Did you have a (mostly) normal childhood and now feel frustated because you have no explanation as to why you ended up with an addictive personality that keeps you on a hamster wheel of bad habits?

If you identify as a high-achieving perfectionist who comes from a good family, you may assume that struggling to control yourself (with anything) means there’s something wrong with you.

Most of us try to shame ourselves into better behavior. And hope we can fix whatever’s wrong before anyone finds out. We’re constantly looking for new strategies and a fresh start.

If you’re in the habit of beating yourself up after a setback, there are invisible barriers in your mind that are undermining your willpower, integrity and motivation, and keeping you stuck in a cycle of self-defeat.

But it’s one thing to see the black and white, perfectionistic thought patterns that fuel self-sabotage. It’s quite another to actually change the way you think.

My guest this week is Megan Blacksmith. We dig deep into the root causes of dysfunction and explain how to make sustainable and life-transforming changes to your overall well being.

By the time you finish listening, you’ll know:

• What’s involved in the process of reprogramming your subconscious mind.

• How to see patterns that reinforce your “shadow” identity.

• Tools to integrate new belief systems into your daily reality.

Find Megan Blacksmith on Instagram @BecomingZesty and her website (link to sign up for her upcoming Habit Transformation Accelerator).

When you finish listening, I’d love to hear your takeaways. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device and share it to your Instagram stories. Tag me @RecoverwithColleen

Register for me FREE masterclass to learn how to Stop Over-Drinking.

Get on my email list to receive weekly insight to accelerate your recovery and get early bird access to my upcoming recovery storytelling workshop.

TAKE THE QUIZ! Take my quick, 9-question quiz to find out how much your beliefs about drinking are causing FEAR that you'll go back to drinking. Oh, and then exactly how you can change those beliefs...

Do you have a secret fear that no matter how good it feels to stay sober, you won’t stick with it?

The fear may arise with a random alcohol craving that comes out of nowhere–a mysterious thirst that feels like a bottomless pit. 

Or you might remember how it feels to watch the sunset with a bottle of wine and start thinking, “OMG…I can’t ever do that again!” 

Or the fear comes with that dark cloud of depression that sucks the breath out of your chest and leaves you feeling hopeless and paralyzed. 

Here's the bottom line: you can’t prevent fear. But you can learn how to deal with it so that a bad moment doesn't spiral into a bad week, month or year.

By the time you finish listening to this episode, you’ll:

• Have a Jedi mind-trick for exactly how to process fear in real-time so it doesn't overwhelm you.

• Understand why labeling yourself as an alcoholic (or someone with a drinking problem) perpetuates fear of over-drinking

• See fear as an invitation to correct subconscious assumptions and rebuild your identity as a resilient, confident badass in complete control.

When you finish listening, I’d love to hear your takeaways. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device and share it to your Instagram stories. Tag me @RecoverwithColleen

Register for me FREE masterclass to learn how to Control Your Thinking About Drinking. 

Get on my email list to receive weekly insight to accelerate your recovery and get early bird access to my upcoming recovery storytelling workshop.

TAKE THE QUIZ! Take my quick, 9-question quiz to find out how much your beliefs about drinking are causing FEAR that you'll go back to drinking. Oh, and then exactly how you can change those beliefs...

What do you think is required to maintain your fitness after fifty?

If you struggle to stay consistent with a strict workout routine, don’t assume that you’re just lazy and unmotivated. You’ll start feeling older than your age and lose confidence in your ability to go for hikes, run for the plane and hit the dance floor when Jessie’s Girl comes on.

The reason staying in shape feels so hard is the rules have changed. The strategies that once kept you in the best shape of your life are now working against you. Crossfit style workouts and hours of cardio lead to injuries and burnout.

The good news is staying fit is so much easier than you think. 

Cam Allen is a post-menopausal fitness expert with simple solutions that do not require long hours in the gym, restrictive food rules or boring and repetitive routines. She explains how to shift from outdated strategies that don’t work (which is why you’re not doing them) into easy actions that take minutes to implement.

Find Cam @heymomma_cam on Instagram and Tik Tok. Her website is camoyler.com. Tune into her Midlife Momma's podcast. 

Follow me on Instagram @RecoverwithColleen

Register for my FREE TRAINING to reclaim your power over alcohol by changing the way you think about drinking. Become a mindset master who can trust yourself with or without a drink in your hand because you're focused on bigger and better things. Get the exact steps you need to restore control over your life. Pursuing happiness (instead of sobriety) is the only way to feel passionate, purposeful and powerful again. 

TAKE THE QUIZ! Take my quick, 9-question quiz to find out how much your beliefs about drinking are impacting your ability to self-correct. Oh, and then exactly how you can change those beliefs...

Do you tell yourself things will be different as soon as you get “caught up?”

The root cause of procrastination is the perception that you don’t have enough time. Feeling “behind” is a threat to your nervous system that keeps you stuck in a chronic state of stress.

Which means you’re sitting on the sidelines watching life pass you by. Feeling disgusted with yourself. Because if you’d just taken action months ago, you wouldn’t be so far behind…

You may not realize that procrastination is a thought loop. And trying to enforce new behaviors without addressing the subconscious beliefs that motivate you is WHY you feel trapped.

Dr. Christine Li is a clinical psychologist and the @ProcrastinationCoach. She joins the show to explain how to change your perception of time so that you can move forward with simple and small actions.

Dr. Christine reveals her SMACK strategy…the five mindset shifts that turn  procrastination into progress.

Get a free 7-day trial with Dr. Christine Li's Success Lab and follow her on Instagram @procrastinationcoach

Register for my FREE TRAINING to reclaim your power over alcohol. Become a mindset master who can trust yourself with or without a drink in your hand because you're focused on bigger and better things. Get the exact steps you need to restore control over your life. Pursuing happiness (instead of sobriety) is the only way to feel passionate, purposeful and powerful again. 

TAKE THE QUIZ! Take my quick, 9-question quiz to find out how much your beliefs about drinking are impacting your ability to self-correct. Oh, and then exactly how you can change those beliefs...

In 2020, fierce contempt for my selfish jackass of a husband motivated me to quit drinking. I wanted to be above reproach when I filed for divorce.

Today, I genuinely respect and admire the generous and sexy man who is (still) my husband. 

Contempt is not fueled by the flaws of your spouse. Your experience is a reflection of your attitude, not reality. And even if you divorce, you'll get full custody of your own mind--which is the REAL source of your unhappiness. 

Contempt is a YOU problem. And unmet needs, unrealistic expectations and ineffective communication skills will follow you into the next relationship--even if you remain single. Because wherever you go, there you are. 

Heal your relationship with yourself so the decision to stay or leave your marriage comes from a place of POWER.

TAKE THE QUIZ! Take my quick, 9-question quiz to find out how much your beliefs about drinking are impacting your ability to self-correct. Oh, and then exactly how you can change those beliefs...

Click here for my FREE masterclass on how to stop over drinking without getting "sober." If you're feeling trapped by the idea of complete abstinence, get the exact steps you'll need to take to reclaim control over your life. Because the core tenets of AA are not based on science. Pursuing happiness instead of sobriety is the only way to feel passionate, purposeful and powerful again. 

Looking for friends, support and guidance? Join our tribe in the Bitch Free Recovery Zone on Circle. 

Follow me on Instagram Recover with Colleen

Subscribe to my email list...I send one email every Monday related to the podcast and a monthly invite to my workshops (like how to improve your sleep, fix your dopamine deficit, reintroduce alcohol after a period of sobriety and more!) Click here. 

Hypnotherapist Rita Black is returning to the show to address the difficult issue many of us encounter when we take a break from drinking--Night Time Eating! 

Night-time eating is more than an urge…it's a pattern. Which is why trying to use discipline to “not eat” or “eat less” doesn’t work. Your subconscious mind has an agenda that overrides willpower.

Rita explains the patterns of “three” and how our brain will agitate us until we complete the cycle. And the only way to regain control is to create a new pattern that aligns with a stronger and more powerful self image. 

Instead of seeing yourself as someone who “struggles with overeating,” you must become a person who “prefers to fast from after dinner until breakfast.” Because the easiest way to break an unwanted habit is to replace it with a desired IDENTITY.

Register here to learn how to break through the weight struggle cycle so you can lose weight consistently and permanently with Rita’s Shift Weight Mastery Process on September 19th @ 9am or 5 pm PST. It’s COMPLETELY FREE.

Click here for my FREE masterclass on how to stop overdrinking without getting sober. If you're ready to take a break from alcohol OR you're feeling trapped in lifelong sobriety because you identify as a recovering alcoholic, get the exact steps you'll need to take to reclaim control over your life. Because you don't have to live by other people's rules. Pursing happiness instead of sobriety is the only way to feel passionate, purposeful and powerful again. 

Looking for friends, support and guidance? Join our tribe in the Bitch Free Recovery Zone on Circle. 

Follow me on Instagram Recover with Colleen

Subscribe to my email list...I send one email every Monday related to the podcast and a monthly invite to my workshops (like how to improve your sleep, how to fix your dopamine deficit, how to reintroduce alcohol after a period of sobriety and more!) Click here. 

Kim Roy has never had a drinking problem. And yet, she identifies as a woman in recovery–from anger. 

Friends referred to her as “spicy Kim” because she had a short fuse. Righteous anger was hard-wired into her personality--motivating her to right the wrongs in life. In many ways, she liked her bold aggressiveness. The ability to “cut the crap” and “tell it like it is” served her well.

But the collision of two major stress events in her life sent her into a tailspin. And when her husband gave her an ultimatum, she finally had the courage to ask for help.

There’s a saying that if you’re not managing your emotions, they’re managing you. Kim decided to stop suppressing the anger and rage that were eating her alive and figure out how to heal.

Kim shares her journey of transformation from being a victim of her emotions to an emotionally sober badass.

Connect with Kim on Instagram @running.on.grit and find her podcast Redefining Anger on all the major platforms. 

Subscribe to my email list...I send one email every Monday related to the podcast and a monthly invite to my workshops (like how to improve your sleep, how to fix your dopamine deficit, how to reintroduce alcohol after a period of sobriety and more!) Click here. 

Want to work with me? Join The Next Chapter for coaching and community support to learn how to enjoy the experience of being sober. So you can reclaim your God-given right to choose whether or not you even want to drink. 

Click here for my FREE masterclass on how getting EMOTIONALLY sober is the path to recovery.

Looking for friends, support and guidance? Join our tribe in the Bitch Free Recovery Zone on Circle. 

Follow me on Instagram Recover with Colleen

Today’s episode is a raw and candid conversation with Angela Mascenik, the host of the Stop Over-Drinking and Start Living Podcast. 

We discuss the intimate details about the personal problems that led each of us to quit drinking, what we learned about ourselves in the process and how we came to realize “this isn’t about alcohol.” 

And then we get REAL, because if recovery really is NOT about alcohol, then when is it okay to have a drink again?

I share my own nitty gritty experiences with reintroducing alcohol, and give you the only question you need to have answered before you drink again.

Connect with Angela...Check out https://www.angelamascenik.com/ and follow her on Instagram @coachwithangelamascenik

Want to work with me? Join The Next Chapter for coaching and community support to learn how to enjoy the experience of being sober. So you can reclaim your God-given right to choose whether or not you even want to drink. 

Click here for my FREE masterclass on how getting EMOTIONALLY sober is the path to recovery.

Looking for friends, support and guidance? Join our tribe in the Bitch Free Recovery Zone on Circle. 

Follow me on Instagram Recover with Colleen

Subscribe to my email list...I send one email every Monday related to the podcast and a monthly invite to my workshops (like how to improve your sleep, how to fix your dopamine deficit, how to reintroduce alcohol after a period of sobriety and more!) Click here. 

Many of us quit drinking because it's not working for us anymore. We feel depleted and deprived. 

Which is why periods of sobriety can feel like such a relief. When you finally break the cycle of indulgence and deprivation, your eyes are opened to how much more there is to life, to yourself and to your relationships. 

Once you realize that alcohol blocks the source of your own wisdom and intuition, your focus shifts to the bigger picture. Your bandwidth for greatness begins to expand. Saying “no” to a drink feels like saying “yes” to yourself. 

Sobriety is a personal revolution. It gives you the freedom to choose--who you are, what you want and how to move forward. After years of living under the oppressive belief that you aren't capable of controlling yourself, liberation is like a new pair of shoes...you gotta break them in.

Join Mary Wagstaff and I for a gentle and enlightening conversation about how to apply the sacred gift we give ourselves...sobriety.

Find Mary at on her website and Instagram. 

Can't figure out how to leave a review? Email me at [email protected]  to participate in my 50th birthday challenge to raise money for SheRecovers.org

Want to work with me? Join The Next Chapter for coaching and community support to learn how to enjoy the experience of being sober. So you can reclaim your God-given right to choose whether or not you even want to drink. 

Looking for friends, support and guidance? Join our tribe in the Bitch Free Recovery Zone on Circle. 

Follow me on Instagram Recover with Colleen

Subscribe to my email list...I send one email every Monday related to the podcast and a monthly invite to my workshops (like how to improve your sleep, how to fix your dopamine deficit, how to reintroduce alcohol after a period of sobriety and more!) Click here. 

Trauma is ANY experience that leaves a physical or emotional wound. Which means, we ALL have trauma.

Trauma is a learning process in the brain…it changes how we interact with the world. Painful events cause us to conclude that we are unlovable, worthless or insignificant. And so we feel rejected, unworthy, stupid and wrong. We internalize the idea that something is wrong with us. 

Trauma changes who we think we are—erasing joy and causing us to forget what it means to be fully alive. Our dreams, talents, hopes and self-worth are replaced by fear, anxiety, guilt and despair.

You can distinguish between trauma and truth by learning to identify the fingerprints of shame…when it’s active and how it’s affecting you. So you can stop reacting to the pain of the past and reclaim your power, which is your birthright.

Can't figure out how to leave a review? Email me at [email protected]  to participate in my 50th birthday challenge to raise money for SheRecovers.org

Want to work with me directly? Join The Next Chapter for coaching and community support to retrain your subconscious and sustain lasting behavior change.

Looking for friends, support and guidance? Join our tribe in the Bitch Free Recovery Zone on Circle. 

Follow me on Instagram Recover with Colleen

Subscribe to my email list...I send one email every Monday related to the podcast and a monthly invite to my workshops (like how to improve your sleep, how to fix your dopamine deficit, how to reintroduce alcohol after a period of sobriety and more!) Click here.