Welcome to Part 2 of my conversation with the brilliant Annie M. Henderson—a transformational life coach, educator, and former licensed professional counselor who specializes in whole-brain approaches that work with the subconscious and nervous system—about The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I highly recommend listening to this one first as you're here and then go back and listen to Part 1. In Part 1, we covered the fable about how we're all made of light, breaking generational curses, and the first two agreements: Be impeccable with your word and don't take anything personally.

Today in Part 2, we're picking up with Agreement 3: Don't make assumptions, and Agreement 4: Always do your best.

These last two agreements really build on the first two. And Annie points out something so interesting—how breaking one agreement kind of triggers breaking the others, like a domino effect. And how practicing any one of the agreements strengthens the others.

We dive deep into what "your best" actually means, especially for those of us with perfectionist tendencies who hold ourselves to impossible standards.

Annie also shares about a modality I have never heard of before called Regenerating Images and Memory (RIM). It's one of those tools that could be useful if you've tried a bunch of things in therapy or coaching and you haven't made the progress you want to make yet.

And we have so much fun with the Questions for Couples Journal. Annie showed up with her own copy and had a question for me!

Here is the scoop on what we talked about —

✨ Episode at a Glance

• Agreement #3: Don't Make Assumptions—and the courage to ask questions

• Agreement #4: Always Do Your Best—and what "your best" actually means

• How the four agreements work together like dominoes

• What RIM (Regenerating Images and Memory) is and how it works

• How RIM gives you the experience of a psychedelic journey without psychedelics

• The levels of awareness and how they shift

• Questions for Couples Journal fun with Annie

• Why social media can be a tool for liberation (even when it's designed as a weapon)
  
  

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

• Visit Annie's website www.anniemhenderson.com

• Follow Annie on IG @life_coach_annie

• Follow Annie on TikTok @Anniemhenderson

The Four Agreements. I read this book over 20 years ago. It change the way I move through life on a daily basis and I hope it does the same for you. Whether this is the first time you hear about it or it's one of your classic favorites too.

I just had an amazing conversation about the book with the brilliant Annie M. Henderson—a transformational life coach, educator, and former licensed professional counselor who specializes in whole-brain approaches that work with the subconscious and nervous system.

We had such a deep and in-depth conversation that it ended up being a longer than usual episode.

So I wanted to cut it into two sections to make it easy to reflect on the first part, easy to reflect on the second part, and to digest the lessons we're talking about—what we learned from the book, how to put it into practice.

It was so rich that I just wanted to give it space to breathe.

In this episode, Part 1, we walk you through the fable at the beginning of the book. If you're not familiar with the book, don't worry. You don't need any prior knowledge. We walk you through everything.

Then we do a deep dive into the first two agreements: Be impeccable with your word and don't take anything personally. Annie brings such a beautiful perspective to being impeccable with your word and how to think about it. I had never heard it explained quite like she did.

In Part 2, our next episode, we will cover agreements three and four: Don't make assumptions and always do your best. Annie is also a specialist in a really fascinating modality called RIM—Regenerating Images and Memory. And we're going to tell you all about it in Part 2.

Here is the scoop on what's included —

✨ Episode at a Glance

• The fable from The Four Agreements about how we're all made of light

• What the "fog" is made of—all the agreements we've absorbed about who we are

• Breaking generational curses by making new conscious agreements

• Agreement #1: Be Impeccable with Your Word—and how we talk to ourselves

• Agreement #2: Don't Take Anything Personally—and what to ask instead

• The movie analogy for reconciling divinity with difficult people

• Why domestication keeps us in an unconscious pen

• How to use "What if it's not about me?" in your marriage

• The power of one: How you shift first and they react to that shift
  
  

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

• Visit Annie's website www.anniemhenderson.com

• Follow Annie on IG @life_coach_annie

• Follow Annie on TikTok @Anniemhenderson

I am so excited to share this week's conversation with you.

I had the joy and honor of being a guest on the Money, Manifestation, and Business podcast with my friend, former life coaching client, and brilliant coach Jamie Berman.

We had a deep conversation about navigating money and manifestation in your relationships. And when I say manifestation, it's really just about managing different values and approaches, no matter what you're talking about with your partner.

In this episode, Jamie and I dive into my Soul-Centered Communication framework — Solution-focused, Open-hearted, Uncomplicated, and Loving.

We talk about stress cycles and how to recognize when you're in fight, flight, freeze, or appease mode. And we explore the concept of psychological safety and how to create it in your money conversations.

This conversation is practical, strategic, and will shift how you approach not just money conversations, but all the harder conversations in your marriage.

Here is the scoop on what's included —

✨ Episode at a Glance

• The Soul-Centered Communication framework: Solution-focused, Open-hearted, Uncomplicated, Loving

• Why our entire life happens inside of a conversation

• The three elements of connected conversations

• How to recognize stress cycles: fight, flight, freeze, appease

• Why someone saying "yes" but never following through is actually a stress response (not lying)

• What psychological safety is and why it matters in money conversations

• How the words we use create and inspire feelings and results

• The difference between "we have a problem" vs. "we have an opportunity"

• Why loving yourself equally matters in conversations about money

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• The Money, Manifestation & Business Podcast with Jamie Berman

Today we're talking about something that might sound really simple, but is actually one of the most revolutionary acts you can practice in your marriage and your life—receiving.

Not just accepting or tolerating, but actually receiving love, help, pleasure, appreciation, and support. How do we actually receive the things we long for?

This is something I've noticed in my work with smart, strategic women who are deeply committed to their marriages—the ones who've mastered achievement in every other area but find themselves craving connection they don't quite know how to let in.

We've been culturally trained to give, to over-give, to anticipate everyone else's needs before our own.

And then we find ourselves craving connection, but not feeling fully equipped to let it in.

As I was preparing for this episode, I thought about: What if the marriage you want is actually the marriage you're allowing yourself to receive? That is a question I have never asked myself before and I think it is worth pondering.

In this episode, I'm joined by the brilliant Dr. Shideh Shafie. She is a board-certified emergency physician and a high-performance coach who helps leaders live and lead without breaking.

Today, she's here to talk about why receiving is actually a nervous system skill. It's not a personality trait. It's a skill we can build.

We're exploring why receiving is a practice you can build and how this practice can transform not just your marriage, but your entire life.

Here is the scoop on what's included -

✨ Episode at a Glance

• Why receiving is a nervous system skill you can build (not a personality trait)

• What happens in your body when you try to receive and why it feels uncomfortable

• The "deflect and diminish" pattern women do automatically

• How to practice "toning the muscle" of receiving

• The simple phrase that changes everything: "Thank you, I receive that"

• Why you need to receive from yourself first before you can receive from others

• How to become conscious of what you actually want to receive (not what you're told to want)

• Why your partner can't play every role in the movie of your life

• The difference between disappointment and something being wrong

• How grief is actually the natural progression of love
  
  

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• Follow Dr. Shideh on Instagram: @shideh.shafie

• Visit Dr. Shideh's website: www.shidehshafie.com

This is part two of our two-part series on understanding divorce. We're getting really strategic in this episode with Lauren Fair—a divorce attorney with 16 years of experience AND a master certified life and divorce coach.

I recorded this interview because I think as a society, we are woefully under-educated on how divorce actually works. The actual nuts and bolts of the process.

Here's the thing: whether you're actually going through a divorce OR you're happily married and never want one, understanding how the process works is incredibly empowering.

Because we are socialized as women to not pay attention to the law part of things, the fine print that governs our lives and our marriages.

Understanding all the different structures for divorce, whether for your own education or to support a friend or family member will help you in ways we may not know today, but I am trusting that having this resource will be so important and I am so proud to share it with you.

In this episode I'm joined by the brilliant Lauren Fair as she puts her lawyer hat on and teaches us some simple law things about the different structures we can use and why to use them and why not to use them.

What makes her approach so aligned with my values is that she sees divorce not as a failure but sometimes being one of the most self-honoring choices a woman can make.

From my philosophy, even if you've decided to stay in your marriage, it's still super useful to understand what the heck is divorce and how it works.

Because everything you need in your marriage you will also need in your divorce—conflict resolution skills, emotional management, strategic communication.

It may be that understanding divorce will motivate you to try really hard one last time or it may open a door in your mind that tells you, it's okay to make this choice from an informed and grounded place.

So we're getting practical in this episode.

We talk about exit plans, the strategic advantage of working with a divorce coach (a relatively new discipline that is growing and helping everyone have better outcomes), and we also talk about safety—financial safety and emotional safety.

This conversation is your permission to get educated, get empowered, and make whatever choice serves your highest good.

If you haven't heard episode one in this series, we will link to that episode in the show notes so you can hear both of them together.

Here is the scoop on what's included -

✨ Episode at a Glance

• What an exit plan is and why knowing your options frees you from feeling trapped

• How everything you need in your marriage you will also need in your divorce

• Why your first call should be to a divorce coach (not an attorney)

• The different divorce options: mediation, collaborative divorce, litigation, and "kitchen table" divorce

• Why mediation gives you the most control over your outcome

• When mediation isn't appropriate and what to consider instead

• How grief shows up in divorce (even when you're the one who wanted it)

• Why the way your partner showed up in the marriage is likely how they'll show up in the divorce

• The importance of building your village: divorce coach, attorney, financial planner, therapist

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• Episode 179: Navigating Stress Cycles

• Episode 76: Trauma, Resourcing & Windows of Tolerance with Shelby Leigh

• Follow Lauren @sensiblesplitdivorce

• Visit Lauren's website: https://faircadora.com/sensiblesplit/

• Listen to her podcast: The Sensible Split

I have a very special two-part series starting with this episode. We're doing a deep dive on how to prepare and how to think about divorce.

And I think as a society, we are woefully under-educated on how divorce actually works.

Here's the thing: as a marriage coach, one of the things that can strengthen your relationship the most is understanding the nuances of ending it. When we understand what it takes to stay AND what it takes to leave, it helps empower us for any choice we make.

In this episode I'm joined by Lauren Fair—a divorce attorney with 16 years of experience AND a master certified divorce coach.

What makes her approach so aligned with my values is that she sees divorce not as a failure but sometimes being one of the most self-honoring choices a woman can make.

Choosing to end a relationship can be a healthy, powerful growth experience, and the collective cultural narrative we have that still shames divorce in a variety of ways is something I hope these 2 episodes contribute to changing.

This conversation is your permission to get educated, get empowered, and make whatever choice serves your highest good.

We also start with a segment on how to support a friend going through a divorce which I think is so important as well so no matter where you are in your relationship journey right now, I think you will find something useful in this 2 part series.

Here is the scoop on what's included -

✨ Episode at a Glance

• How to be a supportive friend when someone you love is going through divorce

• Why understanding divorce options empowers you whether you're staying or leaving

• The three common mistakes women make when hiring an attorney from an emotionally activated place

• Why you want strategic, not "shark," legal representation

• How to manage your attorney (yes, you need to manage them)

• The difference between full scope representation and other options

• Why the moment you deliver the news matters more than you think

• How the divorce conversation begins determines the entire trajectory of the divorce

• Why you should never use the word "divorce" until your bags are packed

• The importance of slowing down when everything feels urgent
  
  

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• Episode 38: Soul Centered Communication

• Follow Lauren @sensiblesplitdivorce

• Visit Lauren's website: https://faircadora.com/sensiblesplit/

Listen to her podcast: The Sensible Split

I recently sat down with Emily Reuschel on her Wild and Waking podcast to talk about something I call the growth gap. What happens when one partner outpaces the other in personal development work?

It was such a great conversation that I wanted to share it here with you too, because this is such a common pattern I see with my clients. Here's the thing: you've been reading all the books, listening to podcasts just like this one, doing all the inner work - because of course you have, and maybe your partner chooses to evolve differently than you.

And that gap, that difference in growth pace and in growth focus, can feel incredibly isolating and frustrating. But what if I told you that the growth gap isn't the actual problem? What if the real issue is what you're doing with that gap?

Emily and I dive deep into why personal growth can actually create more tension in your relationship at first, and then what to do about it. The counterintuitive truth about why your partner's lack of interest in therapy or coaching or a workshop might not be the deal breaker that you think it is. How to stop turning your relationship into a project you're trying to fix. The power of leading from your side of the street without carrying the whole emotional load.

This is one of those episodes where you really want to grab your journal and maybe listen to it once and then go back and take notes because we're going to be practical, we're going to be strategic, and of course we're going to be soulful and have fun all at the same time.

✨ Episode at a Glance

• What the growth gap is and why it happens when one partner evolves and the other resists change

• The "Power of One" framework and how one person's transformation can shift the entire relationship

• Why the mindset of "I go first" changes everything

• The difference between your partner being scared vs. thinking growth is dumb (and why it matters)

• How to communicate your insights without triggering defensiveness

• Why asking for consent before sharing what you learned is essential

• The concept of do-overs and how one client's family transformed it into "rewinds"

• How men and women process differently (and why understanding this helps)

• When to adjust your expectations vs. when it's time to call it

• Why quality matters more than length in relationships
  
  

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Free Workshop: The Growth Gap

• Marriage Mindset Makeover

• Emily Reuschel's website

• Listen to Ep 172 on Wild & Waking with Emily Reuschel and Maggie

• Follow Emily in Instagram @emilyreuschel

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Laura Jurgens to talk about something I have very strong feelings about: polarity. If you've been out in the internet wilderness hearing about masculine-feminine energy and how you need to lean into it to create spark in your marriage, and you're getting a weird vibe about it—you're not alone.

A couple years ago, my husband and I took a virtual retreat on this exact topic with a well-renowned teacher. And I had the most visceral experience of probably disgust I've ever had in a teaching setting. The class promoted things like agency and consent in the description, but the structure was the opposite—repressive, oppressive, and the exact opposite of choice.

Ever since then, I've been a hard no on teaching polarity in my programs. But then I found Laura's podcast episode on this topic and it was like finding a Coca-Cola in the desert. She brings the nuance, the research, and the practical wisdom about when polarity can work without causing harm—and when it's just patriarchy disguised as spirituality.

We talk about the mix of deep and fun that I love, and we're going to tell you exactly when this approach can be helpful and when it becomes harmful.

Episode at a Glance

• What polarity actually is (and why it's everywhere right now)

• Why the masculine-feminine framework often reinforces harmful gender stereotypes

• How polarity can damage women's agency and men's emotional vulnerability

• The five criteria for when polarity can work without causing harm

• Why high-achieving women often fantasize about being dominated (and what that actually means)

• The difference between healthy dom/sub dynamics and repackaged patriarchy
  
  

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Questions for Couples Journal

• Private Coaching with Maggie

• Growth Gap Workshop (FREE)

• The Desire Gap Podcast with Laura Juergens

• Visit Laura's website: https://laurajurgens.com/

• Laura's Instagram: @laura.juergens.coach

• Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski