Sometimes we need a break from all the emotional heavy lifting and just have some FUN! 😂

In Episode 145, Coach Del celebrates the JOY of connection—the laughter, friendships, group chats, and shared experiences that make life a little sweeter.

From Karaoke Wednesdays and girlfriend outings (even the ones Mother Nature cancels!) to making new connections, this episode is a reminder that friendship isn't just about having someone to lean on when life gets hard. It's also about having people to share the GOOD times with!

Coach Del also shares her recent guest appearance with Melissa Clay on Me in the Making Podcast. Their conversation is coming soon!

Because it's not just you… it's US. And that includes the JOY! ❤️

Sometimes the thing you think is keeping you stuck isn't the real thing.

Take Coach Del's “What's REALLY Holding You Back?” assessment to uncover what may be getting in the way of your next step.

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.

📱 Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

How to Respond Instead of React: You Always Have a Choice

Your thoughts can influence your feelings. Your feelings can influence what you want to do. But neither one has to make the decision for you.

In the final episode of the three-part Thoughts, Feelings, and Choice series, Coach Del explores what happens after we recognize the thoughts we're having and the emotions those thoughts may be nurturing.

Because recognizing what we think and feel is only part of the equation. The next question is: What do we CHOOSE to do with it?

Returning to a personal story about feeling excluded from a family gathering, Coach Del shares the series of choices she made: approaching her sister with curiosity rather than accusation, listening without skepticism, acknowledging her hurt feelings, and asking to be included in the future.

It's a powerful reminder that making an intentional choice doesn't mean pretending we're not hurt, angry, afraid, or disappointed.

It means recognizing that our feelings don't have to make every decision for us.

Drawing on Romans 12:2 and James 1:19, Coach Del explores the connection between renewing how we think and choosing how we respond.

In this episode, we'll consider:

• Why an emotional impulse isn't necessarily an instruction to act.
• How we can choose curiosity, honesty, boundaries, or even inaction rather than automatically reacting.
• Why choosing intentionally doesn't always mean choosing the easiest, nicest, or most comfortable response.
• How courage helps us make thoughtful choices even when difficult feelings remain.
• Why one choice doesn't have to become the end of our story.

Four questions to consider:

1. What actually happened?
2. What am I thinking about what happened?
3. What am I feeling—and what is that feeling making me want to do?
4. What do I CHOOSE to do next?

You may not get to choose everything that happens to you. But you can become more intentional about what you do with what happens.

And that, my friend, is where so much of our ability to bounce back begins.

🎉 WIN A SIGNED COPY OF RUTHLESS INTENTIONALITY!

I'm celebrating the release of Ruthless Intentionality: Choosing Courage and Clarity in Moments that Matter by giving away FIVE personally signed paperback copies!

Enter by October 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern for your chance to win. No purchase necessary. Open to U.S. residents.

👉 Enter the giveaway HERE

What's REALLY Holding You Back?

Sometimes the thing you think is keeping you stuck isn't the real thing.

Take Coach Del's “What's REALLY Holding You Back?” assessment to uncover the bottleneck that may be getting in the way of your next step.

🌐 Visit CoachDel.com to take the assessment.

Stay Connected with Coach Del

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com

📱 Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 LinkedIn: @delphinesmith

You can be genuinely hurt by something you only think someone meant.

You can be genuinely afraid of something that never happens.

You can even become genuinely excited and emotionally invested in a future that hasn't actually been established.

The feeling is real. But what is it based on?

In Part 2 of the Thoughts, Feelings, and Choice series, Coach Del builds on the previous conversation about examining our thoughts and explores how those thoughts can shape our emotional experiences.

Sometimes we're responding emotionally to what actually happened.

Other times, we're also responding to the meaning, motive, or intention we've assigned to what happened.

And when an unproven assumption creates a very real emotion, that emotion can begin influencing how we act, react, and make decisions.

In this episode, Coach Del explores the difference between feeling something about what happened and feeling something about what you believe was done to you, why the intensity of an emotion doesn't prove the thought underneath it is accurate, how both negative and positive assumptions can lead us beyond the facts, and why it's worth examining a feeling before allowing it to influence what you do next.

Ask yourself:

What am I feeling? What thought is this feeling responding to? Do I know that thought to be true? What is this feeling making me want to do?

Next up: CHOICE—what happens when we recognize that our thoughts and feelings don't have to automatically determine what we do next.

Sometimes the thing you think is keeping you stuck isn’t the real thing.

Take Coach Del’s “What’s REALLY Holding You Back?” assessment to uncover the bottleneck that may be getting in the way of your next step.

🌐 Visit CoachDel.com to take the assessment.

🌐 Website: CoachDel.com

🎙️ Podcast: BounceBackBlackWoman.com Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms

📱 Follow on Instagram & TikTok: @BounceBackBlackWoman

💼 Follow on LinkedIn: @delphinesmith