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Redefining Success: When What Worked Before No Longer Fits


🙌🏼 A kick-ass, over 50, female entrepreneur I know, is redefining her personal and business vision. She’s actively supporting her very successful social media marketing agency while ALSO seeking new adventure by building a BRAND NEW business in a completely different industry! For her this isn’t just work, it’s personal too. She’s said yes to herself by fulfilling a life-long dream supported by her passion for music, transforming it into a career that will help so many people.


💡There comes a moment in many women’s careers when success starts to feel… different. On paper, everything looks right. The title. The credibility.

The years of experience and respect you worked hard to earn.

And yet, quietly, something shifts.

What once energized you now feels heavy. What once motivated you no longer does.

And your previous definition of success no longer fits who you’re becoming.


This moment often catches women off guard—especially high-achieving women who’ve spent decades building, leading, producing, and carrying responsibility for others.


You should feel satisfied.

You should feel grateful.


And yet, beneath the surface, there’s a restlessness that won’t go away.

 

This isn’t failure.

It’s evolution.

 

For many women leaders, particularly those over 40, success has long been defined externally as:

 

  • Achievement

  • Advancement

  • Visibility

  • Productivity

  • Being “the strong one”

 

Sure, these measures serve a purpose. They helped you grow, rise, survive and lead in systems that frequently demand proof, resilience, and output. But on the flip side, rarely have women been encouraged to also ask these inward questions:

 

  • Does this version of success still align with who I am now?

  • What has it cost me to keep chasing it?

  • What would success look like if peace, health, contentment, and clarity counted too?

 

“Strength is not about how much you can carry. It’s about knowing when to set things down." -anonymous

 

Redefining success doesn’t mean quitting your career or abandoning ambition. It doesn’t mean burning everything down or starting over. More often, it simply means allowing your definition of success to mature—just as you have.

 

For many executive women, this shift shows up subtly as a:

 

  • Longing for alignment over approval

  • Desire for clarity instead of constant hustling

  • Need for momentum that doesn’t come at the expense of your body, persona relationships, or sense of self

 

Frequently, I hear this reflected from the women I work with. Successful, capable leaders who aren’t broken—just tired of measuring themselves by standards that no longer reflect their values or stage of life.

 

The truth is:

Success isn’t failing you. The definition you’ve been living by may simply be outdated.

Redefining it doesn’t make you less driven. It makes you more honest.

 

Reflection to sit with:What version of success no longer fits—and what might be ready to take its place?

These are the kinds of conversations I hold with women leaders inside my EmpowerHER Circle—a space designed for reflection, alignment, vulnerability, and honest dialogue about what leadership looks like now, not ten years ago.

 

If this resonates with you...

You’re not alone—and you’re not behind.

 

♥️Today I will be fearless.

Today I am grateful.


P.S. Are you trying to better understand and improve the female dynamics on your team, follow me on LinkedIn to learn more!

 


What if success isn’t broken — but simply ready to be redefined? Many women leaders reach a point where external success no longer feels aligned on the inside. In this video, Dr. Amber Tichenor explores what it means to redefine success for women over 40 — moving beyond achievement toward clarity, alignment, and a more sustainable way of leading and living.


 
 
 

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