so many years building your reputation, the truth is something will likely come your way.

You've been in slow periods before.

It worked out.

Recognise the gifts this time away will give you.

New ways of looking at your work and life priorities will emerge.

Remember your professional resilience.

You have the skills, connections, and resources to turn even a difficult situation around.

Have you been here before?

Afraid to step away when work slows down?

I told Mary about my own tool.

Years ago, presenting to all-male boards about gender balance, I'd remind myself when feeling nervous: "It's statistically unlikely I'll die here on the spot."

That reality check would make me question my assumptions—are all eight men equally hostile to my ideas?

Probably not.

Statistically, some might even be in agreement!

It reminded me of my professional resilience.

This mindset was more helpful path than hoping the floor would swallow me up.

That's what mental fitness offers.

It reminds you not to dwell in your fear, but to use your tools to get out of it more quickly than before.

This last few years have been tough.

Like many in the DEI space, my clients have put brakes on projects.

But the Peak Resilience Accelerator lessons I teach?

They've been a godsend for remembering my own professional resilience...something we all need now.

Mary found the training grounding.

She works in a demanding field where perfection is expected and stakes are high.

She saw its utility with colleagues who hide mental health struggles for the sake of their reputations.

Sometimes you need to be reminded to use your own tools.