Transformed by the Signs on the Road of Life

Like everyone else, I made sweeping “forever” choices for myself at 22 that I thought would last forever. Then I turned 30, and 40, and 50—and those choices did not all align with the person I now had become.

Think about it this way. If you went out to your car and programmed the destination “I don’t know or maybe” into the car’s GPS system, where would your car take you? What map would unfold? The same is true in our lives. If you don’t know where you want to go, how are you going to get there? There is more than one way to get someplace. The trick involved in getting there is to be able to listen to your own life. What is it telling you? What drives you?

A few years ago, when I was in the midst of my own personal pivot, there were many signs or red flags that flared. It would have been easy to miss them. In my 20s and 30s, I pursued my professional buying and retail dreams in New York city within corporate America. I got married and had two children. In my late 30s and 40s, I was focused on the family chapter of my story as the CEO of stay-at home-moms, home renovations, and world travels. When I hit 50, I knew that I needed to take a new road. I felt that I needed a guide to make the changes that were next for me. This next chapter of my life was about passion…it was about me. It was about creating legacy!

I kept envisioning a bridge. I did not know what bridge this was or why I kept seeing it. It was just a bridge. I even dreamed about crossing a bridge. In essence, I was moving from one part of my life to another. This all began subtly with a significant weight loss and a spiked interest in health and wellness. I also asked myself one very significant question.

“If it were ten years ago, what would I do?”

Being able to answer that simple question was a defining moment for me. Looking back allowed me to disrupt myself just long enough to break the pattern I was repeating and to stop my own excuses. Looking back and pausing allowed me to find my Forgotten Woman, my inner child from a decade and a lifetime prior. This was the fuel I needed to move forward. I was able to define what I wanted my own legacy to be, and from there, I set my next steps into play. I went back to school for my coaching certification, and I knew that my passion and my profession had intersected. It turned out that the bridge I had been envisioning was in fact quite majestic…it was my own Golden Gate Bridge! I dared to cross it and never looked back.

With all of life’s starts and stops, are you able to listen to what your own life is actually saying? I am going to share a secret with you. It is not too late to turn your car around! You can start from wherever you are. You can begin the trip of your life at any age.

Want to get results? No problem. You are in the driver’s seat! Your destination is yours to decide. Turn off the cruise control, because being in the drivers seat takes work and commitment. Turn the key. Program your personal GPS.

GPS is an acronym that defines my signature coaching system that I use with my private clients. I love to travel and explore new places. I believe that it is the adventure that makes the trip itself worthwhile. It is okay to get lost. In fact, I recommend it. If we never get lost, we never do the work to get back on course and to find our best route. This GPS system is your private toolkit to design and define your life on your own terms. It turns your individual signs on the road of life into your successes. It stands for growth, purpose, and success steps.

When I was first contemplating hiring my own coach, I was on a trip in California. I was in the passenger seat in a rental car, and I had just gotten off a call with a business coach. When we hung up, I was rifling through my handbag deep in thought, thinking about hiring her. I looked up. The street sign we were passing jumped out at me. The name of the street was my coach’s name! How is that for a sign from the road of life? Needless to say, I hired her!

If we allow them to, signs from the road of life can empower and guide us toward what is next. There is always a next. There is always more than one way to get there. We just have to be willing to see it. Everyone has a favorite route, perhaps the one they drive on daily. It is uncomfortable to go a different and unknown way. Until we do it. Until we make that change. Until we challenge ourselves to embark on an adventure that can make us the driver of our own destiny.