Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning

Brain fog. Decision fatigue. Losing your words mid-sentence. If you've been experiencing any of these and are wondering whether it's just stress, or hormones, or something more, this conversation is for you.

Jan Soloy is a Nurse Practitioner in Integrative Medicine and Brain Health Coach who works with adults at midlife and beyond. She brings something that decades of clinical practice alone can't give you; she's lived this. In her mid-60s, Jan survived a serious brain injury that required surgery, eleven days in a neuro ICU, and five years of recovery. That journey changed not just her understanding of the brain, but her entire approach to helping others protect and reclaim theirs.

This episode isn't about fear. It's about hope, grace, and the small intentional choices that actually move the needle, because as Jan says, it is never too late.

In this episode:

• How Jan's brain injury in her mid-60s became the foundation of her brain health coaching work
• What clinical practice couldn't teach her , and what recovery did
• The real reason brain fog, decision fatigue, and lost words are so common at midlife
• The biggest myth about ageing and the brain, and why it matters
• The one lifestyle factor that most studies agrees on for long-term brain health
• How chronic stress quietly undermines your ability to think, remember, and concentrate
• Why brain health is not separate from your overall health — it is your health
• The 7 phases of Jan's Golden Clarity Protocol, explained simply and practically

Key quotes by Jan:

• Hope that something can be done now, with the knowledge that things that you do now do make a difference.
• Brain health is health.
• It's never too late.

Jan's resources mentioned In this episode:

• Website: www.jansoloy.com
• Morning Musings Newsletter: sign-up here ->
• Free Brain Health Assessment: download here ->
• Brain Health Awareness - mini course: learn more ->
• The Golden Clarity Protocol: read more ->
• Private Coaching - one-on-one support: learn more ->
• Instagram

Connect with Ronél:

• Free resource: 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself
• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach

I lost my train of thought mid-sentence in a meeting yesterday. And it's been happening more often than I'd like to admit.

I know what helps. Breathe. Pause. Let it come back. But sometimes I just panic instead. And that makes it worse.

In this episode, I'm talking about the gap between what we know and what we actually do. Between what we teach and what we practice.

I share my own pattern (binge-watching Netflix when my nervous system is running wild — this week it was Trust Me: The False Prophet, definitely not helping), why knowing isn't the same as doing, and the permission we all need to hear: You're just human.

This one's vulnerable. Honest. And I think a lot of us are standing in that gap, carrying shame about it.

In This Episode:

• The mid-sentence blank moment that happens more often than I want to admit
• My pattern I'm not proud of: what I do when my nervous system is running wild
• The uncomfortable truth about the gap between what I teach and what I actually practice
• Why knowing how things work doesn't mean you can always do them
• The permission we all need: both things can be true at the same time
• What it looks like to notice the pattern without judgment
• Why the simple things we resist might actually be enough

Reflection Questions:

What's the gap between what you know and what you actually do? And what would it feel like to notice that gap without the shame?

Resources and Links:

If this resonates — if you find yourself in that place of knowing something needs to shift, but not quite being able to see through the fog — I have a free resource that might help. It's called 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself: practical tools for high-functioning leaders who hold everything together and are starting to wonder what's missing. Download it here: 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself

Connect with Me:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

In this episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, I explore the concept of "choose your hard" and what it means in everyday decisions, what psychology tells us about why we default to the easier option, and what it looks like when we apply this to the bigger questions. The ones that have been hovering for months.

Life will require difficult things from you either way. The question has never really been whether you'll face difficulty. The question is which difficulty you're willing to face — and whether you're choosing it intentionally or by default.

In this episode:

• Why avoidance is rarely neutral — and what it actually costs
• The psychology of present bias and why immediate comfort often wins
• How "choose your hard" applies beyond small daily decisions
• The difference between productive discomfort and slow, quiet regret
• Why choosing your hard isn't about willpower — it's about clarity

Key Quote:

Avoidance has a price. You just pay it much later.

Reflection question: 

What's the hard you've been choosing by default?

And is there a different hard — a more intentional one — that you keep postponing?

Resources and Links:

If this resonates; if you find yourself in that place of knowing something needs to shift, but not quite being able to see through the fog, I have a free resource that might help.

It's called 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself: practical tools for high-functioning leaders who hold everything together and are starting to wonder what's missing. Download it here: 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself

Connect with Me:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

Newsletter: 

Join my newsletter for bi-weekly reflections on clarity, direction, and what matters most at pivotal moments. Click here to subscribe.

Disclaimer:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your well-being.

Have you ever found yourself knowing that something needs to change, but when you sit down to actually work it out, you end up more confused than when you started?

In this episode, I talk about noise, the specific kind that accumulates between you and your next clear decision.

We talk about where that noise actually comes from, what the research tells us about decision-making under sustained cognitive load, and three practical ways to begin quieting it.

In This Episode:

• Three sources of internal noise that high-functioning professionals carry, and why they often sound like your own voice
• What neuroscience tells us about the prefrontal cortex under load, and why we often can't tell when our decision-making is compromised
• Why we may have been asking the wrong question: not "why can't I figure this out?" but "have I created the conditions for clarity?"
• Three anchors for quieting the noise: a daily anchor, a noise audit, and strategic patience
• The difference between sitting with a question and hiding from it

Key Quote:

"Clarity isn't a lightning bolt. It's the result of creating the conditions for insight to find you."

Reflection Question:

What's the question you've been trying to think your way through, and not quite getting there?

Resources and Links:

If this resonates, I have a free resource that might help: Download it here: 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself

Also worth listening to — the three episodes that set the foundation for this conversation:

→  Episode 21: On Clarity (And Why We Need It Now More Than Ever)

→  Episode 22: Authentic Leadership: Why “Fake It Until You Make It” Doesn’t Build Trust

→  Episode 23: When Everything Feels Off (A Conversation About Alignment)

Connect with Me:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

Newsletter: 

Join my newsletter for bi-weekly reflections on clarity, direction, and what matters most at pivotal moments. Click here to subscribe.

Disclaimer:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your well-being.

Do you handle everything yourself and have been doing so successfully for a very long time?

In this episode, I’m sharing a moment that stopped me mid-evening: a lone buffalo, four circling lions, and the unexpected arrival that changed everything.

We talk about why capable, accomplished people often stop asking for support, not because there’s no one, but because they’ve been carrying it alone for so long they’ve forgotten what backup feels like.

And we sit with the question that I think is worth asking more often: Who is your power move?

In This Episode:

• Why high-functioning leaders are often the last to ask for support
• When independence is no longer a strength
• Why clarity, authenticity, and alignment are harder to sustain when you’re navigating everything alone
• What “support” actually looks like at pivotal moments
• The question worth sitting with: who stands with you?

Key Quote:

“Strength isn’t about standing alone. It’s about knowing who stands with you.”

Reflection Question:

Who is your power move?

When the pressure increases, when the stakes get higher, when you’re standing alone on the plain, and something shifts on the horizon, who enters the stage?

Resources and Links:

Ready to explore what it looks like to have a thinking partner in your corner? Book a free Clarity Call — a 30-minute conversation where we slow down and look honestly at what’s happening beneath the surface.

The three episodes mentioned:

→  Episode 21: On Clarity (And Why We Need It Now More Than Ever)

→  Episode 22: Authentic Leadership: Why “Fake It Until You Make It” Doesn’t Build Trust

→  Episode 23: When Everything Feels Off (A Conversation About Alignment)

Connect with Me:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

Newsletter: 

Join my newsletter for bi-weekly reflections on clarity, direction, and what matters most at pivotal moments. Click here to subscribe.

Disclaimer:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your well-being.

Have you ever made every possible adjustment, and still felt like something wasn't quite right?

In this episode, I'm sharing a personal story that started with daily headaches and ended up teaching me one of the most important things I know about alignment.

We talk about what alignment actually means (beyond the corporate poster on the wall), why your values are the root system beneath every decision you make, and what it looks like to live with integrity.

And then we get into the question I'm asked most often: What do I do if I can't change my environment right now?

That's where this episode earns its keep.

In this episode:

• Why your body often signals misalignment long before your mind catches up
• Values as your north star for decision-making — not just career choices, but the smaller ones too
• What cognitive dissonance looks like for high-functioning leaders living with it quietly, every day
• Strategic Calm as an intentional choice — and what that means practically
• How to live with integrity even within an environment that doesn't fully support your values

Key Quote:

"Alignment is not only about your external circumstances. It's also — perhaps more fundamentally — about how you relate to yourself within those circumstances."

Reflection Question:

Where are you compensating? 

Resources and Links:

If this episode resonated, my free resource — 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself — offers fourteen practical tools for high-functioning professionals who hold everything together and are starting to wonder what's missing. It's a starting point, not a fix. A pause. Download it here: 14 Small Steps Back to Yourself

Ready to explore what alignment looks like for you specifically? Book a free Clarity Call — a 30-minute conversation where we slow down and look honestly at what's happening beneath the surface: Book your Call

While this podcast is primarily designed with high-functioning women in mind, everyone navigating these questions is welcome here.

Connect with Me:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

Newsletter: 

Join my newsletter for bi-weekly reflections on clarity, direction, and what matters most at pivotal moments. Click here to subscribe.

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your well-being.

Early in my career, I was told to “develop a poker face” and “fake it until you make it.” The message was clear: if I wanted to be taken seriously as a leader, I shouldn’t show uncertainty.

But maintaining that version of myself took energy. Over time, I began to see that constantly managing how I appeared could make it harder to stay present, think clearly and lead in a way that felt natural.

In this episode, I explore what authenticity can look like in leadership: being able to show up without constantly performing a version of yourself. We talk about discernment, values, boundaries, presence and the difference between adapting appropriately to a situation and losing touch with your own judgement in the process.

• The well-intentioned “poker face” advice I received early in my career
• What authenticity can mean in a professional context, and what it doesn’t
• The energy cost of constantly managing how you are perceived
• Why authenticity does not mean disclosing everything
• The relationship between presence, self-awareness and how we show up at work
• How values and boundaries can help us make more grounded choices
• How to notice when you are adapting appropriately — and when you may be performing
• Why showing up more honestly can sometimes make work feel less effortful

“When you stop trying to be a version of yourself that isn't real, you get your energy back. You get to be present in your own life. And in your leadership.”

“Authenticity isn't a luxury. It's a power move.”

Where in your work or life do you notice yourself performing rather than simply showing up?

What are you trying to protect or achieve when you do?

And where might greater authenticity — combined with good judgement and appropriate boundaries — make things feel a little less effortful?

If something about the way you are working no longer feels quite right — whether it is the pressure to perform, the role itself or something harder to name — you can learn more about Work & Life Alignment Coaching or book a conversation at ronelpretorius.com.

Website: ronelpretorius.com
Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
LinkedIn: Ronél Pretorius

Newsletter: Join me twice a month for thoughtful reflections and practical ideas about work, change, stress and creating a life that fits what matters now.

Full transcript: Episode 22 | Authentic Leadership

This podcast is intended for information, reflection and general wellbeing support. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological or other professional healthcare. If you have concerns about your mental or physical health, please seek support from an appropriately qualified professional.

There is a lot of noise around us: competing opinions, endless advice, constant information and no shortage of frameworks telling us what we should be doing. And somewhere in all that noise, it can become surprisingly difficult to hear our own thoughts clearly.

In this episode, I’m exploring clarity: what it is, what it isn’t, and why it rarely arrives as one sudden breakthrough. I also share some simple practices that help me create the conditions for clearer thinking; from meditation and movement to stepping away from screens, spending time in nature, and, somewhat reluctantly, journaling.

• Why clarity can feel particularly difficult when there is so much external noise
• What clarity is, and what it isn’t
• Why clarity often develops gradually rather than arriving in one breakthrough moment
• The everyday practices I use to create more space for reflection
• Why our physical wellbeing can affect our ability to think clearly
• The value of stepping away rather than trying to think harder
• How conversations with someone you trust can help you see a situation differently
• Why clarity can help us make more grounded decisions about what needs attention and what comes next

• Meditation, prayer and quiet time
• Sleep, nutrition and movement
• Yoga and Pilates
• Hiking and spending time in nature
• Journaling — on paper or digitally, even though it isn't always my favourite practice
• Working where I can see nature
• Deep breathing
• Intentionally stepping away from screens
• Talking things through with someone I trust

When there is a lot of noise around you, what helps you step back and hear yourself think again?

Is there something you are currently trying to solve that might first need a little more space to understand?

If something about your work or life no longer feels quite right, but you're not yet sure what needs to change, you can learn more about Work & Life Alignment Coaching or book a conversation at ronelpretorius.com.

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

Join me twice a month for thoughtful reflections and practical ideas about work, change, stress and creating a life that fits what matters now. Click here to subscribe.

This podcast is intended for information, reflection and general wellbeing support. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological or other professional healthcare. If you have concerns about your mental or physical health, please seek support from an appropriately qualified professional.

What matters most to you right now? Not what should matter. Not what mattered five or ten years ago. What actually matters in this season of your life and work?

In this first episode of 2026, I explore what can happen when the mountain you have been climbing isn’t necessarily wrong; it just may no longer be right for who you are now.

I share three ideas that have shaped much of my work as well as some of my own journey from corporate HR into a different way of working and living.

• Why we can keep moving forward without stopping to ask whether the direction still fits
• What it means to operate on autopilot, and how to recognise it
• How clarity, authenticity and alignment can help when you reach a crossroads
• My own journey from corporate HR into a different chapter
• Why a career that felt right at 35 may feel very different at 45
• The difference between something being “wrong” and simply being “no longer right”
• How to honour what brought you here without assuming it has to determine what comes next
• Why creating enough mental space to think clearly matters when you are considering change

• What matters most to you in this season of your life and work?
• Where might you be continuing out of habit, expectation or momentum rather than conscious choice?
• If nothing had to change immediately, what would you want to understand more clearly?

In the episode, I explore these three ideas as useful lenses:

Clarity: cutting through the noise to understand what matters and what may need attention.

Authenticity: noticing whether the way you are working and living still reflects who you are and what you value.

Alignment: bringing your choices and day-to-day actions closer to what matters to you now.

If something about your work or life no longer feels quite right — but you are not yet sure what needs to change — you can learn more about Work & Life Alignment Coaching or book a conversation at ronelpretorius.com.

You can also follow Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning wherever you listen.

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

Join me twice a month for thoughtful reflections and practical ideas about work, change, stress and creating a life that fits what matters now. Click here to subscribe.

This podcast is intended for information, reflection and general wellbeing support. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological or other professional healthcare. If you have concerns about your mental or physical health, please seek support from an appropriately qualified professional.

As the year comes to a close, many of us feel tired, reflective, and unsure about what comes next. In this gentle year-end reflection episode of Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning, I invite you to slow down, breathe, and step out of the noise long enough to reconnect with yourself. 

This is about creating space — for perspective, clarity, and presence — and allowing insight to surface naturally. 

Through six grounding reflection questions, we explore what this year has revealed about your energy, boundaries, clarity, and direction, and how to move into the next year with intention rather than pressure. 

Six Gentle Year-End Reflection Questions
 
You may want to pause the episode or come back to these questions over the next few days: 

1. Where did you feel most like yourself this year?
2. What drained you the most?
3. What moments brought you clarity?
4. What did you learn about what you want — or no longer want?
5. What is asking for your attention right now?
6. What do you want to carry forward — and what can you leave behind?

There’s no need to rush these. Clarity often unfolds when we stop trying to force it. 

A Note on What’s Coming Next

In 2026, this podcast will continue to be a calm, grounding space — with a deeper focus on clarity, direction, intentional decision-making, and living at a pace that feels human again.

Unrushed: Less Stress, More Meaning remains your weekly moment to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters. 

Your Gentle Invitation This Week:

What do you want more of next year?

What do you want less of?

What feels genuinely meaningful to you now?

Please subscribe, follow, or share this episode with someone who could use a moment of calm and clarity.

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➡️ Connect with Ronél:

Thank you for listening! You can find more resources and inspiration here:

• Website: ronelpretorius.com
• Instagram: @ronelpretorius.coach
• Pinterest: @ronelpretoriuswellnesscoach
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronel-pretorius

DISCLAIMER:

The conversations shared on this podcast are meant to inform, inspire, and support — not to diagnose, treat, or replace professional medical or mental health care. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or well-being.