The ACT Model: Your Simple Framework for Breaking Through Life's Biggest Transitions

(For the podcast version of this article, tune into Listen to Lead)

What a ride 2025 has been. I've been many places in my mind, body, and spirit, as I know you have too. I'm back to offer you more passion, more love, more focus to help elevate you to become the person you're meant to be.

The leadership growth path is the path of self-development through service. We can self-develop alone on a meditation cushion, or we can show up daily to work that calls our heart and see how it challenges us to grow in mind, body, and spirit.

Today I'm sharing a tool we've used at Next Level Leadership for decades and one that just helped me through a major career transition.

Meet the ACT Model

ACT stands for Accept, Choose, Take Action. It sounds deceptively simple, but this framework has guided countless leaders through their most challenging transitions.

Right now, bring to mind a major life transition you're contemplating—something occupying your brain space where you're not moving forward yet because you're not ready to act.

Got it? Let's walk through this together.

A: Accept Your Current Reality

Acceptance isn't surrender—it's strength. You must be strong enough to see exactly what the landscape is before you can navigate it effectively.

When I decided to return to this work after six months as a Waldorf teacher, here's what I had to accept:

  • It's going to take grit with uncertain results (confidence isn't knowing you'll succeed—it's moving forward through the unknown as if success is inevitable)

  • The landscape has changed wildly since my mother began this company—there's massive competition, and I need to embrace that

  • I have to put myself out there—show my face to more than just six-year-olds and present myself at my highest game

  • I want freedom and the money to provide it—and that takes hard work

  • The uncertainty is daunting—and if you're an entrepreneur, that feeling never goes away (we just become better surfers)

  • I need both intellectual stimulation and spiritual fulfillment

The crux for me? Accepting the reality of hard work with uncertain results.

Your turn: Write down everything about your current situation that you need to accept. Don't hold back—let all the thoughts flow uncensored.

C: Choose from All Possibilities

This isn't about making the choice yet—it's about widening the permission field and seeing all your options.

When I mapped out my choices, I saw I could:

  • Stay completely in early childhood education

  • Focus solely on leadership training

  • Do both and let them support each other

  • Pursue individual coaching only

  • Apply to work inside an organization

  • Become a traveling organic farm worker

  • Yes, even become a salsa dancer

Give yourself permission to dream wildly. Some options will feel terrifying, others relieving, some absurdly ambitious. That's the point—you're not stuck. You have choices.

Your turn: List every possible path, from practical to ridiculous. Open those windows of perception.

Now, the hard part: Sit with these options until the choice becomes clear.

T: Take Action (The Easy Part)

Here's what surprises people: taking action is actually the easiest step. Once you've done the work to accept and choose, the action becomes obvious.

We don't stop and wonder how to walk—we just put one foot in front of the other. You're learning to walk your life path, probably during one of the most confusing times in your life.

For me, the action was simple: share the ACT model. One thing, not the whole journey.

Your turn: What's one simple action you can take today? Not the entire transformation—just the next step.

Why This Works

The ACT model cuts through the conversation loops that keep us stuck. When we're not accepting current reality, the doors of perception slam shut. We can't see options when we're fighting what is.

But when you accept what needs accepting and make your choice, action flows naturally. You conserve energy for what matters instead of wrestling with resistance.

The Bottom Line

You're lost because you're processing a lot—incorporating different parts of yourself. That's commendable. There's gold in those moments when we allow ourselves to be lost.

The leadership journey is ultimately about becoming liberated to lead—stepping into your most joyous, authentic self. Because when you're operating from that place, that's when you serve your highest and best.

So here's your assignment: Accept. Choose. Take Action. Use this model with anyone you mentor or coach. Try it in the grocery store, in your career decisions, and in your relationships.

It's simple, sticky, and makes so much sense.

Ready to dive deeper? Learn about The Liberated Life coaching container—a 6-month journey to break through the barriers between you and your most expansive self.

#leadershipdevelopment #careertransition #coaching #personalgrowth #leadershipjourney #selfacceptance #decisionmaking

Lucia brizzi