Why Do We Wait for a Crisis to Give Us Permission to Change?

Louise didn’t need a dramatic breakdown to know her career was no longer working. She needed to trust what she already knew and act before burnout made the decision for her.

“We are remarkably good at waiting for disaster,” explains Louise, a former HR Director turned Female Empowerment Coach who received her coaching qualification with She Leads this year. 

“We wait for exhaustion to become burnout. We ignore our bodies until a doctor tells us to pay attention. We wait for redundancy, illness, heartbreak, or some other life-altering event to provide an acceptable explanation for wanting something different.”

Nine months ago, Louise had what most people would consider a successful career.

On paper, everything appeared to be going well.

The problem was that Louise was becoming increasingly unfulfilled and questioning whether this was still the right career for her.

“I felt like I was just coasting along,” she says. “I didn’t hate my work, but part of me wanted something more.”

Like many women who choose to change career paths, Louise experienced no single catastrophic event.

There was no dramatic moment in which she swept the contents of her desk into a cardboard box and marched towards a more meaningful life.

There was simply a growing awareness that the career she had worked hard to build no longer felt like one she wanted to inhabit.

That can be a particularly difficult truth to admit.

“Leaving something that has obviously failed is understandable,” says Louise.

“Questioning something that still looks successful can feel ungrateful, irrational, or self-indulgent.”

The Desire to Empower Other Women

Despite her dissatisfaction, one part of Louise’s career continued to energise her: supporting the women around her.

Louise enjoyed helping women recognise their strengths, see new possibilities, and take themselves more seriously.

“I was doing some soul-searching to understand what my true purpose was.

“It became very clear to me that I loved empowering other women, so I started exploring how I could turn that into a credible profession. That’s what led me to discover She Leads Coach Training.”

Choosing Change Before Crisis

Louise emphasises that change does not need to happen overnight.

“There is a popular idea that reinvention requires a dramatic leap: hand in your notice, book a one-way ticket, and never look back. But in reality, almost a year passed between my decision to become certified as a coach and the day I handed in my notice.

“You do not have to burn your life down to justify building something new.”

Like many women transitioning into coaching, Louise completed her training and built her client base alongside her existing work.

“Yes, it was a bit of a juggling act. But I knew there would never be a perfect time, and it was important to me to build a consistent income from coaching before I considered handing in my notice.”

You Don’t Need to Reach Breaking Point to Choose a Different Life

Louise explains that many women continue to wait for an external event to grant them permission to make a change.

“Perhaps it feels safer that way. A crisis makes the decision for us. It removes the uncomfortable responsibility of choosing change while staying put remains technically possible.”

However, Louise also warns about the cost of waiting.

“The longer we dismiss our dissatisfaction, the less clearly we can imagine an alternative. Fatigue narrows possibility. By the time change becomes unavoidable, we may have far less energy with which to create it.”

Burnout is an expensive way to learn what your intuition already knows.

Louise chose not to pay that price.

Nine months ago, she felt stuck in a career that no longer fulfilled her. Today, she runs a successful coaching business that empowers women to grow, lead, and succeed.

“Perhaps the most courageous changes are not made when everything falls apart. Perhaps they are made while everything still looks ‘fine’, but you are finally honest enough to admit that ‘fine’ is no longer enough.”

If you’re ready to join Louise and explore whether a career in coaching could be the right next step for you, get started with our Feminine Leadership & Success Coach Certification.