This dream took more than five years to realize, and I'm only just learning how to share it with the world

The ups and downs of bringing big projects to life and why it's important to keep going

Five and a half years ago, I could barely hear my own voice.

At the time, I was still deeply entrenched in a corporate career that appeared successful from the outside, but inside, I was unraveling. My mother had just died in a car crash. My body, mind, and spirit had collapsed from burnout. Suddenly, I found myself flat on my back in bed, questioning everything. I had always been the reliable one. The strong one. The one who didn’t stop. Until I did.

The whole experience was so foreign to me, a lifelong overachiever, that I barely recognized myself, and neither did anyone else.

I didn’t know it then, but that collapse would become a doorway–actually, more like a magical passageway. What felt like the end was, in fact, a beginning. A slow, quiet reckoning that eventually became a calling, leading me to focus all of my efforts on this question:

How can ambitious people build meaningful, fulfilling lives—and lasting success—without losing themselves, sacrificing what matters most, or burning out along the way?

But, back then, when it felt like the end, I couldn’t imagine feeling whole again, let alone writing a book about how to live a healthier, more meaningful life.

And yet, here I am, healthy, well, and living a radically different and incredibly aligned life in the south of France. I’ve just turned in the final manuscript of Live Your Opus: Reclaim Your Energy, Redefine Success, and Create a Life That Truly Matters. And, in a matter of weeks, it will be transformed into a book.

Live Your Opus is for ambitious professionals—especially women—who appear successful on the outside but feel depleted, disconnected, or misaligned within. People who are (not so quietly) asking themselves, 'What now?'

Perhaps you know the feeling: You’ve done everything “right.” You’ve hit the milestones, built a reputation, proven yourself again and again, but something still feels off. You’re tired in a way rest doesn’t fix. You crave clarity, aliveness, you-ness. Or, perhaps you wonder when you’re going to get to enjoy all of this success you’ve built.

This book is for that version of you. The one who’s accomplished so much, but quietly wonders if you traded too much along the way. The one asking, Is this all there is? The one wondering if there’s a way to keep pace with your ambition without losing yourself, what matters to you, or burning out. I promise you there is, and I wrote this for you.

Grounded in neuroscience, psychology, and ancient wisdom traditions, the book offers a clear and compassionate path to help readers reclaim their energy, reconnect with their purpose, and build lives that truly feel like their own.

Alongside deeply personal stories (mine and those of others), I introduce a whole-person energy model called the Opus 8 and a 12-week transformational journey designed to guide readers toward healthy, aligned, meaningful, and lasting success.

This isn’t a book that talks at you. It walks with you. Because I know what it means to rebuild from the inside out—and I know how much courage that takes.

Writing a book has long been one of my life goals. To know that I’ll soon hold my first book in my hands is both surreal and deeply fulfilling. My eight-year-old self is feeling incredibly excited right now.

I wouldn’t have said this a few months ago, but, in many ways, finishing the book was the easy part. What’s next—carving out space to bring it into the world—is requiring a kind of focus I once believed was risky.

I’ve mostly stepped away from client work. Said no to opportunities I would’ve jumped at just a year ago. I’ve shifted time, energy, and income toward sharing my ideas because I believe they matter, that they might help others.

Five years ago, I might have viewed this step as the ultimate gamble. But today, I know it’s not a gamble to bet on the success I’ve already built and to keep growing into the version of me I’m becoming.

So, my journey is far from over. This is the part of writing a book which I’m super excited about yet feel least prepared for: learning to share it.

I’ve spent weeks writing to people I admire deeply, asking for their endorsement. I’ve sat in conversations with helpful and smart colleagues about marketing strategy and media outreach. I’m even gearing up to be visible in new places—yes, including TikTok (a sentence I never expected to write). I’m also excited about the upcoming partnership conversations.

This step isn’t just about launching a book. It’s about inviting ambitious people to believe that they are their greatest work and to live as if that were true. To inspire them to reclaim their energy, define success on their terms, and to live their Opus, just as I’m living mine.

I imagine a reader closing this book and breathing differently, feeling just a little steadier and knowing that they are not behind. That it’s not too late. Feeling confident in their right to live in alignment with who they truly are and to succeed in a way that feels like success for them.

To earn those moments—to truly reach the people who need this most—I’ve got to do the work–not just the writing, but also the sharing, the showing up, the putting myself out there, and the staying grounded through it all.

That’s the work now: offering, inspiring, and welcoming. And the most exciting, yet humbling, part? I am still learning, too.

Just like in my book, where I walk beside the reader, not above them, I’m happiest when I’m both a student and a teacher.

As I grow and stretch, pushing against the edges of my comfort zone yet again, I’m leaning on my own words and frameworks as well as the stories of others who inspire me, so I can continue to learn how to stay steady, centered, and aligned while doing something I’ve never done before.

So if you’re standing at the edge of something new—something close to your heart or thrilling or quietly enormous—I see you.

What do you do to prepare for those big moments?

What keeps you grounded when you’re gearing up for something that asks a lot of you?

I’d love to know.

I’ll be sharing more in the weeks to come—tools, ideas, and behind-the-scenes reflections from the launch path. But for now, I just want to say thank you. For being here, for listening, and for walking your own path, however uncertain it might feel today. You’re not behind. You’re right on time.

And if you'd like to be part of this next chapter with me, you can join the waitlist to be the first to hear when Live Your Opus is ready to pre-order—and help bring this message into the world.

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I’m Janine Mathó. Five years ago, I stepped away from a global career in the learning sector after burning out and after the sudden death of my mother. Since then, I’ve dedicated my work to helping ambitious individuals—founders, leaders, and creatives—reclaim their energy, realign with what matters, and create success that feels even better on the inside than it appears on the outside.

This newsletter is my way of reaching more people who need that reset. If something here resonates, I hope you’ll share it with someone else who might also need it. Thank you!

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