Why Childhood Trauma Impacts Self-Worth and Career Success
The Law of Cause and Effect From Childhood to Career
What we think we’ve “moved on from” in childhood often shows up in our adult lives—especially in our careers. If love in your home was conditional—based on keeping the peace, playing caretaker, performing perfectly, or disappearing to avoid conflict—you didn’t just grow up with “a rough childhood.” You grew up wired for survival.
That survival wiring doesn’t stay in your childhood bedroom. It walks with you into the boardroom.
Why External Validation Feels Like Oxygen
Children who are shamed, ignored, or invalidated absorb a painful truth: “I only matter when someone else says I do.”
Fast forward into adulthood, and your nervous system still runs that formula—below conscious awareness. This survival wiring shows up in your career as:
- Needing constant praise to feel competent.
- Overworking to avoid criticism.
- Staying silent in meetings because speaking feels unsafe.
- Feeling crushed by constructive feedback because it echoes childhood rejection.
- Chasing promotions, awards, and recognition—yet never feeling “enough.”
You think you’re just “trying to get ahead,” but in reality, you’re reenacting an old script.
How Childhood Trauma Rewires the Brain
The brain is designed to anticipate three things: movement, danger, and pleasure. As a child, this kept you safe. But when trauma teaches you that love equals performance, silence, or self-abandonment, your subconscious is always predicting danger—even when none exists.
That’s why one piece of feedback from your boss can ruin your entire week. Your brain isn’t responding to today—it’s reliving yesterday.
The Path to Rewriting the Script
The good news? Scripts can be rewritten. Healing self-worth isn’t about collecting more gold stars. It’s about learning to validate yourself from the inside out.
When you stop outsourcing your value, you stop living like an emotional contractor desperate for approval. And suddenly, work becomes less about survival—and more about purpose.
Next Step in Healing Self-Worth
If this resonates, know that you don’t have to figure this out alone. My 12-Week Breakthrough Program has helped thousands of adult children of emotionally immature, alcoholic, and neglectful homes finally break free from these unconscious survival patterns.
https://www.lisaaromano.com/12-wbcp
Because your career—and your life—deserve more than survival.
Lisa A. Romano is a certified Life Coach and award-winning author who specializes in codependency and narcissistic abuse recovery. She is the author of The Road Back to Me and 7 additional titles, and the creator of the psychologist-approved 12 Week Breakthrough Coaching Program which has helped over 5000 students master the art of healing from childhood trauma. Lisa is also a popular YouTube Content Creator with over 700K subscribers and one of the most listened-to meditation teachers on Insight Timer. Her mission is to teach wounded adult children from dysfunctional homes how to heal their inner child and become confident, autonomous, self-actualized beings through her proven processes that deliver predictable results and provide opportunities for awakening and transformations. You can find more about Lisa's work at https://www.lisaaromano.com/12-wbcp
