What If It All Works Out (Even If It Doesn’t)?

What do you do when something that matters deeply to you is completely outside of your control?

In today’s episode, Trisha shares a personal coaching experience that challenged her in unexpected ways. During a season of deep distress, her coach posed a question that initially felt dismissive and even unsettling:

What if you decided to believe that in five years, it would all work out?

This episode explores why that question felt so uncomfortable, what it revealed about control and emotional responsibility, and how loosening our grip on outcomes can create space for growth—even when situations don’t resolve the way we hope.

Rather than offering a tidy, “everything worked out perfectly” ending, Trisha reflects honestly on how some things actually became harder, while her capacity to face them grew stronger. This conversation is an invitation to hold two truths at once: acknowledging what is hard right now, while allowing room for hope that things won’t always feel this way.

This episode is especially for you if:

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Key takeaway:
Letting yourself believe that things won’t always be this hard doesn’t invalidate what you’re going through right now. Hope and hardship can coexist—and sometimes hope simply looks like choosing to breathe and take the next day as it comes.

If this episode resonates, take a moment to reflect on what you might be holding that was never yours to carry.

Thanks for listening, friend.

There’s a pond down the road from my house that I pass every single day.
For years, I’ve commented on how low the water is… and how bad I feel for the ducks.

But one small shift in perspective changed everything.

In this episode, I share how a simple observation turned into a powerful reminder: our thoughts are just sentences in our brain—and not all of them are true. Facts are neutral. The stories we tell about them are what shape how we feel.

This is a gentle, story-driven conversation about noticing when we’re projecting meaning, practicing emotional reactions without realizing it, and learning how to separate what is from what we’re telling ourselves about what is.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in a heavy story, this episode will invite you to pause, get curious, and reconsider what might actually be true.

In this episode, we explore:

A question to sit with after listening:

Where in your life might the facts be neutral—even if the situation feels low?

Thanks for being here, friend.

Choosing a Better Experience Without Changing Your Circumstances

What if nothing about your life needs to change… but the way you experience it could?

In this episode, Trisha shares a simple story about buying a bottle of nail polish and how that small choice revealed a powerful truth about mindset, intention, and everyday life.

The result was the same product.
The experience was completely different.

This conversation explores how much of our daily satisfaction, joy, and presence comes not from our circumstances, but from how we frame them—and how we can learn to elevate ordinary moments without waiting for life to become “more.”

If you’ve ever felt like others seem to enjoy life more than you do, this episode is a gentle reminder: you’re not missing anything. You may just need a new lens.

This episode is for anyone who wants life to feel a little more meaningful without adding more to their plate.

Thanks for being here, friend.

How to Meet Familiar Thought Patterns with New Tools

Have you ever noticed old thoughts or beliefs resurfacing and thought,
“I thought I already dealt with this”?

In this episode, Trisha shares a real and honest look at what mind management actually looks like in everyday life. Not the polished version, but the messy, human version that happens when routines are disrupted, stress piles up, and familiar thought patterns come roaring back.

Using a recent client conversation and a personal story, Trisha reminds us that learning to manage your mind doesn’t mean negative thoughts stop showing up. It means you learn how to decide which thoughts get to stay.

This episode is an encouraging reminder that struggling with familiar thoughts doesn’t mean you’re failing or going backward. It means you’re practicing.

If you’re finding yourself discouraged by thoughts you thought you had already outgrown, this episode will help you understand what’s happening and give you practical ways to respond with steadiness and self trust.

You are not back at the beginning.
You are learning how to meet old patterns with new tools.

Thanks for listening, friend.

Outgrowing Beliefs That Once Made Sense

We all carry stories about who we are. Many of them were formed early in life through family dynamics, school experiences, and the subtle messages we absorbed as children. At the time, those beliefs often helped us feel safe, accepted, or understood.

But what happens when those stories no longer fit the person we’ve become?

In this episode of Running to Myself, Trisha explores the idea of identity and how old beliefs can quietly shape our adult lives long after they’ve stopped serving us. Using a simple but powerful analogy, she invites listeners to examine whether they’re still wearing “beliefs” that belong to a much earlier version of themselves.

This conversation is especially relevant if you’ve ever found yourself saying things like “That’s just who I am” or “I’ve always been this way” and wondering why growth feels harder than it should.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Reflection Question:

What belief about yourself might you have outgrown, even if it once made sense?

Take a few quiet moments after listening to notice what comes up. No fixing. No judging. Just awareness.

If this episode resonated with you, consider sharing it with someone who might be feeling stuck in an old story. Growth often begins with a single, honest look inward.

Thanks for being here, friend.

Episode Title:
The Bug, the Rollerblades, and the Big What-If
What Fear Teaches Us About the Stories We Believe

Episode Description:
In this episode, Trisha shares a simple, tender story about her granddaughter learning to rollerblade and the unexpected fear that almost stopped her progress. What starts as a moment with a bug at the park becomes a powerful illustration of how fear works in all of us.

This conversation explores how fear often grows before anything actually goes wrong, how “what if” thinking pulls us out of the present moment, and how learning to stay grounded can gently expand our capacity to keep going. This episode is an invitation to notice the stories fear tells and to practice staying with yourself when fear shows up.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear About:
• A real-life story that reveals how quickly fear can shift our focus and shrink our world
• The difference between what is actually happening and what we fear might happen
• Why fear often feels reasonable, even when it isn’t rooted in reality
• How fear shows up physically in the body, not just in our thoughts
• The way avoidance teaches the brain to make fear louder over time
• Why courage isn’t about eliminating fear, but about staying present with it
• How small moments of awareness can interrupt fear-driven patterns
• What it means to take “one more lap” instead of quitting early

Key Takeaways:
• Fear often lives in the future, not the present
• What if thoughts feel convincing, but they are still just stories
• Staying grounded in what is happening right now reduces fear’s power
• You don’t need certainty to keep moving forward
• Progress happens through attention, not guarantees

Reflection Questions:
• Where in my life am I reacting to what might happen instead of what is happening now
• What story is fear telling me in this situation
• How does fear show up in my body when it takes over
• What would it look like to stay present instead of pulling away
• What is one small step I could take without needing everything to feel safe or certain

Closing Thought:
Fear doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. Often, it means you’re standing at the edge of growth. You don’t have to get rid of fear to move forward. You just have to notice it and decide who gets to steer.

Connect With Trisha:
If this episode resonated with you and you want support learning how to work with your thoughts instead of fighting them, you can learn more about coaching and sign up for weekly encouragement at:
Join My Email List!

Thanks for listening and for being here.

Running to Myself with Trisha Stanton

In today’s episode, we’re exploring one of the most transformational shifts we can make in our lives: choosing courageous responsibility over a victim mindset.

This isn’t about blame or shame.
It isn’t about perfection.
It’s about reclaiming your power to influence what happens next.

We’ll talk about:

You’ll hear how this mindset builds trust in yourself, reduces emotional stress, and creates momentum, even in the middle of hard circumstances.

Three Ways to Practice Courageous Responsibility:

“Your past doesn’t decide your future.
Your choices today do.”

Pick one area of your life, even something tiny, and practice courageous responsibility by taking one intentional step forward.

You don’t have to do everything.
Just do something.
And watch what begins to change.

Thanks for listening, friend.
If this episode encouraged you, it would mean the world if you shared it with someone else who might need this conversation today.

This week on Running to Myself, we’re stepping into one of the quietest and most mysterious stretches of the year, the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The world slows down, routines loosen, and time feels a little bit wobbly. Some people soak in the softness of it, while others feel the weight of the quiet. Wherever you find yourself, this episode holds space for you.

In today’s conversation, I share:
• why this “in-between week” can stir up so many different emotions
• how my own experience of these days has shifted over the years
• the surprising place I found my deepest reflection this season
• the emotional layers behind letting go — even of small things
• how to gently discern what still fits in your life and what no longer does
• an invitation to honor who you were and create space for who you’re becoming

This episode is slow, cozy, and reflective, a soft landing as we close one year and prepare to step into another. Whether you’re surrounded by loved ones, traveling, savoring the quiet, or navigating loneliness, I hope it meets you right where you are.

Takeaways:
• The in-between week mirrors the transition happening inside us.
• Letting go is rarely about the item, it’s about the identity, memory, or season attached to it.
• Not every quiet moment is loneliness; not every restful moment feels restful.
• Reflection doesn’t require pressure, it just requires presence.
• You’re not behind, and you’re not doing this week “wrong.” You’re simply in the in-between.

A gentle reflection prompt for this week:
Ask yourself: Does this still belong in the life I’m building?
If the answer is no, let the release be soft, slow, and loving.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. And thank you for walking into the new year with me.

If this episode resonated with you:
Share it with a friend who might need a little comfort during this tender week.
And if you haven’t joined my email list yet, you can do that at trishastanton.com/signup for weekly encouragement and mindset support.

Here’s to the in-between and all the gentle gifts it brings.

In this episode of Running to Myself, Trisha brings back one of her all-time favorite Christmas memories, a story some listeners may remember, but one that is absolutely worth hearing again. What starts as a nostalgic trip back to childhood traditions becomes a powerful lesson about unmet expectations, perspective, and the surprising gifts that often reveal themselves long after the moment has passed.

Trisha shares the now-legendary “year of the dictionary,” a Christmas Eve surprise that fell painfully short of childhood hopes… and yet became the one gift her entire family still treasures, laughs about, and retells decades later. Through this story, she invites us to reconsider the moments in our own lives that didn’t go the way we planned  and to look for the hidden gifts that only time and perspective can show us.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Key Themes:

A Reflection for You:

Think of one moment in your life where you didn’t get what you wanted and yet, looking back, it became a turning point. A blessing in disguise. A gift you couldn’t have predicted.

Let that memory remind you that today’s disappointment might be tomorrow’s unexpected gift.

If this episode resonates…

Be sure to follow the show so you never miss an episode, and feel free to share it with someone who might enjoy this story or need this perspective today.

You can find more about Trisha, her coaching, and additional resources at trishastanton.com.

If the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year’s feel overwhelming, stressful, or heavy, you’re not alone. In this episode, Trisha shares five practical mindset tools to help you release holiday pressure, reset your expectations, and create a season you actually enjoy.

Instead of chasing the “perfect” Christmas, this conversation invites you to shift your focus to what matters most: how you want to feel. Through personal stories, coaching insights, and gentle encouragement, Trisha helps you see that you can create your own joy, no matter what circumstances you’re navigating.

This isn’t about doing more.
It’s about thinking differently and finding freedom in the process.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

The Five Tools You’ll Learn:

A Reflection for You:

What would your holiday feel like if you let go of the “shoulds,” the pressure, and the old expectations…
and instead chose joy on purpose?

This episode will help you take the first step.

If this resonates…

Be sure to follow Running to Myself so you never miss an episode.
And if you know someone who needs a little relief and perspective this season, feel free to share it with them.

You can find more about Trisha, her coaching, and ways to connect at trishastanton.com.