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There is a moment in every career when the external markers of success stop being enough. It is not always tied to age, though it often arrives around midlife. It can show up in the form of burnout, restlessness, a sense of being stuck, or the quiet realisation that the path you’ve been on is no longer the path you want to stay on.
In our work with thousands of women, we hear this theme again and again.
Some women describe the shift as a slow build. Others say it arrives with force: a job restructure, a health scare, a family transition, or simply waking up one morning unable to pretend that everything is fine. Whether you are 35 or 60, the pattern is similar: What worked before is no longer working now.
What is interesting is that this season often comes at the same time that external responsibilities increase. Leadership roles become larger. Caring responsibilities grow. Identity becomes more layered and complex. The pressure to perform does not ease, yet the inner capacity to keep holding everything the same way begins to change.
This is where many women feel the tension between who they have been and who they are becoming.
Midlife, or this midlife-like transition, is not a crisis but a recalibration. It is a point in your professional and personal journey when you are invited to re-evaluate your priorities, redefine your boundaries, and reconnect with what matters. For some, this means stepping into a bigger role. For others, it means shifting direction entirely. For many, it means learning how to lead without abandoning themselves.
Here are a few questions we encourage women to sit with during this season:
- Where am I operating on autopilot?
- What parts of my career still energise me — and what parts consistently drain me?
- What do I need to stop tolerating?
- What kind of support would actually make a difference right now?
- If I trusted myself, what would I choose next?
These questions are practical tools for navigating change with clarity rather than fear. And they matter because midlife is not an endpoint but a powerful inflection point. The decisions made here often determine the next decade of your leadership, your well-being, and your sense of fulfillment.
If you are feeling stretched, uncertain, or pulled in two directions, you are not alone. This is a shared experience for many women, regardless of industry or seniority. The important thing is not to push through it silently, but to use it as an opportunity to create a more sustainable and aligned way forward.
And if you’re not yet in midlife, or if you’ve moved beyond it, you likely recognise these themes in your own journey. Every woman, at some point, encounters the call to reassess what matters most.
This is the season when clarity becomes leadership.
This is where women rise.
Recently I sat down with author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson for a powerful conversation about women, leadership, and this midlife season many of us find ourselves in. You can watch the full interview here.
