244: Chasing Effortlessness

Have you ever spent so much time trying to find the best way to achieve a goal that you never actually got started? You want to make sure you're choosing the right strategy and not wasting any of your precious time or effort. And when you're already juggling a full career and a busy life, that sounds pretty reasonable. In this next episode of my overthinking series, I'm sharing something I've caught myself doing a lot this year: chasing effortlessness. We're talking about why the promise of easy results is so appealing to overachievers, how trying to avoid wasted effort might actually be costing you more than you realize, and why the hard parts of pursuing a goal might be the very parts you need.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/244 Watch my TEDx talk: Overthinking, the Hidden Cost of Mental Time Travel HERE. Join my email list: https://priyankavenugopal.com/email  

Have you ever gotten to the end of a really productive day and still felt like you should have done more? You crossed things off your to-do list, handled what needed to get done, and somehow your brain is already thinking about what else you could accomplish. In this next episode of my overthinking series, I'm sharing one sentence that sounds like a great work ethic but might actually be costing you more than you realize. It's a belief that earned many of us praise and gold stars growing up, but as overachieving adults, it can make it surprisingly hard to switch off. We're talking about the hidden cost of always doing more, why rest can feel so uncomfortable, and what happens when you start questioning how much is actually enough.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/243 Watch my TEDx talk: Overthinking, the Hidden Cost of Mental Time Travel HERE. Join my email list: https://priyankavenugopal.com/email

You know that feeling when you wake up on Monday morning completely committed to your goals, only to find yourself making excuses by Monday afternoon? You were so motivated just hours earlier, so where did that feeling go? In this next episode of my overthinking series, I'm sharing a lesson I had to learn after watching myself drift away from health goals I'd worked hard to achieve. We're talking about why even the best plans can fall apart when life gets busy, and why the thing that's missing might not be more discipline or a better strategy. Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/242 Watch my TEDx talk: Overthinking, the Hidden Cost of Mental Time Travel HERE. Join my email list: https://priyankavenugopal.com/email

This morning, I stepped on the scale and saw a number I hadn't seen in years. I was up 6.2 pounds. And while I felt that initial punch in the gut, what surprised me most was what happened next. Instead of spiraling into disappointment, I actually felt grateful. Yep, grateful! In this episode, I'm sharing how a busy season of TEDx preparation, family travel, and back-to-school routines led me to slip into an old habit without even realizing it. And it all started with one innocent-sounding sentence that I know so many high-achieving women tell themselves. If you've ever found yourself putting your own needs on the back burner or feeling discouraged when your progress slips, this episode is for you.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/241 Watch my TEDx talk: Overthinking, the Hidden Cost of Mental Time Travel HERE. Join my email list: https://priyankavenugopal.com/email

In this episode, I'm sharing why I decided to evolve this podcast from Burn Stress Lose Weight into something bigger. Weight loss was the doorway into so much of my own personal growth, but over the years I started noticing a pattern that went far beyond the scale. There was something upstream quietly keeping so many smart, capable women stuck, and I could no longer fit that conversation into a smaller box. This episode is part reintroduction, part behind-the-scenes look at my own overthinking, and part invitation into what's coming next. If you've ever had a goal, idea, dream, or decision that you've thought about so much that you barely moved, this new chapter is for you.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/240 Watch my TEDx talk: Overthinking, the Hidden Cost of Mental Time Travel HERE. Join my email list: https://priyankavenugopal.com/email

You may be completely capable of having hard conversations at work, advocating for your clients, or speaking up for someone you love, but when the conversation is about what you need, suddenly it can feel very different. In this episode, I'm joined by master certified coach Sara Bybee Fisk for a powerful conversation about people-pleasing, resentment, relational risk, and why the conversations we keep putting on the shelf often come with a cost. We explore what makes a conversation feel hard, why high-achieving women are especially likely to avoid certain conversations, and what can become possible when you're willing to speak up. About Sara Bybee Fisk: Sara Bybee Fisk coaches capable women through the conversations they're afraid to have. As a Master Certified Coach and host of the Ex-Good Girl Podcast, she's worked with thousands of women in medicine, business, and faith communities who've done years of personal work but still freeze when something they care about is at stake. Her approach is straightforward: most women don't need another insight or a better script- they need to learn the skills they were never taught.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/239 Sara's workshop: https://www.sarafisk.coach/voice   Sara's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarafiskcoach/ Ready for your next level? Visit priyankavenugopal.com

🔴 TEDx YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/-p6KtUizbvs?si=ypWcVMOAGR2w8gz9

What happens when the thing that used to motivate you no longer feels quite as powerful? Sometimes we keep pushing, planning, and trying to force ourselves forward when what we really need is to reconnect with why we're doing any of it in the first place. In this episode, I'm sharing a lesson that started with a struggle at home with my daughter and quickly turned into a much bigger realization about motivation, overthinking, and the next chapter of my own work. This is a more personal episode about coming back to what matters, questioning the things we've been doing on autopilot, and being willing to move forward even when every detail isn't perfectly mapped out yet. Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/238 Ready for your next level? Visit priyankavenugopal.com  

You already know what you said you were going to do. So why does your brain suddenly have 47 very convincing reasons not to do it? For overachievers, inconsistency often isn't a discipline problem. It's what happens in those tiny moments when we start negotiating with ourselves. We think about whether we should start tomorrow, whether today is too busy, whether we need to feel more motivated first, and before we know it, we've talked ourselves right out of the action that would move us forward. In this episode, I'm breaking down why negotiating is so normal, how it quietly drains your mental energy, and the skill that can help you follow through even when part of your brain would really rather not.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.priyankavenugopal.com/237 Get the Body Reset Mini Course: https://priyankavenugopal.com/bodyreset

What if the scale froze today and never moved again? Would you still want to eat, move, sleep, and take care of yourself the way you are right now? For overachievers, it's easy to bring transactional energy into our health goals. We follow the plan, put in the effort, and expect the scale to pay us back. And when it doesn't happen on our timeline, resentment, frustration, and "why bother?" can quickly creep in. In this episode, I'm exploring what happens when we stop keeping score with our bodies and start paying attention to a different kind of return. The kind that may never show up on a scale, spreadsheet, or tracker, but can completely change the way you experience taking care of yourself.   Resources:  Get full show notes and more information here: https://priyankavenugopal.com/236 Get the Body Reset Mini Course: https://priyankavenugopal.com/bodyreset