When you realise “this isn’t it”

For the girl who wants to walk away from the life that made sense on paper and choose herself instead

Girls be like,
“I’m turning 30 this year. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I have a degree I don’t use. No interest in climbing the corporate ladder for the next 40 years. No urge to have kids. I just want to travel, work odd jobs, feel alive again. Do something that actually lights me up.”

And I get it.

You were taught to chase success like it was a checklist… Get the degree, land the job, find the partner, buy the house, have the kids, save enough to retire. Then maybe at 60 you get to live a little.

But what happens when you start checking the boxes… and still feel like something is missing?

What happens when you look around and realise you’ve built a life that technically works, but quietly feels like it’s suffocating you?

I remember going into the office every day and thinking… how is everyone just doing this? Like genuinely. How is everyone okay with this routine? The early commutes. The back-to-back meetings. The fake urgency over projects no one cared about. Somehow, everyone seemed fine. No one was complaining. No one looked completely miserable. And I started to think something was wrong with me.

Because here’s the part no one talks about, especially for high-achieving women. You did legitimatley EVERYTHING right. You were top of your class, went to a good school, you got an impressive job. The kind of resume that makes people nod in approval. You became the girl everyone points to like, “she figured it out.”

And yet… You’re sitting there staring at your screen thinking, I do not care about this. Meanwhile, your coworkers are passionate. Your friends are climbing the ladder, talking about promotions, long-term plans, ten-year visions… and you’re just sitting there like, am I broken? Because it’s not even that you want a different corporate job. It’s that you don’t want any of them.

And that’s the part that really messes with your head.

Because if you don’t want this path… and you don’t want the other “acceptable” paths either… then what the hell do you want?

So you sit in that in-between where you’re grateful on paper, but miserable in reality. And you feel silly because you’re making good money and so many people in life have it worse thank you. But you feel stuck in something you worked years to build. It feels terrible to admit that you don’t give a shit about the thing that’s supposed to be your “dream.”

But hear me when I say this…

There is nothing wrong with you.

You’re not lazy.
You’re not ungrateful.
You didn’t “waste” your potential.

You were just built for a different life.

Maybe you’re like me, and you start to look around at your boss, your boss’s boss, your coworkers… and they’re all just cruising. Meanwhile, I felt like my soul had packed its bags and left the building. I couldn’t fake it. I couldn’t force it. I couldn’t kick into gear.

It felt like I was dying inside.

I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but looking back, I know now what it was.

It was the feeling of misalignment. The ache that comes when your spirit knows something your brain can’t explain. It was the quiet whisper of this isn’t it.

And here’s the thing no one tells you…

Most people feel that whisper, they’re just too scared to admit it. Or too afraid to do anything about it.

Because doing something about it means breaking the rules, walking away from the safety net, and choosing yourself before anyone else understands why.

But once you take the leap? You start to breathe again. You start to feel again.

For me, the path I chose was through real estate investing.

Not because I wanted to be some girlboss landlord or had dreams of cashflow spreadsheets taped to my walls. It was honestly so much deeper than that. I was just tired of my freedom being dependent on a paycheck and wondering if I’d ever be able to rest without everything falling apart. I was tired of needing to perform in order to survive.

I didn’t want to build a business just to trap myself in another job.

I wanted to build something that could hold me. That could pay the bills when I needed a break. That could give me back my time, my energy, my creativity (without asking for permission).

It wasn’t about building an empire, it was about building a life that felt soft, sustainable, and free.

Real estate gave me not just a new income stream, but a new nervous system. One that wasn’t constantly bracing for burnout.

Suddenly, you realise you were never broken. You were just meant to build a different kind of life (one that doesn’t follow the script).

One that asks harder questions. That doesn’t come with guaranteed outcomes. That doesn’t always make sense on paper but makes so much sense in your body.

And yes, it can be scary, and lonely, and like everyone else is five steps ahead while you’re still trying to figure out what country you even want to live in next.

But the truth? Most of them aren’t ahead. They’re just committed to a path they never paused long enough to question.

You’re not behind.
You’re not lost.
You’re not late.
You’re just awake.

And that… that’s rare.

Your life gets to look different.

Success doesn’t have to come in the form of a two-story house in the suburbs and a job title you don’t care about. That maybe, juuuust maybe, the life you’re craving doesn’t live at the top of the ladder.

Maybe it lives on a beach in Portugal. Maybe it lives in slow mornings and wild dreams and choosing yourself again and again, even when it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. Maybe it lives in the courage to burn down what you were taught so you can build what you actually want.

There’s nothing wrong with you for craving more, or for wanting less of the things that don’t feel good. Or for saying “I don’t know what I’m doing” but still choosing to do it your way anyway.

That’s not failure. That’s power.

And I know, I know — it doesn’t always feel like power. Sometimes being “awake” doesn’t always feel like this magical, enlightened thing.

It feels like confusion and shame. Or like you’re the only one still figuring it out while everyone else seems to have it together. But most people are just performing the life they were told to want. You’re actually asking if it fits.

That’s the difference, and it’s a big one.

Because you totally could settle… I almost did. But something in me knew better. Something in me remembered there’s more. And that tiny inner whisper? That’s the version of you who already knows where you’re going.

So listen. Keep going.

And if you need a little reminder of who you really are, let me offer you this:

You say you’re behind because you’re not married or don’t have kids… but maybe you’ve traveled to 20+ countries, started a business, bought real estate, woken up for sunrise pilates, are in your 30s but actually look 25, have financial freedom, go to therapy, learned to enjoy your own company, take solo trips to Europe just because, and know how to invest in yourself.

Like girl… You’re not behind. You’re the blueprint.

This isn’t a detour. This is the path.

And it’s one only the bravest women choose to walk.

I’m proud of you. Truly. Keep building the life that’s actually yours.

Because the truth is, most people don’t even make it this far.

Life is too short to choose clouds ☀️
Olivia xx

PS: If this felt like a hug for your soul, send it to a girlfriend who needs it too. You’re not alone — we’re out here rewriting the rules together.