Designed Pause Podcast

You Don’t Owe Anyone An Explanation - How to Make a Big Life Decision Without Asking for Permission

The thing keeping most high-achieving women from making a big life decision isn’t other people’s opinions. It’s the anticipation of them. In this episode I talk about what it actually looks like to make a decision that belongs entirely to you — without asking for a panel, without defending yourself before you’re ready, and without owing anyone an explanation you didn’t agree to give. We cover: * Why the imaginary audience is more dangerous than the real one * How to protect a decision while it’s still forming — without being secretive * The three categories of people in your life and who gets access to what, and when * What to actually say when people ask — and how to say it without apologizing   Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com

Finding the Audacity to Pause - A Career Break, A Pivot or Rest is Within Reach

You know you need to stop. Your body knows it. Your sleep knows it. But you can't quite give yourself permission to do it. That's not a logistics problem. That's an audacity problem. In this episode I walk through the four things that make pausing feel impossible for high-achieving corporate professionals — and why finding the audacity to slow down is one of the most strategic things you can do. We cover: 1. The permission problem — why you keep waiting to earn rest you were never going to be handed 2. The identity threat — why pausing feels like disappearing, and what's actually on the other side of that fear 3. What you're actually afraid of losing — and what I found out when I lost it anyway 4. Why audacity is a skill, not a personality trait — and how to start practicing it today   Download the free Designed Pause journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com

If You’re Still on the Fence About a Career Pause, Do This for the Next 7 Days

You've been thinking about a career pause for a while. Maybe months. And you still don't know if you're actually ready — or if you're just exhausted. This episode gives you a 7-day plan to find out. Each day has one task, built around the same framework inside the Designed Pause Decision Kit: 1. Take the Designed Pause Quiz 2. Decode your pause type 3. Do your financial reality inventory 4. Map your other obligations 5. Assess your energy and capacity 6. Calculate your pause length 7. Work through your 48-Hour Decision Map   Get the Designed Pause Decision Kit [https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-designed-pause-decision-kit-now-copy] — 50% off with code PAUSEPOD Get the Fast Track Prompt [https://stan.store/designedpause/p/get-my-fast-track-prompt-now] – 50% off with code PAUSEPOD

Is Living Abroad Actually Worth It?

This is a freestyle episode — an honest, unscripted update on what life in St. Lucia actually looks like right now. Deidra shares what she's been learning about being intentional with where she is instead of waiting to get back home, the small but meaningful wins (a nail tech who changed her life, a gym she actually walks to), what's happening with her contracts, and how she genuinely feels after making this move. No sugarcoating. No romanticizing. Just the real update — including why she's not homesick, not lonely, and feels more like herself than she has in years. If you've been wondering what a designed pause actually looks like from the inside, this episode is it. Ready to design your own? Grab the free journaling prompts: www.designedpause.com

What Do You Really Want? Questions for People Who Don't Know Yet

Someone asks you what you actually want — not your next career move, not your five-year plan — and you kind of freeze. Maybe you give the polished answer. But inside there's this moment where you think... I'm not sure I know. That's not a you problem. That's what happens when you spend years getting really good at knowing what everyone else needed from you. In this episode, I'm walking you through four questions designed to help you find your way back to the answer. They're not easy questions. But they're the right ones. We cover: — Why high-achievers lose touch with what they want in the first place — Why not knowing is actually an honest starting point, not a failure — Four questions that move from the surface to something much deeper — What to do with what comes up If something lands for you in this episode, the free journaling prompts in the link below are where this work continues. Thirty prompts, no cost, built for the moment when you know something needs to change but you don't quite have the words yet. ↓ Grab the free journaling prompts www.designedpause.com [http://www.designedpause.com] And if you're ready to go further — map your opportunities, figure out what to pursue first, build an actual strategy for your pause — the Fast Track Prompt is also available on the site.