What happens when your life looks perfectly fine on paper, but you're quietly trapped in a life or career that no longer fits?

This episode began with an email from a listener. She is accomplished, respected, highly capable, and yet she feels like she has no room to breathe, no time to think, and no idea how to get unstuck. She told us she feels weighed down by the golden handcuffs, unsure whether she can take a step backward in seniority, afraid of starting again, worried about losing flexibility, and pulled between gratitude for what she has and a growing sense that something needs to change.

These feelings are more common than most people realise. So today, we wanted to talk about what being stuck really looks like, why it happens to smart people with good careers, and how you can begin to loosen the grip without blowing up your life.

We unpack the emotional, financial, practical and psychological forces that keep people exactly where they are. From the sunk cost fallacy to confidence dips, cognitive load, the fear of making a wrong move, the weight of responsibility, and the false belief that flexibility and fulfilling work cannot coexist, this episode goes deep into the real barriers that make change so hard.

And then we talk through ideas and small, practical moves to help you start shifting things. Because getting unstuck is rarely one big leap. It is usually small, intentional changes that slowly make space for clarity, courage and choice.

Whether you are feeling trapped in your job, sitting in the discomfort of "fine", craving more fulfilment, or just needing permission to question the rules you have internalised, this conversation will meet you where you are and offer gentle ways forward.

• The reality of feeling stuck in your career
• Why cognitive load makes it impossible to plan a way out
• Finding micro-moments of time when life feels full
• The sunk cost fallacy and why your brain fights against change
• Golden handcuffs and the fear of going backwards
• Using the Backwards Budget to understand what you actually need
• Rebuilding confidence after a break or big life shift
• The devil you know and the myth that change is always riskier
• How to experiment, test ideas and make decisions with less fear
• Why small shifts are often more powerful than dramatic ones

If you loved this episode... Share it with a friend who’s wanting a change (or just needs permission to do the thing!).

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Hosted and produced by Shayla Strapps

In this episode, Shayla and Kate sit down with Emily Tsokos Purtill, former commercial lawyer and newly crowned award-winning novelist, whose debut book Matia just won the 2025 WA Premier’s Book Award for an Emerging Writer.

Emily’s story captures everything we talk about on Outlaws, the tension between safety and creativity, a career that looks great on paper but doesn’t fit anymore, and the quiet bravery of making space for the thing you’ve always wanted to do.

If you’ve ever wondered how to leave law for writing, or whether it’s too late to follow that creative itch you keep ignoring, this conversation is a beautiful invitation to rethink what’s possible.

We dive into:

– How Emily went from corporate transactions to fiction – Writing scenes in the car between school pickups – Why reading like a writer changed everything – The moment a publisher said “yes” and everything clicked into place – Letting go of productivity conditioning to create freely – What rejection taught her, and why it made her work better – Money, motherhood, and making unconventional choices – The surprising skills lawyers take with them into creative careers

In this episode

– Emily’s path from commercial law to becoming a published author – How to build a writing life when time is in short supply – The power of tiny creative acts – Why your first published book might not be your first written book – How legal skills translate surprisingly well into storytelling and publishing

To enter the competition for a copy of Emily's book, please go to www.outlawspodcast.com and sign up for our newsletter.

See more about Emily at https://www.emilytsokospurtill.com/

To buy her book https://amzn.to/44tlPyW

If you loved this episode... Share it with a friend who’s wanting a change (or just needs permission to do the thing!).

Rate and review Outlaws on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more Outlaws find us

Find out more 🔗 Website: www.outlawspodcast.com

📩 Subscribe to our newsletter for updates, tools, and more Outlawbrary picks

Connect with us Instagram: @the.outlaws.podcast - https://www.instagram.com/the.outlaws.podcast Facebook Group: Outlaws Podcast Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/the.outlaws.podcast LinkedIn: Outlaws Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/106681587 Email: contact@outlawspodcast.com

Hosted and produced by Shayla Strapps and Kate Offer

What if taking time off wasn’t a luxury, but a smart, sustainable part of your career?

In this episode of Outlaws Escapes, Shayla and Kate chat with Kate Cranney, a scientist, artist and communicator who pressed pause on her career for eight months to travel, hike and cycle across some of the world’s most stunning landscapes.

From Patagonia to the Alps, Kate and her partner swapped meetings for mountains and discovered what happens when you stop working and start living deliberately. Her story isn’t about quitting everything and running away. It’s about designing a life that has space for rest, adventure and curiosity, and how that can actually make your work richer, too.

In this episode – The planning and mindset behind an eight-month career break – Living with less, and why simplicity can feel freeing, not limiting – How slow, physical travel builds patience, perspective and creativity – The real value of time off: clarity, confidence and courage – What “coming back” looks like after stepping away

🔧 Resources & Links

Kate's website -- https://katecranney.com/

Warm Showers -- https://www.warmshowers.org/

EuroVelo is a series of cycling networks all around Europe -- https://en.eurovelo.com/

Tim Minchin's address -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoEezZD71sc&t=1s

Ken Robinson's 'Finding your element' talk. I listen to this many times a year. I love it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17fbxRQgMlU

'The Gap' by Ira Glass, I love this, on the importance on putting out a body of work https://vimeo.com/85040589 and here is the full article https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-gap-by-ira-glass-9651a750408f?gi=655cd32905f6

Connect with Kate Cranney on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katecranney

❤️ If you loved this episode... Share it with a friend who’s overdue for a pause (or just needs permission to take one).

Rate and review Outlaws on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more Outlaws find their next great escape.

Find out more 🔗 Website: www.outlawspodcast.com

📩 Subscribe to our newsletter for updates, tools, and more Outlawbrary picks

Connect with us Instagram: @the.outlaws.podcast - https://www.instagram.com/the.outlaws.podcast Facebook Group: Outlaws Podcast Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/the.outlaws.podcast LinkedIn: Outlaws Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/106681587 Email: contact@outlawspodcast.com

Hosted and produced by Shayla Strapps and Kate Offer