Are you constantly asking yourself, "What's next?" The next promotion, pay rise or leadership opportunity? What if, instead of chasing more, you paused to ask a different question: What is enough?

In this episode, Sarah explores how ambitious women can redefine success on their own terms. We'll look at the hidden cost of constantly moving the goalposts, why many of us inherit other people's definitions of success, and how to create success criteria that reflect what's truly important to you in this season of your life and career.

If you've ever felt guilty for resting, struggled to celebrate your achievements, or questioned whether you're striving for goals that no longer feel aligned, this episode is for you.

• Why "enough" is a question more successful women need to ask themselves.
• How inherited beliefs about success influence our careers.
• The hidden costs of constantly striving for more.
• Why ambition isn't the problem – unconscious ambition is.
• Practical ways to define your own success criteria.
• Two powerful coaching questions to help you decide what enough looks like for you.

Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome to Unstuck and Unstoppable

01:35 – Why asking "What is enough?" matters

03:00 – Have you ever stopped to define success for yourself?

04:00 – Why success often becomes a moving target

04:45 – How we inherit our definitions of success

06:10 – The success criteria many women unconsciously adopt

07:00 – The hidden costs of never reaching "enough"

07:45 – Why this isn't about having less ambition

08:00 – Rest, guilt and constantly moving the goalposts

09:00 – What has your ambition given you – and what has it cost you?

09:40 – Identifying your personal success criteria

10:45 – Looking for clues in the lives of others

11:45 – My four personal success criteria

13:40 – Two coaching questions to define what enough looks like for you

15:00 – Designing the next season of your career and life

15:40 – How Sarah can help you create a career and life that's right for you

Key Coaching Questions

Take a few moments to reflect on these questions after listening:

1. If no one else's expectations mattered, what would "enough" look like for this season of your life and career?
2. Imagine yourself at 80 years old, looking back on your life. What would tell you that you had lived a good life and achieved enough?

Useful Links

Episode 77 Rethinking rest: What high performers need beyond time off

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Learn about Leadership & Advancement Coaching Programmes

Book a Free 121 Clarity Call

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Rate & Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Unstuck & Unstoppable helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Sarah know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: sarah@careertreecoaching.co.uk

Do you struggle to say no, even when you're overwhelmed?

If you're constantly putting other people's needs before your own, taking on too much or feeling guilty whenever you try to protect your time, this episode is for you.

Sarah explores why setting boundaries feels so difficult, especially for ambitious women in leadership. She explains how people pleasing is often a nervous system response rather than simply "being nice", and shares practical tools to help you communicate boundaries with confidence, maintain them consistently and create more space for the work and life that matters most.

You'll learn four simple ways to express a boundary, discover the different areas where boundaries may be missing in your life, and understand how listening to your body's "embodied yes" can help you make decisions that align with your values.

Small boundaries build self-trust, and self-trust changes everything.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why people pleasing is rooted in nervous system safety
• What healthy boundaries really are (and what they aren't)
• The four simple ways to communicate a boundary
• How to confidently say no without over-explaining
• The 3R method for holding boundaries when they're challenged
• The eight areas of life where boundaries matter most
• How to recognise your body's "embodied yes"
• Why boundaries are an essential leadership skill for preventing burnout

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and why boundaries matter

02:00 Why people pleasing makes boundaries feel unsafe

04:20 What healthy boundaries really are

06:20 The four simple ways to set a boundary:

10:45 How to make your boundaries stick with the 3R Ladder:

13:30 The eight types of boundaries

16:00 Listening to your body

18:10 Why small boundaries build self-trust

19:20 Your challenge for the week

Useful Links

Episode 88 Stop People Pleasing and Be Your Full Self at Work (with Sophie Jane Lee)

Episode 19 How to Be More Assertive at Work

Sophie Jane Lee's book Beyond Palatable: A Manifesto for Unapologetic Women

Sign up for Weekly Career Inspiration

Learn about Leadership & Advancement Coaching Programmes

Book a Free 121 Clarity Call

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Rate & Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Unstuck & Unstoppable helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Sarah know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: sarah@careertreecoaching.co.uk

What if confidence isn't the thing you're missing?

So many successful women have spent their lives being capable, dependable and high-achieving, yet still find themselves holding back at work and in life. They say yes when they mean no, struggle to set boundaries and worry about being seen as too much, too ambitious or too full of themselves.

In this powerful conversation, Sarah is joined by author, speaker and founder of Electric Peach, Sophie Jane Lee, to explore the hidden ways women abandon themselves in pursuit of being more palatable to others.

Drawing on the themes of her book Beyond Palatable: A Manifesto for Unapologetic Women, Sophie shares why the stories we tell ourselves shape the lives we create and why becoming unstuck isn't about fixing yourself – it's about becoming more fully yourself.

Together they discuss self-abandonment, visibility, boundaries, people pleasing and why doing the inner work matters if we want to stop shrinking ourselves and step into our brilliance.

In this episode you'll discover:

• What self-abandonment looks like at work and in everyday life

• Why successful women struggle to own their value and take up space

• The connection between our nervous system, safety and visibility

• How unconscious stories shape our careers, relationships and confidence

• Why boundaries feel so uncomfortable and how to navigate the guilt that comes with saying no

• Practical ways to build self-awareness and create space for reflection

• Why being 'full of yourself' is something we should aspire to rather than avoid

00:00 - Introduction

01:00 - Sophie's career journey and why she wrote Beyond Palatable

03:00 - Why women shrink themselves and make themselves smaller

04:00 - Understanding self-abandonment and the nervous system

06:30 - What self-abandonment looks like in the workplace

08:15 - The triad of oppression and the systems women navigate

13:45 - Are we making progress as women?

16:00 - Visibility, confidence and becoming 'full of yourself'

19:00 - Why there isn't a quick fix for confidence and self-worth

22:00 - Creating space for reflection and doing the inner work

26:15 - Setting boundaries and managing the guilt of saying no

30:00 - The stories we tell ourselves and how they shape our lives

32:30 - Sophie's final message for women who want to stop shrinking themselves

Website: beyondpalatable.com

Website: electricpeach.co.uk

Instagram: @beyondpalatable

LinkedIn: Sophie Jane Lee

Useful Links

Sign up for Weekly Career Inspiration

Learn about Leadership & Advancement Coaching Programmes

Book a Free 121 Clarity Call

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Rate & Review the Podcast

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with another woman who needs the reminder that she doesn't have to become somebody else to succeed – she simply needs permission to become more fully herself.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Sarah know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: sarah@careertreecoaching.co.uk

Remember, you don't have to stay stuck. You can become Unstuck & Unstoppable.