Embracing Change: The Power of Taking the First Step

I DID IT! I decided I could wait no longer to take action on launching my coaching business and now, my colleagues know I'll be leaving the team in a few months. This has been a dream for many years and there's no time like the present. But, it certainly comes with lots of emotions.

Change, they say, is the only constant in life. Yet, even when the moment comes to step into a new identity, even the bravest hearts might skip a beat. Announcing my departure to my colleagues of over 20 years was a duanting moment. There were tears, congratulations and a an expression of jealousy from others and for me, a glimpse into the new me. Full time employee -> entrepreneur! It's moment ripe with dynamic emotion, a threshold between what is now and what is emerging. Since 2020, I've been thinking about this. Taking my seasoned skills as a career coach, combining them with Designing Your Life Certification through Stanford University - and developing a platform to help those in transition from midlife into a fulfilling third chapter. Some may call it retirement. I call it "renourishment". Becoming OK with the dynamic emotions of an emerging new identity takes courage. And the willingness to acknowledge that nothing different can happen without some expression of hesitation. Yes, even fear. Leave 20+ years of the BEST JOB EVER as a career coach at a prestigious business school in the Northeast! Who steps away from that? I do. I have more to give to the world and seek new individuals who, like my current charges, are embracing an identity shift - my students from teenagers who only know the structure of school to young professionals - and now my new clients, midlife or 60+ men and women seeking to bring their Third Chapter into view. I'm a few steps ahead of you and can share the journey. We can embrace change together. Life Design is all about taking baby steps and trying some ideas out. Leaning into plans and emerging interests that a structured life of full time work has made challenging to consider. What will you do with yourlife force, now?