Personal Development Mastery: Clarity for Midlife Professionals in Transition

Why So Many Career Transitions Fail, and How to Avoid the #1 Mistake Professionals Make, with Rachel Spekman | #574

Jan 26, 2026

Rachel Spekman, coach and founder of Made For More Coach who blends business smarts with emotional intelligence. She talks about why high achievers stay stuck, the percent-happy framework for incremental change, designing a perfect workday, time vs enjoyment audits, the Three C’s (community, contribution, challenge), internal résumés, reputational noise, and translating transferable skills.

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INSIGHT

Fear Keeps High Achievers Stuck

Fear is the core reason high achievers stay in unfulfilling careers and tolerate the cost to health and relationships.
Incremental change, not impulsive leaps, moves people from low to higher career satisfaction over months.

ADVICE

Design Your Day To Reveal Fit

Design your perfect workday to identify values, preferred tasks, and gaps between current work and ideal work.
Audit the last 48 hours' tasks with time and enjoyment percentages to spot low-enjoyment time sinks and quick wins.

ADVICE

Use The Three C's And An Internal Résumé

Use the Three C's — community, contribution, challenge — to find work that feels meaningful and energizing.
Write an internal résumé of favorite moments per job to surface recurring strengths and flow activities.

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Stuck in a “successful” career that looks great on paper but feels soul-sucking? It might be time to reverse-engineer work you actually love.

If you’re a high achiever who’s quietly miserable, this episode shows how to move from fear and obligation to clarity and momentum, without blowing up your finances or identity.

Learn practical exercises to pinpoint fit fast: design your perfect workday, run a time vs. enjoyment audit, and write your “internal résumé” to surface real strengths.
Replace anxiety with a plan: shift from 20% happy to 80% through calculated, incremental moves (not impulsive leaps), guided by the Three C’s:community, contribution, and challenge.
Navigate the messy middle: handle reputational noise, manage ego with a beginner’s mindset, and translate transferable skills so opportunities find you.

Hit play to learn the exact steps and scripts to start feeling more fulfilled at work, starting today.

MEMORABLE QUOTE:

"It’s gonna be okay. You got this!"

VALUABLE RESOURCES:

Rachel's website: https://madeformorecoach.com/

Coaching with Agi: https://personaldevelopmentmasterypodcast.com/mentor

🎙️ Want to be a guest on the podcast?

Message Agi on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/member/personaldevelopmentmastery

Conversations and insights on career transition, career clarity, career change and career pivots for midlife professionals, including second careers, new ventures, leaving a long-term career with confidence, better decision-making, and creating purposeful, meaningful work.

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Career transition and career clarity podcast content for midlife professionals in career transition, navigating a career change, career pivot or second career, starting a new venture or leaving a long-term career.

Discover practical tools for career clarity, confident decision-making, rebuilding self belief and confidence, finding purpose and meaning in work, designing a purposeful, fulfilling next chapter, and creating meaningful work that fits who you are now. Episodes explore personal development and mindset for midlife professionals, including how to manage uncertainty and pressure, overcome fear and self-doubt, clarify your direction, plan your next steps, and turn your experience into a new role, business or vocation that feels aligned.

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