Transforming your midlife maze to amazing grace
If you’ve been feeling like midlife feels more like a maze and less like a planned out journey, then you’re not alone. Whether you are entering the empty nest years and are wondering what your next steps are or are preparing for retirement, the majority of us reach a point and start asking ourselves questions. Questions like…
How did I get here?
Is this all there is in life? Or is the more that I’m missing?
Am I in the right career?
How can I find joy and purpose in my work?
You may have more questions than I can even write in one blog post, but many of us may feel like we’re in one of those corn mazes that never ends. Entering midlife can be confusing for women juggling career, kids, health, and so much more. But what if we reframe this season of our lives not as one of overwhelm, but an opportunity for transformation and growth? If you’re ready to move from a crazy maze to amazing grace, then keep reading as we uncover a few steps to finding confidence and clarity on your journey.
Acknowledge the Overwhelm
If you’re anything like me, midlife may feel like you’re at a crossroads. The paths that once seemed clear may not appear uncertain or unfulfilling. Careers we once poured our hearts into may start to feel stagnant. Relationships we’ve been nurturing could be more challenging.
According to a study by the American Psychological Association, about 10-20% of adults would report experiencing what feels like a midlife crisis. The true and more accurate number may be higher as many of us navigate this time of our lives silently. And while it may be tempting to push how we’re feeling under the rug and keep pressing on, it is precisely in acknowledging our overwhelm that leads us to the first baby steps of transformation. By slowing down and naming our discomfort, we begin to disarm its power over us. We can create space for something new to emerge.
Enter the Life Wheel — A Tool for Self-Reflection
When navigating the terrain of midlife, we need a compass — a tool that allows us to assess where we are and where we want to go. One of my favorite life coaching tools has become the life wheel for its simplicity and ability to help us identify where we are at currently and what areas of our lives need attention. This coaching tool will walk us through evaluating 8 areas of our life and identify not only what is currently going well, but what areas need our attention. By highlighting the differences of where we are and where we want to be — this tool can ignite a spark of motivation to start taking baby steps in the right direction.
The 4 C’s of Transformation: Cultivate, Connect, Commit, and Clarify
As we navigate through our own midlife journeys, I’ve found four principles that can help us live with confidence and clarity.
Cultivate self-awareness
Midlife can lead us to a lot of questions about who we are and who we were created to be. As women, we wear a lot of hats — from taken care of our families to investing in friendships and cultivating our careers. But sometimes, in the midst of all that, we lose touch with ourselves. What we really want. Who we want to be. What it looks like to live with purpose and impact.
Enter self-awareness. Understanding our own core motivations, our strengths, and how those strengths can get overdone can help us feel more connected to God (our Creator) and ourselves when it comes to figuring out our next steps in life.
Connect with your story
I don’t know about you — but I can sometimes lose track of the story that God is writing with our lives. From the peaks of my story to the valleys, it can be challenging to remember how God’s hand has guided me and been faithful. Slowing down and connecting with your story can illuminate patterns and themes in your life and how God wants you to step with purposes to leave a kingdom impact.
Commit to compassionate relationships
I have a friend who says that relationships in community can be the sandpaper that refines and smooths us. It’s in relationships where we feel safe enough to share our stories. It’s in relationships where we are loved through our missteps. It’s in relationships that we get planted in the soil that helps us grow into who God wants us to become.
Clarify your passion and purpose
The final “C” brings clarity. When we slow down long enough to cultivate self-awareness (and understand who we are), connect with the story that God is writing with our lives, and find the courage to get real in community, then we’re able to start piecing together how to live with purpose and impact.
The Confident Clarity Breakthrough
It’s through getting clear on where we are currently and then growing in the 4 Cs that we find confidence and clarity on our next steps and what it means to live with purpose. The problem we may encounter? We may get stuck along the way. All of us face times where we know we’re ready for a change but don’t know how to get started. If that’s you, I’d love to invite you to check out my Confident Clarity Breakthrough. This simple coaching tool will help you assess where you are today, and give your ideas on where to get started. Each breakthrough includes a video of your results of the life wheel plus a customized workbook with coaching tools to help you start taking those baby steps to the life you imagined.
