Jane N. Njogu

I procrastinated for 60 days before taking a pregnancy test.

The math was obvious. My monthly visitor was late, but I dreaded the actual confirmation.

Not because I didn’t want to be a mom. But because my brain was screaming: You are not ready.

I had just left the stability of the corporate world to build my coaching business. I had a step-by-step blueprint of exactly what the next 12 months were supposed to look like. A baby was not on page one of that plan. I thought I needed more time.

Two lines. Confirmed.

But life wasn’t done rewriting my story.

Because of some early complications, the doctor gave me strict orders: minimal movement. Rest. Sit down. Protect the pregnancy.

In an instant, my strategy to hustle, build, and sprint was entirely stripped away.

Today, as I look at my daughter, who is almost two years old, I can’t help but think about what that intense pregnancy season actually taught me. The doctor’s orders forced me to learn how to lead myself when everything felt completely out of control.

Here is what that season taught me about leadership and mindset:

1. Change is unavoidable. What matters is how you adjust. You can make the most perfect plan, but life doesn't care about your timeline. Fighting reality only wastes your energy. The moment I stopped fighting and adjusted to my new normal, I got my power back.

2. Restrictions force you to innovate. I couldn't move my body, but my mind became sharper. Being forced to sit still stripped away the illusion of busywork. It forced me to audit my energy, simplify my processes, and focus strictly on high-impact actions. When your capacity gets squeezed, don't panic. Use it to eliminate what doesn't matter.

3. Changing your path does not mean changing your destination. My vision to build an impactful coaching business never changed. The timeline did. The method did. We get so attached to how we achieve things that we break ourselves when things go off track.

We talk a lot in the corporate world about leading teams and hitting targets.

But the hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself when your plans go completely off track.

Choose to reauthor the story of your season today

“Jane, they tell us we can have it all. But they don’t tell us how tired it makes us feel.”

In corporate, we talk about strategy and goals. In personal development, we talk about mindset and growth.

But behind all these fancy words there is the fight between who we are and who we think we "should" be. We try to be a different person for every title we hold.

On Mother’s Day those words from my client took me back to a talk I gave in 2022 in Tigoni, Nairobi. At the end of that Women’s Day session, I asked every woman in the room to take out her phone and record a message to themselves with 7 simple words…

” I am the CEO of my life."

4 years later, the message is still the same.

Being the "CEO of your life" means you are the one who decides when it is too much to handle. It means you are the one who decides to close the "100 tabs" in your brain and just breathe.

The truth is, we are exhausted because we are trying to be perfect for everyone else.

We try to be the perfect employee.
The perfect entrepreneur
The perfect mom.
We focus on the titles, but we forget to lead the human behind them.

This is where self-awareness matters because mindset mastery is about being brave enough to say: “I am human.”

It’s about choosing your sanity over a perfect image.

To the women in my network carrying multiple titles:

The flowers and messages from Mother’s Day are nice. But the real gift is giving yourself the grace to be "unfinished."

Your mental health is your greatest asset.

Remember, every day is a good day to celebrate yourself as….

The CEO of your own life.

What if you stopped looking at your life as a project that needs to be "fixed"?

As we wrap up January, I’ve noticed a common theme in my conversations with women leaders: a heavy sense of pressure.

Pressure to "repair" our stories, to "hide" our career gaps, and to fix the parts of ourselves we think aren't "good enough" for the seat at the table.

But here is the truth I want to leave you with as we head into February: You are not a broken machine.

In my latest article, I explore the "Inside-Out" approach to mindset. We often think our stress comes from our circumstances the gap on the CV, the busy schedule, or the tough job market.

But as the late Michael Neill says, "We live in the feeling of our thoughts, not the feeling of our world."

This week, I’m challenging you to try three things:

✅️ Stop overthinking the "gap" (Your natural confidence returns when the noise stops).

✅️ Trust your "Mental Healing System" (You are designed for resilience).

✅️ Wait for the "mental weather" to clear before making big decisions.

You are always just one thought away from a completely different experience of your life.

I’ve shared the full deep-dive article in the comments below! 👇

I’d love to know: Which part of your life have you been trying to "fix" lately?

Let’s re-author that story together for February

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I am Jane Njogu. I empower women leaders to lead with clarity through 1:1 coaching, and I help organisations drive team performance through strategic organisational coaching.

"So, what have you been doing for the last few years?"

Usually, when a recruiter or a former colleague asks this, we freeze. We lead with an apology. We talk about our "career gap" as if it’s a mistake we need to fix.

But the thing is, you cannot lead others if you are still apologizing for your own life.

The world in 2026, especially here in the UAE, is finally valuing the skills you’ve been sharpening while you were "away." The only thing missing is your confidence in how to tell that story.

My Mindset Tip for today:

Most of us are trapped in the stories we tell ourselves. These stories become invisible walls that keep us from the big opportunities. We shy away from growth because we’ve judged our past too harshly.

The real "gap" isn't on your CV; it’s the distance between the story you’re telling and the fulfilled life you deserve.

I do have a gift for you….

In 2023, I published my book to help readers do exactly this. So far, we've reached readers in 🇰🇪 🇦🇪 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇿🇦... (and 8 more!). It’s amazing to see that 'The Gap' is a story we all share, no matter where we are.

The book follows the story of Daniella. She struggles with a "nightmare" that represents the fears we all have about our worth and our choices. By watching how she understands her nightmare and bridges the gap, you learn how to handle the common situations that keep you playing small.

Daniella’s story resonates with all of us because we all go through these phases. The question is:

📌 Are you ready to stop living a substandard story and start thriving?

Well, it goes without saying that the book is available globally, and you can grab your copy here:
https://linktr.ee/inviteonly.jane
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I am Jane Njogu. I empower women leaders to lead with clarity through 1:1 coaching, and I help organisations drive team performance through strategic organisational coaching.

Did you know that 2026 is officially the "Year of the Family" in the UAE?

It sounds like a nice title, right? But at its core, it’s a national mission.

📌 UAE leadership has made it clear: the family is the heart of everything we are building here.

Right now, the Federal National Council (FNC) is discussing a major shift:

💜 They are looking at making remote work a priority for moms with kids under 10 and for people taking care of their elderly parents. There is also a strong push to extend maternity leave to 98 days.

Why? Because the UAE knows that when the family is strong, the country is strong.

My Mindset Tip for today:

For years, many of us felt like we had to hide our family life to be taken seriously at work. We felt like being a "caregiver" was a weakness we had to apologize for.

But in 2026, the script has flipped.

If the nation is prioritizing the family, you should too. Your role at home isn't a "distraction" from your career; it’s the foundation of it.

When you stop feeling guilty for having a life outside of your laptop, you actually become a better, more focused leader.

I believe you don't have to choose between being a great professional and a great family member

Because if a country such as the UAE is building a system that values both. It’s time you start valuing both in yourself, too.

Read more about the 2026 initiative here: https://uaeyearof.ae/en/2026
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I am Jane Njogu. I empower women leaders to lead with clarity through 1:1 coaching, and I help organisations drive team performance through strategic organisational coaching.