The Ache That Whispers

Have you ever hit a milestone you worked so hard for, only to realize it didn’t feel like you thought it would?

The promotion. The title. The seat at the table.

On paper, it looked like everything had lined up. But inside? A quiet hum. A tug in your chest that said: Not quite. Not like this.

I call it the ache.

It’s not burnout. It’s not failure. It’s not even dissatisfaction. It’s that subtle dissonance between how your life looks and how it feels.

Most of us don’t talk about it because it doesn’t feel “big enough” to name. We keep going, high-functioning and strategic, hoping the ache will fade with the next win. But here’s the truth: it doesn’t. It stays until you listen.

The ache is a signal, not a weakness. It’s your body whispering: You’re out of alignment.

And the cost of ignoring it? Quiet erosion. You show up polished but disconnected. You deliver results but feel invisible. You start performing leadership instead of living it.

I’ve been there. And what I’ve learned—what I write about in my book Lead Like You Mean It—is that the ache isn’t something to fix. It’s something to follow.

Because underneath the ache is wisdom.

It’s pointing you back to your center. To the place where your clarity, your intuition, your presence live. To the version of you who doesn’t need to prove or perform, but simply remembers: I am already enough.

Here’s the shift: stop asking, “How do I make the ache go away?” and start asking, “What is it trying to tell me?”

Maybe it’s asking you to set a boundary you’ve been avoiding.
Maybe it’s inviting you to speak the truth you’ve been softening.
Maybe it’s reminding you that rest isn’t a reward—it’s a requirement.

When I listen to my own ache, I find my compass again. My True North. And from that place, leadership stops being a mask and starts being presence.

So today, I’ll leave you with a question:

Where is the ache whispering in your life—and what might change if you stopped ignoring it?