Okay, Now What? - With Kate Gladdin

Nobody teaches you how to feel anxious. They teach you how to make it stop.

And that's the problem — because most of us aren't actually struggling with anxiety. We're struggling with our resistance to it.

This isn't another anxiety toolkit. I've done the breathing episodes, and all of that still stands. These are the few things I actually use on myself and with my coaching clients that I rarely hear anyone talk about.

Inside this episode:

Why the answer isn't more positivity — and why your brain knows when you're lying to it. Why your body on a treadmill and your body mid-spiral are doing exactly the same thing, and why you'll happily pay a gym for one and panic about the other. The three words I use instead of arguing with my brain's predictions. And the question that tells you instantly whether you're in a real emergency or just watching a very creative film your brain wrote about your future.

Anxiety doesn't need to be fixed. It needs to be felt. Get better at that, and you get better at everything downstream of it.

Also in this episode: the launch of the Julie Fitzsimons Library and History Scholarship — $1,500 towards study for a young person in Sydney's Bayside Council area, created in honour of my beautiful mum and the library she walked into at 18 and never really left. Apply or pass it on → nicoleandjulie.com

Book a free 30-minute Direction Call Been sitting on something? The book, the podcast, the coaching business, the nonprofit - the thing that won't leave you alone. We'll spend 30 minutes getting clear on what you actually want to build and what's been stopping you, and you'll leave with one specific next step. That's yours whether we ever work together or not. I only hold 3 of these a week → kategladdin.com/coaching

If you're the kind of person who can spend a week deciding which restaurant to choose or what colour to paint your nails — this one's for you.

I'm tight on time this week, so this is a short, punchy one. But it's built around something one of my coaches said that completely flipped how I think about indecision — a single line that turns the usual story about why decisions feel so hard on its head. (It's the opposite of what you'd assume.)

I get into why the decisions that torture you the most are often the ones that matter the least, the three questions to run before you flip a coin, and a simple sorting trick that deflates most "should I, shouldn't I" spirals on the spot — plus the one cost of overthinking that isn't hypothetical, the one you're already paying while you tell yourself you "haven't decided yet."

No forced positivity. No "just trust the universe." Just a genuinely useful way to get yourself out of the loop and back on the road.

By the end you'll have one decision named, sorted, and a deadline on the calendar. Come get out of the car park.

In this episode:

• The line from my coach that reframes indecision entirely
• Why "hard to decide" might be telling you something surprising
• The three questions to ask before you flip a coin
• One-way doors vs two-way doors — and why we get them backwards
• The one cost of overthinking that isn't hypothetical

If you've lived through something real and you can feel there's something you're meant to build from it — a podcast, a book, a nonprofit, a speaking career, the thing that won't leave you alone — but you keep circling instead of starting, that's the exact loop I help people out of. Book a free 30-minute Direction Call (a real working session, not a sales call): kategladdin.com/coaching

I nearly fell off the reformer.

I was mid-Pilates class listening to David Epstein on Modern Wisdom when he said something so back to front I had to hear it twice: if you want to be more creative, don't give yourself more freedom. Give yourself fewer options.

And then he explained why - and it cracked open something I've been teaching for years without ever having the words for it.

So I went down a rabbit hole. If that's true, what else is? What else are we doing, with completely good intentions, that's quietly the very thing keeping us stuck?

I found three things. They sound wrong. They feel backwards. They're absolutely, provably true.

In this episode:

• The bet that produced one of the bestselling children's books of all time - and what it tells you about the thing you keep not starting
• Why 95% of us think we're self-aware, only 10–15% are, and the one word you're using that's keeping you in the wrong 85%
• The 2009 study that suggests announcing your goal can make you less likely to do it - and the crucial exception that changes everything
• The difference between support and accountability (they're not the same thing, and one of them is letting you off the hook)
• Three questions to ask before you do anything else this week

If you've been circling the same idea for two years, this one's for you.

Ready to shrink the fuzzy thing into something you can actually start? Book a free 30-minute Direction Call with me → kategladdin.com/coaching It's not a sales call. It's a working session with a real outcome.

Want the fence I mentioned? From Story to Platform — the workbook that asks you the small, narrow, annoyingly specific questions that turn "I want to do something meaningful" into a plan → kategladdin.com/workbook

Want these powerful lessons at your next event? Resilience keynotes for teams who are done with fluff → kategladdin.com/speaking

"I don't have time." "I'm just being realistic." "Now's not the right time." "Who am I to do that?"

Here's the uncomfortable truth: every one of those is fear wearing a disguise.

Fear rarely shows up with a name tag. It dresses itself up as busyness, as being realistic, as gratitude, as "that's just not me" - sneaky little excuses that sound so responsible you never think to question them. And so it quietly runs the show — picking what you say yes to, what you talk yourself out of, and how small you let yourself stay.

In this episode, I hold up the most common excuses I hear from my clients (and catch myself using), translate what each one is really saying underneath, and hand you the instant reframe to flip it.

Because you don't change your life by getting rid of the fear. You change it by changing your relationship to fear - and finally going after the thing that's been quietly waiting for you.

Which excuse is yours? Press play and find out. 🎧

Been sitting on something you want to build from what you've been through?

A speaking career. A book. A nonprofit in honour of someone you lost. A podcast. An advocacy campaign. The thing that won't leave you alone.

Most people don't have ten problems standing in their way - they have one problem wearing ten disguises. On a free 30-minute Direction Call, we find yours, get clear on what you actually want to build, and pin down one concrete step to take before the week is out. Not a sales call — a working session with a real outcome, whether we ever work together after or not.

I built my entire career from the two worst things that ever happened to me - not by finding the positive, but by asking a different question: what good can I create from this? Let's figure out yours.

→ Book your free Direction Call: www.kategladdin.com/coaching

You had the idea. You were buzzing. "I'm going to launch the podcast / become a speaker / learn Spanish / finally chase the thing."

Then you actually went and tried it - and felt like absolute rubbish at it.

I know that feeling intimately. I once gave a resilience talk so badly that I sat in my car afterwards and bawled my eyes out, thinking who am I to be doing this? I'm not cut out for it.

Turns out, I was just bang in the middle of a stage that every single person moves through when they go after a goal or learn a new skill. There are four of them - and one in particular is where almost all of us quit, right before it gets good.

So in this episode I'm walking you through all four. The fun one. The brutal one. The clunky one. And the one that looks effortless from the outside but never, ever is.

I'm getting honest about the talk that flopped, the moment Nate launched a tennis ball clean into an apartment building, and the one investment that completely changed the trajectory of my career.

Because here's the thing - that horrible "who do I think I am" feeling? It's not proof you're not cut out for it. It's proof you've started.

If you've got a dream you've been sitting on - your own version of Create the Good - consider this your permission slip to begin before you feel ready.

🎧 Tune in to find out which stage you're stuck in — and exactly how to get out of it.

→ Get clear on your idea with my From Story to Platform workbook: kategladdin.com/workbook

→ Book a free 30-min Direction Call with me (limited summer spots): kategladdin.com/coaching

Some seasons of life just happen to you. The trip gets cancelled. The diagnosis lands. The person you love is suddenly gone - and none of it is fair, and none of it is yours to fix.

That feeling - like life is happening to you and you've got no say in it - is, to me, the worst feeling of all.

So this week I'm sharing one question I've reached for in my hardest, loneliest, most unfair moments. From my first year in America, crying in an empty apartment, through losing my sister - and through this past year, losing Mum. It's not "stay positive." It's not a silver lining. It's something far more useful, and every time I ask it, it hands me back my sense of agency.

I open with a quote from one of my greatest teachers, Dr Viktor Frankl, that completely changed my relationship with life - and then I walk you through exactly how I used this question to climb out of helplessness during one of the loneliest stretches I've lived through.

By the end you'll have a simple exercise to do on your own - so you're not just listening this week, you're participating.

Grab a pen or your notesapp. Let's get into it. 💛

Struggling to put this into practice in your own life?

Book a free mini coaching session with me. It's not a sales call — it's a real coaching session where I'll walk you through how to actually apply this work to whatever you're stuck on right now. You'll leave with a clearer head, a practical next step, and the kind of insight most people don't get until they're a few sessions deep with a coach.

Spots are limited - grab yours here: https://www.kategladdin.com/coaching

For a few weeks earlier this year, I was convinced I was about to lose everything I'd built here in the US — and have to start my whole life over on the other side of the world.

This episode is about what happened in my head during those weeks — and the one shift that pulled me back out.

I'm getting into why our brains bolt straight to the worst-case scenario (it's not a flaw — it's your brain trying to protect you), why rehearsing the disaster can quietly make it more likely instead of less, and the simple question I kept having to come back to when the what-ifs were at their loudest.

It's the what if vs what is flip — and this is the most real, high-stakes example of it I've ever shared on the show. How it all actually turned out, though? You'll have to listen.

So when you catch the spin this week, don't fight your brain - press play, and we'll sort it out together.

Ready to put these tools to work in your own life? That's what we do in my one-on-one coaching — details at kategladdin.com/coaching

And for extra inspiration between episodes, come follow along with me on Instagram @kategladdin.

Have you ever told yourself you'll go for the promotion, post the thing, start the business, or finally put yourself out there... once you feel confident enough? This episode is your gentle wake-up call.

I'll be honest with you, this past week was a heartbreaking one. I open up about the sentencing in my mum's case and why I went quiet for a bit. But I also share a conversation I had with a CEO that completely flipped the script on how I talk about confidence, and how most of us think about it. If you've been waiting to feel ready before you take the leap, you're not lazy and you're not broken. You're just chasing the wrong thing in the wrong order.

In this one I unpack why confidence actually works backwards from how we've been taught, what your brain is really up to when it's begging you to stay safe and small, and the simple reframe that frees you to take brave action now, without waiting for a feeling that was never going to show up on its own. I also get really honest about the difference between the feelings we're entitled to and the ones we have to earn, and why that distinction has changed everything for me this past year, especially when life hasn't gone the way I fought so hard for it to.

If you've ever felt stuck, behind, or like everyone else got a confidence memo that you somehow missed, press play. This one's for you.

Feeling stuck and not even sure what first step to take? Book a free 30-minute clarity call with me and you'll walk away with one action step to get unstuck. Limited spots available each week - grab yours on my calendar here.

And for extra inspiration between episodes, come follow along with me on Instagram @kategladdin.

After seven years of visas, green cards, forms, fees, and sleepless nights, Kate has news. Big news. The kind that comes with a standing ovation, her dad flying in with a day to spare, and one very emotional Aussie standing in a room of 49 other immigrants from 23 different countries.

But that's just the opening pep talk.

Because then Kate gets into something she's been quietly using on herself for months — a simple shift that's pulled her out of more shame spirals than she can count. The one she reaches for when she's left half her wardrobe in a Las Vegas hotel (true story), mind-blanked mid-talk, or said the thing she didn't mean to say to her husband after a long day.

If you're a high achiever, you know the loop. You make a mistake — forget something, fumble your words, send the wrong email, snap at someone you love — and your brain launches straight into: "How could you DO that?!" Then comes the replay. The cringe. The shame spiral that somehow lasts way longer than the mistake itself.

In this episode, Kate's making the case that what you've been told to do in those moments — lean into more confidence, more self-love, more "you're amazing!" — might actually be the reason you can't let it go.

She'll walk you through:

• Why high achievers get stuck in the mistake-replay loop (and what's really going on in your brain)
• The surprising reason confidence isn't the antidote to self-criticism
• The three C's that get you further than confidence ever will
• A simple shift that interrupts the spiral and lets you actually move on
• How learning to laugh at yourself (kindly) makes life dramatically less heavy

If you've been carrying a goal that feels like a twisted spider web, or you've been mentally re-litigating something you said three weeks ago — this one's for you.

Push play. Take a deep breath. And give your brain a break.

Struggling to put this into practice in your own life?

Book a free mini coaching session with Kate. It's not a sales call — it's a real coaching session where Kate will walk you through how to actually apply this work to whatever you're stuck on right now. You'll leave with a clearer head, a practical next step, and the kind of insight most people don't get until they're a few sessions deep with a coach.

Spots are limited — grab yours here: https://www.kategladdin.com/coaching

Ever spilled your coffee, gotten one snippy email, and ten minutes later found yourself catastrophising the entire trajectory of your life?

Yeah. Same.

There's a name for what your brain is doing in those moments — and most of us have no idea it's happening. But once you can spot it, there's a one-sentence flip my coach taught me that changes everything. It pulls you out of the spiral fast, and it works anywhere — in traffic, before a hard conversation, in the middle of a stressful week.

In this episode, I'm calling it The Brain Backflip (still workshopping the name, stick with me) and walking you through exactly how to use it.

This isn't just look on the bright side. This is real, neuroscience-backed, and honestly — kind of fun once you get the hang of it.

Press play. Your brain will thank you.

Want to actually put this work into practice — not just in 10-second moments, but in the bigger stuff too?

I work one-on-one with women navigating grief, transition, divorce, diagnosis, or just a season of life they've outgrown. The stuff your brain spirals on the hardest. Real women, real hard seasons, practical work — not platitudes.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call with me at kategladdin.com/coaching. You'll walk away with clarity on what's keeping you stuck and one shift that could move things forward — whether you decide to work with me or not. No pitch, no pressure. Just a real conversation.

Come find me:

• Instagram: @kategladdin
• Website: kategladdin.com
• Book: Okay, Now What?