Overthinking Out Loud with Dr. Priyanka Venugopal

This week, I'm sharing part three of my TEDx journey, and the part that I believe matters most when you're going after a big goal: what happens when you get rejected.

As an overachiever, rejection can feel like so much more than a simple "no." It can quickly turn into questioning whether you're good enough or whether the goal was ever meant for you in the first place. In this episode, I'm sharing what my TEDx rejections brought up for me, how my 60-pound weight loss journey prepared me for these moments, and the skill I believe every overachiever needs if they want to create a bigger life.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/232

Take the Stress Quiz: https://burnstressloseweight.com/stress

This episode starts with a surprising realization: making the decision to chase a big dream isn't actually the hardest part. The real challenge begins after the excitement fades. In part two of my TEDx journey, I'm sharing the mindset shift that helped me move forward when motivation disappeared, and why this lesson changed not just my TEDx experience, but my weight loss journey too.

If you've ever wondered why you procrastinate on the goals that matter most, or found yourself waiting to "feel motivated" before taking action, this episode will help you see those moments in an entirely new way.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/231

Take the Stress Quiz: https://burnstressloseweight.com/stress

A few years ago, I had a dream that felt way too big, and I almost talked myself out of it before I ever took the first step. In this episode, I'm sharing a milestone I've been waiting months to announce and the mindset shift that finally helped me stop dismissing my own dreams.

This is the first episode in a four-part series that takes you behind the scenes of my TEDx journey. If you've ever had an idea that excited you only to immediately convince yourself it probably wasn't for you, this episode is for you.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/230

Take the Stress Quiz: https://burnstressloseweight.com/stress

We're wrapping up the six-part summer series with the mindset pattern I see most often in the smartest women I work with: wanting to feel completely certain and in control before you take action. It sounds responsible. It even feels productive. But if you've ever spun through every "what if" scenario, you already know what this really is: a time machine that takes you out of the only moment you can actually control, which is right now. In this final bite-sized episode, I'm sharing the exact process I use to get myself out of the loop.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/229

Loving the series? A big announcement is coming to my email list first: http://burnstressloseweight.com/email

If you've ever made a plan on Sunday and thought, "But what if I don't feel like eating that way by Thursday?" and then quietly made no plan at all, this one is for you, friend. In Part 5 of the Success Mindset summer series, I dig into the mindset that keeps so many of us overachievers stuck: the fear of feeling boxed in, and the way that fear quietly hands your most important decisions to the most depleted version of you.

Here's the uncomfortable truth underneath it. The freedom you think you're protecting by "staying flexible" is the very thing draining your time, your energy, and your results. This is a short and sweet episode with a concept that gave me hours of my life back, and it reaches far past the plate.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/228

Loving the series? A big announcement is coming to my email list first: http://burnstressloseweight.com/email

If you're the kind of woman who gets a little hit of satisfaction every time you cross something off your list, this one's for you, friend. Because here's what I've noticed after years of chasing those tiny checkboxes: the small, easy tasks we tell ourselves are "productive" are often the exact thing keeping us from the goal that actually matters. I call it procrasto-working, and overachievers are dangerously good at it.

In part four of our six-part Success Mindset summer series, I'm sharing the shift I personally made that changed how I move through my entire day — starting with the hard thing instead of saving it for a version of me that has more time, more energy, and fewer emails (spoiler: she never arrives). It's a small reorder with a surprisingly big ripple effect, and it's less about discipline than you'd think.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/227

Join my email list: http://burnstressloseweight.com/email

If you're the kind of woman who scans the room to make sure everyone else is comfortable before you even think about yourself, this one is for you. Somewhere along the way, a lot of overachievers picked up a quiet belief: that rest has to be earned. That you can take care of yourself once the to-do list is finally done, once the fires are out, once everyone else is handled. It sounds generous on paper. But in Part 3 of the summer Success Mindset series, Priyanka does the real math on what that belief actually costs you, on the scale and off, and why the version of you that's running on fumes is never the version that gets to show up at your best.

This episode is a permission slip. It's also a little uncomfortable, in the way the most important shifts usually are. If you've ever undone a whole week of wins between Friday and Sunday because you were desperate to squeeze in a break, come sit with this one.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/226

Join my email list: http://burnstressloseweight.com/email

Most overachievers don't fall short of their goals because they lack a plan. They fall short because they're running their life on autopilot — and a goal, by definition, means you want something different than what you have right now. In part two of the Success Mindset series, Priyanka unpacks the sneaky mindset that quietly keeps smart, busy women waiting: the when-then thought. When my calendar clears, then I'll focus on myself. When I finish this to-do list, then I'll take care of my health.

If you've ever caught yourself waiting for the "right time" to recommit, this episode names exactly why that moment never quite arrives — and what to do instead. It's a million-dollar skill that applies on the scale and off, and most overachievers are leaving it completely on the table.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/225

Join my email list: http://burnstressloseweight.com/email

If you've ever caught yourself thinking, "If I can't do it perfectly, why even bother?" — this one's for you, friend.

Welcome to the very first episode of a brand-new summer series, where I'm sharing shorter, more unfiltered, off-the-cuff thoughts on the mindset of success — the gaps I'm watching come up again and again for the overachieving women I coach every single week. We're kicking it off with the barrier I see derail more smart women than almost any other, especially this time of year: all-or-nothing thinking. It's the pattern that quietly convinces you to take your foot all the way off the gas the moment your calendar isn't perfect. And here's the part most overachievers never calculate — it's costing you the wins you could be having right now. In this episode, I'll walk you through where this pattern actually comes from, why it feels so convincing, and the one question that can change everything (without requiring A++ effort).

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/224

Join my email list: http://burnstressloseweight.com/email

If you've ever gotten the A+, the promotion, the passed board exam... and felt good for maybe two days before sprinting toward the next thing, this episode is for you.

This week I'm joined by Dr. Shivana Naidoo, a child and adult psychiatrist I met at a women physicians conference, where her talk hit me so squarely in the heart that I tracked her down afterward and asked her to come on the show. We get into the chase, that hamster wheel so many smart, overachieving women are running without even noticing, because the running has become who we think we are. Shivana shares the moment she realized the system was never going to hand her the credit she was waiting for, and the small, slightly rebellious thing she did about it.

About Dr. Shivana Naidoo:

Dr. Shivana Naidoo, MD is a double board certified Adult Psychiatrist, and Child-Adolescent Psychiatrist, who aims to help her patients and community to know better, do better and feel better. She is the creator/host of the podcast Thinking It Through with Dr. Naidoo- Child Psychiatrist and the founder of DoBetterMD her telehealth private practice. She greatly enjoys working with female professionals and overachieving teens in her practice. She is currently an Attending at the Bradley REACH Virtual Partial Psychiatric Hospital Program, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She also serves as the Lead Psychiatrist for the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program, an initiative to support primary care providers to address the current mental health care crisis in the state of Arizona. In 2025, she was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In February 2026, she was chosen as a speaker for the Women Physician Wellness Conference Climb in Cayman Islands. She is a proud New Yorker who has relocated to Chandler, Arizona. When she is not working as a physician, speaker or podcaster, she enjoys reading stories to her 2 boys, writing songs, and playing guitar.

Resources:

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.burnstressloseweight.com/223

Learn more about the Restore Retreat: https://burnstressloseweight.com/retreat

Dr. Shivana Naidoo podcast: https://www.dobettermd.com/podcast

Connect with Dr. Shivana Naidoo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.shivana.naidoo/