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Gas is up. Groceries are up. And if your stomach does a little flip every time you open your banking app, friend, this one's for you.

Last time we talked about money, we talked about the two levers. This week I'm going to what happens inside us when money gets tight… and, believe it or not, what happens when we suddenly get more of it.

I'm also sharing what the research says actually helps us stay steady, a few offerings you can start using this week, and some very real, very practical places to turn if you're in the thick of it right now.

Not a perfect life. A comfortable one. Come plant a tree with me. 🌳

"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." — Warren Buffett

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." — Proverb, often attributed to the Greeks

I'm a life coach, not a doctor, therapist, or financial advisor. This episode is for information and inspiration. Please talk with a qualified professional about your own health and financial situation.

• American Psychological Association, Stress in America: Paying With Our Health (2015)

• Swaffield, J. (Vancouver Island University / University of Alberta), research on stress and eating; Richardson, T. et al. (University of Southampton), International Journal of Eating Disorders (2015)

• Mullainathan, S. & Shafir, E., Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much

• Hankins, S., Hoekstra, M. & Skiba, P. M., "The Ticket to Easy Street? The Financial Consequences of Winning the Lottery," Review of Economics and Statistics (2011)

• Federal Reserve community development research, "The Benefits Cliff, Explained" (fedcommunities.org)

• Hendricks, G., The Big Leap

• Ashraf, N., Karlan, D. & Yin, W., commitment savings study, Quarterly Journal of Economics (2006); Thaler, R. & Benartzi, S., Save More Tomorrow (2004)

• Gjertson, L., "Emergency Saving and Household Hardship," Journal of Family and Economic Issues (2016); Ruberton, P., Gladstone, J. & Lyubomirsky, S., Emotion (2016)

• Ameriks, J., Caplin, A. & Leahy, J., "Wealth Accumulation and the Propensity to Plan," Quarterly Journal of Economics (2003)

• Buffett, W., Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings (2020, 2022) and 2013 shareholder letter

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, financial well-being framework (consumerfinance.gov)

• Mitchell, J., Mueller, A. et al., group CBT for compulsive buying, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (2008)

• Gollwitzer, P. & Sheeran, P., implementation intentions meta-analysis (2006)

• Soman, D. & Cheema, A., earmarking study, Journal of Marketing Research (2011)

• Hershfield, H. et al., "Increasing Saving Behavior Through Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self," Journal of Marketing Research (2011)

• HUD Housing Counseling (hud.gov); IRS VITA free tax help; 211.org

• AAA gas price data, September 2026

Let’s go, let’s get it done.

Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

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Did you know the saying is actually "you've got another think coming," not "another thing"? I didn't either, until I heard one of my Maesters, Ryan Holiday, explain it, and it blew my mind. It really just means think again, and this week I'm talking off the cuff about why that little phrase points right back to what we talk about here all the time: our thoughts. I share how my Liberal Studies degree turned out to be a gift I didn't know I was getting, what employers say they value more than any college major, why AI is a tool and not the it, and how a habit like worrying can quietly turn into something we call our identity ("I'm just a worrier"). I also bring it back to project management, sales, and even dating, to show how every "no" is one more rung on the ladder. So the next time a thought shows up like it owns the place, maybe give yourself another think. Come hang out with me, my friend.

Quote of the Week

If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act right, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth, by which no man was ever injured. But he is injured who abides in his error and ignorance.

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 6.21

Citations

· Holiday, R., YouTube short on "another think coming" Holiday, R., The Daily Stoic; The Obstacle Is the Way; Ego Is the Enemy; Stillness Is the Key

· Association of American Colleges & Universities & Hart Research Associates, It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success (2013)

· Finley, A., How College Contributes to Workforce Success: Employer Views on What Matters Most (AAC&U, 2021)

· Jobs, S., Stanford University Commencement Address (2005)

· Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 6.21 (G. Long, Trans.)

· Perlman, M., "And Another Think," Columbia Journalism Review (2008)

Let’s go, let’s get it done.

Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

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This week I'm going waaay back, 2,400 years to ancient Athens, to hang out with one of the fathers of Western philosophy and, in my book, the original life coach: Socrates. I share a quick bio of this fascinating Maester, from his days walking barefoot on ice as a soldier to calling himself a "midwife of ideas." Then we dig into his idea of a healthy soul. My hope is that you walk away seeing that the body and the soul are on the same team, and that you are worth caring for, inside and out.

Quote of the Week

"You, my friend, — a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city of Athens, — are you not ashamed of heaping up the greatest amount of money and honour and reputation, and caring so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all? … For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private."
— Socrates, in Plato's Apology (translated by Benjamin Jowett)

Citations:

• Plato, Apology, trans. Benjamin Jowett, in The Dialogues of Plato (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), 20e–23b (the Oracle at Delphi) and 29d–30b (quote of the week)
• Plato, Charmides, trans. Benjamin Jowett, in The Dialogues of Plato (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), 155e–157c (the headache cure and treating the whole person)
• Plato, Republic, Book IV, trans. Benjamin Jowett, in The Dialogues of Plato (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), 427e–444e (the four virtues, the three-part soul, and justice as inner harmony)
• Plato, Phaedrus, trans. Benjamin Jowett, in The Dialogues of Plato (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), 279b–c (Socrates' closing prayer)
• Plato, Symposium, trans. Benjamin Jowett, in The Dialogues of Plato (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), 220a–b (barefoot on the ice at Potidaea)
• Plato, Theaetetus, trans. Benjamin Jowett, in The Dialogues of Plato (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), 149a–151d (Socrates as "midwife" of ideas)
• Xenophon, Memorabilia, trans. E. C. Marchant, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1923), 1.2.4 (care of the body), 1.3.5–6 (moderate eating and hunger as sauce), and 3.12 (Epigenes)
• Xenophon, Symposium, trans. O. J. Todd, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1922), 2.17–19 (Socrates dancing for exercise)
• Xenophon, Apology of Socrates, trans. O. J. Todd, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1922), 14 (Xenophon's version of the Oracle story)

Let’s go, let’s get it done.

Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

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Ever notice the people who make you feel closest to you aren't necessarily the ones who agree with everything you say — they're the ones who actually hear you?

This week I'm talking about what it really means to feel heard instead of just agreed with, why a little friction in a relationship isn't something to avoid, and how the "do to me, I do to you" transactional trap — yes, we're talking Hatfields and McCoys — can quietly take over even the relationships we care about most.

I also share a personal story about my father, and why waiting until someone is gone to finally acknowledge them is a mistake none of us have to make.

Quote of the Week

"You can disagree without being disagreeable."

— Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Citations

• Covey, S.R., The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Habit 5: "Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood"; also: "Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.")
• Ginsburg, R.B., widely attributed public remarks — "You can disagree without being disagreeable."

Let’s go, let’s get it done.

Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

Send us Fan Mail

Hey friends, welcome!

What if the weight we're really carrying isn't on our bodies at all? I walk through five things I've watched show up again and again in every real transformation I've witnessed — in my own life, with my coaching clients, and on the teams, I led over 31 years in public service — honesty, acceptance, commitment, humility, and love. And how each one helps you set down whatever's heavy right now, whether that's a habit, a relationship, a job, or anything else.

“Do you want to be right more than you want to know the truth? It's the truth that set me free. Acceptance, peace, and less attachment to a world of suffering are all effects of doing The Work. They're not the goals. Do The Work for the love of freedom, for the love of truth.”

— Byron Katie

• Hayes, S.C., Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; ACT-for-weight research reviewed in Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Weight, Eating Behaviours and Psychological Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Eating and Weight Disorders (2023)

• Ferrari, J.R., Groh, D.R., Rulka, G., Jason, L.A. & Davis, M.I., Coming to Terms With Reality: Predictors of Self-Deception Within Substance Abuse Recovery, Addictive Disorders & Their Treatment (2008)

• Ayres, I., Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done; Milkman, K., How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be; commitment-making research reviewed in The Effect of Commitment-Making on Weight Loss and Behaviour Change in Adults with Obesity/Overweight, BMC Public Health (2019)

• Collins, J., Good to Great (Level 5 Leadership); Chandler, J.A. et al., A Meta-Analysis of Humble Leadership: Reviewing Individual, Team, and Organizational Outcomes of Leader Humility, The Leadership Quarterly (2023)

• Waldinger, R., The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness; Harvard Study of Adult Development (adultdevelopmentstudy.org)

Let’s go, let’s get it done.

Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

Send us Fan Mail

This week I want to talk about something I've been sitting with: eyes on your plate, eyes on your lane.

I was actually writing these notes when I found out Dolly Parton had passed away, and it sent me into a whole reflection on boundaries — how easy it is to want to fix people, to give unsolicited advice about their food, their choices, their life, even when we mean well.

I'm sharing what almost thirty years in leadership, addiction training, and life coaching have taught me about staying in your own lane, what real support looks like when someone you love is struggling with serious addiction, and why doing the wellness work for yourself is the most powerful thing you can offer someone else. If you've ever gotten advice nobody asked for — or caught yourself giving it — this episode is for you.

Citations

● Dolly Parton tribute reference — NPR, "Dolly Parton, one of country music's most singular performers, has died at age 80" (Aug. 25, 2026) — https://www.npr.org/2026/08/25/nx-s1-3650175/dolly-parton-obituary

● Additional source — The Washington Post, "Dolly Parton, country music singer and cultural icon, dies at 80" (Aug. 25, 2026) — https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2026/08/25/dolly-parton-country-music-singer-cultural-icon-dies-80/

● Film references mentioned: Steel Magnolias (1989) and 9 to 5 (1980)

● Weight stigma & unsolicited comments about food or weight — Rebecca M. Puhl, PhD (UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health), "Weight Stigma and Barriers to Effective Obesity Care," Gastroenterology Clinics of North America (2023) — https://uconnruddcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2909/2023/05/2023-Puhl-Gastroeneterol-Clin-N-Am.pdf

● Supporting research — Levinson, J. A., et al., "A Systematic Review of Weight Stigma and Disordered Eating Cognitions and Behaviors," Body Image (2024) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11180546/

● Psychological reactance (why unsolicited advice can backfire) — Brehm, J. W., A Theory of Psychological Reactance, New York: Academic Press (1966) — https://search.worldcat.org/title/A-theory-of-psychological-reactance/oclc/565301131

● Self-determination theory / autonomy and lasting behavior change — Ng, J. Y. Y., Ntoumanis, N., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., Deci, E. L., Ryan, R. M., Duda, J. L., & Williams, G. C., "Self-Determination Theory Applied to Health Contexts: A Meta-Analysis," Perspectives on Psychological Science (2012) — https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691612447309

● Closing vignette ("the two monks and the river") — traditionally titled "Muddy Road," attributed to Zen teachers Tanzan and Ekido, retold in Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings (1957) — https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/488121-14-muddy-road-tanzan-and-ekido-were-once-traveling-together

Let’s go, let’s get it done.

Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org