Life in Beta: You’re Not Broken, You’re Becoming
It hit me recently—my life isn’t a finished product. I often say I’m a work in progress, but the truth goes deeper. My life is a constant iteration—a living, breathing draft where every misstep, insight, and breakthrough becomes part of the next version of me.
We talk a lot about changing—changing habits, changing direction, changing ourselves.
But I don’t believe people truly change at their core.
I believe we evolve.
We grow through our ability to adapt to changing conditions.
In psychology, this process is known as identity construction—we’re constantly reshaping our sense of self through experience, reflection, and meaning-making. So if you’re in the middle of a messy chapter, it doesn’t mean you’re lost or broken. It means you’re iterating.
We’re like oak trees.
From the moment an acorn is planted, the blueprint is already there. It doesn’t need to become something else—it simply needs time, space, and the right conditions to grow. Along the way, it weathers storms, droughts, and harsh winds. But none of that turns the oak into a pine or a willow. It just becomes a more resilient version of itself.
That’s how I see people. That’s how I see myself.
We grow through trauma, relationships, trial and error.
We deepen. We refine.
But the core—our values, our essence—is always there.
Life doesn’t ask us to become someone or something else. It invites us to become more fully ourselves.
Years ago, during a Sandler Sales Training workshop, the facilitator asked us to rate ourselves on a scale from 1 to 10.
No one said “ten.”
Then he dropped a question that stopped me cold:
“The day you were born, if someone had asked your parents to rate you, they would’ve said ‘ten,’ right?”
Of course they would have.
Then he asked:
“At what point did you stop believing you were a ten?”
That exercise provided new perspective. It helped me separate my identity from the roles I play—professional, partner, parent, leader.
It gave me permission to fail and begin again. Not as a sign of weakness, but as a natural part of the process.
That moment softened the edges of my perfectionism and opened the door to laughter.
Because my missteps weren’t proof I was broken—they were proof I was learning. Becoming. Evolving.
That truth came full circle again during an entrepreneurial course through Michigan State University. The insight hit me like a bell:
I’m a prototype—a living iteration. A work in progress—not because I’m broken, but because I’m always growing.
Turns out, some of the world’s most successful innovators operate with the same mindset.
James Dyson built 5,126 prototypes before landing on the one that worked. He said:
“Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success.”
Jeff Bezos? His philosophy at Amazon wasn’t built on brilliance—it was built on iteration:
“Our success is a function of how many experiments we do per year, per month, per week, per day.”
Their secret wasn’t perfection. It was experimentation.
Iteration has been the quiet pulse of my life—through every pivot, reinvention, and brave decision to begin again.
Perfection is overrated—and not to mention, impossible to achieve.
And honestly?
It’s exhilarating to design my life like a living blueprint—version after version, built on wisdom, humility, and forward motion.
In business, prototypes aren’t expected to be perfect. They’re expected to be tested, refined, reimagined. Each version offers feedback—not failure. When you apply that mindset to your own growth plan, things begin to shift.
I do not strive for perfection.
I actively work on designing—and redesigning—the life I want to live.
I focus on what I can control. Because here’s what I know for sure:
Beating my drum won’t bring the rain.
No amount of worry can change the weather.
I can’t live by someone else’s forecast.
My energy is my most valuable resource—and I get to choose where I spend it.
Every version of me—every prototype, every season, every storm—has taught me this:
I’m not here to be perfect.
I’m here to evolve.
Reflection Time:
In my usual me-ness, the reflection begins:
Where are you investing your most valuable resource—your energy?
How often do you allow curiosity, that quiet compass, to guide you toward what’s next?
Your energy is currency. Invest it in growth—not in approval.
Curiosity may not give you the answer, but it will always lead you forward.
There’s a myth that one day we’ll arrive—that we’ll be “done.”
But to evolve is to remain unfinished. To keep becoming.
Every day is a new opportunity to learn (and unlearn) about living in constant iteration.
If you haven’t made a bucket list that aligns with your truest self—do it.
Be courageous. Be curious.
When you stumble, rise. Laugh. Try again.
Operation Reframe™ Prompt:
What version of you is quietly under construction right now?
What needs softening, strengthening, or simply a little more grace?
Here’s to the infinite art of becoming—again and again.
You were never meant to stay the same.
You were meant to evolve and grow.
You were meant to design the life you want to live.
Remember, you can spend your life any way you want, but you can only spend it once.
If you’ve lost momentum, feel buried under obligation, or just feel stuck—let’s reframe it. Together.
Let’s Chat. Your next iteration is waiting.
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