Leadership, aging, and learning to move at our own pace

Author: Katie Cameron, CO-Founder, The Blurred Line

Every January, we’re told it’s time for a fresh start… new goals, new routines, more energy. For years, I jumped on that bandwagon without question, charging ahead like a rat up a pipe, convinced momentum mattered more than how I actually felt. 

But…. this January was different. 

At 38, I’m starting to understand that leadership isn’t about keeping pace with the calendar. It’s about keeping pace with yourself. This winter, I realised I didn’t need to ramp up just because it was a new year. I needed to move at my own pace. To listen. To match my energy instead of forcing it. 

I am in a season of deeper awareness. Books like Fast Like a Girl (yes, I know you’ve probably heard me go on about this book before) reminded me that our bodies move in cycles, daily, monthly, and across our lives. Energy rises and falls. Focus shifts and winter, for many of us, is meant to be quieter, slower and a time to reflect rather than push. 

As women, we’re often praised for powering through, even when our bodies are asking for something else but real leadership comes from tuning in, not overriding. When we understand our bodies and honour our health, we show up more grounded, more present, and more ourselves for our work, our families, and to all those who matter to us.  

Aging has taught me that I don’t need to prove my strength by burning myself out, strength can look like rest, like patience, like trusting that slowing down now creates space for something stronger later. 

So here’s a little nugget to get you thinking….. what if leadership isn’t about moving faster, but about moving truer to yourself? When women lead in rhythm with their bodies, honouring cycles, energy, and seasons, we stop burning out and start leading in a way that we can maintain, that doesn’t just change how we show up, it can change what leadership looks like.