People thought I was having a midlife crisis. I was actually having a midlife clarity.

When I made my pivot after 25 years at two large investment firms, I wasn’t quitting on life, success, fame and fortune. I quit stressing over a job that advanced someone else’s goals. All those good things still exist for me in my new work as an aligned life sherpa, and they’re more magical now.

If you’re thinking about a career pivot at 45 or 50, here are the life design steps I’d walk you through.

Step 1: Separate who you are from your title

Before I resigned, I was more worried about who I was without a big fat cool corporate title than about the money. I had cringingly made my job a big part of my personality, like most folks in corporate do. Write down who you are when nobody’s asking what you do. For 25 years I’d been Corporate Amy and Mom Amy, and even my family didn’t know how much I loved reading, writing, languages, lifting and new foods.

Step 2: Go back to what you loved as a kid

As a kid I scribbled tales about talking zebras and reports on faraway lands, and my parents lovingly called my chattiness “diarrhea of the mouth.” Words carried me from corporate communicator to gap-year blogger.

Try this: jot down a 5-minute stream-of-consciousness about something you love. No editing, just flow. What pops up? That’s your soul waving hello.

Then this: write down five things you loved at 9, and notice which ones still light you up.

Step 3: Do a daydream exercise

Daydream exercises are sooo important. I did them, and I still use them.

1. Grab a journal. Write down 10 “if I could just walk away” daydreams. No filter.
2. Sort them into rest, reflection and exploration.
3. Pick one and picture a full day of it. Where do you wake up? What do you smell, hear, do?
4. Keep an eye out for the little cosmic winks. They show up more than you’d think.

These days I do mine more in a meditative way: eyes closed, breathing slow, letting the daydream unfold.

Step 4: Test the “obvious” next plan before you commit

I resigned in October 2023 to start a corporate coaching business. About three months in, I realized most of my clients would be the same persona I already had 25 years of experience with, and it felt like a bad plan for my nervous system. So in January 2024 I shut my laptop mid-meeting and called my boss. Pause was the answer, and reflection would show the next path. It was terrifying at first not having a plan, then exhilarating. If your body says no to the obvious next thing, listen.

Step 5: Follow the play

What you do for fun is data. Dedicate one hour this week to a passion with no pressure to achieve anything. For me, baking batch after batch turned into plans for Any Way You Knead It, a micro bakery, and representing KORBOARD at a Spartan race put me “right in the middle of happy, motivated humans.” Neither was a plan. Both started as play.

Step 6: Build weekly rhythms that prove the new life

We hike midweek, every week, because our schedules let us and the trails are empty. A rhythm like that is how you know the new life is real and not just a long vacation.

Step 7: Treat your body as a partner

When I committed to my pause, I decided my body would be a trusted partner on the journey, not a limitation. Today that looks like my first chin-up, a 200 lb hexbar deadlift for 5 and a 125 lb power clean. Your next chapter has to feel good to live in.

Step 8: Plan, then leave space

I planned first, then planned again, then slept on it for weeks. And I still left room for the next path to show up. Do both.

Where I start with coaching clients

When I work with someone, we talk about what drew them to the decision, what’s happening in their life, what their body is telling them, and the messages they get repeatedly from the universe. A variety of things to get at the root of their drive for the break. Start there yourself, or book a free Clarity Call and we’ll do it together.

The book coming in 2027 goes deep on all of this. Get on the book list.

xoxo Amy 🤎

Related: Adult Gap Year Ideas: Career Break Travel for When a Vacation Isn’t Enough and How to Plan a Career Break You Can Actually Afford