From Warrior to Sage: The Shift That Changes Everything
I thought I had it all figured out.
After leaving my corporate career, I had a solid plan. I was going to publish a book, build a wellness business and create the life I'd been dreaming of for years. I had goals, spreadsheets and strategies. I was ready to make it happen.
But a few months in, something felt off. The feeling was familiar in a way that made me uneasy.
I was pushing hard – working long hours to accomplish what was on my list each day. I was focused on the outcome and driving myself forward with the same relentless energy I'd used throughout my career.
That's when I realized that I wasn't creating a new life. I was just building a new treadmill.
I explored this very question in my own writing. In my new book, Walking with the Sage, the sage character asks the main character, who is desperately trying to force her way out of the liminal space between the conclusion of her career and her next chapter, a pivotal question.
The sage asks: "Did it ever occur to you that you left your career not because you were done with the work, but because you were done living that kind of life?"
If you find yourself in the messy middle of transition, consider this: Maybe you didn’t leave your old life to do something different. Maybe you left to live differently.
The Warrior Who Got You Here
For most of your life, you've operated with your warrior in the lead. And she's served you beautifully.
The warrior is goal-oriented, achievement-focused and driven by the quest. She sets her sights on what needs to be accomplished and doesn't stop until she gets there. A strategic thinker who’s armed with discipline and resiliency, she prides herself on pushing through challenges, overcoming obstacles and delivering results.
This is the energy of the Hero's Journey – the linear path of quest. It's all about proving yourself by answering the call, achieving the impossible goal and claiming victory.
Our inner warrior gets us through our formative years. She builds careers, earns promotions and achieves success. The corporate world rewards warrior energy, and we’re taught to lead with it in our work and our lives.
There's so much to be grateful for in what our warrior selves provide – the strength, determination and the drive to make things happen. She's not the problem. She's been essential.
But when the warrior is always in the lead, life can start to feel tight and controlled, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. That’s when you may start to wonder: Is this all there is?
When Something Deeper Calls
What’s beyond a career that has stopped feeding your soul the way it used to? Is there something to the whispers that seem to be growing louder? I assure you, there’s so much more to explore.
Something deeper is calling. And a different way of living is possible.
There's another path. Another way of moving through the world. And it's not about rejecting the warrior – it's about letting your sage self take the lead.
Because the sage operates differently.
Where the warrior focuses on goals, the sage focuses on intention. Where the warrior conquers in isolation, the sage collaborates – with the Universe, with others and with nature. Where the warrior seeks victory, the sage seeks transformation. And where the warrior returns with the prize, the sage returns with gifts to serve the community.
This is the energy of the Heroine's Journey – a cyclical path of intention, integration, transformation and return. This journey isn’t about proving yourself. It's about becoming yourself.
When the sage leads, the energy shifts. There's a positivity and confidence that others can see. There’s an optimism, along with a sense of adventure and exploration. Curiosity and expansiveness replace the constricted, charged energy of always being on.
The sage doesn't avoid mistakes. She embraces the messy beauty of transformation. She allows the unfolding of life because she knows her worth and trusts the process.
She also embraces the essential qualities of her warrior self – strength and discipline that are guided by her inner wisdom and aligned with what truly matters. A true collaboration of the yin and yang.
The shift is profound: from constriction to openness, from controlling to trusting, from doing to being.
The Messy, Beautiful Metamorphosis
Here's the truth about this shift: no one can tell you how to do it.
It's experiential, like a metamorphosis. You can't think your way through it or strategize your way to the other side. You have to step off the path and explore.
It's messy. You won't always know what you're doing. You'll question yourself. You'll wonder if you're doing it right. You'll feel the discomfort of not having all the answers.
But it's also beautiful. Because you're not just starting a new life chapter. You're becoming who you were always meant to be by moving at your own pace, not the world's. You’ll begin to collaborate with your sage self, with nature, with what wants to emerge – and then bring back what you’ve learned to serve others.
Walking with Your Sage
This shift – from warrior-led to sage-led living – is the work of your next chapter.
It’s also at the heart of my upcoming book, Walking with the Sage: A Story of Leaving Everything to Find More, which publishes April 7th. It's a true-life fable based on my own journey through this exact transformation. The main character faces the same question I did: What if I didn't leave my career because I was done with it, but because I was done with living that kind of life?
If you're feeling the call to live differently, this book is for you. It's filled with lessons and insights for anyone navigating a life transition and ready to let their sage lead.
As you move forward, take a moment to honor the warrior self who has served you beautifully and know that she always will. Then let your sage take the lead through the new terrain. No one but your inner sage can tell you how to do it. And the way through is to step off the traditional path and explore the wilderness that awaits off the beaten trail.
Your sage self is ready. She's been waiting. And she knows the way.
Journal Reflections: Where in my life is my warrior still leading? Where might my sage want to take the lead instead? What would it look like to step off the hero’s journey and embrace the heroine’s journey?
P.S. Ready to explore your next life phase? If so, I've created a special gift just for you! It’s a guide called 5 Questions to Explore a Soulful Second Chapter. It contains the type of reflective work that gave me the courage to make my midlife transition. You can download it for free at athenawellness.com/reimagine.
Links:
YouTube: The Athena Wellness Channel
Work with Kathy: Coaching Opportunities
Email Kathy: hello@athenawellness.com