You know that list in your head.

I should really get on that. I should be further along. I should be doing more. I should have that handled by now.

That list.

Here's what I want to say about that list: it's making you miserable. And the worst part? You built it yourself. Often from what you saw on Instagram, what your critical parent modeled, or what the self-help industrial complex told you was possible if you just tried a little harder.

This episode is a reality check. Not a permission slip to do nothing. There are real things that need doing and we're going to talk about that too. But there's a difference between what actually needs your attention and the impossible standard you've been holding yourself to. And until you can see that difference clearly, no amount of productivity hacking is going to help.

If you're exhausted in a way that sleep doesn't fix, this one's for you.

3 Things You’ll Take Away:

1. Your to-do list is lying to you. If it has 35 things on it and you did 15, you didn't fail. You made a list that was never possible to begin with. This episode helps you see that and build one that's actually human-sized.
2. What you're seeing online isn't real life. The woman with the perfect pool and the Hunter boots and the coffee and the garden at 6am? She has a team. Robyn breaks down what it actually costs to live that life and why comparing yourself to it is costing you something too.
3. Presence is the whole point. You can get it all right and still miss it entirely. This episode comes back to what actually matters: being here, in this moment, with yourself and the people you love.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Personal growth shouldn't be another thing that burdens your life

(03:00) The should list and what it's doing to you

(05:00) The Sisyphus boulder you keep rolling up the hill

(08:00) Before social media, people didn't try to optimize every category of their life

(11:00) The garden metaphor: why front-loaded effort requires everything else to slip

(15:00) The Instagram woman with the Hunter boots and what her life actually costs

(22:00) The psychological distance between what's true and what's possible

(24:00) The 35-item to-do list and why you're beating yourself up for it

(27:00) What grief, a garden, a renovation, and a career change all have in common

(30:00) The mindfulness piece and why being here now isn't just a platitude

(32:00) The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving address and bringing your mind into the room

(34:00) The ADHD piece and why keeping up with anything feels impossible

(36:00) The fine line between what you get to do and what you need to do

(40:00) Was I present or just busy?

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

🎧 The Robyn Ivy Podcast – Listen on Apple | Spotify

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

✨ Want to connect with someone you've lost?

Book a Mediumship Session — robynivy.com/clarity

Want intuitive guidance for your own life? Book a Clarity Session — robynivy.com/clarity

Taking a few new 3-month mentoring clients — email me at robyn@robynivy.com

Business owners interested in intuitive consulting — same place. robyn@robynivy.com

a home.

About Robyn Ivy

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living. A trusted mentor, intuitive, and fierce advocate for a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer — honing her powerful skills as a witness.

She guides clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth, and meaningful change. Her workshops, groups, and programs give you the insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively, and from your truest wisdom.

You'll often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees, or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now-grown sons Rook and Cole has been the greatest joy of her life.

Some conversations are so good they deserve a second life.

This is one of them.

I recorded this with Alisa Barry back in episode 20 — and I still think about it.

Alisa is one of the few people I know who has truly, successfully built a beautiful life on purpose. Not as an aesthetic — as a practice. She started a café in Atlanta in the early 90s because she loved food and beautiful things and eating as a ritual. That café became Bella Cucina Artful Food — an artisan brand that's been in Oprah's Favorite Things twice, carried in specialty stores around the world, and built entirely on the idea that what's on your table matters.

She's also a Japanese ink artist with a 25-year private meditation practice. A curator of objects sourced from around the globe. Someone who picks and chooses — products, people, design, art — specifically to illuminate and elevate your life.

In this conversation we go deep on devotion as a discipline. On what it took for her to claim herself as an artist after years of being known as a business owner. On the simple, powerful daily practices that brought her back to herself when her business started feeling like something she had to do instead of something she loved.

She does things in such a potent, spacious, simple way. You'll leave this one inspired — and probably a little more chaotic than you wish you were. Which, same.

3 Things You’ll Take Away:

1. Devotion as discipline. When Alisa burned out, instead of pushing harder, she came back to simple daily practices that grounded her day and reconnected her to what was beautiful and important. This is what sustainable looks like.
2. Claiming yourself as an artist. Even when the world knows you as something else. Even when you didn't go to school for it. Alisa talks about what it took to step into that identity and how it helped her feel whole.
3. How to curate a beautiful life on purpose. Not as a luxury. As a daily choice. What you put on your table, how you begin your day, what you let in, it all adds up to something. This episode shows you what that can look like.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Why I'm bringing this one back — and what the peonies have to do with it

(05:00) The Eggplant Lady origin story

(09:00) How she ran a busy business and still lived slowly

(13:00) Burning out — and the artist retreat that changed everything

(17:00) Claiming yourself as an artist even when you don't feel like one

(20:00) Curation as a way of life

(23:00) Morning pages and what they revealed

(28:00) Devotion as discipline — the rituals that hold everything together

(35:00) Beauty as a daily practice

(45:00) Leading with curiosity

(55:00) What it means to curate a beautiful life on purpose

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

✨ Want support in your own season?

Book an Intuitive Clarity Session — robynivy.com/clarity

Want to connect with a loved one who has passed? Book a Mediumship Session — robynivy.com/clarity

Taking a few new 3-month mentoring clients — email me at robyn@robynivy.com

Business owners interested in intuitive consulting — same place. robyn@robynivy.com

MORE ABOUT ALISA BARRY:

Alisa Barry is an artist, author, and entrepreneur. In the early 90s she opened a café in Atlanta to share her passion for cooking and eating as an artful ritual. From that café grew Bella Cucina Artful Food — an all-natural artisan product line now available in lifestyle, gift, and specialty stores around the world. Featured in Oprah's Favorite Things twice, and in Food & Wine, Martha Stewart Living, and Better Homes & Gardens. Author of two bestselling books, La Bella Vita and Il Piccolo Libro. A Japanese ink artist with a private practice spanning over 25 years, Alisa curates objects of affection from around the globe and calls Atlanta home.

🔗 Connect with Alisa Barry

🌿 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bellacucinaartfulfood

🧠 Website – https://bellacucina.com

I'm home.

And I almost immediately got flattened by some kind of virus that was behaving like pneumonia. I was actually mid-recording when I got super hot out of nowhere, sweaty, and passed out. Two weeks later — here we are.

Not exactly the re-entry I planned.

But coming home after almost two months away, in the middle of a completely different season than when I left, got me thinking. About what's here now. What's blooming? What needs to go? And what this particular moment in your life might actually be trying to tell you — if you'd slow down long enough to listen.

My backyard wisteria is doing something I've never seen in the decade I've lived here. A third of my yard is covered in the most extraordinary purple blooms you've ever seen. The irises just opened their faces to the sun 48 hours ago. The peonies are about to burst.

And I keep asking myself — what's the equivalent of that in your life right now?

Because here's what I know. Whatever season you're in, whatever's calling you or challenging you or scaring the hell out of you — there's a reason for it. You're being forged for something. And what needs you next will have you as prepared, capable, and whole as you can be — if you lean into what's happening now instead of running from it.

That's what this episode is about.

3 Things You’ll Take Away:

1. What's actually blooming in your life right now. Not what you think should be happening… what actually is. This episode helps you pause, look around, and get honest about what this season is asking of you.
2. What needs to be composted. The relationships, commitments, and habits that were right for a season that's now over. Letting them go more than loss; it's how you make room for what's next.
3. Why leaning in is always the move. Whatever you're being forged in right now is preparing you for something. I make the case, with real stories, for why avoidance costs more than it saves.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Clarity, Change & Intuitive Growth

(04:29) Mastering Change Through Sisterhood

(07:59) Overcoming Decision Fatigue at the Gym

(11:45) Accountability and Personal Change

(13:16) Finding a Workout Routine

(19:26) Strength for Life’s Challenges

(22:12) Embracing Growth and Commitment

(24:04) Growth Through Support and Reflection

(27:50) Finding Your Right Fit

(32:43) Balance in Community Spaces

(36:56) Slow Down and Recenter

(39:58) Progress, Reality, and Adaptation

(41:42) Commit, Progress, Achieve Goals

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

🎧 The Robyn Ivy Podcast – Listen on Apple | Spotify

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

MORE ABOUT ROBYN IVY:

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living.

A trusted intuitive, coach and fierce advocate for tree portals and a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer, honing her powerful skills as a witness.

Host of the Robyn Ivy Podcast, where she discusses how to be more present to our lives and create what’s next with today’s prominent thought leaders, spiritual mentors and creative guides.

Robyn mentors clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth and meaningful change in a fun and inspiring way. Her workshops, groups and programs offer you insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively and from your truest wisdom.

You will often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now grown sons Rook and Cole is her best work yet.

Change is constant but you know this.

And whether you chose it or it chose you: a breakup, a job loss, a move, a diagnosis, an empty nest. At some point you find yourself having to begin again. And beginning again, no matter how many times you've done it, requires you to go back to your fundamentals.

That's what this episode is about.

I've been in Miami for six weeks, way longer than I planned, and I've been thinking about this a lot. With clients. With my brother Dave. With myself. Because every single one of us, at some point, has to figure out what we actually need when the ground shifts. Not the dream. Not the five-year plan. The basics.

Are your essential needs being met? Do you have community? Are you leaning on what you already know how to do? Because you've done hard things before. You have more than you think. And that matters more than you know right now.

3 Things You'll Take Away

1. Return to Your Fundamentals: In times of change—chosen or forced—check in with your basics: Are your essential needs (health, community, stability) being met? What resources and experiences from your past can you bring forward to support you now
2. Be Willing to Begin Again: Transitions are part of life’s cycle. Remember, even if you haven’t faced this exact challenge before, you’ve weathered hard things before. Rely on your resilience and skills from other parts of your journey.
3. Intentionally Build Connection and Habits: Reaching out to new people, joining communities, or starting fresh routines may feel uncomfortable—but these small steps pave the way to bigger transformation and new opportunities.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) How I work with clients — readings, mentoring, and business consulting

(05:00) What happens when life forces you to begin again

(13:00) Getting back to the basics — what that actually means

(20:00) Making friends in Miami — and why it felt awkward

(22:00) Using intuition to connect with new people

(27:00) Embracing change even when you didn't choose it

(35:00) The fundamentals — shelter, health, food, community, faith

(40:00) Challenging yourself and leaning into discomfort

(43:00) Showing up for the people you love during big transitions

(48:00) Default settings — and how to change them on purpose

(58:00) Building habits that actually hold

(01:03:00) Pushing through when it's hard

(01:04:00) You already have everything you need to begin

✨ Want support through your own transition?

Book an Intuitive Clarity Session: robynivy.com/clarity

Want to connect with a loved one who has passed? Book a Mediumship Session: robynivy.com/clarity

Taking a few new 3-month mentoring clients: email me at robyn@robynivy.com

Business owners interested in intuitive consulting: Start the conversation at robyn@robynivy.com

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

🎧 The Robyn Ivy Podcast – Listen on Apple | Spotify

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

MORE ABOUT ROBYN IVY:

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living.

A trusted coach, intuitive and fierce advocate for tree portals and a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer, honing her powerful skills as a witness.

Host of the Robyn Ivy Podcast, where she discusses how to be more present to our lives and create what’s next with today’s prominent thought leaders, spiritual mentors and creative guides.

Robyn mentors clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth and meaningful change in a fun and inspiring way. Her workshops, groups and programs offer you insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively and from your truest wisdom.

You will often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now-grown sons, Rook and Cole, is her best work yet.

I needed to get my hair done.

That's how this episode started.

I'm still in Miami. I keep pushing my return date back, and honestly if you saw the weather here you'd understand and my roots were getting out of control. So I found a salon, I made an appointment, and what happened there turned into a story I've been telling everyone since.

When I shared a little of it on social media my DMs blew up. Questions about how my intuition works. Whether people can develop it. What mediumship actually is. What the difference is between hearing your intuition and hearing your fear.

So I figured — let me bring this here and answer all of it.

This episode is part story, part education, part things I've never shared publicly before. If you've ever had a feeling you couldn't explain, this one's for you.

3 Things You’ll Take Away:

1. How to use your intuition for actual decisions. Not just big life moments. Any decision. Robyn shows you exactly how.
2. The difference between intuition and mediumship — and why it matters. Everyone has intuition. Mediumship is something else. Robyn draws the line so you know what's safe to explore on your own — and what isn't.
3. What happens when you stop hiding your gifts. Robyn kept this private for most of her life. This episode is the story of what changed when she finally said yes to sharing — and why it might be time for you to do the same.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Still in Miami — and why I keep staying

(03:00) The hair salon story

(06:00) How I actually use intuition to make decisions

(09:00) Growing up intuitive — and why I kept it hidden

(14:00) My mom's intuition. My dad's channeling. What I inherited from both.

(20:00) Freshman year at Emory, baby chimpanzees and my first metaphysical teacher

(25:00) Learning to tell the difference between intuition, fear, guides, and angels

(28:00) Grandmother Esperanza and the 99 kinds of mediumship

(31:00) The story of Meghan and walking someone to the light

(45:00) What happened at the hair salon the full story

(01:05:00) Why mediumship is not something to try at home

(01:11:00) The dog, the babies, and what came through in the salon chair

(01:19:00) The visa story and how accurate intuition gets

(01:28:00) Spirit communication and family messages

(01:40:00) Spiritual protection and why it matters

(01:47:00) A message from my dad

(01:53:00) How I work with clients readings, coaching, and business consulting

(01:57:00) New — 3-month 1:1 containers, now available for the first time

✨ Want to work with me?

Book an Intuitive Clarity Session at robynivy.com/clarity

For 1:1 mentoring — now available in 3-month containers for the first time — email me at robyn@robynivy.com

Join me for Ask Me and My Intuition Anything — live, monthly. Next one is May 8th. Reach out for the link.

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

🎧 The Robyn Ivy Podcast – Listen on Apple | Spotify

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

MORE ABOUT ROBYN IVY:

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living.

A trusted coach, intuitive and fierce advocate for tree portals and a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer, honing her powerful skills as a witness.

Host of the Robyn Ivy Podcast, where she discusses how to be more present to our lives and create what’s next with today’s prominent thought leaders, spiritual mentors and creative guides.

Robyn mentors clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth and meaningful change in a fun and inspiring way. Her workshops, groups and programs offer you insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively and from your truest wisdom.

You will often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now grown sons Rook and Cole is her best work yet.

Different jobs. Same boss. Different relationships. Same fight. Different year. Same stuck.

That's not bad luck. That's a pattern.

I've been in Miami with my brother Dave for almost a month and we have been deep in this conversation. Where our patterns come from. Why are they so hard to shake. And what it actually takes to change them.

I get personal in this one. My dad. My mom. My sister. My own stuff I'm working on right now. Because that's what this show is.

If you've ever wondered why you keep ending up in the same place — this one's for you.

3 Things You’ll Take Away:

1. How to see the pattern you're in. You can't change what you can't see. This episode shows you how to find it.
2. Why you keep choosing the same thing even when you know better. There's a real reason. And it's not weakness.
3. What actually breaks a pattern. Not willpower. Real tools you can use starting today.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Why patterns — and why now

(01:00) Dave, Miami, and what we've been working through

(05:00) The train that never goes to Boston

(10:00) Why mindfulness is where everything starts

(11:00) My dad and what I didn't know I inherited

(21:00) When your pattern becomes your identity

(37:00) Codependency, love, and the price we pay to stay

(40:00) Why familiar feels safer than free

(44:00) What actually breaks a pattern

(54:00) The Oreo at 11pm — and what it's really about

(56:00) The doom scrolling pattern we all know is hurting us

(01:11:00) What are you paying to stay right where you are?

(01:13:00) How intuition disrupts patterns you can't see from inside them

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

🎧 The Robyn Ivy Podcast – Listen on Apple | Spotify

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

MORE ABOUT ROBYN IVY:

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living.

A trusted coach, intuitive and fierce advocate for tree portals and a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer, honing her powerful skills as a witness.

Host of the Robyn Ivy Podcast, where she discusses how to be more present to our lives and create what’s next with today’s prominent thought leaders, spiritual mentors and creative guides.

Robyn mentors clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth and meaningful change in a fun and inspiring way. Her workshops, groups and programs offer you insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively and from your truest wisdom.

You will often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now grown sons Rook and Cole is her best work yet.

Some conversations stay with you.

This is one I've been thinking about since the day we recorded it.

Kit Yoon has been one of my people since we were teenagers at a tiny boarding school outside of Boston. Now she's a Chinese medicine practitioner, hypnotherapist, and life coach who has spent over 20 years helping people get out of their own way.

What we get into in this episode: why the beliefs you formed before age 12 are still quietly making your decisions. Why effort is often the thing that blocks healing — not the thing that creates it. And why the answer to most of what's keeping you stuck isn't more information. It's already inside you.

If you've ever known exactly what you should do — and still couldn't do it — this one is for you.

3 Things You'll Take Away

Your beliefs are running the show. The box you built before age 12 is still making decisions for you. Seeing it clearly is how you start to change it.

You can't effort your way to healing. Real change isn't about pushing harder. It's about learning to receive what's already in you.

You have everything you need right now. Not a platitude — a practice. This conversation shows you what it actually looks like.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Introducing Kit — and how we met

(10:00) Kit's background: from boarding school to Chinese medicine

(20:00) The mind-body-intuition intersection

(24:00) How childhood beliefs become the box we live in

(30:00) Why women are exhausted — and why self-care isn't the answer

(31:00) The "hallelujah holy hell" moment — waking up to what you're thinking

(33:00) Your mind is a 2-year-old with a Sharpie

(35:00) "I have everything I need right now" — and what that unlocks

(43:00) What it means to manage your mind on purpose

(53:00) How to stop outsourcing your worth to the outside world

(58:00) Ancient wisdom meets modern tools

About Kit Yoon

Kit Yoon is an acupuncturist, certified life coach, clinical hypnotist, and intuitive eating counselor with over 20 years of experience helping people get out of their own way.

Originally from Thailand, Kit was sent to boarding school in America at age 12 — and has spent her life learning what it means to feel at home in herself, no matter where she is. That journey is at the heart of everything she does.

She holds a Master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Five Branches University and is currently completing her Doctorate. Her practice weaves together ancient wisdom and modern evidence-based tools to help midlife women feel healthy, confident, and at ease in their own skin.

She calls it your Second Spring. And she'll convince you it's possible.

🔗 Connect with Kit Yoon

🌿 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/kityoon

🧠 Website – https://kityoon.com

📖 Second Spring Chronicle – https://kityoon.substack.com

About Robyn Ivy

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living. A trusted coach, intuitive, and fierce advocate for a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer — honing her powerful skills as a witness.

She mentors clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth, and meaningful change. Her workshops, groups, and programs give you the insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively, and from your truest wisdom.

You'll often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees, or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now-grown sons Rook and Cole is her best work yet.

🔗 Connect with Robyn

🌿 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/robynivy

🧠 Website – https://www.robynivy.com

🎧 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

You were born with intuition.

The question isn't whether you have it. It's whether you've learned to hear it — and whether you trust it when you do.

This week I'm going deep on one of my favorite topics. What intuition actually is, how it shows up differently for different people, and how to start working with yours in a real and practical way.

I also talk about where people get it wrong — including some things I wish more women knew before they go opening themselves up to just... anything. There's a difference between trusting your inner knowing and doing things you're not trained for. We talk about both.

This is the kind of work we go deep on inside Your Next Chapter. But this episode is a good place to start.

3 Things You’ll Take Away:

1. How you personally receive intuition. Do you hear it, see it, feel it, or just know it? Understanding your own channel changes everything.
2. Where intuition is safe and where to be careful. Your inner knowing is always safe to trust. Opening yourself up to everything else is a different conversation.
3. How to practice it. When you're most receptive, what conditions help, and why effort is the one thing that will shut it down.

⏰ Timestamps

(00:00) Intuition, self-trust, and why this matters right now

(02:00) Your Next Chapter — starting April 14th

(06:00) Growing up intuitive — Robyn's earliest memories

(08:00) Where faith and intuition intersect (and why it gets tricky)

(11:00) The divine dialogue — prayer, contemplation, and the unseen

(15:00) Intuition as a natural sense — not a scary thing

(23:00) Clairaudience, clairvoyance, and the many ways we receive

(27:00) How to find your channel — where and when you're most receptive

(30:00) Why some places shut your intuition down

(32:00) When to be careful — and what "just opening up" actually means

(39:00) The protective side of intuitive work

(43:00) Where we start inside Your Next Chapter — low stakes, high trust

(46:00) You can't effort your way to intuition

(54:00) Why this skill matters especially right now

(56:00) Ask Me and My Intuition Anything — monthly live event

🔗 Connect with Robyn Ivy

🌿 Instagram – @robynivy

🧠 Website – www.robynivy.com

🎧 Listen on Apple – https://podcasts.apple.com

🎧 Listen on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com

💌 Email – robyn@robynivy.com

Join Your Next Chapter at robynivy.com/next

MORE ABOUT ROBYN IVY:

Robyn Ivy sees people for a living.

A trusted coach, intuitive and fierce advocate for tree portals and a creative life, she spent over 20 years as a commercial photographer, honing her powerful skills as a witness.

Host of the Robyn Ivy Podcast, where she discusses how to be more present to our lives and create what’s next with today’s prominent thought leaders, spiritual mentors and creative guides.

Robyn mentors clients 1:1 through transitions, deep growth and meaningful change in a fun and inspiring way. Her workshops, groups and programs offer you insights and practices to live more confidently, creatively and from your truest wisdom.

You will often find her traveling in a camper van, sitting with the trees or capturing the beauty of nature. Raising her now grown sons Rook and Cole is her best work yet.