Expansion with Desi Batista

Million Dollar Vision, Survival Mode Behavior: Why High-Achieving Women Stay Sick | Nikki Stewart

Survival mode. Burnout. Toxic workplace. Suppressed depression. High-achieving women hide behind these words for years before someone names what's actually happening to them. Nikki Stewart is an ICF Identity and Alignment Coach who helps ambitious women move from success to fulfillment without apology. She had what she calls a millionaire vision with survival mode behavior. She didn't know it until a doctor sat her on a cold exam table and tried to put her on five prescriptions. She said no to the medicine. She quit the job making her sick. And she built the work she does now from what she learned about the gap between looking powerful and feeling powerful. In this conversation, we get into: What survival mode actually looks like in a successful woman's day to day Why suppressed depression and burnout get misdiagnosed as physical symptoms How toxic workplaces rewire your identity without you noticing The difference between success that looks good and success that feels right Why high-achievers normalize being sick and call it ambition What it takes to stop performing and start actually living If you've been told you're doing great while feeling like you're falling apart on the inside, this conversation is for you. Connect with Nikki: Website:   www.nikkistewartspeaks.com YouTube:   www.youtube.com/@NikkiStewartSpeaks Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/nikki_r_stewart LinkedIn:    https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkirstewart  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz [https://desibatista.com/quiz] and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista [https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista [https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista]  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista [https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista]

Nervous System Regulation for Women (You Tried Everything)

You've done the mindset work. You've read the books, done the journaling, gone to the retreats. And the same ceiling keeps showing up.  This conversation goes into why.  The part most people skip is that success isn't just a mindset problem. It lives in your body. And if your nervous system still associates safety with staying small, no amount of knowing better is going to move you.  We get into why high-achieving women chronically undercharge and over-give, what it actually means to feel your emotions instead of think your way around them, and why the conditioning that taught you to shrink your value is still running in the background whether you're aware of it or not.  This one is for the woman who has done everything right and is still asking why it is not enough.  Connect with Katherine: Website: https://katavitacoaching.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katavitacoaching/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinevkimball/  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz [https://desibatista.com/quiz] and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista [https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista [https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista]  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista [https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista]

Your Success Mindset Is Working Against You

Your success mindset might actually be the thing slowing you down. Stay with me. You know the cycle. You start strong — new habits, new goals, new energy. Then around week three, it all just... stops. You go back to exactly who you were before. And you tell yourself you don't have enough discipline. That's not what's happening. Every behavior change is an identity update. Your brain has to literally rewrite its picture of who you are. That takes energy. It takes repetition. It takes time before the new thing stops feeling fake and starts feeling like you. And here's the part that changed everything for me: your nervous system can only run one major identity update at a time. When you try to become five new versions of yourself at once, your brain doesn't pick the best one. It picks none of them. And pulls you right back to who it already knows. That collapse you keep experiencing? That's not you failing. That's your old identity doing its job. In this video: * Why your habits always fall apart at the same point * What that progress-and-collapse cycle is actually telling you * How identity updates really work and why most people get the timing wrong * The one shift that makes everything else easier without forcing it You haven't failed at five things. You've been asking your brain to run five updates at the same time. Pick one. Let the root go deep. Watch what follows.  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz [https://desibatista.com/quiz] and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista [https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista [https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista]  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista [https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista]

Mindset Mastery Is a Lie (Here's What Actually Works)

Mindset mastery helps you manage your thoughts, but it doesn't close the knowing-doing gap. This episode breaks down the self-improvement loop quietly keeping high-achieving women stuck. You've consumed the content. You know what to do. You could probably teach the framework. And you're still at the same number. That's not a motivation problem. It's not a knowledge problem. It's a loop — one that was built to feel like progress while keeping you exactly where you are. In this episode, we talk about:  * Why the self-help trap is most dangerous for the people who take growth seriously  * The difference between mindset mastery and identity work (and why one runs out of energy)  * What one identity-level decision does that 100 hours of content never will The knowing is not the gap. The gap is somewhere else. And you already have everything you need to close it.  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz [https://desibatista.com/quiz] and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista [https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista [https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista]  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista [https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista]

She Ran a $40M Business — Then Realized She Was Codependent | Rhonda Petit

Rhonda Petit was running a $40 million business with 12 employees, two kids at home, and a marriage that was unraveling. From the outside, she'd made it. Inside, she was performing — for everyone — and burning out trying to hold it all together. Then came the blowout. And after it, the identity shift that changed everything. In this episode, Rhonda introduces the two identities running most high-achieving women's lives: Ronnie Rescue — the fear-driven performer who fixes, controls, and seeks approval — and Sammy Sovereign, the connector who leads from love, sets real boundaries, and stops mistaking codependency for care. We talk about: • The hidden cost of being the woman who "handles it all" • Why codependency is enabling dressed up as kindness • The difference between operating from fear vs. operating from purpose • Her "40 moment" — when she finally stopped performing • The Terror Barrier and why most people pull back right before the shift • How leaders create (or destroy) psychological safety in their teams • The Three Cs of fulfillment: Create, Contribute, Connect If you've built the thing, hit the goals, and still feel like there's a version of you waiting underneath it all — start here. About Rhonda Petit: Author of The Spirit of Selling, sales leadership coach, and speaker working with HR leaders, business owners, and leader development teams on identity, fear, and human potential. 🔗 Rhonda's Links * Website: rhondapetit.com  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rhondapetit4845 * Book: The Spirit of Selling — https://amzn.to/3RUM6CP  Take the quiz at desibatista.com/quiz [https://desibatista.com/quiz] and find out exactly what's keeping you at your current level.  Connect with Desi Batista:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/desibatista/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista [https://www.youtube.com/@DesiBatista]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista [https://www.instagram.com/iamdesibatista]  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista [https://www.tiktok.com/@iamdesibatista]