Riding the waves of what was, what is, and what might be.

Change is messy. It’s emotional. It’s confusing. It’s that in-between place where the old no longer fits and the new hasn’t quite formed. It’s the moment you realise you’re not in control of the tide, you’re just learning to ride the waves.

You don’t need a big life event to activate your Change Mastery. We need these skills everyday: adjusting to a new routine, learning a skill, navigating a tough conversation. Each time you cycle through Pause, Mess, Play, Try, Restart, you build your capacity for change.

Change mastery doesn’t mean you’ll always find it easy. It means you’ll be better equipped to walk through the uncertainty with courage, curiosity, and intention.

Change is not waiting for us at the next closed door. Change is happening every day.

There’s a particular kind of flutter that shows up, right in the pit of our stomach.It comes when we’re waiting for something… It’s that unmistakable sense that our insides have turned into a tiny circus, butterflies doing back flips, clowns juggling thoughts that we never signed up for. We call it “butterflies.” But what the heck actually is ‘butterflies’?

When I wrote Another Door Opens, one of the core steps I wanted to explore was “Try.” Not “Achieve,” not “Succeed,” but try. Because so often we dont allow ourselves to even try, and when we do we berate ourselves for the none achievements. But there’s a quiet joy in putting one foot forward, in testing an idea, in giving something a go, even when we don’t know what will come of it.

Leading change starts with you. When we talk about leading change at work, it's often about others: our team, our organisation, our stakeholders, our processes, the stuff that is changing. But leading change well has to start with ourselves. Quite often leaders skip this bit.

Children are trying to navigate change everyday. Friendship groups, family changes, new lessons, new school, new teachers, new body, new thoughts, new latest thing they all need! Using these steps might help to talk about it without the icky parent child conversation we sometimes end up having.

The next time disappointment shows up, whether it’s yours or someone else’s, don’t push it away. Make space for it. Honour it. That space is often all that’s needed for healing to begin that will mean you can reenergise and move forwards again eventually.

When people hear I’ve written two books, Why Losing Your Job Could Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You (2020) and Another Door Opens (2025), they sometimes ask the question:

“What’s the difference between them?”

When things go wrong, when we face a setback, it’s easy to fall into default responses. We might catastrophise and imagine the worst. Or we might keep powering forward, ignoring the emotional impact entirely.

Being offered voluntary redundancy can feel like both a curveball and an opportunity. Whether it’s a corporate restructure or early retirement offer, the decision can shape the next chapter of your life. Do you take the package and leap into the unknown, or stick with the familiar?

Each pause serves a different purpose and works for you in a different way. Play with what works for you, when you need it, how you need it. We all pause in different ways, in different moments. It’s about knowing that ‘pausing’ is an important part of navigating change well.

What kind of pause do you need today?

As AI automates more tasks, many traditional jobs are likely to evolve, disappear, or become deeply intertwined with technology. However, new roles will emerge, and some will become more important than ever. I asked AI what it thinks the future of work might look. Here’s what it said.

If you're considering a career change, you're not alone. Many of us reach a point where our current work no longer fits who we are or where we want to go. But knowing you want to change and knowing how to begin are two very different things.

Starting from the beginning is not a flaw, it’s fertile ground. It’s where fresh ideas, deep learning, and meaningful growth take root. So the next time you find yourself at the start of something new, be bold enough to ask, humble enough to listen, and brave enough to not have all the answers.

Navigating change isn’t about controlling it, it’s about collaborating with it. By pausing, allowing emotions, playing, trying, and intentionally restarting, we create a relationship with change that is less about survival and more about evolution.