This weekend, I’m heading to my 45th high school reunion.
There’s something about a reunion that makes time suddenly feel very real. You think about who you were then, who you thought you would become, and all the versions of yourself that have existed between then and now.
And it raises a bigger question:
What am I taking with me into the next chapter of my life?
In this episode of The Unapologetic Third Act, I explore what we accumulate over a lifetime, from identities and responsibilities to expectations, ambitions and dreams, and what happens when we become more intentional about deciding what still belongs.
Because the third act doesn’t have to be about throwing everything away and starting over.
It can be about choosing.
1:19 — What am I taking with me?
Why my 45th high school reunion has me thinking about time, identity and what we carry into the next chapter.
3:17 — Identity: Who are you underneath your roles?
What happens when a job, relationship, caregiving role or other identity changes, and we have to ask who we are without it?
5:14 — Obligation: What are you choosing, and what are you carrying out of habit?
The difference between consciously giving our time and believing we have no right to protect it.
6:43 — Ambition: What are you ambitious for now?
Success doesn’t necessarily have to mean less ambition as we get older. It may mean becoming much more intentional about what we’re ambitious for.
8:20 — Possibility: Who decided possibility had an expiration date?
Why experimenting, trying something new and paying attention to what energizes us can be enough to reveal the next step.
10:47 — Reinvention can be a series of choices
Keep this. Release that. Try this. Question that. Say yes. Say no. Change your mind. Try again.
11:27 — Two questions for your third act
What am I taking with me?
What am I ready to leave behind?
Maybe becoming unapologetic isn’t about becoming louder or deciding nobody else matters.
Maybe it’s about becoming more discerning about what gets your time, your attention, your energy and your remaining years.
Because this chapter isn’t just about what comes next.
It’s about choosing what comes with us.
Follow The Unapologetic Third Act wherever you listen so you don’t miss the next episode.
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