The Distracted Dreamer

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

I almost pushed to hit 100 episodes just so the number would sound better. And then I remembered what I tell you all the time: you don't keep going on something that isn't serving you anymore. So here's episode 97, the last one. 

Listen to hear the honest story of what this podcast actually taught me about my own dream.

3 Key Take Aways:

1️⃣ Sometime the thing you're doing isn't the destination, it's the thing before your dream.

2️⃣ You can grieve something and still know it's time to let it go.

3️⃣ Something can succeed completely and still be finished. 

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

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Send Carlene a text or voicemail

Have you ever left a conversation and felt like you just needed to go decompress? And then another time, you talk to someone for twenty minutes and walk away lit up, ready to take on your whole day?

Same amount of time. Completely different experience.

This week I'm digging into something I've started calling Relationship ROI — the return you actually get on the people you spend your time and energy on. Turns out there's real research behind why some people leave you fuller and others leave you running on empty.

And if you want more of that good energy in your life, I'm going to give you three simple ways to build it in. And when you do, you'll see how that energy turns into you making real strides on the dreams you've only imagined so far. Because you've heard it before, you are who you surround yourself with.

3 Key Takeaways:

• The people you spend your energy on are shaping more than just your week. They're shaping what you believe is possible for you.
• Every relationship in your life has value, even the ones that aren't your biggest cheerleaders — you just get to decide where you put your energy.
• It's never too late to find your people, those who get you and what you're building.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

If you grew up hearing "you'll figure it out," "life isn't fair," or "just do your best," this episode is for you, my friend. Those words made us strong — but a lot of us also learned to say "I'm fine" when we weren't, and just keep going anyway. 

Today I'm sharing three lessons that could genuinely change how you live the next year of your life, not just how you think about it. 

And yes, there's actual brain science on why small kept promises to yourself matter more than any big overhaul ever will. 

By the end, you're picking one specific hour you're taking back this week. Not someday — this week.

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1️⃣ You'll feel the relief of naming what "I'm fine" has actually been costing you.

2️⃣ You'll realize being busy and building the life you want are not the same thing.

3️⃣ You'll walk away knowing exactly which hour is yours to take back.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

BECOME THE MOM THEY WANT TO CALL

You love your adult kids. But somewhere along the way the conversations got harder. You second-guess everything before you say it. You replay it after. Some days you say too much and can feel them pull back. Other days you say nothing at all, because nothing feels safe enough. And the quiet between you keeps growing in a way that scares you a little.

You're using the only script you've ever known, and it was written for a different season.

In this episode I walk you through 4 of the most common conversations our adult kids come to us with, and what happens when we lead and try to fix it like we did when they were young kids, versus how we can learn to walk beside them instead as adults. I think you'll recognize yourself in at least one of them.

3 Key Takeaways:

 1️⃣ You still think you're supposed to have the answer. Letting go of that might be the thing that actually helps them most. 

2️⃣ Watching them make the wrong call and staying quiet anyway might be the hardest thing you do all week. 

3️⃣ You're not the mom you used to be, and some days that catches you off guard more than you'd admit.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

We don't talk about this enough: the years after raising kids, after caregiving, after decades of showing up for everyone else — those years are not the winding down. They are not the epilogue. They are a new chapter opening, and it might just be the most powerful one of your life.

You are not who you were in your thirties. You are wiser. You have less patience for what doesn't matter and more clarity about what does. You've lived through enough to know that time is not infinite — and that is not a sad thing. That is a clarifying thing.

So what are you going to do with that clarity?

That's what this episode is about. I walk you through what it really means to lead yourself in this season: claiming your dreams, advocating for your health, and showing up as the woman you've been becoming all along. You’ll learn three simple daily practices to start leading your own life on purpose, starting today, because someday is now.

💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: 
1️⃣ What self-leadership actually looks like when your body, your dreams, and your identity are all shifting at once
2️⃣ The clarity you've earned through everything you've lived? That's your superpower.
3️⃣ When you choose yourself in this season, the people watching you learn what's possible — that's a legacy

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

We're more than halfway through the year, and if I'm honest, I'm not as far along on my dreams as I thought I'd be by now. Maybe you're right there with me.

So today, we're going back to the basics I talked about almost two years ago.

• What consistency really is.
• How getting impatient with results sets you back, and what to do instead.
• How mindset isn't a feeling, it's a decision.
• Why waiting to feel like it isn't a strategy.
• The true value of fifteen minutes every day.
• And how to finally trust yourself to follow through.

3 Key Takeaways From This Episode:

1️⃣ You'll realize there's never a perfect time to start.
2️⃣ You'll know you can show up imperfectly and still make progress.
3️⃣ You'll recognize the moment where most people quit, right before it would've paid off

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

What if the biggest predictor of your health at 80 has nothing to do with cholesterol or exercise, and everything to do with how satisfied you are with your relationships at the age of 50?

Real human connection, not chatting in the comments on social media, isn't just nice to have. It's tied to how long and how well we live and I’m sharing the research with you.

A check-in from a friend is the best remedy when you're going through a tough time. And you can be that friend who checks in on others too.

Today, we're talking about the two thoughts that are quietly stopping you from checking in on the people you love and why we hold back. You'll learn three small simple shifts that will make the check-ins feel like care instead of pressure.

I'm also breaking down exactly why "let me know if you need anything" is adding to the load someone is already carrying instead of feeling like comfort and what to do instead.

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE 

1️⃣ You don’t need a reason to tell someone you care about them.

2️⃣ Someone you care about needs to know someone (AKA You) is thinking of them. 

3️⃣ The "Been thinking about you" text is the beginning of the conversation someone needs.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

Have you been more focused on the effort of your dream lately than the fun of it? Are you constantly replaying that soundtrack of, "This is hard, like, so much harder than I thought," or, "This is taking so much longer than I thought it would"?

If you find yourself wondering how you ever thought your dream was going to be fun, you are in the right place today. Because today we're talking about how effort and fun, they actually go hand in hand when you're doing the reps to bring your dream to life.

We tend to assume that if something is worth doing, it should feel light — and the second it doesn't, we panic. But there's real research on this, and it says the opposite of what we assume. It's called the effort paradox, and it explains why the hardest part of your dream might be exactly what makes the reward feel real.

I'm also bringing in the IKEA effect — a study on why we love the things we build with our own hands, and the one condition that has to be true for that love to actually stick. Plus a simple seven-minute journaling exercise to help you find the fun again when it's gone quiet on you.

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

1️⃣"This is hard, and this is fun." Two things, both true, at the same time. 

2️⃣ The fun has to be findable. That's the test. 

3️⃣ The more effort you put in, the more it's going to mean to you when it's done.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

You know that great year you had with your spouse? The one where things finally felt easy? Somewhere in there, date night disappeared, conversations turned into scheduling logistics, and that loving feeling faded. You got comfortable. Things were fine, even good. And somewhere along the way you stopped doing the things that created it. That's complacency. And it happens to all of us, in our relationships, money, jobs, and dreams.

Today, we're talking about the difference between complacency and vigilance. We'll do the math on what it's costing you to be complacent and how to stay vigilant and enjoy the good place you're in at the same time.

You'll answer five questions to help you see where in your life complacency has quietly snuck in and catch it before you get surprised if and when everything goes sideways.

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE 

1️⃣ The things that got you to a good place — the check-ins, the effort, the attention — are the same things you have to keep doing once you're there. 

2️⃣ Vigilance isn't about being fearful. It's about being watchful so you keep the momentum going. 

3️⃣ A good year is a data point, not a finish line.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website 

Send Carlene a text or voicemail

Have you ever stayed in a dream, a job, a project, or even a relationship just because of how much you've already invested?

In today's episode, we're talking about the sunk cost fallacy — the sneaky trap that convinces you that walking away means everything you already gave was wasted. It wasn't. And staying just to prove it wasn't wasted might be costing you more than you realize.

I'll walk you through five questions to help you know whether you're moving forward because you believe in it, or staying stuck because of what it cost you to get here.

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:

1️⃣ The real cost of staying isn't what you spent — it's what it's taking from you right now.

2️⃣ Quitting something doesn't erase what it taught you.

3️⃣ You're allowed to grieve something and still know it's time to let it go.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: The Tuesday Letter with Carlene right here

Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene

Schedule a Complimentary Coaching call here.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE

Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW NOW
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now!

Episode Website