I almost did not record this episode. Not because I did not have something to say, but because I was not sure it fit.

I just got back from six weeks traveling, three of which I spent in Spain. And somewhere between the long lunches that nobody was rushing, the evenings that wound down slowly, and the walks that were not workouts, something shifted. Not in a dramatic way. In the quiet, clarifying way that only happens when you step far enough outside your normal to actually see it.

Here is the thing about going back to where you are from after years away. You think you are going home. And you are. But you are also holding up a mirror to the life you built since you left. And some of what I saw in that mirror surprised me.

My routines, which I am genuinely proud of, which are one of my real strengths, looked different against that backdrop. Some of them were still serving me. And some of them I was doing out of habit, out of identity, because I am a disciplined person and this is what disciplined people do. Not because I had recently stopped to ask whether they were still the right fit for this season.

That question is what this episode is about.

In this episode:

• What three weeks of living at a Spanish pace did to my HRV, and what that data pointed to
• How I went hours without looking at my phone and did not even notice
• The difference between a disciplined relationship with food and a healthy one
• What I am actually changing: walking, meals, mornings, evenings, connection, and the honest reason behind each one
• The "tranquila" mindset and what a different relationship with urgency feels like in your body
• The question I came home asking myself and have not stopped asking since

This is the final episode of our July mid-year recalibration series. And it turned out to be the most personal one.

"Be more interested in becoming than proving."

You did the assessment. You saw what needs to change. And now the question sitting underneath everything is: how do I actually change it without blowing up everything that is working?

That is what this episode is about.

In Week 3 of the mid-year recalibration series, we are going to get practical. Not the inspiration version of change, the real version. The one that happens inside a full life, with real constraints, over actual time.

We will start by naming the cognitive trap that derails most recalibration before it begins: the instinct to conflate seeing something that needs to change with needing to start over entirely. Then I will walk you through the four specific failure points where recalibration breaks down, not because people lack motivation, but because the process itself has predictable places it goes wrong.

And we will close with a five-step framework for what sustained course-correction actually looks like: how to sort what you found, find the highest-leverage adjustment, define the smallest version of change that still matters, build the anchor before you move, and give it long enough to actually take hold.

This is the episode for anyone who has done the inner work and keeps stalling at the step where it becomes real.

In this episode:

• Why the brain jumps to starting over, and why that instinct usually costs more than it fixes
• The difference between a verdict and a signal and why it changes everything about how you respond
• Four failure points that derail recalibration even when the motivation is real
• How to tell whether you are dealing with an external problem or an internal pattern
• Why changing everything at once is not commitment, it is a setup for collapse
• What anchoring actually means and why it is the step most people skip
• The minimum viable change framework: small and sustained versus large and abandoned
• Why six weeks is the real timeline and six days tells you almost nothing

Being needed is not the same as being valued.

Most professionals do a version of a mid-year check-in that looks like this: count what got done, calculate what is left, get back to work.

That is a performance review. Not a recalibration.

In this episode, Week 2 of our July mid-year recalibration series, I am going to walk through the four areas of a real career check-in. The kind that goes past whether you hit your targets and into whether you are still growing, still visible, still in the right fit, and still on a trajectory that actually makes sense for where you want to go.

This one is for anyone who has been performing fine on paper but feeling something underneath that has been hard to name. Or anyone who has been so busy in the first half of the year that they have not had a chance to look at the bigger picture.

The bigger picture is worth looking at.

In this episode:

• The difference between a performance review and a real career recalibration
• Four areas every professional should assess at the halfway point: growth, visibility, fit, and trajectory
• Why you can be performing well and still be drifting and how to catch it
• The visibility question most people have not asked themselves since May
• What the excellence zone trap looks like from the inside
• A simple three-category framework for what to do with what you find
• One question to take into the second half of the year

Half the year is gone. Before you sprint into the second half, stop for a minute and actually look at where you are.

This week on Leading Yourself, we are kicking off July with a mid-year recalibration series : Are You Still on Your Path?

And we start where it matters most: your life. Not your goals list. Not your KPIs. Your actual life.

In this episode, I walk you through a five-area life check-in that goes deeper than the usual reflection prompts. We cover energy, relationships, health, joy, and alignment, and I give you the questions that actually surface what you have been not-looking-at, and close with two questions that are simple enough to actually use and honest enough to matter.

If you have been feeling like you are moving but not quite sure toward what, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• Why we skip the check-in, and what it costs us
• A five-area framework for an honest mid-year life assessment
• The energy question most people never ask themselves
• What relationship drift looks like and how to catch it before it compounds
• Why joy is data, not a luxury
• The alignment question that changes everything
• Two practical questions to walk away with

This is Week 1 of the July series. Next week: your career at the halfway point.

After almost 3 weeks in Spain visiting my parents, siblings, family, and lifelong friends, I’m back with a full heart, and a powerful reminder.

In this special episode of Morning Brew, I share what this trip taught me about rest, belonging, connection, and why some of the greatest things we can do for our health have nothing to do with another workout, supplement, or productivity hack.

Sometimes, the best way to move forward is to return to the people, places, and rhythms that remind you who you are.

Grab your coffee and join me for a personal conversation about coming home and what it means to truly come back to yourself.

Back in February 2023, I recorded an episode that I had no idea would become one of the ones you all keep coming back to. I've gotten so many messages about this one, people sending it to a friend going through something hard, listening to it during a tough season, or just telling me it stuck with them.

I'm rebroadcasting it today from Spain, where I'm on vacation with my family and with a full heart, because this episode is the reason my first book exists.

The 9 People You Need in Your Career Squad comes out September 5th, and every story, every chapter, every person in it started right here. If this episode resonates with you, the book goes even deeper including stories I've never shared publicly before.

Pre-order here: ⁠https://buildyourcareersquad.com

“Be careful with the idea that everyone is replaceable. Some people only come into your life once.”

Four weeks. A lot of ground covered. And one honest question to close it out:

What conversation are you still avoiding?

This week's episode is the June series closer, in two parts.

Part 1 is a coaching session. Carolina sits with you and gets honest about where people actually get stuck at the end of a month like this. Three places:

• The person who understood everything and has not moved yet
• The person who tried, and the conversation did not go well
• The person who realized the conversation they are most afraid to have is with themselves

Plus three things to carry forward , not as homework, but as a different way of living with this going forward.

Part 2 is community Q&A. Four real questions, full coaching answers:

• How to stop freezing or backing down when you finally get into the room
• What to do when you asked for the promotion and got vague feedback instead of a yes
• How to handle the aftermath when a hard conversation made things awkward
• How to think through the risk when the conversation you need to have is with your boss

If you have been listening all month, this is the episode that makes it real. If this is your first episode of June, it is a complete coaching session that stands on its own.