Elena Agafonova

​ Coach | Author | Happiness Explorer 🌱 ​

Letters of Change A weekly space for happiness, self-trust & the art of living well ​ Let’s begin gently

Hello and welcome, Reader!

Sometimes, change begins not with a crisis — but with a cup of coffee.

That’s how it started for one of my clients, a 40-year-old senior business development manager at a global IT company.
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She was smart, respected, and successful by every measure.

Her life looked exactly how success is supposed to look:
💼 a generous salary and yearly bonuses
🏡 real estate investments and life insurance
👦 a private school for her son
✈️ business trips across Europe and holidays by the sea
🚘 a corporate car, premium gym, top medical insurance etc.

She had built the kind of life many people only dream about.
And yet, she felt deeply, quietly unhappy...

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☕ The day the coffee stopped tasting right

One morning, she walked into the office kitchen and poured herself a cup from the big Swiss machine — the same one she had used for years.
But this time, she took a sip and winced.

“It’s awful,” she thought. “I can’t drink this anymore.”

Nothing had changed about the coffee. But something had changed in her.
​It wasn’t really about the taste. It was about no longer wanting what no longer felt right.

That small moment — that quiet rejection of something that used to be fine — became the mirror of everything else in her life.

She realized she was no longer inspired by endless meetings and quarterly targets.
​She saw that her work made little real impact. Whether she showed up or not, the world would continue exactly the same.

And on the last day of the year — December 31, 2017 — she made her decision.
She left her corporate position after 15 years of a great career and stepped into the unknown.

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🌱 A new chapter begins

She founded her own consulting and training company, helping small and mid-sized business owners optimize their processes and revenue in the e-commerce industry.

It wasn’t easy — there were risks, ups and downs, moments of doubt and triumph.
But there was also freedom, creativity, and the joy of knowing she was making a real difference.

And, of course, her favorite coffee, every single morning.

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💡 One gentle prompt

Do you notice the quiet signs in your own life — when something once comfortable suddenly feels off?
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Maybe your next chapter isn’t about fixing what’s wrong, but about listening to what no longer fits.

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✨ Discover where you are on the path of change

If you’ve been sensing that something inside you is shifting — that the “coffee moments” are becoming more frequent — take a pause to reflect.

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Are you Ready to Change?

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It’s a short, gentle way to see where you stand today — and whether it’s time to begin your own next chapter.

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🫶 Help someone start their own chapter

If you know someone who has everything on paper but still feels that quiet “something’s missing,” share this letter with them.​
Sometimes, the smallest discomfort — even a cup of coffee — can wake up a new life.

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⏳ Coming up next Wednesday

I’ll share a story about the moment before change — when everything looks the same on the outside, but your heart already knows it’s time.

Warmly, Elena

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