🧭 Design your Compass for Clarity: When You’re In-Between, Direction Matters More Than Speed.

Plus details on my Immersive 2026 Planning Retreat to Define Who You’re Becoming with DEEP DISCOUNT. xo, Gilli

Career paths are rarely straight lines.

They’re mosaics. Curves, pauses, pivots, wrong turns that later reveal their purpose. It’s like Ed De Bono’s Zig Zag Theory. You start in one place thinking you’re going in one straight line, but you take the zig zag, depending on the butterfly effect. Life can give you lemons or you can make lemonade. And this is the end of my fun metaphors. Let’s get into it: No one really prepares us for the in-between. That uncertain stretch between what was and what’s next. But I have a few answers, and a retreat to help. Read on….

The in-between can feel like standing on a foggy platform, holding a ticket with no destination printed on it. You might be questioning your role, your industry, your leadership identity, or whether the dream you once chased still fits the person you’ve become. You might be employed but misaligned. Or searching, restless, wondering if you missed your moment.

You haven’t.

The in-between is not a failure state. It’s a planning state.

This is where your values surface and start asking for clarity. When things are comfortable, it’s easy to say “I know what matters to me.” When things are uncertain, your core values become your most reliable signal. What drains you. What energizes you. What you will no longer compromise. What kind of work, impact, and life you actually want to be building next.

Whether you’re exploring a new role or reshaping the one you’re in, the most powerful career question isn’t “What should I do next?” It’s “What am I moving toward?”

⭐️ This is where a North Star matters.

When the path feels unclear, planning doesn’t mean locking yourself into rigid outcomes. It means choosing direction. Setting a North Star that reflects who you are now, not who you were five or ten years ago. From there, you can translate values into goals. Goals into priorities. Priorities into an action plan that gives the in-between structure, momentum, and meaning.

Following your dreams doesn’t always feel dreamy.

There’s a persistent myth that alignment feels good all the time. That purpose shows up fully formed and confidence is constant. In reality, alignment often feels like discomfort before it feels like flow. It can mean choosing growth over approval. Meaning over momentum. Integrity over optics.

Especially when others don’t understand your choices.

Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, is a powerful example. Before building a billion-dollar brand, she was selling fax machines door to door, nurturing an idea few people believed in. She had no background in fashion or business and no shortage of naysayers. What carried her forward wasn’t certainty, it was clarity. She loved the problem she was solving. She stayed anchored to what lit her up, even when the road looked impractical and lonely.

🧭 That clarity became her compass.

The in-between is where courage becomes practical.

It’s where you pause long enough to reflect instead of reacting. Where you stop outsourcing your definition of success. Where you begin designing, intentionally, what the next chapter will require from you and offer to you in return.

Planning during the in-between doesn’t mean rushing the process. It means honoring it. Setting a clear North Star. Defining meaningful goals. Creating a roadmap that balances ambition with alignment.

And doing that kind of work is hard to do alone.

That’s why I’m hosting CREA8E Who You’re Going to Be in 2026.

This is not a webinar. It’s not surface-level goal setting. It’s an immersive, retreat-style experience designed to help you step out of the noise and into deep clarity. Over two intentional days, you’ll reflect, recalibrate, and actively design your 2026 vision. You’ll define your North Star, translate your values into clear goals, and build a realistic, inspiring roadmap for the year ahead.

You’ll leave with more than ideas. You’ll leave with direction. With intention. With a plan you believe in.

If you’re in the in-between, this is your moment to pause with purpose.

Not to wait.

To design.

✨ Join us at CREA8E Who You’re Going to Be in 2026 and give yourself the space, structure, and support to map what’s next, with clarity and heart. (Sign up to get the deep discount for being a subscriber to theCrea8ve and my work)

xo,

To your success,

Gilli