What happens when you know exactly how to build a successful career, but realize you've been expecting the rest of your life to build itself?
In this episode of Woman in Progress, I'm talking about what it actually means to make a life, not just a living.
For most of my adult life, I understood how to get ahead at work. Work hard, exceed expectations, take on more, get promoted. And a lot of those choices worked. They helped me build a successful career that mattered enormously to me.
But I also treated time that wasn't already claimed by someone else as available to work. And outside of work, I had a whole other list of things I thought I should want, say yes to, and make room for.
As I approach 40, I'm asking a different question: what is all of this ambition actually for?
I'm still ambitious. I still work a lot. But I'm learning to be honest about what I'm choosing, why I'm choosing it, and what it's costing me.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Why work's clear scoreboard can make it easier to keep investing in your career while other parts of your life get postponed.
How being single and child-free shaped my assumption that unclaimed time was available to work.
Why building a full life meant giving myself permission to have preferences, including wanting time alone.
What I've learned about expecting relationships to happen without giving them enough time, energy, and attention.
Why balance isn't about giving everything an equal share, and how I'm thinking about the trade-offs of building my business, prioritizing fitness, and making a life in Dubai.
Your career can be your number one priority and other things can still matter.
The question is whether you know what you're building all of this for, and whether the choices you're making still serve the life you actually want.
You don't have to prioritize everything. But the things you want need enough of you to have a chance to grow.
The goal isn't just to make a living. It's to make a life.
Follow Woman in Progress so you don't miss what's coming next.
KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
Join the Intentional Ambition Collective
A community for ambitious, mid-career women who want to redefine success, rethink their relationship with work, and build fuller lives. Join me for monthly workshops, coaching conversations, and practical tools to help you get intentional about what you're actually ambitious for.
Join the Intentional Ambition Collective
Work With Me
Ready to change the way you work and live? Explore private 1:1 coaching.
Let's Connect
Read my Substack: Make a Life, Not Just a Living
