Thank the woman who got you this far

I recently watched The Five-Star Weekend. No judgment please 😊

Now, I’ll admit, parts of it made me smile for all the wrong reasons. A beautiful house in Nantucket that somehow never seemed to need a dishwasher loading, a kitchen that remained spotless despite endless meals and, of course, a budget that appeared to have no ceiling. It all felt wonderfully unrealistic.

But beneath the glossy setting was something that quietly stayed with me.

Five women. Five different lives. Five moments of asking themselves a simple question:

Who am I now?

It struck me because I think many of us reach that point.

Not necessarily after a life-changing event. Sometimes it arrives much more quietly. The children need you a little less. Your career no longer excites you in quite the same way. The life you worked so hard to build finally settles… and you realise you’ve changed while building it.

There comes a point where your previous identity has fulfilled its purpose.

Thank the woman who got you this far.

She is the reason you have become who you are today and deserves your gratitude.

Then, gently ask yourself whether she’s the only version of you that exists.

I think that’s where many women hesitate. Because after decades of putting everyone else first, it’s hard to give ourselves permission to become someone new without feeling disloyal to the person we’ve always been.

Perhaps that’s why optionality matters so much to me. Not because I believe everyone should change their life, but because I believe everyone deserves the freedom to choose.

People often assume optionality is about money. Or leaving a job. Or starting a business.

It isn’t.

It’s about creating enough space in your life that, if one day you feel yourself being pulled in a different direction, you have the freedom to follow it.

You may decide not to change anything. In fact, you may decide that your life is exactly where you want it to be.

That’s the point.

The goal isn’t to erase your past. It’s to stop believing it has to dictate your future.

Because the next chapter doesn’t begin by tearing out the previous ones.

It simply begins by writing another one.