We've Been Lied To About Menopause and Power: Why Your Symptoms Are Signals, Not Problems

How high-achieving women can stop fighting their biology and start flowing with their transformation

The Cup of Tea That Changed Everything

Picture this: I'm sitting here with my second cup of tea this morning – and yes, I said second, because apparently one cup is no longer cutting it and I'm choosing to see this as character building rather than concerning – when it hit me. We need to have the conversation. The one about the spectacular lies we've all been sold about menopause and what it supposedly means for our power.

Now, before you think, "Oh fantastic, another person telling me my hot flashes have deeper meaning," hear me out. Because what I'm about to share isn't your typical menopause chat. This isn't about finding the perfect supplement stack or debating hormone replacement therapy – though honestly, do whatever works for your body.

This is about something much bigger. Something that, once you see it, will make you want to go back in time and have some very stern words with whoever convinced us that this biological transition was basically our expiration date.

Here's the plot twist: everything we've been taught about menopause isn't just wrong – it's spectacularly, almost impressively backwards.

Time for Some Truth-Telling

If you're a high-achieving woman entrepreneur navigating perimenopause or menopause, this article is your permission slip to stop believing the cultural lies that have been keeping you stuck in symptom-management mode.

You're about to discover why the mainstream narrative about menopause being a decline is not just wrong, but actively harmful to your business and your wellbeing. We'll explore why your symptoms aren't random glitches that need fixing, but rather sophisticated feedback from your wise body about what's been unsustainable all along.

By the end of this article, you'll understand:

• Why the cultural narrative about menopause is keeping you small

• How to decode your symptoms as signals instead of problems

• Why your old business strategies suddenly stopped working

• What becomes possible when you align with your biology instead of fighting it

• The sacred invitation this transition is offering you

Most importantly, you'll walk away with a completely new framework for understanding this phase of your life – one that positions you as transforming, not declining.

The Cultural Lies That Keep Us Small

Let's dive right into the deep end, shall we? The biggest lie – and I mean the mother of all lies – is that menopause equals decline. That it's essentially nature's way of telling us, "Thanks for playing, your time is up, please exit stage left."

Really? We've somehow convinced ourselves that this biological transition – experienced by literally half the population – is basically a slow-motion failure. Like our bodies just decided one day, "You know what? I think I'll start malfunctioning now for entertainment purposes."

Here's what gets me – and I say this with love because I've been there too – even the most brilliant, accomplished, spiritually aware women I work with have bought into this narrative. They come to me saying things like, "I used to be so sharp, and now I can't remember where I put my keys five minutes ago," or "I used to run on three hours of sleep and now I need ten and I still feel like garbage."

But we've been so well-trained in this story that we don't even question it. We just assume that if we can't perform at the same level we did in our thirties, clearly something is broken and needs immediate fixing.

The medical world has had a field day with this one. They've managed to pathologize what is actually a completely normal biological process. Instead of recognizing menopause as a rite of passage – which, by the way, most cultures throughout history have understood it to be – we treat it like a disease.

Your symptoms aren't sacred messages from your wise body. Oh no. They're problems to be managed. Preferably quickly and quietly so we can all pretend this awkward phase isn't happening.

The business world's approach? Even more problematic. The entire entrepreneurial landscape is built on this assumption that we can maintain the same output, the same energy, the same relentless consistency forever. It's like we're expected to be productivity robots with ovaries.

When we can't keep up with our old pace? Well, obviously we're the problem. Must be a mindset issue. Have we tried more morning routines?

This whole narrative isn't just wrong – it's actually dangerous. Because while we're over here convinced we're broken and frantically googling "perimenopause brain fog supplements," we're missing the entire point of what's actually happening.

Your Symptoms Are Speaking – Are You Listening?

Now let's talk about what's actually happening when your body starts sending you what I like to call "priority messages."

You know the ones – brain fog that makes you feel like you're thinking through molasses, fatigue so bone-deep that your bed becomes your best friend, emotions that swing faster than a pendulum, sleep that's basically become a theoretical concept, anxiety that shows up uninvited like that relative who never calls first, and motivation that's apparently gone on an extended vacation without leaving a forwarding address.

Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought it might.

Most of us experience these symptoms and think, "Well, this is it. I'm officially falling apart. Time to start shopping for sensible shoes and accepting my fate as someone who complains about the thermostat."

But what if – and stay with me here – what if these aren't signs that you're broken? What if they're actually your body's way of tapping you on the shoulder and saying, "Excuse me, we need to discuss some things about how you've been running this operation."

Here's what I've learned after working with hundreds of women through this transition: your symptoms aren't random. They're not your body being dramatic or inconvenient. They're incredibly specific feedback about what's not working in your life.

That brain fog you're experiencing? It might be your nervous system saying, "I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of information and decisions you're asking me to process. I'm going on strike until you simplify things."

That crushing fatigue that makes you want to nap at 2 PM every day? That could be your body saying, "The way you're running your business – or your life – is completely unsustainable, and I'm not participating anymore."

The emotional volatility that has you crying at dog videos one minute and wanting to burn everything down the next? Maybe that's your soul finally saying, "I'm tired of pretending everything is fine when it's absolutely not fine."

Let me share a story about one of my clients – we'll call her Sarah. Sarah came to me completely convinced she was losing her mind. She'd been a high-performing executive for fifteen years, known for her ability to juggle multiple projects, make quick decisions, and basically run on caffeine and determination.

Then perimenopause hit, and suddenly she couldn't concentrate in meetings, was forgetting important details, and felt like she was constantly playing catch-up with her own brain.

So what did she do? What we all do. She started throwing solutions at the problem. Bought every brain-boosting supplement on the market. Tried meditation apps. Invested in a fancy planner system. Hired a virtual assistant. Built out automated systems for her business.

And she was still exhausted. Still foggy. Still feeling like she was failing at something she used to excel at.

You know what changed everything for her? When she finally stopped asking, "How do I fix this and get back to normal?" and started asking, "What is this trying to tell me?"

Turns out, her symptoms were pointing to something pretty profound. Her business model required a level of mental bandwidth and decision-making that her nervous system simply couldn't support anymore. Not because she was broken, but because her body was finally saying, "This pace and this pressure are not sustainable, and I'm not pretending they are anymore."

Her body wasn't failing her. It was being brilliant. It was forcing her to build something that actually worked with her biology instead of against it.

The real cost of seeing symptoms as problems to manage instead of signals to decode? We miss the opportunity for genuine transformation. We stay stuck in this loop of trying harder, doing more, pushing through – when what our bodies are actually asking for is the complete opposite.

The Portal Opens: Menopause as Transformation

So now that we've established that your body isn't actually conspiring against you – shocking, I know – let's talk about what menopause really is.

Ready for this? Menopause isn't the end of your power. It's not even a pause in your power. It's literally the doorway into a completely different kind of power. A kind that doesn't require you to exhaust yourself to prove your worth.

I know, I know. Mind-blowing stuff.

But seriously, think about what this transition actually does. It's like your biology hired the world's most thorough life coach and said, "We need to audit everything. And I mean everything."

It strips away what no longer fits – and let me tell you, menopause has zero patience for things that don't align. Your relationships, your work, your daily rhythms, your tolerance for drama – if it's not serving you, menopause will highlight it in fluorescent yellow and hand you a big red DELETE button.

It reveals what's been misaligned in your body, your business, your entire identity. Basically, your hormones become the world's most honest consultant, telling you exactly what's been draining your energy and why.

One of my teachers calls this transition your entry point into the archetype of the wisdom keeper. And I love this because it's so accurate. You literally start giving fewer damns about things that used to consume your energy. You begin speaking truth, even when it makes people uncomfortable. You stop tolerating energy drains that you used to just accept as "part of life."

Many of the women I work with completely pivot their careers during this time. Or they reshape their entire message. They stop focusing on output and start focusing on impact. On legacy rather than just performance. On depth rather than breadth.

Can I just point out the cosmic humor here? Right when society is basically telling us we're becoming invisible – hello, ageism and sexism having a little party together – we're actually stepping into the most visible, truth-telling phase of our lives.

Here's what becomes available when you stop fighting this process and start flowing with it:

You get to create from your soul instead of your shoulds. And honestly, the difference in quality is remarkable. When you're not constantly overriding your inner wisdom, you make decisions that actually align with who you are.

Your energy stops being spent on resistance and starts flowing toward what genuinely matters. Turns out, fighting your biology is exhausting. Who could have predicted that?

You build a business that actually supports you instead of depleting you. Revolutionary concept – a business model that works with your natural rhythms instead of against them.

And here's the big one – you access the voice, vision, and clarity you've been waiting for your entire life. Because all that mental and emotional energy you've been using to maintain the status quo? It gets freed up for creativity and innovation.

Why Your Old Playbook Stopped Working

Now here's where things get really interesting – and by interesting, I mean frustrating until you understand what's happening.

Most women hit this phase and try to apply the same strategies that worked brilliantly in their thirties and early forties. They double down on productivity systems, invest in better planners, hire more support, optimize their morning routines within an inch of their lives.

And then they wonder why nothing seems to stick anymore. Why they feel like they're swimming upstream even with all this additional support.

Let me be crystal clear about something: it's not that you're suddenly bad at executing strategies. It's that the strategies themselves are wrong for who you're becoming.

It's like trying to run Windows 95 software on a MacBook Pro. The hardware has evolved, but we're still trying to use the old operating system.

Before working with me, most women have tried everything. Productivity hacks that promise to squeeze more hours out of their day. Virtual assistants to handle the details. Evergreen funnels to automate their income. Time-blocking systems that would make a NASA mission planner weep with joy.

On the health side? They've tried elimination diets, hormone replacement therapy, every supplement that promises to boost energy or clear brain fog, intermittent fasting, meditation apps, sleep hygiene protocols that are more complex than international law.

And while some of these might provide temporary relief, they're essentially treating symptoms in isolation without addressing the larger system that's shifting.

Here's what everyone else misses – and this is huge – your nervous system is your capacity regulator. Think of it as the bouncer at the club of your life, deciding what gets in and what gets turned away.

If your nervous system is operating from survival mode – which, let's be honest, most of ours have been for years – nothing else works properly. Not strategy, not supplements, not the perfect morning routine, not even the most expensive business coach.

Your nervous system determines whether you have the bandwidth for visibility, for leadership, for taking up space in your business and your life. And here's the thing nobody teaches us: you can't build a sustainable business on top of a dysregulated nervous system.

We've been conditioned to push through, override our body's signals, and force our way to success. But your perimenopausal and menopausal nervous system is basically like, "Yeah, that's not happening anymore. We've officially retired from the pushing-through business."

And honestly? Thank goodness for that. Because what it's asking for instead is so much more sustainable and, plot twist, actually more effective.

The Sacred Invitation: What This Transition Is Really Asking

So what is this transition actually asking of you? What's the deeper invitation here?

First, it's asking you to let go. And I know, I know – we're not exactly experts at the whole letting go thing. Most of us are more like professional holders-on. But menopause? It doesn't really give you a choice in the matter.

It's asking you to release the perfectionism that's been running the show for decades. The constant pushing and over-functioning that's become so automatic you probably don't even notice you're doing it anymore.

It's asking you to let go of business models that require more energy than you actually have – as opposed to the energy you think you should have or used to have.

Most significantly, it's asking you to drop the identity of "I can do it all" – which, let's be honest, was always kind of a lie anyway, but at least it was a useful lie that helped us get things done.

And please, for the love of all that's sacred, it's asking you to retire the performance mask. You know the one I'm talking about – where you look like you have everything perfectly together while internally you're basically held together with caffeine and stubborn determination.

But here's what's beautiful about this process: for everything menopause asks you to release, it's simultaneously asking you to reclaim something even more valuable.

Your truth. Not the truth you think people want to hear, or the truth that makes you look good, but your actual, messy, complicated, beautiful truth.

Your natural rhythms. Turns out you're not actually designed to be productive for 12 hours straight. Shocking revelation, I know.

Your sovereignty. The ability to make decisions based on what actually works for you instead of what you think you're supposed to want or what worked for someone else.

A purpose-driven business that feeds your soul instead of just your bank account – though ideally it does both.

And leadership that comes from wisdom and experience rather than just hustle and willpower.

Your Transformation Awaits

Here's what I want you to really understand: You're not fading during this time. You're not becoming less capable or less valuable. You're not losing your edge or sliding into irrelevance.

You're transforming.

And transformation, by definition, means becoming something new. Something you haven't been before.

The symptoms you've been trying to manage? They're not problems to be solved. They're invitations to evolve. Your body isn't broken – it's wise. It's asking you to build a life and business that actually supports who you're becoming instead of demanding that you shrink back into who you used to be.

When you stop fighting your biology and start flowing with it, when you decode your symptoms instead of suppressing them, when you build systems that honor your nervous system instead of overwhelming it – that's when everything changes.

You don't just feel better. You lead differently. You create legacy work instead of just busy work. You become the version of yourself you were always meant to be but maybe never had permission to become before.

This isn't about working less – it's about working consciously. It's about building a business that nourishes you instead of consuming you. It's about finally, finally working in a way that feels like you.

Ready to Go Deeper?

If everything I've shared here has you nodding along – if you've been feeling like your energy is completely different than it used to be, if your business feels like it no longer fits the person you're becoming, if your body has been trying to tell you something but you can't quite decode the message – my most recent Podcast goes into much greater detail https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/weve-been-lied-to-about-menopause/id1760413414?i=1000730932769 or https://open.spotify.com/episode/7guXcSSJa9wuSwe3Lephn1

Your next chapter isn't about pushing harder. It's about finally working in a way that feels like coming home to yourself.

Listen to the complete episode wherever you get your podcasts, and discover why your symptoms aren't problems – they're portals.

Remember: You're not broken. You never were. You're just ready for something beautifully, powerfully new.