You handle the responsibilities. Keep the commitments. Consider everybody else's needs. But when it comes to something you want?

Suddenly, everything is negotiable.

We're talking about how easy it is to become optional in your own life—not because you stopped caring about yourself, but because somewhere along the way, you stopped being intentional about including yourself.

I'm sharing how I protected my sense of self as a single mom through seemingly small things and intentionally making room for the woman underneath all my responsibilities. Because those things weren't just self-care. They were reminders: I'm still here.

We'll also get into why women become so good at talking themselves out of what they want, how constantly putting yourself last can make it harder to even know what you want anymore, and why your wants aren't selfish or frivolous—they're information.

Because you don't have to get everything you want.

But you do deserve to remain part of the conversation.

• How constantly putting yourself last becomes an automatic pattern
• Why you may tell yourself “no” before anyone else gets the chance
• Why your wants, preferences, and desires matter
• How motherhood, caregiving, responsibility, and busy seasons can disconnect you from yourself
• How intentional choices help you reconnect with yourself

00:00 When You Become Optional

02:05 Meet the Negotiators

04:16 Life Gets Loud

06:55 Identity of Needing Little

08:26 We Need New Management

12:32 Time Is Decided

15:21 Wants Are Information

17:54 Put Yourself Back In

22:29 Later Is Not Identity

24:55 Last Note of Encouragement

Step 1 — Consider Yourself: Ask yourself: Where have I become optional in my own life?

Step 2 — Be Intentional: Choose one place to become intentional again.

Step 3 — YOU Step: Get quiet and ask yourself: What’s the next aligned step for me?

If you're realizing it's been a minute since you really asked yourself What do I want? The Main Character Energy Journal Prompts will get you out of the roles you play for everybody else and into an honest conversation with yourself. Not what makes sense. Not what everybody else needs. What do you think? What do you want? What's true for you? → Main Character Energy Journal Prompts: 👉 Get Yours

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

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📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

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🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

There will always be a perfectly reasonable reason to wait—more money, more time, less responsibility, the right relationship, or simply a season when life isn't quite so LIFE-Y.

But when does waiting become a pattern of always putting yourself last?

So, I'm taking you back to the solo trip that changed the way I experienced my own life. I still wanted love, partnership, and those romantic weekend getaways—but I realized I could wait for love without putting my life in the waiting room with it.

We're talking about the difference between a valid reason to wait and constantly making yourself the negotiable part of your life, why prioritizing yourself doesn't have to mean ignoring your responsibilities, and how to start considering what you want again.

Because your life isn't waiting for someday.

It's happening now. Where are you in it?

• How to recognize when “not right now” has become a pattern
• Why you don't have to wait for a relationship—or anything else—to enjoy your life
• The difference between responsible waiting and consistently putting yourself last
• Simple ways to prioritize yourself without blowing up your responsibilities
• Why considering yourself is an important part of self-love and self-trust

00:00 Stop Putting You Off

01:51 Responsible Reasons Trap

08:29 Unlink Your Desires

09:44 Season Or Pattern

11:52 Give Yourself VIP

13:37 Later Or Wisdom

14:51 Waiting Room Reminder

19:38 Permission To Live

21:28 Last Note of Encouragement

Step 1 — Reclaim Your Identity: Ask yourself: Where have I made my life conditional?

Step 2 — Build Self-Love by asking yourself: What is available to me now?

Step 3 — YOU Step: Get quiet and ask yourself: What’s the next aligned step for me?

If you're realizing it's been a minute since you really asked yourself What do I want?The Main Character Energy Journal Prompts will get you out of the roles you play for everybody else and into an honest conversation with yourself. Not what makes sense. Not what everybody else needs. What do you think? What do you want? What's true for you? → Main Character Energy Journal Prompts: 👉 Get Yours

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

You can love somebody deeply without taking responsibility for their choices, emotions, healing, consequences, or growth.

But when you’re the dependable one—the fixer, helper, problem-solver, and person everybody calls—it can be hard to know where supporting someone ends and carrying them begins.

We’re talking about emotional boundaries, over-functioning, people-pleasing, and why constantly fixing other people’s problems can disconnect you from your own life.

And we’re going underneath all that helping to ask the bigger question:

Who are you when nobody needs you?

• How to tell the difference between helping and taking over
• Why other people’s emotions aren’t yours to manage
• Why being needed can feel like being loved
• How the fixer identity can keep you disconnected from yourself
• Setting boundaries when guilt makes you want to say yes
• Why choosing yourself doesn’t mean abandoning the people you love

00:00 Love Without Ownership

01:44 Fixer Mode Trap

03:22 Check the Tag

07:18 Helping vs Taking Over

14:02 Stop Carrying Feelings

16:07 Potential vs Reality

20:44 Hiding From Your Life

23:47 Who Are You Without Fixing

28:05 Capacity Check

30:22 Return the Bag With Love

36:18 Final Check In

Step 1 — Check the Tag: Ask yourself: What part of this actually belongs to me?

Step 2 — Choose Your Part: Decide what you genuinely want and have the capacity to offer—without automatically taking responsibility for all of it.

Step 3 — YOU Step: Put one thing down that was never yours to carry. You can love them without carrying them.

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Energy Journal Prompts 👉 Get Yours — They’re especially perfect if you know you want to have deeper conversations with yourself but don’t know where to begin or even what questions to ask and actually want to start living your life on your own terms.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

You know something doesn’t feel right anymore…but you have absolutely no idea what you’re supposed to do about it.

And suddenly your mind wants answers to EVERYTHING.

Okay, but then what is right? What are you going to do? What happens next? What if you regret it?

Ma’am. 😂

In this episode, we’re talking about the difference between not knowing what comes next and not knowing anything at all.

Because sometimes you do know something.

You know you don’t want to keep feeling this way. You know something has changed. You know this job, relationship, friendship, season, or version of your life doesn’t feel like you anymore.

You just don’t know what comes next.

And that doesn’t make what you know any less true.

• Why “this ain’t it” is enough information to start with
• The difference between being confused and being uncertain
• Why we create urgency when we’re uncomfortable with the unknown
• How familiar can feel safe even when it doesn’t feel good
• Why the imaginary future can have you questioning what you already know
• How to hear yourself without demanding an immediate answer

00:00 This Ain’t It

01:40 Knowing Without Answers

07:08 Good Person Still Wrong

09:37 Manufactured Urgency

11:44 Familiar vs Unknown

14:17 The Committee Opinions

16:20 Better Questions Clarity

22:05 Final Encouragement

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Notice: Pay attention to what keeps coming back after you try to dismiss it.

Step 2 — Explore: Get curious about what feels off without requiring yourself to solve it in the same breath.

Step 3 — The YOU Step: Finish this sentence - All I know is…

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Energy Journal Prompts 👉 Get Yours — They’re especially perfect if you know you want to have deeper conversations with yourself but don’t know where to begin or even what questions to ask and actually want to start living your life on your own terms.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

What if nothing is terribly wrong with your life…and you still want something else?

The job is fine. The relationship may be good. You’ve built things you once prayed for, worked for, and genuinely wanted.

And yet something inside you keeps whispering:

“Is there another menu?” 😂

Friend, wanting something different doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful or the old dream was wrong. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to blow up your entire life by Tuesday.

Sometimes you’ve simply changed.

So, we’re talking about giving yourself permission to want something else, changing your definition of success, trusting your desires, and staying connected to who you are NOW—not just who you were when you created your current life.

• Why nothing has to be wrong for something else to be right for you
• How gratitude and desire can exist at the same time
• Why you don’t have to dishonor an old dream to make room for a new one
• Why being capable of something doesn’t mean you have to keep choosing it
• How constantly putting “but” behind your desires disconnects you from yourself
• What to do when you genuinely don’t know what you want anymore

You’re allowed to say, “That was right for me then. This feels right for me now.”

00:00 Wanting Something Else

02:13 Crisis Is Not A Permission Slip

04:11 Honor Old Dreams

09:51 Redefining Success

13:01 Explore Before Acting

16:06 When You Don't Know

17:59 Faith And Discernment

19:34 Let Yourself Change

25:12 Final Encouragement Reminder

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Let yourself want it: Hear yourself.

Step 2 — Get curious and not critical: This is a judgement free zone. Allow yourself to get curious.

Step 3 — The YOU Step: Give one desire some air.

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Energy Journal Prompts 👉 Get Yours — They’re especially perfect if you know you want to have deeper conversations with yourself but don’t know where to begin or even what questions to ask and actually want to start living your life on your own terms.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

Before you spin the block, friend…be honest about what you’re actually going back to. 😂

Because enough time can turn your memory into a highly skilled video editor—cutting out the arguments, loneliness, broken promises, and all the moments you knew something wasn’t right while playing a highlight reel of the good times.

And suddenly you’re thinking, “Maybe it wasn’t that bad.”

But missing someone doesn’t mean you made the wrong decision. And understanding why someone hurts you doesn’t mean you have to keep accepting the hurt.

Let’s talk: toxic relationship patterns, self-love, self-trust, knowing when to walk away, and why choosing yourself sometimes means refusing to return to what you’ve already outgrown.

• Why potential and promises aren’t the same as changed behavior
• How we explain away the very patterns telling us something isn’t right
• Why missing someone isn’t always an invitation to go back
• The difference between returning to something healthier and returning to something familiar
• How waiting for someone else to change can keep your own life on pause
• Why choosing yourself may be a decision you have to make more than once

Because you can’t hope somebody into changing. You can’t explain them into changing. And you can’t love them so perfectly that they finally decide to become accountable. Your power is deciding what you’re going to do with what you already know.

00:00 Your Worth Shift

01:34 Spinning The Block

02:13 Edited Memories Trap

03:54 Excuses Versus Evidence

05:03 Hope And Potential

07:13 My Toxic Lesson

09:31 Discernment Not Punishment

10:36 Why Going Back Tempts

13:42 Questions Before Returning

16:23 Choose Yourself Repeatedly

21:05 Closing Door Confidence

21:46 Bigger Than Relationships

24:06 Final Encouragement

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Reclaim your identity: Trust yourself.

Step 2 — Build your self-love daily: Write down what happened and come back to it when you feel the urge to spin the block.

Step 3 — The YOU Step. Get still, get quiet, and ask yourself: what is the next right aligned step for me?

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Confidence Checklist 👉 Get Yours — a free resource to help you recognize where you may be shrinking, settling, or leaving yourself out of your own decisions and where it’s time to choose yourself again.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

What happens when you finally choose what feels right for you…and someone you love doesn’t like it?

Maybe they’re disappointed. They question your decision. The relationship changes. And suddenly, the guilt, people-pleasing, and self-doubt kick in: Maybe they’re right. Maybe I’m being selfish. Maybe I should just go back.

Friend, this is where self-trust and self-leadership get real.

We’re talking about choosing yourself when other people have opinions about your life—and how to stay connected to yourself through the discomfort that can follow.

• How to tell the difference between guilt and disappointing someone’s expectations
• Why your growth can change relationships
• How people-pleasing makes someone else’s discomfort feel like an emergency
• Why someone else’s experience doesn’t have to become your prophecy
• Following your own knowing while still listening to wise counsel
• Why changing your mind or choosing again doesn’t mean you failed

Because the biggest reward isn’t proving everybody wrong. It’s becoming someone who knows: when it matters, I will not honor everyone else over me.

00:00 Choosing Yourself Hurts

02:07 When Loved Ones Disapprove

04:03 Guilt Versus Expectations

05:43 Dolly Parton Taught Us This Lesson

08:33 Let Them Have Feelings

10:20 Wisdom Without Fear

15:06 Faith And Vision

17:12 No Proof Required

19:25 Real Reward Self Trust

21:59 Two Step Reflection

23:37 Final Encouragement

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Ask yourself: What do you know?

Step 2 — Then ask: What am I afraid their reaction will mean?

Step 3 — The YOU Step. Get still, get quiet, and ask yourself: If choosing myself changed this relationship, how would I stay connected to ME through that change?

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Energy Journal Prompts 👉 Get Yours — They’re especially perfect if you know you want to have deeper conversations with yourself but don’t know where to begin or even what questions to ask and actually want to start living your life on your own terms.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: Jazzy Swimming

You keep saying it doesn’t bother you—but you’ve replayed the conversation, swallowed your feelings, and found another reason to excuse what happened.

Sometimes keeping the peace only keeps everyone else comfortable while you quietly carry the hurt. We talk about what pretending does to your relationship with yourself, why understanding someone’s past doesn’t remove their responsibility for their actions, and the crossroad between protecting their comfort and finally choosing you.

You’ll hear about emotional neglect in a relationship, the difference between compassion and self-abandonment, and how unspoken needs can slowly turn into resentment. Because healthy relationships require honesty, accountability, boundaries, and room for both people’s experiences—not one person doing all the emotional heavy lifting.

• Stop gaslighting yourself about what hurts
• Recognize when people-pleasing is costing you your peace
• Express your feelings without disrespect or unnecessary drama
• Strengthen your self-trust and emotional boundaries
• Choose yourself without immediately blowing up your life

Friend, let it bother you long enough to hear what it came to tell you. Then decide what loving yourself looks like from here.

00:00 Choose You Crossroad

02:28 The Unbothered Performance

05:27 Compassion Not Excuse

06:09 Silence Costs You

09:52 Let It Bother You

14:48 Stop Gaslighting Yourself

16:56 Small Honest Steps

18:39 The Real Crossroad

20:25 Freedom Over Unbothered

27:00 Let Me Pour Into You

30:27 Take a Breath and Final Encouragement

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Tell One Unfiltered Truth: Let it be true without immediately explaining why the other person behaves the way they do.

Step 2 — Choose Who Gets Comfort: This is where you really honor yourself here.

Step 3 — The YOU Step. Get still, get quiet, and ask yourself: what is the next aligned step for me?

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Momentum Builder 👉 Get Yours — Get the tools to become her right where you are.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: It's Easy to Love You

Sometimes you’re not confused. You’re afraid of what knowing will require you to do.

Because as long as you “don’t know,” you don’t have to make the decision, set the boundary, leave the relationship, change careers, admit you want more—or face what comes next.

But friend, sometimes clarity shows up with an invoice…and action is due upon receipt. 😂

We’re talking about self-trust, self-leadership, overthinking difficult decisions, and how to hear yourself when everybody else’s opinions have gotten louder than your own.

• The difference between genuinely not knowing and avoiding what you already know
• Why more advice and information don’t always create clarity
• The hidden cost of staying in relationships, careers, and situations you’ve outgrown
• The powerful question: Who do you have to become to stay?
• How grief can follow the right decision without meaning you chose wrong
• Why the end of one version of your dream doesn’t mean the dream is dead
• How self-love helps you tell yourself the truth and act from there

Because self-trust isn’t “I know exactly what happens next.”

It’s: Whatever happens next, I trust myself to be there for me.

And maybe the dream you’re grieving isn’t gone at all.

Listen to yourself. Trust what you know. And remember: something can end without your story ending. 🤍

00:00 Clarity Demands Action

01:29 Marriage Counseling Wakeup

03:45 When I Don’t Know Is Comfort

05:12 Stop Calling The Committee

07:24 The Hidden Cost Of Staying

08:30 Who Do You Become To Stay

11:00 Self Trust Without Certainty

12:18 Grief After The Right Choice

14:02 The Dream Versus Packaging

19:35 Final Encouragement

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Reclaim Your Identity: Who am I when I’m not contorting myself to make this situation work?

Step 2 — Build Self-Love Daily: What is one way to honor yourself today?

Step 3 — The YOU Step. Get still, get quiet, and ask yourself: what is the next right aligned step for me?

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Momentum Builder 👉 Get Yours — Get the tools to become her right where you are.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: It's Easy to Love You

What if where you are right now isn’t proof that your dream isn’t happening?

When the career hasn’t moved, love is taking the scenic route, the plan falls apart, or you’ve been waiting longer than you ever expected, it’s easy to turn “it hasn’t happened yet” into “it’s never going to happen.”

Friend, those are two very different things.

In this episode, we’re talking about self-leadership, self-trust, navigating uncertainty, and how to stop letting your current circumstances determine what you believe is possible for your future.

• Why your current reality is data—not destiny
• How to stop making setbacks mean something about your worth
• Why your waiting season isn’t necessarily a wasted season
• How to use feedback without letting it define your identity
• Why changing the plan doesn’t mean you failed
• How to trust yourself and take your next right step
• Why you need to leave a little room for the plot twist

Because self-leadership isn’t knowing exactly how everything will work out.

It’s trusting yourself to meet whatever comes next.

00:00 Reality Is Data

04:31 Honor The Dream Now

06:57 Use Data Not Shame

09:51 Waiting Builds You

13:15 Feedback Not Identity

14:47 Self Trust Without Proof

16:49 Plan With Flexibility

18:34 Next Right Step

21:15 Fact Or Story Exercise

22:35 Don't Miss This Chapter

24:30 Final Encouragement

SELF LOVE 2-STEP REMIX:

Step 1 — Fact or Story?: Write down the current reality that's making you question what's possible.

Step 2 — Take the Data: What is this chapter actually teaching you?

Step 3 — The YOU Step. Get still, get quiet, and ask yourself: If I believed my future was still possible, how would I lead myself today?

Want to go deeper on this episode? Grab the Main Character Momentum Builder 👉 Get Yours — Get the tools to become her right where you are.

📍Come share what shifted for you after this episode. Drop a review, comment on a YouTube video, or hit reply on the weekly Love Notes newsletter.

💌Not on the Love Notes list yet? Join at the link below — it is the best way to stay connected and keep the encouragement coming straight to your inbox every week. 👉 Subscribe Here

📺 New videos on YouTube: @EO_E 🎙️ New podcast episodes every Tuesday and Thursday

🌐 encourageovereverything.com

🎵 Music: It's Easy to Love You