I had retired from the board of the IT company just a few months ago. I just didn't like the power struggle. It hadn't been easy for me, and if I was honest with myself, the others had also exerted gentle pressure. What do you do in your mid-40s, with a family, a house and no job? Through my network, a new opportunity had quickly presented itself. So I had signed a contract with an IT consulting company as a partner. The job was okay, the colleagues I met seemed nice, my future field of work challenging and exciting. Actually, I could be satisfied. But something inside me kept calling and saying, 'Didn't you decide too soon? Why didn't you look at alternatives? You should have had time to think about what you want for the future? Is this self-employment the right thing? ' Even though I kept telling myself 'it's all good', the thoughts wouldn't go away. I talked to my wife about it. She could understand it well. "'Clemens,' she said to me, 'go and see a coach who knows about situations like this. I know someone in my network who is supposed to have a lot of experience." "A woman," I asked, a little surprised. "Why not. Maybe she has a different approach, maybe ideas that you wouldn't come up with easily." "That could be," I nodded in agreement. "Why don't you give me the phone number". The very next day I called. The woman had a pleasant voice, and when I met her the next day, I was very taken with seeing an attractive woman my age in front of me. I took it for granted that at 45 I wasn't bad looking either, and she seemed to perceive that as well. "Good afternoon Mr. Mertens, glad you could make it". I greeted her as well and said, "My pleasure". I introduced myself briefly and told her what I was about. She listened very attentively, taking notes as I talked. We sat in a meeting room on the 10th floor. The sun was sending out its last rays. Dusk was breaking, and we looked down at the street, where after-work traffic flowed doggedly. "Thank you for your candor, Mr. Mertens," she said after I had finished. "I understood you to say that you wanted to check for yourself whether you were on the right track, even though you had already signed a contract." "That's exactly the point. And it must all happen very discreetly, of course". "You can count on that". Over the next few days and weeks I went to see her regularly. We worked out a very detailed analysis of my skills and search criteria. The partnership I wanted to enter was looked at from all sides and put to the test. She set me tasks on which we could discuss whether the subject of self-employment was right for me. And we drew up a profile of me which was sent to selected recruitment consultants so that they could look at alternatives in the market. I was invited very quickly. The recruiters found my profile attractive and introduced me to several companies. They were good conversations and the first possible jobs began to emerge. The more opportunities that came up, the more the desire grew in me to make a decision. I could not confront my new partners with the fact that I would not be coming after all only shortly before starting at the new company. I brought this up in one of our conversations. My coach seemed unsurprised. "You're at a decision point now. It's good that you sense this yourself. Let's look at and evaluate all the alternatives together. In the end, you have to decide." We worked out a matrix with all the necessary criteria and had a long discussion about each alternative. In the end, it became apparent that partnership would be the way to go, even though the subject of self-employment still made me a little uncomfortable. Two months later, I joined the new firm as a partner. Things went surprisingly well from the start. And I learned that getting a paycheck or writing an invoice is just a matter of perspective. Of course, there were months that underperformed. But the longer I was out as a partner, the more confident I became. And the worry that I might under-bill disappeared. I talk to my coach on the phone every now and then. Once a year we meet to talk and do a little assessment. So she is now part of my inner team.