#016: The Truth That Shows Up When You Run Out of Options

#016: The Truth That Shows Up When You Run Out of Options

There’s a strange thing that happens when pressure builds long enough... The options narrow, the distractions disappear, and eventually… the things you’ve been avoiding get harder to outrun. After being laid off, I found myself trying to build the smartest next step, something practical, strategic, and capable of creating stability. But over the last few weeks, another realization has been surfacing beneath all of it: What if pressure doesn’t just force decisions… what if it reveals who you actually are? In this episode, I explore the uncomfortable tension between survival and truth, capability and calling, and the difference between building something because it makes sense versus pursuing something because it feels undeniably honest. This is another real-time exploration of what happens when the version of life you think you should choose starts competing with the one that feels most alive. If you’ve ever questioned your career, identity, path, or whether the thing you’re pursuing is truly yours, this conversation is for you. ========== Keep exploring 🌍 austenletourneau.com [https://austenletourneau.com/] ==========

#015: The Energy of an Honest Life

Ever had that feeling in life where nothing is fully guaranteed… but something inside of you starts to shift anyway? In this episode, I talk about what it’s felt like stepping into something that finally feels honest. After being laid off, I found myself standing in uncertainty again, trying to figure out what came next, questioning whether I should return to another corporate role or take a real shot at building something of my own. What started as a conversation turned into a real business, real momentum, real meetings, and a growing sense that I might finally be moving toward the kind of life I actually want to live. What’s been most surprising isn’t just the business itself… it’s the way my body and energy have responded to it. My sleep rhythm is changing, my workouts feel different, I feel more grounded, more alive, more present. And even though I still don’t fully know where this path leads, there’s a calm underneath the uncertainty that I haven’t felt in a long time. This episode is about that feeling. The feeling of alignment, the energy of moving honestly, and the realization that sometimes your body recognizes the right direction before your mind fully catches up. This is a real-time conversation about what happens when life starts feeling like your own again. ========== Keep exploring 🌍 austenletourneau.com [https://austenletourneau.com/] ==========

#014: When You Don't Know What's Next

There are moments in life where something shifts, and nothing feels certain anymore. No clear direction, no guaranteed outcome, just the space between what was… and what’s next. In this episode, I’m recording before a conversation that could shape the next chapter of my life. After recently being laid off from my day job, I find myself in a place a lot of us eventually face… where the old path is gone, and the new one hasn’t fully revealed itself yet. This isn’t a recap, this isn’t a "lesson learned," this is what it actually feels like to be in the middle of it. If you’ve ever felt stuck, uncertain, or like you’re standing at a crossroads without a map... this one’s for you. ========== Keep exploring 🌍 austenletourneau.com [https://austenletourneau.com/] ==========

#013: Stop Judging Yourself for How You Feel

Have you ever felt like your life is objectively good… but you still have moments where you feel frustrated, tired, sad? And then you start judging yourself for it? 🤔 In this episode, I explore the tension of feeling grateful for your life while also moving through frustration, sadness, or uncertainty, and why those emotions don’t cancel each other out. So many of us have been conditioned to override how we actually feel. To stay positive, to focus on what’s good, to remind ourselves how lucky we are. And while gratitude IS powerful… it doesn’t mean that our other feelings aren't valid. Multiple things can be true at once. You can be grateful and struggling. You can be supported and still feel stuck. You can recognize the good in your life and still feel frustrated by where you are. Both can be true. This episode is a reflection on learning to stop judging your emotions… and instead allowing yourself to actually experience them... because that’s what lets you move through them. Not by forcing positivity, or by suppressing what’s uncomfortable... but by being honest about what’s there. You're not wrong for letting yourself feel. ========== Keep exploring 🌍 austenletourneau.com [https://austenletourneau.com/] ==========

#012: What Does It Feel Like to Stop Existing?

Yo… I had an experience recently that I haven’t been able to shake. I was sitting in a bath, just trying to slow things down, and I went into a meditation that took a turn I didn’t expect. At one point, it felt like I stepped outside of myself... like I wasn’t the one experiencing the moment anymore, but rather, the one observing it. And then something even stranger happened… It felt like I disappeared. Not physically, but the sense of “me” started to dissolve. Like my identity, my awareness, everything that feels like you, began to break apart and expand outward into something much bigger. And weirdly… it didn’t feel scary. There was this mix of peace, curiosity, and a kind of quiet sadness... like letting go of something you’ve always known, without really knowing what comes next. It made me start thinking about something I don’t usually sit with directly: What does it actually feel like to stop existing? Not from a religious perspective. Not from a definitive answer. But from the lens of experience, curiosity, and the possibility that there are parts of existence we may never fully understand. I don’t have answers in this episode. Just an experience… and the questions it left me with. ========== Keep exploring 🌍 austenletourneau.com [https://austenletourneau.com/] ==========