Let me tell you something I wish I’d realised earlier in my career: The key to real career success isn’t working harder. It’s how you think.

Stop Starting Backwards

Another leadership course.
A new networking strategy.
A perfectly curated LinkedIn profile.

All valuable, but none of them work if you’re operating from the wrong mindset.

The truth? Most high-achieving women are approaching career success backwards.
We try to fix things on the surface before we’ve done the deeper work.

I know this because I’ve been there.

Burnt out, under appreciated, and wondering why more effort wasn’t translating to more progress or recognition.

What I really needed wasn’t another to-do list.

It was a strategy — and a mindset — for becoming the CEO of my own life, career, and leadership journey.

The Two Big Ideas That Change Everything

When you shift your mindset from surviving to strategic, two game-changing ideas emerge:

• Big Idea #1: Career success is not a by-product of hustle.

Yes, working hard matters — but not if it’s keeping you stuck in the wrong lane. Long-term success comes from leading with intention. From crafting a career that aligns with your values, amplifies your strengths, and sets you up for the legacy you want to leave. When you think like the CEO of your own career, you stop waiting for permission and start shaping your own path

• Big Idea #2: The sooner you start thinking long-term, the more options you’ll have.

We often wait until burnout, a bad boss, redundancy or a plateau to reassess. But the earlier you think ahead — about impact, visibility, positioning and relevance — the more choices you’ll have later.

The professional world is shifting fast. You want to be at the helm of your own ship, not reacting from the passenger seat.

The Four Steps Forward

Many of us try to leap into action without a real strategy. Here’s the sequence I now teach and live by — and it starts from the inside out:

1. Upgrade your mindset – Start thinking like a leader who owns her power, instead of proving her worth. What would a wise and confident woman do?
2. Build your strategic plan – Get clear on what you want, why it matters, and what legacy you’re building over what time frame. Stop being busy, start being strategic.
3. Shape your daily actions – Align your behaviours, boundaries and habits with your bigger goals. Embody the brand you want to become.
4. Leverage the right tools – Whether it’s branding, negotiation, visibility, networking, positioning or even strategic action – use what works for you.

Make This the Year You Lead On Your Terms

The career success mindset isn’t something you learn once and forget. It’s a daily practice — one that gives you back your power, your perspective, and your purpose.

If you’ve been operating on autopilot, ticking the boxes, but secretly wondering “is this all there is?” — this is your call to shift gears.

Step up.

Take the reins. And start shaping a career that not only supports the life you want today — but builds the legacy you want to be known for.

You are the CEO of your own life, career and leadership journey. Own it.

If this article resonated with you and you’re ready to step into the next powerful chapter of your career, I’d love to support you. Join my 1:1 coaching waitlist, and together, we’ll make your next phase more exciting, fulfilling, and influential than ever before. Because life’s too short to waste it in a role that’s boring at best — or undermining what’s possible at worst.

P.S. Drop me a note if you’ve got something to add. I’d love to hear.

– Stay visible! And strategic 😎