Last weekend I hosted my first workshop of the year. And it sent me down memory lane to the one I hosted exactly three years before it.

That was May 2023. My first ever workshop. Free webinar, “Switch with Wami.” I had no idea how to make money from a workshop. I just knew I had something to say and people who needed to hear it.

242 people registered. Only half of them showed up. I made exactly $0.

When people see you launch a workshop, they assume it’s a money-making machine.

Sometimes it is. Most times, especially at the start, it isn’t. But every single time, you grow. Not because the workshop was a success on paper, but because you go back and actually look at your own work (I always do).

Here’s my timeline, plainly:

• 2023: 242 registrations, 50% attendance, $0 revenue

• 2024: 3 workshops, 110 total registrations, 85% average attendance, $265 revenue

• 2026 (last weekend): 6 registrations, 100% attendance, $336 revenue - including two scholarships I gave out

What most people don’t see is that 2023 wasn’t just a rough first attempt I eventually moved past. It was the foundation.

Every question people asked me on that free webinar, every place they got stuck, every “wait, can you say more about that” - I kept all of it. And I’ve been building on it ever since.

2025 wasn’t a fresh start. It was 2023, refined. And this year wasn’t a fresh start either - it was 2025, refined again.

Now do the math with me for a second.

The numbers didn’t grow in a straight line. Registrations actually shrank - from hundreds to single digits. But attendance climbed to 100%, and revenue per person went up even after I gave two seats away for free.

That’s not an accident. That’s a decision.

This year, I stopped chasing volume and started chasing depth of transformation.

Smaller room, fuller attention, people who actually showed up ready to do the work.

I watched my own replay afterward, took notes on where I could’ve gone deeper, and that’s the muscle that’s actually been building this whole time - not the size of the crowd, but my own willingness to sit with my work and ask “what would make this better.”

This is the kind of message that tells me it’s working:

“I have more clarity. I have written down steps to take for the next 1 month.”

That’s it. That’s the whole point. Not 200 people clapping. One person with a plan.

If you read that and thought 'I want that kind of clarity' - keep reading, because that's exactly what I'm building next.

If you’re sitting on something you’ve already built - a track record, a body of work, a reputation people respect - but haven’t fully claimed it yet, I see you. Because that gap isn’t about starting. It’s about trying - believing you’re allowed to stand in what you’ve already earned.

I felt it in January 2022, a couple of weeks into writing this newsletter. I’d just resigned. I had something to say, I just didn’t believe anyone needed to hear it from me specifically. So I sat on it. Until I decided not to.

Four years and 104 issues later, here we are.

10,295 of you, reading this every time I hit send.

I won’t lie to you - my newsletter growth has slowed recently, and I’m sitting here at 10K wondering what it’ll take to get to the next stretch. But I’d rather tell you that honestly than pretend the climb gets easier the longer you do it. It doesn’t. You just get better at climbing.

My entire lesson is this:

The art of becoming is in beginning. The art of beginning is in trying. And the art of trying is in actually believing you’re allowed to take up the space you’ve already earned.

Stop waiting for permission that was never going to arrive. Stop outsourcing the verdict on your own readiness to everyone but yourself.

You already know what you’re capable of. The work has already proven it. The only thing left is deciding to act like you believe it too.

That’s how you own your life.

What I'm building next.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

The art of trying: what 121 attendees and $0 taught me

The math on 3 years of workshops (it’s not what you think)

Wamide A

Jun 22

READ IN APP

Hey rockstar! Welcome to issue #104 of OnGrowth& - a newsletter for high achievers who are done overthinking their next move. Here, we talk about growing a career that feels as good in real life as it looks on paper, and building a personal brand that grows your income too

This is what 3 years apart can look like, if you just start.

Last weekend I hosted my first workshop of the year. And it sent me down memory lane to the one I hosted exactly three years before it.

That was May 2023. My first ever workshop. Free webinar, “Switch with Wami.” I had no idea how to make money from a workshop. I just knew I had something to say and people who needed to hear it.

242 people registered. Only half of them showed up. I made exactly $0.

When people see you launch a workshop, they assume it’s a money-making machine.

Sometimes it is. Most times, especially at the start, it isn’t. But every single time, you grow. Not because the workshop was a success on paper, but because you go back and actually look at your own work (I always do).

Here’s my timeline, plainly:

• 2023: 242 registrations, 50% attendance, $0 revenue

• 2024: 3 workshops, 110 total registrations, 85% average attendance, $265 revenue

• 2026 (last weekend): 6 registrations, 100% attendance, $336 revenue - including two scholarships I gave out

What most people don’t see is that 2023 wasn’t just a rough first attempt I eventually moved past. It was the foundation.

Every question people asked me on that free webinar, every place they got stuck, every “wait, can you say more about that” - I kept all of it. And I’ve been building on it ever since.

2025 wasn’t a fresh start. It was 2023, refined. And this year wasn’t a fresh start either - it was 2025, refined again.

Now do the math with me for a second.

The numbers didn’t grow in a straight line. Registrations actually shrank - from hundreds to single digits. But attendance climbed to 100%, and revenue per person went up even after I gave two seats away for free.

That’s not an accident. That’s a decision.

This year, I stopped chasing volume and started chasing depth of transformation.

Smaller room, fuller attention, people who actually showed up ready to do the work.

I watched my own replay afterward, took notes on where I could’ve gone deeper, and that’s the muscle that’s actually been building this whole time - not the size of the crowd, but my own willingness to sit with my work and ask “what would make this better.”

This is the kind of message that tells me it’s working:

“I have more clarity. I have written down steps to take for the next 1 month.”

That’s it. That’s the whole point. Not 200 people clapping. One person with a plan.

If you read that and thought ‘I want that kind of clarity’ - keep reading, because that’s exactly what I’m building next.

If you’re sitting on something you’ve already built - a track record, a body of work, a reputation people respect - but haven’t fully claimed it yet, I see you. Because that gap isn’t about starting. It’s about trying - believing you’re allowed to stand in what you’ve already earned.

I felt it in January 2022, a couple of weeks into writing this newsletter. I’d just resigned. I had something to say, I just didn’t believe anyone needed to hear it from me specifically. So I sat on it. Until I decided not to.

Four years and 104 issues later, here we are.

10,295 of you, reading this every time I hit send.

I won’t lie to you - my newsletter growth has slowed recently, and I’m sitting here at 10K wondering what it’ll take to get to the next stretch. But I’d rather tell you that honestly than pretend the climb gets easier the longer you do it. It doesn’t. You just get better at climbing.

The art of becoming is in beginning. The art of beginning is in trying. And the art of trying is in actually believing you’re allowed to take up the space you’ve already earned.

Stop waiting for permission that was never going to arrive. Stop outsourcing the verdict on your own readiness to everyone but yourself.

You already know what you’re capable of. The work has already proven it. The only thing left is deciding to act like you believe it too.

That’s how you own your life.

What I’m building next.

I’m not planning another workshop anytime soon. But I am putting together a small-group, 4-week cohort this August/September - for those who already know what they want for their careers, who already have a story worth telling, but keep shrinking themselves in rooms they’ve actually earned a seat in.

I know what it’s like to be underpaid, undervalued, and overlooked. I’ve sat in rooms knowing exactly what I was worth and said nothing, because some part of me didn’t believe I’d be believed.

If you’ve ever caught yourself downplaying what you’ve done, second-guessing whether you’re “ready” for your next level, or quietly believing you need one more certificate before you can ask for what you’re worth - this is for you.

Join the waitlist here → rebrand.ly/levelupwaitlist. No commitment necessary now, just first access and all the details the moment it’s ready.

Your move, rockstar.

With love,
Your Career Pivot Coach

I’m not planning another workshop anytime soon. But I am putting together a small-group, 4-week cohort this August/September - for those who already know what they want for their careers, who already have a story worth telling, but keep shrinking themselves in rooms they’ve actually earned a seat in.

I know what it’s like to be underpaid, undervalued, and overlooked. I’ve sat in rooms knowing exactly what I was worth and said nothing, because some part of me didn’t believe I’d be believed.

If you’ve ever caught yourself downplaying what you’ve done, second-guessing whether you’re “ready” for your next level, or quietly believing you need one more certificate before you can ask for what you’re worth - this is for you.

Stay tuned.

Your move, rockstar.

With love,
Your Career Pivot Coach

P.S. If you're confident you're on the right mountain but need some direction for your career or part-time business, check out which of my coaching would be a great fit for you: pivotwithwamide.com. I'll help you feel lighter, so you finally see you’re capable of changing your life without burning out.

Not because I didn’t know what it was saying. But because after a major decision - especially the unpopular ones, I’d second-guess myself.

I’d check what other people were doing, compare myself to them and wonder if I was making a mistake.

I’ve had a lot of “road less travelled” moments. And each one came with that same internal noise.

Then a couple of years ago, I started to actually listen.

In 2017/2018, I was in Greece for my MBA. Alone, for the first time in a long time - no parents, no colleagues, no mentors nearby. And that distance forced me to hear my own voice.

It started small. Getting out of a relationship that was going nowhere. And by the end of the MBA, it was me deciding not to go back to my Big 4 job - even though the door was still open.

For the first time in years, I felt like I had a window. Unsure about the eventual outcome. Yet, I knew deep down that I had to take it.

That’s how I think about career decisions now. They’re windows. You either open them or you don’t. And both choices have a cost.

The cost of staying.

We’ve all had those “is this the right move moment”.

The cost nobody talks about is the cost of staying when everything in you wants to leave.

Not just emotionally. Practically. Financially. In ways that compound quietly while you’re busy waiting for the right moment.

Here are the five costs of inaction I see most often:

1. The financial cost - quantifiable

This is the most concrete and the most ignored.

If you’re mid-senior with 5-10 years experience, you’re likely earning somewhere between $40K-$80K annually. Maybe more. Maybe less.

Research shows that the average salary increase when switching jobs externally is 10-20%. Staying put? 5-6% every year.

That’s a $4K-$16K difference - every year you wait.

Over three years, that’s potentially $12K-$48K left on the table. Not because the market doesn’t value you. Because you never made the move.

Every month you stay in a role that undervalues you is a month you’re paying a tax on your own potential.

2. The career trajectory cost - often invisible

The professional who moves strategically at year 5 versus year 8 ends up in a completely different place by year 15.

Two years of delay doesn’t just cost two years.

It costs the promotions, the network, the experience, and the credibility that compound from the new role.

The person who moved at year 5 is now a VP. The person who waited is still a senior manager wondering what happened.

The gap between where you are and where you could be isn’t closing on its own. It’s widening.

3. The mental and energy cost - the hidden drain

This one is hardest to quantify but most people feel it most acutely.

Every day spent in a role that doesn’t fit costs cognitive bandwidth.

The mental load of managing dissatisfaction - performing contentment, second-guessing decisions, running the mental simulation of “what if I leave” on loop - is exhausting.

And that energy has to come from somewhere.

It comes from your relationships. Your health. Your creativity. Your ambition outside of work.

You’re not just losing income. You’re losing the version of yourself that would have existed if you’d moved two years ago.

4. The opportunity cost - invisible but real

Every month spent unclear is a month not building the relationships, the visibility, and the positioning that creates opportunities.

The professional who has been “thinking about moving” for 18 months has spent 18 months not being in the rooms where their next opportunity lives.

Here’s what shifts when you get clear: the conversations start finding you. The introductions happen. The roles surface - not because the market changed, but because you’re finally visible in the right rooms.

Roles don’t come to people who are invisible. Introductions don’t happen for people who haven’t articulated what they want.

Clarity isn’t just a feeling. It’s an asset. And every month without it is a month your competition is building theirs.

5. The fulfilment cost - the one we don’t say out loud

There’s a version of your life that exists on the other side of this decision.

A version where Sunday evenings don’t feel heavy. Where you’re doing work that actually uses what you’re capable of. Where you’re not managing down your own ambition so the job title feels like enough.

That version doesn’t wait forever.

At some point the resignation sets in - not the resignation letter, the internal kind. The moment where you stop believing the other version is possible and start optimising for comfortable.

The longer you wait, the more you start to believe the wait is the answer.

Before you go - if you nodded at any of this, here’s what to do about it.

Next Saturday, June 20th, I’m running The Next Move Workshop. 90 minutes of coaching that works. And a clear direction for your next move, and a decision you can actually trust - not another thing to sit on.

Registration closes Tuesday, June 16th.

GRAB YOUR SPOT

And one more thing.

I’m giving away one free ticket to someone in this community.

Not a random draw. I want to give it to the person who needs it most - the one who’s been sitting on this decision the longest and just needs someone to say: it’s time.

Someone who genuinely can’t make the investment right now - not someone looking for a discount.

To enter, fill in this short form and finish one sentence: “I need The Next Move Workshop because...”

I’ll read every single one. Winner will be contacted by Tuesday, June 16th at noon - which also happens to be the last day to register. If you don’t win, you still have time to grab a spot.

APPLY HERE

Takes 60 seconds.

One ticket. One person. Let’s get you moving.

Every week, someone messages me a version of the exact same thing:

“I know I want to pivot. I’m just not sure what industry or role I’d fit into.”

“I can’t figure out what to focus on or transition into.”

“I’ve been second-guessing how to enter XYZ industry and what role I’d enjoy.”

“I know something needs to change. I just don’t know what that looks like yet.”

They have the experience. They have the skills. They’ve thought about it for months. They’ve started to apply. They’re not landing interviews. They’ve stopped. They’ve started again. They’re second-guessing through it.

I used to think that was a motivation problem. It’s not. It’s a clarity problem.

You keep circling because you’re secretly not sure any direction is THE one. So you overthink. You stall. You go back to the job board one more time.

I’ve now coached over 200 professionals through this exact moment. And that pattern shows up almost every single time.

The good news: once you fix the clarity, the moving takes care of itself.

So I’m running a live workshop to fix it with you.

The Next Move Workshop: Land a Role That Actually Fits

Live, Saturday June 20th · 12pm WAT · 90 minutes · Recording included.

You’ll walk out with one thing: a decision you can actually trust. Not a to-do list. Not more ideas. A direction - chosen, positioned, and ready to execute.

Early bird is $99 until midnight June 6th. After that it’s $149.

For $99 you get 90 minutes of live, structured coaching. The real reason you’re stuck. The P.I.V.O.T. Framework. Your golden thread turned into a career narrative. A 30-day job search strategy. And a decision you can trust before you leave the session.

A room full of mid-senior professionals who are done overthinking and ready to move. No surface-level advice. No recycled frameworks. Just the work.

If you’ve been on the fence - this is your sign.

GRAB YOUR SEAT

Let’s call her Tami.

On paper, things looked fine.

Stable job. Decent pay. Good team. Flexible environment. Nothing dramatically wrong.

And maybe that’s exactly what made the decision harder.

Because when something is bad, leaving feels obvious. But when something is merely misaligned, you start negotiating with yourself.

Maybe things will improve. Maybe next quarter will feel different. Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe I should just be grateful.

So she stayed.

But the problem with staying too long in a place you’ve already emotionally left - is that eventually your body starts keeping score.

At first, it looks small.

Constant exhaustion. Sunday anxiety. Lack of motivation. A quiet disconnection from work you once genuinely cared about.

Then it becomes harder to ignore.

You stop feeling creative. Stop feeling ambitious. Stop recognising yourself.

And because you are so drained, you stop applying for opportunities properly. Not because you lack capability. But because burnout makes even possibility feel heavy.

In December, Tami applied for a role she felt genuinely aligned with.

But January came - and with it, everything that comes with staying in a role you’ve already emotionally left. The meetings. The deadlines. The mental fog of doing work that no longer fits.

Then one day in March, she was clearing her inbox.

And there it was. An interview invitation. From January. At the company she applied to in December.

She had missed it.

Not because she wasn’t qualified. Not because she didn’t want it.

Because she chose to stay - and staying had taken her attention.

That’s the cost nobody puts in a spreadsheet.

The cost of inaction is rarely loud at first. It doesn’t announce itself dramatically.

Sometimes it looks like:

— opportunities you no longer have energy to pursue

— income growth you keep postponing for one more year

— confidence slowly eroding in environments that no longer stretch you

— constantly feeling behind because you know you’re capable of more

— spending another 12 months building someone else’s vision while quietly abandoning your own

And financially? People underestimate this part all the time.

A professional who delays a pivot by just 6 months can lose access to higher earning potential, leadership exposure, network expansion, and the compounding confidence that comes from making a bold move and surviving it.

Not because they weren’t talented. Because they stayed still too long.

Inaction compounds too. Just not in your favour.

That’s exactly what happened to Tami.

Eventually, things around Tami started shifting anyway.

Projects became unstable. Salaries became inconsistent. The environment became harder to trust.

And suddenly - the thing she was afraid of disrupting? It disrupted itself.

That’s the part nobody talks about enough.

You think staying protects you from uncertainty. But sometimes staying creates a slower, more painful kind of uncertainty.

She already knew.

Months before, she had admitted to me out loud: “I think I’ve outgrown this version of my life.”

But knowing and acting are two very different things.

So she delayed the decision.

And delay has a cost.

If you’ve been sitting with a decision you’ve already emotionally made - The Next Move Workshop on June 20th was built for exactly this moment.

90 minutes. A clear framework. A decision you can trust.

👉 Grab your spot before early bird closes this Saturday, June 6th. 9 spots left.

COUNT ME IN

In April, Tami finally decided to move.

Not recklessly. Not emotionally. Strategically.

And something shifted almost immediately.

The ideas she had been sitting on - she started acting on them.

The relationships she had quietly neglected - she started rebuilding them.

The interview callbacks she had stopped expecting - they started coming.

She’s not at the finish line yet. But for the first time in a long time, she feels like herself again.

The first thing she said to me afterward was:

“I think I knew a long time ago.”

Exactly. Most people do.

This isn’t me saying quit your job tomorrow.

This is me asking the hard question:

What decision have you already emotionally made - but keep postponing physically?

Because every delayed decision extracts something from you.

Time. Energy. Confidence. Joy. Momentum.

The people who change their lives aren’t always the bravest. Sometimes they’re just the ones who got tired of betraying themselves.

So maybe the question isn’t: “What if this doesn’t work?”

Maybe the better question is:

“What is staying here already costing me?”

Because the cost of inaction is rarely visible immediately.

But over time - it becomes your life.

If you’re ready to stop postponing the decision you’ve already made - here’s where to start. Join the Next Move Workshop and land a role that actually fits you in 30 days.

JOIN THE NEXT MOVE WORKSHOP

p.s. Don’t let the price be the thing that talks you out of this.

I do this exact work with clients paying $500–$2,000 in my private coaching programmes. The only difference here is that you’re already part of my newsletter community - which means we skip the introduction and go straight to the work. That’s why the price is $99 instead of $500.

Think of it this way: if this workshop helps you identify one thing that adds $1,000 to your monthly salary, that’s a 10x return on $99. If it helps you stop wasting time in the wrong company, you’ve saved months of looping and staying stuck.

$99 is not the price of a workshop. It’s the price of skipping 6 months of trial and error.

— Wamide 💜

A couple of weeks ago I opened enrolment for The Next Move Workshop.

Priority slots went in the first week. Early bird is still open - but not for long.

I’ve gotten this question a few times since then, so let me answer it honestly.

Is it worth it?

This workshop wasn’t created for everyone.

It’s for the professional who lies awake thinking about the day they finally leave - but when morning comes, they talk themselves out of it again.

It’s for the one who knows something needs to change but can’t articulate what “more” actually looks like.

It’s for the one whose job looks impressive on paper - and feels completely hollow in practice.

It’s for the one who’s scared that if they move, they’ll lose the salary, the status, or the years they’ve already invested.

If that’s you - or someone you know - keep reading.

$99 isn’t nothing. Especially when you’re already feeling uncertain. Especially when you’ve invested in things before that didn’t quite land.

I get it. I’ve been there.

But here’s what I’ve learned from coaching 200+ professionals - and from my own five career transitions:

The cost of not deciding is always higher than the cost of deciding.

Every month you stay in the loop - overthinking, second-guessing, trying to figure it out alone - costs you something.

Mental energy. Time. Slow disconnection from what you actually want.

And in many cases, real money: the salary you’re not earning, the opportunities you’re not in the room for, the role that went to someone who moved while you were still thinking.

$99 is a skincare product you bought recently, used twice, and forgot about.

The difference is - this won’t sit on your shelf. You’ll leave with a decision that could change the next chapter of your career.

I’m going to show you what I mean.

Worth saying upfront - the clients I’m about to mention didn’t pay $99.

Maria, Temi and Lolade worked with me privately for months - at rates between $500 and $2,000. And they’ll tell you it was worth every penny.

Maria was worried her oil & gas background was too niche to pivot from. One decision. Interview in 4 weeks. A $70K offer - double her previous salary.

Temi had years of experience and was still getting lowballed. 4 weeks with me. She negotiated a 55% salary increase on her new offer.

Lolade left a medical billing role feeling completely dejected - convinced she wasn’t qualified to break into operations or project management. No clarity on how to transition. No belief that her experience would transfer.

4 weeks later:

“You made me realise that my career doesn’t have to be linear. There’s always transferable skills I can leverage in any career pivot - and I discovered my own specific golden thread that I can weave through my career journey.”

She’s already in a talent assessment process at an operations company - interviewing for exactly the work she thought she wasn’t qualified for.

The Next Move Workshop at $99 is the lowest price you will ever access this framework. It’s not a watered-down version; it’s the same system, live, in 90 minutes.

👉 Early bird closes June 6th - grab your spot

GRAB YOUR SPOT

The Next Move Workshop isn’t a motivational session. It isn’t a webinar you half-watch from your phone. It’s 90 minutes of structured, live coaching designed to get you to one thing - a decision you can actually trust so you can land a job that fits your life.

You’ll leave with:

✓ The real reason you’re stuck - named and addressed

✓ A 5-part clarity framework that takes you from “I don’t know what I want” to a decision you can act on

✓ Your golden thread turned into a career narrative that makes the right people sit up

✓ A 30-day job search strategy - plus global job directory

✓ A decision. Not just ideas.

And if you can’t attend live - the recording is yours within 24 hours, plus email access to ask me anything after.

Temi said it best:

“This clarity is not the kind you get from throwing prompts at AI. It’s the kind you get by working with a coach who has walked the same road as you, who knows the right questions to ask, who has the ability to cut right to the heart of things. I found this clarity in 4 weeks - your clarity will be phenomenal, I tell you.”

She found hers in 4 weeks.

You’ll find yours in 90 minutes.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Early bird is $99 - closes June 6th. After that it’s $149.

If you’ve been sitting on this - this is your nudge.

See you on June 20th. 💜

I keep having the same conversation.

Different people, different industries, different titles.

For some, it’s the weight of other people’s expectations - family, friends, loved ones who have a very clear idea of the path you should be on.

For some, it’s a company that looks impressive on a CV but is quietly draining everything out of you. The job looks fine. But fine isn’t fulfilling. It just doesn’t fit anymore.

For most, it’s both. And the hardest part isn’t even knowing something needs to change. It’s not knowing how to get from here to there.

I know this feeling well.

I was the management consultant at a Big 4 firm who was completely detached and fatigued from her day-to-day. On paper, the job made perfect sense. In reality, it was hollow. And I had parents who were finally proud of where I worked.

I knew what I wanted. But I kept asking myself - does it actually make sense to leave?

Because somewhere along the way I’d started shrinking my ambition so my job title felt like enough.

It wasn’t.

Look, the average person spends approximately 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. That’s one third of your life. A very long time to stay stuck. A very long time to keep second-guessing. A very long time to do work that doesn’t fit who you’ve become.

How to go from stuck to decided.

I want to tell you about Sophie.

Sophie came to me earlier this year carrying a lot.

She knew she was misaligned as a lawyer. So she made a bold move - she left law to pursue creative writing.

But now she was inside the pivot, and it was messier than she expected.

She felt stuck.

Her new field had multiple paths and she didn’t know which one to take. She was intimidated by the technical skills she felt she was missing. She was second-guessing every decision. And she was terrified of wasting more time going down the wrong path.

That’s when she came to me. In her own words:

“I have already pivoted, but my new career also has many paths within it, so I don’t really know which way to go from where I am now. I don’t want to waste too much time on another path before realising it’s not for me. I’m also intimidated by the technical skills required for the kinds of job postings I’ve been looking at - and I just need to move past it.”

In one hour together, I reframed her perspective and helped her see exactly why she’d been stuck in that loop. We uncovered the hidden biases she hadn’t noticed. And I gave her a framework she could trust to make a decision and keep moving, even after our session ended.

A day after the session, here’s what she said:

“I liked how it was not all ‘stuffy’ and ‘official’. It felt like talking to a friend. You helped me identify my biggest issue - imposter syndrome - which I did not even know I was suffering from. That’s the first step towards solving it.

You also helped me realise that I don’t have to go down a particular path just because it appears to be in front of me and available for the taking. That had been such a huge mental - maybe even emotional - problem for me. Thank you for taking that burden off my back.

I feel very relieved because I now know that I can zero in on what I love and want to do the most without looking back.”

Decision made!

That’s what one hour of the right coaching does.

My upcoming The Next Move Workshop gives you 90 minutes of the same.

No secrets. Nothing held back. Not an AMA, not a motivational session, not a generic webinar.

A focused, deep-dive workshop designed to take you from unclear to decided - with a clear Point A → Point B for your next career move.

Workshop Date: June 20th. Early bird pricing closes June 6th.

SAVE A SPOT

Still not sure if this is for you? Ask yourself one question:

Have I been thinking about this career move for longer than 3 months without making a real decision?

That’s the question you’re afraid to ask.

If the answer is yes - this workshop was built for you.

See you on June 20th.

- Wamide💜

The Next Move Workshop: Land a Role That Actually Fits Saturday, June 20th · 12pm WAT · 90 minutes

Here’s why I made this.

There’s an entire category of professionals stuck in career limbo. Not because they lack skill. But because:

• their identity evolved,

• their interests changed,

• they outgrew their environment,

• their ambitions shifted,

• or their previous role no longer fits.

I know this because I get messages like this all the time.

But more so - because I’ve lived it several times over.

Five years ago I felt this exact way.

I was tired of my role but hesitant about moving. Worried about taking a paycut. Worried about starting over. Worried about whether I’d find something better. I was ready to leave - but deep down I was scared.

I left anyway.

With nothing lined up, I rolled up my sleeves, stopped guessing, and applied the exact pivot framework you’re about to see in this workshop.

In less than two months, I landed a senior, high-impact remote role in tech - aligned with the life I wanted to build.

Since then, I’ve x10 my monthly income.

I’ve been coaching clients 1:1 with this framework for the past 3 years. And the results have been the same.

Let me tell you about Faith:

Faith had been overanalysing her exit plan for months. In less than 60 minutes, I helped her make the decision. We mapped out exactly where she was going and what her next role needed to look like - so clearly that she went home and built a PDF visualising it.

By March 2026, she was in that role. At one of the exact companies on her dream list.

You also deserve that same alignment and ease.

And you already have everything you need to make your next career move.

But a successful move requires more than a good feeling or a polished resume. It requires strategic clarity - one that turns your hesitation into a structured decision.

And that’s exactly what this workshop is.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

✓ The real reason you’re stuck - and it’s not your experience, your CV, or the job market. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

✓ The one mindset shift that separates people who keep overthinking from people who actually move - and how to make it before you leave the session.

✓ The 5-part clarity framework that takes you from “I don’t know what to do” to a decision you can actually act on - in one session.

✓ How to find your golden thread - the pattern running through everything you’ve done - and turn it into a career narrative that makes hiring managers sit up.

✓ A job search strategy that gets you in front of decision makers in 30 days - not 6 months of applications into the void.

This is what the other side looks like: Same framework. Different people. Same result:

Damola was stuck juggling teaching and side gigs alongside a design career she wanted. One decision. She quit teaching. 7 months later she had 7x her income. 10 months in, she’s working in design for a German company.

Chinenye was about to settle for a teaching job close to her house. One decision. She landed a Project Manager role in 3 weeks. She’s now 10x her income and a certified project manager.

Temilade was getting lowballed. One decision. She negotiated a new offer with a 55% increase in 4 weeks.

Faith was stuck with a toxic boss. One decision. She landed an aligned role within 3 months.

Maria was worried her oil & gas experience was too niche. One decision. Interview in 4 weeks. Offer double her previous salary. At a global multinational.

None of it was luck. All of it was a system. A decision.

And I’m handing you that system on June 20th.

You won’t just leave with ideas. You’ll leave with a decision that helps you land a role that actually fits - in 30 days.

Early bird: $99 - closes June 5th. Standard price: $149 after that. Registration closes June 16th. Only 30 spots.

👉 Click here to reserve your seat for The Next Move Workshop today →

p.s. The first 10 people who register also get personalised feedback on their Pivot Profile results from me before the workshop goes live. Don’t sit on this.

p.p.s. You may have seen an earlier version of this workshop with a May date. I’ve moved it to June 20th to give you more time to prepare and get the most out of the session.

Speak soon💜

It doesn’t.

You’re starting at step 3 in a 7-step process.

And that’s the biggest mistake I see mid-senior professionals make when they want to change careers.

Since February I’ve had almost 20 one-on-one conversations with people from this newsletter. Different situations on the surface. But the core challenges were almost always the same:

• You've outgrown your role and feel ready to move, ideally within the next 90 days

• You want to pivot but you're not sure what direction actually makes sense

• You know you want a change but you keep second-guessing yourself

• You're trying to figure out what kind of role you'd genuinely enjoy

• You feel stuck and keep asking: how do I actually do this?

So today I want to share the biggest lessons I’ve learned - and show you what actually moves the needle.

1. The fastest movers invest in strategy first - not last

When people want to change career, most start by rewriting their CV. Then they apply broadly. Then they try to fit into whatever is available. Then they wonder why nothing is sticking.

The people who move fastest don’t start with applications. They start with strategy.

They get clear on what they want, what they bring, and where they fit.

And then everything else becomes easier.

2. Your next move is hidden in your past

I’m a classic example of a talented generalist.

Frontend Developer → IT Auditor & Consultant → Operations Manager → Business Transformation Manager → Business Growth & Partnerships Director → Career Strategist.

That’s been my path.

And at multiple points in that journey, I felt completely unsure of what came next. It didn’t feel linear. It didn’t feel obvious.

But everything started to make sense when I stopped and took a proper audit of my experience.

That’s when I found my golden thread: I was consistently building and leveraging relationships to drive outcomes - no matter the role, no matter the industry.

That insight changed everything.

Because once you see your pattern, you can position it.

Your next move isn’t random. It’s already in your past. You just haven’t connected the dots yet.

3. The market doesn’t reward experience. It rewards clarity

Most people assume that if they have enough experience, the right opportunity will eventually find them.

That’s not how the market works.

The market doesn’t reward everything you’ve done. It rewards how clearly you can communicate what you do, who you are, and where you’re going next.

If your story is scattered, your opportunities will be too.

This is why two people with similar backgrounds can have completely different outcomes. One is clear, targeted, and positioned. The other is broad, unsure, and hoping something sticks.

Clarity is what makes the market take you seriously.

4. A paycut is not a requirement for a pivot. That’s a myth

I’ve never taken a paycut to pivot. Not once.

Positioning makes the difference.

If you can clearly communicate the value you bring and how it translates into a new context, you don’t need to take a paycut.

The market will pay for value. But you have to make that value visible.

5. You don’t need more years or another certification

Unless you’re entering a profession that legally requires it - medicine, law - the issue usually isn’t your qualifications. It’s that you haven’t positioned what you already have.

More qualifications don’t equal more clarity. They just feel safer than making a real move.

6. Clarity is what turns desire into a high-impact pivot

You know you want more. You know you want different.

But without enough clarity to act confidently, you stay in between.

Thinking. Second-guessing. Waiting. Looping.

This is exactly what I’ve been helping people move through - from “I think I want a change” to “I know exactly what I’m doing next.” Without blowing up their lives.

Having made 5 career pivots in 10 years - and coached 200+ professionals through their own - I know the hardest part about making a career change is deciding to do it. Against the fear. Against the second-guessing. Against the 1001 rejections.

Want me to walk you through exactly how to make your next career move, without second-guessing yourself for the next 6 months?

I’m hosting a live workshop on May 30th:

The Next Move Workshop: Land a Role That Actually Fits

In this 90-minute workshop, I’ll show you:

✓ Why high-achieving professionals get stuck in career limbo - even when they’re capable of more
✓ The 5-part clarity framework to move from confusion to confident direction
✓ How to uncover your golden thread and turn a broad background into a focused, marketable career narrative
✓ How to identify roles that align with your strengths, energy, and long-term goals
✓ How to stop overthinking your next move and make a strategic decision you can actually trust
✓ How to position yourself so the right opportunities find you - and the wrong ones stop wasting your time
✓ How to build a targeted job search strategy that gets you in front of decision makers within 30 days

By the end of the workshop, you’ll walk away with:
• a clearer understanding of where you actually fit
• a stronger sense of your transferable value
• and a practical Point A → Point B roadmap for your next move

You won’t just leave with ideas. You’ll leave with a decision.

This is not an AMA or motivational webinar. It’s a structured, hands-on workshop designed for ambitious mid-senior professionals who are ready to stop circling the same questions and start moving strategically. You’ll get workbooks, readiness assessment profiling, structured coaching, and bonus resources - everything you need to walk away with a clear plan, not just good intentions.

In one weekend, you’ll go from stuck → clear with a direction you trust.
In two weeks, you’ll be making active decisions instead of overthinking them.
And within a few months, you could be operating in a more aligned environment that actually matches your level.

Early bird pricing: $99 - enrolment open May 14th
Standard price: $149 from May 23rd. Closes May 28th

🎁 Join Priority List for free today - priority members pay $89 when doors open, not $99. ⬇️

Join the Priority List Now

The first 10 people on the priority list also get personalised feedback on their Pivot Profile results from me before the workshop goes live. Don’t sit on this…

p.s: This is what happens when I take proper breaks. My thinking gets clearer, and I finally execute on things I’ve been sitting on. Like this workshop.

p.p.s: Expect more newsletters from me. Maybe Mondays, maybe not. But you’ll love what you get. Thank you for sticking around 💜

When I came into 2026, I set a very clear goal to make meaningful income outside of my 9–5. And because of how prone I am to burnout, I decided to focus on just two areas: coaching and content/brand partnerships.

It sounded simple in my head. It also seemed scalable.

The plan was: build the systems for one stream in Q1, the other in Q2, then spend the rest of the year optimizing them both. High impact, low noise.

Or so I thought.

But if I’m being honest, my actions were working against my own “simple” strategy.

Somehow in the bid to simplify and lean in for help, I had overextended myself. I had someone helping me with editing Instagram content, I was considering replacing a hire for LinkedIn content, writing this newsletter weekly, coaching at least 2 clients a week, and constantly hunting for new leads and conversion systems.

And tbh, I thought it was working. After all, I actually hit my Q1 revenue goal.

Desperate to repeat that high this Q2, I started plotting more. More cold outreaches. More brand prospecting. More movements. More content inspiration to reproduce. More everything.

I didn’t want to be left out. I wanted to be seen, heard, visible.

Before I knew it, I was juggling five sales calls a day, writing weekly, actively coaching clients, onboarding new clients, approving posts, and shooting content - all while holding down my 9–5 and managing my home.

Famm, I burnt out hard.

I was my own biggest bottleneck.

Turns out, it wasn't even mommying that was burning me out. It was the version of 'success' I was trying to force alongside it.

And it’s funny I didn’t realize I was my own problem until I took a break this April.

During the Easter break, I took some additional days off and I intentionally stepped back from everything - writing, coaching, posting, pitching, even the 9–5.

That’s when it hit me: I was juggling too much, and I didn’t even want the things I was chasing.

So, I started by simplifying. I decided to let the "helpers" go - I realized that managing a team to produce content I was too tired to even think about wasn't scaling; it was just more weight and adding to the very noise I was trying to escape.

The clearest sign was a new newsletter partnership I’d just signed. The deposit had been sorted as of Mar 31st, and I had an idea of the content direction. But every time I thought about starting the work, I felt a literal knot in my throat. It stayed there for three days.

Wednesday morning after Easter, I listened to my gut.

I sent a text, refunded the money, and felt a massive wave of relief.

From Performing to Being

Taking a break gave me something I didn’t know I needed: White Space.

I started spending an hour every morning exercising, then working on my stuff - without the pressure of a deliverable. I dug into things I wanted to learn and tools I had been putting off. And I started to see things clearly again:

• How to actually structure my time.

• What to prioritize (and what to delete).

• Who to let into my space.

• The opportunities that were already right in front of me while I was busy chasing things “out there.”

I finally realized I needed more than just a weekend; I needed a real exit from the noise.

I don’t want to spend my life performing.

I want to be present. I want to live, love, and give back from a well-watered garden, not a parched one.

I’m slowly coming up for air. You’ll see me on LinkedIn and IG occasionally, but it’s mostly scheduled posts - especially now that it’s all me.

I’m now creating from a place of zero expectations and finding the freedom to be my truest self again.

I’ll try to show up here weekly, but I’m finally realizing that this current phase of my life requires me to step back more than I show up.

P.S. This isn’t a blanket rule. For some of you, “showing up” is exactly what your life/career needs right now. Don’t take my season as your strategy.

But if this resonates, let me know.

Overall, if there’s one thing I’m taking from this season, it’s this:

FOMO doesn’t ruin your life overnight.

It happens slowly - every time you say yes to something that pulls you away from yourself, until you eventually wake up as a version of you you don’t even recognize.

And the only way out… is to step back long enough to hear your own voice again.

Here’s to overcoming FOMO - one break, one reset, and one intentional pause at a time.

Keep growing 💜

Let’s Stay Connected

• New here? Subscribe (it’s free).

• Follow me on LinkedIn or Insta for real-time thoughts on navigating career pivots and growth.

• Ready to make your next career move with ease? Explore my 1:1 coaching. I help millennials make high-impact pivots without taking a paycut or starting from scratch.

Most of it personal, lots of it work stuff, and many times it’s home stuff - undone laundry, unending paperwork, juggling scheduling.

Before I had a child, work was my world. If I’m honest, it was all I knew. I was a multi-passionate professional whose mind wouldn’t stop ideating.

Then, motherhood changed the game.

My mind hasn't stopped ideating, but the stakes have changed. As a working mom, my open tabs aren't just digital browser windows; they are real-life demands competing for my sprit, body and soul 🫩

In the past four years, I’ve slept less, partied less, and burnt out more than I ever imagined.

But I’ve also made more impact than I did in the years before becoming a mom. There’s a new level of focus that comes with having less time - I’ve coached more, taught more, and written more than ever before.

And the biggest mind shift I’ve made as a working mom is being more conscious about intentionally creating an environment that actually allows me to be the best version of myself - to myself, to my husband, to my child, and to the world.

Because every now and then, burnout creeps back in.

And when it does, the weight becomes so heavy that it sometimes makes me question everything.

I’ve learned to spot the signs from a mile away now. It’s not a sudden crash; it’s a series of micro-signals:

• Being frustrated that the kid is eating too slow

• Feeling touched out the second I’m jumped on.

• Wondering if I even know what I’m doing anymore.

• Small, routine tasks suddenly feel like climbing a mountain.

• Feeling like I’m constantly racing against a clock that’s already won

• Or like the weight of the world is on my shoulders…

Sometimes I’m able to quickly reset and recover.

Reminding myself to see the glass half full instead of half empty.

Catching myself before I become irritated by everything.

Leaning into myself more, accepting my new identity, my new rhythm, not comparing myself to everyone else, and remembering that life moves in seasons.

I’m also learning that my attention span isn’t what it used to be - and that doesn’t mean I’m failing, it just means life looks different now.

Here’s 5 ways I deal with burnout

#Antidote 1: I withdraw and reset

Sometimes the best thing I can do is step back from everyone for a bit.

Not because I don’t love them, but because I need to regulate my own nervous system.

Every day, I find pockets of reset so I don’t crash out. Even a 10-minute reset changes the energy.

#Antidote 2: I create something with my hands

Whether I’m building something, journaling, (re)organizing my physical space, trying a new recipe, or even just kneading dough; creating just resets me.

It brings me back into my body instead of my head.

And that helps more than people realize.

Find your creative outlet and do more creating.

#Antidote 3: I stay away from my phone

I haven’t had social media notifications on since 2018. Not for Instagram, LinkedIn, X, or even WhatsApp.

This year, I’ve taken it a step further - I only use LinkedIn on my PC. I also take social media breaks every month, sometimes for a day or even a week.

Because when burnout is already present, the noise from everyone else’s life can make it worse. And I don’t need more noise.

Less ping pong/ scrolling = more breathing room. Period.

#Antidote 4: I build and leverage support infrastructure

I know that you can’t optimize a broken system just by trying harder. Sometimes, the system just needs more resources.

This looks like splitting things with my partner, hiring help, automating repetitive tasks, and delegating wherever I can - way before burnout takes me out.

For domestic stuff, that looks like getting help with cleaning, grocery shopping, ordering takeout on days we can’t cook; using tools to automate my workflow (I rarely post LinkedIn content in real-time; I schedule it up to two weeks in advance).

I start writing my newsletters weeks in advance so I’m not constantly chasing a phantom deadline.

And these days, I accept a lot of help. Handing over a task I don’t need to be doing is a survival strategy, not a luxury.

Shout out to every single person in my support system - you make my multipotientialite mom life possible.

#Antidote 5: I make time that is only mine

Solo lunch. Solo breakfast. Sometimes even solo travel.

Motherhood is beautiful, but it’s also constant.

And I’ve learned that I need moments where I’m not needed by anyone.

Those moments refill me all the time!

I’m learning to make them a regular part of my routine, not just to recover/reset.

But the most important thing I’ve learned is communicating clearly with my partner.

I tend to get visibly burnt out much faster than he does.

So I’ve learned to say it early.

Instead of pushing through it, pretending I’m fine, or carrying everything alone.

Because the truth is - burnout doesn’t just come from doing too much.

It comes from doing too much without support or inner alignment.

And motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

I know everyone’s ‘village’ looks different. If yours feels non-existent right now, my hope is that you find the courage to begin building one - whether that’s through community, hired help, or simply setting firmer boundaries. You weren’t meant to carry this alone.

These days, I’m not trying to be a perfect mom or a perfect professional. I’m just trying to build a life where I can breathe.

If you’re a working mom feeling stretched thin, hear me:

You aren’t doing it wrong. You’re just navigating one of the biggest identity shifts a human can experience.

The goal right now shouldn’t even be balance, it should be sustainability.

Personally, I want to build a life that feels calm on the inside, not just impressive on the outside.

This week, I hope you give yourself the grace to do the same.

Speaking of grace and resets - I’m taking my own advice next week.

There will be no newsletter in your inbox next week, but I’ll be back the following week, hopefully with a clearer head and a few fewer “open tabs.”

Until then, take care of yourself.

Keep growing 💜

And remember, those 1,000,001 open tabs you still have? Close them. Yeah, close them all!

In a general business or strategic context, Information Asymmetry occurs when one party in a transaction or relationship has more or better information than the other.

Think of a used-car salesman: they know exactly what’s wrong with the engine, while you only see the shiny exterior. That gap in knowledge is the asymmetry.

Now let’s bring that closer to home.

In your career and personal growth, Information Asymmetry exists between versions of you.

The you from last year. Last month. Even last week.

Each version was operating with a different level of awareness.

Which means:

You can only make the best decision with the data you have at that moment.

The version of you who made those mistakes last year (or even last month) was doing the absolute best they could with what they knew.

They didn’t have your current experience. They didn’t have your current perspective.

So beating yourself up now for not knowing things you haven’t learned yet isn’t just unkind; it’s bad strategy.

It’s like blaming a seed for not being a tree yet.

Don’t Judge. Audit Instead

Now, you might be looking at a particular area of your life and genuinely feel like you should be further along.

Maybe.

But growth requires honest reflection, not harsh judgment.

Trust me, I know.

For a long time, I was playing at a certain level in my business. At first, I chalked it up to it being a “side hustle,” but after a particular moment last year, I saw clearly why the growth felt stalled despite my “hard work.”

I wasn’t stuck because I lacked ability.
I was stuck because of how I was operating.

So instead of spiralling, I did what I’ve always done in my career.

I ran a strategic audit.

The exact same approach I used when I pivoted from energy to tech.

I looked at the numbers.
I identified where I was getting in my own way. I named where I wanted to be.
And most importantly, I got the support I needed to move forward.

The result?

This quarter alone, I’ve booked almost 4x the revenue I made in the entire previous year.

The 3-Point Personal Audit (Steal This)

There is a massive difference between a overthinking and a strategic audit.

One keeps you stuck in the past; the other fuels your next move.

If you’re stuck in the “I should be further along” loop, you don’t need more pressure.

You need better data.

Here’s the exact 3-step audit I use. I call it the G.A.P. Audit:

1. G - Grounding: Your Current Reality

Where are you now? Get brutally honest.

What level are you actually operating at right now?

Because the fastest way to move from Level 3 → Level 5 → Level 10
is to stop pretending you’re already at Level 10.

2. A - Aim: Your Desired Outcome

Where do you want to be?

What does Level 10 actually look like for you? Where exactly are you going?

Not vaguely. Not just better. Not more.

Specifically:

• What role?

• What income?

• What kind of work?

• What kind of life?

Clarity here is what makes everything else easier.

One of my clients did this back in November last year. She got clear on exactly what she wanted - and more importantly, what she didn’t want anymore.

This March, she’s starting a new role that aligns with that decision.

3. P - Path: Your Strategic Gap

This is where most people get stuck.

Because this requires honesty and work.

• What do you actually need to get there?

• What skills, positioning, or exposure are missing?

• What support do you need?

You don’t know what you don’t know.

And trying to figure everything out alone is one of the fastest ways to stay stuck.

Most times, the gap isn’t effort.

It’s perspective. And sometimes, it’s simply having the right framework to connect what you already have.

Your next level is actually in plain sight and much closer than you think.

But you can’t access it if you’re busy punishing your past self.

Today, make a strategic trade:

Take the lessons with you, but leave the shame behind.

This year isn’t going to wait for you to finish punishing yourself for things you didn’t know yet.

The market is moving, the opportunities are recalculating, and it’s time for you to get back in the driver’s seat.

Here’s to doing better, not perfect.

Wamide 💜

P.S. You are doing better than you think you are. I mean that.

Connect with me

• New here? Subscribe (it’s free)

• Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights on career pivots and growth

• Explore 1:1 coaching if you’re ready to move with clarity and strategy

• Want to get a head start? Get the Personal SWOT Workbook and map your strengths, gaps, and opportunities

I’m not sure if it’s burnout or just one of those strange weeks.

But I’ve been struggling to interpret things lately.

Screens look blurry.
I’m reading slower.
Comprehending slower too.

Which, if I’m honest, feels like my body quietly asking for a pause (I’m taking it already, I promise).

And yet… here I am writing.

Because writing is one of those things that reminds me I’m alive.

When I’m able to correctly articulate what’s in my head, a part of me does a little internal victory dance.

So I write anyway.

In the past few days since launching the Pivot Readiness Index, I’ve received quite a number of emails.

Most of them sound like some version of this:

But I’ve also gotten messages that feel heavier:

“I don’t know.”

“I’m ready for more, but I don’t know where to start.”

“What should I do?”

Every time I read one, I’m reminded of my own zig-zag path: six transitions in 12 years.

Frontend Developer → IT Auditor & Consultant → Operations Manager → Business Transformation Manager → Business Growth & Partnerships Director → Career Strategist.

Look above, and you’d see a series of pivots that might not make sense at first glance.

Every single one of those transitions was hard. I wasn’t born with a map or manual, so it really felt daunting.

It only got easier once I decided to remove the mental blocks - the belief that I needed to be certain before I was allowed to reinvent.

Most capable professionals are not stuck because they lack options. They’re stuck because they are treating a “positioning” problem like a “certainty” problem.

The GPS Theory of Career Pivots

I’m a big fan of the GPS Theory.

When you miss a turn while driving, your GPS doesn’t panic. It doesn’t judge your internal monologue or tell you that you've wasted the last ten miles.

It simply recalculates.

You take a wrong turn? Recalculating.

You miss the exit? Recalculating.

You decide to take the scenic route instead of the highway? Recalculating again.

Your destination doesn’t disappear.

The route just adapts to the current data.

Careers work the same way - but only if the car is actually moving.

The Trap of Passive Motion

Here is the strategic reality: Standing still is also a move.

While you wait for “perfect clarity,” you’re still burning fuel.

You’re burning mental energy, market relevance, and - most importantly - confidence.

And slowly, without realizing it, you start playing smaller than your actual capacity.

I see smart professionals fall into Passive Motion all the time:

• They keep researching instead of repositioning.

• They wait for one more certification instead of executing a move.

• They optimize a CV for a job they don’t even want anymore.

They convince themselves they are “preparing,” but strategy isn’t about having a 50-page manual for the next decade.

Strategy is the art of making the best possible move with the information you have right now.

If you wait until the entire path is visible, you’ve already waited too long. The market moves; the perfect opening closes.

Back in January, a client reached out with a challenge I see all too often: high-value work, but stalled growth.

Despite building years of experience across operations and sales, she was stuck in a low-compensation loop. She was working hard, but she was playing small because she couldn’t see the exit.

She didn’t need more time or more certifications. She needed a map.

I mapped out a specific strategic action plan for her next 3–6 months. She stopped the passive motion and started making high-leverage moves.

A few weeks ago, I got this:

Her first interview invite in three years. What changed? The market didn’t suddenly get easier. She just stopped waiting for the path to be “perfect” and started moving with a plan.

Moments like this remind me why I do this work. Because what often looks like a career pivot on the outside is actually something deeper.

It’s a shift in how you see yourself.

Once that internal shift happens, you stop being a passenger and start being the driver.

Stop Guessing. Start Gauging.

If you’re serious about making a strategic career move this year, let’s stop the guesswork.

Your instincts already know more than you think - sometimes the only thing missing is a diagnostic to show you exactly where the engine is stalling.

Take the Career Readiness Diagnostic.

In 20 quick questions, you’ll move past the “I don’t know” and uncover:

• The Bottleneck: Where exactly your transition is getting stuck.

• The Leverage: What your career actually needs next (hint: it’s rarely another course).

• The Path: The right route for your current coordinates.

TAKE THE DIAGNOSTIC→

A Final Thought for the Week

Instead of waiting for perfect clarity, try this. Say it with me:

I will trust my gut. I will take the leap. I will do it afraid.

What’s the career move you’ve been thinking about… but haven’t acted on yet? Reply and tell me. I read every response.

Until next week,
Keep growing 💜

I call it the loop.

In this issue:

This week, I’m reflecting on:

• Why smart professionals stay stuck in the “thinking about the next move” loop

• The difference between reflecting on your career and actually moving it forward

• How shifting how you see yourself changes how the market sees your value and the opportunities you attract

• Introducing my new FREE Pivot Readiness Diagnostic to help you pinpoint exactly why you’ve been looping and what you should do instead.

Let’s go🚀

The Loop

Most smart professionals aren’t stuck because they lack talent.

They’re stuck because they keep looping instead of executing.

I know this because not too long ago, I caught myself doing the exact same thing.

Back in September last year, I wrote a newsletter about building side income.

Right after publishing it, I had a small existential crisis.

Because the truth was…I was spending an insane amount of time on something that wasn’t making nearly as much money as I wanted.

I wanted to build a four-figure year from coaching, yet I wasn’t charging anything close to what would make that possible.

Deep down, I knew why.

For more than two years, the only thing I offered were one-off 30–45 minute coaching calls.

But what I actually wanted was to do deeper, more transformative work with clients.

The way I had structured my offers meant I was playing small.

And that’s when I realized something important:

Wanting something bigger and creating capacity for something bigger are two very different things.

Stuck in My Own Loop

As far back as April 2024, I had sat down with a friend and mapped out what the program could look like.

The structure was there. The outcomes were clear.

But I was too scared to sell it.

So I did what a lot of capable people do when they’re afraid.

I looped.

More thinking. More revising. More “perfecting.”

Until writing that newsletter forced me to face something uncomfortable.

I realized I wasn’t stuck.

I was just avoiding execution.

I had created the program. But it was hidden, so there was no way to actually buy it.

I got over my fear and decided to apply something I now call the What If Framework.

Most people make decisions based on the question:

What if this fails? What if I’m making a mistake?

I’ve seen it many times.

But the better question is:

• What if this works?

• What if someone actually needs this?

• What if I’m underestimating the impact this could have?

Fear asks you to shrink the move.

Execution asks you to test the move.

Framework Meets Reality

Not long after I got the program ready for sale, I got a message from Maria* (who would go on to become my first Career Accelerator client).

Maria had spent 15 years in the energy sector.

She knew she wanted to transition, but she couldn’t figure out how to position herself for something new.

She was applying to roles, but the interviews weren’t happening.

This is where most professionals get stuck. They focus on what they’ve done, instead of translating their value for where they want to go.

So for Maria, we unpacked everything she had done and worked through my reset, align, move framework.

For one, the biggest issue wasn’t her experience or the need to move from energy.

It was her translation layer.

Her CV documented everything she had done - but it wasn’t positioning her for the role she actually wanted. Enterprise Transformation was the golden thread for her unique skillset, but she was positioning differently.

Once we fixed that, everything started to move.

By December, Maria was interviewing for the exact kind of role she wanted.

And this March, she’s finalizing her offer and starting soon.

Not spray-and-pray applications.

Not hundreds of resumes.

Just one company.

The right one.

What Playing Small Actually Looks Like

I’ll be honest, playing small rarely looks obvious.

It usually looks like this:

• Optimizing your CV instead of applying strategically to roles that actually move your career forward

• Saying you want a new role but you haven’t spoken to a single hiring manager or decision-maker

• Researching career pivots endlessly but you haven’t made a targeted move toward the market you want

• Not clarifying your golden thread - the narrative that connects your experience - so you end up spraying applications instead of positioning yourself strategically

None of this feels like fear.

It feels like preparation.

But more often than not, it’s just avoidance dressed up as preparation.

So the real question is this:

Are you still looping…

or are you ready to start executing?

If you’re ready to move beyond journaling about progress and start executing on your next career move, I’m opening a few 1:1 spots for April in the Level Up Sprint program (the revised version of the program Maria joined).

This isn’t about fixing your CV neither is it just a collection of calls. It’s a 30-day intensive. You get four dedicated 45-min strategy sessions where you and I do the heavy lifting on your market positioning, plus a Career Pivot Map we build together. If you bought these sessions individually, you’d pay nearly the same amount without the structured roadmap and the 30 days of momentum we create together.

We’ll re-architect how the market sees your value so the opportunities you want start appearing.

Because the market isn’t waiting for people who play safe.

It rewards the people willing to architect bigger outcomes.

Most people stay stuck in the “what if” loop for years.

But occasionally someone decides they’re done thinking and ready to move.
Not because they had perfect clarity - but because they decided execution matters more than certainty.

If you’re considering a career move but aren’t sure what’s actually holding you back, I built a tool for that (thanks to Lovable).

The Pivot Readiness Index is a short FREE assessment that helps you identify the strategic gap between where you are and where you want to go.

In about 5 minutes, you’ll get clarity on:

• where you’re currently stuck
• what move your career actually needs next
• whether my program could help you accelerate the transition

Most people discover they’re missing one specific piece they hadn’t considered before.

TAKE THE DIAGNOSTIC

Remember, the real question isn’t:

“What if it fails?”

It’s:

What if it works?

Clarity doesn’t come from thinking longer.
It comes from executing sooner.

Stop looping. Start executing.

Take the diagnostic → https://pivot-ready.lovable.app/

In case you missed it,

These posts are worth a reread:

As always, feel free to reply and tell me what stood out to you.
I read every response and genuinely love hearing from you.

Until next week,
Keep growing 💜

And Happy International Women’s Day to the amazing women in this community.

There’s a particular kind of restlessness that shows up when you’re growing.

It’s this quiet, persistent feeling that something more is possible.

I’ve felt that way many times in my life, and even more this year (and we’re still in Q1 😄).

These days, one thing I look out for on Twitter or Threads - beyond all the wildness, hot takes, debates, jabs - is a thought that resonates and makes me pause like this one.

In this issue

This week, I’m sharing about:

• What to do with unhappiness and dissatisfaction (without spiralling)

• Why wanting more isn’t greed - it’s information

• How destination addiction keeps us stuck

• How to reframe your skills, strengths, and past experience without starting over

• Why the life you want is often closer than you think (and some handpicked global opportunities that could move you into more)

Let’s go 🚀

On Becoming More.

I know I want more. I’ve always known, and always wanted more.

More space to create.
More freedom to hear my own voice.
More room to become who I’m quietly growing into.

And yet - no matter what level I reach, no matter what milestone I hit, that desire doesn’t disappear.

That used to confuse me.

Until I realised something important:

Wanting more and being happy where you are are two different things - but they are not mutually exclusive.

You can want more and still be happy where you are.

The reason destination addiction is so powerful is because we have years of evidence that we’re not enough yet.

But wanting more shouldn’t make you unhappy. If it does, it’s a signal that you’re not being consciously grateful for where you are right now - and that needs to be addressed.

The Life You Want Is Often Closer Than You Think

Most of the time, when you say “I want more”, what you’re really experiencing is one (or more) of these:

• dissatisfaction

• uncertainty

• feeling stuck

Let’s talk about all three:

1. When You Feel Dissatisfied

Dissatisfaction gets a bad reputation - but it’s often the first sign of expansion.

The problem isn’t dissatisfaction in itself.
The problem is wallowing in it instead of paying attention.

If you made a meal and it had too much salt, you’d obviously be dissatisfied. But the next time you’re making that meal, you’d pay attention. That’s what you shoud do with your feelingfs too.

Here’s a simple exercise I use (and often give clients):

• Take a piece of paper

• Draw two columns

Where I am right now | Where I want to be

Then ask yourself:

What is one thing I can do right now to move slightly closer?

That answer is usually where your “more” begins.

2. When You Feel Uncertain

Uncertainty is normal, especially when you’re trying to see the entire picture from start to finish.

And that’s exactly why you feel stuck.

Most people get stuck because they’re trying to solve A → Z all at once.

But growth doesn’t work that way.

It’s A → B.

You don’t need clarity for the whole journey.
You need clarity for the next step.

Stop demanding A → Z certainty, start allowing movement from A → B.

Simple. Easy. Progress.

3. When You Feel Stuck

This one is my favourite - because it’s usually an illusion.

Feeling stuck often comes from overwhelm.
From believing you’re behind.
From thinking you have nothing special to work with.

But that’s rarely true.

More often, what’s happening is this:

• You can’t see your strengths clearly.

• You can’t see the opportunities available to you.

• You can’t see how your past experiences connect.

This is exactly why I do a personal SWOT Analysis every year.

Not as an academic exercise - but as a mirror. A framework to help me surface:

• strengths I’ve overlooked

• skills I’ve undervalued

• opportunities hidden in plain sight

• patterns that point to where I can expand next

A Real Example

Last week, a wonderful newsletter subscriber - Eniola - emailed me.

She had recently completed Law School, explored front-end development during her undergrad, and felt torn between two worlds.

After using my SWOT Workbook Template, she realised something powerful:

She didn’t need to choose. She didn’t need to abandon law or tech. She could combine both, and build a coherent path as a technology attorney.

Becoming More Isn’t Greed

It’s information, and what you do with information is pay attention.

• Paying attention to dissatisfaction instead of numbing it

• Paying attention to uncertainty without letting it freeze you

• Paying attention to what you already have instead of dismissing it

Because, the life you want isn’t missing.

It’s just waiting to be seen clearly.

As promised this year, I’m sharing more guides and frameworks to support your growth.

Ready to Dig Deeper?

If you’ve been feeling that quiet pull for more - more alignment, more clarity, more direction - the SWOT Workbook will help you think differently about yourself and your options.

It’s practical. It’s reflective. It’s designed to help you stop window-shopping for a new career and start seeing the strengths you already have.

Stop choosing. Start combining.

👉🏽 Grab it here for $3 → wamide.com/resource

Until next week,
Keep growing 💜

Opportunities 🎯

• VV Visionaries Program 2026 by Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund is now accepting applications → see here

• A. G. Leventis Foundation Scholarship (2026–2027) is open.
  PS: I almost turned down this fully-funded MBA scholarship 9 years ago - please don’t make that mistake. → see here

• 🎙️Catch my podcast episode with Treford
  Because the goal isn’t a “perfect” career path - it’s a coherent one, where your experience keeps compounding even when your job titles change ⬇️

Because I know exactly how to pivot into a new, aligned role without starting from scratch.

And I know how to do it without under-earning, and without pretending my past experience didn’t count.

I know this because I’ve done it - five times in ten years.

Let’s look at all of my past roles - looks like a frantic game of musical chairs 🫣:

Frontend Developer → IT Auditor → Operations Manager → Business Transformation → Growth & Partnerships Manager.

Don’t worry, I didn’t plan any of this.

So even to me, it looked messy at first, and I often felt like I didn’t know what I was doing (for a while, I didn’t).

Every move felt like I was “behind.” Like I was somehow doing adulthood wrong. I kept asking myself: “Am I wasting my past? Should I just stick to one thing and be grateful? Can I really move into this?”

But then I started paying more attention and something clicked.

With every move, I actually felt more fulfilled, not less. More grounded. More confident in my decisions. More aligned in my career journey. The best part, I was never really starting from scratch.

Then, in 2021, I decided to pivot from Energy back into Tech. It was going to be my fifth career pivot. I hadn’t worked in a product-led tech company since 2013. Oh, and I was doing it all while pregnant.

Most people told me to “play it safe.” Instead, I interviewed with brands like YouTube, Bolt, and Glovo.

Now even though I was landing these interviews, something often felt off so I paused.

During my maternity leave, I spent ample time doing an inventory audit and decided to change my job search strategy.

I recounted my 8-year career journey, trying to figure out what I had truly enjoyed over the years and what I didn’t. That’s when I realized being in a big corporate or scale up, or having a “big name” on my CV didn’t matter to me at that time. I also didn’t want to continue in operations, I wanted something at the intersection of strategy, partnerships and growth operations.

With this, I became very targeted in my job application. I applied for fewer roles, interviewed for only 3 between October and December 2021.

By January 2022, I had an offer for a senior remote role in tech, and it came without a pay cut.

That’s when I realised the truth most professionals miss:

The goal isn’t a linear career. The goal is a coherent one.

It is 100% possible to pivot at any stage of your career - without starting over, without erasing your past, and without blowing up your income.

If I had to pivot again tomorrow, I wouldn’t:

• randomly apply for roles

• chase new degrees out of panic

• or try to reinvent myself from scratch

I’d follow this 5-step framework to move on purpose, I call it The OnPurpose P.I.V.O.T. Framework.

These aren’t just theories; they are the exact principles I’ve lived, I’ll continue to teach every time a pivot is on the line, and the same system I've used to coach 200+ professionals through their own "uncommon" moves.

So if you’re thinking about making a career switch, here are my 5 Non-Negotiable Rules for the “OnPurpose” Pivot:

Step 1: “P”- Purpose Filter (Know your Why)

When you’re pivoting, uncertainty is normal, but aimlessness is expensive.

You won’t always feel 100% sure -and that’s okay. What matters most is starting from the inside out, not from job titles or trends.

Focus on you and audit your "internal drivers" before looking at job titles.

Ask yourself: Why do I want a change?
Not just what you want to move into, but what you want more of.

Your “why” might be:

• more autonomy or flexibility

• greater scope or exposure

• leadership and decision-making power

• alignment with your values or lifestyle

• more money, more scale?

Clarity here becomes your filter.

Without it, every opportunity looks tempting - and confusing. With it, decisions get easier.

Step 2: “I” - Inventory Audit (Strengths & Gaps)

Next, take stock of what you already bring to the table. Conduct a skills self-assessment across:

• technical skills

• soft skills

• patterns of problems you’re consistently good at solving

List the skills you already use today that are relevant to where you’re going. These are your transferable strengths - and they matter more than you think.

Then identify your gaps - but be intentional.
You don’t need everything. You need the few skills that unlock credibility in your next move. Ask:

• What’s truly required vs. “nice to have”?

• Can this gap be filled through short courses, certifications, projects, or on-the-job learning?

• Do I really need another degree, or just proof of capability?

This step is about precision, not accumulation.

Use my SWOT analysis workbook to dig deeper into your unique strengths.

Step 3: “V” - Value Translation (Nail the Positioning)

A pivot isn’t a reset. It’s a repositioning.

Your job is to connect the dots between:

• what you’ve already done

• and the value your next market cares about so the hiring managers don’t have to guess your value.

Same skills. New language. New context.

This is where most pivots tank - not because people lack experience, but because they don’t know how to translate it.

I know exactly how to bridge that gap.

Step 4: “O” - Offer Proof (The Pivot Plan)

You don’t need to learn everything. You need to learn just enough to close the credibility gap.

Identify:

• what’s truly required to break in

• what can be learned on the job

• what needs visible proof

Then build intentionally: projects, case studies, pilots, experiments, portfolios.

Clarity comes from movement - not endless preparation.

Step 5: “T” - Targeted Visibility (Strategic Application)

Most roles are not filled through job boards. A large percentage are filled through referrals, internal recommendations, and conversations that happen before a role is ever posted.

So don’t rely on applications alone.

Share your pivot plan clearly with:

• former colleagues and managers

• mentors and peers

• recruiters and hiring managers

Let people know:

• what you’re moving toward

• the value you bring

• the problems you solve

Use LinkedIn intentionally - especially when your profile clearly tells a repositioned story. This keeps you top of mind when opportunities arise.

This isn’t about “networking harder.”
It’s about making your direction legible to the right people.

The Bottom Line:

You don’t need to blow up your career to change it.

Every successful pivot I’ve helped a professional make followed this exact logic - including Temi’s pivot from Customer Experience to Public Relations.

Ready to build your bridge? Let’s do this.

If you’re feeling restless, stuck, or quietly dissatisfied, that’s not a flaw.

That’s information. It’s telling you that something needs to change - not everything, just something.

If you want 1:1 support to map your transferable strengths, identify the markets you’re best positioned for, and turn confusion into a clear, credible next move, let’s work together.

I help experienced professionals pivot without starting from scratch or second-guessing themselves.

Book your 1:1 Pivot Call

You can also reply this email to explore what’s possible.

No panic. No starting over. No wasted experience.

Just a pivot - on purpose.

To your next move,

And maybe how it’s not a productivity hack at all - but a life one.

Think about the simplest things we do:

We bathe daily (most of us do).
We brush our teeth daily.
We eat. We sleep.

And most times, we don’t negotiate these with our mood.

But when it comes to work, growth, health, fitness - or the promises we make to ourselves - consistency suddenly becomes conditional.

When we feel motivated.
When things are clearer.
When life is calmer.

But life doesn’t work that way. Neither do our careers.

Think about school.

You don’t go once and expect mastery.
You go five days a week.
Over time, it compounds.

Last year, I intentionally chose consistency in a few key areas - and it quietly changed how I see everything.

Every single day, the sun rises and sets.
No drama.
No motivation.
Just consistently.

Rain, on the other hand, comes and goes.
When it comes, it’s intense.
It disrupts things.
But it also makes things grow.

So yes - intensity isn’t bad.

But consistency beats intensity every single time.

Because consistency is what makes intensity useful.

Career breakthroughs rarely come from one big moment.
They come from showing up repeatedly:

• to learn

• to refine your thinking

• to build skills

• to stay in the game longer than most people do

Consistency is in fact not a productivity trick.
It’s the thing.

The thing that quietly compounds into clarity, confidence, and leverage.

So if you’re feeling dissatisfied, stuck, or unsure right now - don’t wait for the perfect feeling.

Take your time seriously.
Show up anyway.
Keep moving, even when the path isn’t exciting yet.
Trust that small, repeated actions shape outcomes.

Don’t aim to be rain.
Aim to be day and night.

Be consistent.

Your future will thank you for it.

In case you missed it,

These posts are worth a reread.

Until next week,
Keep growing 💜

Somewhere along the line, it starts to feel like you’re personally responsible for making grand, irreversible life decisions - the kind that determine whether you’ll be fulfilled, successful, or quietly regret everything.

And suddenly, every choice feels heavy.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not behind.
You’re not broken.
You’re not failing at adulthood.

You’re just at a decision point.

New here? 👋🏽

Hi, I’m Wamide - welcome to OnGrowth&.

I write about career clarity, personal growth, and navigating transitions with intention - especially when you’re figuring things out in real time.

My unique perspective comes from:

• 12+ years of working, building, and reinventing my own career

• 5 career transitions across e-commerce, consulting, supply chain, energy, and HR tech

• Coaching hundreds of people to make braver, more confident career moves

If you’re looking for clarity (not noise), you’ll feel at home here.

In This Issue

This week, I’m reflecting on:

• Why career uncertainty is normal - and not a personal failure

• How to keep moving forward without having everything figured out

• Why gut check, cost check, and patience matter more than perfect plans

• Six anchors that help when clarity feels far away

Let’s go🚀

Your career doesn’t need to be mapped out from the start.

I didn’t always know what I wanted to become.

In 2012, I graduated university with a first-class degree in Computer Engineering.
Second best in my class.

My parents were proud. My family was proud. I was proud too.

But deep down, I was spiralling.

I had no clear idea what to do with the degree.
I had too many interests.
And suddenly, I had “freedom” with no instructions.

I decided I needed to get a job.

But confusion didn’t magically disappear once I started working.

Even three years in, I kept asking myself:

• Is this the right move?

• Am I behind?

• What if I choose (or chose) wrong?

What I know now - that I didn’t know then - is this:

The ability to choose, rethink, change direction, and design your own path is a muscle.

You don’t have it or lack it.
You build it through use.

So if you’re in a season where you don’t know what to do next - no matter your career stage - here are six anchors that help.

1. Stop Obsessing Over the End

High achievers struggle here.

We’re used to systems where effort guarantees outcome:
Study → pass.
Work hard → get rewarded.
Do the “right” things → things work out.

But real life doesn’t work that way.

Being a good employee doesn’t guarantee growth.
Being loyal doesn’t guarantee fulfillment.
Doing more doesn’t automatically mean moving forward.

And that’s why you need to stop obsessing over seeing the end.

Back in January, I had a 1-hour coaching call with a young lady called Grace. She had reached out in December last year to schedule a coaching session for Jan.

During our call, I started checking for the signals to find out the deeper issue at hand, especially with high-performing generalists.

She’d been in the same role for over three years but her growth had stalled. So she did what many capable people do:

• Took on more work

• Considered another degree

• Stayed constantly busy

Still, she felt stuck.

The issue wasn’t effort.
It was direction.

Before our call ended, I told Grace exactly what to do.

2 weeks later: a reframed mindset and deep clarity to navigate her career with the commitment it deserves.

When you don’t know the final destination, your job isn’t to attempt plan the whole journey, or jump at everything.

It’s to take one meaningful next step. Focus on Point A → B.

2. Keep Moving - But Don’t Move Blindly

I’ve said take meaningful steps, right.

Because movement matters, and stagnation breeds anxiety (even, depression).

But movement without some structure can become its own trap - busy, exhausting, and directionless.

Instead of waiting for a perfect clarity, use a framework to guide your next step.

That’s where my 4-Pillar Career Framework comes in:

• Learning & Growth

• Earning

• Environment

• Meaning

These pillars don’t change.
What changes is which one needs your focus at different moments in your life.

So when you’re unsure, ask:
Which pillar needs attention right now?

You don’t need all the answers.
You just need a place to focus.

When clarity feels far away, this gives you somewhere solid to stand.

3. Experiment + Learn When to Say Yes - and When to Say No

You don’t need a five-year plan. You need small tests that generate data.

Skills, interests, access, clarity often emerge after movement, not before.

In 2020, while figuring out my next career move, I was asked to lead strategy for an energy company connected to the startup I worked at.

At the time, I was focused on Operations and Business Development - but I had quietly decided to explore Strategy & Operations roles (no one knew).

Even though I couldn’t see where it would lead, I said yes.

That yes became the foundation for my next role - and eventually led me into Strategic Partnerships & Growth.

And that experimentation made it easier for me to say no.

To roles that didn’t feel aligned.
To paths that no longer fit - even if they once did.

Because uncertainty doesn’t mean you say yes to everything.

Sometimes clarity comes from:

• saying yes to exploration

• and no to what drains you, distracts you, or pulls you off-course

Every yes shapes your path.
Every no protects it.

I hope you find more courage, confidence, and clarity to say yes and say no.

4. Do a Gut Check - and a Cost Check

When people hear I’ve transitioned careers five times without taking a pay cut, they always ask how.

For me it boils down to two things - my gut, my energy.

Before you commit to a path or decide to switch careers, ask these two questions:

• Does this feel aligned? (gut check)

• What is this costing me - time, energy, peace, money? (cost check)

Not every cost is bad.
But unexamined costs add up.

Notice what gives you energy (and what drains it)

Your body often knows before your mind does.

5. Don’t Do It Alone

There’s a reason uncertainty feels heavier when you carry it by yourself.

Research shows that humans are not wired to do life alone. We’re social by design - and connection isn’t just emotional, it’s biological.

Strong social support improves resilience, mental health, and decision-making. Prolonged isolation does the opposite.

In simple terms:
When you’re alone with your thoughts for too long, everything feels bigger, scarier, and more final than it really is.

That’s why uncertainty shrinks when it’s shared. Not because you’re weak - but because clarity is often co-created.

Talk to your friends. Say it out loud.
Join a community.
Learn from people a few steps ahead of you.
Work with a coach.

WORK WITH ME

People don’t get unstuck by thinking harder.
They get unstuck by thinking together.

And if you’re in a season where you’re spiralling, second-guessing, or stuck in your head, you don’t need more willpower.

You need perspective.
You need reflection.
You need support.

That’s not a flaw.
That’s being human.

6. Keep being curious. Do what makes you happy - even without the full picture

Let curiosity lead before certainty shows up.

Curiosity is usually the first signal of growth.

When I first started writing here, I wasn’t sure where my subscribers would come from.

I just knew writing made me genuinely happy. And I’ve stayed with it.

Every time I post, some people unsubscribe.
But even more people subscribe.

In 1–2 years, maybe I’ll write a book.
In 3 years, maybe a book tour.
Or something else entirely.

I have big dreams, but I don’t know the full picture…

So I’m choosing to do this in a way that feels aligned now - and that’s enough to keep moving.

What to Do Next

Overall, when you don’t know what to do next, anchor on ONE thing for a while until it feels solid.

Uncertainty doesn’t mean you’re stuck - it means you’re at a decision point.

If you’ve been feeling that quiet dissatisfaction, my 4-Pillar Career Framework will help you think more clearly.

It shows you what to optimize for depending on where you are - so you’re not fixing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE GUIDE

In case you missed it,

These posts echo some of the thoughts I shared here. Worth a reread.

As always, hit reply and tell me what stood out to you.
I read every response and genuinely love hearing from you.

Until next week,
Keep growing 💜

I’ve been solo-parenting this past week because my husband finally took a much-needed vacation, partly mandated by me.

Being alone again has a way of slowing things down. It creates space to notice patterns. To reflect. To connect dots you usually don’t have time to.

And it got me thinking about something I don’t talk about much online: my marriage - and the unexpected parallels it has with our careers and the lives we build.

Stay with me.

In this issue

This week, I’m reflecting on:

• Why our deepest desires often mirror the life we end up building

• Why clarity isn’t a “nice to have” - it’s foundational

• How desire without direction (and busyness without intention) can keep you stuck

• The four pillars of a fulfilling career, and FREE GUIDE to show you what to optimize at different stages of your career

On Desire, Standards, and Choosing Better

Long before I got married, I heard the same stories over and over:

Marriage is hard.
It’s not a bed of roses.
Every man has a vice.

And every time I heard it, something in me pushed back.

I didn’t just reject those narratives - I actively named what I wanted instead.

A peaceful home.
A loving partnership.
Mutual commitment.
Love. Safety. Friendship. Ease. Growth. Fun.

Even then, I still made mistakes.

For years, I found myself in toxic relationships, or ones where I felt like I was “too much.” Where I had to shrink parts of myself to be more palatable.

But in 2017, I decided I was done with that version of my life.

I stopped entering relationships that contradicted the future I said I wanted.

Not long after, I met my husband - and it didn’t take long to realize this was my final bus stop.

What changed wasn’t luck.
There was fate.

But there was also clarity. Clear standards. Pillars. Values. And a clear definition of what “fulfillment” meant to me.

The Career Parallel: When Desire Meets Commitment

Last year, I worked with someone - let’s call her Damola.

Her story is a reminder that our deepest desires are often within reach - but not without the inner work that makes movement possible.

When Damola first came into my coaching, she was teaching full-time and earning less than ₦100,000 ($66) a month. She could barely cover her bills and felt deeply dissatisfied with where her life was.

She knew what she wanted.

She wanted to transition into UI/UX design.

But knowing what you want - and knowing how to move toward it - are two very different things.

Because she needed to survive, Damola stayed busy with anything that brought in money - side gigs, research projects, after-school teaching. All understandable. All necessary.

But all of it quietly pulled her away from the one thing she actually wanted to build.

More than skill gaps, what held her back was the looming uncertainty around pivoting:

Is this realistic?
Can I really do this?
Who will hire me?

When we started working together, the first shift wasn’t tactical - it was mental.

I helped her get clear on why this pivot mattered, what she was working toward, and how to take focused, aligned steps instead of scattered ones.

Then things began to move.

First, a shadowing program.
Then, a scholarship to upskill in design.
Then, confidence and visibility from building publicly.

Not long after, she resigned from teaching.

Today, Damola works full-time as a UI/UX designer, has increased her income by several times over, and made the transition in under seven months.

Not because she rushed.
Not because she got lucky.

But because she stopped orbiting her desire - and finally committed to it.

The 4 Pillars of a Fulfilling Career

What stands out about Damola’s journey isn’t just the outcome.

It’s why the transition worked.

Her growth wasn’t accidental. It followed four quiet pillars that show up in every fulfilling career, no matter the industry, level, or life stage.

The mistake many people make is thinking fulfillment is one thing you either have or don’t.

In reality, it’s a balance.

Here’s how it showed up for her:

1. Learning, Growth & Mastery

Before anything changed externally, Damola had to give herself permission to learn again.

She moved from curiosity to commitment:

• Shadowing designers

• Applying for - and landing - a design scholarship

• Building skills deliberately, not casually

This pillar is about staying relevant - not in a hustle-y way, but in a way that expands your confidence and competence.

Fulfillment starts to fade the moment growth stalls.

2. Earning & Recognition

Damola’s teaching role paid her - but it didn’t reflect her value, or support the life she wanted to build.

This pillar isn’t about chasing money for its own sake.
It’s about fairness.

As her clarity and skill increased, her earning power followed - not just because she demanded more, but because her work created more value in the right environment. And as of this February, she’s already earning even more.

3. Environment (Supportive, Not Draining)

One of Damola’s biggest shifts wasn’t just what she started doing - it was what she stopped doing and tolerating.

She stepped out of environments that kept her surviving and into ones that supported growth:

• Learning communities

• Mentors and peers who normalized her ambition

• Spaces where her progress was encouraged, not questioned.

Your environment either protects your energy - or slowly drains it.

No amount of motivation can outwork the wrong environment.

4. Meaning & Alignment

This is the quiet pillar - and often the most important.

Design wasn’t just a “better job” for Damola.
It aligned with how she wanted to think, create, and contribute.

Once her work matched her interests and identity, momentum came naturally.

Alignment doesn’t mean ease.
It means coherence - when your effort, values, and direction stop pulling against each other.

The Real Lesson

Damola didn’t fix her career by chasing one opportunity.

She rebuilt it by strengthening the pillars underneath it.

When one pillar is weak, dissatisfaction creeps in.
When multiple pillars are misaligned, burnout follows.

But when all four are intentionally supported - growth, earning, environment, and meaning - careers don’t just change.

They stabilize.
They compound.
They become sustainable.

And ultimately lead to work-life alignment.

If You’re Feeling Like You Want More

You’re working hard but feel unsettled…

You’ve outgrown your role but can’t name what’s missing…

You’re circling a desire you haven’t fully committed to yet…

It’s worth asking:
Which pillar needs attention right now?

That’s usually where clarity begins.

And if you’re not sure where to start, I’ve created a FREE GUIDE that shows you what to optimize for depending on your career stage, so you’re not trying to fix the wrong thing at the wrong time.

👉🏽 [Download the FREE Guide]

P.S. If this framework helps you think differently about your career and you’d like support applying it to your own situation, I’ve got something for you.

When you refer 20 people to this newsletter, you’ll unlock a free 1:1 career clarity session with me.

How REFERRAL works:

1. Head to wamide.substack.com/leaderboard

2. Click the copy/share icon to grab your unique referral link

3. Share it via text, email, or on social media

Any new subscriber who joins using your link counts toward your total.

Refer a friend

In Conclusion

Fulfillment - in careers or relationships - isn’t accidental.

It’s built through clarity.
Through standards.
Through choosing alignment over familiarity or popularity.

Sometimes the discomfort you’re feeling isn’t a sign that something is wrong.

It’s a sign that you’re ready for better.

As always,

Keep growing 💜

See you next week.

Quit your job. Move countries.

Burn it all down and begin again.

There’s that, but reinvention doesn’t always have to look like that.

Sometimes, it’s quieter.

New here? 👋🏽 Hi, I’m Wamide!

Welcome to OnGrowth&. Here, I write about career clarity, personal growth, and navigating transitions with intention - especially when you’re figuring things out in real time.

My unique perspective comes from 12+ years of working, building, and reinventing my own life - including five career transitions across HR tech, energy, e-commerce, and consulting - plus coaching hundreds of people to make braver, more confident career moves.

If you’re looking for clarity (not noise), you’ll feel at home here.

In this issue

This week, I’m reflecting on:

🔁 Reinvention - why it’s less about starting over and more about becoming more of yourself.

🧠 What reading 9 books taught me about systems, environment, and follow-through.

✨ How big and small reinventions have shaped my life and helped me find my identity.

Let’s go🚀

One of my coaching clients, ‘Sola, had been working for over 12 years and felt stuck.

She had moved countries 5 years ago, and, had worked incredibly hard to climb the career ladder and prove herself.

And on paper? She was doing well.

But deep down, she still felt stuck - because changing your location doesn’t automatically change everything else.

All it took was one reframing question to help her reinvent herself - reconnect with her interests, make space for them again, and begin shifting how she saw herself.

I’ll show you the question I asked her.

Why I’m a Big Believer in Reinvention

I’ve always been a big believer in reinvention.

Not the dramatic kind.
Not the “burn it all down” version.

But the quiet, intentional kind - the kind that comes from committing to a higher version of yourself, even when it’s inconvenient, uncertain, or unclear.

Looking back, reinvention has been a recurring pattern in my life.
For me, every meaningful shift has followed the same arc:

Dissatisfaction/Desire → Decision → Action → Reinvention

• At 21, I moved away from my parents’ home in Ibadan to start my first “big girl” job as a frontend developer at an e-commerce/tech startup in Lagos.

• At 22, I pivoted into IT audit/management consulting - not because I had it figured out, but because I wanted more depth, impact, and solid work experience.

• At 23, I left a toxic relationship and committed to being - and choosing - a healthier partner.

• At 24, I applied for and got a fully funded MBA scholarship in Greece, a country I’d never been to, because I wanted to learn to think like a decision-maker, not just execute.

• At 26, I said yes to my first people management role, leading a team of 10 - many older than me - before I felt ready.

• At 29, I made my fifth career switch and pivoted back into tech, trusting a pull I couldn’t fully explain.

• At 32, I moved to a non-English-speaking country with my family, choosing a new environment to support the life we wanted to build.

None of these decisions came from perfect clarity.

It’s been conviction - a sense of what I wanted and the courage to move toward it.

Even as I turn 34 this year, I’m still refining, reinventing and redesigning my life with intention.

🫵🏽 You should too.

5 Ways to Reinvent Your Life Without Starting From Scratch

You’ve probably reinvented your life before - even if you didn’t call it that.

But today, I want you to pause and take stock of one area of your life where something feels off.

The quiet dissatisfaction. The sense that you want more. Let’s do something about it together.

Here, you’ll find five grounded ways to reinvent your life and begin moving intentionally towards a better outcome.

1. Change the system, not your personality

Most people think reinvention requires becoming “more disciplined.”

Not really.
It just requires better systems.

If the version of you you’re becoming needs consistency, design your life so consistency is the default:

• Make the right thing easier

• Add friction to the wrong thing

• Stop relying on motivation to do structural work

Your habits are often a design problem - not a character flaw.

2. Stop starting over. Start stacking.

I’ve switched career paths five times in 10 years:

Frontend Developer → IT Auditor/Management Consultant → Operations Manager → Business Transformation Manager → Business Development & Partnerships Director.

Five different titles across five different industries.

At first, every transition felt confusing. I thought I always needed to start over or feared I wouldn’t thrive in new fields since I hadn’t “paid my dues” in them. But 5 years into my career, I had an epiphany: with each move, I gained clarity and a stronger sense of alignment.

My consulting background sharpened my strategic thinking.
Frontend development trained me to build and problem-solve quickly.
Operations taught me how to execute under constraints.

Reinvention isn’t about erasing your past.

It’s about stacking new skills, perspectives, and behaviours on top of what already exists.

Nothing you’ve done is wasted: Every role. Every pivot. Every “detour”.

They all count.

The version of you you want to become is built from accumulated layers - not a blank slate.

3. Act like the next version of you before the title changes

Identity is very powerful when it comes to change, and it’s important to make shifts long before you have external validation.

When I worked at PwC, there was a performance rating termed “working above and beyond”.

If you were at Level 2 and aiming for Level 3, you were encouraged to start doing Level 3 work before the promotion came.

I’ve applied that same framework to my life ever since, even though I left PwC in 2017.

Before I became a VP in my current role, I was already doing VP-level work.

Managing expectations across multiple teams in different time zones, making high-level decisions, having hard conversations about priorities and trade-offs, and thinking strategically about how people’s work connected to the bigger picture.

I didn't wait for the title to start showing up that way. That's what made the move up possible.

That’s what you should do too. Start acting in the role you want (at least in some capacity) before you actually get it.

Stop waiting to:

• Feel ready

• Be promoted

• Be chosen

Start operating at the next level first.

That proof - not potential - is what creates momentum. Titles (and how others see you) catch up later.

4. Change your standards, not just your plans

Plans change. Motivation fades.

Standards stick. Boundaries matter.

When you quietly decide:

• “This is how I show up now.”

• “This is what I no longer tolerate.”

• “This is what consistency looks like for me.”

Your behaviour adjusts to match.

Reinvention begins the moment your internal baseline shifts.

5. Upgrade your environment before you upgrade your goals

Truthfully, environment quietly shapes our behaviour/outcomes.

If nothing around you supports the life you’re trying to build, you’ll keep fighting yourself and wondering why things aren’t working.

And this is where you can really do a 360 reinvention. Here, this might look like:

• Changing where or when you work

• Being more intentional about who you spend time with

• Deciding what stays visible - and what stays out of reach

• Or even, changing houses or cities or countries.

Let me make this practical.

I’ve mentioned that I read nine books last year. The year before that, I read two.

That wasn’t a personality change.
It was a structural one.

I didn’t suddenly become “more disciplined” in 2025, I upgraded my environment.

I have always had a supportive partner, and a flexible, remote job. But before 2025, I could not even manage to do much for myself because I was constantly burnt out.

2025 was different.

The biggest impact relocating has had on my growth is allowing me the mental space to truly find myself again.

At home in Nigeria, I was always hustling, driving (and stuck in traffic), rushing somewhere, balancing several different things at once.

However, here in Portugal, I can do more with less so I am able to operate from a place of peace, rather than survival. This has allowed me to rest, reset, recommit to my personal growth, and invest more time in acquiring skills that my career and business can benefit from.

Reinvention accelerates when your environment starts doing some of the heavy lifting for you.

In summary,

Reinvention isn’t about becoming someone new.

And it’s not instability.

It’s discernment.

It’s paying attention.

And often begins with a small decision:

• To take yourself more seriously

• To stop being the person dissatisfied with themselves

• To choose growth over comfort

• To refuse to stay loyal to an old version of yourself just because it’s familiar

No, you’re not lost.

Sometimes it means you’re finally listening.

To the quiet dissatisfaction that won’t go away. To the sense that you’ve outgrown the room you’re in. To the nudge that says: there’s more for you here - but not if you keep playing small.

You don’t reinvent because you’re unsure of who you are.
You reinvent because you’re becoming more of yourself.

And it doesn’t have to start with a dramatic leap.

Remember the formula:

Dissatisfaction/Desire → Decision → Action → Reinvention

Now back to ‘Sola.

Like many of us, ‘Sola didn’t lack ability, but she had stopped questioning what else was possible - and actively redefining her perspective.

I knew she didn’t need a new job. She didn’t need another qualification. She needed a different question to reinvent herself.

And once that shifted, everything else had room to follow, and she’s now reinventing what next for her life.

Here’s the question and what ‘Sola shared after our session.

I’m asking you the same question in a different way:

If you didn’t need to start from scratch, or worry about bills/salary,
what would you change about your environment, your systems, or your processes to support the version of you you’re becoming?

Small changes (maybe it’s cutting your hair).
New awareness (maybe it’s how you see yourself or your experiences or insist on having fun).
A different direction (maybe it’s deciding to change careers or go after your dreams).

That’s how reinvention really begins.

Before you go,

In my last poll, many of you shared that you’d love more guides and frameworks, 1:1 coaching, and practical masterclasses.

We’re very much in sync - because that’s exactly how I’m choosing to support your growth this year.

Starting next week, I’ll be sharing a few thoughtfully designed guides and frameworks to help you think more clearly, move more intentionally, and take your next step with confidence.

In the meantime, here are a couple of resources you might enjoy:

🎙 On Positioning your Past Experiences

After feeling like I’d botched a podcast appearance back in 2024, I became hesitant about speaking publicly for a while. Princess helped shake me out of that funk and reconnect with what I genuinely love talking about - growth, clarity, and meaningful career transitions using your past experience.

🎧 Designing the Life You Want with 10lytics

A while ago, I shared my personal journey with the amazing folks at 10lytics - reflecting on the moments that shaped my sense of purpose, and the common thread that’s guided me through multiple career transitions with clarity and confidence.

📺 A conversation I loved

This weekend, I was recovering from a terrible cold/flu and YouTube was my go-to. I really enjoyed this interview with Tabitha Brown on Scott Evans’ House Guest - it was grounding, honest, and full of reminders about manifesting the life you want and staying true to yourself as you grow.

See you next week.
Keep growing 💜

Look who’s back!!!

Shout out to those who checked in, DMed, or tweeted about missing my newsletter, I missed writing here too.

200+ of you have joined us since I sent my last newsletter. Woohoo!!

New here? 👋🏽 Hi, I’m Wamide!

Welcome to OnGrowth&. Here, I write about career clarity, personal growth, and navigating transitions with intention - especially when you’re figuring things out in real time.

My unique perspective comes from 12+ years of working, building, and reinventing my own life - including five career transitions across HR tech, energy, e-commerce, and consulting - plus coaching hundreds of people to make braver, more confident career moves.

If you’re looking for clarity (not noise), you’ll feel at home here.

In this issue

🗓️ My 2025 Review - An honest look at the year across fitness, faith, finances, personal growth, and work.

🧠 What 2025 Actually Taught Me - The key lessons that emerged from consistency, missed targets, and small beginnings.

🔁 Lessons I’m Carrying Forward - The quiet patterns showing up across my life, and how they’re shaping how I’m approaching 2026 and life in general.

✨ My 2026 Offers - The ways I’m supporting you this year - content, coaching, and more.

Let’s go🚀

The Start: 2025

Much like how I’m feeling about the things I want to achieve this year, my goals for 2025 felt… ambitious.

At first, I struggled to make them cohesive, then I struggled to write them down.

And once I did, I initially struggled to believe I could actually achieve them. I didn’t let that deter me though.

I’d spent too long going in circles in certain areas of my life - and what I wanted most in 2025 was ease. Flow, rhythm, zen, a state of inner alignment.

So that was it.

Every year, I usually start off with a theme. Instead of a long list of never-ending goals, I start off my goal setting with one compass theme.

For 2025, my compass theme was to find rest and rhythm.

I burned out hard in 2024. And every time I prayed or reflected on the year ahead, one word kept coming up: rest. So I leaned in.

Not rest as in quitting - but rest as in building and finding rhythm without burning out.

My simple commitment was to build habits consistently, and not flake on myself.

I chose four core areas to focus on:

• Faith

• Fitness & Health

• Fit (Career, Business & Personal Growth)

• Finances

Then I set out to achieve 1-3 specific goals under each area.

Faith

I’ve been a Christian for about two-thirds of my life - most of my formative adolescent years and all of my adult life. And yet, consistency with my quiet time has always been a struggle.

I wanted to pray more.

I wanted to study my Bible regularly.

But I could never quite stick to a devotion plan.

So going into 2025, I made it my mission to build a simple, sustainable routine.

Fam, it was hard!

From January to June, it was a bit of a yo-yo. Sometimes I’d make it, sometimes I wouldn’t.

Then, in July, that shifted.

I got a random LinkedIn message from an acquaintance.

That message turned into a one-hour call. And that conversation changed how I approached my devotion life entirely.

Instead of trying and flaking on both schedules, I committed to a 10pm daily prayer time.

Since then, I’ve kept it up about 80–90% of the time, and that consistency has grounded me internally in a way no self-help plan ever has.

Key lesson: Sometimes we already know what we need to do. What we’re really missing is accountability and an external point of view.

Fitness & Health

Many of you know I started fitboxing last year.

But the truth is, I haven’t always been physically active.

I credit much of my interest in fitness to being a mom. In 2023, my post-pregnancy body was doing its own thing, and I knew I needed to take my health more seriously. I paid for a gym subscription, hired a personal trainer, adjusted my diet; and saw results.

But when we moved I didn’t know how/where to begin. I wanted something different from a regular gym - something that would hold my attention and push me. That’s when I found a fitboxing studio near me.

I walked in last January just to ask questions. But almost immediately, I knew: this might be it.

Still, I didn’t feel ready. But I did what I’ve learned to do over the years - I tricked my brain into starting anyway.

Not to lose weight - but to build discipline, clear my mind, and give myself a physical outlet especially since I spend a good chunk of time working from home.

And here we are!

Yes, I lost 3kg.
But what I gained mattered more.

Fitboxing stretched my mental capacity. It quieted my mind. And every minute I spend hitting that bag teaches me something about myself - about focus, resilience, and staying present when things get uncomfortable.

Looking back, I know this: if I hadn’t started with a personal trainer in 2023, I might not have trusted myself enough to try fitboxing. That earlier version of me built proof. And I carry that voice with me everywhere now.

Key lesson: Every hard thing you allow yourself to do today becomes permission to do other hard things tomorrow. Start before you feel ready.

Fit (Career, Business & Personal Growth)

This was the trickiest area of the year - because everything touched it.

I currently juggle three professional identities: a full-time VP role in tech, a career coaching business, and a nonprofit supporting women in STEM. By the end of 2024, I was tired in a way that rest alone couldn’t fix.

So in 2025, my focus wasn’t on doing more - it was on creating capacity and finding alignment.

I started with my 9–5, putting real systems in place: restructuring teams, expanding capacity, delegating more, and reducing how much lived solely in my head. That alone changed the texture of my days.

On the business side, I:

• worked with 145 people across 1:1 and group AMA sessions,

• partnered with 3 brands through my newsletter,

• had 10 speaking engagements, interview features, and podcast appearances.

But none of that would have been sustainable if I hadn’t finally committed to getting support.

This was the year I stopped trying to do everything myself.

I hired a virtual assistant to manage my inbox, calendars, follow-ups, admin tasks and speaking requests. And for the first time, I stopped managing my content manually. I started out with automating content, and then towards Q2, I brought on a content editor and social media manager to support my writing and posting across LinkedIn and Instagram. In September, I logged off social media for a full week - and honestly, that kind of freedom is the goal.

For my nonprofit, CAWSTEM, I didn’t set aggressive growth targets. And while that was hard to sit with at times, it was the right call.

What we did get right last year was our mentorship program. We had our third cohort, which ran incredibly well. Deep down, I wanted to scale it - to triple our reach and create more mentorship opportunities for early-career women, but with everything else I was carrying, it didn’t happen.

On fundraising, I spent a lot of time applying for three grants I felt deeply hopeful about. None came through. That experience was painful and disorienting, and it forced me to question a lot. But it also clarified what truly matters - and pushed me to think differently about how we build without burning energy unnecessarily. The mission hasn’t changed. Our execution will.

Whew, that was a lot to unpack. And I should say there were also things I chose not to do.

One of my original goals for the year was to create a course. But as the year unfolded, I realised I needed to listen more - to understand people’s real pain points before launching another solution. So instead of forcing a launch, I stayed close to the work: testing ideas, hosting conversations, and coaching more people. For this season, that felt like the right choice.

Finally, personal development became part of how I worked, not something I squeezed in around it. I set a real budget for it and honoured it - investing into career development, writing support, and business coaching (yes, I have coaches too). They’ve helped me grow in ways that felt supportive, not extractive.

Alongside all of this, I made space for learning (yes, I read 9 books).

But I also did stuff that had nothing to do with productivity.

I spent more time cooking (signed up for a cooking class), baking and burning cookies with my toddler, and trying more recipes. I also started learning Portuguese and joined a local language group. Small things, but grounding ones. Gentle reminders that my life is bigger than my social media/content creation.

Key lesson: You can’t do meaningful work in every lane at once. Focus, support, and timing matter. But not everything has to grow at the same time. Rest, recover, recreate. Rest!

Finances

My financial goals last year were pretty much straightforward:

I’ve always been disciplined about saving. But I realized in 2024 that while I was building an emergency fund and a family fund, I wasn’t actively building my personal investment portfolio.

At first, it felt out of reach.

I was juggling family responsibilities (including supporting family back home), running a completely bootstrapped nonprofit, and still in the early years of making four-figure revenue from my side business. Technically, I only had one stable, recurring source of income: my 9–5.

Then I read Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money, and one idea stuck with me: doing well with money has very little to do with how smart you are, and everything to do with your habits and behavior.

So that’s what informed the other goal: raise my income.

Here are the two things I did:

• First, I pushed for a raise at my 9–5. That buffer allowed me to save more consistently and cover my business overhead without pressure.

• Second, I doubled down on expanding my side-business revenue. Slowly, I raised my prices. I got comfortable charging in USD instead of naira (most of my expenses are in USD, so this shift mattered). My initial goal wasn’t scale - it was sustainability. By the end of the year, my side business could cover its own expenses. For example, revenue from digital products sold last year paid for my email service fees this year. Last year, I also expanded into newsletter sponsorships, pitched myself intentionally, and closed three sponsorship deals.

So eventually, I hit and surpassed the personal financial goals I set. And this year, I’m doing even more with money, from investing to long-term planning.

Now on the flip side, truthfully, I didn’t hit the revenue goals I set for my business. In fact, I only reached about a fifth of what I hoped for. But 2025 reminded me that small beginnings are still proof that your service is in demand. As I’ve said before: if you can make $100, you can make $1,000, $10,000, and eventually $100K. Making money is a mindset. Mastering money is a long game.

Key money lesson: Sometimes you’re not failing to save because you lack discipline - you’re just not earning enough. Set your financial goals, then push for ways to make them possible. Ask for the raise. Multiply your revenue streams. Raise your rates (and the value you’re giving).

Some lessons I’m carrying forward into 2026.

Everything really does start in the mind. We all want flow, ease, rest - and we are deserving of those things. But I’ve learned that they don’t come from trying harder. They come from committing to a higher version of yourself and letting go of the need to force everything.

I still believe in starting before you’re ready. But if I’m honest, paying for support has been my strongest form of accountability. When I put money behind something, I show up differently. That’s why I’ve already committed four figures to personal development this year - and I’m going to be better for it. Support keeps me honest with myself.

Consistency over intensity and willingness beats perfection every time. I’m not even sure where the extra time came from, but once I decided to read more - and actually buy the books - I somehow made space for it. I’m already on my second book this year. Will that pace continue now that work has fully picked up again? Maybe not. But I’ve learned that consistency matters more than intensity. Every small step counts.

I’m also learning that there are always options. The “no’s” we get aren’t dead ends - they’re redirections. Sometimes they’re necessary nudges toward what actually matters. Build the proof of concept. Stop waiting for perfect conditions. Start where you are. Momentum comes after movement.

You are so much more than your job or any title you hold. Everyone has a voice, but you don’t find yours by staying silent. That restlessness or dissatisfaction you feel? It’s worth paying attention to. It’s often your inner nudge to do more - to create, to share, to use your gifts beyond the boundaries of your day job. Use your voice. Be more. There’s room for it.

And our dreams? They’re valid. The big ones. The uncommon ones. The audacious ones. They’re closer than we think - but dreaming isn’t enough. Action matters. It might take longer than expected, or it might happen faster than you imagined, but almost everything we want lives on the other side of fear. No experience is wasted. Even when it doesn’t feel like progress, it’s still adding up.

And quietly, everything compounds.

As always - thank you for being here. Truly.

Almost every note I write starts with my own experiences, but it means everything when it resonates with you too. I think that’s the point, really. We’re all just naming things we’re learning in real time.

So here’s to more writing just like says here:

Before you go,

Last year, I leaned heavily on coaches, friends, and collaborators - and it reminded me that thoughtful upward moves are easier when we don’t do them alone.

I spent part of the holidays resting and reflecting on how I can support you better this year.

I’d love your input.

(You can also reply directly to this email if you want to share more context or let me know which lessons resonated most with you.)

In case you missed it,

Some of the ideas I touched on here didn’t start this week. If you want to go deeper, these past notes might resonate:

See you in two weeks,
Keep growing 💜