Turning the oil tanker (while still paying the bills).

I want to tell you something, and not from the sidelines or a high and mighty pedestal. From the actual muddy trenches.

Because maybe you're pivoting, or thinking about it. Could be career-wise, in relationships, or in life, generally. And I'm in the middle of it too, for the second time in my working life.

The first career pivot was in the period when I became a mother as well: two massive shifts at once. From employee to entrepreneur: I got through it on sheer determination, working six days a week straight, while taking care of my babies, breastfeeding and doing all the admin at night too.

(Not even mentioning the loss of one of my children in that period, although that was a massive kick in the butt to do things MY WAY from then on.)

Now I'm building again: a new business, from scratch. Instead of analogue, one-on-one, live, hands-on work, shifting to a digital role, internationally, in a landscape that keeps changing. With every post, every newsletter, every blog, every pitch, every new offer, my message is still finding shape. And at the same time, my role as a mother of teenagers is changing too.

So yes, a lot of balls in the air, and the bills still need to get paid.

But hey, this is what shifting actually looks like for most people áfter they had the vision: the old during the week, the new in the evenings and weekends. The prework, the education, the building, the messaging, all of it, squeezed into the hours nobody else is claiming or paying yet. It can be a lot. Confronting. Exhausting. And wildly exhilarating and fulfilling too.

I'm not going to tell you it's all smooth and dandy over here, because it sometimes isn't. Some weeks are messy, tired, 1001 mental and literal tabs open. That's part of it. That's the pivot.

Here's what I am sure of: precisely because I'm in the middle of it, I know exactly what it takes to get started.

Not because I have all the answers, but because I know where I stand solid: the foundation. The prework isn't my shaky side. It's where I'm hard as nails. This is where my strength lies, and where my offer is situated.

The first steps I'm offering are entirely self-led, on purpose. No socially acceptable answers necessary, or even allowed. Bye bye, LinkedIn jargon.

Who's supposed to answer? Your gut, your heart, your spirit, your higher self, your ancestors. I don't care what you call it, as long as it's all YOU, minus the conditioning.

Don't underestimate this part. It sounds simple, but it's actually pretty confronting, because it's been trained out of you a long time ago. It is called conditioning. At school, your family, your boss, society. I could go on and on.

You're not starting from zero, you're starting from a huge deficit. You're 0-100 behind in the score. For some, this is actually the hardest part.

The remembering, the laser-focusing, the big vision, the planning that comes next: that's what SPINE is built for.

That instrument, that inner compass, doesn't shake along with my own storm. It works even in my most messy weeks. Especially then.

And after completing SPINE? Is the pivot a done deal? No, it isn't, and I won't promise you that either.

But the foundation is. Found, felt in your bones, anchor and compass recalibrated, all of it YOURS and yours alone. And from there you can turn the oil tanker: your life, your career, your financial responsibilities, without throwing it overboard, without abandoning ship.

You, solidly behind the wheel. I don't know what your voyage will look like. Nobody knows that in advance, not even me about my own.

It is called GROWING, and it is supposed to be messy. That is how we learn, evolve. It needs to be a little uncomfortable for us to actually move.

We like comfort. But deep in your bones you can feel it: it is time to move again, to grow.

About that inner compass, thát I know. Thát I built. Thát's what I hand you.

Just start with the first step, and it will set some wheels in motion. One thing I promise you: it WILL.

Love, Annemarijn

PS. If something in here stirred, there are a few ways to go deeper, all free.

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