Resetting Your Compass After a Big Life Transition
This guide is for Ambitious working moms in the middle of a big life transition (i.e. new baby, kid starting grade school, high school or college, empty nesting) who are feeling uncertain about what success looks like on the other side of the transition.
Contributed By: Carla Greenan · Founder, 3Be Coaching
The Core Challenge
Big life transitions, like welcoming a baby, advancing school stages, or entering an empty nest, leave many ambitious working moms unsure of what success should look like on the other side. The old definition no longer fits, but a new one hasn’t fully formed. With the same work expectations and a different capacity, she needs to reset her compass, so it reflects both her ambition and her current reality.
Key insight
After big life transitions, you are not less capable or less ambitious, you have not redefined what is critical for thriving in this new reality.
Practical Strategies
Step 1: Describe what success used to mean
Ask: What did success look like for me? (availability, pace, output, visibility)
Ask: Which of those measures no longer fit my current reality?
These are the outdated rules you will retire as you move forward.
Step 2: Define success in shorter timeframes
Ask: What does success look like this month in the areas of work, home and personal wellness?
Example: I will be fully present when I am with my family.
Examine those success factors and rewrite them so they are ‘good enough’, not perfect.
Example: I will notice when I am not present and remind myself to put my attention back on family.
Step 3: Reset your compass around what’s most critical now (build this from the definition of success you outlined above)
Choose 3 priorities that matter most for your current reality (work, home and yourself)?
Example for work: I will block my calendar from 5-7 p.m.
Example for home: I will create a timeout spot for electronics.
Example for yourself: I will increase my water intake.
Step 4: Rewrite the story you are telling yourself
From: My path doesn’t look like it used to.
To: My path is evolving to reflect who I am now.
From: I am failing everywhere.
To: I am doing my best to juggle the demands of work and home.
A Small First STep
Write down what success looks like this week in the areas of work, home and personal wellness. Share that with an accountability partner (i.e. spouse, friend, calendar reminder).
Carla Greenan provides coaching, webinars and digital products to ambitious working parents, newly promoted leaders, and high-performers in pressure-filled environments. They’re smart, driven, and deeply committed — but often stretched thin by the expectations placed on them. She helps them lead with confidence, navigate transitions with ease, and build a life that feels aligned with who they are — not just what’s required of them.
For more resources visit: www.3becoaching.com or https://stan.store/3BeCoaching
