Pause.

Have you ever felt like your life… just stopped?

Not because you’re weak.
Not because you don’t care.
But because something deep inside you whispered:
“This isn’t working anymore.”

You stare at the screen. You look at your projects. Your routines. Your calendar.

And something feels… off.
Like you’re forcing a version of yourself that no longer fits.

That’s when the fear creeps in:
Do I start over? Again?

But starting over isn’t failure.
It’s not weakness.
It’s an art.

And like all great art, it requires precision. Intention. And a lot of inner strength.

Let me take you into it.

We fear starting over because we misunderstand what it means.

Most people believe starting over means going back to zero.
They think it erases the years they’ve spent learning, building, becoming.

But here’s what I’ve come to believe—through both pain and clarity:

“You’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from experience.”

Big difference.

Experience doesn’t show up in your bio.
It doesn’t always show in your stats.
But it shows in your eyes.
In your work.
In your energy.

Let me show you how I know.

My story of starting over (twice).

When I was 15, I had a dream.

I wanted to become a web developer.

So I did what every hungry dreamer does—I taught myself.
Front-end development. Web design. Layouts. Colors. UX thinking.
I built websites from scratch. Spent hours getting pixels aligned.

For three years, I gave it everything.

But then… I stopped.
It didn’t feel right anymore.
Something inside me was pulling me somewhere else.

So I walked away from that path and started a new one.

This time, in a tool you’ve probably heard me talk about a lot: Notion.

Now here’s the twist: I didn’t feel like a beginner at all.

Because I wasn’t.

All the design skills I had learned, the creative systems, the eye for layout—they followed me.
They gave me an edge most people didn’t have when they started with Notion.
My "start over" wasn't a reset. It was an upgrade.

Last Year, it happened again.

I looked at the content I was posting on Instagram and thought:

“This isn’t it.”

It had no real value.
No real impact.
And honestly, no real audience.

So I deleted most of it.
I started again. New tone. New purpose. New identity.

And today, less than one year later, we’re on the edge of hitting 100,000 people in this community.

That’s the power of starting over with experience.

You move faster.
You think sharper.
You build stronger.

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
— Henry Ford

So here’s what I’ve learned.

If you’re thinking of starting over—whether in business, life, or your own identity—
Don’t just make a move.

Make it wisely.

Let me show you how, in 3 powerful steps:

1. Kill the expired identity.

This is the hardest part.
Not building. Not learning. Not planning.

Letting go.

Because we’re attached to who we used to be.

• “I used to be a web developer.”
• “I used to be consistent.”
• “I used to be doing better than this.”

But the truth is: That version of you served its season.
Now it’s expired.

You cannot evolve while clinging to an expired identity.

“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.”

Let it go.
Thank it.
And walk forward.

2. Take your tools with you.

Starting over doesn’t mean deleting your past.

You’re not throwing away your toolbox—you're just building a different house.

Every failure, every system, every awkward launch—it taught you something.
And that something is now your competitive edge.

When I moved from web to Notion, my design instincts were sharper than most.
When I relaunched my content, I knew exactly what not to do.

That’s what experience gives you: speed and clarity.

So don’t call it a restart.
Call it a strategic pivot.

3. Rebuild simpler and stronger.

When you start over, your instinct might be to overcompensate:

“I need a better system. A bigger audience. A complete brand refresh.”

But the most powerful restarts are quiet. Simple. Focused.

What do you actually need?
What’s essential this time?
What’s just noise?

You don’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore.
You’ve done that.

Now is the time to build what matters.
Even if it’s small. Even if it’s slow.

Because this time, you’re not building out of pressure.
You’re building on wisdom.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill

So,

Starting over isn’t a weakness.
It’s not a step back.
It’s not a sign you failed.

It’s a sign you had the courage to stop walking the wrong path—
and the wisdom to choose a better one.

You’re not starting from scratch.
You’re starting from experience.
And that’s the best foundation there is.

So if today you feel like you’re standing in front of a blank page—
Don’t fear it.

Pick up the pen.

And write the next chapter like someone who’s done this before.

Because you have.

And if you ever need tools to help you rebuild, I've created over 20+ Notion templates designed to guide your journey, whether you're restarting your studies, launching a business, or rebuilding your life with intention.

Download your template

Thank you for Reading

— Ols