You know what to do for your health. You’ve known for years. But knowing hasn’t made it stick - and starting over is getting exhausting.

This episode picks up where my conversation with Dr. Amy Beheimer left off and slows things down enough to look at what actually stops health habits from sticking. Not willpower. Not discipline. The thoughts and feelings that show up before you ever take action.

This is a guided journaling episode designed to help you understand why certain health goals keep falling apart - and what needs to shift so you can follow through in a way that actually fits your life.

We go beyond “I should be doing this” and into the beliefs, expectations, and quiet pressure that keep pulling you back into the same cycle.

1. What health habit do you know you “should” be doing, but keep not doing because it feels too small to matter?
2. When you think about doing that habit, what do you tell yourself that stops you? Not the logical reason - the automatic thought that shows up.
3. If you’re brutally honest, do you actually want this health goal? Or do you think you should want it because everyone else does? If you don’t want it, what would feel good to your body instead?
4. What would need to change about this habit for you to genuinely want to do it? Not force yourself. Not white-knuckle it. Actually want it.

Dr. Amy says habits aren’t just what we do or don’t do - they’re the thoughts and feelings that come first.

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You keep telling yourself to try harder. Be more disciplined. Stick to the plan this time. But the problem isn’t willpower, it’s that your brain was never designed to change habits that way.

When goals quietly fall apart, it’s usually not because you didn’t care enough. It’s because the strategy was wrong.

In today's conversation, I’m joined by Dr. Amy Behimer to talk about why most goals fail, what actually makes habits stick, and how to work with your brain instead of constantly fighting it. We talk about the hidden layers beneath your habits, why motivation fades, and how tiny, intentional shifts can change everything over time.

This episode is especially for you if you’ve ever started the year feeling hopeful, only to feel frustrated when the momentum disappears. Or if you’ve been blaming yourself for not following through, even though you genuinely want things to change.

If you’re tired of starting over and ready for a different approach, this conversation offers one that feels realistic, grounded, and sustainable.

1. Free Habit Quiz: https://amybehimercoaching.com/quiz
2. Dr. Amy's podcast: Autoimmune Health Secrets- The episode I was featured on her podcast
3. Connect with Dr. Amy on IG

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You tell yourself you’ll only check one thing. Fifteen minutes later, you’re still working.

It’s late, your body is tired, and you’re frustrated because you meant to stop.

Today, we slow the moment down and look at what actually keeps pulling you back to work - the “just in case,” the fear of what might happen if you stop, and the belief about your worth that’s tied to staying available.

1. What is one work behavior you know you should stop, but can’t make yourself stop?
2. What do you think will happen if you stop doing this behavior? What’s the fear underneath it?
3. What does this behavior give you? Or what would you lose if you stopped?
4. What belief about your worth or value is tied to this behavior?

This belief is the root. It’s what keeps you working at 9 PM. It’s why turning notifications off feels uncomfortable. It’s why willpower, discipline, and tighter boundaries don’t actually solve the problem.

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You leave therapy feeling clear. Validated. Aware. And a few days later, the stress is still there.

You understand your patterns. You know why you react the way you do. But your body is still tense. Your nervous system is still on edge. Burnout hasn’t lifted.

Therapy creates insight - but insight alone doesn’t change how you live. The relief comes from what happens between sessions, not just inside them.

In this conversation, I explain the two gaps therapy doesn’t close on its own: The space between insight and reflection, and the space between knowing and doing.

We talk about why awareness without embodiment keeps people stuck, how old patterns like people-pleasing and over-functioning survive even after big realizations, and what it actually looks like to practice change in real life.

If therapy has helped you understand yourself, but you’re still tired, this episode shows you what’s missing - and how to use what you’re already learning to create real relief.

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

Have you noticed how your body can be still, but your mind keeps going?

The same thought. The same worry. The same unfinished conversation looping, even after you’ve rested. You might be sleeping more. Taking breaks. Trying to slow down. And yet, you still wake up tired.

In my conversation earlier this week with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, author of The Seven Types of Rest, she shared something important: emotional rest doesn’t come from stopping the noise. It comes from processing what your mind is holding onto.

Today, we slow things down. Not to fix anything. Not to solve the problem. But to create space for what’s been quietly draining you.

Journal with me using these prompts:

1. What thought, worry, or conversation keeps replaying in my mind right now? Write it down exactly as it sounds in my head. No filtering. Just capture the loop.
2. What type of rest deficit might this be pointing to? Mental, emotional, social, spiritual, physical, sensory, or creative.
3. Why am I actually holding on to this thought? What do I believe will happen if I let it go or don’t solve it right now? What am I afraid this situation means about me?
4. If I truly wanted to pour back into this depleted area — not just stop the bleeding — what would that look like? What would help me feel restored, not just less drained?

By the end of this episode, you’ll feel calmer and clearer — not because everything is resolved, but because you understand what your mind has been trying to protect.

1. Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-pod
2. Newsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/prompts

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You’re getting enough sleep - seven, maybe eight hours - and you’re still exhausted.

In this conversation, I’m joined by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, physician and author of The Seven Types of Rest, to talk about why sleep alone doesn’t fix burnout, mental overload, or that constant feeling of being drained.

We unpack the difference between sleep and rest, why so many high-achieving women feel tired even when they’re “doing everything right,” and how exhaustion often comes from the places in life where you’re pouring out without restoring.

This isn’t about adding another habit or fixing your bedtime routine. It’s about noticing where your energy is going, and what it actually takes to feel rested again.

1. Rest quiz: https://www.restquiz.com/home-page/
2. Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-pod
3. Episode 15 about the 7 Types of Rest: https://pod.link/1651843607/episode/S2FqYWJpLTIxNDc4NTMyMjc

1. Learn more about Dr. Saundra: DrDaltonSmith.com
2. Dr. Saundra's Website: https://ichoosemybestlife.com/
3. Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdaltonsmith/

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You know what you should do. You know meditation would help. You know you need transition time between work and family. You know you should stop checking email at 9pm...

So why can't you make yourself do it?

Today we're going beyond awareness into the root belief keeping you stuck. Grab your journal - we're digging into what's actually underneath the pattern.

Journaling prompts from the episode:

1. What’s one pattern you’re aware of but can’t seem to change?
2. What story are you telling yourself about why it keeps happening?
3. What would it cost you to change this pattern? What might you be protecting?
4. Based on what comes up, what actually needs to heal?

We're not shaming ourselves or relying on discipline. We're addressing the root belief so your solution actually works instead of being another thing you "should" do.

1. Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-pod
2. Newsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/prompts

1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You know what’s wrong — so why hasn’t anything changed?

Why do you keep thinking, “I’m so aware of this… shouldn’t that be enough by now?”

You’ve named the pattern a hundred times. Burnout. Overwhelm. Autopilot. You’ve tried fixing it (therapy, routines, tools, discipline) and somehow you still end up right back here. Knowing isn’t the problem anymore. It’s the part that comes after.

In this episode, we sit in that frustrating gap between awareness and actual change. Not to judge it or rush past it — but to understand what’s really keeping you stuck. This is about loosening the anchor underneath the pattern, not adding another thing to your to-do list.

You’ll be guided to reflect on:

1. Why insight alone hasn’t created the shift you expected
2. The hidden belief that keeps stress and busyness feeling “safer”
3. How solutions can fail when the root is left untouched
4. What it looks like to go beyond awareness and into real change

By the end, you won’t feel like you need to try harder or do more. You’ll feel steadier, clearer, and less at war with yourself — with a new way to approach change that actually sticks.

1. Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-pod
2. Newsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/prompts

1. 90 min Breakthrough Intensives - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

Have you caught yourself thinking, “Why does my life feel like it’s just happening to me?”

Like you’re doing all the right things, but you’re not really in it anymore?

Maybe you’ve been moving through your days on autopilot - showing up, performing, meeting expectations - without checking in with what you actually want.

Today, we slow everything down. Not to fix anything, but to notice what’s been running in the background of your life. You’ll get space to reflect on where you’ve been performing, why it feels safe, and what it might look like to come back to yourself in small, honest ways.

Journal with me using these prompts:

1. Where have I been performing or living on autopilot this past year? (At work, at home, in my habits, in how I show up.)
2. Why does staying on autopilot feel good or safe for me? What am I protecting myself from?
3. What is this version of me actually costing me? What do I miss out on when I stay here?
4. If I stopped performing for a moment, what’s one small thing I could do this week that feels more like me?

By the end of this episode, you’ll feel more grounded and self-aware—less pressure to keep performing, and more permission to reconnect with who you are underneath the autopilot.

1. Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-pod
2. Newsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/prompts

1. 90 min Breakthrough Intensives: You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

You’re doing all the “right” things, but why does it still feel like you’re performing your life instead of living it?

Why does everything start to feel heavy the moment you think about how it’ll look to other people?

There’s a quiet pressure to show up prepared, polished, and put-together...even when no one asked for that version of you. Maybe it shows up in your work, your routines, or the way you manage everyone else’s expectations. Underneath it, there’s this fear that if you stop trying so hard, you’ll be exposed as “not enough.”

In this episode you'll understand:

1. Why over-preparing might actually be blocking your best work (and keeping you from feeling like yourself)
2. The question that led to my biggest breakthrough: "What am I actually afraid will happen if I don't do this?"
3. How "performance mode" shows up differently for everyone — and why it all comes back to the same thing: safety
4. Small, tangible ways to stop filtering yourself (starting with what you wear and how you speak)

After listening, you’ll be able to slow down and ask, “What do I actually want right now?” - and trust that answer. Not perfectly. Just honestly.

1. Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-pod
2. Newsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/prompts

1. 90 min Breakthrough Intensives: You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your Breakthrough
2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with me

Connect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook