Column: When You Know There’s More
[Column written by Nadia Arandjelovic-Laws]
There is a particular kind of frustration that comes from knowing you want something to change but having absolutely no idea where to begin.
Perhaps you want to change careers, start a business, travel more or simply feel more like yourself again. You might have saved dozens of inspirational posts on Instagram and bought a notebook that was supposed to help you get your life together. And yet, here you are. Still thinking. Still planning. Still wondering why you haven’t taken that first step.
If this sounds familiar, you’re certainly not alone.
Us women are often very good at looking after everyone else. We remember the appointments, manage the family schedules, show up for work and support our friends. We become so accustomed to being needed that we rarely stop to ask ourselves a rather important question: *What do I want?*
My story with wanting ‘more’
I know this feeling because I’ve been there myself. I was 29, on the cusp of turning 30, when I began feeling restless in my career. I’d worked in journalism since my college internship days and had been full-time since the age of 22. I had a good job, but something inside me was asking for more.
Whenever I interviewed women pursuing big dreams, travelling the world and creating lives that felt a little less ordinary, I felt a pang of longing. Meanwhile, my days seemed to repeat themselves. I watched peers in different industries receive new opportunities and promotions while my own salary was capped. Plus, two weeks of annual leave hardly seemed enough to satisfy my growing desire to explore what else life might hold.
I couldn’t quite explain what I wanted. I just knew I didn’t want to keep feeling this way.
The Awakening
That’s when I began my first life coaching session, not entirely sure what to expect. Through thoughtful questions and conversations, I began uncovering creative projects and ambitions that were still alive in me but had been sitting on the shelf. I left those sessions with renewed motivation and a determination to try new things. That experience led me to start my first blog, pursue my first coaching certification in 2016, host annual New Year’s goal-setting workshops for women and eventually launch my own PR business.
My coach didn’t hand me a career plan. She helped me identify what mattered to me, recognise possibilities I’d overlooked and find the confidence to take action. This is what coaching can look like in practice.
Perhaps you’ve been saying you want to start a business for years. Coaching can help you clarify what you want to offer, identify what’s stopping you and decide on the first practical steps. Perhaps you’re considering a career change. A coach can help you explore your priorities, weigh your options and identify what you need to know before making a decision. Or perhaps your own goals keep falling to the bottom of a very long to-do list. Coaching can help you choose meaningful priorities, break them into manageable actions and build a realistic plan around your existing commitments.
Practical Support
One of the most impactful things about life coaching is it allows you to review progress, work through setbacks and stay accountable to the commitments you’ve made to yourself. Instead of repeatedly starting over, you have dedicated time to consider what’s working, what isn’t and what needs to change.
Coaching won’t do the work for you or guarantee a particular outcome. But it can provide something many women rarely give themselves: protected time to think, practical support to move forward and someone who takes their ambitions seriously.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, ask yourself: If nothing changed in my life over the next twelve months, what would I wish I’d done differently? Your answer might reveal a dream worth revisiting or a change you’re ready to make. You don’t have to figure out the whole journey alone.
If you’re ready to gain clarity, set meaningful goals and start moving towards the life you want, I’d love to help. Get in touch at nadia@shebuildsagain.org. Together, we can explore where you are, where you want to be and the practical steps that will help you get there. Sometimes, a new chapter begins with a conversation.
- Nadia Arandjelovic-Laws is a Next Chapter Coach focused on helping women navigate life transitions, find clarity and build what’s next. Wondering what comes next for you? Book a complimentary 30-minute Connection Call.
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