This step is about uncovering what makes you feel happy and fulfilled – and getting clear on what you really want. It’s about connecting to what’s important to you, your core values, your dreams, and what you need to feel fulfilled.

Taking the time to explore and get clear on these is an important step before taking action, as they can act as a compass which you can use to guide your next steps. They can help you figure out what’s missing when things feel unfulfilling or misaligned too. When things change, or when you feel stuck or overwhelmed, you can also keep coming back to them to help guide your decisions.

These first two steps are about thinking things through so you can make more informed and aligned decisions later.

When things feel unfulfilling we can sometimes feel the urge to change things right away, but it’s worth taking time to focus on these initial two steps first.

Even if there are areas in your life where you already know you’d like to make changes, it’s worth taking the time to take stock and get clear on what you want first – before making changes. That way you have extra knowledge and awareness to help you make better choices.

This step is about navigating the challenges, fears, doubts, and beliefs which may be getting in the way of you creating a life which feels more fulfilling and aligned to what you want. It’s about gently facing and working through them so you can move forwards.

Change can feel scary, and it’s completely natural to have fears come up when we’re thinking of making changes or doing something new. Sometimes, when doubts and fears come up, we try to ignore them or push them aside. We can end up procrastinating, dragging our feet, or not taking any action at all. Even if things feel unfulfilling, those fears and doubts can keep us stuck and in place, even though we know we want to change things.

That’s why taking the time to gently face, acknowledge, and navigate your fears and doubts is so important when it comes to moving forwards with more ease and confidence.

This final step is about creating a plan, so you know where you’re headed, and figuring out your next steps. This is where you turn all the insights you’ve gained into a practical action plan, map out your next steps towards a life you love, and take action.

It’s about creating and breaking down goals into specific, manageable steps, which feel achievable and exciting to you. Whether the changes you’d like to make are big or small, these can all be planned and broken down into actionable steps.

Having a realistic, flexible plan with clear steps gives you direction. It also makes taking action feel easier as you move forwards one step at a time.

This framework isn’t a single, linear process. Instead, think of the steps in the framework as ones that repeat as and when you need them.

You’ll go back and forth between the steps out of order, you’ll also repeat them for different goals and when things change.

As you start taking action and moving forwards, you’ll start to gain more clarity on your next steps and what works for you. On the way to that, it’s natural if you find yourself changing your mind and shifting course sometimes – that’s all part of the journey and part of figuring things out.

What you want and need will shift over time too. Whenever that happens, I feel it’s important to keep reassessing what you want and what’s important to you. It’s a process – and I believe our path forwards evolves and unfolds with us as we grow and change. That means the steps in the framework are things you’ll revisit and repeat when you need to.

Also, a quick side note – even if you know or realise that the changes you ultimately want to make are big ones, you can also already start making smaller changes to make things feel more aligned and meaningful to you.

You can choose small things, which you feel you can do easily, which will help you feel more fulfilled day to day. These smaller, more immediate wins can help inspire and move you forwards.

To start applying the steps in the Catalyse framework to your life think over these questions: