The Permission to Pause: How I’m Navigating My Business and Life Pivot

In this episode of This Rad Life Unfiltered, I'm taking you behind the scenes of my intentional 10-week pause from marketing and sharing the pivot process that helped me realign my business with my true voice—and why permission to pause might be exactly what your reinvention needs.

 

Why I Disappeared for 10 Weeks (On Purpose)

I haven't sent a weekly email in 10 weeks. For someone who had cultivated an email list and maintained consistency for almost three years, this felt like business suicide. But here's what I learned: sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is stop.

I was feeling increasing friction around my coaching business and life. My insides didn't match my outsides. The intimate, transformational work happening in my one-on-one coaching containers wasn't reflected in how I was marketing myself. I felt like I was marketing just one side of me—the business strategy side—while ignoring the deeper reinvention work that was actually creating the most profound shifts for my clients.

Something had to give. So I gave myself permission to pause.

Rule #1 in Any Pivot: Normalize the Pause

Here's what our culture doesn't tell you about pausing: a two-week vacation or weekend break isn't actually pausing. Pausing intentionally is different than just taking a break.

An intentional pause involves:

  • A plan for how to pause

  • Tools for gaining clarity during the pause

  • Permission to dream without limitations

  • Opening yourself to new experiences

I had been go-go-going in my business for five years without giving myself permission to intentionally pause. No wonder I was hitting the same income ceilings and feeling disconnected from my own voice.

The Friction That Signals It's Time to Pivot

Pivots happen naturally as a result of being human. You're always evolving, growing, learning, having new insights. When you want to experience something you've never had before, it requires you to become an evolved version of yourself—which is, in itself, a pivot.

But there are specific signs that indicate you're ready for a pivot:

Business friction: Your marketing feels like it's only showing one side of you. You're successful but something feels "off" or misaligned.

Life friction: The shape of your life doesn't match what you actually want. You're living according to other people's definitions of success rather than your own.

Income blocks: You keep hitting the same revenue ceilings despite having solid business strategy. (Spoiler alert: income blocks are usually self-worth blocks—worth leads to wealth.)

The Tools That Helped Me Find Clarity

During my intentional pause, I used several tools to gain clarity and direction. Here's what worked:

Baseline Support: Therapy and Coaching

Everyone on the successful non-conformity journey needs both a therapist and a coach. You're forging a path with no blueprint, so of course you'll run into uncertainty, imposter syndrome, and childhood blocks trying to pull you off track.

When do you use which? I was in a growth season for years with business coaches. But when I kept hitting the same blocks despite strategy, I realized I needed therapy to address unprocessed grief around my mom's Alzheimer's journey. Sometimes business strategy won't get you there entirely.

Human Design and Astrology for Business

I've been using human design and astrology as tools to help normalize how people are actually wired to live and work. It's incredibly validating when you realize the friction you're feeling isn't because you're broken—it's because you're trying to fit into a box that wasn't designed for you.

I experimented with AI (ChatGPT) to create custom business guidance based on human design and astrology. It was so affirming for both me and my clients to understand our natural work rhythms, energy patterns, and business approaches.

Expanded States and Plant Medicine

I've been on a micro-dosing journey with psilocybin for three years, exploring the role of expanded states in healing and clarity. This summer I participated in both an 8-week facilitated micro-dosing program and a women's plant medicine retreat.

What I discovered: I had become disconnected from my emotional body. I was physically healthy and active, but missing that deeper connection to my intuition and inner knowing. The experience helped me shed layers of inherited trauma and reconnect with what truly feels right for me.

Daily Rituals for Clarity

Simple daily practices became non-negotiable:

Morning pages journaling: One page of brain dump (worries, fears, frustrations), followed by one page of dreams and desires. The second page was often the hardest—giving myself permission to want what I actually want, not what I'm told to want.

Intentional movement: Not just checking a fitness box, but movement that connects me to my body and emotional state.

Creating again: Whether painting or writing, the act of creation breaks the stuck feeling that often triggers pivot seasons.

What I Learned About Markets and Business

One insight that emerged from this pause: people are craving experiences, not just information or products. This applies whether you're selling luxury candles, graphic design, or coaching.

The question became: what experiences am I creating for people? Not just the transaction, but the journey. How does someone feel when they land on my website? What transformation happens in our work together? How can I create experiences that help people reevaluate the shape of their lives?

This insight applies to personal life too. If life feels flat, curate new experiences for yourself. It doesn't have to be big—it can happen in an hour or over a weekend.

The Shape of What's Next

I'm still experimenting with what my business will look like going forward. I have journal pages full of ideas: micro-dosing programs for entrepreneurs, personalized business blueprints based on human design and astrology, deeper reinvention work that combines business strategy with personal transformation.

What I know for sure: whatever emerges will honor both sides of my gifts—the business strategy side and the deeper reinvention work. My insides will match my outsides.

This Iteration, Not Final Destination

Here's what I want you to remember: whatever you create next in your life or business isn't a final destination. It's just the next iteration. And that takes so much pressure off.

You don't have to get it perfect. You just have to get it true to who you're becoming right now.

If you're in your own reinvention season, I'm curious about your version of "this iteration, not final destination." What's wanting to emerge for you? What friction are you feeling that might be pointing you toward your next pivot?

The permission to pause isn't just about stopping—it's about creating space for something new to emerge. Something that hasn't been fully flushed out yet. Something that's uniquely yours.

Ready to explore your own pivot? I'm taking on three new clients who are in that messy middle—you know where you are, you know where you want to be, but you're not sure how to get there. Let's talk about creating more ease, creativity, and enjoyment in the thing you've built.


 
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Why Your Business Burnout Might Be a Seasons Problem (Not a You Problem)