Nancy:
When we stop trying to fix, we create space to listen, and in that space, we often realize that what we truly desire isn’t more control.
It’s more trust in ourselves.
When we stop trying to fix and start honoring what we need, our choices become crystal clear.
Nancy:
Welcome to the Nancy Levin Show. I’m Nancy Levin. Founder of Love and Life Coach Academy, best selling author, master coach, and your host.
I help overachieving people pleasers set boundaries that stick and own self worth, anchored in empowered action, so you can feel free.
Plus, if you’re an aspiring or current coach, you are in the right place. Join me each week for coaching and compelling conversations designed to support you in the spotlight as you take center stage of your own life.
Let’s dive in.
Nancy:
Welcome back to the Nancy Levin Show.
If you’ve been feeling stuck in an endless loop of fixing, managing, and planning your way into happiness, only to find yourself right back where you started, then this episode is for you because today we’re talking about something that most of us have been conditioned to resist, discomfort.
So I know it is natural to want to fix what feels broken.
It is natural to crave certainty and to plan every detail so nothing unexpected can knock you off course.
But here’s the truth. Happiness is not found in the perfect plan, and reinvention doesn’t happen through fixing.
Today, I’m going to offer you a new perspective on everything you thought you knew about how to move forward when life feels unmanageable.
So, settle in. We are about to go deep.
Nancy:
Discomfort doesn’t mean something’s wrong. It’s actually a sign that something is changing.
So instead of avoiding it, consider this. Discomfort is the space where transformation happens.
When you stop trying to fix or control your way out of it, you create room for clarity and self discovery and growth.
We often think that if we can just learn more, read more, gather more information, we’ll somehow sidestep discomfort.
Being a seeker or an accumulator of information might temporarily lift you out of discomfort. But acquiring more information does not equal transformation.
True transformation is in the implementation.
Making a different choice in a triggering or challenging scenario.
Taking a breath before reacting. Choosing a new response instead of defaulting to an old habit.
These are the moments where reinvention happens. Think about the last time you were in a situation that had you uncomfortable. Maybe it was a conversation that brought up emotions you weren’t expecting.
Maybe it was stepping into a new role at work or finally setting a boundary in a relationship.
Whatever it was, whatever that discomfort was, it wasn’t a sign to turn back. It was a sign that something in you was shifting.
And the more we embrace discomfort as a doorway instead of a danger, the more we allow ourselves to grow.
Here’s the deal: extra productivity and planning everything to a “T” can be a response to uncertainty and give a false sense of control, especially during a time of transition in life.
How often do we convince ourselves that if we just keep busy enough, if we just plan hard enough, we’ll find happiness.
We say to ourselves, once I get that next certification, I’ll finally feel confident.
Or once I take that dream vacation, I’ll finally feel relaxed.
Or once I find the right person, my life will fall into place. But the truth, another certification, promotion, vacation, another new person, another seminar won’t bring you lasting happiness.
In fact, planning everything to a “T” can lead to more unfulfillment because we never allow ourselves to fully learn how to go with the flow when life throws an unexpected curveball.
Instead of over planning and over controlling, what if you allowed yourself to trust?
What if we released the need to micromanage every outcome, and instead got curious about what life was teaching us in real time?
What if instead of trying to force certainty, we embraced the unknown?
With openness, the discomfort of not having a perfect plan is often where our most profound breakthroughs happen.
If you’ve been stuck in planning mode, ask yourself, what am I actually avoiding?
What could happen if I allow myself to be present instead of obsessed with the future?
When you’re constantly trying to fix everything, you’re focused on external solutions, finding the next relationship, changing careers, or creating a perfect plan.
Even finding yourself consumed by helping someone else out of their problems is a major distraction that keeps you unclear on what you really want.
These fixes often come from a place of fear, not alignment. And the result, you end up recreating the same unfulfilling patterns in a different package.
Think about it.
When you bounce from one thing to another, hoping that this next thing will finally make you happy, you’re never actually stopping long enough to listen to yourself.
You’re never asking, what do I truly want? What is underneath my need to fix everything around me?
When we stop trying to fix, we create space to listen, and in that space we often realize that what we truly desire isn’t more control, it’s more trust in ourselves.
If you’ve been caught in this cycle, I invite you to pause.
To stop looking outward for the next solution and instead look inward for the truth that has been waiting for you all along.
True reinvention requires turning inward instead of outward. And so this week, when you find yourself challenged by circumstances out of your control, instead of asking, what can I do to fix this?
Ask, what do I need to feel whole again?
This shift in focus allows you to rebuild your life from a place of authenticity, not desperation. When we stop trying to fix and start honoring what we need, our choices become crystal clear. We move from reacting to responding, from controlling to trusting, from avoiding to embracing.
And this is where we are. Reinvention roots in and if you need more in depth support with reinventing your life after a big transition, or if you feel on the verge of an inevitable transition, I have opened a few spaces to coach you personally one on one so you can turn a tough transition into your greatest transformation and the very best version of you yet.
Simply visit www.nancylevin. com/talk to schedule a time for us to connect.
Remember, you do not have to fix your way into happiness. You don’t have to control every detail of your life to feel safe.
You just have to be willing to meet yourself in the discomfort and trust that your reinvention is already unfolding.
Thanks again for being here. And most importantly, for showing up for yourself and please remember if you want support one on one, I am here for you.
All you need to do is visit nancylevin. com/talk to book a time for us to connect. I look forward to being with you again on the Nancy Levin show next week.
Thanks so much for joining me today. I invite you to head on over to nancylevin. com to check out all the goodies I have there for you.
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