Turning 60 has a way of making you reflective. You start flipping through the chapters of your life, noticing the patterns, the pivots, and the exact moments where everything changed direction.

Mel Robbins, one of my favorite motivational speakers and authors, recently dedicated a podcast episode to the idea of restarting your life and career. The concept hit home for me because I have been through several of these so-called restarts over the past four decades.

But as I sat with her words, a question surfaced: Is it really a restart, or is it a life redirection?

Robbins makes a compelling point that our restarts are not from scratch. We carry experience, knowledge, and wisdom into each new phase. I agree with that completely. But I would push the language even further. Life and the universe are not hitting a reset button. Instead, they are steering us somewhere new with everything we have already collected and experienced held firmly in our hands.

Turning Loss Into Purpose

Young and naive in my early twenties, I would never have guessed the many life redirectionsI would face. Where I am today is not where I had envisioned myself being decades ago.

I never anticipated losing my father and brother to addiction. More importantly, I never would have guessed that their passing would ultimately motivate me to write my book, The Upward Spiral to Sobriety. What felt like a shattering end was actually a painful steering toward a greater mission.

Life Experience Means You Never Really Start From Zero

At 60, I can look back at 40 years of these pivotal moments. I no longer see them as a series of failures or fresh starts, but as a single, winding, purposeful journey.

Mel Robbins is right that we never start from zero when starting over in life. I would simply add that we were never meant to.

• Life doesn’t restart; it redirects.
• If you are standing at a crossroads right now, everything you have been through has prepared you for exactly this turn.
• Trust your accumulated wisdom.

Trust the redirection and take the next step with every ounce of experience you have gained.

How Mantras and Analogies Help You Navigate Change

As you take this journey with me, you will quickly learn that I love using mantras and analogies. I often refer to these as digestible, tangible sound bites that assist with major life transitions and help us tap into deep self-motivation.

These mental tools easily paint a vivid picture we can use to rewrite, reframe, and redirect our personal identity or blueprint. Embracing these mindsets can help steady your feet as you enter life’s ultimate gift: the gift of redirection.

What’s next?

Be on the lookout for my next blog post, where I will share one of my favorite analogies demonstrating exactly how life is a redirection and not a restart. In the meantime, you can learn more about my journey and my book, The Upward Spiral to Sobriety, by visiting  Upward Spiral to Sobriety