We share a simple, identity-first practice to end the year with clarity and begin 2026 on purpose. Two questions help you release what no longer fits and choose the version of yourself that your habits and calendar will support.

• shifting from self-judgement to curiosity and compassion
• leaving behind old labels, guilt and unhelpful stories
• choosing identity before goals and outcomes
• translating beliefs into small, aligned behaviours
• creating space to reflect and feel the truth
• reducing noise and clarifying your why
• turning declarations into daily evidence
• previewing upcoming conversations with women who rebuilt

Go grab whatever it is you need, make that space, and see what you're leaving behind and what you're taking away

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

The holidays can be noisy, busy, and strangely empty all at once. We wanted to create a quiet pocket in your feed to say a sincere thank you, share a few of our own rituals, and invite you to make space for rest without apology. From the notes you send to the stories you trust us with, your courage and honesty shape everything we do, and we reflect on how that shared momentum helps ambitious women lead with more ease and less burnout.

We talk about gratitude as a practical tool, not a platitude, and how naming what’s working can reset a frantic mind. You’ll hear about our simple family traditions—alternating Christmas Day, familiar plates from childhood, a cheeky cheer for every popped cork in honour of Grandma—and why these small, steady rituals regulate the nervous system and restore presence. We touch on a year coloured by health challenges and what it means to hold close the people and habits that make time feel meaningful.

Looking ahead, we offer a gentle frame for a lighter, fuller, more you 2026: schedule rest first, trim low-value demands, and choose rituals that anchor you to your values. If you’re navigating career pressure, leadership expectations, and the unseen load at home, this conversation is a permission slip to breathe, to celebrate what you’ve built, and to define success on your terms. Share this with a friend who needs a soft landing, leave a quick review if it helped, and explore our toolkit at balanceinstitute.com to keep building a life of balance and beyond. Subscribe, share, and tell us: what joy will you protect this season?

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

Tired of the part-time trap? You're not alone. While dropping to four days seems like the perfect burnout solution, many women find themselves cramming five days of work into four – making stress worse, not better.

Debbie Bailey, co-CEO of Four Day Week Global, reveals the startling truth: it's not about working less, but working differently. Drawing from global trials involving thousands of employees, she shares how organizations implementing a four-day work week saw burnout drop by an astonishing 71%, while sick leave decreased by 65% and resignations fell by 57%.

The secret lies in the 100-80-100 principle: maintain 100% of your wage and 100% of your outputs while working 80% of your hours. It sounds impossible until you realize how much time gets wasted in pointless meetings, inefficient processes, and scattered focus. When Debbie explains that 50 minutes of true focus equals 2-3 hours of normal work, you'll start seeing your workday differently.

Unlike individual part-time arrangements that often fail, the four-day week works because entire organizations reimagine productivity together. Leaders must walk the talk by respecting boundaries and embracing new ways of working. The result isn't just reduced hours – it's a fundamental shift in how we approach work itself.

Whether you're considering part-time work, already feeling stretched thin in reduced hours, or simply seeking ways to work smarter, this conversation will transform how you think about time, productivity, and what's truly possible in your career. From Lamborghini's factory floor to police services, organizations across sectors are proving that when we work smarter rather than longer, everyone wins.

Ready to move beyond burnout without sacrificing success? This episode provides the roadmap you've been searching for.

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

We map the three-phase evolution beyond burnout—unravelling, reawakening, emergence—and share the questions that move you from survival to self-trust. December becomes a checkpoint to trade adrenaline for calm conviction and design a life that fits.

• why burnout is initiation, not failure
• phase one: unravelling and the clarity beneath collapse
• the escape fantasy vs nervous system truth
• phase two: reawakening and rebuilding self-trust
• following curiosity into new practices and communities
• phase three: emergence, clean boundaries, steady peace
• outgrowing past success and grieving with grace
• cycling back through layers with integration not crisis
• questions to carry into 2026 for calm conviction

If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today
And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

What if the missing piece in your success story isn’t another strategy, but a safer nervous system? We explore three potent trends shaping ambitious women: rebuilding worth at the body level, reframing perimenopause as a gateway to power, and ending the silent burnout of over-responsibility. With coaches Jaclyn and Sabina, we dig into how fight, flight, freeze, and fawn show up at work and home, why grit can’t replace regulation, and the simple, repeatable practices that build real capacity under pressure.

We get honest about midlife: not a cliff, a calibration. Perimenopause is more than hormones; it’s an identity and priority audit. You’ll hear how to align energy with what actually matters, choose support without guilt, and use boundaries as performance tools. We tackle the fawn response and people pleasing head on, treating resentment as data and approval as a metric worth reclaiming. Expect practical scripts, micro-habits, and a mindset shift that swaps control for congruence.

This conversation is for women who lead hard things and want to stop paying for it with their health and joy. Learn to ask clearly for what you want, hold steady when others feel discomfort, and build a life that scales with your ambition. If you’re ready to stop managing everyone else’s feelings and start tracking for your own approval, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs this, and leave a review to help more women create balance and beyond.

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

We challenge the “I can do it myself” script and show how fierce independence can cap career growth, fuel burnout, and create loneliness. We offer a path to bigger impact by asking for help, delegating earlier, and letting yourself be seen.

• the hidden costs of doing it all yourself
• how not asking for help stalls delegation and growth
• why armour and perfectionism block real connection
• the island metaphor for scale and support
• working in your zone of genius with help
• how human tribes model sustainable roles and reciprocity
• practical steps to ask for and receive support

If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today
And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

Burnout doesn’t always arrive with sirens; sometimes it’s a quiet collapse on the office floor before a board meeting. We sit down with leadership psychologist and human performance expert Rachael Edmondson-Clark to unpack how high-achieving women slide from “I’ve got this” into overload, why dopamine and constant wins can become compulsive, and the simple biological habits that pull you back to steady ground. Rachael’s story moves from masking and toxic positivity to a mission-led life, with honest lessons about listening to the body, not just the mind.

Across the conversation, we blend psychology with physiology in practical ways you can use today. We explore the power of morning daylight to anchor your circadian rhythm, walking meetings to unlock creativity and problem solving, and micro-moments that repair relationships—a six-second kiss, the “Disney hug rule,” and being truly present for the people you love. We also talk about the trap of saving restoration for weekends or holidays and how to weave recovery into daily life, even when work and family demands are intense.

Rachael shares the Four R model—Recognise, Restore, Resolve, Regulate—a clear framework to spot stress signals early, top up resources, tackle external stressors with brave conversations, and use regulation as a bridge rather than a crutch. You’ll come away with language, tools and small rituals that reduce reactivity, expand bandwidth and protect long-term performance. Want more of Rachael’s work? Find her at https://ellevar.co.uk/ or on LinkedIn. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more women break the burnout cycle.

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!

We explore the uncomfortable in‑between where success stops fitting and intuition asks for the lead. Jealousy becomes a compass, big goals are set down, and we choose aliveness over metrics while stepping into a sacred, uncertain void.

• noticing jealousy as a clue to unmet desire
• releasing the need to be seen as smart
• reframing misunderstanding as their filter
• stepping into the void with fear and faith
• pausing big goals to measure by feeling
• shifting from frameworks to intuition
• trusting clients and timing to align
• inviting listeners to honour their own pivot

If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today
And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs.

Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself!

If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, here are our socials where you can discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women create a life of balance.

Website: www.balanceinstitute.com
Podcast Website: https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast
Email: jo@balanceinstitute.com
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterbalanceinstitute/
Instagram: @betterbalanceinstitute

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast!