If you’ve ever prided yourself on your routines…

If “getting shit done” is practically your identity…

If you feel like you’re constantly navigating the in-between, not who you used to be, but not quite where you’re going yet…

Then this blog post (and this season of The Mind School Podcast) is for you.

Welcome to Season Five, where we explore the messy middle, the awkward in-between, and the humanness behind high performance.

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The Break I Didn’t Want to Take… But Deeply Needed

Let me start with the truth: I didn’t plan this break.

After five years of podcasting every single week, rain, hail or burnout, I hit a wall.

Not because I didn’t love this show. Not because I didn’t have ideas. But because life got… a lot.

Behind the scenes, I’ve been navigating a two-year journey to become a mother. In the last six months alone, I’ve been deep in the trenches of IVF — and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart.

And at some point, I realised: something had to give.

And weirdly… it wasn’t the work. It wasn’t my clients. It wasn’t content. It was the podcast.

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When Discipline Becomes Disconnection

This season of life forced me to ask a pretty brutal question:

👉🏽 Is this devotion? Or is this depletion?

I’ve always been “the disciplined one.” The girl with the plan. The gym junkie. The consistent one. The coach who shows TF up.

But what happens when your sacred routines turn into prisons?

What happens when consistency stops feeling empowering, and starts feeling like control?

I realised I’d been clinging to the podcast as a symbol of consistency. Of discipline. Of “look, I still have it together.”

But I didn’t. Not really.

And in being so disciplined… I was actually abandoning myself.

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The Ego Death of Taking a Break

You know what came up when I considered pausing the pod?

“Oh no… what if people forget about me?”

“What if I lose momentum?”

“I just hit 200,000 downloads!”

…classic ego sh*t.

But when I dropped into my soul, the part of me that’s tender, tired and still hopeful, the message was simple:

“Take the break. We need to grieve. We need space.”

So I did.

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What That Break Taught Me

Here’s what I learned from that pause, and what I want to pass on to you, especially if you’re a high-performing woman holding a lot right now:

💥 Not all discipline is healthy.

If your routines only function when you’re functioning, they’re not routines, they’re rules you’re afraid to break.

💥 Not every badge of honour is worth wearing.

Sometimes, your identity as the “strong one” or the “consistent one” is the very thing stopping you from receiving the softness and surrender your soul needs.

💥 Your body always knows before your mind catches up.

I was exhausted. Sad. Tender. And still pushing. Until I finally asked: Why?

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What Season Five Is Really About

This season is not just another coaching podcast.

It’s the season for the messy middle.

It’s for the woman who’s ambitious AF and quietly grieving.

It’s for the one who wants more, more money, more meaning, more joy, but doesn’t quite know what the next step is.

This season is about both:

• Hustle and healing.
• Structure and softness.
• The doing and the becoming.

We’ve got incredible guests coming, think: the Shadow Work Queen, emotional intelligence experts, discipline researchers, identity coaches, and my own mentor of 2+ years.

And I’m not waiting until I’ve got it “all figured out” to share it with you.

I’m showing up from the mushy middle. The cocoon stage. The not-quite-a-caterpillar, not-yet-a-butterfly phase.

Because I know you might be there, too.

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An Invitation to You

If you’re someone who pushes through…

If you’re clinging to routines that once served you but now feel heavy…

If you wear “I just get shit done” like a badge of honour (but secretly feel like you’re drowning)…

This is your invitation to pause.

Audit your habits.

Ask yourself where discipline has become self-abandonment.

Check whether your “non-negotiables” are aligned with your current season, or just outdated rules from a past version of you.

Sometimes the most powerful move isn’t pushing through.

It’s softening.

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The TL;DR (But You Should Read It All TBH):

• I took a break from podcasting after 5 years of non-stop episodes.
• IVF has cracked me open, softened me, and stretched me beyond belief.
• Discipline is great — until it becomes control or disconnection.
• You’re allowed to change your rules, slow down, or say “this no longer serves me.”
• This new season is raw, honest, inspiring and FULL of depth.
• I’m not waiting until I’m “through it” to talk about it.
• You don’t have to either.

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If You’re Still Here — Thank You.

Truly. Thank you.

This podcast means the world to me. It’s where I get to be honest, curious, fierce and soft, and it’s only just getting started.

If this resonated?

→ Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast

Let’s make Season Five the biggest yet — not just in downloads, but in depth.

Because we don’t need to “have it all together” to change lives.

We just need to show up with our whole selves.

See you next episode,

Bre x