Letting Go to Level Up: The Bold Path to Your Next Level

Stacia Hobson
Sep 6
6 min read

Updated: Sep 7

Growth is not always about adding more. Sometimes, the most powerful step you can take is letting go.

The Boldness of Letting Go

Here’s what most people don’t talk about: letting go feels messy. It comes with silence, uncertainty, and sometimes stress. That’s not a sign you’re doing it wrong—it’s a sign you’re doing it right.

When you choose to level up, you’re also choosing to step away from the known. And the known will fight for its place. Doubt may creep in. Fear may whisper. Old versions of yourself may try to pull you back into familiar patterns.

That’s why letting go requires courage. Courage to walk away. Courage to trust the unknown. Courage to allow the temporary void—because the void is the womb of your next reality.

The Loss of Letting Go

Letting go is not about loss—it’s about space. Space for new opportunities, aligned people, and fresh possibilities that match the next version of you.

But here’s the truth: letting go is rarely easy. It requires courage, honesty, and a willingness to sit in the temporary silence and discomfort that comes when old chapters close before new ones begin.

If you’re on the cusp of leveling up—in business, relationships, or identity—this is your reminder: letting go is part of the path forward.

What to Let Go Of:

When you think about letting go, you may imagine relationships or jobs, but it goes much deeper. Leveling up means evaluating what’s holding you back across multiple areas:

1. Relationships

The number one thing that comes up when discussing letting go is relationships, often meaning interpersonal relationships. However, we also need to look at business relationships.

As a business leader, are your relationships where they need to be? For instance, many years ago, my company had its general liability insurance pulled out from under us. No warning and no incident. I received an email from my broker, not even a phone call, stating that I had three days to get new coverage. This was a bomb, but at the same time, it was the Universe telling me I had to level up, and so I did. I found a new broker via my village (more on this later). My new upleveled broker got me better coverage, improved my rating, and for less money.

Start with one segment of your business relationships. For demonstration purposes, I will start with customers.

What customers are you serving that are no longer in harmony with you?
Or another way to phrase it, are they aligned with where I am going, or only with who I used to be?

Ask the same question across the board. Include suppliers, partners, affiliates, employees, and professional services, such as your attorney or accountant.

Equally important to ask, “Do they need to be replaced?”. Maybe, maybe not. If you choose to end a marketing or attorney relationship, it does not necessarily mean you need to hire a replacement person(s) or group immediately. Potentially, these are areas where you can coast for a minute.

Remember: Not everyone or every business is meant to travel your entire journey with you. Some are companions for a season, not a lifetime. Letting go doesn’t mean rejecting the person; it means honoring that the connection served its purpose and has run its course.

2. Habits

Your habits either reinforce the old version of you or support the new identity you’re stepping into. Consider:

What habits do you currently have that are not serving me well?
What do I need to replace to move forward into my next level of self or expansion?

A trick to leveling up your habits is to make small changes, one at a time. I guarantee you a much more challenging time if you try to change more than that at once. A quick example is that if you want to lose 20 pounds, and you know you need to get physically moving. The only time to do this is before work, but you have this habit of pushing the snooze button for 30 minutes before rising. It could be as simple as the habit of hitting the snooze button!

When that small change is solidified, then strategically change another. Yes strategically. Choose the next small change that will be easy and that will powerfully serve you.

Remember the tip: work on the small ones first. The more small changes you make, the less you will need to make big changes. This sounds backwards. Hear me out. The smaller changes will lead to making other changes in your life. For instance, in our example of getting up to get physically moving, this may lead to nighttime changes such as establishing a nighttime routine and potentially going to bed earlier.

Simple but profound shifts—like changing how you start your day, how you manage your energy, or how you respond to setbacks—can be game changers.

3. Identity

Every level of growth requires an identity shift. Sometimes it’s small. Other times it is massive. It can feel the heaviest, but it’s also the most liberating. If you’re changing careers, ending a 25-year marriage, or shifting from corporate leader to entrepreneur, you’re essentially letting go of a version of yourself. That identity might have defined you for years. It kept you safe. It gave you structure. Now, it no longer fits. But in every case, the process is the same: let go to level up.

Shedding an old identity is bold—it’s an act of rebirth. And it makes space for a truer, more aligned version of you to emerge. Essentially, a large identity shift requires you to leave a part of your identity behind. Here are some tips to help you take action and propel yourself into the future you.

Dress the part, really, it does matter
Update your mindset
Update your routines, as what used to work probably no longer serves you.
Update the to-do list, shifting away from the old to adopt the new

You don’t know where to start? Here are a few ways, find someone to mentor you, watch how other seniors dress, act, talk, etc., and model them. Sometimes, leaving one identity and adopting a new one can create impostor syndrome. Totally understandable, and this brings us to your village.

3. Village

When I moved to MS, my village almost completely changed, and not because I wanted it to. One day, I had many business friends and alliances, and the next day, few. I was not anticipating that my move would disrupt people to that degree. But it did. I was devastated. I had no support.

Interestingly, I learned that I did have support from what seemed to be unlikely people. The people who were on the perimeter previously ended up moving into my inner circle. As I adjusted to my new identity, new people showed up to cheer me on, support me, and I have learned to build my village strategically, vs randomly. Part of the strategic practice is to cultivate a village where there is a two-way street. A good village is one where you are both giving and receiving.

When you are evaluating your village, some people won’t make the cut—and that’s okay.

Think of your village as your support ecosystem. To thrive at the next level, ask:

Who truly gets me?
Who challenges me to expand?
Who reminds me of my power when I forget?

As old connections fall away, you’ll naturally begin to attract new ones—mentors, collaborators, friends—who are aligned with the person you’re becoming.

5. Should

There’s another relationship we need to talk about—the one with your friend named Should.

Should is that ever-present voice that says:

“You should work out.”
“You should not eat that.”
“You should already have figured this out.”

Should lives within all of us, and has been with us for years, whispering rules and limitations. Its role? To keep you safe, small, within the known, avoiding risk at all costs. It is time to put "Should" into check.

But here’s the secret: Should is the archenemy of leveling up.

When you’re ready to grow, Should’s grip must loosen. The best way to quiet Should is not to fight it, but to align and redirect.

Try this:

Thank Should. “Thank you for letting me know. I hear you.”
Redirect it. “I’ve got this on my radar. You can rest now.”

This simple practice relaxes the brain, shifting you from self-criticism into self-awareness. From identity to observation. And in that space of observation, new upleveling thoughts can flow.

Research in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy shows that the rigid "should" statements are a core component of anxiety and psychological distress.

The Transformation of Letting Go

Letting go is not about abandoning the past. It’s about honoring it, integrating its lessons, and then releasing what no longer fits so you can step fully into the future.

Yes, it’s bold. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. And yes—it’s worth it.

Because the moment you let go, you create the space where magic happens. The space where clarity lands, the space where new opportunities emerge, the space where you stop living for who you’ve been and start living for who you’re becoming.