When Did You Stop Listening to Yourself?

A quiet moment with a journal and coffee. Sometimes the first step in listening to yourself again is simply pausing long enough to notice how you feel.

Do you remember the last time you truly listened to yourself?

I don’t mean listening to the endless loop of “What will they think?”, “I can’t change now”, or “I should just be grateful for what I have.”

I mean listening to that quiet inner voice that once knew what made you happy. The one that whispered your dreams long before job titles, promotions, and family responsibilities became the louder soundtrack of your life.

For so many midlife women I’ve coached, that voice hasn’t disappeared — it’s simply been drowned out.

How We Lose Our Inner Voice

Losing connection with yourself doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual drift:

• Careers that once excited become about responsibility and survival.

• Family or caregiving roles expand until they leave little time for you.

• “Practical” choices overshadow passion, because they feel safer or more acceptable.

• Success becomes a checklist — degree, mortgage, job title, pension — rather than a lived experience.

Over time, the gap between who you really are and the life you’re living widens.

And this is not about getting it worng.

It’s the cost of spending decades putting everyone else’s needs first, and running on external definitions of success.

But at some point, that voice becomes too loud to ignore.

Why Midlife is the Wake‑Up Call

Something shifts between 40 and 55.

The career you’ve built — the one that looked so right on paper — starts to feel like a cage.

The success you worked so hard for feels strangely hollow.

And a whisper starts up inside: “There’s more for you than this.”

That whisper is often the first step toward midlife career change and self-discovery.

In my coaching practice, I hear this all the time:

“I can’t do another 10 years like this.”

“I’m exhausted, but I don’t even know what I’d do instead.”

“I thought I’d reached the finish line… but it doesn’t feel like mine.”

Midlife isn’t a crisis. It’s a crossroads.

It’s the moment when ignoring yourself becomes impossible — and listening to yourself becomes the only way forward

The Cost of Not Listening

The uncomfortable truth is not listening has consequences.

• Staying stuck drains energy and confidence year by year.

• Suppressing your voice erodes your sense of identity.

• Pretending everything’s fine takes a toll on your health, relationships, and sense of self-worth.

  
  

A client once described it so beautifully like this:

“I’m living a life that doesn’t quite fit anymore — like wearing shoes two sizes too small.”

You can keep squeezing into them, but it hurts. And eventually, it stops you from moving at all.

How to Start Listening Again

The good news? Your voice isn’t gone. It’s waiting for you.

Here are three simple ways to begin tuning back in:

1. Pause and Notice

   Pay attention to when your energy rises or drops. The meetings that drain you, the projects that excite you, the moments that bring relief. Your body often knows before your head does.

   
   

2. Reflect with Compassion

   Journal on prompts like:

   • What do I really want now?

   • Where have I been saying yes when I mean no?

   • What would I do if I weren’t afraid of what others thought?

     
     

   These aren’t easy questions — but they are powerful ones.

   
   

3. Take Baby Steps

   Don’t pressure yourself to overhaul your entire career (and life) overnight. Instead, take one small action aligned with who you are now — a boundary, a conversation, an exploratory step.

Listening again isn’t about dramatic leaps. It’s about building trust with yourself, one decision at a time.

Why Now Matters

If you’re reading this, there’s a reason.

That whisper inside you is already calling for attention. And ignoring it only gets harder — and more painful.

Midlife isn’t too late.

It’s the perfect time to begin again.

You bring with you wisdom, resilience, and decades of lived experience.

You don’t need to start from scratch — you just need to start from the truth of who you are now.

And the best thing of all... you don’t have to do it alone.

If your inner voice is calling, this is your moment to listen.

Your Invitation

👉Creating The Career You Want™ is designed to guide women like you through each small, intentional step toward a career and life that truly fits who you are now.

This is the final live round of the programme that has helped hundreds of midlife women move from burnout, self-doubt, and misalignment into clarity, confidence, and careers that fit.

It’s not about quick fixes. It’s a 12-month journey of reconnection, rebalancing, and real change — with the structure and support to make it sustainable.

If your inner voice is whispering, “this is your moment,” I want you to listen.

👉 [Join the waitlist now] 💌