You don’t always have to quit to begin again
(The coaching story: From “One Day” to Day One )
Dear Substack Reader, Happy Friday!
Sometimes the shift you’re craving doesn’t require a resignation letter. It begins by defining what actually matters to you — the impact you want to have, the life you want to live — and then weaving that clarity into the day-to-day. Coaching helps you pause, reflect, and transform a five-year plan into something you can begin now.
Main takeaway from this newsletter
Resignation isn’t the only path to change.
With the right space to reflect, you can start living your future — values, energy, purpose — from where you are today.
From “One Day” to Day One
I recently worked with a client — let’s call her Julie — who came into coaching feeling exhausted, stuck, and emotionally depleted in her role as a senior HR leader.
She was clear on one thing: “I don’t want to do this forever.”
What she wasn’t yet clear on was: What do I want instead?
In our session, we used one of the future visioning tools I’ve developed and refined through my PCC (Professional Certified Coach) training. It’s a deceptively simple but powerful exercise where I ask the client to imagine their life 3 to 5 years from now — not as a checklist of achievements, but as a felt experience and use the technic of “what if” to access an expansive reality.
“When you picture yourself in five years, where are you?
What’s around you?
What’s different in how you wake up, show up, move through your day?
What’s filling your cup — and what’s no longer draining it?”
What emerged for Julie was vivid and emotionally true:
A flexible, remote-first role in a purpose-driven, international organization
Living in here, rooted for her sons — not uprooting, not apologizing
Being part of something empowering — especially for women
Letting go of roles where she was valued for compliance, and stepping into ones where she could lead with impact, heart, and clarity
At first, this future felt aspirational. A someday thing.
But coaching is not about drawing castles in the sky. It’s about bridging the gap — between your current reality and your desired one.
So we shifted the lens:
“What part of this future can you begin living now?”
This is where coaching comes alive.
She realized she didn’t need to wait for a title change or a recruiter to validate her path. She could:
Start mentoring women in her current organization
Initiate DEI conversations from her seat — even if the system wasn’t quite ready
Reconnect with contacts, not to job-hunt, but to re-enter the spaces that feel aligned
Reclaim her boundaries, reframe her presence, and stop managing around dysfunction
This wasn’t about bypassing her frustration. It was about alchemizing it. Turning the friction into focus.
That’s the shift coaching makes possible:
➡ from drifting to directing
➡ from tolerating to choosing
➡ from “one day…” to “this starts today”
The Coaching Frame: Future Visioning as a Tool for Realignment
At PCC level and beyond, visioning isn’t just “imagine your best life.”
It’s a relational process — holding space for the client to name what they know but haven’t yet admitted. It taps into identity, values, and agency. We explore not just what they want to do, but who they want to become.
And then, we get curious:
What’s one conversation that version of you would initiate today?
What’s one choice she wouldn’t delay?
What’s one boundary she’d stop negotiating?
This isn’t about hustle or big leaps. It’s about alignment.
It’s about helping someone live as if they already trusted themselves.
“You don’t have to quit to begin again.”
If you feel like something is shifting in you — listen to that.
You don’t always need a dramatic exit to honor the call.
Sometimes, you just need space to hear your own voice again.
That’s what coaching offers.
That’s what changes everything.
🛠️Resources / Prompts to Reflect On
If you’re reading this and feeling the gap between where you are and what’s possible — pause here. Let these prompts guide your next step:
Who is my “future self”? What does he/she value, protect, and create?
Where am I currently out of alignment with that version of me?
What can I start doing, saying, or letting go of — not in five years, but this month?
Where do I need support or permission I haven’t given myself?
📣 Connect With Me
If you have any thoughts, questions, or insights you’d like to share, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or reply directly to this email. I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to go check my website if you are interested for us to partner together.
🙏 Thank you for spending part of your week with us. Stay strong, keep leading, keep inspiring, and fully embrace the roller coaster of leadership.
Warm regards,
Vanessa