Episode Summary:

After eight weeks of exploring the seasons of career transition, the weight of “shoulds,” and the power of aligned decision-making, we’re closing Season 1 with an honest, grounded conversation about what becomes possible when you stop fighting where you are - and start honoring it.

In this final episode of the season, I reflect on the journey we’ve taken together, shares real stories from women in the RNTM community, and reveals the patterns she’s witnessing as listeners begin practicing alignment in their daily lives.

I also walk through the five practices that help you stay aligned long after the season ends and what’s next for the podcast as it moves through its own Integration season.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “behind”… this episode was made for you.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The biggest insights from Season 1 including the moments that shifted everything for listeners

• What alignment actually looks like in real life with stories from women navigating Recovery, Reinvention, and Integration

• How to recognize misalignment and why clarity often appears the moment you stop fighting your season

The five ongoing practices of aligned decision-making

• Download all the Season 1 tools for free:
  Season Identification GuideShould Audit WorksheetCapacity AssessmentCare Priority ToolThe 4 Cs FrameworkSeason 1 Reflection Worksheet

• What Shannon is witnessing in this community right nowand why she’s giving the podcast time to integrate before deciding on Season 2

• Why you’re not behind — you’re becomingand how this truth anchors every part of the RNTM framework

🎟️ Register for the January 14 Workshop

How to Quiet the Shoulds and Find Clarity in Your Career Transition

A 1 hour live session where you’ll:• Identify your current career transition season• Distinguish your voice from inherited expectations• Walk away with one clear, aligned next step

Save your spot →workshop.rightnowthismatters.com

Join the Right Now This Matters Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1786526718651454

Download the Complete 4 Cs Framework Guide here:

https://rntm.kit.com/cc87690745

Connect with me:

⁠@shannonmacey_rntm

www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/

If You Enjoyed This Episode…

Please share it with someone who is stuck in shoulds or struggling to name their season. Your story might be the bridge that helps them find their own clarity.

And if this podcast has supported your transition, the most meaningful way to say thank you is to leave a review. It helps more women find this work.

Episode Quote to Remember:

“You’re not behind. You’re becoming

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Episode Summary:
This episode brings everything from Season 1 together into one practical, powerful framework. After learning about the seasons of transition, navigating shoulds, and identifying your own patterns, you’ll now discover the complete decision-making model Shannon uses personally and teaches inside her work: The 4 Cs — Clarity, Capacity, Care, and Choice.

This episode walks you step-by-step through how to make aligned decisions—ones that honor where you actually are, what you truly have available, and what genuinely matters. No willpower. No forcing. No white-knuckling your way through expectations that don’t fit your reality.

Adapted from the full Episode 7 script , this episode helps you shift from pressure-based decision-making to season-informed, energy-aligned clarity that you can use again and again.

What You’ll Learn

• Why willpower is a terrible long-term strategy for making meaningful decisions

• How to use Clarity to identify your current season so you don’t build from the wrong place

• How Capacity shifts the conversation from “Do I have time?” to “Do I have the energy?”

• How Care helps you determine what gets full attention, what can be good enough, what runs on autopilot, and what you release

• Why Choice is where transformation actually happens — and how to make aligned choices even when they’re uncomfortable

• A full walk-through example of using the 4 Cs to decide whether to accept a new job after a layoff

Resources Mentioned

Inside the Right Now, This Matters Facebook group, you’ll find:

• The Complete 4 Cs Framework Guide

Call to Action

Choose one decision you’re facing right now — big or small.
Walk it through the 4 Cs using the guide in the FB group (or download it here: https://rntm.kit.com/cc87690745)

Then share your insights inside the group if you feel comfortable.

Your season matters. Your energy matters. Your choices matter.

Join the Right Now This Matters Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1786526718651454

Connect with me:

@shannonmacey_rntm

www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Episode Summary:
In today’s episode, we’re digging into one of the most universal tensions in any life transition: the internal conflict that happens when the season you’re actually in clashes with the expectations you think you should follow.

Whether you’re craving rest but feel like you should be productive, wanting exploration while others want a plan, or needing time to integrate while the world pushes you to “move on,” this episode gives language and compassion to that experience.

Drawing from the seasonal framework introduced throughout the show, Shannon helps you identify the season you’re truly in, name the “shoulds” that are weighing on you, and begin making decisions that honor your real capacity instead of inherited expectations. This conversation is an invitation to stop fighting yourself and start walking in alignment again.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why the hardest part of transition isn’t change — it’s the tension between energy and expectations

• The most common clashes between seasons (Recovery, Reinvention, Integration)

• How to identify what season you’re truly in

• How to recognize the “invisible shoulds” shaping your decisions

• A simple practice to begin aligning your choices with your current reality

Key Moments:

• The perfect storm of exhaustion: the cost of fighting yourself

• Season vs. Should: how misalignment creates shame and confusion

• Identifying your real season: what your body, energy, and emotions are trying to tell you

• Rewriting the shoulds: a gentle framework for honoring your right-now season

ResourcesJoin the Right Now This Matters Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1786526718651454

There you'll find the Season vs Shoulds Worksheet@shannonmacey_rntm
www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/

After listening, take two minutes to identify:

1. The season you’re truly in

2. The loudest “should” you’re ready to challenge

Share your takeaway with me on Instagram or in the RNTM Facebook group. I’d love to hear what season you're navigating.

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

⭐ Episode Summary

Integration Season is one of the trickiest transitions because it asks you to hold multiple truths at the same time. You’ve outgrown your old identity, but the new one isn’t fully formed. You’re moving forward, but you’re still making sense of everything that’s happened.

In today’s episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on my own Integration Season: what it looks like, why it feels disorienting, and the five major areas I’m actively integrating right now. We’ll talk through how Integration differs from the other seasons, why the messy middle is essential, and what this season actually needs from you.

If you’ve ever felt caught between who you were and who you’re becoming, this one will feel like a deep breath.

⭐ In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

What Integration Season actually is (and isn’t)

Why clarity takes longer during Integration

The 5 parts of my life I’m actively integrating right now

How to tell if you’re in Integration, Recovery, Reinvention, Redirection, or Rebuilding

Why the messy middle feels uncomfortable, and why that discomfort matters

The difference between Integration and avoidance

How to experiment your way into clarity

What Integration requires: time, space, reflection, support, and both/and thinking

⭐ Episode Highlights:

“Integration isn’t confusion. It’s becoming.”

“You can experiment your way into clarity.”

“Holding grief and excitement at the same time is a sign you’re integrating.”

“You’re not stuck, you’re synthesizing.

⭐ Download the Free Integration Season GuideWant help making sense of your own Integration Season? Download the free resource inside the community:
⭐ Connect with Me:Join the RNTM podcast Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1786526718651454

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/

New episodes every Monday

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

So many of the expectations shaping our choices never originated with us. They're inherited, absorbed, and repeated, quietly influencing how we move through our days and how we navigate each season of transition. In this episode, Shannon uncovers the invisible “shoulds” running your life, where they come from, and how they clash with the season you're actually in. You’ll learn a simple three-step Should Audit to help you see your patterns with clarity and compassion.

Whether you’re in Recovery, Reinvention, or Integration, this episode will help you notice the pressures you’ve been carrying, and begin loosening their grip.

In This Episode, We Explore:

1. The Invisible Drivers

Why “should” thoughts feel like responsibility, even when they’re inherited scripts we never agreed to.
How Shannon discovered her own subconscious timelines during her layoff and entry into Integration season.

2. Where Shoulds Come FromHow family systems, culture, workplaces, and social media create internal pressure long before we’re old enough to question it.

3. Shoulds vs. Your Actual Season

How each season—Recovery, Reinvention, Integration—has needs that often directly conflict with your conditioned expectations.

4. The Should Audit (3-Step Process)A practical framework to help you identify, sort, and begin releasing the expectations that no longer serve you.

5. The Power of QuestioningWhy questioning one “should” at a time can create space, clarity, and self-trust.

Key Takeaways

• Most of your shoulds are inherited scripts, not personal truth.
• When a should conflicts with your season, your season will always win—eventually.
• Awareness is the first step. You can’t challenge a pattern you haven’t named.

✨ Download the Should Audit Worksheet inside the Right Now This Matters Facebook Community
✨ Connect with Shannon on LinkedIn for weekly reflections and tools
✨ Missed the episode on Recovery season? Listen to Episode 3 here.

Join the Conversation

Inside our Facebook community, share the “should” you’re questioning this week. Your reflection often gives another woman language for what she’s been carrying, too.

Download the Should Audit Worksheet in the Facebook group, share what surfaced for you today, and hit Subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s episode on the truth about Integration season.

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Feeling guilty for needing to slow down? This episode reframes Recovery as strategic work—not failure. Shannon unpacks why “doing less” can be the most productive choice, how to handle timeline pressure, and five practical tools to honor your capacity (without the shame spiral). If your body’s whispering “slow” while your calendar screams “go,” this one’s for you. What You’ll Learn

• Why rest feels like failure (and how to reframe it as strategy)

• The difference between restoration and distraction

• How to spot and step away from timeline pressure and “bounce back” culture

• The real meaning of productivity in Recovery

• Five tools to navigate this season with clarity and grace

Key Takeaways

✨ Rest is strategic. If it replenishes capacity today or protects capacity tomorrow, it counts.
✨ Speed restores appearances. Wisdom restores capacity.
✨ Recovery meanders — and that’s not a malfunction.
✨ Your season. Your timeline. Full stop.
✨ Some days, a shower is a deliverable.

Five Tools for Recovery Season

1️⃣ Today’s Capacity Score (1–10): Plan your day to match your capacity. If you’re a 4, don’t plan for a 9.
2️⃣ No-Apology No’s: “That doesn’t work for me in this season.”
3️⃣ Recovery Wins List: Walk instead of scroll. Eat real food. Rest without guilt.
4️⃣ One Tiny Routine: Choose one habit for 30 days—morning tea before phone, a 10-minute walk, or Sunday rest day.
5️⃣ Find Your 1–3: One to three people who don’t rush you—therapist, friend, or community.

Related ResourcesFree 15-Minute Assessment: What Season Are You In?
Identify whether you’re in Recovery, Reinvention, Redirection, Integration, or Rebuilding—and learn what your current season actually needs from you.

Connect with Shannon: LinkedIn | Instagram

Recovery isn’t weakness—it’s wisdom. You’re not behind; you’re rebuilding. And rest might just be the most productive thing you do right now.

Subscribe to Right Now, This Matters for conversations and reflections that help you navigate life’s changing seasons—one Monday at a time.TAGSburnout recovery, resilience, rest and productivity, sustainable work, nervous system, capacity, boundaries, slow living, mental health, women in leadership

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Episode Description

Not all transitions are the same. So why are we holding ourselves to the same timeline?

In this episode, we explore the 5 Seasons of Transition—a framework that helps you stop measuring yourself by wrong expectations and start honoring where you actually are.

You'll learn:

• Why seasonal thinking dissolves guilt and creates clarity
• The 5 distinct types of transition and what each needs
• How to identify which season you're in right now
• What to do when you're in multiple seasons simultaneously

Whether you're healing from burnout, exploring new directions, making adjustments, bringing parts of yourself together, or starting over—this episode helps you name your season and understand what it needs.

The 5 Seasons

Recovery - Healing from burnout, loss, or difficult experiences. Needs: Rest, boundaries, permission to go slow.

Reinvention - Exploring new directions and questioning old identities. Needs: Curiosity, experimentation, tolerance for uncertainty.

Redirection - Adjusting course while staying in similar territory. Needs: Strategic thinking, measured adjustments.

Integration - Bringing together different parts of yourself. Needs: Time to reflect, both/and thinking, patience.

Rebuilding - Starting over after major life change. Needs: Foundation-first thinking, sustainable pace, intentionality.

"When you name your season, you stop measuring yourself by the wrong timeline. You give yourself permission to need what you actually need."

Resources

Download the Season Identification Guide—a 15-minute assessment to identify your season and what it needs.https://rntm.kit.com/13aaf95912LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/Email: [email protected]Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17FxWjrFh7/

Next Episode

Episode 3: Recovery Season—When Rest is the Work

New episodes every Monday.

Subscribe & ReviewLove the show? Leave a review on Apple or Spotify Podcasts—it helps other women find these conversations.

Right Now, This Matters • You're not behind. You're becoming.

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Description

On my 50th birthday, I realized I wanted to build my life around being present for my daughter. Three months later, I was laid off for the second time in two years. Instead of devastation, I felt relief—because I finally had permission to build something different.

This is the story of how Right Now, This Matters was born—not from having it all figured out, but from needing a framework to navigate my own messy transition.

What You'll Learn

• The 50th birthday realization that changed everything
• Why "both/and" matters more than "either/or" (ambition AND presence)
• What happened when I was laid off twice in under two years
• The identity crisis of losing a 24-year career and corporate title
• How the five seasons of transition framework emerged from my own confusion
• Why being in multiple seasons at once is normal, not confusion
• The trap of waiting for proof before committing

Key Moments

[1:36] The 50th birthday clarity: "I want to build my life around being present for my daughter"

[4:07] The second layoff: "I wasn't devastated. I felt relief."

[7:13] The shift: "I was waiting for proof before committing. You can't get proof without commitment."

[11:57] How the framework was born: "What if we're not behind? What if we're just in different seasons?"

The Five Seasons (Preview)

1. Recovery - Healing from burnout/loss (focus: rest)
2. Reinvention - Exploring new directions (focus: experimentation)
3. Redirection - Adjusting course (focus: fine-tuning)
4. Integration - Bringing parts together (focus: making sense)
5. Rebuilding - Starting over (focus: new foundations)

This Episode Is For You If...You're navigating job loss, questioning your career path, dealing with burnout, trying to balance ambition with presence, or stuck between who you were and who you're becoming.

ResourcesFree Download: The Clarity Starter Kit - 15-minute assessment to identify your season→ https://rntm.kit.com/13aaf95912Connect: Find Shannon Macey on LinkedIn for daily insights on transitions and aligned decision-making: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/

Coming Up

• Ep 2: The Five Seasons (In Depth)

• Ep 3: Recovery Season
• Ep 4: The Shoulds Running Your Life
• Ep 5: Integration Season
• Ep 6: When Seasons Clash with Shoulds

Subscribe & ShareNew episodes every Monday. Leave a review if this resonated—it helps other women in transition find these conversations.

"You're not behind. You're becoming."

Keywordscareer transition, job loss, layoff, burnout, mid-career change, work-life balance, motherhood and career, seasonal framework, aligned decisions, leaving corporate

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

On my 50th birthday, I realized I wanted the second half of my life to look different — to build a life centered on being present for my daughter.
Three months later, I was laid off for the second time in two years.
Instead of devastation, I felt relief — because I finally had permission to build something new.

I’m Shannon Macey, former VP turned founder, and I created Right Now This Matters — a podcast about career transitions that don’t follow the script.

Not all transitions are the same.
Some need rest. Others need experimentation. Some need strategic adjustments or complete rebuilds. But most advice treats every transition like it’s identical.

What if you’re not behind — you’re just holding yourself to the wrong timeline?

Launching November 4th, Right Now This Matters is an 8-episode series exploring the five seasons of career transition — Recovery, Reinvention, Redirection, Integration, and Rebuilding — and how to make aligned decisions when your measuring stick just broke.

Subscribe now wherever you listen.
You’re not behind. You’re becoming.

Follow me:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/

@shannonmacey_rntm

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought

Artist: http://incompetech.com/