Reflection Before Reinvention: When and Why?

This is a question I am asked again and again.

And most of the time, answering it feels difficult. Not because I do not know the answer, but because the reasons are deeply personal.

Over time, as I started speaking about it more openly, I realized something important. This question is not specific to me at all. It is incredibly common.

We all go through multiple identity shifts in life.

Our titles change.

For me, it has been a journey from daughter to big sister, from employee to manager, from local to expat, from girlfriend to wife, and eventually to becoming a parent. With every season, I discovered a different version of myself emerging. Each new identity quietly reshaped how I see the world and how I see myself.

One useful reference for this shift is Erik Erikson’s work on identity development. Erikson argued that identity is not fixed in early adulthood, as we were once taught, but is continuously reshaped across life stages. Each major role transition creates what he called an identity reorganization. In simple terms, every time your life context changes, your sense of self is invited to update.

More recent research builds on this. Adult development studies show that transitions such as becoming a manager, relocating countries, or entering parenthood often trigger what researchers call identity dissonance. This is the internal tension that appears when your external role no longer fully matches your internal values or sense of meaning. This is the signal we are after.

And at some point, that evolution naturally leads to a deeper question. What is my passion.

Or more simply, what am I doing this for and why.

There are many practical questions that help us understand whether we are aligned with what we are meant to do.

But the very first place I always start is the gut feeling. And if you wonder, neuroscience supports this. Studies on interoception show that our bodies often register misalignment before our rational mind can articulate it. That discomfort when waking up, the heaviness before sleep, or the restlessness during your daily walks are not weaknesses or they are not because you are tired. They are data.

The nervous system processes lived experience faster than conscious thought.

There is also compelling research in meaning psychology showing that fulfillment is less about passion as a single fixed interest and more about coherence. People report higher life satisfaction when their daily actions feel consistent with who they believe they are becoming, not who they once were.

That feeling is the beginning of clarity.

If something inside you whispers that a change is needed, listen to it.

Start exploring from there, without rushing to fix or label anything.

Very soon, we will be sharing a Career Reset Guide.

But until then, I invite you to do something simpler and far more powerful.

Focus on yourself.

Listen to yourself.

And keep following who you already are being and becoming.

Awareness precedes transformation. Reflection precedes decision.