Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #235| The Early Signs of Burnout You're Missing (And What To Do About It)
Transcript
- 0:00Wendy Meadows: I was a partner.
- 0:00Wendy Meadows: I had the big house.
- 0:02Wendy Meadows: I had the two dogs.
- 0:03Wendy Meadows: I had the husband.
- 0:04Wendy Meadows: Everything in my life looked great on paper, but I was like, this can't be it.
- 0:13Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:20Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:25Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's Working Woman experiences.
- 0:30Michelle Gauthier: And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life.
- 0:40Michelle Gauthier: Hi, friend.
- 0:40Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for joining today.
- 0:41Michelle Gauthier: Today, our guest expert is Wendy Meadows.
- 0:44Michelle Gauthier: She was a family law attorney for 20 years.
- 0:46Michelle Gauthier: And then she decided to become a life coach and a burnout expert based on her own experience.
- 0:53Michelle Gauthier: She is also the author of a book called Sparkle and Grit.
- 0:56Michelle Gauthier: When you listen today to this interview with Wendy, you'll hear, of course, how she made some bold moves to change her whole life.
- 1:04Michelle Gauthier: But you will learn what the real early warning signs of burnout can be.
- 1:07Michelle Gauthier: A hint, it might involve Cheez-Its and Netflix.
- 1:10Michelle Gauthier: Why completing the stress cycle matters, and how physical movement can reset your brain and your body.
- 1:16Michelle Gauthier: And finally, how to create an I am identity statement each morning to help you show up powerfully in the most important moments of that day.
- 1:24Michelle Gauthier: But before we jump into that, today's episode is sponsored by our friends at Cozy Earth.
- 1:30Michelle Gauthier: The first thing that I do when I get up in the morning is put socks on because I keep my house really cold and my bedroom is carpeted, but the rest of my house is wood floors, and I want to prevent cold feet.
- 1:41Michelle Gauthier: And lately I have been reaching for my new Cozy Earth socks.
- 1:44Michelle Gauthier: They're soft and breathable and cushioned in a way that just makes them feel really comfortable from the first step in the morning, all the way through the day.
- 1:50Michelle Gauthier: It's one of those small everyday things, but it really does make a difference in how you feel.
- 1:55Michelle Gauthier: That's what Cozy Earth does.
- 1:56Michelle Gauthier: They focus on the comfort in the details, whether it's their socks, their sheets, their comforters, the pajamas.
- 2:02Michelle Gauthier: You can tell everything that they make is designed with intention.
- 2:06Michelle Gauthier: If you want to get yourself a pair of really comfortable socks or anything cozy earth, go to cozyearth.com and use our code OWW for overwhelmed working woman for 20% off.
- 2:18Michelle Gauthier: Don't forget, they offer a hundred night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty.
- 2:22Michelle Gauthier: So you can try anything cozy earth completely risk-free.
- 2:25Michelle Gauthier: Okay, now let's welcome our guest, Wendy.
- 2:28Michelle Gauthier: Thank you so much, Wendy, for being here with us.
- 2:30Michelle Gauthier: I'm excited to hear what you have to teach us about with regards to burnout and overwhelm, two of my personal favorite topics.
- 2:36Michelle Gauthier: But first, tell us a little bit how you got into this line of work and just a little bit about your own backstory.
- 2:41Wendy Meadows: So I've been a family law attorney for 20 years this month, which is so wild to me.
- 2:46Wendy Meadows: And as you can imagine, in the family law world, we're in constant conflict.
- 2:50Wendy Meadows: We are in conflict with our opposing counsel, who we are arguing with to get our way.
- 2:56Wendy Meadows: We are in conflict with the judge trying to get our way, and we're in conflict with our client trying to, unfortunately, more often than not get them to submit to something that we think is reasonable.
- 3:06Wendy Meadows: And I was in that industry for a really long time and I still am, but in a different way.
- 3:11Wendy Meadows: And I was realizing that I was in this groundhog state of mind all the time, and I was flipping miserable at the time that I realized, oh my gosh, is this all there is to life?
- 3:23Wendy Meadows: I think this was about 2015.
- 3:24Wendy Meadows: So I had two kids.
- 3:26Wendy Meadows: They were two and four at that point.
- 3:27Wendy Meadows: I was a partner.
- 3:28Wendy Meadows: I had the big house, I had the two dogs, I had the husband.
- 3:32Wendy Meadows: Everything in my life looked great on paper, but I was like, this can't be it.
- 3:36Michelle Gauthier: This is, wait, I made it to the top of the mountain and it doesn't feel good up here.
- 3:41Michelle Gauthier: I had that same moment.
- 3:44Wendy Meadows: And then by a twist of fate, and I don't think anything's accidental, I started seeing all these happy, shiny people online working out and talking about their workouts and talking about their nutrition.
- 3:54Wendy Meadows: And I was like, what is this?
- 3:56Wendy Meadows: I probably did some eye rolls, but I was also intrigued.
- 3:59Wendy Meadows: It was like this equal mix of that is so foreign to me, but also I'm really jealous of them.
- 4:04Wendy Meadows: And why don't I get to be like these women too?
- 4:05Wendy Meadows: And taking a couple steps in, I became a participant in one of these bright, happy, shiny people groups.
- 4:10Wendy Meadows: It was like a health and wellness group.
- 4:11Wendy Meadows: I really didn't know what I was getting into at the time.
- 4:13Wendy Meadows: And before I knew it, I became a health and wellness coach.
- 4:15Wendy Meadows: I'm like, oh, this is fun, a little bit different.
- 4:17Wendy Meadows: And then the more I kept going down that line, I fell in love with personal development.
- 4:22Wendy Meadows: And I've read some of those books I see behind you.
- 4:24Wendy Meadows: And I was like, oh, there's a whole 'nother world out there.
- 4:27Wendy Meadows: What is this?
- 4:28Wendy Meadows: I became familiar with the terms burnout and I became familiar with the terms like overwhelm, work-life balance, and all these things.
- 4:34Wendy Meadows: And push came to shove.
- 4:35Wendy Meadows: My dabbling in the health and wellness industry woke me up.
- 4:39Wendy Meadows: And seven years ago, I went solo.
- 4:41Wendy Meadows: I became my own lawyer, my own firm.
- 4:43Wendy Meadows: And that gave me the time and space to create what I actually wanted to do.
- 4:46Wendy Meadows: And I became a life coach.
- 4:47Wendy Meadows: I think very similar to you.
- 4:48Wendy Meadows: I became a life coach in 2021.
- 4:51Wendy Meadows: I got certified and I was like, ah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
- 4:55Wendy Meadows: I saw the dichotomy because I was doing both at once, and I still do both at once.
- 4:58Wendy Meadows: Where every morning I was coaching women by the wee hours of the morning and plugging into them and inspiring them and breathing life into them.
- 5:05Wendy Meadows: This super happy interaction is how I began my day for two hours every morning.
- 5:09Wendy Meadows: And then I would go to work.
- 5:11Wendy Meadows: And it would be hard.
- 5:13Wendy Meadows: I don't think either of us are afraid of hard work, but it would be hard emotionally.
- 5:16Wendy Meadows: I didn't want to be doing it anymore.
- 5:17Wendy Meadows: So I really started paying attention to that dichotomy and saying, okay, life has got to be different.
- 5:22Michelle Gauthier: Yes.
- 5:22Michelle Gauthier: Oh my gosh.
- 5:23Michelle Gauthier: I love that.
- 5:24Michelle Gauthier: That's so great.
- 5:25Michelle Gauthier: And so now you still see life coaching clients and law clients.
- 5:30Wendy Meadows: But I do my law clients very differently now.
- 5:32Wendy Meadows: So about five years ago, I turned off the spaghetti litigation.
- 5:36Wendy Meadows: So I do not litigate anymore, or so no more husbands, wives, moms, dads.
- 5:41Wendy Meadows: I don't represent them unless I think I can settle the case.
- 5:44Wendy Meadows: And it's so there's a pretty stringent interview process in the beginning to decide is this a case for me, or am I going to refer this to one of my friends who is more suited for this?
- 5:51Wendy Meadows: So instead, what I do is I meet mom, dad, husband, wife come to me and I get them souped to nuts, divorced in terms of figuring out all of the issues between them and guide them through the divorce process.
- 6:02Wendy Meadows: That is my favorite line of work in the legal industry.
- 6:04Wendy Meadows: And I do easier stuff like prenups, post-nups, yeah.
- 6:08Michelle Gauthier: Okay, that makes so much sense because I feel like once you learn about personal development and you go through that transition yourself, it's like you can't unsee it.
- 6:16Michelle Gauthier: So probably even the way that you talk to your clients who are there just for your legal services, probably your life coaching comes in without even meaning to.
- 6:25Wendy Meadows: Family law lawyers always joke that we're part therapists because we have to listen and advise.
- 6:29Wendy Meadows: But that's what I noticed too.
- 6:30Wendy Meadows: I noticed, especially when I was about to leave the firm, I noticed my language was much much more coaching.
- 6:35Wendy Meadows: It was always goal-oriented, but it was even more goal-oriented.
- 6:39Wendy Meadows: And I had people leaving my office laughing and smiling and things, seeing, oh my gosh, the possibilities are endless when they came in crying.
- 6:45Wendy Meadows: So I started seeing this shift.
- 6:46Wendy Meadows: And the lawyers around me are like, what are you doing?
- 6:49Wendy Meadows: They didn't understand.
- 6:50Wendy Meadows: I'm like, I understand it, and my clients are happy with me and getting good results.
- 6:53Wendy Meadows: So not my problem.
- 6:55Michelle Gauthier: Well, there you go.
- 6:55Michelle Gauthier: Maybe my new approach is the better one.
- 6:57Michelle Gauthier: That's funny.
- 6:58Michelle Gauthier: My kids are both adopted, and so we had to go to family court, of course.
- 7:02Michelle Gauthier: And it was, I was thinking at the time, this must be one of the only happy things that happens in family court.
- 7:09Michelle Gauthier: Other than that, it sounds like that could be a pretty brutal day-to-day, year after year.
- 7:15Michelle Gauthier: It sounds like it could really take a toll on you.
- 7:17Michelle Gauthier: So, how do you help high-achieving women identify their early signs of burnout?
- 7:22Michelle Gauthier: Because you said you you were in it, but you didn't know what it was or what to call it.
- 7:27Wendy Meadows: So often they are landing in my lap when they know they're burnt out.
- 7:31Wendy Meadows: But if I had to be on stage and say, okay, these are the things that I notice when I am like about to be burnt out, and I think you know too, it's not like a one undone.
- 7:39Wendy Meadows: It's like a oh, catching it as this is about to happen.
- 7:41Wendy Meadows: The number one thing, I'm like, are you starting to knock into things again?
- 7:44Wendy Meadows: Is your hip catching the side of the counter more than normal.
- 7:47Wendy Meadows: Do you have more bruises on your legs?
- 7:49Michelle Gauthier: I literally never thought about that.
- 7:51Michelle Gauthier: That is such a good point.
- 7:53Michelle Gauthier: Oh my gosh.
- 7:55Wendy Meadows: Or my hand-eye coordination is already not very good.
- 7:57Wendy Meadows: I was a runner and I did not play sports for a reason.
- 7:59Wendy Meadows: But again, when I start dropping things and I'm like, why am I dropping everything?
- 8:04Wendy Meadows: Again, I'm like, okay, what else is going on here?
- 8:06Wendy Meadows: I wasn't even aware, and then those are happening.
- 8:08Wendy Meadows: And I think a lot of it, it's the brain fog, it's like your brain not working like when you know it should.
- 8:13Wendy Meadows: It's snapping at your family when you're like, why are these things coming out of your my mouth?
- 8:18Wendy Meadows: They can't even believe this right now.
- 8:20Wendy Meadows: And I'm not just PMSing.
- 8:21Wendy Meadows: I'm not even just like sat down my cycle.
- 8:23Wendy Meadows: I'm literally about to bite everybody's head off.
- 8:25Wendy Meadows: And the real honest ones, too.
- 8:26Wendy Meadows: And when I come home and all I want to do is open a bottle of wine, as opposed to come home, I could care less about alcohol or sugar.
- 8:32Wendy Meadows: I'm gonna spend some time with my family and get to bed early.
- 8:34Wendy Meadows: But I'm like, nope, it's Netflix and wine and snacks and candy, and I need it right now.
- 8:39Wendy Meadows: These are all the little things.
- 8:40Wendy Meadows: I'm like, okay, what else am I trying to soothe within my body?
- 8:43Wendy Meadows: Because something else is happening here.
- 8:44Wendy Meadows: That's when I'm like, that's where things are about to go off the rails.
- 8:47Michelle Gauthier: Yes, I feel like you were peeking in my TV room last night because I was eating Cheez-Its and drinking a glass of wine and watching a show on Netflix.
- 8:54Michelle Gauthier: And I was like, Michelle, what is wrong?
- 8:57Michelle Gauthier: And it's exactly what you're talking about.
- 8:59Michelle Gauthier: Everything was super crazy.
- 9:00Michelle Gauthier: There was way more than one single mom could do, and I just felt so overwhelmed.
- 9:05Michelle Gauthier: But that's a good thing when you're in our line of work, you do that behavior and then you're like, oh, I see what's going on.
- 9:11Wendy Meadows: It's not, oh, just because we're burnout coaches, do we still get burnt out?
- 9:15Wendy Meadows: Yeah, absolutely.
- 9:15Wendy Meadows: All into these habits that we're like, why are we doing this?
- 9:18Wendy Meadows: But I think, like you said, we notice what we're doing.
- 9:21Wendy Meadows: We're like, oh, okay, especially extra toasty cheez-its.
- 9:24Wendy Meadows: If I'm buying those and I'm buying like the sort of chocolate cookie from Trader Joe's and wine, I'm like, okay, I will allow myself this for a night or two, but I can't get into this night at it.
- 9:33Michelle Gauthier: Yes.
- 9:33Michelle Gauthier: I really think that the goal of learning all of this is to just be in that cycle for shorter periods.
- 9:40Michelle Gauthier: You recognize it quickly, you know how to get out, and you're not stuck in it for months and months, like we probably both were at some point.
- 9:46Michelle Gauthier: So, what do you suggest that people do if they are knocking into the counter and eating cheeses and drinking wine every night?
- 9:53Michelle Gauthier: What's the first step they can take?
- 9:55Wendy Meadows: First step is get to bed, go to freaking bed.
- 9:57Wendy Meadows: My kids are 13 and 11, so I'm actually going to bed before them, right?
- 10:01Wendy Meadows: But if the kids are little, go to bed when the kids go to bed.
- 10:03Wendy Meadows: Even if you I can't remember what it's called right now, but it's called like anger procrastination or something.
- 10:08Wendy Meadows: It's like when we're angry at the end of the day because we had to do everything else.
- 10:11Wendy Meadows: So we procrastinate going to sleep out of anger that we didn't get to do what we wanted.
- 10:15Wendy Meadows: So instead of doing that, like, no, close your eyes and go to bed.
- 10:18Wendy Meadows: That's the first piece because sleep is key.
- 10:21Wendy Meadows: Sleep is always the thing that helps me the most.
- 10:23Wendy Meadows: And I don't know about you, but I'm having this thing where I'm also waking up in an ungodly hour every morning.
- 10:27Wendy Meadows: So to get the most sleep, I gotta get to bed early.
- 10:30Wendy Meadows: Yeah.
- 10:31Wendy Meadows: Then it's like saying no to booze, saying no to sugar, as much as I want it.
- 10:34Wendy Meadows: Nope, sleep, get to bed.
- 10:36Wendy Meadows: And then starting my day with physical activity.
- 10:38Wendy Meadows: If I can do those two things, I really start clearing the cobwebs from my brain and working out, like completing that burnout cycle.
- 10:45Wendy Meadows: Like we have ran away from the lion, we have done our breath, like we're okay.
- 10:49Wendy Meadows: And that time after time is what helps me like feel like myself again.
- 10:53Michelle Gauthier: Yes, that makes so much sense because then you can just get to the point where you can have clear thoughts again.
- 10:58Michelle Gauthier: Talk more about completing the stress cycle because people may not know what that is.
- 11:03Michelle Gauthier: What do you mean when you say that?
- 11:05Wendy Meadows: We complete that burnout cycle, the cortisol levels then naturally dip and we can be like, okay, we're good.
- 11:11Michelle Gauthier: Yes.
- 11:12Michelle Gauthier: So to your point, there is such a thing as the stress cycle or the burnout cycle, as you just called it.
- 11:17Michelle Gauthier: And when we are feeling stressed and burned out and we finish that cycle, which we can do by having some hot tea and going to bed early, or going for a walk, or waking up in the morning and working out, those are all things that can end that stress cycle.
- 11:33Michelle Gauthier: Then we can get to the point where we can have clear thoughts again.
- 11:36Michelle Gauthier: I think a lot of people would say, Oh, I know for sure I feel better when I work out.
- 11:40Michelle Gauthier: But it just helps the way that you're explaining this, Wendy, and saying that the reason why it feels good is because when we're stressed, we get in fight or flight.
- 11:49Michelle Gauthier: And then when you exercise, then we can complete that stress cycle.
- 11:53Michelle Gauthier: So, how do you suggest that people carve out those boundaries to protect their personal time?
- 11:58Wendy Meadows: It's a lot of tough love with yourself, and it's a lot of talking to yourself first, saying, I'm going to do this.
- 12:03Wendy Meadows: It's also setting yourself up for success.
- 12:05Wendy Meadows: So maybe an alarm on your phone at 2 p.m.
- 12:07Wendy Meadows: saying no more caffeine.
- 12:08Wendy Meadows: Because I know if I drink caffeine after 2 p.m., that will affect me going to bed at eight or nine.
- 12:12Wendy Meadows: And telling your family, hey, I'm going to bed at this time.
- 12:15Wendy Meadows: Do not bug me.
- 12:16Wendy Meadows: I find it's really helpful if I'm not looking at my phone.
- 12:18Wendy Meadows: If I'm getting in bed, I'm like, okay, Wendy, it's time to go to bed.
- 12:21Wendy Meadows: Not look at my phone, put my phone face down somewhere else until I can actually freaking fall asleep.
- 12:25Wendy Meadows: I'd like the Ashwagandha gummies.
- 12:27Wendy Meadows: I've been having those lately.
- 12:28Wendy Meadows: The goalie ones that target, those seem to be helping.
- 12:32Wendy Meadows: I've been taking them like half an hour before I want to go to bed.
- 12:34Wendy Meadows: I'll pop two of them.
- 12:35Wendy Meadows: I'll watch a show with my kids, and then I'm tired 20 minutes later.
- 12:38Wendy Meadows: I'm like, perfect.
- 12:38Wendy Meadows: This is great.
- 12:39Wendy Meadows: That helps me go to bed.
- 12:40Wendy Meadows: That's a good tip.
- 12:42Wendy Meadows: I've never tried those.
- 12:43Wendy Meadows: The hormone doctors recommended them, and I think they make you calmer and happy as well.
- 12:47Wendy Meadows: So that's a good side effect.
- 12:48Michelle Gauthier: But yeah, shoot, I'll take that any day.
- 12:52Wendy Meadows: It's really giving yourself that hard line.
- 12:54Wendy Meadows: And I know it's so hard to shut off your brain, but maybe even reading something boring.
- 12:57Wendy Meadows: If you're gonna read a book, read a paper book.
- 12:59Wendy Meadows: And then in the morning, in terms of working out, it's knowing what you're going to be doing.
- 13:03Wendy Meadows: So it can't be, oh, maybe I'll work out in the morning.
- 13:06Wendy Meadows: It's tomorrow I am going to Orange Theory or tomorrow I'm going to hot yoga or tomorrow I have a walk with my friend, Susie.
- 13:13Wendy Meadows: I'm meeting her at this time.
- 13:14Wendy Meadows: And I've been working out consistently now for 10 years with some hiccups here and there.
- 13:19Wendy Meadows: But what really helped me this last go around, I got an Orange Theory membership.
- 13:23Wendy Meadows: I got a hot yoga membership.
- 13:24Wendy Meadows: I schedule them on my calendar.
- 13:26Wendy Meadows: And if I don't show up, I get dinged $10 or $20.
- 13:28Wendy Meadows: And I don't want to be dinged $10 or $20.
- 13:30Wendy Meadows: So that's the thing that works for me the most lately is I put a timestamp on it.
- 13:34Wendy Meadows: I have to be there.
- 13:35Wendy Meadows: I have to go.
- 13:36Wendy Meadows: And I will get monetarily penalized if I don't.
- 13:38Wendy Meadows: So that's my latest secret in terms of getting me.
- 13:41Michelle Gauthier: That's good.
- 13:41Michelle Gauthier: Whatever it takes to hold yourself accountable.
- 13:44Michelle Gauthier: Yes.
- 13:45Wendy Meadows: Just like we say, it changes what works.
- 13:47Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, exactly.
- 13:48Michelle Gauthier: And you have to just be open to that.
- 13:50Michelle Gauthier: So you and I both thought that we've had found the secret sauce to life.
- 13:55Michelle Gauthier: Like we had our great careers and our kids and the husbands and the big house and all that stuff.
- 14:00Michelle Gauthier: And it turns out it wasn't that.
- 14:01Michelle Gauthier: Not that any of those parts were the problem, but it just didn't feel like we were expecting.
- 14:05Michelle Gauthier: So what do you think is the real and true secret sauce to having a great life?
- 14:11Wendy Meadows: The number one tip I have to the secret sauce of life is when you wake up in the morning before you look at anything, you scan through your day and you think of the most important thing on tap.
- 14:21Wendy Meadows: It could be a podcast, it could be your kids' play, it could be dinner with friends, it could be a cross-examination and a trial.
- 14:28Wendy Meadows: But you just think of the most important part, what will demand your attention the most.
- 14:32Wendy Meadows: And you close your eyes and you do a brief rundown of who you want to be in that moment, what matters to you the most.
- 14:38Wendy Meadows: And then you come up with an I am statement to get you through.
- 14:40Wendy Meadows: So for an example, one of my last big trials several years ago, it was cross-examining a dad on the stand in a custody case.
- 14:48Wendy Meadows: I had mom, obviously, dad was on the other side, and he was a piece of work.
- 14:52Wendy Meadows: And I had evidence that I really wanted to get in and be admitted that was spicy and that I knew wasn't really relevant.
- 14:58Wendy Meadows: I wasn't sure if the judge would let me get it in.
- 15:01Wendy Meadows: It was like really nasty Facebook posts.
- 15:02Wendy Meadows: And I knew the other side would object.
- 15:04Wendy Meadows: And the other side was this formidable attorney.
- 15:06Wendy Meadows: He'd been a trial attorney for a gajillion years.
- 15:08Wendy Meadows: I don't do that much trial work.
- 15:09Wendy Meadows: So it was definitely like a David and Goliath kind of situation.
- 15:12Wendy Meadows: And I knew it'd be hard.
- 15:13Wendy Meadows: And I said to myself, okay, in that moment, I will be unwavering.
- 15:16Wendy Meadows: I am unwavering.
- 15:17Wendy Meadows: And I really embraced it and I really saw it and I walked myself through it before I got to court.
- 15:22Wendy Meadows: And then five hours later, I'm there and I'm cross-examining this guy and it unfolded exactly how I thought it would unfold.
- 15:27Wendy Meadows: Lots of objections.
- 15:28Wendy Meadows: I had to state my reasons why she didn't at least three times over three objections.
- 15:32Wendy Meadows: And the first time I was like, okay, I got this.
- 15:34Wendy Meadows: The second time, I'm like, oh goodness, should I just sit down and keep my mouth shut?
- 15:37Wendy Meadows: And the third time, I was like, no, Wendy, you are unwavering.
- 15:40Wendy Meadows: You are unwavering person.
- 15:41Wendy Meadows: And I'm like, nope, your honor, it needs to come in.
- 15:43Wendy Meadows: And all this stuff came out of my mouth.
- 15:46Wendy Meadows: And she said, it's admitted.
- 15:47Wendy Meadows: Move on.
- 15:48Wendy Meadows: And I would not have been that person.
- 15:49Wendy Meadows: And I would not have been proud of myself as that attorney who showed up that day or who did an amazing job for my client, but for me deciding who I wanted to be in that moment.
- 15:58Wendy Meadows: And I have done that in work.
- 15:59Wendy Meadows: I have done that with clients.
- 16:01Wendy Meadows: I have done that for my children.
- 16:02Wendy Meadows: I have done that for my family.
- 16:04Wendy Meadows: Every single time I do, I'm really proud of who I am.
- 16:07Wendy Meadows: And it gives me that like work-life balance we talk about in terms of I've decided what demands my attention the most and who I need to be.
- 16:14Wendy Meadows: And then that will make me happy if I am that person in that moment.
- 16:18Wendy Meadows: I am proud of myself in that moment.
- 16:19Wendy Meadows: So I think that is the number one thing people can do.
- 16:22Michelle Gauthier: I love that.
- 16:23Michelle Gauthier: That is such a good, actionable thing that anyone can do.
- 16:27Michelle Gauthier: Just think about what's the most important thing today, who do you want to be in that moment, and then come up with your I am statement.
- 16:33Michelle Gauthier: I think anytime we think through something ahead of time and intentionally choose who we want to be or how we want to feel, that's so great.
- 16:39Michelle Gauthier: I love that great example.
- 16:41Michelle Gauthier: Now I want to ask you the two questions that I ask everyone who comes on the podcast.
- 16:45Michelle Gauthier: The first one is what do you do when you're overwhelmed?
- 16:49Michelle Gauthier: We talk about overwhelm a lot on this podcast to make yourself feel better.
- 16:53Wendy Meadows: First, I have a hissy fit.
- 16:54Wendy Meadows: Let it out.
- 16:56Wendy Meadows: I stomp around and yell, hopefully just to myself.
- 16:59Wendy Meadows: And then I'm like, oh, okay, I'm overwhelmed.
- 17:00Wendy Meadows: Okay, what can I do?
- 17:01Wendy Meadows: My favorite thing to used to be the wine and the Netflix, and now it is running as fast as I can, putting on my running shoes, putting on my stuff, putting in really good music.
- 17:11Wendy Meadows: I think it's in my playlist as 2025 breakup songs because all the songs are really like angsty and good.
- 17:17Wendy Meadows: And I run as fast as I can.
- 17:19Michelle Gauthier: And that works.
- 17:20Michelle Gauthier: That's so great.
- 17:20Michelle Gauthier: Good.
- 17:21Michelle Gauthier: So again, it's back to the physical thing for you to make yourself feel calmed down.
- 17:26Michelle Gauthier: And then what is something that you do consistently to save time or do less?
- 17:32Michelle Gauthier: Like ordering your groceries online is an example.
- 17:34Michelle Gauthier: But is there anything that you do that consistently saves you time or effort?
- 17:38Wendy Meadows: It's having my assistant do all my scheduling.
- 17:40Wendy Meadows: Whenever I do my calendar, I mess it up.
- 17:42Wendy Meadows: It takes too much time.
- 17:43Wendy Meadows: I don't like it.
- 17:44Wendy Meadows: So I'll get stuff that I probably even could schedule and I send it to Nicole.
- 17:48Wendy Meadows: Like this is on your plate, not mine.
- 17:50Wendy Meadows: I don't even worry about it until stuff is on my calendar.
- 17:53Michelle Gauthier: That's so great.
- 17:54Michelle Gauthier: So she tells you where to be and when, and you just do it.
- 17:56Michelle Gauthier: Good.
- 17:57Michelle Gauthier: And what does that save you?
- 18:00Wendy Meadows: It saves me the annoyingness of like think of all my mediations.
- 18:03Wendy Meadows: Like we're scheduling with husband, wife, mom, dad, who sometimes already don't get along.
- 18:06Wendy Meadows: So you can imagine all the emails that go back and forth to try and get on my calendar.
- 18:11Wendy Meadows: So it saves me time, stress, energy, and like mental space.
- 18:15Wendy Meadows: That's all.
- 18:16Michelle Gauthier: Yes.
- 18:16Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, that's amazing.
- 18:17Michelle Gauthier: I could if we could just magically add up all the hours, probably all the hours that she works doing all that stuff for you.
- 18:24Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for answering our two signature questions.
- 18:27Michelle Gauthier: I realized that when you were telling us about your story, I didn't ask you.
- 18:31Michelle Gauthier: I see behind you that you have many copies of a book.
- 18:34Michelle Gauthier: Are you the author of this book?
- 18:35Michelle Gauthier: And if so, tell us about it.
- 18:37Wendy Meadows: I think you'll like the title.
- 18:38Wendy Meadows: It's Sparkle and Grit and it live a color life by finally finding balance, escaping monotony, and beating burn.
- 18:45Michelle Gauthier: That is amazing.
- 18:46Michelle Gauthier: Oh my gosh.
- 18:47Michelle Gauthier: If you guys could see it right now, it would fit perfectly in my office.
- 18:50Michelle Gauthier: It's bright pink.
- 18:51Michelle Gauthier: It says the word sparkle in it.
- 18:53Michelle Gauthier: Why did you write it?
- 18:54Michelle Gauthier: Who's it for?
- 18:55Michelle Gauthier: What's it about?
- 18:56Wendy Meadows: The overwhelmed working mom is who I wrote it for.
- 18:59Wendy Meadows: Especially if there's an attorney mom, she's really going to get it as I talk about my attorney stories in here as well.
- 19:04Wendy Meadows: But it's really to me, way back in 2015, when I was right where you and I were at the beginning of the podcast, is this really all there is to life?
- 19:12Wendy Meadows: And this would have been the handbook or the guidebook to walk me through saying, okay, here's the things you need to remember.
- 19:18Wendy Meadows: Here's how you're going to get out of the 50 shades of gray that you are miserable in and start living a technicolor life.
- 19:24Wendy Meadows: And here's really easy baby steps to get there.
- 19:27Wendy Meadows: I preach baby steps a lot.
- 19:28Wendy Meadows: It's a very chatty book.
- 19:30Wendy Meadows: I hear it's a very fast read if you read it the fun way.
- 19:33Wendy Meadows: But the way I wrote it is I make people stop and do grit work.
- 19:36Wendy Meadows: And I'm assuming, like just like the book behind you, I know they make you stop and do homework.
- 19:39Wendy Meadows: I make you do homework in here.
- 19:41Wendy Meadows: I think it's fun homework.
- 19:42Wendy Meadows: I think it's good for you homework.
- 19:44Wendy Meadows: But usually what people say when they read the first two chapters is, Do you have cameras in my house?
- 19:48Wendy Meadows: Because it feels like you.
- 19:50Michelle Gauthier: Oh, I would have loved to have that book in about 2015, actually.
- 19:54Michelle Gauthier: I think it was about the same time as you.
- 19:56Michelle Gauthier: I would have loved that.
- 19:57Michelle Gauthier: That sounds awesome.
- 19:58Michelle Gauthier: Okay, so where can people find your book and where can they find you?
- 20:02Wendy Meadows: So they can find the book on Amazon, easiest place to buy a copy.
- 20:06Wendy Meadows: It's on Kindle and softcover, not an Audible yet.
- 20:10Wendy Meadows: That is something I am working on to do one day.
- 20:14Wendy Meadows: And the place they can find me the most, probably Instagram, Wendy S Meadows, LinkedIn, same thing.
- 20:20Wendy Meadows: And a gift for your audience, if they would like it, is if they go to sparkleandgrit.com backslash playbook.
- 20:26Wendy Meadows: They can download a copy or the pause time playbook.
- 20:29Wendy Meadows: We talked about my number one way to make sure that we're living this balanced life beating burnout.
- 20:34Wendy Meadows: And it will walk them through how to do the I am statement each and every morning.
- 20:37Wendy Meadows: It has a beautiful journal template to fill in.
- 20:39Wendy Meadows: And that way they can figure out how to pause time in the way that we talked about earlier today.
- 20:44Michelle Gauthier: Oh, I love that.
- 20:44Michelle Gauthier: That's a great idea.
- 20:45Michelle Gauthier: Okay, thank you so much.
- 20:47Michelle Gauthier: Thanks for being on today.
- 20:48Michelle Gauthier: I really appreciate your expertise.
- 20:50Michelle Gauthier: It was so fun to talk to you.
- 20:52Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
- 20:58Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com.
- 21:04Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.