I'm going to be honest, Reader... I hate dressing rooms.

I'm all looking polished, put together but trying on clothes is the bane of my existence (and no, just doing it at home isn't that much better). This has certainly affected how many upgrades I've made in my closet over the years, so I'm probably a prime candidate for a personal shopper or something, but that's a subject for another day.

I bring up dressing rooms because they demonstrate a key principle of how we achieve our goals: becoming somebody new requires leaving behind who we are today.

In order to step into that fab new pair of jeans and crisp white button down, you have to take off the ratty t-shirt and leggings covered with pills. We all know the experience of standing in that dressing room, with weirdly positioned lighting, in our underwear, in the in-between of who we came in as and who we might walk out as.

We like to tell ourselves that it's just steps in the right direction and eventually we'll just be that woman who runs the business, feels confident in her body or sets boundaries with her family. But we don't get the bridge. Imagine evaluating those new jeans while still wearing your leggings underneath - not a fair indicator as to whether the jeans fit you, right?

It requires an act of bravery to step into the in-between and I'm not just talking about dealing with fluorescent lights. To start letting go of old patterns (people pleasing, staying up too late scrolling, not speaking up in meetings, negative self-talk, whatever) before you've truly felt the benefits of what will happen on the other side.

When my girlfriends and I sit at our twice annual Board Meeting, we're just as likely to be talking about the current habits getting in our way that need to G-T-F-O as we are talking about something new that needs to get added. It's important to acknowledge because stopping the old stuff often gives you space, time, or awareness that can be a bit of an uncomfortable spotlight of things you've been avoiding.

Just remember that if you can stay strong in the in between moment, standing in the dressing room in your underwear, that it's a really good chance the new look is coming for you. And you look HOT.

I've been hard at work at some stuff coming behind the scenes that I'm literally frothing at the mouth to tell you about. But in the meantime, I'm going to keep myself at bay by talking about Summer I Turned Pretty S3 instead. Did you watch the first two episodes yet? Please reply with your thoughts (or my DM's are always open).

Love your internet big sister,

Samantha