The Kickstartology Blog
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I’m Feeling Untethered, and So Are a Lot of Smart Women I Know
Don’t have time? The brief: Safe mode can become a long-term habit that looks functional but quietly disconnects you from yourself. Drifting often happens gradually, through familiar routines that seem harmless until they flatten everything. Reconnection starts when...
The Six Types of Procrastination That Trick Smart People Every Day
Don’t have time? The brief: You’re not putting things off because you’re lazy or disorganized. You’re regulating discomfort. There are six distinct types of procrastination. Each one offers short-term relief that creates long-term mess. You don’t need better habits....
Avoiding Discomfort Feels Smart. But Have You Seen the Trap?
Why Avoiding Discomfort Feels Safe but Keeps You StuckDon’t have time? The brief: Playing it safe usually doesn’t look like fear. It looks like reasonable choices that slowly shrink your life. Avoidance rarely feels dramatic. It feels like relief, timing, or being...
You’re Not Failing at Discipline. You’re Fighting for Control.
The Inner Rebel Isn’t Always Wrong There’s a difference between spiralling and deciding to go feral on purpose. Last week I worked past 2:30am three nights in a row, and not because I had a deadline. I made a choice. My sleep got off track after over-scheduling myself...
Feeling Stuck in Life? You Don’t Need a Plan to Move Forward
You Don’t Have to Know Where You’re Going to Stop Walking in Circles People don’t get stuck because they’re lazy. Or unmotivated. Or broken. They get stuck because they believe a lie that sounds like wisdom:You need to know where you’re going before you can start. So...
ADHD Insight Feels Great but Can Keep You Stuck
The ADHD Insight That Feels Too Good to Question You know that oddly satisfying feeling when you read something about ADHD that fits perfectly? Not because it uncovered some hidden truth, but because it describes the exact version of you that you already recognize. It...
Botox Might Be Killing Your Empathy – #Science
Smoothing Out Your Emotions: What Botox Might Be Doing to Your Inner Life I want everyone to know this. I haven't stopped thinking about this since I first heard about the early research in a neuroscience coaching program I took years ago. As an alignment coach, I...
ADHD And Habits
ADHD and Habits: Why Identity Matters More Than Willpower You ever tell yourself, This is it — this is the week I’m going to get my act together? You buy the nice notebook. You block your calendar. You pick your “focus” playlist. Maybe you even clear your kitchen...
Stop Caring What Other People Think
"How Do I Stop Caring About What Other People Think" Assuming you're not a sociopath, you're going to care to some extent what other people think because we're wired to care about what people think of us for survival. That said, worrying about what other people think...
“Why don’t I do the things I know are good for me?”
By Toronto Life & Mindset Alignment Coach Stephanie J. Marshall Why Don’t I Do the Things I Know Are Good for Me? You already know what would help. You’ve told yourself a dozen times you’ll start. And yet here you are, circling the same decision, trying to figure...
Why Self-Image Coaching Impacts Everything
What Is Your Self-Image? Your self-image includes everything you think is true about you. If you answer the following questions you will have a clear sense of your self-image. What do you notice about yourself? What do you think is obvious about you? What do you...
How to Make Getting Up Compelling
You "Should" Get Up Early Trying to talk yourself into getting up early because you "should" just makes it less compelling. Using fear or shame to motivate yourself is not a good strategy, it may occasionally work in the short term, but it has been proven to be...
Fear of Change with ADHD: How Avoidance Quietly Rewrites Your Life
ADHD - Why Avoiding Discomfort Feels Safe but Keeps You StuckDon’t have time? The brief: Fear of change rarely shows up as fear. It often looks like hesitation, low-grade dread, overthinking, or quiet self-abandonment. ADHD brains avoid change not because they don’t...
What is it Like to be Coached by a Life Coach?
Being Coached is Like... I’m not a cook and I’m always amazed at those people who know what they’re doing in a kitchen… which lead me to this thought: Coaching is like having a master chef come into your kitchen, look at all the ingredients and tools, and then help...
Self Sabotage: Top 10 Ways Women Get In Their Own Way
By Toronto Life & Mindset Alignment Coach Stephanie J. Marshall How Women Self Sabotage: When I'm on a consult call with someone and I ask what their biggest obstacle is, often they say "I am". For so many women, self-sabotage sucks up a lot of time, mental...
How to Stop Being Lonely
The Loneliness Cycle Experiencing the feeling is loneliness is a part of life, but chronic loneliness sucks and has all sorts of negative impacts on health and wellbeing. Breaking free of chronic loneliness is made more difficult because the coping mechanisms, the...
The Cool Modern Midlife Woman ™
Midlife Women are a Hot Topic I’m 50 and I’ve been noticing all of the hype about women getting older and owning it. And while I love the fact that midlife women aren’t invisible anymore and people are learning what perimenopause is, there’s something about the...
How to Stop Being Stressed
The Stress Habit and Breaking It JUSTIFIED AND NECESSARY? If you're always feeling stressed it eventually becomes a habit. The stress always feels justified and over time it even feels necessary and unavoidable. But here's the thing, if you've developed a stress habit...
A Letter to My Clients and Future Clients
To the Women I Coach Why? I want you to know that you don't need to spend more than half of your waking time feeling rushed, behind, or stuck dealing with logistics; Dealing with what to cook making plans, booking appointments, and buying toilet paper. You don’t need...
Resetting Habits | What Works and What Doesn’t
By Stephanie J. Marshall, Toronto-based Master Alignment Coach The Habit Reset Making and Breaking Habits If you want to reset your habits, break the bad habits and set new good ones, you have to deal with the easy part and the harder part. It's easy to have good...