Is What I am Doing Right Now Serving the Person I want to Become?

I found a note this week while clearing out my desk - the kind of job I’d been putting off until absolutely necessary, now prompted by an upcoming house move. Tucked away inside a folder I hadn’t opened for a couple of years, there it was: a pink piece of card with a white sticky label in the middle, the corners curling slightly with time.

Scribbled in my handwriting, it simply said:

“Is what I’m doing right now serving the person I want to become?”

I wrote it two years ago, give or take. At the time, I was right at the beginning of starting my business. Still figuring out what I wanted to offer, what I wanted to build - and, if I’m honest, still very much entangled with the identity I’d carried for thirty years.

For most of my career, I led others. Big teams, big roles, big responsibility. I was known for being decisive, dependable, in control. It was who I was, professionally. And when you’ve been that version of yourself for so long, it’s easy to believe that’s the only version that works. Or that matters.

But now, I was on my own. Building something from scratch. Coaching, mentoring, creating - without the structure or title or backing of a company behind me. I won’t use the word ‘solopreneur’ (something about it makes me wince), but I was, and still am, very much working solo. Apart from the incredible community I’m part of, and the brilliant people I’ve met along the way, it’s largely just me each day.

The shift was bigger than I expected. When you’re used to being known for one thing, it’s unnerving to let that go - even when you know it’s time. And so, in the midst of that transition, I wrote myself this question. Not as a dramatic call to change everything overnight, but as a simple, steadying check-in. A way of asking myself: is how I’m spending my time, my energy, my focus, and my attention, actually helping me grow into who I want to become?

Because it’s so easy to stay tangled in what’s familiar. To keep doing what you’ve always done, especially if it’s been praised or rewarded. And even when that version of you no longer feels quite right, it can still feel risky to let go of it without knowing exactly what comes next.

But becoming someone new (or perhaps more accurately, becoming more fully yourself) doesn’t happen in a single decision. It happens in all the small ones that follow. And that’s where this question became so powerful for me. It didn’t ask me to have it all figured out. It just asked me to pause and to notice. To act with a little more intention.

So when I found that pink card again this week, I didn’t just smile and toss it in the recycling pile. I sat with it. I really let it land.

Is what I’m doing now serving the person I’m becoming?

Not serving my old job title.
Not serving the version of me who ran at 100 miles per hour.
Not serving the need to look like I had everything under control.

But serving the person I am now, and the one I’m still growing into. The person who works more quietly, who listens more deeply, who builds her work around truth, not performance. The person who leads without needing to be in charge.

And the answer, for the most part, is yes. And yet, it’s also a reminder that question is still relevant and necessary. It’s something I’ll come back to now not just when I feel lost, but also when things are going well because I want to keep choosing growth over comfort, and clarity over autopilot.

So I’m putting the card back on my desk when we move into our new home, and this time where I can see it. It’s a simple question, but one that holds so much weight.

And if you’re finding yourself in a moment of transition, or a quiet reassessment, or even just feeling a little disconnected from your direction, I wonder if it might help you too.

Is what you’re doing now serving the person you’re becoming?

Not a question to answer quickly but one to carry with you, gently.

P.S. - You don’t have to be available 24/7 to be a great leader.
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