“At bottom is the best soil to sow and grow something new again. In that sense, hitting bottom, while extremely painful, is also the sowing ground.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, American Jungian psychoanalyst, author and poet
“Wasn’t hitting bottom the thing you had to do to knock some sense into yourself? Wasn’t hitting bottom the thing that showed you which way was up?”
Rainbow Rowell, American author and journalist
What a challenging time this is. We are faced with conflict, overwhelming change, information overload, new technologies, and corrupt, obscene toxicity quite visible within many places in which human systems have remained unchallenged, worldwide. We have not always recognized the harmful concepts, terms, tools and processes we have absorbed within us and perpetuate between us.
My company Expanding Human Potential was formed in 2002. We started doing business as LifeWork Systems in 2008 because systems are vital to success and we wanted our name to reflect the importance of them. Human systems should make life work. They should expand human potential but they are often counter-productive and require awareness and then committed hard work to change. This, unfortunately often only happen after we hit bottom. We are.
We are also currently moving into the age of Aquarius, an astrological era expected to bring global transformation, characterized by advances in technology, heightened consciousness, equality, and community. I have been preparing for this time my entire life. While this may sound ‘woo woo’ and removed from traditional “business”; it is not. It is central and I welcome it. That is the silver lining in this. In Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Jacob Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge,
“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business”.
And so too, it is ours. This quote highlights that humanity and compassion are more important than mere financial profit. Despite the stress, pain, loss and anxiety of these times, it helps to remember that hitting bottom can be a hopeful and helpful way forward. Pioneering is not for the faint of heart. Hoarding wealth is mental illness. In every facet of life (including work) we need to tend to the whole person. By hitting bottom, we have the opportunity to usher in healthy, fulfilling, and meaningful human systems that sustain and produce success beyond our wildest dreams!
The characteristics of the Age of Aquarius are originality, inventiveness, humanitarianism, and concern for the common good, making it an empathic era. Let’s look at this regarding the businesses you run.
Originality and Inventiveness. These involve risk and require courage and psychological safety. The current human systems operating in homes, schools and workplaces are often laced with controlling and fear-based beliefs and practices. These do not source risk or courage. Many leaders do not recognize the amount of win/lose control they use and the cost of this to authenticity, a prerequisite for pioneering innovation without high anxiety and struggle.
Humanitariansm and concern for the common good. Humanitarianism is a belief in the value of all human life, leading us to take actions to reduce suffering, protect dignity, and provide help to the vulnerable no matter what nationality, race, or religion. Concern for the common good is what we at LifeWork Systems (and psychiatrist Alfred Adler) call social interest: embracing our personal power while considering the consequences we cause others. This requires empathy. Social interest moves hardened criminals to reduce recidivism from 50-60% to 4%. Consider his this can help your business?
I wanted to write about hitting bottom to acknowledge we are and to assert it’s not in vain. Win/lose is holding on with a death grip and win/win is seeking a way forward. The battles for transforming toxic systems into healthy ones are intense and can be confusing and scary. I want you to find hope in all of it and commit to needed change. As Estes said, this is the ‘best soil to sow and grow something new again.’ LifeWork Systems is here to help you with this. It’s what we do. We help people adopt systems in which all people love their lives. That world is seeking to be birthed. Will you help birth it?
This article is published in my column The Extraordinary Workplace in St. Louis Small Business Monthly, April, 2026
