The space between who we were and who we’re becoming

This past year has reminded me how uncomfortable the inbetween can be; that space between who we were and who we’re becoming.

I see it in my coaching work all the time. A leader knows that something has shifted — they’ve outgrown a role, a way of leading, or a definition of success — but the next version of their work or identity isn’t yet clear. It’s a strange tension: knowing you can’t go back, but not yet seeing the full shape of what’s next.

I’ve lived in that space myself over the past year. Stepping away from a corporate career to build something of my own felt exciting — and it is — but it’s also humbling, unpredictable, and at times lonely. The inbetween can feel like standing in a fog; everything familiar fades behind you, but the new horizon hasn’t yet come into view.

And yet, this space is where something vital happens. It’s where we stop performing as who we’ve been and start discovering who we really are, when we allow the uncertainty to do its quiet work.

In those moments, clarity doesn’t always arrive as a plan or a breakthrough. Sometimes it starts with accepting a quiet truth: I’m no longer where I was.

And that’s enough to begin.