Safe in the Work: Moving Beyond Survival Mode in Business

What if the work you love could feel like a place of safety instead of survival?

Have you ever had this happen? You finally get the thing you’ve been working toward — and instead of pure joy, something else shows up.

No one talks about this… sometimes the thing you most want can trigger the thing you most fear.

I had one of those moments recently. My phone pinged with a notification. I opened my email to see that someone had just booked a session with me. Instantly, I felt excitement and gratitude. But within seconds, I was scrolling to see when it was and how much time I had to prepare. And then, that familiar sensation crept in… it felt a lot like dread.

I know that sounds strange. It wasn’t how I wanted to feel. And in that moment, I heard myself say: “I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

That was my cue.

I sat with my higher self and asked: How do I change? What’s holding me in this place of suffering?

The answer came quickly. I connected with the part of me holding the fear and heard these words: “She is tired of bending to survive the work. She is ready to feel safe in the work.”

She is tired of bending to survive the work... She is ready to feel safe in the work

Those words stopped me in my tracks.

Safe in the work?

I realised I’d been running my business like I was still in a fight for my survival. Always bracing. Always scanning for danger. The what if I can’t deliver and what if I’m not enough loops playing on repeat in the background.

When I looked deeper, I could feel the energy of shame hiding underneath. Shame that had been feeding imposter syndrome, fear of visibility, and the worry that I would be judged as not enough.

Those triggers were activating old survival patterns — overgiving, measuring my worth by my clients’ results, and sometimes even believing that staying less visible would keep me “safe” from being tested.

But here’s the thing.

When your nervous system is constantly bracing for impact rather than celebrating the joy of working with clients, you will unconsciously sabotage yourself. The thought of having more clients, and the overwhelm that comes with overgiving and unworthiness, is enough to make anyone hit the brakes.

All of this happened in just a few minutes that day. And I’m grateful I noticed it. Because these emotional triggers and patterns aren’t just exhausting — they are the very energies that block wealth and the sustainable success of a business.

The phrase safe in the work landed so deeply in me that I knew it was my way forward.

Feeling safe in your work isn’t a luxury — it’s the foundation for your confidence, joy, and success.

Feeling safe in your work is different. It’s not about over-delivering or proving yourself. It’s about delivering from a place of trust, from a truth that lives deep within you.

It’s trusting that your business chose you for a reason, that you are enough, and that the more you lean into this space, the safer and more confident you become.

It’s the difference between feeling like you’re on the outside looking in, struggling to make things work… and living in the sweet spot where you know you’re okay, present, and immersed in the work you love.

So I wonder… where are you still surviving your work instead of feeling safe in it?If you trusted your work to hold you — your gifts, your vision, your enoughness — what would change?

This is the shift I’m leaning into: from survival to safety, from bracing to trusting.

If safe in the work is something you’re craving too, I’ve created a guided meditation called I Am Enough – Slaying Imposter Syndrome to help you take the first steps there. You can access it [here].

Here's to feeling Safe in the work.

xx Michelle ~ Kali Devi