Over the last 300 episodes, I’ve shared the thoughts that have made the biggest difference in my life, shared experiences and examples from my own life, and encouraged you to apply these thoughts in your own life. In this final episode, I’m sharing the top 15 things that I hope you have learned by listening to this podcast over the last six years. These are the thoughts that have changed my life and the way I see myself and my life experience—and I hope that they have helped you too. All good th...
Jan 30, 2025•31 min•Ep. 300
I’ve learned a lot from creating nearly 300 episodes of this podcast, but perhaps the most important is how to show up for myself and pursue the things I want even when my brain wants completely different things. In this penultimate episode of the podcast, I’m sharing the best lessons that showing up for myself every single week has taught me. I hope they’ll help you identify your brain’s excuses and fears and give you the courage and tools to overcome them so you can get started and keep going ...
Jan 23, 2025•37 min•Ep. 299
Recently I’ve been reminded that as much as our brains believe they can control and predict what’s going to happen, they can’t. Life is impermanent and there is plenty that we can neither predict nor control. What we do control is our choices in the present. What we do have is the moment right here in the now. Sometimes it can be a powerful exercise to remember that there are no guarantees, that today is all you have, and to make decisions and choices from that reality. In this episode of the po...
Jan 16, 2025•31 min•Ep. 298
We’re just a couple of weeks into a brand new year and I’ve noticed myself feeling hesitant—hesitant to decide and declare my goals, hesitant to finalize plans and decisions and intentions, just hesitant to start. If you’ve been feeling hesitant when you think you should be feeling motivated and refreshed and ready to go, then this episode is for you. In today’s episode I talk about why we sometimes feel hesitant at a “start line” and give you three tools to help make yourself feel safe and enco...
Jan 09, 2025•30 min•Ep. 297
Welcome to a brand new year! Here at the starting line of the new year, it can be tempting to want to change some (or all) of the things we’re doing, but don’t forget that every action begins as a thought. That means that the most important changes you can make in your life are the things you choose to think. As we start another revolution around the sun, I want to encourage you to start a thought revolution in your head and choose some new thoughts to power and fuel your life. On today’s podcas...
Jan 02, 2025•30 min•Ep. 296
Before we start thinking about plans and goals and desires for the new year, it’s important to review the year we just finished and take the time to look back and see what we’ve created. On today’s podcast, I’ll show you how to review, receive, rejoice, and reexamine your year with love, so that you can celebrate and appreciate all the work you’ve done and the choices you made, and so that you can find the best way to support yourself in the new year. As you think back on the highs and lows of t...
Dec 26, 2024•35 min•Ep. 295
Christmas is less than a week away and so I’m taking the opportunity today to share my thoughts about Christmas and about Jesus Christ, and reflect on the impact his life and death have had on my own life. Every year I write a Christmas letter that I send to all our family and friends in which I try to find the lessons and make meaning of the biggest experiences of my year. And today I’m sharing that letter with you. Of all the thoughts I share on my podcast, these thoughts about Christ and his ...
Dec 19, 2024•25 min•Ep. 294
We are fully in the gift-giving season. Everywhere you look there is another ad or gift guide to help you find the perfect gift for someone in your life. Today I thought it might be fun to create my own take on this and make a list of the best gifts I think you can give yourself—and actually, they are all gifts that only you can give yourself. As you think about the end of this year and the start of the next one, these are things you should think about purposefully giving yourself and incorporat...
Dec 12, 2024•28 min•Ep. 293
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ends this Sunday and as a tribute to her, her music, and the most epic tour of all time, today I invited my daughter, Olivia onto the podcast to talk all things Taylor Swift. We share what we learned and loved from the tour, as well as take a deep dive on our favorite Taylor Swift songs, some of which made the tour and some of which didn’t. In a break from our usual programming, today I’m taking off my coaching hat and donning my fan girl outfit complete with friendship ...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 292
Recently I was reading a book by Julia Cameron who wrote, “The universe is prodigal in its support. We are miserly in what we accept.” Most of us are uncomfortable receiving and there’s a good reason for this. Psychologically, it feels better for us humans to feel like we are giving more than we are getting. This makes receiving hard because our brains, which like things to be even, are always calculating whether we’ve done enough to deserve the gifts or service or abundance we have. Today on th...
Nov 28, 2024•33 min•Ep. 291
The holiday season is in full swing and today I want to give you some help as you navigate the stresses, obligations and feelings of the season. Because no matter how long your to-do list is or how much extra work you might have to do, it’s always our thoughts that are making us feel bad and our brains that end up making things even harder on ourselves. So today’s podcast is a little holiday peptalk to help you handle the holidays and feel good during one of the most stressful parts of the year....
Nov 21, 2024•31 min•Ep. 290
Even though the election is over, there are still a lot of thoughts and feelings about it to process. No matter what your political viewpoint is, it’s hard to wake up and realize that half the country doesn’t think and feel the way you do (p.s. the right way). That realization can make us feel scared and uncertain about our future. In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m talking about how to process your feelings about the outcome of the election and how to process your feelings about the people ...
Nov 14, 2024•29 min•Ep. 289
I recently cheered my brother on in a 100-mile race called the Javelina Jundred. Watching him grind out all those long, hot miles awed me, terrified me, and taught me about the way we create transformation in our lives. It’s messy, it’s slow, and it’s inevitable if you keep going—but many of us stop because we’re waiting for a magical moment of transformation rather than the unremarkable and boring work of taking the next step. In today’s episode, I’m sharing all the things I learned by watching...
Nov 07, 2024•32 min•Ep. 288
Making mistakes is a big part of our human experience but none of us enjoy it very much. And while making mistakes isn’t fun and we never want to hurt ourselves and others, our brains as especially intolerant of our mistakes and can sometimes use them against us for years after we make them, haunting us with feelings of regret and shame and recrimination. Every time we make a mistake, there is an opportunity for learning and growth, but our brains usually just use them as an opportunity to belit...
Oct 31, 2024•38 min•Ep. 287
It is a brave thing to be a human. Mostly because, as long as we are alive, we are each under the constant scrutiny and criticism of our own brains. And no matter what we do, it seems like we’re never good enough to quiet its relentless disparagement. Recently I have had a few experiences that reminded me how vulnerable and scary it is to stand up to you brain and its criticism, and how many incredible experiences are available to us if we do. In today’s podcast episode, I’m sharing a few though...
Oct 24, 2024•29 min•Ep. 286
It can be easy for our natural desires to change and grow to become a never-ending quest for continued self-improvement and optimization. This can lead us down a road where we’re always chasing what comes next because we believe that next version of ourselves will be better than who we are now. And without meaning to, we can end up making our present selves inferior to some superior future self, and always feel a low level of discontent with ourselves and our lives. On today’s episode of the pod...
Oct 17, 2024•28 min•Ep. 285
It’s election season here in the U.S. and many of us have lots of thoughts and feelings about it. There can be a lot of tension and stress when it comes to politics because our brains believe that our happiness and safety are at stake, and it feels like we have so little control over the outcome. It’s also stressful because we have relationships and interactions with people who think and vote differently than us and their thoughts and opinions are very loud right now. In today’s episode, I’m not...
Oct 10, 2024•31 min•Ep. 284
Whenever we watch the people in our life suffer or face challenges, our natural instinct is to try to fix or change things in order to ease their suffering. But not only is changing or removing their pain often impossible, it’s also not the kind of help our loved ones really need. As I faced the challenges of a recent endurance event, I watched how perfectly my husband, David, was able to offer me incredible support without changing the challenge, questioning my decisions or my abilities, and wi...
Oct 03, 2024•41 min•Ep. 283
I recently completed an ultra-endurance challenge called 29029, where I climbed the vertical equivalent of Mount Everest, 29029 feet, in 36 hours. Reaching the summit took everything I had and plenty that I didn’t think I had. And I learned so much. There are things we can only learn by going way outside our comfort zone, by finding the edge of our abilities, and stretching ourselves beyond what our brains believes we are capable of. I surprised myself, I met myself, and I discovered myself. In ...
Sep 26, 2024•34 min•Ep. 282
I'm part of a full-day coaching retreat happening Oct. 12th in northern Utah called HOPE DAY. This is a special bonus episode to invite you to that event, give you all the details, and remind you that the last day to get your ticket is Tuesday, Oct. 1st. If you have been thinking about coming to HOPE DAY consider this episode your personal invitation to join me there. In this bonus episode, I also share a powerful thought about how to be both happy IN your life and WITH your life and how coachin...
Sep 25, 2024•15 min
I recently completed an ultra-endurance challenge called 29029, where I climbed the vertical equivalent of Mount Everest, 29029 feet, in 36 hours. Reaching the summit took everything I had and plenty that I didn’t think I had. And I learned so much. There are things we can only learn by going way outside our comfort zone, by finding the edge of our abilities, and stretching ourselves beyond what our brains believes we are capable of. I surprised myself, I met myself, and I discovered myself. In ...
Sep 19, 2024•40 min•Ep. 281
Do you ever wonder why it feels so good to set a goal and decide you’re going to do something but then it feels so bad to actually do it? When our dreams are out ahead of us in the future, they feel exciting. When they are accomplished and behind us in the past, they feel satisfying. But in the present, our dreams don’t necessarily feel so good because the present moment is where all the work and effort and discomfort and pain and vulnerability of our dreams exists. The difference between dreami...
Sep 12, 2024•23 min•Ep. 280
You can get a lot of relief and hope using the principles and tools of thought work. But it’s also easy to weaponize these tools and use them against yourself. The whole point of increasing your awareness and understanding of your thoughts is to make the hard work of being human easier. And if the tool you’re using isn’t making the relationship with yourself warmer and stronger, then there’s a good chance you’re using the tool as a weapon. On today’s podcast, I remind you that when it comes to t...
Sep 05, 2024•28 min•Ep. 279
I am competing in a big endurance event in a couple weeks and in the run up to that event my brain has given me lots of doubt—doubt about my preparation, doubt about my ability to finish the event, doubt in my capacity to endure pain, doubt about my age, my body, my mental toughness, and everything in between! But doubts are just thoughts. And my doubts don’t know any more about the future than my beliefs. So I don’t have to give them any more credibility than I want to. Today on the podcast, I’...
Aug 29, 2024•34 min•Ep. 278
We all share this world with each other. And we all have separate brains that are individually assessing and interpreting that experience for only ourselves. That means that in any given circumstance or situation or experience, lots of different brains are going to have lots of different opinions about it. The problem is that many times other people’s opinions can feel dangerous. Because even though we can’t control other people’s opinions, it often feels like their opinions have the potential t...
Aug 22, 2024•32 min•Ep. 277
Like you, I have been so inspired and delighted as I watched the recent Paris Olympics. I was amazed by the skill, by the vulnerability, by the courage, by the willingness to suffer and sacrifice that was demonstrated by the athletes that participated. And I took notes. Because I wanted to remember the things I learned by watching other people pursue their dreams. On today’s podcast, I’m sharing some of my favorite lessons and thoughts from the Olympic games. I think no matter what you are tryin...
Aug 15, 2024•33 min•Ep. 276
Perhaps the most essential element to changing your life is having the hope that it’s possible. It’s easy to get discouraged and believe that change is impossible, but as long as we are alive and have the ability to choose our thoughts, change is available for all of us. In today’s episode, I share a metaphor to remind you of your power to change and give you hope that real change is simpler and more accessible than you think. I also interview Annie Haviland about HOPE DAY, an upcoming coaching ...
Aug 08, 2024•33 min•Ep. 275
We each have three amazing gifts: our body, our brain, and our spirit. But many times, these three parts of us want and need different things and it’s easy to find these three parts of ourselves at odds with one another. This can create conflict within and we can spend lots of time and energy fighting ourselves. On today’s episode of the podcast, I’m talking about how to listen, respect, and glean the unique wisdom of each part—our body, our brain, and our spirit—so that we can form a council of...
Aug 01, 2024•31 min•Ep. 274
One of the most universal human experiences is the experience of being tired. Our bodies and our brains are fueled by limited sources of energy and all of us need to take time every day to rest and recover. But it’s interesting to notice that we also have lots of thoughts about being tired and what it means about us when we stop to rest. On today’s podcast, we’re covering lots of thoughts about being tired, including what to think when you’re tired to make your rest more effective. We’ll also ta...
Jul 25, 2024•35 min•Ep. 273
When it comes to choosing your thoughts, the truth is that there aren’t any rules. You get to think whatever you want! And there really aren’t any rules that you have to keep or obey or even pay attention to. But if you want to change your thoughts and you don’t know where to start or sometimes feel overwhelmed or confused about how to think something new, then I hope these 7 rules will give you some help and structure for choosing a new thought.
Jul 18, 2024•29 min•Ep. 272