I wanted to do something special with this blog post. I am making it my mission that by the time you finish reading this blog post, you will find the audacity to keep becoming when life keeps giving you reasons to stop. There is something about fall that makes me want to take a deep breath. Maybe it’s the crispness in the air. Maybe it’s the way the trees begin letting go of what they can no longer carry. Maybe it’s the reminder that change doesn’t always announce itself with fireworks. Sometimes, change simply begins with a leaf falling, and falling has been on my mind lately. Not falling backward. Not falling apart. Instead it’s Falling Forward. Because if I’m being honest, these first nine months of 2026 has been A LOT for many of us. For many Americans, the dream of simply living a good, stable, fulfilling life feels harder to reach than it once did. The cost of basic needs continues to put pressure on households. A September 2026 Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality report found that 70% of Americans are struggling to afford at least one basic need, including housing, food, health care or child care. Consumer confidence has also taken a significant hit. Some reports say the consumer-confidence index has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, amid concerns about prices, jobs, housing and the broader economic outlook. This does suggests that the policies and decisions coming out of Washington matter. The Trump administration’s tariff policies, immigration actions and other policy changes have created real uncertainty for businesses, workers and families, while the administration and its supporters have offered different arguments about the intended benefits of those policies. I don’t think we should pretend any of that doesn’t affect people’s ability to dream because it does. But here’s where I want to challenge you. Don’t let the condition of the world convince you that you have to surrender the condition of your imagination. Because somewhere between the bills, the headlines, the layoffs, the disappointments, the family stuff, the relationship stuff, the business stuff, the career stuff, the “What in the world is happening?” stuff… YOU are still here. Because you are still here, there is still something in you worth building.
MAYBE FALL ISN’T ABOUT FALLING APART.
I want you to shift your narrative to just maybe fall is about learning how to “fall forward”. Think about it. A tree doesn’t panic when its leaves fall. It doesn’t chase them down the sidewalk. It doesn’t stand there screaming, “Wait! I wasn’t ready!” It releases, trusts the season, and it prepares for what’s next. There is wisdom in that because sometimes what looks like loss is actually life making room. Sometimes the thing you thought was an ending is the thing that finally gives you enough space to begin again. Sometimes the door closing is what forces you to finally admit that you were standing at the wrong door. Sometimes you simply have to stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” Start asking, “What am I going to do with what is happening?” That’s the difference between simply experiencing life and intentionally living it.
FALL IN LOVE WITH THE IDEA THAT YOUR LIFE STILL HAS PURPOSE.
This is where I get a little passionate, because I believe nothing about your life is random. I believe nothing just happens. God’s is so strategic, and I believe our gifts matter. Our creativity matters. Our ideas matter. Our lived experience matters. Our story matters. Our ability to solve problems, connect people, create opportunities, encourage somebody, build something, teach something, make something beautiful, start something new… It all matters. However, that doesn’t mean purpose magically makes hard things disappear. Purpose doesn’t erase grief. Purpose doesn’t make a bad boss suddenly become a good one. Purpose doesn’t prevent unexpected circumstances. But, purpose can give you a reason to keep moving while you’re figuring it out. Truthfully, sometimes, baby, that’s the miracle. Not that everything suddenly gets easy, but that you become unwilling to quit on yourself.
THE AMERICAN DREAM MAY BE CHANGING.
Though this is a real reality, THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO STOP DREAMING. This part matters to me because I know the phrase “American Dream” can mean different things to different people. For some, it’s homeownership. For others, financial security, a thriving business, a career they actually enjoy, freedom, family, generational wealth, travel, creative expression, peace, or the ability to wake up and know that your life belongs to you. Repeat after me, your dream isn’t dead. Some people are questioning whether the systems around them make the dream equally accessible, but many are still dreaming and I think that’s important. Perhaps our job right now isn’t to wait for somebody else to hand us a perfect set of circumstances. Perhaps our job is to become more intentional about what we can influence, what we can create, what we can protect, what we can learn, what we can build and who we can become. That’s not denial. That’s a deliberate, empowered choice of control over our own life. Meditate on that for just a moment.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FALL FORWARD?
You may still be asking, “What does falling forward mean?” To me, falling forward means refusing to allow uncertainty to become an excuse for inactivity. It means:
You may be disappointed—but you keep developing.
You may be tired—but you keep discerning.
You may be uncertain—but you keep exploring.
You may have been rejected—but you keep refining.
You may have lost something—but you don’t lose yourself.
You may have to start over—but you don’t have to start empty.
You bring your wisdom. You bring your experience. You bring your creativity. You bring every lesson. You bring every connection. You bring every scar. You bring rejection, and you bring the audacity to believe that your next chapter can still be beautiful.
PROTECT YOUR PEACE LIKE IT’S PART OF THE PLAN.
I don’t just say this, I believe this for myself because it is. You cannot build a life by design while constantly allowing everybody else’s chaos to become your operating system. At some point, you have to decide, I am not available for everything. Not every argument. Not every notification. Not every opinion. Not every crisis. Not every invitation. Not every relationship. Not every opportunity. Not every version of myself I created just to survive. Peace is not passivity. Sometimes peace is a boundary. Sometimes peace is silence. Sometimes peace is turning your phone off. Sometimes peace is saying no. Sometimes peace is leaving the room. Sometimes peace is getting honest with yourself. Sometimes peace is sitting still long enough to hear your own thoughts again, and sometimes peace is realizing that you don’t need a five-year plan tonight. You need to take the next right step.
CLEAR YOUR MIND SO YOUR CREATIVITY CAN BREATHE.
One of the greatest casualties of prolonged stress is our ability to think creatively about possibility. When you’re constantly in reaction mode, everything becomes urgent, and when everything is urgent, nothing gets your best thinking. So this fall, I want you to create some space. Journal, Walk, Pray, Read to feed your mind positivity and new insight. Unplug to renew and recharge. Have conversations that stretch you. Spend time with people who remind you who you are. Make something with your hands. Go somewhere or try something new. Change your environment. Take yourself on a solo date even if you are in a relationship. Sit in a beautiful place and ask yourself: What do I actually want now? Not what did I want five years ago. Not what my family expects. Not what looks impressive on Instagram. Not what I thought I should want. What do I want now? Because you are allowed to evolve, and perhaps one of the most intentional things you can do this fall is give yourself permission to want something different.
GET FLEXIBLE WITHOUT GETTING FRAGILE.
This one is important. Intentional living does not mean controlling every outcome. It means being clear about your direction while remaining flexible about the route. Recent research on goal-striving flexibility found that the ability to adjust how we pursue goals is associated with goal progress, psychological functioning, well-being, life satisfaction and purpose. Translation? You can change the strategy without abandoning the dream. Maybe the business model needs to change. Maybe the career path needs to change. Maybe the timeline needs to change. Maybe the audience needs to change. Maybe the offer needs to change. Maybe the relationship needs to change. Maybe YOU need to change. That’s not failure. That’s information. That’s evolution. That’s falling forward.
AND THEN… P.U.S.H.
Pray Until Something Happens. Yes, I said it! P.U.S.H. However, Prayer means sitting around waiting for life to magically rearrange itself. Prayer can help us return to what matters. It can give us perspective. It can quiet the noise. It can remind us that we don’t have to carry everything alone. Your situation may not change immediately, but prayer can change you inside the situation. Through prayer you can find your courage. Your clarity. Your patience. Your perspective. Your willingness to try again. Your ability to recognize an opportunity you couldn’t see when you were panicking. P.U.S.H. doesn’t mean you never rest. Spend some time in the Book of Genesis…even God rested as He created. It means you refuse to confuse rest with quitting.
YOUR FALL FORWARD CHECKLIST
As we enter the final stretch of this year, I’m challenging you to do something different.
Don’t just ask:
“What do I need to finish?”
Ask:
What do I want to become?
Then ask:
What needs to be released?
What needs to be protected?
What needs to be started?
What needs to be simplified?
What needs to be learned?
What needs to be monetized?
What needs to be healed?
What needs to be prayed over?
What needs to be pursued?
And perhaps most importantly:
What dream have I quietly stopped believing is possible?
Go find it. Dust it off. Look at it again. Maybe it needs to evolve. Maybe the version of that dream you imagined ten years ago isn’t the version you want today. That’s okay. Dreams are allowed to grow up too.
YOUR LIFE IS NOT OVER BECAUSE THIS YEAR DIDN’T GO ACCORDING TO PLAN.
Let me say that again. Your life is not over because this year didn’t go according to plan. You are not behind because somebody else’s timeline looks different. You are not too old. You are not too late. You are not too experienced. You are not too inexperienced. You are not too ordinary. You are not too complicated. You are not disqualified because you’ve had setbacks, and you absolutely do not need everybody to understand your next move before you make it. There is still time. There is still possibility. There is still creativity inside you. You still have purpose. There is still work to do. There is still love to experience. There is still money to make. There are still businesses to build. There are still rooms to enter. There are still people to meet. There are still ideas that have never been thought. There are still versions of YOU that you haven’t met yet. So please…don’t let a difficult season convince you that you have been given a difficult life. There is a difference.
NOW, GO FALL FORWARD.
This is where I’m going to get very Ingrid on you. I don’t want you walking into October merely hoping the rest of the year gets better. I want you participating in making your life better. I want you dreaming again. Planning again. Creating again. Building again. Applying again. Launching again. Dating again. Traveling again. Writing again. Starting again. Believing again. LIVING again. Not recklessly, but intentionally! Prayerfully! Strategically! Creatively! Boldly, and with enough audacity to say:
“I may not control everything happening around me, but I still have a say in what happens next in my life.”
That’s falling forward. That’s choosing purpose over paralysis. That’s choosing possibility over permanent pessimism. That’s deciding that your circumstances may be part of your story…but they do not get to write the whole thing. So, my friend…Fall! This Fall season is your season. Don’t you dare fall backward, Fall forward! Fall into your purpose. Fall into your creativity. Fall into your next idea. Fall into your next opportunity. Fall into the woman or man you’re becoming. Fall in love with your life again, and if you need to… P.U.S.H. Pray Until Something Happens. There is still time to build a life you love. There is still time to reinvent yourself. There is still time to change your mind. There is still time to make money doing meaningful work. There is still time to create something nobody else has created. There is still time to become the version of yourself you’ve been talking about, And friend, there is absolutely still time to LIVE YOUR LIFE BY DESIGN! Not somebody else’s design…YOURS! So stop waiting for the perfect season. This is your season! Now go make a move.
— Yours Truly Ingrid