Unblocked

I have a rule: if somebody's going to be disappointed by my decisions, let it not be me.

In this episode, I'm talking about one of the most common reasons smart, capable people hold back — the fear of being disappointed. Aka, a feeling.

Protecting yourself from disappointment doesn't actually protect you. It just moves the disappointment earlier. You're already deciding you can't have what you want.

In this episode I cover:

• Why "lowering your goal so you're not disappointed" is still disappointing yourself
• The real questions to ask when you're holding back
• My SPACE framework for actually feeling your feelings 
• The thought work piece
• Why "having your back" is one of the most strategic things you can do

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

RESOURCES:

• Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit (chapter 6 goes in depth on emotional freedom)
• Click here for the Free the Feelings video and worksheets I mentioned
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community - join the group and drop your questions from the pod

WANT MORE SUPPORT?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

STAY CONNECTED:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

You're watching someone else do the thing you want to do, and they're doing it better than you. So your brain, being your brain, lands on "well, that must mean I suck."

In this episode, I unpack why comparison doesn't have to mean what you think it means and why "they're better than me" doesn't have to end with "so I'm terrible."

In this episode you'll hear my personal example plus the client conversation that sparked the whole episode.

What you'll take away:

• Why someone being better at something than you doesn't mean you're not good
• How to use comparison as data instead of a problem
• The question to ask yourself before you go looking for what they do better
• Why zero-sum thinking tanks your growth

If comparison tends to put you in a spiral, this one's for you.

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

RESOURCES:

• Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

WANT MORE SUPPORT?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

STAY CONNECTED:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

A few weeks ago, my guest and I were in the same room in Austin for Rachel Hollis's Rise Elevate conference. Today we're unpacking what actually happened including the honest parts that not every would say out loud.

This is a real conversation between two women who showed up nervous, got cracked open, and came home with more than they expected. 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What it actually feels like to walk into a room full of strangers and try to be brave...even when you're a confident, high-achieving woman
• The writing exercise that created an aha moment
• Why Rachel pricing drama is one of the most relatable things she shared from stage and what it means for every woman who's ever undercharged
• "There are no fairy godmothers," Asia's keynote philosophy and the 2026 goal she called out loud
• What actually keeps the conference magic alive after you go home -- It's less sexy than you think
• "Something doesn't have to be wrong for it to not be right for you" -- a note on outgrowing rooms, relationships, and containers

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

RESOURCES:

• Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

WANT MORE SUPPORT?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

STAY CONNECTED:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

ABOUT ASIA GENTRY Asia Gentry is a speaker and resilience advocate whose keynote, There Are No Fairy Godmothers, is about doing the hard thing without waiting to be rescued. Find her on Instagram: @as.told.by.asia

Let's Get Unblocked!

You submitted the questions. I answered them, including one I had to coach myself through two hours before hitting record.

This episode covers four listener questions on the stuff that actually keeps people stuck: the cycle of chasing confidence through goals that never deliver it, people-pleasing that survives every book and podcast and therapy session, how coaches get out of their own heads, and what to do when life feels too good to be true.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why saying "I am a people pleaser" is part of what's keeping you stuck 
• Arrival Addiction: why you cannot out-perform or out-achieve a feeling, and what to do instead
• Thoughts that create people-pleasing behaviors and the thoughts that don't
• How I coached myself through a real spiral today using the thought model I teach 
• What to do when life feels too good to be true 

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

Resources:

• Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

Want more support?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

Stay connected:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

You started strong. Then something didn't go the way you hoped and before you made a single conscious decision, you had already pulled back.

That moment is where goals go to die, and I don't think we're talking enough about it.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the Pursuit Cycle. This is the four-phase framework I use inside my coaching practice, and I'm showing you exactly where most people fall out of it. 

What You'll Learn:

• The single most dangerous moment in any pursuit 
• Why your brain treats every setback like a verdict on your worth and how to interrupt it
• The Pursuit Cycle: Bold Action → Intentional Belief → Deep Learning → Iteration
• Why going back to action before you clean up your belief is the mistake that keeps the loop going
• How to shorten the time you spend outside the cycle every time you fall out of it

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

Resources:

• Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

Want more support?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

Stay connected:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

The world spent years telling you what to think. Today, we talk about how to think and why learning this one skill changes everything. I'll walk you through the S.T.E.A.R. framework I use with all my coaching clients. This is a step-by-step tool for understanding how your thoughts are literally creating your results, and how to interrupt the patterns keeping you stuck. If you've ever spiraled, over-analyzed, or talked yourself out of something you really wanted, this episode is for you.

What You'll Learn

• Why most of us were educated but never taught to think, and what that costs us
• The critical difference between a situation and a thought (and why mixing them up is keeping you stuck)
• How your brain builds evidence for whatever story you already believe
• The S.T.E.A.R. framework: a step-by-step coaching tool for changing your mental loops
• How the highest performers manage the space between what happens and what they make it mean 

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

Resources:

• Jessica’s book, In Pursuit. Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

Want more support?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

Stay connected:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

This episode feels different.

If you’ve been listening this year, you know I’ve been shifting the format of Unblocked. I want these conversations to feel less like interviews and more like real life. Friends around a table. Honest wrestling. Communion over conclusions. And that’s exactly what this episode is.

I’m joined by Reverend Mary Hahn and Jamie Bell Showmaker for a conversation about faith, spirituality, Christianity, ego, worthiness, and a question that many of us grapple with: 

How do we know what’s actually true?

We talk about:

• Growing up inside rigid religious frameworks
• Questioning without abandoning God
• The tension between spiritual texts and inner knowing
• What it means to be “fully human and fully divine”
• Why worthiness can feel dangerous
• Ego, humility, and the stories we inherit about ourselves
• Whether truth lives in a book or inside us

This is three women talking honestly about their journeys with God and sitting in the discomfort of not having neat answers.

If you’ve ever felt like the “truth” you were taught was incongruent with the truth within, wondered where to go for answers, or wrestled with your own worthiness, this conversation is for you. 

I don’t know where this episode will land for you. But I trust that if you’re here, something in it is meant for you.

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

Resources:

• Jessica’s book, In Pursuit
  Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

Want more support?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

Stay connected:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

We hear it all the time. “You just need to move on.” But what if moving on is not actually what creates healing?

In this episode, I explore the difference between moving on and moving forward, and why this distinction matters so much when you have lived through something painful, meaningful, or life-shaping.

Moving on often implies erasing, minimizing, or trying to be unaffected by what happened. Moving forward is different. It is integrative. It allows you to carry the wisdom while releasing the weight.

I share how unprocessed experiences do not disappear just because time passes, and how real healing comes from allowing an experience to have a place without letting it define your future.

You will also learn the three-step process I teach for moving forward in a grounded, practical way:

• The Extraction Process — identifying what you are taking with you
• The Release Process — letting go of what was never yours to carry
• The Integration Process — allowing the experience to inform how you live now

We also explore why forgiveness is often misunderstood, and how it naturally unfolds when integration has occurred rather than being something you force.

If you have ever wondered why something from your past still carries emotional charge, or how to move forward without bypassing what mattered, this episode will meet you there.

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

Resources:

• Jessica’s book, In Pursuit
  Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

Want more support?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

Stay connected:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

Let's Get Unblocked!

Life does not always fall apart in neat, Instagram-worthy ways.

Sometimes it blindsides you. Sometimes it knocks the air out of you. Sometimes it leaves your nervous system spinning and your mind searching for answers.

In this episode I break down what coaching actually does for you when life kicks you in the junk — not by avoiding pain, but by helping you stay self-led inside of it.

I share how I personally navigated a recent season I did not ask for, and the exact mindset and emotional tools that made it possible to stay grounded, connected, and clear when nothing felt easy.

This episode is not about positive thinking or fixing yourself. It is about learning how to work with your thoughts and emotions instead of letting them run your life.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why painful experiences do not mean you are doing life wrong
• How coaching helps you stay self-led during hard seasons
• The difference between facts and the stories your brain tells
• Why “neutral” does not mean harmless or okay
• How to observe your thoughts and emotions without being consumed by them
• Why mindset work does not mean avoiding hard feelings
• How to feel emotions safely instead of suppressing or fixing them
• The difference between respecting a thought and agreeing with it
• Why not every thought deserves your obedience
• The powerful question that brings you back to yourself when everything feels confusing

Key takeaway:

You do not need to eliminate hard thoughts or emotions to move forward. You need the ability to stay with yourself, supervise your mind, and choose how you respond — one situation, one thought, one feeling, one choice at a time.

That is what coaching builds.

Resources:

• Free Feelings Video + Worksheet:
  Click HERE to grab it.
• Jessica’s book, In Pursuit
  Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

Want more support?

If this episode resonated with you and you want deeper, personalized support, you can learn more about working with me at jessicasmarro.com

Stay connected:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @jessicasmarro
• Share this episode and tag me with what landed for you

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please follow, rate, and review Unblocked. It helps more people find these conversations and keeps this work going.

Let's Get Unblocked!

In this episode, I’m trying something new.

This is the first Ask Me Anything episode under the new 2026 format, and I’m answering real, anonymous questions submitted on Instagram. 

I talk about how to navigate the gap between the life you imagined and the life you’re living. I walk through how I use the STEAR model to separate neutral facts from the stories we tell ourselves, and how unexamined thoughts can quietly turn grief into suffering.

I also answer questions about feeling stuck, fulfillment in your career, redefining success, and one belief I had to unlearn in order to truly help others. 

If you have a question you’d like answered in a future Ask Me Anything episode, I invite yours today. Send me a DM @jessicasmarro on Instagram or Facebook, or send your questions to [email protected]. Your question might be exactly what someone else needs to hear.

Click HERE to watch this episode on YouTube.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or tag me on IG with your biggest takeaway. Your support helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

Links and Resources:

• Order my #1 New Release book In Pursuit
• If you love what you're hearing on the podcast, you've gotta check out my private coaching offers. Click HERE to learn more about one-on-one coaching with me!
• Get your complimentary copy of The Unblocked Journal to help bring awareness to perfectionist thinking and what it's creating in your life.
• Join My Do The Thing Community 

 Let’s Connect:

• Follow me on Facebook & Instagram: @JessicaSmarro
• Share your thoughts and experiences with the hashtag #UnblockedPodcast and tag @jessicasmarro!
• DM or email your questions or topic requests @jessicasmarro on IG/FB or [email protected]

Let’s Get Unblocked!