Not Your Mama's Midlife Podcast

Have you ever found yourself misunderstood in an email, perhaps someone misread what you said and has offered some small correction, and you find yourself emailing that person back and referring them to your original words earlier in the thread to be sure that they know that you were correct in the first place?  That you actually didn’t need correcting?  It might feel a little petty, but...

On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the realities of burnout, especially for high-achievers and those who are passionate about their jobs.  And we’re doing this because we hold on to a misconception that hard workers just expect and know how to manage a level of work that “other people” might get into burnout from.  And we expect that people who love their jobs, believe that th...

If you missed the free Create Your Own Plan to Tackle Burnout Webinar on Monday, January 23rd, sign up to receive the replay here .

On this episode, we are going to revisit cycles of stress and rest and talk about what this might look like if we explicitly take our nervous system states and completing our stress cycles into account.   Be sure to Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss our next episode. Burnout got you down? I'm offering a free webinar on Monday, January 23rd at 8pm ET to he...

On this episode, we are going to revisit cycles of stress and rest and talk about what to do when you can’t seem to escape the stress cycle to actually get the rest you need.  So many of us struggle with overwhelm and burnout and when those things are happening in our bodies, it’s next to impossible to cycle gently between stress and rest as we would like to in a healthy way.  But with a...

One of the primary reasons that people do not go after whatever it is that they want for the second half of their lives is because they are burned out. Which is ironic, given that many people would say that they want something different for the second half of their lives because they are burned out.  But burnout is actually a pretty insidious impediment to change.  Among other things, it...

On this episode, we’re going to talk about how to set a goal for 2023 and make sure that you achieve it. I can’t wait to see what you do.  And my favorite part of this exercise, by the way, is thinking about who you need to become in order to achieve your goal.   I’ve created a whole workbook for you for this episode.  This is a great resource and you do not want to miss it.&nb...

On this episode, we’ll talk about why you might wish to carve out some time just for you to review and close out 2022. This is an exercise, if you will, in metacognition. It’s always fun, or at least interesting, to look back on the events of the year, but I would encourage you to look not only at the events of 2022 but to think back and reflect on how you showed up for those events, what they mea...

How often do you take time for reflection and celebration? Most of us are terrible at celebrating ourselves.  Holidays? Birthdays?  Sure…but celebrating ourselves?  Things we’ve done or achieved?  No. What about celebrating or spending time noticing progress? Good things, Achievement of a goal? A job well done? When you showed up the way that you wanted to - mostly or even some...

We often talk on this show about how to have a Big Job and a Big Life.  Today, we’re going to talk about having a Big Job and Big Holidays.   For many high-achievers, what we experience this time of year is not only the demands of family and Christmas parties and gifts and decorating, but also year-end at our places of business.  Maybe your organization has a Board Meeting in D...

Do you feel stuck?  I have felt stuck.  That’s how a lot of my clients describe themselves.  Stuck in situations that are outside of their control.  No exit in sight.   But do you know that you also keep yourself stuck?  One of the primary functions of our brains is to keep us safe. And our brains tend to view change or new things or a new adventure or opportunit...

On today’s short-and-sweet episode, where I provide you with a tool that you can use today to improve your life or feel better in some way, I’m going to suggest to you that you Just Stop.  Just STOP doing it.   We’ve been hearing “just do it” for decades, but today I’m saying “Just STOP doing it.”  I would offer to you that an important way to cull your to-do list at work and a...

The world that we live in today is a mixture of incredible, staggering beauty and gut-wrenching evil and pain. It has both. So do our lives.   So much of our unhappiness is caused by thinking that we should be happy all of the time. So what if you decided that life was going to be a roughly 50/50 mix of good and bad most of the time? On today’s show, I’m going to tell you why thinking ab...

On today’s episode, I’m going to share with you why that stern voice that you use to keep yourself moving, going, pressing forward isn’t doing you any favors and is actually, in fact, making things harder for you.   Then I’m going to introduce you to an alternative approach and a brief exercise where you can begin to implement this alternative approach for yourself.   S how Not...

I would like to bring a little more clarity to the idea of making change in our lives.  When I initially thought about what I wanted to do with this podcast, I wanted the change that I spoke about to encompass both changes such as changing careers, changing the way that you live your life (maybe working part time or in a full-time remote context, things like minimalism, tiny houses, and vanli...

You know what happens when your body and mind signal that they need rest.  The way that yours will signal is different than the way that mine will. But I am willing to be that you know your own cues.  How often do you ignore them?   How often do you ignore the messages that your body is sending you? How often do you just push them to the side and say, “I just have to get throug...

We’ve been building up to this the last couple of weeks and I am excited to share this week’s topic with you.  This week I am introducing you to the Self-Coaching Model.  It’s a cognitive tool for you to use to create awareness and it’s so incredibly powerful.  We’ve talked about facts, things that occur, things that are, and we’ve talked about how our stories, our thoughts about th...

This week we’re building on what we talked about last week about stories and the “bare facts” of our lives and looking at how our stories create our feelings and emotions.  Together, how we think about our lives and the various aspects of them and how we feel about them creates the experience of our lives.  And next week, I’m going to take what we’ve learned so far about facts, thoughts...

On this episode, we will talk about how we create our lives through our thoughts about the things that we experience in our lives.  We’ll learn a quick and easy tool to allow us to get some awareness about how this works.  And we will see how much power you have to change your experience of your life and that you don’t have to wait on other people, circumstances, or other things to chang...

On this episode, we’ll talk about why one of the first places to look for what you want is in what you already have.  And why it actually feels good to want what you have.  Show Notes & Worksheet Be sure to Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss our next episode. And if you lack the mental space to even think about making changes in your life, check out my...

On this episode, we’re going to talk about how to think about what you want for the second half of your life, why you need to know what it is that you want, and what’s scary about knowing it.  Show Notes & Worksheet Be sure to Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss our next episode. And if you lack the mental space to even think about making changes in your lif...

On this episode I’m going to tell you why I think that the kind of #quietquitting that has you phoning-it-in is bad for you, why the #quietquitting that appears to be deciding to have a full life should not be considered quitting at all, and suggest some things that you might quit doing instead.  Show Notes & Worksheet Be sure to Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube so you don...

Today, I’m going to teach you a framework for soaking up positive experiences that you can use to get the most out of periods of focused work and purposeful rest. Positive experiences don’t tend to stick with us - but we have highly malleable brains and we can purposefully engage in exercises to create a bigger footprint in our brains for good experiences.   It’s easy, it’s actionable, and it...

On this episode, we’re going to talk about interspersing periods of focused work with restorative rest. And this is a double win, you’ll be increasing your efficiency and effectiveness at work, while introducing meaningful rest to ensure you remain healthy and not depleted.   We are learning to incorporate and cycle focused work and meaningful rest as the second step in a three-pronged a...

Would you love to feel differently and think differently about stress but you’re afraid you’d just be deluding yourself?  Today, I’m going to introduce you to some of the latest research about stress and mindset as well as where to get more information on the topic.   I’m also going to share with you five steps to changing your mindset  about any topic in a simple and actionabl...