"Do or do not do. There is no try." Sorry, Yoda, but this is not helpful. In fact, if we want to do big things, we have to find all the options between Do [do the thing the way we most want to] and Do Not [quit]. I call these "escape hatches," and they are one of the ways I got to 100 podcast episodes -- My Big Thing.

Whether your Big Thing is starting a business, publishing a novel, being a step-parent, or learning to play the cello, this episode is for you. In it, I share three things that got me to episode 100. I learned a lot from the experience, but honestly, not what I expected to learn.

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Thank you for helping me to get to 100 episodes! I'm on a mission to help more people over 50 wake up looking forward to the day and the rest of their life. If you enjoy the podcast, can you help me by sharing it with others? Thank you!

And while you're here, I'd love to have you in more of my world!

To receive more mindset shifts in your email once a week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠join my mailing list⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Come visit me at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠coachingwithrachel.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We so often want to feel free - light, unburdened, at ease. Yet often we feel burdened by responsibilities and constrained by the choices we've made. At these times, we often dream of a future time when things will be better -- we'll be retired, on vacation, our kids wll be grown, and so on. Focusing on that fantasy keeps us from seeing ways we can feel freer, right now. That's the topic of this week's episode.

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My podcast is now two! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you so much!

Do you feel confident? If you're like me, chances are the answer is -- Sometimes? It can be hard to be confident, especially when things change so much. We're not always sure what to do, how to respond. Confidence is fueled by certainty, which is why so often we find ourselves unconfident. If we can't know how something will work out, how can we be confident about it? This lack of certainty often leads us to overthink decisions, feel tentative, and second guess ourselves.

The good news is that we don't have to be sure of everything to be confident; we just have to be sure of something. Take a listen to this episode to learn how to create confidence by letting your brain find what it can be certain about.

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My podcast is now two! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you so much!

What does enough feel like? What would it feel like to know that you have enough, do enough, are enough? Most of us aren't very familiar with that feeling but we're very familiar with the feeling of not enough. Not enough leads us to overwork, overeat, overdrink, and generally just feel bad about ourselves.

In this episode I rethink enough, focusing on it as a decision we can make, and a feeling we can choose. I also talk about the paradoxical relationship between enough and desire. We assume that our desire comes from not enough, from wanting to fill a need. When we aren't seeking a feeling of enough, though, we can just decide what we want because we want it.

This episode is a good follow up to ep #94 about consent and #95 about safety -- because enough is a feeling of safety, while not enough makes us feel unsafe in our world.

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My podcast is now two! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at ⁠⁠⁠⁠makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you so much!

What are your non-negotiables, the things that you make time for, no matter what? Maybe it's a shower, maybe it's running, maybe it's a nightly drink on the patio. Non-negotiables are a superfuel and identifying ours gives us enormous power to shape our lives. Being intentional about our non-negotiables lets us create a life that reflects our values, priorities, and commitments. Take a listen and let me know what resonates -- email me at [email protected] or tell me about your own non-negotiables in my Spotify Q&A.

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My podcast is now two! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at ⁠⁠⁠makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you so much!

You know how you can go to therapy, read all the books, and still struggle to change? Or how you can know you really feel better when your house is picked up, but still not manage to clean off your desk?

This episode provides one missing piece to the puzzle -- safety. We often don't change because we don't yet feel safe enough to change. In this episode, I offer ways to build safety with ourselves so we can do the things we really want to do without bullying ourselves. It's a powerful companion to episode #94, on consent. Because we need to feel safe in order to say yes, even to things we want to do.

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My podcast is now two! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at ⁠⁠makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you so much!

We know about the importance of consent when it comes to sex. We know that we should only engage in activities we want to and that we should never coerce anyone into doing something they don't want to do.

So it's surprising that we regularly do just that with ourselves. We tell ourselves that we have to do certain things, that we don't have a choice. We have obligations and responsibilities. We're adults. But telling ourselves we have to do something removes our consent, which makes us feel less safe. It also makes us feel heavy and draggy, because we're forcing ourselves to do something we don't really want to do.

The antidote is radical consent, to find a way to say yes to all the parts of our life, even the less fun parts -- or to withdraw our consent and to say no.

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My podcast is now two! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at ⁠makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you so much!

Self-compassion is truly magic. It makes us calmer, more resilient, more self-forgiving, and all-around happier. But too often we don't know how to have compassion for ourselves. We know how to beat ourselves up, to talk harshly to ourselves, to be disappointed in ourselves.

In this episode, I offer two techniques for increasing self-compassion, and suggestions on when to use them, so you can feel better every single day.

It's my podcast's second birthday! Celebrate with me by entering my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway⁠⁠. Wondering what to get someone for their 2nd podcast-versary? A review or sharing the podcast with a friend will help me get into more ears, so more people can love themselves & their lives after 50. Thank you!

Creating the life we want often involves change -- We may want to start new habits or get rid of old ones; to choose a different job or career; to become the next version of ourselves.

Often we focus on how to change but in this episode, I focus on the pace of change. There are two different ways of changing -- changing fast and slow -- and each one runs on its own fuel and requires something different to be successful at it.

The good news? Both work and choosing the one that works for you and your nervous system will let changing be more sustainable and fun.

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If you enjoy the podcast, I'd love to have you in more of my world!

Come visit me at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠coachingwithrachel.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enter my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway

Sometimes, life is hard. And sometimes life is really hard. Our parents need us, our kids need us, our marriage feels bumpy, and we're worried about losing our job. At these times, it can be difficult to know how to help ourselves.We know it's too much, but everything on our plate is important.

In this episode I share five ways to help ourselves when things are difficult -- no need for baths or trips to the gym.

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If you enjoy the podcast, I'd love to have you in more of my world!

Come visit me at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠coachingwithrachel.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enter my Making Midlife Magic Birthday Giveaway at makingmidlifemagic.com/giveaway