Telfer McCognahay: How to Navigate Major Life Changes Without Losing Yourself

There are moments in life when the old version of you stops working, but the next version hasn't arrived yet. A relationship ends, or a career changes direction. A long-held identity begins to crack. The things that once gave you certainty no longer fit, yet what comes next remains unclear. It's uncomfortable, disorienting, and most people do everything they can to escape it. According to my guest today, those in-between periods may be some of the most important moments of our lives. Today, I'm excited to share my conversation with Telfer McCognahay, founder of Ecotone Academy, whose work focuses on helping people navigate major life transitions and uncover the opportunities hidden within them. Telfer believes that many of us spend years building our lives around what he calls a "provisional identity": our job, accomplishments, social roles, relationships, or other labels we use to explain who we are. The problem is that these identities are often far more fragile than we realize. Growth often requires old stories, outdated coping mechanisms, and limiting identities to fall away so something more authentic can emerge. In this fascinating conversation, we explore what happens when life places us in what Telfer calls an "ecotone": a transition zone between who we have been and who we are becoming.