Awareness Before Action: The First Step to Real Change

Before a significant change can happen, there first needs to be awareness of what is truly desired. Often, that awareness begins as a quiet whisper, a tug at the heart, or a yearning for something more—or different.

For many of us, the instinct is to jump into action, rip the bandage off, and move on to something new. That can work... but in my experience, the outcome rarely lives up to what we imagined. I remember when I used to get restless in a job. My go-to move was to update my résumé and start applying elsewhere. It gave me a temporary sense of momentum, but the satisfaction never lasted. It wasn’t until I recognized that pattern and made the decision to pause and reflect that things truly shifted.

When I finally took the time to listen to the whisper, the tug, the yearning, I began to understand what I really wanted in my life (not just my career). During that pause, I got honest about what I wanted and what I didn’t. The key was shedding the attachment to what I believed I “should” do and turning inward instead, reconnecting with my values, noticing how satisfied I felt in different areas of my life, and reflecting on how I wanted to show up each day. That’s where the transformation began: awareness before action.