Episode 100: What If This Is All There Is?

Episode 100: What If This Is All There Is?

That question that wakes you up at two in the morning. The one you have never said out loud: What if this is all there is? It is the secret weight underneath every other midlife question. Underneath the wondering about your body, your purpose, your marriage, your faith. And on the one hundredth episode of Your Next, Best Step, we are going to sit with it together — and walk you through the answer one hundred episodes have taught me. In this episode, I will walk you through: * The two-in-the-morning question almost every woman over forty-five carries, and why it is more common than anybody talks about * What Scripture says when you ask the question — and what the longitudinal happiness research has been finding for thirty years that almost nobody mentions in church * The one small shift that pulls you out of "what I missed" and toward "what God is doing now" SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHT: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) Research note: The U-curve of well-being across the lifespan, drawing on more than thirty years of research from Dartmouth economist David Blanchflower and recent qualifications from the 2025 PLOS One literature. Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

BONUS: Worried About Forgetting a Word Mid-Sentence? (YNBS 099)

Forgetting a word mid-sentence can feel terrifying, but the National Institute on Aging confirms that occasional brain glitches are a completely normal part of aging. Don't panic over a single forgotten word - instead, focus on long-term patterns and talk to your doctor only if it starts disrupting your daily life.  Join for the full episode (099) “When You Google “Early Signs of Dementia” at 2 AM” of Your Next, Best Step where Coach Janet J walks you through the question to ask in place of “am I getting dementia” and one starter practice to do three times this week.  Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

Episode 099: When You Google “Early Signs of Dementia” at 2 AM

Have you ever Googled early signs of dementia at 2 AM after forgetting a word, walking into a room with no idea why, or losing your keys while holding your keys? You are not alone, and what is happening may not be what you fear most. June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, and this fear is in the air for a lot of women right now - especially the woman noticing her own memory slipping in ways she did not expect. In Episode 099, Coach Janet J walks you through: * How to tell the difference between memory slips that are common with age and patterns worth bringing to a doctor * Why some of what feels like cognitive decline may be chronic stress wearing a costume * How to move from helpless fear to one small, doable step that cares for the brain you have SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHT: Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV) Research note: Framing draws on the National Institute on Aging’s guidance on normal aging versus dementia, the 2024 Lancet Commission update on modifiable dementia risk factors, and Lupien et al. (2009) on chronic stress and the hippocampus. Educational content only. Not medical advice. If you notice new, worsening, or daily-life-disrupting memory changes, please talk with a qualified healthcare professional. Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

BONUS: What Do You Think of the January Version of You? (YNBS 098)

Your goals from January were just a sincere guess based on a version of you who hadn’t lived the last six months yet. Cut yourself some slack, thank the past version of you for trying, and give yourself permission to update the plan for who you are today.  Join us for Your Next, Best Step’s episode “The Six-Month Check-In You Actually Need” where you can learn what goal-adjustment research says about releasing what no longer and walk away with one clear compass for the second half of your year (Episode 098) Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.

Episode 098: The Six-Month Check-In You Actually Need

Six months in. Half the year is behind you, and the goals you wrote down in January are looking different from where you are sitting now. Some still fit. Some have shifted. And some, when you look at them today, might feel like they belong to a different woman entirely. This episode is your compassionate mid-year check-in. Most women set intentions in January and reach June with a low-grade guilt about everything they did not do. There is a different way to look at the year so far — one that uses the six months you have actually lived as the wisdom you bring forward. In this episode you will: * See the difference between adding (what we do in January) and editing (what June is for) * Learn what goal-adjustment research says about releasing what no longer fits — and why this is one of the wisest moves you can make for your well-being * Walk away with one clear compass for the second half of your year SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHT: “There is a time for everything... a time to keep and a time to throw away.”Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6 (NIV) Research note: References goal-adjustment research from Wrosch and colleagues (Concordia University, 2003) and the Barlow et al. meta-analysis (2020) on goal disengagement, reengagement, and well-being. Ready for your next step? FREE 5-Minute Daily Reset (instant download): YourNextBestStep.com  [https://YourNextBestStep.com] Weekly encouragement + practical tips: YouTube @CoachJanetJ [https://www.youtube.com/@CoachJanetJ] Instagram: @janetjjaecks [https://www.instagram.com/janetjjaecks/ ] If this episode resonated with you, please follow/subscribe and share with a friend who needs their next step.   One small step. One day at a time.