You know that feeling when you’re scrolling through job ads and absolutely nothing lights you up anymore?
Your coffee’s getting cold, your heart feels heavy, and you’re wondering what happened to the woman who used to get excited about work.
I’ve been exactly where you are right now. And I need to tell you something that you might not want to hear:
Your comfort zone isn’t keeping you safe. It’s quietly stealing your dreams, one “maybe next year” at a time.
The Comfort Zone Trap That’s Stealing Your Future
After my daughter was born, I had twenty years of marketing and communications experience. I absolutely loved my career. But when I sat down to go back to work, it hit me like a truck. I just stared at job listings and felt… nothing.
I had changed, but I hadn’t updated my work to match who I’d become. And no one had prepared me for it. The big career identity crisis – the motherhood identity crisis.
How having a baby really impacts your career. But not just that – it also impacts how you feel about your career and your work. Your idea of fulfilment, purpose and success changes.
And here’s what makes it worse for us mamas—we stay in our comfort zones because they feel safe, predictable, sometimes even easier. But your comfort zone can quietly kill your dreams, especially when you have kids because you’re so busy with everything else. You’re running around doing all the things for everyone, and suddenly you’re scrolling job ads feeling zero excitement.
But you tell yourself, “Maybe it’s not quite the right time. What if I fail? What if I can’t handle it yet?” And suddenly you’re putting your own life on hold for certainty, not for purpose, not for fulfillment.
It’s a trap. And it’s especially brutal for us mothers because there’s so much more at stake. We’re not just doing this for us—we’re doing it for them too.
When I Hit Rock Bottom (And What It Taught Me)
I was juggling so much uncertainty that I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I had just moved back to Switzerland from Australia, and I knew in my gut this wasn’t where I wanted to raise my daughter. My relationship wasn’t in a good place either. I didn’t know where I belonged anymore, personally or professionally.
That was my rock bottom. Sitting there, realizing I couldn’t keep doing this.
So I got curious. I started doing the inner work. I read “What Color Is Your Parachute?” and little by little, I started to rebuild my vision of what meaningful, purposeful work looked like for who I am now.
That’s when I landed on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Values and contribution—they all ticked boxes I didn’t even know I had. It felt scary because I had never worked in sustainability before, but I was looking at these job descriptions and felt so excited, so on fire. I just knew I belonged there.
The Leap That Changed Everything
I said to myself, “I’ve figured out harder things in my life before, much harder things, and I will figure this out too.”
So I got a certification and set my sights on a dream role at a company I really wanted to work for. Six months later, I landed exactly that role in Sydney.
But I really had to take a big risk. I flew back with my baby. I had no job. I had no apartment. I just had that faith that it was the right path for me. And it paid off big time. It was my dream role, and still to this day, I think about it often. I am so grateful to my younger self that I put in that work, that I researched, got to know myself better, understood what drives me and what I really wanted.
Why Your Old Career Doesn’t Fit Anymore (And That’s Okay)
If your old career pre-motherhood doesn’t fit anymore, it’s not because something’s broken. It’s because you have evolved. Your priorities change. Your idea of success changes and what you want to contribute to. Your idea of how you want to spend your time changes. You’ve stepped into a new version of yourself.
Motherhood changes everything. Yes, it’s beautiful and transformative, but sometimes it pulls us away from the woman we were. And that’s not a bad thing—it’s growth. But your work needs to grow with you.
I really want to encourage you to stop waiting to feel ready. Because that feeling of ready? It’s never coming. You have to move before readiness shows up.
The Inner Work That Actually Changes Everything
You have to get clear on what you want. You have to sit down and do the work:
Start journaling every day. Not fancy stuff—just write about what excites you, what drains you, what you dream about when no one’s watching.
Read books that inspire you. I’m reading “It’s Your Dream” by Simon Squibb right now, and it’s so inspirational. He’s also got an amazing TikTok channel if you’re into that like I am.
Consider coaching. Sometimes we need someone else to see what we can’t see ourselves. A good coach can help you understand what you really want and light that fire in your belly again. It definitely helped me enormously when the next crisis hit me (telling you that story further down below).
Start taking small steps. Do a course. Have conversations with people in fields that interest you. Apply for roles even if they scare you—especially if they scare you.
When Life Forces You to Start Over (Again)
Here’s the thing about life—it keeps changing us. Five years after landing that dream role, things shifted again. We had a difficult time in 2020, and circumstances led to me having to come to Europe. My family believed it was safer for us here, so we came, and that meant I couldn’t continue my role.
I had to start from scratch once again.
I was in Germany, a country I’d left when I was 21. I didn’t feel like I belonged there. I couldn’t find an exciting role where I was living. So once again, I had to reinvent myself, recreate and redesign my life.
It wasn’t easy. It’s never easy. But it led me to where I am today.
There were certainly moments that were quite difficult and emotional. I had another moment two and a half years ago when I was sitting on my bedroom floor, realizing there was no fire in my belly anymore, that I didn’t know where to go from here.
Then I got an amazing coach. She helped me see all the things I wasn’t able to see myself. She helped me understand what I really wanted and helped me light that fire in my belly again. She made me come home to myself, and I’m forever grateful to her for that.
Your Career Transition Action Plan
Because of that new chapter I opened, I now get to help other women do the same. I realized how many times I’ve transitioned, how many times I’ve pivoted from nothing into something completely new, how many times I had to be brave and walk that path alone.
If you’re feeling stuck right now, here’s what I want you to do:
This week, do one thing that pushes you a little out of your comfort zone:
- Apply for that job that scares and excites you
- Book a call with someone who inspires you
- Send an email or message to someone in your dream field
- Research a career coach who could help you with your next steps
It doesn’t have to be perfect—it never really is. It just has to be a starting point to get you out of that zone where you feel dead inside, where nothing lights you up anymore.
The Truth About Regret
Because if you don’t get out of that zone, nothing will change. You will stay in that never-ending loop of “maybe next year, maybe next time.” And before you know it, your daughter will be 10, your son will be 10, and you will wonder what happened, where did the time go?
Most people don’t regret the things they did. They regret what they didn’t do.
Your dream job or your dream business isn’t sitting in your comfort zone. You have to be brave, especially for yourself, but also for your children because you are their hero.
Finding Purpose After Motherhood
When I look back at the time when I was sitting at my desk, dreading job applications that didn’t light a fire in my belly anymore, I’m so grateful that I put in that work. I’m so grateful that I had faith, that I trusted I could do this, that I took that leap of faith.
I wouldn’t have landed my dream job. I wouldn’t be doing work that excites me. I wouldn’t feel this strong sense of purpose as a mother and as a woman.
There’s always a way forward. You just have to take that very first step out of your safety zone into a life that’s waiting for you, into your next chapter. And I can promise you, that next chapter is always more exciting than the one before.
Ready for Your What’s Next?
Your dream work is out there, mama. It’s just not hiding in your comfort zone. Take that brave first step toward work that fits who you’ve become, not who you were five years ago.
You’ve evolved. Now it’s time for your career to catch up.
Cheering you on as you take your first step into your next chapter.
