We often associate success with perseverance. Keep going. Work harder. Push through the discomfort. Prove you can do it.
But what happens when the determination that helped you succeed becomes the very thing holding you back?
On Chief Endurance Officer, host Greg McDonough sits down with Lauren Golen, founder and principal advisor of Your Aligned Life, to explore a different side of the endurance mindset: knowing when to push forward, when to reflect, and when it’s time to let go.
The Identity Behind the Achievement
Lauren’s entrepreneurial journey included building yoga studios, navigating the challenges of leadership, and learning lessons that went far beyond business strategy. One of her biggest realizations was how often she relied on doing everything herself, believing she had to figure things out independently and prove she could make things work.
That mindset can take you far. But it can also make it difficult to ask for support, accept feedback, or recognize when something needs to change.
As Lauren explains, challenges and failures can become opportunities to learn, uncover blind spots, and break through patterns that keep us stuck.
Knowing When to Let Go
One of the most powerful moments in the conversation comes when Lauren reflects on closing a yoga studio she had built from the ground up. She had signed a five-year lease just one year earlier, yet she reached a point where she knew continuing wasn’t right for her. Closing the studio brought its own consequences, including a lawsuit, but she still recognized that the decision was necessary.
Her experience raises an important question for anyone leading a business or building a career: Are you persevering because the goal still aligns with who you are, or because you’re afraid of what it means to stop?
Endurance isn’t always about tolerating more discomfort. Sometimes, it means being honest enough to recognize that the path you’re on no longer serves you.
Leading From a Different Place
Today, Lauren works with female founders and CEOs who have achieved significant success but find that the strategies and identities that brought them there no longer fit the lives they want to lead.
Her approach encourages leaders to slow down, notice what isn’t working, and reconnect with their own judgment rather than automatically relying on the strategies that worked in a previous season.
It’s a reminder that growth doesn’t always require another goal, another plan, or another push. Sometimes, the next level of leadership begins with reflection, openness, and the willingness to change.
The takeaway: The ability to endure is powerful, but so is the ability to recognize when it’s time to do something differently.
Listen to Lauren Golen’s conversation with Greg McDonough on Chief Endurance Officer for a thoughtful look at the relationship between personal growth, identity, and sustainable leadership.
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