A New Life Cycle, A New Beginning

At the close of one chapter and the imminent start of another, there’s often a pause. This pause can feel unsettling and disorienting—a disruption in your carefully curated rhythm. Yet, it’s also a moment brimming with untapped potential, a chance to realign with what truly matters to you. As the usual rhythm of life—marked by successes, milestones, and relentless forward momentum—slows, in anticipation of upcoming changes, questions often arise.

“What’s next?”
“Where do I go from here?”
“Who am I now?”

It’s in this moment, ripe with both destabilising uncertainty and extraordinary potential, that a new cycle begins. It’s like upgrading to a more powerful operating system, this new cycle offers the chance to realign with the highest version of yourself—more authentic, more purposeful, more impactful and more fulfilled.

At the Start of a New Cycle

You’ve climbed mountains that others only dream of scaling. From the outside, your life looks impeccable: success, influence, and accomplishments that inspire awe. But standing on this summit can fill you with a mix of emotions. Excitement at the prospect of new opportunities. Fear of losing the identity tied to your achievements. Uncertainty about how to channel your energy into this new cycle.

You might wonder if these feelings mean you’re losing your mojo. They don’t. They mean you’re human. We often struggle in these moments, torn between staying at the top of our game and yearning for something deeper, something more meaningful and fulfilling.

Transitions can make you feel untethered, as your ambition comes up against your need to live a meaningful life. The start of a new cycle is not a time to abandon ambition but to channel it differently. It’s not a disruption to be feared but a transformation to be welcomed.

Manage a New Life Cycle

To navigate life cycles with intention, use these three guiding principles: pause, reassess, and experiment.

1. Pause

Life moves fast. And when you’re in the thick of it—career goals, family responsibilities, endless notifications pinging at you—it’s easy to lose sight of what actually matters. If you’re heading into a new cycle, whether it’s a career pivot, a relationship shift, or just trying starting/selling a business, the secret isn’t in the hustle. It’s in the pause.

Stopping can feel counterintuitive—unproductive, even threatening. But it’s in this stillness that clarity emerges. A pause isn’t a retreat; it’s recharging your batteries in preparation for your next leap forward.

Here’s how to press pause, recalibrate, and start asking the big, meaningful questions:

• Dedicate Daily Time for Reflection This doesn’t mean you have to retreat to a mountain cabin or light a dozen candles (unless you want to). Reflection can be as simple as carving out 10 minutes a day for stillness. No phone. No distractions. Just you, a quiet spot, and your thoughts.

Think of it as defragging your mental hard drive. In those 10 minutes, you’ll likely start noticing things—patterns in your thinking, emotions you’ve been ignoring, or even that nagging little voice saying, Hey, maybe there’s more to life than emails and errands.

Consistency is key here. These moments aren’t about having life-changing epiphanies every single day (though that’s a bonus if it happens). They’re about giving your mind space to breathe and recalibrate, so you can approach life with clarity and intention.

• Get Grounded with Mindfulness Meditation Let’s get one thing straight: mindfulness isn’t about turning your brain off. It’s about learning to be where you are, instead of mentally time-traveling to the past or future.

Start small. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on the feeling of your feet on the ground or the air moving in and out of your lungs. When your mind inevitably wanders (because, spoiler, it will), gently guide it back. No judgment, no frustration—just a little mental course correction.

Why does this matter? Because when you’re fully present, the noise in your head quiets down. You stop reacting on autopilot and start responding with intention. It’s like hitting “refresh” on your mental browser.

• Go on: Ask Yourself the Big Scary Question: What Am I Truly Looking For? Most of us live on a loop, chasing goals we’ve never stopped to question. More money, more accolades, more… stuff. But when you strip it all away, what are you really after?

A new challenge?

A deeper connection to others?

A sense of purpose that doesn’t vanish when the workday ends?

Grab a journal (or a napkin, or the back of a receipt—whatever’s handy) and start writing. Let it be messy. Don’t censor yourself. If your first answer feels shallow, keep digging. Keep asking, What else? until you hit the core of what you want.

• Turn Reflection Into Action Here’s the kicker: reflection without action is just daydreaming. Once you’ve got clarity, use it to steer your decisions. Does that new job align with your values? Does your daily routine support the life you’re trying to create?

Starting fresh doesn’t require a dramatic overhaul. Sometimes, it’s the small, intentional steps that create the biggest shift.

And if it feels overwhelming, remember: the goal isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to start asking better questions. From there, you can build a life that’s not just busy, but meaningful.

When you pause with intention, you’re not losing momentum—you’re ensuring that your next move is meaningfully and perfectly aligned.

2. Reassess Your Values

Here’s the truth nobody tells you about ambition: sometimes, the goals that once lit your fire start to feel like lukewarm leftovers. The title you chased, the dream project, the “perfect” life plan—it all sounded great at one point, but now? Meh. And guess what? That’s not failure. That’s growth.

Transitions aren’t the end of the road; they’re the scenic detour where you pull over, stretch your legs, and make sure you’re still heading in the right direction. They’re your chance to pause, take a breath, and ask the questions that really matter: Am I still pursuing what fuels me? Or am I chasing what I’ve outgrown—or worse, what someone else thinks I should want?

Here’s how to manage the process of reassessing your values and redefining success:

• Redefine Success on Your Terms Society loves a checklist. Career milestones, financial benchmarks, picture-perfect family moments—check, check, and check. But success? That’s not one-size-fits-all. It’s personal. Deeply, almost uncomfortably personal.

Ask yourself: What does success feel like for me? Not look like—feel like. Is it freedom? Creativity? Impact? Sometimes, the answer isn’t flashy, and that’s okay. True success isn’t about meeting external expectations; it’s about living a life that energizes you, not just impresses others.

• Reflect, Revise, Repeat Your values are like your internal GPS—when they’re dialed in, they guide every decision. But sometimes, life’s twists and turns knock them out of alignment. Here’s how to recalibrate:

List Your Priorities. Write down what you think matters most to you right now. Then, compare that list to the things that actually light you up. Are they aligned? Or are you spending time on things that drain you?

Relive Your High Points. Think back to moments when you felt completely fulfilled, when time seemed to disappear. What were you doing? Who were you with? What made those moments matter? These are clues to your core values.

Talk It Out. Deep conversations with trusted friends, mentors, or peers can be gold. Find people who won’t just agree with you but will challenge your thinking. They’ll help you see blind spots and uncover truths you might be avoiding.

• Realignment Doesn’t Mean Reinvention Let’s clear something up: reassessing your values doesn’t mean trashing everything you’ve built. You don’t need to torch your past ambitions or regret the path you’ve taken. Those goals served you at one point—they got you here.

Realigning simply means making sure the foundation of your future is built on what you care about now. Maybe that means tweaking your career trajectory, prioritizing relationships, or scaling back on things that don’t serve you anymore. It’s evolution, not erasure.

• Start Small, Stay Intentional You don’t need to have all the answers today—or ever. Realignment is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Start by making one small decision that reflects your realigned values, and let that momentum build.

Remember, you’re not tied to the goals you set five, ten, or even two years ago. You’re allowed to grow, to change, and to chase new dreams. This is your life. Your definition of success. And the only person who gets to decide what that looks like is you.

So go ahead: revisit your values, rewrite the script, and build a future that energises you—not one that just checks someone else’s boxes.

Realigning with your values doesn’t mean abandoning your past ambitions. It means ensuring they serve as a foundation for your future self.

3. Experiment Boldly

Curiosity is your ultimate secret weapon when life shifts. It gives you permission to explore without the pressure of “getting it right” on the first try. And instead of clinging to certainty, it asks you to embrace experimentation—not as reckless leaps, but as deliberate, low-stakes steps into the unknown.

The goal? To uncover fresh perspectives, unexpected interests, and new paths that actually feel like you.

• Why Experimentation Works You don’t have to quit your job, move to Bali, or abandon everything you know to start experimenting. Bold doesn’t mean reckless—it means intentional.

Experimentation is like trying on different hats. Some will fit. Others will look laughably bad. But every “hat” you try teaches you something about what works, what doesn’t, and what lights you up. It’s not about nailing the perfect answer right away; it’s about collecting data on what fulfils you.

This process isn’t failure-proof—it’s failure-friendly. And that’s a good thing. Each misstep, dead-end, or “meh” moment is a clue pointing you closer to your next breakthrough.

• How to Experiment Boldly

• Try Something Completely Outside Your Lane. Dabble in a project unrelated to your primary field. If you’re a data analyst, take a painting class. If you’re a teacher, join a local improv group. These ventures can unlock parts of your creativity or interests you didn’t know were hiding in there.
• Volunteer for Causes That Speak to Your Values. Maybe you care about the environment, education, or mental health. Find a way to contribute—whether it’s an afternoon at a food bank or designing marketing materials for a nonprofit. Volunteering not only connects you to your community but also sharpens your sense of what really matters to you.
• Attend Workshops or Retreats That Expand Your Horizons. Look for events that challenge you to step out of your comfort zone. Writing retreats, leadership workshops, mindfulness weekends—they’re all opportunities to not just learn something new but to meet people who can inspire fresh perspectives.

• Why Bold Experiments Lead to Big Breakthroughs Experimentation has a way of loosening the mental frameworks that hold you back. When you let go of “I have to have this all figured out,” you create space to explore possibilities you’d never considered.

One small experiment—a new hobby, a side gig, a single conversation—can change your trajectory. Maybe that improv class reignites your confidence in public speaking. Maybe that workshop on sustainability plants the seed for your next business idea. Or maybe volunteering teaches you that purpose matters more to you than profit.

Bold experiments don’t just reveal what you love; they help you shed old ideas about who you’re “supposed” to be. They open doors you didn’t even know were there.

So, give yourself permission to experiment—not with the pressure of “figuring it all out,” but with the freedom to try, fail, learn, and grow. Bold experiments aren’t just a path forward; they’re the key to discovering a version of yourself you didn’t even know existed.

The Power of Story

Life transitions are like launching a new product. Before unveiling it to the world, there’s a phase of iteration: testing, refining, and aligning the product with its intended audience. Your new cycle is no different. It’s your time to refine who you are and re-align with your purpose.

Meet Jack: The Corporate Climber Who Dropped off the Ladder to Build a Bridge.

For 15 years, Jack was the tech world’s golden boy, the guy everyone envied—scaling the corporate ladder like it was a StairMaster. Corner office with skyline views? Nailed it. Six-figure salary? Cha-ching. A LinkedIn profile that made recruiters weep? Sorted. Prestige, power, promotions that came faster than espresso refills? Check, check, and check. Success, by every traditional metric, was his.

By the time he hit his mid-40s, Jack had climbed so high up the corporate ladder his head was in the clouds.

But then, at the top of his game, a disorienting thought hit him like a rogue notification: Is this it?

To Jack, the clouds were starting to feel like a smokescreen. Jack discovered a gnawing emptiness – growing void in his chest.

The constant grind, the back-to-back meetings, the bonuses that didn’t buy happiness—they all started blending into one big question: What’s the point? At first, he tried to shake it off, burying himself in more work and convincing himself that another promotion or a bigger paycheck would quiet the doubts. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

So, Jack did something that left his colleagues scratching their heads. Instead of charging ahead, doubling down on the grind, he did something unheard of in his world of perpetual motion: he hit pause. Not just a day off. Not for a long weekend on some tropical beach, but for a full-on, existential pit stop —a reckoning with himself. He took 3 months off and decided to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

In the quiet of those introspective weeks on the trail, he took a long, hard look at his life and asked himself the kind of uncomfortable questions most of us avoid: What do I actually value? What do I want to leave behind? The answer wasn’t a bigger corner office. It was impact. Legacy.

It started small. Jack began volunteering at a local nonprofit, lending his expertise to help them organize their data and streamline their systems. Then he signed up to mentor aspiring leaders, sharing the lessons he’d learned from years of navigating corporate chaos, coaching young professionals who didn’t have his advantages but shared his drive. Those little steps sparked something big.

Jack realised his years in tech hadn’t just been about climbing ladders—they’d been about learning how to build bridges. He started thinking about using what he knew to create something more meaningful, something that linked his business skills to his passion for helping others. Slowly, his priorities began to shift. What started as “giving back” began to feel like moving forward. He realised that his years in the boardroom weren’t wasted—they’d just been the training ground for something bigger.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and Jack is no longer running on autopilot. He’s the founder of a booming social enterprise that uses his sharp-as-a-tack tech skills to solve real-world problems. Whether it’s helping small nonprofits scale or mentoring underrepresented entrepreneurs, he has turned his corporate know-how into a force for good. Jack’s work blends the best of who he was and who he wants to be.

It’s not an easier life—running a mission-driven business is anything but smooth sailing—but Jack’s never felt more alive. Every late-night meeting now feeds his soul instead of draining it. His life is full of meaning.

Jack didn’t give up success; he redefined it. He’s proving that you don’t have to settle for a career that leaves you feeling empty, no matter how shiny it looks from the outside. You can pause. You can pivot. And you can rewrite the instruction book to build something that actually matters to you.

Jack isn’t climbing anymore—he’s building a legacy that’s not just impressive, but truly impactful.

Like Jack, your new cycle isn’t about abandoning your achievements—it’s about channelling them into something even more aligned with who you’re becoming.

As someone who has guided others through life transitions, I’ve often drawn inspiration from horses. They’re incredibly resilient animals, able to adapt to shifting conditions with grace and strength. When faced with uncertainty, my Friesians freeze—and then they move forward, step by step, until they find solid ground again.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t about leaving behind what you’ve built—it’s about evolving into the most powerful and authentic version of yourself.

The start of this new cycle is your invitation to redefine success on your terms. It’s your chance to step into uncharted territory, guided by the lessons of your past and the promise of your future.

Ready to follow in Jack’s footsteps? Join successful professionals who’ve transformed their lives through the Infinite Impact mentoring program. In just one powerful discovery call, you’ll discover how the Infinite Impact program can help you implement the suggestions above and equip you to make a purposeful impact. I have limited availability for new clients – send an email to openlockeddoors@gmail.com and book your call now. Make today the day you start changing your life.