Most of us often treat happiness like a finish line, something we get to feel after we hit the goal or realize the dream.  In this episode, we flip the script and explore why Happiness Firstis the most practical, research-backed strategy for a life you love living.

We dive into the neurology of expansion versus contraction. When you are stuck in negative emotion, your brain physically narrows its perspective, keeping you in a "contracted" thought loop where you can't see the way out.  When you lead with positive emotion, you keep your thinking brain thriving, allowing you to see the opportunities and solutions that were there all along.

I’m sharing three sophisticated mental practices to help you cultivate the expansive state required for the next level you:

• Making the Best of Everything: The high-level practice of finding the "up-level" in any circumstance so you never stay stuck.
• Choosing Optimism: The deliberate, logical decision to use the lens that reveals your potential.
• Feeling Good About Yourself: The quiet, elegant act of self-love that changes your entire frequency.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

What does a high-intensity workout have to teach us about mental clarity? In this episode, I’m sharing a transformative moment from my first run in twenty years. When the intensity felt like the "boss" of me, my coach gave me five words of power: “Get control of your heart rate.” Join me for a short and sweet deep dive into how we let the "intensity" of our lives—our schedules, our goals, and our stress—run the show. We often choose the challenge, but then we let the challenge choose our mood. You’ll learn how to stop being a victim of the pace you decided and how to stop "claiming" every stressful thought or feeling that passes through. It’s time to stop the mental spiral, reclaim your lead, and start mastering your mindset for a clearer, healthier, and happier you.  

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

"If you are saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?" In this episode, we explore the powerful coaching principle of internal opportunity cost. Inspired by the intentional focus of Steve Jobs and the wisdom of living with high standards, we look at how the quality of our lives is determined by what we choose to leave behind.  True self-mastery isn’t a one-time event; it is a daily practice of choosing your best possible future over your past. When we say "no" to the heavy weight of excuses and negativity, we are finally clearing the space to say "yes" to our own potential.

Inside this episode:

• The Strategic Trade: Understanding how to stop "indulging" in negativity and start practicing your personal power.
• The Daily Pep Talk: Why self-encouragement is the only sustainable energy for positive action.
• Raising the Standard: Moving past the habit of settling to reclaim what is possible for you.
• The Art of Returning: Finding the grace to come back to your intentions, even if you’ve missed your aim a thousand times.

Your most powerful life is waiting for you on the other side of your next choice. Join me as we practice the art of the "Strategic No" to make room for the most confident, happiest version of you.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.  

Happy New Year!!! Welcome back to the podcast. We are kicking off 2026 with an episode that is absolute fire—because we aren't making resolutions; we are setting the Happiness Standard and learning what it truly means to live a Non-Negotiable Life.

In this episode, I’m sharing my own January 30-day goal: a brand-new daily schedule designed to reinforce my identity, along with a non-negotiable 60-minute strength and cardio session at my new training center. We’re diving deep into the two pillars that will change how you approach this year:

• Pillar #1: Know Your Standards. Are you letting your current self or your Future Self choose your daily rhythm? When we let our highest self inform our decisions, we move from "trying" to "being." I’m sharing the powerful questions you need to ask to close the gap between your daily actions and your self-ideal.
• Pillar #2: Make It a Must. Stop wishing and start committing. I want you to see your own happiness as a strategic requirement for success in every area of your life—100%.

When your current actions align with the person you want to be, your self-confidence skyrockets and you find that deep sense of "rightness." It’s about being exactly who you are here to be, right here, right now.

It’s pure magic, my friends. Let’s go!

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

Are you busy, or are you actually moving? Most of us spend our lives accumulating, adding more tasks, more goals, and more noise, until we become too weighed down to sustain a breakthrough speed. As my yoga teacher once told me, "It is all about the way in which we arrange."
In this episode, we move beyond "time management" and into the realm of identity design. We explore how to stop prioritizing the tasks that keep you stagnant and start focusing on the elite actions that shift who you are. This episode is about the "Push Pace", the gear where your favorite results and your future self-concept intersect, and learning how to filter your life to ensure you stay in that lane.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

Why does having a clear vision of who you’re becoming change everything? In this episode, we explore the science-backed and soul-aligned reasons why defining your Future Self is one of the most powerful practices for creating your best self and a life you love living.

You’ll learn how a Future Self brings direction and intention to your life, helps you access more positive emotions, and supports motivation and momentum in your daily choices. We also explore how your brain’s Reticular Activating System operates quietly in the background—filtering your focus so that you naturally begin to notice more ideas, opportunities, and possibilities when you have a clear vision for your future.

We explore how Future Self thinking leads to more positive action, healthier habits, and happier routines—not through pressure, but through identity. When you know who you’re becoming, decisions are clear.

If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure of your next move, this episode will show you why your Future Self isn’t optional—it’s essential.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

In this episode, we explore three powerful pathways to step into the potential you’ve always felt within you—but maybe haven’t fully claimed yet. You’ll learn how to give yourself permission to want what you actually want, without justification or apology. Then, you’ll connect with the most successful, next-level version of yourself—your successful self-concept. Finally, we break down how positive micro habits reshape your identity and make your future self inevitable through small daily wins.

Your life is meant to be exciting.

This episode will help you let go of everything you thought you had to be so that you can create something extraordinary instead.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

In this episode, we’re closing out the year with a powerful look at what it truly means to have your own back — in your goals, in your mindset, and in your daily life. I’m sharing my reflections from a year of pursuing my impossible goal and the moments when choosing not to quit changed everything. We’re also setting our final 30-day goal for December and exploring how your relationship with yourself shapes your confidence, consistency, and ability to stay connected to your future self.

You’ll learn ten practical ways to upgrade your relationship with yourself, bring more self-love and encouragement into your goals, and choose thoughts that support your best self and your best outcomes. This work is a daily practice — something you choose and something you intentionally let in. If you’re ready to end the year with clarity, intention, and a deeper commitment to yourself, this episode will guide you one step at a time.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

In this episode, we explore how to step into your next level by changing the way you think about you. Real transformation starts with the thoughts you choose to believe about yourself—and today, we break down three powerful shifts that create meaningful, lasting change.

You’ll learn how to define yourself by your future instead of your past, so your potential becomes the compass you use to navigate your decisions. We’ll also dive into what it means to think about yourself with high standards—not from pressure or perfectionism, but from self-respect, self-worth, and possibility. And finally, we talk about setting achievable goals that move you toward the next version of yourself with clarity and momentum.

These mindset shifts work together to help you evolve your self-concept, strengthen self-belief, and step into your next level self.

Tune in to discover how thinking about yourself in new ways can completely change what becomes possible next.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.

If you’ve been feeling off—mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually—this episode is your gentle return. Come Back to You is a guided reset that helps you realign your mind and heart so you can feel grounded, clear, and like yourself again.

Inside, you’ll learn the three core elements that bring you back into balance:

1. Self-discipline your thinking — Reset mentally by choosing thoughts that support you instead of drain you.
2. Take the best care of yourself — Reset physically and emotionally by tending to your body, your needs, and your energy with intention.
3. Nourish your soul — Reset spiritually by reconnecting with what brings you meaning, peace, and inner aliveness.

This episode serves as a reminder that you don’t need a complete life overhaul to feel better. You just need moments of awareness, compassion, and alignment—moments that bring you back to yourself on every level.

Come back to your breath.
Come back to your presence.
Come back to you.

In the Create Your Future podcast with Mandy Mackowiak, Certified Life Coach, you will get tools and practical strategies for elevating your self-concept and mindset, achieving your goals, and creating the life and future of your dreams. Please expect to be uplifted, learn, and be inspired as she and her guests cover topics ranging from life coaching and habits to mindfulness and spirituality to goals and happiness.

For more information, visit mandymackowiaklifecoach.com.