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I kept putting off a financial decision recently — not because I didn't have thoughts, but because a voice older than the decision told me I wasn't the one who gets to know things. That's not a money story. That's a family of origin story. This week we go back to the beginning. The house where our silence was built. Where we learned which version of ourselves got the warmest response — and took that lesson into every room we've been in since. We talk about the grief nobody names out loud, how to decide whether the conversation needs to happen, and what healing looks like when the other person can't or won't show up. The silence built in that house is not the silence we have to live in.

Nobody decides to stop being honest with their partner. It happens in increments — one small reasonable decision at a time — until the thing you were waiting to say becomes the thing you've decided not to say. This week we're talking about what builds up in the silence between two people, why resentment is almost always pointing at something unsaid, and the one question that changed everything in my own marriage: is this feeling coming from this situation — or from somewhere else entirely? Also in this episode: the important difference between a relationship that is hard and one that is harmful — and why that distinction matters before anything else.

  Your voice is going to come out wrong the first time. Too loud, too soft, or completely sideways. That's not a sign to stop — that's the FFT. This week we get practical. We talk about what it actually looks like when you start using a voice you haven't fully used in years, why clumsy doesn't mean failure, and how to start building the muscle with something genuinely small. I also share what happened five weeks into my separation when my voice came out at a family dinner in the worst possible way — and what showed up in my phone within minutes. Find your practice space. Start there.

You can understand exactly why you go quiet and still go quiet anyway. Insight isn't the same as change. What keeps the silence in place isn't confusion — it's fear. Specific, legitimate, deeply grooved fear. This week we name it directly. What you're actually afraid of underneath the practical reasons. Why that fear is historically accurate — and why it's still lying to you about what's on the other side. Plus the story of what happened when I said the thing at 23 and the institution failed me anyway — and why I still don't regret saying it. Your voice doesn't always change the room you're in. But it always changes you.

In this episode, I explore something that sits underneath so much of our lives — our voice. Not the one we speak with, but the one that knows what we think, what we need, and what we will and won't accept. I talk about how many of us didn't lose that voice by accident — we were trained to silence it. We learned to edit ourselves, to keep the peace, to stay small. Today I start unpacking where that training came from and what it has cost us. This episode is an invitation to begin noticing it — without judgment — and to prepare for the work of finding that voice again.

I lost my best friend from high school this January. The bridge between us was always there — until it wasn't. That's what this episode is about. The conversations you've been meaning to have. The person you've been meaning to show up as. The things you've been meaning to say. Not someday. Now. Your practice this week: catch yourself once in the act of not saying the thing. Write it down. That's it. That's where we begin.

What if purpose isn't something you discover once and hold onto forever? What if it's something you discover in small ways — every single day? Over the last few episodes we've been talking about something many of us are missing: margin. Space in our lives and space in our nervous systems. Because we can't build a life we love when every ounce of our energy is already spent holding the current one together. But once we create a little space, another question appears: Now what? In this episode I share five Japanese wisdoms that offer a gentler way to think about purpose, presence, and rebuilding a meaningful life in midlife. Not a roadmap. More like a long exhale. We explore: • Ikki no Mei — finding one small reason to show up today • Ma — why the space between things matters more than we think • Shodo — how writing by hand changes the way we experience our lives • Wabi-Sabi — finding beauty in the life that didn't go according to plan • Kintsugi — why the cracks in our story may be the most valuable part If you've ever wondered what comes next after years of caring for everyone else, this episode is an invitation to start small. You don't have to solve your whole life. You just have to find today's reason.

When did you last have margin? Not a vacation, not a Sunday — real margin. Blank space that belonged to no one and nothing. Just you, unhurried and present. I'm guessing the answer is: not recently. In this episode I'm coming to you through four different lenses — the coach, the yogi, the nervous system researcher, and the grandmother — each one asking the same essential question in a different language: how did we get so busy building a life that we forgot to live one? This isn't about doing less. It's about getting curious about what the doing is protecting you from feeling. Because the busyness? It's not your problem. It's been your most loyal solution. And before we can set it down, we have to understand why we picked it up. You'll walk away with four small, real practices — one from each perspective — and permission to start where you are. You are not behind. You are not broken. You are just very, very tired. Referenced in this episode: Shauna Niequist — Bittersweet and Present Over Perfect BKS Iyengar on the body and stillness Peter Levine — trauma physiology and the nervous system

That flat, resigned Bohemian Rhapsody line — nothing really matters to me — caught in my throat at 14 and still does. What if it's actually permission? Permission to stop carrying what was never really yours and make space for what genuinely matters. That's the Care Budget. Yes, I made it up. This episode is about treating your energy like your finances — assessing where your cares are going and deciding if they deserve the investment. I share the moment I hit empty in Kansas City, why The Giving Tree is a cautionary tale for women who are really good at giving, and four questions to figure out what you actually care about — not what guilt tells you, not what you've always done on autopilot. We also build the practical framework: audit, categorize, protect your non-negotiables first, practice the pause before saying yes, and revisit seasonally. Blue zone research found that a clear sense of purpose is worth up to seven extra years of life. Your Care Budget isn't just feel-good. It might be self-preservation. You are not learning to care less. You are learning to care on purpose. https://www.instagram.com/nicole_bachle/  

You're not depressed. You're not fine either. You're somewhere in the middle — and there's actually a name for it. In this episode, I'm unpacking why so many of us feel like we're watching our lives through a foggy windshield, and sharing one surprisingly simple shift that can wake you back up to yourself. We'll talk about what's really happening in your brain when you hit that sweet spot where time disappears and your inner critic finally shuts up — and how to get there more often, even in the margins of a very full life. This one's short, practical, and might just be the permission slip you didn't know you needed. This week's invitation: Block 90 minutes. One activity. Show up for yourself like you show up for everyone else. "Joy is an incredible alarm clock. It will wake you up, keep you up, and gently pull you through a thousand rejections along the way." — Jon Acuff https://www.instagram.com/nicole_bachle/  

Welcome to part two of our deathbed regrets series. Last week I covered the first four regrets—this week I'm finishing with the final six, and these might hit even harder because they're about living on autopilot, postponing joy, and holding grudges.   Regret #5: Not choosing happiness. Happiness isn't something that happens to you—it's a daily decision.  Regret #6: Not taking the risk. People don't regret what they tried and failed at—they regret what they never tried.  Regret #7: Not prioritizing self-care. Not bubble baths—actual care. Meeting your needs, protecting your energy, honoring your body.  Regret #8: Not taking the vacation. Both literally and metaphorically. People regret not traveling while they had their health, but this is also about not postponing joy.  Regret #9: Not living in the present. Harvard research found we spend 47% of our waking hours thinking about something other than what we're doing—and it makes us less happy. Presence isn't passive, it's a practice. Regret #10: Not forgiving. Both others and yourself. Forgiveness research shows lower stress, better cardiovascular health, better sleep.    You have enough history to know where your regret lies. Do you have enough courage to stop rehearsing it and start rewriting it?

This week I'm covering the first four of ten deathbed regrets shared with hospice nurses—not to depress you, but to give you a roadmap while you still have time. Includes research from Blue Zones and the Framingham Heart Study on how connection and purpose add years to your life.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver's famous question might make your throat tighten. That's because most of us have never actually been asked that question - not in a way that expected an honest answer. Instead, we've spent decades answering different questions: "How are the kids?" "What does your husband need?" "Can you help with this?" Until one day, we wake up and realize we don't know who we are anymore. In this episode, we explore what happens when the roles that defined you - mother, wife, daughter, caregiver - shift or disappear. We talk about why asking "Who am I?" feels terrifying, and more importantly, how to actually start answering it. This isn't about reinventing yourself. It's about coming home to who you've always been underneath the layers of conditioning, performance, and people-pleasing. If you've been living everyone else's life and you're ready to reclaim your own - this episode is for you.   Key Takeaways: ✨ Your mind has been trained to lie to you. Your body tells the truth. Start with somatic awareness - notice what your body actually feels, not what you think you "should" feel. ✨ You're not broken - you're out of practice at being yourself. The neural pathways for self-knowledge weakened from lack of use, but neuroplasticity means they can be rebuilt. ✨ Identity emerges from boundaries. Sometimes it's easier to know what you DON'T want. Make a "not me" list. ✨ Give yourself permission to try things and quit. You're gathering data, not signing blood oaths. Exploration doesn't require commitment. ✨ When you reclaim yourself, your relationships will shift. Some will deepen, some will struggle, some will end. This is painful and necessary. ✨ The terror is the threshold. That fear you feel when asking "Who am I?" isn't a stop sign - it's the doorway to freedom.   Resources Mentioned: Poem: "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver Concept: The "Fawn Response" - Pete Walker's trauma survival strategy of appeasing and people-pleasing Science: Neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to form new neural pathways throughout life  

Over the past nine weeks, you've done the work. You've set boundaries, clarified your values, and practiced giving yourself grace. But now you have something you might not have had in years: space. And if you're like me, that space can feel more uncomfortable than the chaos ever did. In this episode, I'm talking about what happens when we finally create room in our lives—and then don't know what to do with it. I introduce Brené Brown's concept of the FFT (the F*cking First Time) and why doing something new always feels awkward before it feels natural. I share a recent snow day that reminded me how easily I default to filling time rather than asking what I actually need. And I challenge you to befriend the quiet instead of running from it. This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about learning to trust that empty space won't swallow you whole. In this episode: Why the space you've created might feel harder than the chaos you left behind Understanding the FFT and why discomfort is part of growth The four-second rule that reveals our addiction to noise A simple practice for befriending silence this week What's coming in the next episodes (spoiler: Blue Zones research and wisdom from hospice nurses) Resources mentioned: Emily P. Freeman's The Next Right Thing podcast Brené Brown's concept of the FFT (F*cking First Time) If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it. What does your empty space want to tell you? https://www.instagram.com/nicole_bachle/

As we do the work of letting go of beliefs, patterns, and behavior - as we stop performing to earn value and set boundaries - something sneaks in like pre-dawn fog: grief. Grief is unexpected and often ignored, and it can hold us exactly where we are.  This week I'm normalizing grief in personal growth and helping you namen what you're actually mourning.  We're not just taking about capital G Grief (the profound loss of someone we love). We're talking about lowercase g frief - the ways grief weaves in and out of our lives as we grow and change.  Including the strange grief of mourning someone who's still alive, still physically present.   In this episode: What we're actually grieving: the version of herself we'll never be again, relationships that didn't survive our growth, the years we lost, and the beliefs we're releasing Why growth requires goodbye—every time we step into a new version of ourselves, we close the door on who we used to be The four frameworks that explain grief and growth: growth requires goodbye, we grieve our unlived lives, anticipatory grief lives in liminal space, and joy and sorrow are dance partners How grief actually shows up: unexpected crying, exhaustion, anger, nostalgia for hard times, feeling lost and untethered Why we can't skip the mourning period—and what happens if we rush to fill the void with new commitments How to hold space for your grief: name it, feel it without fixing it, explore it, and create ritual for release Quote of the week: "There's a Zen teacher that said what's holding you back is what you're holding onto." Practice for this week: What identity, attitude, behavior, mindset, action, or belief are you holding onto that's holding you back? Notice the negative thought that says "that's not gonna work." This message kept you safe at some point—safe from ridicule, failure, the spotlight—but does it still apply? Thank it. Allow yourself to grieve it. And prepare yourself, because over the next few weeks we're gonna talk about building a life that suits you now.