Still Becoming: Expanding the Vision for Your Future Self

Is it too late to dream a new dream? Absolutely not.

In this empowering episode of Midlife Revolution Unleashed, Stacy and Wayne explore what it means to reconnect with your vision, especially in the dynamic season of midlife. Whether you're shifting careers, redefining your relationships, or simply seeking more clarity and purpose, this conversation will remind you: you are still becoming.

Tune in to discover:

• Why visualizing your future self is a game-changer in midlife
• How small, consistent actions create momentum over time
• Real-life stories of midlife transformation and vision expansion
• Coaching prompts to help you clarify where you’re headed next

Plus, we’ll guide you through a practical exercise to begin mapping your multi-year vision—so grab your journal or Notes app and join us in this heart-forward, strategy-rich conversation.

🔥 Key Takeaways:

• Your future self needs you to dream forward, not backward
• Visualization isn’t fantasy—it’s foundation
• Small goals + consistent action = a life aligned with your values
• You are allowed to evolve—and your vision is too

Reflect & Take Action:

🎯 Ask yourself: Who is the woman I’m still becoming?
🎯 Visualize: Take 5 minutes to see your future life in vivid detail.
🎯 Write it down: What does your ideal day look like 5 years from now?
🎯 Choose one goal: What’s one step you can take this week to move toward that future?

Subscribe @CoachStacyMLewis and @CoachWayneVIP
midliferevolutionpodcast@gmail.com

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💃🏽Stacy M. Lewis
thestacymlewis.com
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🎩Wayne Dawson
viptransformativeliving.com
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Transcript

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Wayne 0:00

Thank you. you've just stepped into the midlife revolution unleashed your space to ignite possibility redefine purpose and embrace the power that comes with age and experience co-hosted by yours truly coach me

Stacy 0:19

and i'm coach stacy m lewis we are two season coaches focused on the midlife community of color this isn't just a podcast it's a movement in a world that sometimes forgets the power and the wisdom that comes with age, we are here to ignite a revolution and rewrite the narrative of this incredible journey.

Wayne 0:41

So whether you're navigating your career, growing your business, rediscovering passions, or challenging the status quo, this is your space. So buckle up. Let's dive into the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. You gotta know it's April the 22nd. We are steaming ahead and almost midway through the year already. Hello, hello. This is Midlife Revolution Unleashed and it's Coach Wayne and Coach Stacey walking you through the promises of midlife so that your second half can be your best half. Hey, Stacey!

Stacy 1:26

Wayne, Coach Wayne, it is always such a joy to spend this time with you. Want to welcome you, our listener, to the Midlife Revolution Unleashed, where I am excited to be joined by my co-host, Sir Wayne, as we talk about this idea, still becoming, expanding the vision for your future self. I am I'm coach Stacey M. Lewis. I'm a nonprofit executive. I am a lover of God and his people. And I have the joy of spending time coaching midlife women. sir wayne please introduce yourself to

Wayne 2:10

people i am coach wayne thanks stacy the vip coach because i have a unique way of working with men in midlife to land them safer bigger better bolder on the other side right so for me it's about values exploring values identity and aligning that to come up with purpose stacy I am going to let the cat out of the bag and let folks know that we have a celebration. It's post, but nonetheless, belated happy birthday to you, Stacey.

Stacy 2:47

Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, yes, yes. I am shimmying in my 60s. It is excited to be another year older. It is excited to be alive. And thank you for those birthday wishes. I greatly appreciate it, sir.

Wayne 3:05

And Stacey, you're welcome. I want to say you're not aging. You are saging.

Stacy 3:12

That's what it says. You say the second half, I say the third quarter. You know, the reality is we are all here in this beautiful season of life called midlife. And it is our joy to really celebrate the richness and all of the life that we bring into midlife. So let's get started, Wayne.

Wayne 3:34

That's right. That's right. And Stacey, I know that we have today, we're going to be talking about still becoming still becoming, expanding the vision for your future self. And that means literally that we're not stuck. We're not in a pit where we can't move forward. Midlife is about evolving, still becoming.

Stacy 3:59

Yes. Yes. There's so much. And I believe that you, our listener, will hear various nuggets that you've heard before, yet differently. Because Wayne and I often talk about vision. We talk about your values. We talk about the fact that You are not too old and it's not too late. And all of that gets summed up in the reality that you are still becoming, right? That's a truth that we get to embrace. It's not too late. This is not the time to give up on your dreams. It is still prime time to plan, to prepare, to vision, to dream, and to really take hold of that life and that gift where you are still becoming.

Wayne 5:01

Yep. All the way from Canada. My dear sister, Delane. Welcome and good to hear you. She was with me along with my dear beloved brother-in-law, Neville. I think a week ago, we just had a great time.

Stacy 5:17

She's the world traveler. Thank you for those birthday wishes, Delane.

Wayne 5:22

Yeah. So Stacey, as we talk about becoming, you know, oftentimes when I'm dealing with brothers in midlife and midlife, you know, we're going to loosely say 40 through say even up to 70, but 40 to say in their sixties, uh, midlife, a lot of brothers are resigned on the fact that the gate is closing. We've done it. We're here. And there is a feeling of being stuck, of almost expiration. And you know, in my refrigerator, when something expires, we throw it out. So if you're gonna look at yourself as expired, prepare to just throw out or give up. And we're here to say that midlife really states, Stacey, that you're halfway through, given longevity now has moved on to say 80 years old on an average. And if you're 40, You got a half another life ahead of you.

Stacy 6:23

Absolutely. And what will you do with it? And if we really embrace the idea, regardless of our age, of visioning for our future, reconnecting with ourselves in a way that rekindles or reignites our dreams, our passions, our aspirations. You know, the Bible says, where there is no vision, the people perish. And what we don't want to do in our 50s, our 60s, our 70s, and even our 80s, is to feel like we are perishing because we are not visioning for our lives, for our future, for the next year, for the next two years the next five years

Wayne 7:13

yeah and there's a strategy to vision in stacy uh we all have dreams but visioning is more precise than just la la leila lee dreaming right visioning has in there the possibility for achieving through true aspirations meaning uh it's not You wouldn't envision yourself going to the moon unless you have the wherewithal to make that happen. And I'm not saying it's impossible. But in reality, vision is stretching yourself, but knowing that you have the resourcefulness to bring it about. And when you vision, you then have to hold faith to make sure that you start pulling off the things.

Stacy 8:07

Hold faith and take action, right? And why, as we talk about, you know, visioning for your future self, many of us are just so extremely busy visioning. you know, doing for others or grinding on the job or really trying to build that business. And we've often lost sight of the vision or of, you know, in other circumstances, they say the big why, right? Often the big why, at the heart of the big why is your dream, your aspiration, your vision for yourself. And so it really is important for us to think about why it is we're doing what we're doing, what dreams, visions, aspirations we may have put to the side, and do we want to rekindle them in a way that is meaningful and life-giving in place of some of the things that may be life-dreaming.

Wayne 9:17

Yeah. And what is important is that your why is for getting to that space where that vision is happening or you aspire to, it has to be greater than yourself. Your why has to drive you. Your why has to allow you to want to get up and to want to move forward and pitch yourself towards the goal. And I say goal because when we talk about vision, it's a big picture. And the way to get there is to create smaller steps through goals and goal setting.

Stacy 9:50

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think before we dive into goal setting, I just really want to emphasize the value of the visioning. And I don't know if you've ever done this, Wayne, but as I've given myself the opportunity to vision, to reconnect with my dreams, there have been times when I have put the mental kibosh or have halted my dreams even as I was dreaming them because either they seem too big or maybe too selfish or maybe not really in alignment. And I would really want to encourage that as you are dreaming, as you are visioning, to not edit the dreams as they are happening. Don't edit our dreams to fit our current circumstances, but to really enlarge our vision to fit our future capacity.

Wayne 11:02

Stace, you mentioned future self before, and there's such a thing when I work with the brothers, I ask them to envision themselves where they want to be, not where they are. Absolutely. And when you want to be in a place, then you put yourself there and you do the reverse engineering. What are the steps you would take to get to that place? But if you start off with why you can't, you're going to get answers to the difficulties preventing you from being there versus the possible possibilities by seeing yourself there. It's forward planning and it's what we call Instead of looking back, it's looking forward. Putting yourself in that space before you're even there. You want to immerse yourself in the feelings. If you think about people who oftentimes win the lotto, right? And they say that the average person who wins the lotto is broke within three to five years. Part of the reason for that is You can't be a millionaire when you get the millions. The millionaire happens prior to your getting there. It's a state of mind. It's preparing yourself for the receipt of the blessing. And so when the gift is given, you are already ordained or prepared.

Stacy 12:29

Yes, that was so well said. And in Coaching, we often call that embodying, right? Embodying the vision, embodying. What does it feel like, that vision of your future self or that vision of winning the lottery? What does it feel like? What do you smell around you? How does your heart feel in this experience? That visioning part and that embodying part is so important. And here's one activation exercise for you. You can take 10 minutes this week to write your future self letter. Make him or her vivid. bold, full of life, and taking the actions that you may be considering, but may be hindered by a little fear or reservation. Again, don't edit. Don't edit the letter, but take 10 minutes to write your future self letter.

Wayne 13:43

Yeah, I wish I had brought in the background the vision board that I worked on along with Audrey at the start of the year. We do it on a regular basis. We hadn't done one last year. We had the old one that we updated, so to speak. But we did a brand new one. And the vision board, for those who use it, is a picturesque bringing together of that fantasy. Because remember, the vision is something that hasn't happened yet. It's the hope and aspiration that will pitch you there. But what it does, the vision board, you use clippings of photographs of where you want to be, places you want to travel to. You use icons, symbols, words, phrases. What it does, it jogs you, it jars you, and it gives you the opportunity to resonate, like you said, Stacey, to begin to feel, hear, feel. smell what

Stacy 14:43

it

Wayne 14:43

feels like to be in those places and doing those things.

Stacy 14:47

Yes, that really is living out that scripture, right? Of writing down the vision and really making sure you have that vision, right? It said where there's no vision, the people perish. And so we really want to embody and embrace this idea of taking time to vision for ourselves, to dream, to really pray into some of those aspirations and begin to chart the course that will help us get there. Yeah. Welcome, Sister Letitia, Coach Letty. That is one powerful woman right there. Thank you so much for those birthday blessings. I can't tell you how meaningful that is. Thank you, Coach Letty, for joining us.

Wayne 15:41

Thank you, Coach Letty. Stacey, one of the things that happens, and there is a phenomenon around this, when you start calling out and visioning where you want to be or who you are, you start surrounding yourself, as it were, and seeing more of that show up, right? For example, if you're trying to buy a car, it's called the rectivating RAS system, the rect... Rectacular activating system, I think, is cool. And the way it works is if you are protecting yourself, for example, as they say from a saber-toothed tiger, then it triggers you to protect yourself because you see more of them coming and you are prepared. Same is true if you're buying a red car. You start seeing more and more of that car. Same is true if you're envisioning a property that you'd like. The first house that we had in Queens, New York, that's exactly how that came to be. My ex at the time wanted to be in Brooklyn. I wanted a place similar to Jamaica where there was a front yard with a lawn and a backyard with vegetables and stuff. In New York,

Stacy 16:59

okay.

Wayne 16:59

Yeah, so I thought let's move out to Queens. And the very first week we moved out to Queens, I found the place that I had envisioned. And that's, I think, how it works. And so I'm encouraging folks, as are you, Stacey, to put on your visioning hat and go to work with that future self.

Stacy 17:20

Absolutely. Because it does require work, right? The dream without a plan is just a wish. But with that vision... you can really start to gain momentum. And some thought-provoking questions to continue to ask oneself, one is, what's one goal that you would move closer to your future self that would move you closer to your future self? What is one goal that would move you closer to your future self?

Unknown 18:02

Mm-hmm.

Stacy 18:04

Oh, Coach Letty is from Queens. See, you guys might have been neighbors. Yay.

Wayne 18:12

Coach, I was out there in Queens Village for a while, but I bought a home in Rosedale. Not sure where in Queens you were. See,

Stacy 18:24

I'm telling you, you could have been neighbors.

Wayne 18:27

That's right.

Stacy 18:29

Now,

Wayne 18:29

Stacey, the way to do the visioning and to bring it about sequentially, there is a strategy and it's about goal setting. We know about setting smart goals. Stacey, want to take on the smart goal?

Stacy 18:47

Absolutely. Your goals should always be specific. They should be measurable. They should be obtainable. They should be realistic and they should be time bound. But I want to just remind us that It's the goal that's realistic. It's not the dream that we've edited and kind of fit into a box. It's the goal that helps us to move towards the dream. So I just want to make sure that that part is clear because we talked about not editing your dreams. The goal needs to be realistic in that you can accomplish it so you can take the next step. You can move toward the next goal. One example would be if your dream is to be an author and write a number one bestseller. One step, one goal to writing that book would really be to create an outline or to determine how many words this book this number one bestseller will be, and then begin to break that down, whether it be weekly or daily, into how many words you need to write. That's a realistic, time-bound, measurable goal. Stacey, how do you eat an elephant? That would be one bite at a time.

Wayne 20:26

And that's exactly how you move towards... your goal accomplishments one step at a time, as large as it is. Break it down.

Stacy 20:37

I don't know. You and Coach Letty, you probably, your paths may have crossed, although I believe she's a little younger than you are, Wayne.

Wayne 20:44

She's an uptown girl, though. Uptown girl. See,

Stacy 20:48

Long

Wayne 20:48

Island City.

Stacy 20:50

Which is now, who can afford to live in Long Island City anymore, right? It's like now the upcoming has up and come, all of that. But we digress. Let's get back to building those habits and staying consistent so that folks can really begin to pursue this season of life in alignment with their purpose. those dreams that have been placed in their heart, you know, by God that can really help us that we're here to do. You talked about earlier that they're not for us, right? The dreams, the visions, the aspirations are really to use the gifts that we have to be a blessing to other people. And so let's keep moving in that direction.

Wayne 21:49

Yeah. When we're working on goals, one of the things that for me I've found to be empowering as well as encouraging is to identify an agreeable partner, an accountable partner. In my space, it's always been family and spouse. So Audrey is my number one accountable partner.

Stacy 22:12

They

Wayne 22:12

will agree on this is what I'm working at or her, you know, when she was starting private practice, we spoke about it several times and there was a lot of fear and apprehension about it in terms of finishing her dissertation, right? What's holding you back? And so when you speak it, you speak truth almost into it when you share it with someone else and someone else who is not a naysayer, that's very important, right? You want someone who is also gonna believe in you and allow you to believe in yourself.

Stacy 22:47

Absolutely. The reason, you know, the scripture talks about where two or three are gathered There's power in that agreement. And what you and Audrey have is that you have that agreement. You are supporting her dreams, her visions, and doing so in a way I'm sure that applies a little bit of accountability that maybe challenges some of those fears that she may have experienced. I can only imagine when pursuing one's destiny. That there's excitement and there's probably a little fear and, you know, that opportunity to really be to have someone that can encourage, that can challenge, that can push and that can hold you accountable is critical.

Wayne 23:49

Yeah. And also I think giving ourselves grace to recognize that you may not hit the mark the first go around or the second or the third, but if you are truly vested in fulfilling that vision, then you keep trying. I mean, there's a point where you may have to recognize that you have to recalibrate. They say that a plane that's flying from New York to LA recalibrates more than 80% of its journey just by a degree or so pointing the nose. Otherwise, we talked about this, you might wind up somewhere in Mexico. So you have to recalibrate, but fail forward is what they say and get back up.

Stacy 24:35

Right, right. The progress does take patience. And in Galatians, it reminds us to let us not grow weary, right? in well-doing or in doing good. So if you are in alignment with your visions and your dreams, your gifts, moving towards your God-ordained purpose, then You might get a little tired sometime, right? Like you said, that there is work involved and it doesn't always go the way you planned the first time, the second time, the third time, but we are still becoming. We are still becoming the... The ones, the individuals, the collective, the kingdom, we are still becoming who we are called to be as individuals and as a community. I love this title, Still Becoming.

Wayne 25:41

And because it's not over till it's over, right? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. then as long as there is life in you and you're grateful for that life, you need to apply living. And that's part of what this is, becoming, always blooming and moving and grooving and getting along with your life and knowing that there's more to be captured. You're never done till the last breath. And so part of how we do this, Stacey, is we create habits. When we work with our clients, we look at habits that no longer serve them. I had a client today that I've had for several years. And he said to me, one of the things that very early on, like a year and a half ago, when we started working together, that helped him was as a father to look at the habits that he had developed in terms of how he parented and ask the question, does it still serve me now that the kids older. And if your habits are not serving you, if they're not aligning and supporting that goal and that vision, you got to nix those habits.

Stacy 26:49

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And yes, that's still becoming, right? That really is good, Coach Letty. The reality is You have to check in on those habits. Wayne and I have done episodes of the Midlife Revolution Unleashed talking specifically about habits, about breaking habits, about forming habits. So check out that episode. The vision is the foundation. The goals are the structure and the habits are the glue. that is going to start to really bond, build, and help you move forward into this new vision.

Wayne 27:39

And we talked about smart goal. There was a piece of it around time bounded and measure, right? If you can't measure it, you really don't know what you're chasing and you can't tell when you've gotten it, if you've gotten it. So. It's important to track through metrics or whatever form. You know, we all have smart watches today. So if we want to know how many steps we do, we don't walk and count it in our heads, even though we could, but that would really defeat the purpose of relaxing us. And so we measure it. We measure when you go to the doctor, he measures, even as a kid, how much you have added in your girth, your weight, your height, and that measurement goes through your entire lifetime. We're suggesting that that as you are moving towards your goals and your habits, that you're measuring your success or not?

Stacy 28:39

No, you can't move what you don't measure, right? So if you are not tracking the progress you're making, whether you've accomplished the goals or the objectives, You're not going to know if you're moving in the right direction. And so we want to just encourage you. I feel like we've talked about goal setting before as well, Wayne. So go back and look at the wealth of knowledge that is in our process. Two seasons of the midlife revolution unleashed. Every story has details. Every story has detours, delays, and disappointments. But we're really cheering you forward so that you and your next chapter can be your most powerful one yet. So here in the second half, as Coach Wayne calls it, or the third quarter, as I Becoming is about unleashing, Stacey. Yes. Yes. Yes, that's a very good tie to the title, sir. Very good tie to the title. We want to remind you that you are listening to the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. I'm Coach Stacey. That is my co-host, Coach Wayne. We are so excited that you have joined us this evening or that you are checking out the replay. Our heart's desire is to celebrate the richness of midlife and cheer you forward. Yet, Coach Wayne, we'll see you

Wayne 30:30

at the top. Yes, sir. Sorry, so sorry. Go ahead, please, Stacey. No, go right ahead. I wanted to remind folks and encourage you, when you check midlife, your favorite podcast handle for Midlife Revolution Unleashed, or if you go to our YouTube channel, Midlife Revolution Unleashed, please be sure to like us and subscribe. Subscribing tells the algorithm that these guys are worth listening to because they're offering some value and people are following. So please do subscribe.

Stacy 31:02

It's free. Amen. That was good stuff. Thank you so much for joining us, Coach Letty and Sister Delaine in the live lounge. Indeed, we want to remind you that you can reach Coach Wayne at VIPTransformativeLiving.com. And if you're listening on LinkedIn or Facebook or YouTube, make sure you message him in those DMs. He'd love to hear from you. And know what you think, not only about the midlife revolution, but trust and believe he can add value. My heart's desire is to be of service. And that's how you reach me.

Wayne 31:44

Tell the folks, Stacey, just in case they're not wearing glasses tonight.

Stacy 31:50

That is such a good point, right? I can be reached at thestacymlewis.com. Indeed, if you are watching, viewing, listening on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube, you can also connect with me in the DMs. It is our heart's desire to be of service. If you are a woman of color, a midlife woman of color, please don't hesitate to contact Check out the Midlife Sisters Collective. It is a budding, moving into a blossoming community where midlife women come together to support each other and to cheer each other on. Coach Wayne.

Wayne 32:35

I love it. In Jamaica, we say wicked. Stacey, we're out of here till next week. Same time, same place. Absolutely. Let's get on out and let the folks get out of here as well.

Stacy 32:54

Thank you for joining us.

Wayne 32:58

And there you have it, folks. This week's episode of the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. Hey. We truly appreciate your spending this time in this space with us. Join us next week at the same time as we dive into relevant topics and present solutions to spark new thinking and empower your midlife journey.

Stacy 33:21

And don't forget, if you enjoyed today's episode, let us know in the comments and share it with others. And of course, remember to subscribe, share, like, hit that notification bell. You are the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. I'm Coach Stacey and I'm cheering you on. And I'm Coach Wayne and I'll see you at the top.