Pause Purpose Play

Do you work too many hours or push yourself to achieve things even at your own detriment? You want to be successful, but maybe you’re not clear on what success looks like for you, and confuse it with what the patriarchal definition of productivity looks like – clocking up at least 40 hours a week. This solo episode was an experiment – recording an Instagram live mini training onto the podcast at t...

Are you passionate about changing the world? About bridging the gender pay gap, or otherwise minimising the marginalisation of women? About doing good in the world, wanting to help others? Perhaps you want to do SO MUCH, that you get so overwhelmed you end up taking no action at all? Then listen up, as whatever impact you want to have, you need to consider how you minimise the negative impact on y...

Working mothers are more vulnerable to burnout today, juggling the demands of work with caring responsibilities.   I know what it's like to run a business and to navigate two young kids. It's not easy, and it's not perfect.   I hope that this solo episode will help you realise and recognise some of the patterns in yourself which might mean that you're on the path towards burnout, or help prevent y...

In this episode, you’ll learn more about why striving for perfect in your business burns you out – and what to do about it. We’ll cover three big problems female entrepreneurs face when juggling their business with their home life – and also think about three common patterns of perfectionism which make make business owners struggle.   Sign up to my free webinar How to Burn Bright without Burning O...

All work and no play, does that bring you joy? In a culture where toxic productivity is praised and rewards you with achievement, it’s hard to stop and appreciate beauty, to find everyday joy.    In this episode, I speak with Tamu Thomas about how difficult it is to let go of toxic productivity, and move towards everyday joy and moments that matter instead. By letting the joy in, we also let the p...

How do we heal difficult experiences from our childhood? And how to they impact us as adults, in our relationships? How do painful childhood experiences shape our attachment styles? In this, my most popular episode, I talk to Thais Gibson about attachment styles, trauma and the unconscious mind keeping a score of what we've been through, giving rise to protective behaviours, which can ultimately s...

When is enough enough? If you find yourself burnt out from the corporate environment, trying to be all things to all people, should you stay or should you leave? Is it worth holding on and hope for thing to improve, or are the gestures that organizations make towards mental health awareness not enough? These are the issues I’ll be tackling today with my guest, Fiona Kearns.  Fiona Kearns is a busi...

Do you feel overstretched by constantly reaching for your stretchy goals? Are you scared to retreat to your comfort zone for fear of playing it small? In this episode, I explain the zones of comfort, confidence, challenge and compassion, and how moving between them when you need to, can help you reach your goals without burnout. This is going to be a short episode, but if you're able to get a pen...

Are you hooked on the idea of the perfect diet? If only you could eat right, everything else would fall into place? This week’s guest, nutritional therapist Thalia Pellegrini, believes that you can give up striving for the perfect diet, and learn to nourish yourself instead. In this episode we talk about: The pressure from the nutrition industry to have a perfect diet - what even IS a perfect diet...

In this episode of Pause Purpose Play, Michaela explores why overworking doesn't make you more productive. Why more doesn’t always mean more. Why overworking and powering through so often leads to burn out. If you have been doing really long hours, maybe working on the weekends pushing through into the evenings, this episode is for you.   Find out more and join the waitlist for Burn Bright at http...

If you’re overwhelmed by busy-ness and the need to do all the things, then this episode is for you.   In this episode of Pause Purpose Play, Michaela chats with Chris Lovett about the benefits of minimalism in life and work - and how breaking up with 'busy' helps you create more impact through renewed focus. We cover: Minimalism is about having only valuable items and experiences Value and use rat...

Do you say no? Can you set boundaries?  This re-released episode is one of my most listened to, because setting boundaries to protect your energy is so difficult.   I talked to Naketa Ren Thigpen, about how setting boundaries helps us create balance in our lives.  Naketa R. Thigpen, LCSW, is the go-to relationship advisor for fast-scaling married women entrepreneurs and power couples seeking to ba...

Taking a break is hard. I have had a podcast break. I’ve been working on something behind the scenes: Burn Bright, my high touch group coaching programme for ambitious women who want to make an impact, with less impact on themselves. I am all about finding balance over burnout – no more late nights working to clear your to do list, no more ‘doing all the things, all at once’ and feeling so wired t...

Stopping when you’re really busy is hard - there is just too much to do! Right? But if you’re getting overwhelmed, to the point where you’re not actually getting anything done (hello procrastination!), that’s the time for you to take a break. To protect your energy and ultimately also help you reach your goals better when you return from the break.    You’ll be more productive when you are rested,...

Being a pioneer, doing things differently and breaking the mould of what is expected of you can be linked with both success AND big feelings of worry around failure. In this episode, I talk to pop princess and coach Harriet Starling, better known as Starling, about how how we can follow our purpose in a sustainable way without the burnout. We talked about how receiving criticism meant she has ‘mad...

If you’re ambitious, like me, you may have a long to-do list and plenty of goals you want to reach. Being ambitious is fine, I am all for having drive and passion, or a big picture vision you want to fulfil. In this short solo episode, I talk about the dark side of your drive and ambition – the ways it has a negative impact on you. I cover: Perfectionism as an umbrella term and a set of behaviours...

Too busy for self-care… Too many things on the to-do list… Work is never ending… Dealing with the mental load… No wonder you’re overwhelmed and frazzled. There are lots of pressures on you, coming from every angle, but there are also pressures coming from within you. Internalised high standards around always achieving more, always doing your best, never cutting corners, never failing. You may feel...

Remember trying to turn one of your weaknesses into a strength for a job interview, and casually saying “I’m a perfectionist”, as if it’s a good thing? You could say that there are a lot of good things which perfectionism can be associated with. There are also a lot of drawbacks to it, and the same parts of perfectionism which serves you well in life, can also end up costing you your health and re...

Sweet sleep - a good night’s sleep refreshes you, a bad one frustrates you. If you lie in bed tossing and turning, worrying about how knackered you’ll be in the morning without the perfect night’s sleep, then this episode is for you.   I spoke to Dr Guy Meadows about how to get a good night’s sleep, how to stop struggling against ‘bad sleep’, and what to do when you just can’t sleep due to young c...

Have you tried meditation, but can't make it a habit? Do you struggle to 'get it right'?  Over my years of working with high-striving, perfectionistic women, I've found that they often share a pattern of wanting to meditate, but finding it hard to keep up. In this episode I talk about why that can be, and how you can meditate without making it complicated or difficult for yourself.   www.thethomas...

The pressure to be perfect as a mother is immense in modern society - no wonder if you feel like you’re not living up to the standards and expectations placed on you to be ‘a good mum’.  In this episode, I speak to Motherhood Studies Sociologist Dr Sophie Brock about how hard it is to be a mother today, as we “can’t self-compassion our way out of structural barriers, constraints, and institutional...

Accepting help is hard, asking for it even harder. Do you trust that those who offer it to you, actually want you to take them up on it? What stops you from trusting offers of help?  I recently shared on socials about having gastroenteritis, and my baby too, and linked it to a discussion about asking for and accepting help. On my poll sticker, 80% of you answered that you struggle to accept help o...

Have you lost your temper with your children, having felt a rage you never knew before you had kids? Then feeling intensely guilty afterwards, feeling like a ‘bad mum’ and thinking you’ve failed for getting so angry?  Or you love your child so much, but can’t get rid of those strange thoughts you have popping in about hurting them? What if you would just drop the baby, or hit your child? If you ha...

Accepting help can be hard. Doing everything on your own is harder.  It's especially hard to ask for help for perfectionists, caught up in all or nothing thoughts about how they must manage everything, always be strong, never show cracks in the facade. Always carry things for others, not letting them carry things for you. In this short solo episode I will tell you how a broken toe is a sign that I...

So much pressure to be the perfect parent. Never losing it, always calm and gentle. This narrative isn't helpful for the modern parent - you haven't failed, you are human! Our children are the future, the next generation - no wonder we want to do right by them. So how do we nurture their emotional intelligence without breaking under the pressure? Dr Anne Lane is a clinical psychologist and family...