Making Midlife Magic

We often see ourselves as jigsaw puzzles missing some pieces.
Sometimes we look at other people's puzzles and wish we had their pieces. We want to be calm, centered, organized, strong, joyful . . .
Sometimes we try to get those pieces by reading a book, going on a retreat, taking a course. They can help, but what will help most is first seeing that you already have the qualities we're seeking.
We are not jigsaw puzzles after all.
Listen to find out what it means that you are always already whole and why the garden store might be more useful to us than the puzzle store. The concept of "always already" comes from philosophy but you don't need to go back to class to understand this in your core.
And when you truly get it, it makes so much possible. ❤️

Go to coachingwithrachel.com to sign up for my weekly emails, filled with fun & useful mindset shifts. They are always already delightful!

This episode focuses on one swap that makes so many things easier. Seriously.

This is for you if 

This is for you if you’ve ever asked, Why can’t I change? Or, Why is change so hard? 

And honestly, I could go on. This swap will help you be better at the things you want to do – whether you want to be better at work, as a parent, or as a partner. It's a core update for the Operating System of YOU. 

Take 15 minutes to listen, and then practice this swap every day. I promise it will make your life better.

A few months ago, I got hurt during exercise, and I've been regaining my strength with Pilates. I've learned a lot, and see connections between what I'm learning here and what I've learned about my brain. So on today's episode, we're taking our brains to Pilates class. I'll share four key takeaways that are true in Pilates and true in life, so we can strengthen our foundation in both. 

On this episode: 

🌟 Why we're often wrong about what's wrong

🌟 How isolating the facts helps us to see our story 

🌟 Why slouching every day or having unhelpful thoughts is not a problem 

🌟 How habits help us to know ourselves 

I'm helped in this episode by the wonderful owner of Jessica Fudim Pilates. She's so talented and truly such a compassionate, loving person to learn from (and over Zoom!). You can find her at jessicafudimpilates.com. 

If you want to create a life you love, I can help you look to the future and clear away whatever is standing in your way. Email me at [email protected] or come visit me at coachingwithrachel.com to learn more. 

We often think of confidence as our prize for accomplishing things. We think we'll feel confident when we lose weight,  make more money, win that award. But often we feel a lack of self-confidence despite our weight loss, financial success, and awards. 

To increase our feeling of confidence, we have to look inward. Because here's the thing: Confidence is just thoughts we have about ourselves. Things we believe to be true. And we can choose them intentionally. On today's episode:

🌟 How to let go of confidence-busting beliefs 

🌟 Why we can hold some positive beliefs about ourselves (I'm smart, I'm a hard worker, etc) and still not be as confident as we want to be 

🌟 Two different kinds of confidence and why the difference matters 

🌟 How to generate feelings of self-confidence 

Find more good ideas at coachingwithrachel.com

This episode is a love note for the stuck. It’s for when you don’t know what to do, when you want a change but don’t believe it’s possible. 

Sometimes getting older can make us feel more stuck. 

Sometimes we don’t like our job but feel stuck because the money is good; or we have a job we love but feel stuck because the money isn’t good; or maybe we aren’t happy in our marriage, but feel stuck because have we have children at home; or we’re happy in our marriage but feel stuck because the thrill is gone.

Sometimes we feel like the time for us to share our gifts with the world is passing, and we feel stuck because we haven’t found “our thing”.

In this episode, I offer four parts to getting unstuck. Learn 

⭐ How feeling stuck is different from being stuck

⭐ Why stuck feels so terrible, by turning us against our previous selves

⭐ How owning our own stories moves us out of stuckness

⭐ How a 1% action can change everything

Coaching is one of the best ways I know to get unstuck. To sign up for a complimentary no strings hour-long session, go to coachingwithrachel.com

I’ve spent much of my life as an emotional eater. Growing up, there were a lot of feelings I didn’t know what to do with and I learned to self-comfort with food. And as I got older, the connection between food & emotions remained. I developed more emotional resilience, I learned to love exercise and broccoli, but the association between feelings and food created a strong neural pathway for me that still comes out in times of stress. 

You might be an emotional eater, or you might want to drink less or to be more intentional about the time you spend on Facebook. Today's episode will help with all these things. 

In today's episode 

🌟 Why trying to stop wanting sweets or wine sets us up to fail 

🌟 How judging ourselves stops us from being curious about our behavior

🌟 How to unwind a habit by planning ahead of time 

🌟 How to trust yourself around food and alcohol 

All this plus a reference to The Producers -- Take a listen and let me know what you think! 

If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter. It's delivered on Saturday and offers more mindset shifts to live with joy & intention. Go to lovenotes.coachingwithrachel.com to sign up or click here. 

Some days, it's all too much. I know -- two weeks ago, I spent a Saturday under the covers. In this episode I share what I learned and what might help when it's all too much. I explain: 

➡️ Why "it's too much" is both a thought and a fact 

➡️  Why it isn't helpful to think "it's just thoughts" 

➡️ How self-comfort and self-trust are the dynamic duo when it's all too much

➡️ How being specific creates a path away from misery when our brains think "it's too much" 

All this, plus a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- Take a listen. 

If you think it's all too much, coaching can help -- Go to coachingwithrachel.com to sign up for a complimentary session.

"Should I stay or should I go?" 

Remember that song by The Clash? If only The Clash had this episode! We often think of decisions like life's shell game -- choose a shell, life spins it around, and then, at some point in the future, we see if we won. 

This idea that a decision is good or bad based on how it turns out causes us a lot of pain – because it means we only get to evaluate our decision in the future. And even then, we only get to see the future that we picked. We don’t actually get to see how the other choice would have worked out – We never get to stay AND go – although sometimes our brains tell us that the other choice would have led to greater happiness.

In this episode, I offer a more powerful way to make decisions -- one that doesn't rely on choosing the right shell. 

I'm giving away one hour long coaching session on the  15th of every month of 2023.  To enter and have a chance to win next week, go to pages.coachingwithrachel.com/giveaway. Open to everyone, including former & current clients. 

In today's episode, we learn from polyamory. Even if polyamorous romance isn't your thing, polyamorous thinking is so helpful.  

This episode is for you if there are parts of your life that feel in conflict. Maybe you don’t know how to balance work life and home life. Maybe your head and your heart don’t get along. Maybe you think your love of creating art conflicts with your desire to make money. 

What will help these situations is something I call polyamorous thinking and it’s the result of a breakthrough I had about my own life. 

Take a listen and let me know what you think. 

Note: In the episode I say that Bowie the retriever dog mind shows up in episode 6 -- I was wrong, it's actually episode 2. Sorry! (but episode 6 is great) 

I'm giving away one hour-long coaching session every month of 2023! Enter at pages.coachingwithrachel.com/giveaway

Sometimes we start to dream, to imagine ourselves and our lives bigger than ever before. And then a voice in our head says, Who do you think you are?

This voice says, Stay in your lane. People like you can't do that. Don't think about doing that at your age.

We start to question ourselves, to think that we have dreamed too big. We make ourselves or our dreams smaller. We stay unhappy and unfulfilled. 

Instead, we need to answer the question Who do you think you are? in ways that magnify our shine. 

In this episode, 

🌟 What it means to shine and how it's different from being great 

🌟 Why shining is worth it, even if you don't succeed 

🌟 How shining brightly helps others as well as yourself 

🌟 How to answer the question, Who do you think you are? 

I'm giving away a one-hour coaching session every month of 2023! Enter at pages.coachingwithrachel.com/giveaway. No stress, no sales, just a one-hour conversation to help you get clarity on any issue.