2026 is not the year to stay stuck

2026 is not the year to stay stuck. And it’s definitely not the year to panic-pivot either.

I’m noticing the same thing again and again in conversations right now. Not crisis. Not chaos. Just a quiet, steady urgency beneath the surface.

A knowing that I can’t keep doing it like this.

That feeling gets misunderstood very quickly. It gets framed as indecision. Or fear. Or a lack of courage. Often it gets bundled up as “career confusion”.

But most of the time, it’s none of those things.

When someone says “I think I need to change my career”, they’re rarely talking about one thing. It can mean burnout that’s clouding judgement. Values that no longer line up. A role that once fit but now costs too much. A life change or grief that has quietly shifted priorities. Or a chapter that’s simply complete.

All of those feel the same from the inside. They don’t all need the same move.

This is usually the first place people go wrong: turning a complex situation into a single, self-blaming story. I’m failing. I’m ungrateful. I should be able to handle this.

The work actually starts with naming what’s really happening – without judgement. Not diagnosing yourself. Just getting honest about whether this is exhaustion, misalignment, or an ending that’s being resisted.

From there, something else has to happen that most women skip entirely: separating yourself from the system you’ve been operating inside.

Capable, mission-driven women are especially good at internalising structural problems as personal ones. We assume if something feels unsustainable, the issue must be us. But clarity doesn’t come from self-criticism. It comes from understanding the water you’ve been swimming in – the expectations, norms, and unspoken rules you’ve absorbed along the way.

Only then does it make sense to listen inwardly.

Not to reinvent yourself. Not to find a new identity. Just to hear your own voice again – underneath the noise, the shoulds, the pressure to be useful or exceptional or endlessly resilient.

And then there’s the part people rush past: unpicking what you assume is “right”.

So many women are carrying inherited ideas about what counts as ethical, responsible, or good – ideas shaped by institutions, sectors, families, and cultures – without ever checking whether those rules still belong to them. The work here isn’t about being sensible or safe. It’s about choosing what actually aligns with your values now, not the ones you learned to perform.

When that clicks, something shifts.

The spiralling slows. The crowd-sourcing stops. You trust your own judgement again.

That’s the real outcome. Not certainty. Not a five-year plan. Just the grounded sense that whatever you choose next, you’ll be able to live with it.

If you’re heading into 2026 knowing something has to change – but wanting to do it well – you’re not behind.

You’re at a threshold.

And thresholds don’t ask for panic.

They ask for discernment, and then courage.