She Took One French Class and Somehow Ended Up in Paris
One small step + five years = a life she never saw coming ✨
In between sets at the gym, I had a conversation that stayed with me far longer than my workout did.
Janelle was getting ready to spend a couple of months in Paris, attending a French immersion cooking school. She said it so casually that I assumed she probably studied French in college, and this has been a lifelong dream.
But no.
She started taking French lessons at the local community college in late 2020. She’d never spoken it before but always wanted to learn. Her kids were in high school, and she finally had more space in her life to try something new.
One semester turned into two. Advanced classes followed. Then informal meet-ups at a French café with other students who were practicing together. Eventually, this small group of overachievers (kidding—I envy them) decided that a trip to Paris was the logical next step.
And just like that, she was booking a flight and saying bon voyage to her family.
I was mesmerized.
This is the kind of thing I talk about all the time, but it’s usually something we’re building toward slowly and locally. Seeing someone who was already out there—on the trail ahead—made it feel real. And it confirmed that yes indeed, we are on the right path.
Here’s the part that really stopped me: it took just five years for her to go from her first French class to actually living in France.
Five years.
Sure it might seem like a long time, but we’ve all experienced how slippery time can be. One minute you’re hunting for the lost baby doll, and the next you’re registering your 17-year-old for college.
Time is passing whether we do something with it or not.
So this is where you pause and ask yourself: what do I want to have done in five years?
We’re not talking about “what’s your 5-year plan.”
No. This is a softer aspiration focused on how you want to spend the next five years. Not what you want to achieve.
What’s the thing you’ve been quietly thinking about since college, or since you had kids? Learning how to ski? Going back for your master’s? Finally redoing the bedroom that’s been an afterthought since you moved in seventeen years ago?
There are so many possibilities. But every one of them starts the same way. By taking the first step.
✅ Enroll in the class.
✅ Research the program.
✅ Choose the wall color.
After that, it’s just a series of smaller steps. One foot in front of the other. Until you find yourself somewhere new, or decide to try something else.
Imagine five years of trying things. Really trying things. Even if you had a series of incomplete attempts, you’d certainly be one of the more interesting people at the table.
We lose sight of the future because we’re so immersed in the present.
I’m right in the middle of this shift. I’ve gone from full-time mom to part-time mom, and now I’m transitioning into an on-call mom. There are equal parts uncertainty and possibility in this pre-empty-nest stage, and hearing Janelle’s story was the flick on the forehead I needed.
Five years will pass no matter what.
So I’m signing up for hip hop dance lessons starting January 12th, with a backup plan of tap. That’s my 2026 experiment. Will it lead to a world tour? Unlikely. But these are both things I’ve wanted to do for ages—hip hop to relive my youth, and tap as a tribute to a nearly lost art and to my gram, who would be absolutely thrilled that I’m trying.
If you’re reading this and thinking, I want that, but I don’t even know where to start, check out my Passions and Purpose 20-minute mini-course. It’s a simple, low-pressure way to sort through what you’re truly curious about and will help you figure out where to focus first. It’s just $15 through the end of the year (goes up to $25 on January 1st).
I hope Janelle’s story inspires you even half as much as it inspired me.
We might as well make the next five years as interesting as we can.
✨ Before you go—The next FREE online workshop is the last week of December.
The Shared Load w/ Jennifer Chaney
Dec 30, 2025 10:30 AM Pacific Time
Reclaim your time by doing less (and raising kids who can do more)
This is the “what I wish I knew sooner” course for moms with kids of any age, but it’s especially powerful if you start when the kids are little — before patterns and habits take hold.
The class will be recorded, so even if you can’t make it, sign up and I’ll send out the link after the New Year. 🎉