Your Brain Needs a Summer Job (Before It Finds a Bad One)
You're not sad exactly. You're just on edge. Irritated at people who didn't do anything wrong. Worried about things that honestly aren't yours to worry about. If you've been wondering why you feel so anxious now that your kids are gone, or why your empty nest has you snapping at your husband over shoes on the floor, this episode is going to make so much sense of it.
Your brain doesn't go quiet when the kids leave. It goes looking for trouble. In this episode, I'm breaking down why an idle brain doesn't rest, it riots, backed by a University of Virginia study that found people would rather shock themselves than sit alone with their own thoughts. I'll show you why your mind manufactures problems when it doesn't have a real one to solve, using research out of the University of Arizona on how negative thoughts loop and repeat far longer than positive ones do.
You'll learn:
- Why empty nest anxiety and irritability aren't a character flaw, they're just an idle brain looking for work
- The difference between a real problem and a “borrowed worry” your brain picked up because it needed something to carry
- A simple two-word phrase to interrupt a spiraling thought before it runs your whole day
- How to give your brain a real 90 day assignment instead of waiting for a five year plan to appear
I'm also sharing where I'm at with my own 90 day goal, first introduced back in Episode 26, “How to Know What You REALLY Want,” plus a pickleball story about what it actually feels like when your brain finally has somewhere good to go. If you want to go even deeper on figuring out your own desires before you set a goal, go back and listen to Episode 22, “Desire Isn't Selfish, It's Sacred Direction.“
This is for you if you're in the last few years before your kids leave home, or the first year after, and you're ready to stop spiraling and start creating your next chapter on purpose.
🌿 START HERE If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of “Now what?” – take the “Who Am I After the Kids Leave?” quiz. In about 90 seconds, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months.
📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START? You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll identify one place the empty nest has you feeling lost and give you one small shift you can start today to create your next chapter.
Not someday. Now.
