Sometimes it takes getting pushed to finally take the leap.

Easter is a story of death and resurrection, which are two sides of the same coin; you can’t have one without the other. Whether you connect with this idea religiously, spiritually, or simply as a metaphor, it’s hard to deny the power of the theme.

Something must end for something new to begin. Birth requires death.

That’s as true in life as it is in work.

Last week, I spoke with someone who’d recently been laid off. They’d had a good job. Senior role, solid company, with many years of experience. When they learned they were being let go, it hit them hard. At first.

But as they shared their story, there was something else behind their words. Relief. Excitement, even.

They told me they’d wanted to leave for a long time, that they’d outgrown the job, but had been too afraid to walk away. People were counting on them, and walking away felt too uncertain, bringing too much risk. They were scared to leave, even though they knew they probably should have.

Getting laid off, in their words, was a gift they didn’t ask for, but needed. It was being thrown into the deep end and forced to swim.

Now, they’re building their own business and they’re fired up in a way they haven’t felt in years. They feel alive. And they’re doing work that finally feels like it means something to them.

That kind of transformation doesn’t happen just because you change jobs.

It happens when you shed your old identity like a snake sheds its skin, allowing something new to emerge.

It happens when the parts of you that felt safe, confident, established, and familiar die, and a new version of you steps in to take its place.

While we all fear that kind of shift, it’s often exactly what we need.

Because it’s not just your role that’s keeping you stuck.

It’s who you think you are.

We all carry invisible name tags with us. The labels, titles, personalities, habits, and identities we’ve collected over the years.

Manager. Technologist. Consultant. Leader. Provider. Expert.

These identities aren’t meaningless, but they can be limiting. Especially when they become prisons we’ve outgrown.

It’s easy to forget that your identity isn’t assigned, it’s chosen. Maybe it’s not something you’ve chosen consciously, but it’s something you’ve chosen nonetheless. And every day, your actions reinforce that identity.

“Every action you take is a vote for the kind of person you want to become.” — James Clear

If you think of yourself as a top performer, you act like one. You show up differently. You prioritize differently. You say yes to some things and no to others.

But the same is true in reverse.

If you see yourself as someone stuck, behind, too late, too tired – your actions will reflect that too.

Your identity shapes your habits.

Your habits shape your life.

And your life reinforces your identity.

This is why change at the surface level never lasts.

If you want to change your outcomes, you have to change your identity.

And sometimes, the only way that happens is when the old identity is taken from you.

That’s what happened to the person I spoke to last week. Their old identity was ripped away, and after a period of healing, they created something better in the space it left behind.They didn’t just get a new job; they became someone new.

They stopped asking what job title they should chase next and started asking a deeper question:

“Who do I want to be?”

And that question is the invitation for this season.

It’s not the time to polish up your resume or make a few new habits around the edges. Instead, it’s time to reflect on what part of you might need to die, so something more powerful can come to life.

What identity are you still clinging to?

What version of you feels safe, but no longer feels true?

And if you weren’t tied to your current title, routine, or labels, who might you allow yourself to become?

This Easter, maybe it’s time to let part of you die.

So the real you can rise.

Quotation that I’ve been pondering

“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell

Journal prompt

If I could no longer introduce myself by my job title, how would I describe who I am to someone I just met?

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