You Don't Need Permission to Want More: Trish Mallabar on Choosing a Different Kind of Life

Is Procrastination Quietly Running Your Life?

You know the thing. The one that keeps quietly sitting there, waiting. You haven't forgotten it - you just haven't done it yet. This episode is for that.   In the final episode of season one of Midlife Unfiltered, Margit and Clarkie unpack one of the most human habits of all — procrastination. Not because we're lazy. Not because we don't care. But for reasons that are often more interesting, and more human, than we give ourselves credit for. Together, they explore the emotional undercurrent beneath putting things off: fear, overwhelm, self-talk, perfectionism, and the strange comfort of staying exactly where we are. It’s a conversation that moves between humour and honesty, touching on relationships, work, identity and the quiet mental load many people carry every day. This episode doesn’t try to “fix” procrastination with productivity hacks. Instead, it invites listeners to look at what happens when we delay the things that matter most — and why beginning is often the hardest part of all. And somewhere inside the conversation is a simple reminder: sometimes momentum starts with one small step. In this episode, we explore: * Why knowing what to do and actually doing it are two very different things * The way our brains and our gender might shape how we hold (or avoid) the things on our list * What fear has to do with the steps we keep skipping * Why the hardest part is almost never the task itself * A surprisingly simple technique for breaking the stall and building momentum * What it means when we start to identify as someone who procrastinates and why that matters 2:10 – Gunna, procrastination, and the difference between the two 3:45 – Do men and women experience procrastination differently? An honest look at how we're wired 6:30 – Fear, business, and the step that keeps getting skipped 8:00 – What's actually happening in the brain when we stall and why starting changes everything 9:15 – The five-second technique that cuts through avoidance (it's simpler than you think) 11:00 – When procrastination becomes an identity and what to do about it Margit Cruice is a midlife and leadership coach who believes this chapter of life can be one of the most expansive and liberating we’ll ever live. Drawing on decades of experience, sport, travel and deep personal inquiry, she creates spaces for honest conversations about identity, ageing and becoming.   Connect with Margit: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margitcruice/ [https://www.instagram.com/margitcruice/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margitcruice [https://www.facebook.com/margitcruice] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margitcruice/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/margitcruice/] Website: https://www.margitcruice.com/ [https://www.margitcruice.com/]   For all enquiries: Email: info@margitcruice.com [info@margitcruice.com]   Join The Joy Rebellion: https://ecc3-margit.systeme.io/joyrebel [https://ecc3-margit.systeme.io/joyrebel]

You Don't Need Permission to Want More: Trish Mallabar on Choosing a Different Kind of Life

What if the life you've been quietly craving has been waiting for you to simply say yes? This episode is for anyone who's ever stood at the edge of something unfamiliar and wondered whether it was too late to step through.   Trish Mallabar spent more than three decades as a teacher — and like so many women who pour themselves into a vocation, she arrived at midlife not quite sure who she was without it. This conversation begins there, in that tender and disorienting space between a life well-lived and one still unfolding. What follows is a rich, unhurried conversation about burnout, the slow erosion of identity, and what it actually feels like to walk away from something that defined you. Trish speaks with honesty about perimenopause, the weight of a system that asked too much, and the moment she realised she needed to choose herself. But this episode isn't about loss. It's about what opens up when you create enough space to let life surprise you — strangers who appear at just the right moment, the pull of ancestry, the unexpected comfort of aged care work, and the quiet joy of birdwatching at Lake Weyba on Mother's Day. Trish and Margit share a warmth and history that makes this conversation feel less like an interview and more like two women sitting together with a cup of tea, being honest about the things that matter most.   In this episode, we explore: * What it costs to build your identity around a vocation and what it takes to let it go * The relationship between burnout, perimenopause and finally saying enough * How slowing down on the road opened something up that rushing never could * The strangers who appeared at exactly the right moment * What ancestral connection feels like in your body, even across a language barrier * Why midlife might actually be the best time to discover something completely new 9:40 – When your identity is 95% your job  and then the job changes 11:42 – Perimenopause, teaching and the slow unravelling of something that once felt solid 16:21 – Why they said yes to six months in North America and what came home with them 24:22 – What travel teaches you that no classroom ever could 27:02 – The boy in Sarajevo, the waiter in Amsterdam and the gentleman in Slovenia when the universe shows up in human form 39:19 – Standing in Denmark, feeling the pull of ancestry and the people who came before Trish Malabar is a former teacher of 32 years who now works in aged care, bringing the same curiosity and warmth to both chapters of her working life. She has lived and worked across Australia, from the Northern Territory to the Sunshine Coast, and has spent extended periods travelling through North America and Europe with her husband Dave. Trish belongs in this conversation because she knows what it means to rebuild a sense of self in midlife — thoughtfully, honestly and without rushing toward easy answers.

The Small Promises: How Keeping Your Word to Yourself Changes Everything

How many times today have you said you'd do something — and quietly let yourself off the hook? This episode is for anyone who finds it easier to keep promises to others than to keep them to themselves.   In this episode of Midlife Unfiltered, Margit and Clarkie turn their attention inward — to the small, often invisible agreements we make with ourselves every single day. The ones we break before breakfast. The ones we dress up in excuses.   The conversation begins with a deceptively simple idea from the book The Four Agreements — be impeccable with your word — and quickly moves somewhere more personal. Because it's one thing to show up reliably for others. It's quite another to show up reliably for yourself.   What unfolds is an honest, warm and at times uncomfortably relatable conversation about the difference between big dreams and small actions. About how the gap between what we say and what we do quietly chips away at our confidence — and how closing that gap, even slightly, changes the way we feel about ourselves in midlife.   This isn't about perfection or productivity. It's about learning to trust yourself again, one small commitment at a time.     In this episode, we explore: * Why breaking promises to yourself might cost more than you realise * The quiet relationship between self-trust and confidence in midlife * What being a "gunna" is really doing to your sense of self * Why smaller, honest commitments can carry more power than grand resolutions * The difference between starting something and finishing it — and why both matter * How the way we speak to ourselves shapes what we believe we're capable of 3:29 – When you let yourself down vs. letting someone else down are they really that different? 5:04 – What happens when we distrust ourselves 8:40 – What smokers, lawn mowing and television have in common the power of the small step 10:30 – From self-sabotage to self-respect: how trust in yourself is actually built 11:40 – The invitation: start noticing where you're not being impeccable with yourself       Margit Cruice is a midlife and leadership coach who believes this chapter of life can be one of the most expansive and liberating we’ll ever live. Drawing on decades of experience, sport, travel and deep personal inquiry, she creates spaces for honest conversations about identity, ageing and becoming.   Connect with Margit: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margitcruice/ [https://www.instagram.com/margitcruice/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margitcruice [https://www.facebook.com/margitcruice] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margitcruice/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/margitcruice/] Website: https://www.margitcruice.com/ [https://www.margitcruice.com/]   For all enquiries: Email: margit@margitcruice.com [margit@margitcruice.com]   Join The Joy Rebellion: https://ecc3-margit.systeme.io/joyrebel [https://ecc3-margit.systeme.io/joyrebel]

Midlife Reinvention: The Art of Letting Go and Beginning Again with Tony Crossin

What do you do when the life you've spent decades building quietly stops feeling like yours? This conversation might be exactly what you didn't know you needed to hear.   Tony Crossin has lived an extraordinary life; executive chef, world traveller, business owner, and now leadership and growth coach. But behind the impressive career arc is a far more personal story: a man who reached a point where everything on the outside looked fine, and everything on the inside was quietly falling apart. This episode is about what happened next. Margit and Tony explore the messy, courageous, deeply human experience of reinvention. The kind that asks you to look honestly at what you're holding onto, what no longer fits, and what it actually takes to choose yourself. There's warmth here, and humour, and a jar of pickles that will stay with you long after the episode ends. But underneath it all is something quietly profound, a conversation about identity, inner peace, loyalty to self, and what it means to finally stop chasing and start arriving. In this episode, we explore: * Why reinvention starts on the inside and why the outside stuff never sticks without it * The quiet tension between staying loyal and telling yourself the truth * What it actually takes to let go of an identity that no longer fits * The difference between chasing a life and finally arriving in one * What inner peace looks like when you stop letting the noise in 9:06 – Why reinvention has to start from within 12:19 – The jar of pickles: a coaching moment that will stay with you 16:08 – The relationship that was slowly pulling him under and the decision he kept putting off 19:25 – Loyalty versus truth: the question that finally broke the deadlock 27:31 – Learning to hear the alarm bell and why intuition isn't just a women's conversation 37:57 – When inner peace became his most important value and what that actually changed     Tony Crossin is a leadership and growth coach who helps people turn life’s toughest moments into powerful reinvention. Drawing from real experience, he supports individuals and leaders to think differently, face hard truths, and create meaningful change, because lasting performance begins with understanding yourself first and leading from a place of honesty. He is an active community member who connects people and creates opportunities for himself and others to thrive. A chef, drummer and leadership scientist.   Connect with Tony: tony@uberteams.com.au [tony@uberteams.com.au]  FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/tonycrossin [https://www.facebook.com/tonycrossin] Website: www.uberteams.com.au [http://www.uberteams.com.au]

Are You Too Serious? Why Playfulness Is the Midlife Skill You've Been Missing

When did life get so heavy? If you can't remember the last time you did something just for the fun of it, this one's for you. In this episode, Margit and Clarkie get into something that doesn't get nearly enough airtime in the wellbeing conversation — playfulness. Not the kind that requires a holiday or a special occasion, but the everyday kind that shifts how you show up in your own life. They explore what it actually means to bring a playful attitude to ordinary moments — at work, at home, even in the hard seasons — and why it's often the first thing we abandon when life gets serious. With 4.1 million Australians treated for stress, anxiety, and depression in 2025 alone, the question of how we lighten our inner load feels more pressing than ever. This conversation is grounded, warm, and genuinely fun. It touches on everything from competitive sport to corporate culture to Ash Barty's unexpected trick for making press interviews bearable. It's the kind of conversation that makes you want to go outside and bounce a ball — or at the very least, skip to the kitchen. In This Episode, We Explore: * Why playfulness is about how you do things, not just what you do * What happens to our energy — and our performance — when we stop taking everything so seriously * The unexpected link between play, creativity, and genuine wellbeing * How one elite athlete reimagined her most dreaded professional ritual through the lens of play * Why humour in the workplace can be a generous act — and when it isn't * The small, everyday invitations to be more playful that are hiding in plain sight 1:46 – Now is the time to find more playfulness 3:29 – Competitive sport, lawn bowls, and learning to dial it down 5:26 –  Using playfulness as a way of being 7:54 – Ash Barty, Disney lines, and making the unbearable bearable 8:30 – Play at home, play at work — and why it keeps dropping off 11:28 – Pets are the ultimate reminder to play Margit Cruice is a midlife and leadership coach who believes this chapter of life can be one of the most expansive and liberating we’ll ever live. Drawing on decades of experience, sport, travel and deep personal inquiry, she creates spaces for honest conversations about identity, ageing and becoming.   Connect with Margit: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margitcruice/ [https://www.instagram.com/margitcruice/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margitcruice [https://www.facebook.com/margitcruice] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margitcruice/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/margitcruice/] Website: https://www.margitcruice.com/ [https://www.margitcruice.com/]   For all enquiries: Email: info@margitcruice.com [info@margitcruice.com]   Join The Joy Rebellion: https://ecc3-margit.systeme.io/joyrebel [https://ecc3-margit.systeme.io/joyrebel]