Ep #182: Start With What Is

Ep #184: Give Yourself A Sabbatical

Have you ever dreamed of taking a break from work to explore something new? I have. As an academic without a tenure-track position, I've spent 30 years watching colleagues take sabbaticals -- a semester or a year to write, think, and live a different pace — and feeling envious. And then I realized: I can give myself a sabbatical. And so can you. In this episode, I make the case that sabbatical is a feeling — one we can create and nurture without taking a leave of absence. The word "sabbatical" shares a root with the Hebrew Shabbat, the Sabbath, and the radical idea at its heart is that we are not meant to work all the time. We were designed for rhythm: six years of labor, one year of fallow ground. The problem is that most of us have lost that rhythm entirely — and what passes for rest (hello, doom scrolling) isn't really restful, let alone restorative. But a sabbatical is not a nap. It's a deliberate withdrawal from certain kinds of work in order to make room for something else to grow. I walk you through three questions to help you design your own -- whether it's a month, day, or just one hour. And if you want to hear from a woman who left her job to take a midlife sabbatical, listen to Episode #50, where I interview Elana Kahn. Want to share this episode with someone who would appreciate it? I'd love that. And if you haven't yet, please subscribe to Making Midlife Magic and leave a review — it means a lot. Check out ⁠⁠⁠coachingwithrachel.com⁠⁠⁠ [http://www.coachingwithrachel.com] to see more of my world.

Ep #183: What Gets In The Way Of Having Fun (And What To Do About It)

You've been looking forward to the weekend all week. Finally — no obligations, nowhere to be. And then it arrives, and instead of relief, you feel... anxious. Vaguely guilty. Like you're forgetting something important. Sound familiar? You're not broken. You're well-trained. In this episode, I kick off a new focus on fun by starting with what gets in the way. Because before we can have more fun, we need to understand why fun (and rest, and doing absolutely nothing) can feel so threatening, even when we genuinely want more joy in our lives. It turns out there are real, specific reasons this happens. Your nervous system isn't misbehaving. It's doing exactly what it's been trained to do. Listen to find out why rest can feel like falling behind, what your identity has to do with your inability to close the laptop on a Sunday, and the surprisingly small shifts that can start to change all of it.

Ep #182: Start With What Is

We've all been there — something in our life isn't going the way we want, and our first instinct is to think our way out of it. Maybe it's not that bad. Maybe I just need a better attitude. But what if the real missing step isn't reframing — it's acknowledging? In this episode, I explores one of the most common sticking points I see in my coaching: the thought this shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't be this way. It's understandable. It's often completely valid. And it also keeps us stuck. In this episode: * Why trying to force a 180-degree mindset shift often backfires — and what to do instead * The crucial difference between accepting reality and being okay with it * How acceptance actually expands your agency rather than shrinking it Want to share this episode with someone who could use it? I'd love that. And if you haven't yet, please subscribe to Making Midlife Magic and leave a review — it means a lot. Check out ⁠⁠coachingwithrachel.com⁠⁠ [http://www.coachingwithrachel.com] to see more of my world.

Ep #181: How Are You Already The Person You Want To Be?

Hi, I'm Rachel, and I'm not a naturally organized person. We say these things like we're just reporting facts about who we are: I'm not creative. I'm not fit. I'm not good at remembering things. In this episode, I talk about why those "I'm not" statements are anything but neutral, and the powerful coaching question that completely shifted my relationship to my own powers of organization. I share what happened when my coach asked me, How are you already an organized person? — and how that question unlocked a new relationship to my story about myself. In this episode: * Why "I'm not naturally [fill in the blank]" is a thought that keeps you stuck — not a fact about your DNA * How our brains use self-limiting beliefs to conserve energy (efficiently, and at great cost) * The difference between this question and an affirmation — and why the distinction matters * How to find evidence that you're already the person you want to be Want to share this episode with someone who could use it? I'd love that. And if you haven't yet, please subscribe to Making Midlife Magic and leave a review — it means a lot. Check out ⁠coachingwithrachel.com⁠ [http://www.coachingwithrachel.com] to learn more.

Listen Again: Choosing Happiness (Ep #103)

This is one of my most downloaded episodes, because who doesn't want to feel happier? Yet often things get in the way -- work stress, family conflict, medical diagnoses. At these times, the very idea of "choosing happiness" can seem like a mean joke. In this episode I share how we can meaningfully choose happy, even when life is challenging. In this episode: ⭐ How happiness is like ice cream and why it's useful to know what flavor you like ⭐ The difference between grown-up happy and pediatric happy ⭐ The power of adding happy to other emotions ⭐ The difference between thoughtfully choosing happiness and spiritually bypassing less shiny emotions (Why we don't want to slap a smiley face on a rotten potato) Take a listen and let me know what resonates for you! I'm at rachel@coachingwithrachel.com, or dm me on social media.