お悩み解消コーナー「相談は踊る」

Sakusaku's Background and Journey

The listener who goes by Sakusaku is in her early thirties and is raising a 3-year-old child. After dropping out of high school, she supported herself — including covering her own education costs — by working in the nightlife industry, then moved through a range of jobs before a chance connection with a company president opened an unexpected door: an entry into the HR department of a listed company, with no prior experience in the field.

After building real expertise there, she chose contract work when she married so she could prioritize her family alongside her career. Today, at a foreign-affiliated company, she handles HR not only for Japan but for multiple countries. She describes herself as having been neither fluent in English nor highly specialized when she started, yet she has taken on labor-relations issues and global projects across the board. Her overseas manager has told her she would be the first candidate considered if a permanent position opened up, and her income now exceeds what she earned as a full-time employee.

The Three-Layered Dilemma

The very contract arrangement she chose for the sake of family balance has quietly expanded until her workload and responsibility exceed those of a full-time employee. Weekday childcare falls almost entirely on her, and she says she sometimes hits her physical and mental limit. On top of that sits a time-pressure layer: she also wants a second child, and waiting for her career to settle down is not an option given her age.

Three broad paths lie in front of her — keep building her career at the current company, shift to a lighter work style even at the cost of income, or leverage her experience to find a different track — but fear holds the decision hostage. With her educational background and job history, she worries she may never land these conditions again. And even though her husband tells her to do whatever she likes, an inner anxiety lingers: if she stops being someone who pushes hard at work, she will no longer recognize herself.

Sue's Take: "The Usain Bolt of Work"

Sue's first move was to read beneath the surface: if Sakusaku had no children or family to consider, she would be working at full intensity without question. Her deepest wish, therefore, is simply not to let go of work. The work-life balance question exists only because she has a family — her drive itself has never faltered.

Then came the verdict Sue prefaced with "this may sound outlandish": "This is Usain Bolt." Starting from dropping out of high school and working in the nightlife industry, being noticed by a president, stepping into listed-company HR with zero experience, and arriving at multinational HR for a global firm — that trajectory reflects a singular talent: the ability to throw everything into the work in front of her without calculating personal gain. Eight out of ten people approach work trying to minimize losses and avoid dropping the ball, Sue said; Sakusaku is clearly not that type. This capacity is extraordinarily difficult to acquire after the fact — "the same as someone born with fast legs." Sue also suggested that the president who knew Sakusaku from the nightlife world gave her that first HR role precisely because he recognized this talent.

A Concrete Plan: Work Backward from Independence at 40

Sue's proposed direction: set becoming independent around age 40 — roughly ten years from now — as the goal, then work backward to build the right career steps. There is no need to know yet what form that independence will take. Accumulate the work in front of you, and the answer will emerge on its own. Sue drew on her own path from freelance work to her current position and said she sees the same type in Sakusaku.

Along the way, Sue also recommended becoming a full-time employee at some point — whether by waiting for a permanent position at the current foreign-affiliated company or by another route — and approaching every move by asking what needs to be added, given her current experience and knowledge, to reach the next destination.

The Real Source of Exhaustion — and the Prescription

Much of the mental and physical toll, Sue observed, comes from the uncertainty of not knowing what lies ahead. Once a single benchmark — independence in ten years — is fixed, at least the psychological fatigue should ease.

That said, Sue issued a clear caution: even Usain Bolt does not run a hundred races. When tired, rest properly. Ask her husband for more support. The near-total weekday solo childcare has to improve. Sue closed by firmly telling Sakusaku never to let go of her pride in her work — losing it would undermine her mental foundation — and on the question of a second child, to watch for the right timing while first building more confidence through work.