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Sarah and I discuss a couple of recent news articles about the death of ambition since the emergence of COVID. People are working less or are less invested in their work, with more opting for early retirement than ever. There’s apparently a rebellion happening against “pointless presenteeism”, and Sarah and I are 100% here for it.

We explore and deconstruct the social definitions of success for women and consider how doing less might actually contribute to being more, and lead to an easier, more abundant existence.

Is the conventional definition of success and ambition even achievable?

What happens when we let go of our false idea of control and shift our ambition into “being”?

Might this be the key to life satisfaction and happiness? We believe so.

Don’t worry, it’s not as esoteric as it sounds. As always, we keep our conversation grounded in real life and have a few good laughs.

...

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Ruby Williams, Senior Certified TNM Coach, shares her story of growing up in Sonoma, California in a family of winemakers, followed by her 19-year career in the wine industry, where her food addiction grew and her drinking progressed, eventually leading to alcohol abuse after bariatric surgery. Ruby and I explore her path to eventual freedom from both alcohol and food and discuss the role of mindset work, meditation, and gratitude in her recovery.

Ruby now works with women who began to abuse alcohol after bariatric surgery and struggle with alcohol-related weight gain. She is a single mother of an adult son and lives an hour north of San Francisco with her dog and chickens, where she practices meditation and yoga. 

More about Ruby: https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/
Ruby’s free Superpower Guide: https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/the-superpowerguide-pipeline

Questioning your drinking? Start here...

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Karla Adkins, Senior Certified TNM Coach, shares her amazing death-defying story (for real!) of crippling anxiety, drinking to cope, the acute and terrifying health challenges that ensued, and her subsequent journey to mental and physical wellness and freedom from alcohol. Karla and I discuss the link between anxiety and alcohol for women, the problem with asking “am I an alcoholic?”, the consequences of “giving alcohol a job”, and the reality of living with alcohol-related liver disease. Karla shares her experiences as a patient with alcohol-related liver disease, the impact of shame and judgment by medical professionals on her psyche and mindset, and the difference a clear message of hope and support can make.

Drawing from her own experience as well as her training as a Certified Senior Coach through This Naked Mind, Karla helps put people back in control of their lives by empowering them with the tools and...

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Welcome to Season 3 of Bite-Sized Balance! In today's episode, Sarah and I catch up, sharing what we did this summer and some of the life lessons we both learned this past year.

Sarah opens up about a recent loss and her insight into her instinct to try to control everything, and how it serves her better to hold life’s outcomes more loosely. I share an update regarding my emptying nest and the emotions that have accompanied selling my kids’ childhood home and readying them both to leave for their first year of university.

We discuss the importance of learning to trust your gut in midlife. I also share how I'm feeling about another birthday and how the best word to describe how I'm feeling about my 50s is that I have “agency” again. As always, this conversation will resonate and uplift you, and provide a few nuggets to take away and consider in your own journey...

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In the Season 2 closer, Sarah and I revisit our favourite guests and episodes from the last year, and what we’ve learned from hosting Bite-Sized Balance and from each other. I provide my favourite definition of the “meaning of life”, and we consider how it jives with our own approach to midlife. Sarah shares two recent moments of self-discovery and her decision to explore coach training, and I provide an update on my impending empty nest situation. We consider the patriarchal social norms around self-care for women and how those aren’t serving us, along with the problem with women’s overuse of the words “I’m fine" (us included.)

Join Sarah and me for a spirited, fun conversation with an important undercurrent: it’s totally OK to start focussing on you again as you move into your midlife.

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In this short podcast episode, I provide listeners with an update on my commitment to “creating a life I don’t feel the need to escape from” before my transition to empty nester this fall, including my re-discovery of my love of writing. I share a piece called “Taking Care of Me” that will resonate with busy, worn-out women everywhere, where I explore what it really means to take care of yourself and the magic that’s available to you when you finally accept that you’re in the driver’s seat of your own life.

Don’t skip this one – it’s short and sweet but it also might be just thing you need to hear to take back some control over your one wild and precious life!

Does your life look great on paper, but it still feels like something’s missing? Grab your free Blueprint for Change Workbook here: www.wendymccallum.com/blueprint

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Christy is a Certified “This Naked Mind” Coach helping moms in their 30s and 40s examine their relationship with alcohol. Christy grew up in Los Angeles but relocated to London in 2008 after completing law school and passing the California Bar Exam. Upon relocating to the United Kingdom, Christy started a hugely popular website to help other ex-pat women navigate the transition across the pond.

Always a social drinker, Christy found the stress of being a working mom caused her drinking to increase. In 2018 she lost her mother and her drinking increased again. Although everything looked fine on the surface, Christy knew she had to regain control of her life, for herself and for her family.

In today’s episode, Christy and I discuss Christy’s path to freedom from alcohol, why “rock bottoms” aren’t necessary and how waiting for them can keep women stuck, how to deal with social expectations...

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Ellie Crowe is a Certified This Naked Mind Coach, Gray Area Drinking Coach, and co-host of the Present & Sober podcast. Ellie helps overwhelmed and sleep-deprived moms parent peacefully and happily, without needing alcohol to escape at the end of the day. She lives with her husband, three young kids, and three hounds in a very old pub in Cambridge, England. She’s a passionate yogi, Wim Hof-fer, and gymnast (back in training!).

In today’s episode, Ellie and I discuss Ellie’s path to freedom from alcohol, PMDD, early ovarian failure, perimenopause and the role of hormones in Ellie’s alcohol story, how somatic work like cold therapy can help increase your stress tolerance, tools for regulating your nervous system, the trouble with moderation, and the peace that comes with freedom from alcohol.

This is a light and engaging conversation you won’t want to miss!

Ellie’s Website: ...

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Casey Davidson is a Professional Life Coach and host of the extremely popular “Hello Someday” podcast. She’s a wife and mom who spent 20 years climbing the corporate ladder while holding on tightly to her love of red wine. Like me, Casey specializes in working with women with full calendars and overflowing to-do lists, who are doing all the things and drinking to forget all the things.

Casey shares her own story of finding freedom from alcohol and all that was possible for her after she left wine behind.  She explains how so many of the reasons she thought she needed to drink were just problems caused by the drinking itself. 

Casey and I discuss our personal post-alcohol transformations and discuss why so many of our clients seem to embark on similar transformative journeys after alcohol -- including a newfound ability to live a life in accordance with their personal values and an incredible injection of energy...

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Dr. L. Carol Scott, PhD. (Psychology) is a TEDx speaker, author, and coach who uses a unique model to help women succeed in their business and personal lives through self-aware emotional and social intelligence.

Carol mixes hundreds of years of child development theory with 21st Century brain imaging research, decades of her own experience with hundreds of developing humans of all ages, and her own lived experience of recovery from childhood trauma and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In this episode of BBB, Carol and I have a fascinating conversation about how the first seven years of our lives impact all aspects of our adulthood, including our business competence, parenting, and personal relationships.

Carol explains the seven assets that we are meant to develop as kids (trust, independence, faith, negotiation, vision, compromise, and acceptance) and how easy it is for us to be missing some of these as adults because of...