When Everything Changes: Turning Life Transitions into Opportunities

Have you ever felt like your entire life just hit the reset button without your permission? That moment when everything you knew suddenly falls apart, leaving you standing in the rubble of what used to be your carefully planned existence?

The problem I've been seeing is how overwhelming and paralyzing major life transitions can be, especially for neurodivergent individuals who thrive on predictability and structure. Whether you're a newbie entrepreneur feeling stuck or a well lived woman experiencing a significant life shift, these moments of radical change can feel like being dropped into a foreign landscape with no map.

I want to share a story with you. And for this story, since I would never share private client information, we'll call her Elena. Elena was a 52-year-old marketing executive who had built her entire identity around her career. Then, almost overnight, everything changed. Post-menopause brought unexpected emotional and professional challenges. Her once-sharp focus began to blur, her confidence wavered, and the career path she'd meticulously constructed started to feel like a badly designed sports bra.

As a lifestyle coach who specializes in helping people in life changes redesign their lives, this is something I see all the time with my clients. Neurodivergent individuals, in particular, often struggle with transitions because our brains need at least some consistency and predictability, but we’re easily distracted and often veer from the consistency that helps us so much. Elena's story is not unique – it's a narrative I've heard countless times from both my neurodivergent entrepreneurs and my peri and post menopausal clients navigating life's unexpected turns.

Through our work together, Elena discovered that this wasn't an ending, but a profound opportunity for reinvention. We didn't just rebuild her career; we reimagined her entire life's architecture, creating a loose framework that corralled her neurodivergent wanderings, made room for wild creativity, and fully embraced her current state of life.

I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just my observation from clients I’ve worked with, so I reached out to my network.

I asked Monica (retired service member, mom, artist) this question: 

Did you ever have a life transition that you thought was a tragic ending but turned out to be a huge opportunity instead?

Here’s what she said . . . . My husband and I were in the armed services together, and I loved it. When we had our first child, he got very sick, and I had to leave the service to care for him. At first I was devastated, only because I saw myself being a mom and a service member, and I felt like I lost something special, something that I truly enjoyed being part of, and I wasn’t sure how I could ever recapture that. What I rediscovered being at home with my child was my love of art and all things beautiful. I got to be a mom and an artist and live a wonderful life that I’m proud of, pouring my passion for being a mom into my son and pouring my passion for beauty into my art.

And then I asked  Nancy J this question, and this was her amazing response:

In 2010/11 I was going through a rough patch as my parents aged and got sicker. It was a confusing and frustrating phase trying to decide how best to help them and retain my ‘self’ and my sanity. In the middle of that particular chaos, I decided to write. I sat down one weekend and started the first draft of the still unfinished novel. 

Ah, but that’s not the life transition in question here. 

The tragic (infuriating, rage inducing) incident was that I lost my job while going through the aging parent stuff. One of the laundry list (insert eyeroll) of reasons I was given was that I was too distracted by my parents' situation and I probably needed to “deal with that”. 

I came home in tears. Angry tears. My husband and I talked about it for a day or two and ultimately decided that we didn’t really need my income. He was a welder/pipefitter and making a pretty good wage. We had already paid off the mortgage, so I didn’t actually need to work. Sure, we had to tighten our belts and spend wisely, but it all worked out. 

Losing that job (for all intents and purposes retiring at the age of 52) allowed me to deal with my parents situation without feeling obligated to an employer in any way. 

It also gave me time to do things in the house I’d never had time for before. And it gave me time to write. For the first time in my adult life I could do whatever the heck I wanted to. 

So yes, I lost a mediocre job, and losing it gave me the opportunity to be with my parents before they died, and to relax a little and follow my own heart for a change instead of living according to everyone else’s expectations.

And then I asked  Missy B  (business owner) the same question, and this was her response:

When I quit my job working for others to start my own company, it took several months to finally get my first project.

In the meantime, I feared I’d made a terrible mistake leaving my safe, corporate job. My self-esteem and my bank account balance plummeted. I was on an emotional roller coaster personally and professionally and wasn’t sure if I’d ever have a successful company.

25 years later, I am incredibly proud of the successful consulting company I’ve built. I have worked with companies around the world. I speak at events regularly as an expert in my field, and I help my clients get not only what they want but also what they need for their own long term success. My self-esteem and my bank account are both in a great place, and I am excited about the future.
 

Does any of this resonate with you?

Here’s what I encourage you to do to dive into your own self-inquiry. . . ask yourself:

• How have unexpected changes in your past revealed opportunities for personal growth and redesign that you never saw coming?
• Are there any unexpected changes in your life recently that feel challenging that could be hidden opportunities for personal growth and redesign that you might be overlooking?
• Do I need help finding the possible hidden opportunities or how to make the most of them?

It’s important because  . . . . 

• You could be resisting the natural flow of life transitions, and what might happen if you approached these changes with curiosity instead of fear. 

It's kind of like being in the pool flailing in the deep end when all you need to do is grab the floatie that's within arms reach.

It’s important because  . . . . 

• You could be defining yourself by outdated roles or expectations, and what would it look like to courageously step into a more authentic version of yourself?

It's kind of like watching your baby, who has mastered standing, take their first step and understand that now they can get wherever they want to go without having to crawl.

It’s important because  . . . . 

• It could be killing your confidence, and wouldn’t it feel better to focus on the opportunity that could take you to places you’ve only dreamed of going?

Which is like the first week in a job where you feel overwhelmed, but you know that once you get through the onboarding process, the sky is the limit for what you can accomplish.

These questions aren't just theoretical. They're invitations to deep personal exploration, challenging you to look beyond the surface of your current circumstances and recognize the transformative potential within life's most disruptive moments.

The beauty of life change is that it’s not a punishment – it’s a passage. 

Passages offer us the chance to shed what no longer serves us and step into a more authentic and aligned version of ourselves that challenges inspire us to be. By working through the discomfort of transition, we open ourselves to extraordinary personal reinvention.

To dive deeper into these questions and discover practical solutions for navigating life's unexpected restarts, take the next step and join my email list. Once you're on the list, you can ask me anything about overcoming life transitions and designing a life that truly feels like yours. Join the email list!

If you're ready to smash through your own life challenges and take advantage of your own hidden opportunities, schedule your DISCovery call now (while it’s still free) Book Your Call