What if feeling better isn’t about becoming a whole new person—but finding your way back to the person who was there all along?

In this episode of The Conscious Leaders Unfiltered, Cheryl and Kiah sit down with mindset and well-being strategist Deborah Mallow, author of Six Steps to Fewer Days That Suck, for a conversation about burnout, self-belief, resilience, kindness, and reconnecting with your inner sunshine.

And yes… we absolutely had to talk about a book with “fewer days that suck” in the title. 😂

Deborah shares the moment she found herself completely depleted on a New York City subway platform despite being successful on paper—and realized something had to change.

That realization became the beginning of a much bigger journey.

Together, we explore what happens when we stop waiting for our circumstances to change and start paying attention to the small choices, thoughts, and reactions that are actually within our control.

Conscious Leadership begins with how you lead yourself.

• The moment “successful” stopped feeling successful. Deborah shares how burnout during her career as a top pharmaceutical sales rep forced her to rethink how she was living.
• Your brain isn’t as stuck as you think. We talk neuroplasticity and how small, repeated choices can gradually create entirely different thought patterns.
• Where did your sunshine go? Deborah explains what “reconnecting with your sunshine” really means—and why joy, spirit, confidence, and our sense of self can get buried beneath responsibilities.
• The problem with always putting yourself last. Women, parents, leaders, caregivers… we’re looking at you. Running on empty isn’t proof that you care more.

• Failure might need a rebrand. Instead of treating mistakes as evidence that we aren’t capable, Deborah invites us to see them as education.
• Self-kindness isn’t fluff. It’s difficult to build confidence, resilience, or sustainable leadership while constantly tearing yourself down internally.
• Belief comes before change. Before the strategy, the habit tracker, or the perfect morning routine, there has to be some part of you willing to believe something different is possible.
• Leadership creates ripples. How we treat ourselves affects how we show up for other people—and kindness, confidence, and positive energy rarely stop with us.

This conversation is practical, vulnerable, occasionally hilarious, and full of those deceptively simple reminders that make you stop and think:

Wait… why am I making this so much harder on myself?

Maybe reconnecting with yourself doesn’t require one enormous transformation.

Maybe it starts with noticing.

Choosing differently.

Giving yourself a little more grace.

And remembering that your sunshine was never actually gone. ☀️

“If I don't change something, nothing will ever change.”

“We need to lift ourselves up and be kind and build confidence, build resilience, feel good about ourselves.”

“I defend my dignity and I honor my value.”

At its core, this episode is a reminder that becoming more conscious isn’t about getting everything right.

It’s about becoming aware enough to recognize when something isn’t working, kind enough not to beat yourself up for it, and brave enough to make a different choice.

Your sunshine didn’t disappear.

Sometimes life, responsibility, stress, expectations, and everything we think we should be doing simply get in the way of seeing it.

Maybe it’s time to answer the call. ☀️

☀️ Website: The Daily Decisions — thedailydecisions.com
📸 Instagram: @daily.decisions
💼 LinkedIn: Deborah Mallow — The Daily Decisions™️
💙 Facebook: The Daily Decisions with Deborah Mallow
📚 Book: Six Steps to Fewer Days That Suck

Follow Deborah for more on mindset, happiness, resilience, self-kindness, and creating more days that feel like you.

Find the good. Lead with love.

In this episode, we get into:A few lines that stayed with usConnect with Deborah Mallow