"Start to not tolerate things, and the bigger things will become easier."

What if the hardest (and most transformative) endings in our lives are the ones we choose ourselves?

In this episode, I chat with Elizabeth Aldana, Breakup Artist, coach, and advocate for navigating change on your own terms.

Elizabeth shares her story of moving across the world from LA to Singapore in a whirlwind week, not because she had to, but because a part of her just wouldn’t tolerate staying still any longer. It was the first major “breakup” she initiated not just from a partner, but from her old patterns, relationships, and ways of seeing herself.

This conversation explores what it takes to recognise the little (and big) things you’re tolerating in life, how to build the muscle of choosing change, and why breakups aren’t just about romance, they’re about leaving behind people, places, and patterns that no longer fit.

So, if you’re teetering on the edge of a decision, feel stuck in old habits, and ready to open a new door, this conversation is for you.

The Highlights:

03:38 Closing the door yourself: Elizabeth’s story of moving to Singapore
07:30 The very real (messy) inner conversations behind big choices
10:09 How stepping away reveals who you can become
16:17 Fear vs. Love: The two energies that drive all big decisions
21:27 Why leaving a job with nothing lined up can be the most self-loving decision
26:27 Why small changes prime you for bigger ones
36:32 Why you don’t have to fit yourself into anyone else’s box
45:08 Projection, people-pleasing, and knowing when it’s time to initiate your own ending
51:28 The story and belief you hold in change determines which door opens next

What helped Elizabeth navigate change:

Soundtrack:
Rose Quartz by Toro y Moi

Book:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

One piece of advice:
“Be aware of what you believe about the situation and the story you’re creating. It will impact which door opens next.”

About Elizabeth Aldana:

Elizabeth is a breakup coach and founder of the Breakup Artist. In her work, she helps people reframe their ends as beginnings, and realise that breakups are not confined to romantic connections. Whether it’s a relationship, career, identity, or pattern, breaking up with the old creates space for the new.

After navigating her own pivotal career and identity shifts, Elizabeth set out to destigmatise the word “breakup.” Now, she helps clients move through the grief, guilt, and paralysis of big life changes… Into something more honest and aligned.

Today, we’re going to talk with Elizabeth about why a breakup isn’t just an end, and why the most important goodbye you’ll ever say is to the relationship that kept you small.

https://breakupartist.coach/

Work with Eleanor:

Buy the Book - Another Door Opens out now. 5 steps for navigating change. Described as ‘Game changing’ ‘Brilliant’ ‘A must read’ ‘The best book on change’.

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it’s coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.

Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.

Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.

Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.

Join the Another Door Opens 5 Step Programme - a course and community to guide you through the mess of change to find calm, joy and opportunity.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: www.another-door-opens.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk

“Change is messy, but it’s also fertile ground. Pause. Rest. Play. Try. Restart. The five steps aren’t a life ‘hack’ , they're a thinking space to get you through so that you can find joy, calm and opportunity amongst the chaos.”

How good are you at navigating change? What happens when life throws you out of your comfort zone and into the unknown? How do you let go, rest, experiment, and eventually restart when you’re not sure what comes next?

This special episode celebrates the launch of Another Door Opens: 5 steps for navigating change, my latest book guiding you through the real, messy, emotional process of change. Guest host Mark Shayler (author, speaker, environmental consultant, and spoon-carver extraordinaire!) interviews yours truly for a raw, uncensored conversation about what inspired the book, the ideas behind the 5 steps, how we can do change better and how we all struggle (and grow) through the in-between.

This one’s for anyone experiencing change at work or in life, starting over, or supporting others navigating their own doors closing and opening.

The Highlights:

05:10 Why the book is needed and the dangers of getting stuck in old patterns
07:11 The practice of “letting go”, why it’s so hard, the letter to your closing door, and honouring your old self
12:30 The gift of the in-between: embracing messiness and the discomfort of pausing
17:13 Rest as resistance: radical naps and breaking the “busy” spell
19:30 Five steps to navigating change: Pause, Mess, Play, Try, Restart how to use the framework and why it's not strictly linear
24:53 Why play feels uncomfortable for adults!
33:02 Permission to feel everything, staying with uncomfortable emotions, and why it can be magical
35:22 Using music, movement, and collective energy as fuel in times of change
38:49 Purpose (without grandiosity): showing up for what matters today, and reframing the “why”
45:03 What businesses (and all of us!) get wrong about change, and the importance of benefit mindset
59:48 Making change stick

Some ideas to help you navigate change:

• Write a letter to your closing door

• Get to know new you in this moment

• Get playful: try curiosity as a little rebellion

• Frameworks are thinking spaces, not tick-lists

• Build up your capacity and energy, then press restart with intention

About Mark Shayler:
Mark is an author, sustainability expert, provoker of purpose, breathwork practitioner, and, most importantly, a granddad. He works with businesses to reduce their environmental impact. He's worked with the world's biggest and smallest companies and he's saved his clients over $200 million per year through better environmental performance. His latest book is "You Can't Make Money from a Dead Planet."

Connect with Mark:

Website: https://www.markshayler.com/

Work with Eleanor:

Buy the Book - Another Door Opens out now. 5 steps for navigating change. Described as ‘Game changing’ ‘Brilliant’ ‘A must read’ ‘The best book on change’.

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it’s coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.

Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.

Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.

Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.

Join the Another Door Opens 5 Step Programme - a course and community to guide you through the mess of change to find calm, joy and opportunity.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: www.another-door-opens.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk

“If you look back on your life and see that you would have done something differently, that means you’re wiser now than you were then. And that means, by definition, the best thing you’ve ever done is ahead of you and will always be ahead of you.”

What happens when you walk away from the thing that defined you, your job, your identity, your sense of success and step into a space of not knowing?

In this episode, I speak to writer, entrepreneur, and all-around inspiring human, Dan Kieran. The co-founder of the pioneering publishing platform Unbound, Dan shares his story of closing the door and walking away from his creation, his vision, but knowing it was time to move on.

Dan shares the exhaustion of life as a CEO, the ego death that comes from letting go, and the unexpected joy (and financial precarity!) of redefining what success means on your own terms.

So tune-in if you’ve ever wondered whether it’s time to move on, felt stuck in a life that looks “successful” on the outside, or craved permission to pursue meaning over metrics.

The Highlights:

04:07 How Unbound was created and the rollercoaster ride of startup life

10:44 When the hot streak ends: pandemic, VCs, and knowing when you’re done

14:55 Identity loss, ego death, and what’s left when the title disappears

17:21 Carl Jung, two adulthoods, and why your second act is worth celebrating

22:13 Why “not knowing” your next step is a huge opportunity

24:05 Practical advice: preparing for change without a perfect plan

27:49 Bringing your family (and your honesty) with you through change

30:06 Autotelic living: doing things for their own sake, not just the external rewards.

What helped Dan navigate change:

Soundtrack: Birdsong, especially blackbirds in the garden and forest. Dan recommends getting outside, into nature, as a grounding soundtrack for big transitions.

Book: The Middle Passage by James Hollis

One piece of advice: “If you look back and see that you would have done something differently, that means you’re wiser now. So the best genuinely is ahead of you, don’t let anyone (especially yourself) tell you otherwise. Back yourself.”

About Dan Kieran:

Dan is the author of 14 books including the Business Book Award Winner - Do Start: How to create and run a business (that doesn't run you) where he tells the story of his own entrepreneurial journey with the publishing platform Unbound.

Having left the business in 2022, he now works as a Fractional co-founder with female founders and diverse teams who are building companies that will help create a more sustainable and ethical world.

Website: dankieran.com

Work with Eleanor:

Buy the Book - Another Door Opens out now. 5 steps for navigating change. Described as ‘Game changing’ ‘Brilliant’ ‘A must read’ ‘The best book on change’.

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it’s coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.

Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.

Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.

Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.

Join the Another Door Opens 5 Step Programme - a course and community to guide you through the mess of change to find calm, joy and opportunity.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: www.another-door-opens.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk