Beneath the Surface

Lessons from a week long mastermind

I just got back from a week-long mastermind on the Camino de Santiago in Spain with a group of remarkable business owners — authors, TED speakers, retreat leaders — all gathered to get clear on the next 90 days of our businesses. In this episode, I'm sharing what I actually walked away with, including why knowing your strategy isn't your real problem, and what I finally gave myself permission to believe. 💬 Ready to start building the strengths you need to make you and your business stronger? Submit a coaching inquiry via this link 🔗 Coaching [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/coaching] --- Timestamps: 00:00 - Why I joined an in-person business mastermind 00:55 - How the mastermind worked 02:20 - Why I love not being the expert 03:05 - Getting clarity on my next big project 03:25 - Finding a business community 5:30 - What my hotseat revealed about me 08:40 - Questioning my approach to creating content 10:20 - The feedback from the group I finally let myself receive 12:10 - What changes when you build relationships with people who've done the inner work 16:50 - Getting my drive back but from a place of compassion instead of fear 18:05 - Takeaways for you and your business approach More Resources: * Grab the free mini-course: Emotion Systems Audit – Download here [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/emotion-system-audit] * Connect with Shannon on Instagram: @coachshannonbeer [https://www.instagram.com/coachshannonbeer/] * Learn more about compassion coaching: g [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]et the details here [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]

Removing triggers vs building strength

Are you removing triggers or actually building strength? In this episode I'm unpacking experiential avoidance: why we avoid uncomfortable emotions and experiences, why it feels so justified in the moment, and why it quietly keeps us stuck in the long run.   Key takeaway: Avoidance offers short-term relief but long-term stagnation. Every time you approach something you've been avoiding, you prove to yourself that you have the capacity to handle it and that is how self-assurance is actually built.   💬 Ready to start building the strengths you need to approach what you've been avoiding? Submit a coaching inquiry via this link 🔗 Coaching [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]   ---   Timestamps: 00:00 - What is experiential avoidance? 00:55 - Why removing a trigger isn't the same as building a strength 02:30 - When removing triggers is actually okay, and the compassionate motive that makes the difference 03:45 - Why losing weight to build confidence is fragile 04:15 - The benefits we unknowingly give up when we avoid certain triggers 06:50 - How experiential avoidance showed up in my own life 07:55 - The risk log: a weekly practice from functional analytic psychotherapy that changed things for me 09:00 - Why things might get harder before they get easier when you start being more assertive 09:40 - How approaching what you've been avoiding actually builds self-assurance over time 10:00 - A question to sit with this week   ---   Enjoying Beneath the Surface? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear this. More Resources: * Grab the free mini-course: Emotion Systems Audit – Download here [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/emotion-system-audit] * Connect with Shannon on Instagram: @coachshannonbeer [https://www.instagram.com/coachshannonbeer/] * Learn more about compassion coaching: g [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]et the details here [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]

Intellectualising instead of feeling

If you're someone who loves to understand the why behind everything — the science, the patterns, the theory — this episode is for you. Intellectualizing can be a genuine strength, but it can also become the very thing that keeps you stuck. I'm unpacking how to spot when you're explaining instead of feeling, and what to do about it.   Key takeaway: Understanding is the beginning of the process, not the destination. At some point, the work stops being about learning more and starts being about being willing to feel more. If you've learned a lot and still feel stuck, you're not doing it wrong, you're simply ready for the next level.   💬 If you're ready to start integrating what you know and building up those lagging emotional muscle groups, I'd love to support you. Submit a coaching inquiry via this link 🔗 Coaching [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]   ---   Timestamps: 00:00 - What is intellectualisation? 02:20 - Why intellectualising develops in the first place 03:15 - The crucial difference between understanding something and actually doing something 04:00 - Where in your life are you explaining instead of feeling? 05:00 - The social dimension: why our culture prizes intellect over emotion 05:50 - What it actually looks like to interrupt the pattern 06:30 - Three questions to catch intellectualizing in the moment 07:30 - A practical body-based practice: describing sensations instead of explaining feelings 08:30 - Compassionate colour and other tools for sitting with discomfort rather than thinking your way out of it 10:40 - Putting these techniques into practice 11:15 - The shift from knowing more to being willing to feel more   --- Enjoying Beneath the Surface? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear this. More Resources: * Grab the free mini-course: Emotion Systems Audit – Download here [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/emotion-system-audit] * Connect with Shannon on Instagram: @coachshannonbeer [https://www.instagram.com/coachshannonbeer/] * Learn more about compassion coaching: g [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]et the details here [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]

Emotional reasoning in business

When your coaching business isn't where you want it to be, it's tempting to overhaul your website, revisit your ideal client, or build out new resources. But what if those urges are being driven by emotion rather than evidence? In this episode, I'm breaking down emotional reasoning in business — what it is, how to spot it, and how to make clearer, steadier decisions that actually move things forward.   Key takeaway: When business feels stuck, the instinct is to fix something visible. But often what needs addressing first is what's happening underneath. Data gives you an objective reference point; emotional awareness stops you wasting time solving the wrong problem.   💬 Want support working through the emotions that are getting in the way of running your business with clarity? Submit a coaching inquiry via this link 🔗 Coaching [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]   ---   Timestamps: 00:00 – Why emotional reasoning is one of the biggest things holding coaches back 01:10 – What emotional reasoning is, and how it shows up in business 02:50 – The confidence myth in coaching — why doubt is normal, and what to address instead 03:00 – Helpful vs. fear-driven motives 04:00 – Trigger #1: Comparison 05:10 – Trigger #2: Making decisions from a place of uncertainty 07:20 – Trigger #3: Endlessly refining 08:15 – How to use data as an objective anchor when emotions are driving your decisions 09:20 – The one question to ask first when your coaching isn't selling 10:00 – Separating the emotional work from the practical next steps   ---   Enjoying Beneath the Surface? Leave a review and share the episode with a fellow coach who needs to hear this. More Resources: * Grab the free mini-course: Emotion Systems Audit – Download here [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/emotion-system-audit] * Connect with Shannon on Instagram: @coachshannonbeer [https://www.instagram.com/coachshannonbeer/] * Learn more about compassion coaching: g [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]et the details here [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]

Emotional regulation vs integration

If you've tried breathing techniques, journaling, or urge surfing and the emotions just keep coming back — this episode is for you. I'm breaking down the difference between managing emotions in the moment and actually changing how you feel long-term, and why that distinction could be the missing piece in your progress. Key takeaway: Emotion regulation helps you cope in the moment. Emotion integration is what actually changes your emotional landscape over time, and it works by finding and building tolerance for the emotion you've been avoiding, not the one that's loudest. 💬 Ready to go beyond the in-the-moment tools and work on the deeper patterns? Submit a coaching inquiry through the link below, I'd love to support you through this process. 🔗 Coaching [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/coaching] --- Timestamps: 00:00 – Why your go-to coping tools might only be scratching the surface 00:55 – How I define emotion regulation 02:00 – When emotion regulation *is* useful 02:50 – What emotion integration actually means 03:45 – A deep dive example: social anxiety, and the hidden emotion that's actually driving it 05:20 – Why blocked anger can show up as anxiety — and what healthy anger is really there to do 06:30 – What this looks like in practice 07:45 – My personal experience getting in touch with my own anger, and why it changed everything 08:40 – The Steady Mind: why we build this first before turning towards difficult emotions 09:20 – Two questions to get you started on your own emotion integration journey --- Found this helpful? Share it with someone who might need to hear it, and leave a review to help more people find the show. More Resources: * Grab the free mini-course: Emotion Systems Audit – Download here [https://www.coachshannonbeer.com/emotion-system-audit] * Connect with Shannon on Instagram: @coachshannonbeer [https://www.instagram.com/coachshannonbeer/] * Learn more about compassion coaching: g [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]et the details here [https://coachshannonbeer.com/coaching]