249. Journal With Me: What Feels Unsafe About Slowing Down

249. Journal With Me: What Feels Unsafe About Slowing Down

You have a list. Maybe it's on paper. Maybe it's in your phone. Maybe it's running through your head right now. And if someone told you to put that list away for a week, no planning, no organising, no keeping track of every little thing, something in you would probably feel uncomfortable. Not because you need the list. Because of what the list helps you avoid feeling. Today's journaling prompts are designed to help you get underneath the overwhelm and uncover the belief that's keeping you busy. JOURNAL PROMPTS 1. When I picture a day with nothing on my list and nothing that needs to get done, what is my first feeling? Not the first thought. The first feeling. 2. When I’m busy and productive, what does that say about me? You can expand this beyond productivity if it feels more true for you. When you’re helping, achieving, showing up, or staying involved, what does that mean about who you are? 3. When I’m still and unproductive, what does that say about me? On the days when you’re resting more, doing less, or not going above and beyond, what story do you make that mean about yourself? 4. If you had to stop writing to-do lists for one week, what are you actually afraid would happen? Keep going deeper than the obvious answer. Then go one layer deeper again. 5. What would it mean about me if I let myself rest before I earned it? Take the fear or belief that came up in the previous prompt and place it into this question. Notice what comes up without trying to change it. The goal isn't to stop making lists. It's to notice what happens when there isn't something to organise, fix, achieve, or cross off. Pay attention to what came up as you wrote today. Because the belief underneath your overwhelm is often easier to see in moments of stillness than it is in the middle of a busy day. RESOURCES MENTIONED: * The Should Session: To Stop you from bringing work stress home! Find out exactly what belief is keeping you stuck in should energy [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/gzhFT9F5/checkout]. Only 5 spots available, expiring on 10/6/2026. WORK WITH ME: 1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94] 2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 3 open spots: Work with me [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoaching] Connect with Sam: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/samantha.s.says] | Facebook [https://www.fb.com/coachsamanthahawley]

248. What If Your To-Do List Is Keeping You Overwhelmed?

Your desk is covered in sticky notes. There are reminders on your phone, notes in a notebook somewhere, and a running mental list that never seems to stop. Crossing things off feels productive. It feels responsible. It feels like you're staying on top of everything. But what if your to do list is helping create the very overwhelm you're trying to escape? This conversation looks at the hidden comfort of staying busy, why empty space can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, and what might actually be underneath the constant need to keep doing. If you've been telling yourself things will finally calm down once the list is shorter, this episode invites you to consider a different possibility. Maybe the list isn't the problem. Maybe it's what the list is helping you avoid. RESOURCES MENTIONED: * The Should Session: To Stop you from bringing work stress home! Find out exactly what belief is keeping you stuck in should energy [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/gzhFT9F5/checkout]. Only 5 spots available, expiring on 10/6/2026. WORK WITH ME: 1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94] 2. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 3 open spots: Work with me [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoaching] Connect with Sam: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/samantha.s.says] | Facebook [https://www.fb.com/coachsamanthahawley]

247. Journal With Me: What Feels Safe About Staying Stuck?

You keep thinking about making the change. Setting the boundary. Starting the thing. Having the hard conversation. But somehow, you keep ending up back in the same place. Not because you don’t care. Because some part of your current life still feels safer than the unknown. This episode is an invitation to stop overthinking and start getting honest about what your comfort zone is protecting you from. JOURNAL PROMPTS: * What is the one thing you keep circling back to but haven't fully committed to yet? What is it that you want to feel, create, or do? * If you fully committed to that decision or vision, what are you afraid of? What do you think you'd be risking? * If you just stayed where you are, claiming it might get easier or a sign will come, what feels safe and comfy cozy about right now? The journaling prompts in this session will help you uncover what you’ve been avoiding, what you’re afraid could happen if you actually moved forward, and what staying where you are has been giving you emotionally. Because sometimes the hardest part isn’t making the change. It’s admitting that a part of you still feels safe staying the same. RESOURCES MENTIONED: * The Should Session: To Stop you from bringing work stress home! Find out exactly what belief is keeping you stuck in should energy [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/gzhFT9F5 ]. Only 5 spots available, open for 2 weeks only. WORK WITH ME: 1. The Leaders Table: https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table] 2. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94] 3. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 3 open spots: Work with me [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoaching] Connect with Sam: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/samantha.s.says] | Facebook [https://www.fb.com/coachsamanthahawley]

246. Why “Doing It All” Still Never Feels Like Enough

I’ve noticed that so many women already know they’re overwhelmed. We know we’re carrying too much. We know we’re stuck in “I should” thoughts all day long. But what actually changes things is understanding the belief underneath those thoughts. Because underneath “I should be doing more” is usually something deeper. If I rest, I’m lazy. If I need help, I’m failing. If I’m not the one holding everything together, I’m not enough. In this episode, I talk about the guilt, pressure, and all or nothing mindset that keeps so many women stuck in overfunctioning at work, at home, and inside their own minds. I also walk through the deeper work that has to happen before real change can actually stick. Not just replacing thoughts with positive affirmations, but questioning the standards, expectations, and beliefs that have been running the show for years. This conversation includes real examples from coaching women through motherhood, leadership, rest, productivity, and the fear of slowing down. If this episode resonates, I want you to pay attention to the questions that come up while listening. Your answers will tell you far more than your to do list ever will. RESOURCES MENTIONED: * The Should Session: To Stop you from bringing work stress home! Find out exactly what belief is keeping you stuck in should energy [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/gzhFT9F5]. Only 5 spots available, open for 2 weeks only. WORK WITH ME: 1. The Leaders Table: https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table] 2. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94] 3. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 3 open spots: Work with me [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoaching] Connect with Sam: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/samantha.s.says] | Facebook [https://www.fb.com/coachsamanthahawley]

245. Journal With Me: From Fear of Change to Trusting What’s Pulling You Forward

Something in life isn’t fitting the way it used to. The path that once made sense now feels heavy, forced, or disconnected from who you actually are. But walking away from it brings up its own fear. Fear of disappointing people. Fear of losing the identity attached to it. Fear of not knowing what comes next. This journaling episode is about looking underneath that hesitation and getting honest about what’s really keeping you stuck. Sam walks through four prompts around change, identity, grief, and the patterns that have quietly been there all along. JOURNAL PROMPTS * Think back to a time in your life when you navigated significant change. Maybe it was having kids, changing jobs, moving, ending a relationship, whatever it might be. What did you figure out? What strengths did you use? If you did that then, what does that tell you about what you’re capable of now? * Picture the path you’re “supposed” to be on right now. The promotion. The title. The next milestone everyone expects from you. Maybe even the one you expect from yourself. What does your day look like? How do you feel by the end of it? What lights you up? What drains you? What does your family dynamic look like? Not what it should feel like. What it would actually feel like based on your current trajectory. * If you walked away from what you’re doing now, what would you be grieving? Maybe it’s the identity. The validation. The security. The stability. The path you thought your life would take. Or where you thought you’d be by now. Then ask yourself: what would I be moving toward? What keeps calling me that I continue to ignore? * Think about the last time you felt fully in your zone. When work didn’t feel like work. When conversations felt energizing. When something came naturally to you and you felt good doing it. Where were you? What were you doing? Who were you with? What kind of work were you helping people with? Then look back across your life. Where else has that feeling shown up before? What’s the pattern that’s been there all along? This episode is a space to uncover resistance, reconnect with yourself, and start creating a life that actually fits instead of forcing yourself to stay attached to a version of life that no longer does. WORK WITH ME: 1. The Leaders Table: https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/leaders-table] 2. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/offers/LN9xep94] 3. Exhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 3 open spots: Work with me [https://www.samanthapenkoff.com/privatecoaching] Connect with Sam: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/samantha.s.says] | Facebook [https://www.fb.com/coachsamanthahawley]