Reinventing yourself as an ambitious woman often starts to feel like an unravelling, before anything starts to shift.

First it may feel like a sense of disconnect, or misalignment within who you are and what you do. Then what you enjoyed doing suddenly no longer feels like you.

Often when an ambitious woman feels like she is evolving herself or her work, it isn’t what she is doing that is making her feel this way.

It is who she is becoming in the process.

Her identity is shifting and her current self hasn’t yet merged with who she desires to be.

Somewhere along the way she has lost touch with herself. And through this, the passion for her work has dimmed and she has begun feeling restless. Or perhaps she has taken on a path that wasn’t hers to begin with, and has found herself at a crossroads.

This creates an in between phase. A threshold state where you can’t move forward, yet you can’t go back.

Welcome to the first stage of identity change.

Identity evolution.

Identity Evolution

This is the phase where you face your growth edge. The place you land in this limbo state. It is often where you feel you are outgrowing your current chapter, yet you haven’t grounded in what is next for you. When you begin to feel like you are changing as a woman, the shift in your work also begins.

How this becomes relevant to your body of work is this.

You still enjoy what you do, yet something feels missing. You feel like you are losing your spark and a part of you is uncertain on next steps. Usually what happens here, is you read more books, join more courses and do all of the things to look for answers.

The constant seeking is not bringing you closer or speeding up the process, it is only holding from beginning to embody this newer version of you at a deeper level.

Once you begin to slow down and become present within yourself, your values, your gifts and your desires you begin to enter the next stage.

Integration Phase

Welcome to the integration phase.

In this phase when a woman is in the ‘in between” of her she is and who she is moving towards, her essence is still there and she is slowly peeling layers away. It can feel heavy and liberating, simultaneously.

I say to my clients that this is the chrysalis stage. The transitional period where the shedding occurs for the butterfly who is preparing to break through.

It may also feel like you are cultivating a fine wine, despite it being a long process, it only gets better over time.

Timeless.

Authentic.

Elegant.

Like a Da Vinci masterpiece.

Yet, there is still a pause. The need for reflection, contemplation and initiation into what is next.

The integration stage is an essential step in the process. Take a step back to reflect and reconnect, so you can move forward. Instead of doing more reading and taking courses, hiring different mentors etc, I want you to slow down and take notice of your inner landscape. Take note of your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Whether it is through writing or voice notes to yourself, capture as much as you can.

In the integration phase, not only are you shifting, you will feel your work slowly start to shift with you. Maybe you will want to work in another way. Perhaps you realise the work you have been doing doesn’t capture your full essence. However this looks, trust in yourself and the process.

While you are integrating, you are also slowly building and deepening both yourself and your work.

The Unravelling

Then becomes the unravelling.

For women who are not embodied in their work, you will feel the disconnect widen.

Perhaps you built a path because it is trending. Or popular. What you thought was sensible. Or what the market needed in that moment.

The feeling is similar to the quick dopamine hit you feel after having a few glasses of champagne on the weekend to “relax”. Which sounded good at the time, but then regretted it the next morning.

Temporary.

Fleeting.

The reality is, evolving yourself and cultivating a body of work that feels like you and reflects your unique gifts and expertise, takes time.

You need to create the space to craft a life that reflects your values, priorities and capacity.

One that embraces the very essence of you.

When this occurs, is when you begin to feel convicted in your work, and life.

As you evolve personally, so will your work. There is no “end” in sight.

We are taught that we need to find our purpose, our calling. But I don’t believe it is as simple as this.

I believe we are guided on our path. I believe each and every one of us is always guided, but it is whether we listen to this guidance is what actually matters. Because sometimes we hear what we don’t want to hear. It can feel really hard. But so can ignoring this guidance, because that is when we feel we are always seeking rather than relaxing into who we are.

By being attuned to the inner shifts that are occurring, we can better support ourselves through these identity and work evolutions.

As the woman leading this work, there are ways to navigate this journey, while capturing the very magic that you are here to bring.

And this takes intelligence, feminine intelligence.

Feminine Intelligence

The very sweet spot where your intuition meets intellect, and your expertise meets your capacity.

So, when you are feeling like you have reached the threshold or “in between” phase of your identity and work, ask yourself the following questions to help build clarity and momentum:

• What evolution of my work am I not bringing forward?
• Who am I becoming in this phase? What does she really want?
• What do I want to be remembered for?
• What is my capacity to bring this forward?
• What do I need to remove to align to this vision?

When evolving yourself or your work, it can feel uncomfortable to answer these questions. You will face parts of you that you no longer want to bring with you in your next chapter. This is also where I want you to trust the unfolding of this process.

The Reinvention Guide can help you begin this process.

It becomes the portal and the first step in identifying the work and woman you are here to step into.

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