You cannot evolve while constantly trying to prove you have not changed.

Trying to reassure everyone that you are still the same person is exhausting and it works directly against changing. You end up maintaining the old presentation for other people’s comfort while attempting to become someone different underneath, which is more effort than either project alone. People adjust more easily than expected once you stop managing it. The reassurance is usually for your own anxiety.

Notice where you are performing continuity: the old opinions, the old jokes, the old availability. Let one of them go without explanation. Most people will not comment, and the ones who do will adjust.