Honoring Your Need for a Pause

Have you ever found yourself apologizing for taking a much-needed break? I certainly have, and it's this very vulnerability that sparked a heartwarming connection with someone who thanked me for showing that it's okay to rest. In today's episode, I share my own experience with the relentless drive for perfection and the transformative realization that sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is honor our need for a pause.

We'll explore the pressures of high achievement and the often-ignored whisper of self-care, diving into a candid discussion about the importance of listening to our internal cues for rest, and how this self-compassion can foster resilience.

In this episode, I cover the following:
1. Importance of rest and self-honor.
2. Acknowledging burnout in high achievers.
3. Reconnecting with what brings joy: the power of play.

______________________________________

[FREE TRAINING]
How high-achieving women can
DITCH anxiety in as little as five minutes a day
www.brave-method.com/anxiety

[FREE CALL]
Book a free call to ask me questions directly and see
if we are a fit for working together.
www.bravemethod.com/book

[RESULTS]
Which of these results do you want and inspire you the most?
www.brave-method.com/testimonials

💗 Dr. Steph
@DrStephanieLopez
www.brave-method.com

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

Hi , I'm Dr Steph and I'm here to guide you on your journey to healing from a difficult relationship with your mother , whether she was narcissistic , emotionally immature or just plain toxic . I want you to know that you are , in fact , not broken and you do not have to suffer from anxiety or explosive emotional reactions like lashing out . You can break the cycle . You are a strong , capable woman who can handle any challenge that comes your way , and I'm gonna show you how to have the ultimate control over your reactions so that you are unstoppable . Welcome to the Broken to Brave podcast . Welcome back to the Broken to Brave podcast . Welcome back to the Broken to Brave podcast . I have a quick episode for you today .

Speaker 1 0:55

I had this flashback when I was pretty new in my business . I think I maybe had a business for like two months and I can't remember exactly what I said , but I posted something on Instagram and I was like I think I apologized for like not doing stories or something . Mind you , I was still working full time and I had a very small baby , sophie . She was like five or six months at the time and so I received a message from somebody and she said thank you for sharing this , for telling us like , you're going to rest and you're not going to worry about putting out a post or stories . We need to see this , we need to see this and that stuck with me . That was a good . How many years ago was that at this point ? Three and a half , three and a half years ago . And it's still with me . We need to see this .

Speaker 1 1:54

And if you resonate with this podcast , then I'm willing to bet that you are a high achiever , high functioning , perfectionist type A . You name it , it's you . And if that's true , it's also probably very likely that you are not giving yourself time to rest , to recharge , to be human . Maybe , if you're like some of my clients , if you're like the old version of me , maybe you're grinding or you're telling yourself like , oh well , if you're like the old version of me , maybe you're grinding or you're telling yourself like , oh well , I'll rest when , or I'll do . You know , I'll be good enough when , but when never comes .

Speaker 1 2:33

So I'm coming here today to tell you I'm tired . I am tired . I was up in the middle of the night for a couple hours , couldn't fall back asleep , and this has happened in the last like two weeks a number of times . Sometimes it's . You know , annabella came in because she was sick or this or that multiple times a night and so it's just been a lot lately and I'm tired and I'm flying out . Today I'm going to Arizona on a business trip and I haven't packed a single item yet and I need to do that .

Speaker 1 3:13

And yeah , I just want to be real with you . You have those days , I have those days and you know what I could choose to get down on myself . I could choose to be like come on , steph , you got to get know what I could choose to get down on myself . I could choose to be like come on , steph , you got to get this done . I could choose to push and to grind or I could pause and I could notice and that's what I am doing . Everything inside of me wants to slow down , wants to pause , wants to rest . What if I honor that ? And what if you honor that for yourself ?

Speaker 1 3:50

I had a client recently , just last week actually . She came , she hopped on a what the F was Steph call , which is part of Brave Academy . We have a call once a week where you can ask questions and get coaching on your specific issues . So she came on and she's like I feel like a mess . My anxiety is so high . I'm crying , all of these things . And then , when we really dug into it , what came up for her ? I don't want to reveal all the details . I didn't ask if I could share her story , but really what came up for her is she was not honoring herself . So what do I mean by not honoring yourself ? It's like inside of you , what is that part of you begging you for that you're ignoring that , you're pushing to the side that , you're telling yourself that you can't have that or can't do that . What if , just this once you try switching to honoring yourself and you do that thing instead of ignoring yourself ? Miraculously she feels a million times better . This week she had a great conversation with her husband . She put a plan in place to counteract some of the feelings of overwhelm that she was experiencing , and she's doing so much better just by taking that one tip .

Speaker 1 5:07

So I wanna leave you with something else concrete today . I want you to make a list . Also , if this feels like it's coming out of nowhere , it's not I want you to make a list of what play is for you . This can be part of rest . It doesn't have to be like you laying down physically , taking a nap or going to bed earlier which it totally could but like what fuels that fire within you , what lights your soul up , what makes you feel alive and think about what you like to do .

Speaker 1 5:41

When you were a little girl , one of my clients this was over the summer she told me an unexpected benefit from working together . She said I feel so much more creative . I'm doing things that I forgot that I liked and loved to do . So sit down , make that list . What did you like to do as a child ? Did you like to garden ? Did you like to color ? Did you like to go ice skating or roller skating ? What did you like to do ? Did you like to play with Barbies ?

Speaker 1 6:15

Make a list and take one thing from that list this week and do it . Make that commitment to yourself . Take one thing from that list and do it this week . All right , that's all I've got for you today . I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week and I'll see you in this week . All right , that's all I've got for you today . I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week and I'll see you in a week . Thank you for listening today , if you're ready to heal , so that triggering situations no longer control you and so that you can feel empowered , brave and thrive in any situation . Dm me the word brave on Instagram and I'll send you a training where you will learn three of the most common mistakes driven women are making that are keeping them stuck in negative emotions , and what you can do instead .