This Isn’t Working—and You Know It
Why success doesn’t feel like success anymore (and what we can do about it)
I followed all the rules.
Got the degrees. Built the business. Had the fancy title. Knew the big-name people.
On paper, it looked like success. But under the surface? I was anxious, chronically stressed, depleted, and quietly asking myself: Is this really it? Am I missing something?
But I knew I wasn’t alone. Through interviews I’d previously done for our magazine, live events, and podcast, I’d met TONS of other high-achieving people who felt the same way. And when I started interviewing women leaders for my book This Isn’t Working, over and over again, I heard the same story: high-achieving women who had done everything "right" and still felt overwhelmed, stuck, and dissatisfied. They were tired of the hustle, tired of the pressure to hold it all together, tired of performing success instead of living it.
And here’s the thing no one tells you:
You can check every box, make the most money, and reach the highest levels…and still feel empty. You can lead a team and still feel like you’re failing. You can do work that looks meaningful and still feel burned out. You can do everything “right” and feel like something isn’t right.
This isn’t a personal problem. It’s a systemic one.
We've inherited a playbook that teaches us our worth is based on how much we do, how much we give, and how little we ask for in return. A playbook that glorifies hustle culture and burnout, mistakes rest for laziness, and tells us to smile through the constant pressure.
That playbook? It’s broken. And it’s time we wrote a new one.
Welcome to The New Playbook.
This space is for the rebels, the reformers, the leaders who are ready to stop pretending the way we’re working is fine and start building something better.
It’s for those of you who are tired of measuring your worth by your output; the ambitious ones who know you’re meant for more—but not like this.
Every week, you’ll get:
A real, unfiltered story or insight
A mindset shift or practice that changes how you work or live
Tools or reflections to help you build a life that actually feels good
Sneak peeks behind the scenes of my book This Isn’t Working, coming August 2025
We’re not here to hustle harder. We’re here to do it differently.
You don’t need to earn rest. You don’t need to prove your worth. You don’t need to do more.
You just need to believe there’s a better way and have the courage to question the status quo.
Mindset Shift of the Week:
Success isn’t about how much you’re doing. It’s about the quality of your being.
Try This:
Before you tackle your daily to-do list, write down how you want to show up today. What traits or values do you want to embody? How do you want to make the people around you feel? How do you want to feel yourself? The more intentional you are about showing up in a good way instead of constantly focusing on what’s next to do, the more grounded you’ll feel.
If this resonates with you, hit reply and tell me:
What part of the old playbook are you done with?
We’re building something better—together.
XO,
Meghan