What if the thing you're rallying against is actually a signal pointing toward something you deeply value? In this episode, Marie explores how to reframe your energy — moving from fighting against what you don't want, toward fighting for the life, relationships, and work you actually want to create. With personal stories, client examples, and research from the Gottman Institute, this episode is a practical invitation to find your North Star and align your actions with it.

In this episode:

• The road trip update: Marie recaps a Big Sur road trip with her 9- and 13-year-old, designed entirely by the kids — and why these trips are a deliberate practice in flexibility, problem-solving, and connection.
• The retro phone story: Marie accidentally orders a vintage audio guestbook instead of a landline. What starts as a mistake turns into a surprisingly magical idea for her upcoming Moxie Retreat — a live example of "the obstacle is the way."
• Fighting for vs. fighting against: The core framework: our brains are wired to threat-scan and focus on what we don't want. But when we flip the question — "What am I actually fighting for?" — we generate more motivation, alignment, and energy to act.
• The musician client: A session with a client who listed everything he wanted to fix. Marie redirects the conversation toward his creative vision — and the "problems" begin to dissolve on their own.
• The Gottman Institute research: Couples who focused on building connection with each other did far better than those who focused only on conflict resolution. What you focus on grows — in relationships and beyond.
• Applications across life: Marie walks through how to flip the framework in four areas: health habits, relationships, environmental/social concerns, and burnout at work.
• A personal story: criticism and clarity: When a trusted person criticized Marie's work, she initially wanted to protect herself. By asking "what am I fighting for?", she found her answer — and a firm, values-aligned boundary.

This week's invitation: Where are you fighting against something right now? Flip it. What are you actually fighting for? Articulate the vision — the life, relationship, health, or work you want to create — and let that become your North Star.

Mentioned in this episode

• Book: The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
• Research: The Gottman Institute / The Love Lab — couples & connection studies
• Concept: Ikigai — Japanese concept of life purpose
• Product: After the Tone — vintage audio guestbook rentals
• Retreat: Moxie Retreat, La Jolla — sailboats, private chef, coaching (next one: October)

How to connect with Marie:

• On the Web | The Local Bloom
• Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
• All Things Marie on LinkTree

JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!

At some point in life, many of us quietly stop imagining.

We make the big decisions—where we live, what we do for work, whether we partner or have kids—and then without realizing it… we start maintaining instead of creating.

We stop setting bold goals.
We stop asking who we want to become next.
We stop imagining what’s possible.

In this episode, we flip that pattern.

We talk about reverse aging—a way of thinking about your life where instead of your most exciting, expansive, alive years being behind you… they are still ahead.

Where your future is more interesting than your past.
Where you are still becoming.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How we unconsciously “lock in” our identity after making major life decisions
• Why stagnation happens when we stop imagining new possibilities
• The concept of reverse aging—living as if your best days are still ahead
• How “being ridiculous at first” helps suspend disbelief and unlock creativity
• Why blue sky thinking is essential for innovation in your life (not just business)
• How to re-engage your imagination to create a more expansive future
• Questions and lenses to ask about the future to open up possibility
• Five areas to reimagine with the lens of the best days still to come

Let yourself be ridiculous at first.

When you let yourself imagine again—without limits, without immediate realism—you reconnect with possibility.

And from that place, everything opens up.

So this week, ask yourself:
What would my life look like if I were reverse aging?

And then let yourself begin.

How to connect with Marie:

• On the Web | The Local Bloom
• Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
• All Things Marie on LinkTree

JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!

Ever notice how sometimes, when you have the smallest margins and the most to do in a small period of time…for some reason that seems to be exactly when the tire is flat, the dog gets out, or you start getting that tickle in the back of your throat?

It was one of those weeks for me; with two back to back speaking events separated by a red eye flight, when I got really sick, for the first time in years. I didn’t have time to prepare the way I normally would. I had to re-think what was most important and how to pull it all off in a way that honored the people who were counting on me. And what happened next surprised me. Less preparation, and more presence can be a really, really good thing.

For so many of the women I coach, we’ve been socialized to believe that we need to do more, serve more, prepare more; provide more value. But what if we’ve been over-relying on doing… at the expense of being?

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why so many of us over-prepare, overwork, and over-function as a way to prove our value
• How the gender gap shows up in our belief we need to do more
• The hidden belief that “I have to do more to be enough”—and how it shows up in work, leadership, and life
• How over-preparing can actually block presence, connection, and impact
• How our capacity increases when we understand our value is our mind, our presence and whatever we bring in the moment
• How releasing pressure allows you to be more open, responsive, and powerful in the moment
• How to understand your yellow zones, and make a goal to increase your comfort with doing less
• How increasing your self-trust ripples out into every area of your life

What if your value is already inherent—because you exist?

When you start from that place, you show up more open, more grounded, more connected, more present to what’s actually happening - and ironically, that’s when your best work comes through.

You are valuable because you’re you. Not because of how much you do. Not because of how well you perform. Not because of how prepared you are. When you release the need to prove, you unlock a different kind of power and capacity.

A more grounded power. A more connected presence. A more magnetic way of moving through the world…and way more fun. So this week, experiment with doing a little less…
And being a whole lot more.

How to connect with Marie:

• On the Web | The Local Bloom
• Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
• All Things Marie on LinkTree

JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!