The Daily Ascent

In today's episode, I'm sharing something that happened at a retreat I hosted recently — watching three women who know each other well slowly put down the performance they'd each been carrying, and discover that underneath their very different stories they were all longing for exactly the same thing. Intimacy. To be truly known.  I opened the retreat with healing and grounding work and asked them: what did you bring with you that you didn't intend to?  All three said some version of the same thing. A mask. A show. A version of themselves that wasn't quite true.  Today's episode is about the exhaustion of the performance and the intimacy waiting on the other side of putting it down.  Question to carry into your day: What are you performing right now — and what might become possible if you let someone see what's actually true? Interested in joining one of my sacred retreats?  Stay tuned — more information coming soon. And if you're ready to stop starting over around food and your body, visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to book a free discovery call about the Stop Starting Over System.  Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something a friend said to me at my house recently that opened up a whole new way of thinking about boundaries — the moment she realized you're allowed to cancel without a reason. Just say you can't make it.  Nedra Tawwab writes in Set Boundaries Find Peace that the hardest thing about implementing boundaries is accepting that some people won't like, understand, or agree with yours — and that once you grow beyond pleasing others, setting your standards becomes easier.  Today's episode is about over-explanation as a form of apology — and about letting I can't make it be enough.  Question to carry into your day: What are you over-explaining right now that actually just needs a simple, honest I can't make it?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something a friend said to me recently that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. He called it a one-handed surrender — the willingness to put down the behavior but not to look at what's underneath it. Not just in recovery.  In the relationship you left but whose patterns you brought to the next one. In the job you resigned from but whose defenses traveled with you.  Today's episode is about the second hand — the one that stays gripping — and what becomes possible when you finally open it.  Question to carry into your day: What are you still gripping with one hand — and what are you afraid you might find if you finally let it go?  If the one-handed surrender is showing up around your body and food, let's talk. Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to book a free discovery call about the Stop Starting Over System.  Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something I saw on a sign in a cute little cafe that I genuinely could not stop thinking about — don't stumble over something behind you.  I had gotten a call the day before from someone from a chapter of my life that never really fed me, slept on it, and walked into that cafe the next morning still carrying the loop of it.  Today's episode is about the spiritual vacuum — what opens up when you release what's behind you.  Question to carry into your day: What are you still carrying from behind you that you could choose to set down today — and what might move in to fill that space if you did?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing a conversation I had with someone two weeks into one of the bravest decisions of her life — and the reframe that changed everything about how she thought about asking for what she needed.  Brené Brown writes in Daring Greatly that sometimes our first and greatest dare is asking for support — that true belonging requires us to be who we are, not the version of us that has it together.  Today's episode is about what it costs us when we protect people from our real needs. And what happens when we dare to ask. Question to carry into your day: What are you keeping from someone who loves you — and what would it feel like to trust them with it? If not asking for what you need shows up most painfully around your body and food, let's talk.  Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to book a free discovery call about the Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something I caught myself doing recently when a friend of mine started doing some consulting work for me - I wanted twenty years of a business absorbed immediately. And what happened when I recognized my own urgency underneath the frustration and chose to slow down instead.  Harriet Lerner writes in The Dance of Anger that change is a process, not an event, and it does not happen quickly or without anxiety and pain.  Today's episode is about trusting the process even when your urgency is telling you to push harder.  Question to carry into your day: What are you trying to rush right now that actually needs more time - and what would it feel like to trust the process instead of fighting it?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about something that came up in my SOS group this week that I think doesn't get named nearly enough - one of the greatest abuses of diet culture is what it has done to our capacity for patience. I lived inside that urgency for years.  Sonya Renee Taylor writes in The Body Is Not an Apology that unlearning is challenging - do not expect neat, tidy resolutions, and we can only get closer if we are willing to be uncomfortable.  Today's episode is about taking your patience back.  Question to carry into your day: Where in your healing have you been demanding fast results from a process that actually needs time - and what would it feel like to give yourself permission to go slowly?  If the impatience shows up most loudly around your body and food, let's talk. Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to book a free discovery call about the Stop Starting Over System.  Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something that happened at a car dealership recently that revealed something about myself I genuinely didn't see coming - and that I think a lot of us are doing without realizing it.  Geneen Roth writes in Lost and Found that if you're trying to fill something that can't be filled with what you're using, the emptiness never goes away.  And just because we've been living according to particular beliefs for twenty or fifty years doesn't mean they have one shred of validity.  Today's episode is about external validation, what we need to be represented by, and what it's actually telling us.  Question to carry into your day: Where in your life are you using something external to tell a story about yourself that you wish you already believed on the inside?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something that happened after a group sound healing I hosted at my house last week. One of the participants called me the next day in tears - and what I told her changed everything for her.  Francis Weller writes in The Wild Edge of Sorrow that healing is a process of hollowing ourselves out so we can open to what is emerging - that our work is to make ourselves receptive.  Today's episode is about why the tenderness after the breakthrough is part of the breakthrough. And why treating yourself like a surgery patient might be the most loving thing you can do.  Question to carry into your day: Where in your life might you be rushing past grief that is actually trying to heal you — and what would it feel like to give it a little more room?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something a friend of mine came up with that I found so spiritually alive I couldn't stop thinking about it — a shame fast.  She was at a church lecture about why spiritual traditions throughout history have honored fasting, and had this lightning bolt moment: I need to do this with my shame thoughts. Mark Nepo writes in The Book of Awakening that loving yourself is like feeding a clear bird that no one else can see — every time you are cruel to yourself you scare it away, and every time you are patient and kind, it returns.  Today's episode is about what you choose to feed. Question to carry into your day: What would it feel like to fast from one shame thought today — to notice it, name it, and choose not to follow it?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something a friend of mine came up with that I found so spiritually alive I couldn't stop thinking about it — a shame fast.  She was at a church lecture about why spiritual traditions throughout history have honored fasting, and had this lightning bolt moment: I need to do this with my shame thoughts.  Mark Nepo writes in The Book of Awakening that loving yourself is like feeding a clear bird that no one else can see — every time you are cruel to yourself you scare it away, and every time you are patient and kind, it returns.  Today's episode is about what you choose to feed.  Question to carry into your day: What would it feel like to fast from one shame thought today — to notice it, name it, and choose not to follow it?   Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing one of the most useful questions I know that I learned about two weeks into my recovery when I was catastrophizing about going to Italy, which I had absolutely no plans to do.  Eckhart Tolle writes in The Power of Now that all worry and anxiety are caused by too much future and not enough presence.  Today's episode is about coming back to the only moment that is actually yours.  Question to carry into your day: What are you treating as a right now problem that actually isn't — and what would today feel like if you put it down?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about something I'm genuinely proud of — and something that took me a very long time to build. Consistency. The small, quiet, unglamorous practice of showing up for yourself every single day.  Taking your meds. Trash on Thursdays. The walk even when you're tired.  Karen Casey writes in Each Day a New Beginning that each action we take clearly indicates the person we are becoming.  Today's episode is about what those small kept promises actually build in you over time — and why I think consistency might be one of the deepest forms of self-love there is.  Question to carry into your day: What is one small practice you could commit to today — not because it's easy, but because you are worth the tending?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about something a client said to me recently that stopped me cold — she wanted to ask her roommate to move food that was making her recovery harder, but she wasn't sure she was allowed to ask.  And it made me think about how often we decide for other people before they've ever had the chance to respond.  Brené Brown writes in Rising Strong that in the absence of data, fear sets in and dictates the story — and asks us to practice the hypothesis of generosity instead.  Today's episode is about what it costs us when we don't ask. And what happens when we do.  Question to carry into your day: What is one thing you've been needing that you haven't asked for — and what's the most generous assumption you could make about what the answer might be?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Someone in a spiritual circle I'm part of said something recently I have not been able to stop thinking about — wouldn't it be amazing if our fear voice came in a different accent, so we'd always know it wasn't our truth?  Iyanla Vanzant writes in Acts of Faith that having the thoughts isn't the problem — what sets us back is when we pay homage to them, when we keep entertaining them until they become habitual and pattern forming.  Today's episode is about the voice that sabotages you, and what happens when you stop bowing to it.  Question to carry into your day: What is one thought you've been paying homage to that, if you stopped bowing to it today, might finally start to lose its power?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something I've learned about community the hard way and the beautiful way — that if you want a village, you have to be a villager.  I talk about the women's recovery meeting that saved me during COVID, the Sunday morning chairperson position I almost said no to, and what happened when I said yes anyway.  Brené Brown writes that true belonging is a daily practice — a personal commitment we carry in our hearts. And I want to make the case today that the culture of protecting our energy and waiting for the convenient moment is costing us something on a soul level.  The villages already exist. They just need villagers.  Question to carry into your day: What village already exists in your life that is waiting for you to show up for it?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about a woodpecker I had never seen before — and what it reminded me about the ordinary moments I walk through every day without really seeing them.  Brother David Steindl-Rast writes that everything is a gift, and that the degree to which we are awake to this truth is the measure of our gratefulness — and gratefulness is the measure of our aliveness.  Today's episode is about slowing down enough to let the ordinary surprise you.  Question to carry into your day: What ordinary moment in your day could become a practice of gratitude if you just slowed down long enough to let it?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about something a workout instructor said to me that I couldn't shake — and a pattern I catch myself in that I think a lot of us share.  Fragilizing yourself. Deciding you can't before you've tried.  Parker Palmer writes that if we are to live our lives fully and well, we must learn to embrace the opposites — to live in a creative tension between our limits and our potentials.  Today's episode is about finding out what's actually available to you.  Question to carry into your day: Where have you been treating yourself as more fragile than you actually are?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about Danny's first girls' night back — and what happened when my 75 pound lab mix couldn't find his ground.  A dog trainer taught me years ago that sometimes you have to hold the leash until the spinning stops.  Thich Nhat Hanh writes that our breathing is a stable solid ground always there to take refuge in — that whenever we're carried away, we can return and re-establish ourselves in the present moment.  Today's episode is about finding your leash.  Question to carry into your day: What anchor do you reach for — or could you reach for — when you can't find your own stillness?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the loneliness you can feel in a crowded room — and why I think it might be the most dangerous kind.  A client of mine hadn't left her house in weeks, completely convinced she needed to stay in her bed. I understood that completely. Because I know what it is to be right there, surrounded by people, with the ice forming around my heart and nothing getting in.  And then someone sparks up a conversation — and everything starts to melt.  Johann Hari writes that loneliness isn't the physical absence of people — it's the sense that you're not sharing anything that matters with anyone.  And the opposite of addiction isn't sobriety. It's connection.  Question to carry into your day: What are you doing to keep people at a distance right now — and what would it feel like to just let one person in?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about a friend who asked her prayer circle to support her in her joy — and what that brave, honest request revealed about why joy is so hard to receive.  Glennon Doyle writes that she wondered if joy had as much to teach her as pain did — and that what the world needs right now is to watch one woman at a time live her truest, most beautiful life without asking for permission or offering explanation.  Today's episode is for anyone who has been qualifying their happiness instead of inhabiting it.  Question to carry into your day: What are you afraid to fully receive right now because you're already bracing for it to end?  Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing something I learned in my SOS group that I had never heard named before — post-collapse syndrome.  My first sponsor told me years ago: it's not the event where the danger is. It's the exhale after.  And this isn't just about hard things — it's about any big expenditure. Amazing concerts. Dream vacations.  Finished projects. The body doesn't distinguish between good and bad stress. It just knows something big happened.  Wayne Muller writes that if we don't allow for a rhythm of rest, illness becomes our Sabbath.  Today's episode is about meeting the exhale before it meets you — with awareness and tender care. Question to carry into your day: What big thing have you just been through that deserves a conscious, tender exhale? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about a client who couldn't let herself be out of sorts until she could explain why — and what that pattern is costing all of us.  Tara Brach writes that pain is not wrong, and that the moment we decide something is wrong our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat it.  Sometimes understanding why you feel something is a real gift. But making understanding a prerequisite for feeling? That's where we abandon ourselves. Question to carry into your day: What are you feeling right now that you haven't given yourself permission to feel? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about something a friend said at dinner that I had to write down.  She called it driftwood — the idea that when you see someone else have what you want, it's not a sign it's not coming for you. It's evidence that it's real, that it exists, that it's on its way.  Tosha Silver writes that abundance is something to be, not seek or await — and that when you let the Divine take the lead, old desires often begin to hatch and be fulfilled anyway, as a gift from Love Herself. Question to carry into your day: What are you looking at right now that you could choose to see as driftwood instead of loss? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about Grandma Bev — who just turned 100, sharp as a tack, the woman who opened her doors to my mom and me when we moved across the country — and the thing she said to me seven times over dinner that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.  Richard Wiseman spent a decade studying hundreds of lucky and unlucky people and found something that stopped me cold: people are not born lucky.  They become lucky by believing they are. Which means lucky is available to all of us — even after the hard things.  Especially after the hard things. Question to carry into your day: Where in your life could you start practicing the belief that you are lucky? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about Danny's first walk after two weeks of bed rest — and what it felt like to watch him encounter a fire hydrant like Andy Dufresne walking out of Shawshank.  Mary Oliver wrote that the instructions for living a life are three things: pay attention, be astonished, tell about it.  Danny didn't need the instructions. He just did it. And I couldn't stop thinking about how rarely I do. Question to carry into your day: What are you walking past that might be worth stopping for? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about something my mother said to me about Danny — my 75 pound lab mix who just had surgery and is currently on the mend — that I genuinely cannot believe I had to be told.  It changed how I think about recovery entirely.  Pema Chödrön reminds us that the trick is to practice gentleness and letting go — because whatever we practice, we strengthen. Question to carry into your day: Where are you not giving yourself the grace of a full recovery? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about an amend I almost didn't make — because I was certain I already knew how it would end.  My spiritual teacher said something to me that I have never forgotten.  Thomas Merton writes that we have to stop depending on the hope of results and start concentrating on the value, the rightness, and the truth of the work itself.  She didn't pick up. And something in me still cleared. Question to carry into your day: What are you not doing because you've already decided how it ends? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about a wedding vow that stopped me in my tracks — and a question my spiritual guide has had to ask me more than once.  It starts with a marriage, but it ends at Trader Joe's.  Anne Lamott writes that love is a piece of toast and a diamond — sturdy and imperfect — and that what we stand to lose when we truly love someone is the illusion of control. Question to carry into your day: Who in your life are you struggling to love as they are — and what might that be telling you about yourself? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about a friend of mine who had a real breakthrough — and spent the whole time describing it like a prison sentence. I had to stop her.  Because what I was actually watching wasn't a burden. It was one of the rarest invitations a person can receive.  Henri Nouwen writes that the only way to get to the new country is naked and vulnerable — and that trust is what's essential, even when you have nothing to fall back on. Question to carry into your day: What are you calling a burden that might actually be an invitation to something greater? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about one of the greatest gifts of being human: the ability to rewrite our stories.  I've done it over and over — getting sober, healing my eating disorder, changing how I relate to friendship, work, love. The EMDR reached the stories that were cemented deepest in my body.  But you don't need EMDR to rewrite your story. You need the willingness to see the old version for what it is — a first draft — and the courage to start acting into the new one.  Mark Nepo reminds us: "There is very little difference between burying and planting. For often, we need to put dead things to rest, so that new life can grow." Question to carry into your day: What story has your body been carrying that your adult self is ready to rewrite? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about the time I got the flu, cancelled my whole week — including patients, which was not easy — and thought I had surrendered. And then discovered that the real surrender was still coming.  Post-viral fatigue taught me that my body doesn't check my calendar before deciding it needs more rest.  And the distance between the bratty scream and the surrender? It's getting shorter.  That's not perfection. That's practice.  Melody Beattie reminds us: "At no day, no hour, no time are you required to do more than you can do in peace." Question to carry into your day: What is your body asking you for right now that you keep saying no to? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about the time my kitchen turned purple — and how the worst thing about my house in Charlotte turned out to be the very best thing about it once I got Danny.  It's a story about perspective, about how fast we decide something is a disaster, and about what happens when we stay long enough for the gift to reveal itself.  John O'Donohue reminds us not to be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy — because it will open a new place in our hearts. Question to carry into your day: What are you looking at right now that might look completely different six months from now? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing the phone call where my friend and I were deep in fear about the state of the world — and then she pivoted to asking about a supplement. And the sacred pause that followed when she realized: I'm not looking for a supplement. I'm looking for an escape from how I feel.  Geneen Roth reminds us: "All any feeling wants is to be welcomed with tenderness. It wants room to unfold. It wants to relax and tell its story." Question to carry into your day: What are you fixing right now so you don't have to feel something? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm getting honest about why the EMDR intensive hit so deeply... I have no idea.  What I do know is this: you never know which healing experience is going to be the one that cracks you open.  And because you can't know, the only option is to stay open, stay relentless, and keep walking through doors.  The Al-Anon daily reader Courage to Change reminds us: "Building trust takes time, change takes time, healing old wounds takes time." And: "I will trust the process of recovery. I'll let time take time." Question to carry into your day: What have you given up on in your healing that might deserve another chance? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the phone call I had with a friend of mine who told me she was "grieving the end of her career."  And why I gently pushed back — because what she was describing wasn't the end. It was a messy middle.  And our brains are actually wired to prefer bad certainty over good uncertainty, which is why we'd rather call something dead than sit in the not-knowing.  Brené Brown reminds us: "The middle is messy, but it's also where the magic happens. You can't skip day two." Question to carry into your day: What are you calling "over" that might just be unfinished? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing what happened after I completed a month-long EMDR intensive — and why the days that followed were some of the most important days of the whole process.  But this isn't just about therapy. It's about any time you open yourself up, give everything you have, and then judge yourself for needing to rest afterward.  Wayne Muller reminds us that we have to let the seeds we've planted get a chance to germinate, take root, and grow — and stop tearing them out of the ground to check if they've grown yet.  My friend Betsy said the thing I needed to hear: "You just did so much heavy lifting of your spirit. Of course you're tired." Question to carry into your day: What are you not letting yourself rest from? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the thing Harrison Ford's character says on Shrinking that made me pause the TV: "You don't know whether your choice is right or wrong until you make it."  I share why so many of us get trapped in the spin cycle of overthinking and worrying — and why worry is not a form of preparation, no matter how much it feels like one.  Eckhart Tolle reminds us that any action is often better than no action, because even a mistake teaches you something. But staying stuck? That teaches you nothing. Question to carry into your day: What decision are you spinning on that you actually already know the answer to? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing what happened when a client in deep grief told me she wanted to double down on a strict food plan — and why I suggested something completely different instead. I suggested: What if your food plan right now is just to make the next loving choice?  Megan Devine reminds us that some things cannot be fixed — they can only be carried. And that true comfort in grief is in acknowledging the pain, not in trying to make it go away.  Today's Word of the Day is Tender — because when you're in a hard season, what you need isn't more discipline. It's more kindness. Question to carry into your day: Where are you trying to control something that actually just needs your tenderness? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about the night my ex walked into my meeting and turned into a brick wall.  I felt the armor go up, the rage come in, and the toxic smoke start pouring out of me.  But then I tried something I didn't plan — I started naming the truth of who he is instead of the story of how he hurt me. And my heart started to change. Question to carry into your day: Who are you seeing as an enemy right now that you could try seeing as a thirsty person? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm telling you about the patch of snow on my nature trail that refused to melt — and what it taught me about why our deepest patterns are always the last to change.  Turns out, the most well-traveled path is the hardest one to thaw.  And that's not a character flaw. That's physics. Question to carry into your day: What pattern are you judging yourself for that might just need more time and warmth to thaw? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm giving you a Danny update! His surgery went beautifully, but now we're navigating the chaos of a joyful seventy-five-pound Lab on bed rest.  Watching him be confused by his new limitations made me think about all the times in my life when I didn't understand why things felt restricted, smaller, or wrong - and how often that turned out to be protection, not punishment. Question to carry into your day: What are you fighting right now that might actually be protecting you? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing a conversation I had with one of my closest friends who asked me the question everyone loves to ask: "So what's going on with the love life?"  I talk about why my answer surprised him, the dialectic I'm living right now of being completely open to love while being completely focused on the beauty of the life I already have, and the Buddhist concept of grasping that explains why chasing what we don't have robs us of what we do.  I share a prayer that has changed the way I relate to wanting, and we explore what it really means to be settled... not settling for less, but actually landing in your own life. Question to carry into your day: What are you so focused on not having that you're missing what's already here? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm sharing what happens when my dog Danny's third surgery sends me into full shutdown mode, and the reading from Melody Beattie's Journey to the Heart that pulled me out.  I talk about what overwhelm actually looks like for me (hint: it's not panic, it's paralysis), why looking at the whole mountain keeps us stuck, and why the only antidote to shutdown is to begin. Question to carry into your day: What have you been putting off starting because the whole thing feels too big? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the moment a coaching client said to me — half joking, fully serious — "I'm worried you're going to fire me because I'm not doing this perfectly." And why it reminded me of something my teacher Marsha Linehan taught me that changed how I do this work.  I share why so many of us believe our struggles make us unlovable, and what Tara Brach means when she says imperfection is not our personal problem — and that the trance of unworthiness keeps the sweetness of belonging out of reach.  We'll explore Linehan's principle — we don't fire someone for the problem they came in with — and why the bravest thing you can do in any healing space is stop performing and start telling the truth. Question to carry into your day: What are you hiding because you're afraid it will make someone leave? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the Instagram trend of calling out wellness influencers for the endless cycle of products and fixes — and the time my friend Stephanie put me on a healer ban that changed my life.  I share why there's a massive difference between growth and fixing, and how the wellness world profits from you believing you're broken.  We'll explore what it means to be whole — not perfect, not finished, but fundamentally not broken — and why that changes everything about how you approach your life. Question to carry into your day: What are you trying to fix about yourself that might not actually be broken? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about what happened when I stopped waiting on my brother to tell me what my own life was going to look like - and took down the dog crate myself.  I share how listening to what people do (not what they say) can set you free - and how taking action gave me back not just my space, but my peace.  We'll explore why resentment lives in the gap between what we need and what we're willing to do for ourselves. Question to carry into your day: What are you waiting on someone else to decide - that you could decide for yourself? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about a story Ana Gasteyer told on Amy Poehler's podcast Good Hang that I haven't been able to shake — about playing Elphaba in Wicked, obsessing over every performance, and then hearing twenty recordings that all sounded nearly identical.  I share why perfectionism isn't your highest self trying to help you — it's fear wearing a lab coat.  We'll explore why the gap between your "good enough" and your "perfect" is probably invisible to everyone but you, and what it would look like to trust yourself instead of grading yourself. Question to carry into your day: What are you overthinking right now that's probably already good enough? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the emails I keep writing to my podcast producer Shantale — and how her consistent, unflappable kindness is teaching me more about grace than any book ever could.  I share why I can be hard on people when they don't meet my expectations, and what it's like to be on the receiving end of someone who meets your shame with warmth instead of judgment.  We'll explore why gentleness isn't weakness — it's actually what makes people want to rise. Question to carry into your day: Who in your life keeps showing you grace when you expect judgment — and what are they teaching you? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

In today's episode, I'm talking about the phone call I got from a friend in the middle of a breakup — and why the most important question I asked her was the one she hadn't thought to ask herself: "What do you want?"  I share what fawning actually is, why it's one of the most overlooked trauma responses, and how it shows up in our relationships when things get painful.  We'll explore why wanting something for yourself isn't selfish — it's necessary — and how you can hold your power in conflict without losing your compassion. Question to carry into your day: What are you making yourself small in right now — and what would it look like to take up your full space? Want to chat about working together? Me too! Visit https://link.allyone.io/widget/bookings/mc-discoverycall to schedule a free call about my Stop Starting Over System. Let's Stay Connected:  Subscribe on YouTube Instagram: @mollycarmel Check out my Pocket Sages on my Amazon Storefront Questions or want to share your story? Email me at [email protected] An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast