Every growth has an awkward middle where nothing fits yet. That’s not failure. That’s in progress.

In the middle of any change, the old way has stopped working and the new way is not installed yet. Nothing fits, in both senses: the clothes, the habits, the way you talk about yourself, the group you used to sit with. That stretch feels like evidence that you have broken something. The middle has no name, so people read it as failure.

Give it one. When you catch yourself in it, say plainly that you are between versions. Then look for the smallest thing that does still fit and do that today.