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10 things to stop doing in 2026 to help you to breathe easier, feel lighter, and take up the space you deserve.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Stop over-owning other people’s emotions
• Stop saying yes when you want to say no
• Stop over-explaining your boundaries
• Stop ignoring the needs of your body
• Stop minimizing your needs to keep the peace
• Stop confusing empathy with self sacrifice
• Stop assuming conflict means you've done something wrong
• Stop seeking permission to take up space
• Stop abandoning yourself in the name of love
• Stop believing healing needs to be hard

Challenge for the Week

Reflect on where you might be overextending, people-pleasing, or ignoring your needs. Then, take one small, practical step toward stopping that behavior this week. For example:

Subscribe!

Purchase my Should I Stay or Should I Go? Journal here: https://maryannwalker-life.kit.com/products/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go-journal

Work With Me

If you’re ready to move past old patterns, release blocks, and cultivate a life that truly lights you up, I offer 6 & 12-week coaching programs designed specifically for highly sensitive people and recovering people-pleasers. We’ll work together to:

• Remove what’s holding you back.
• Build tools to support sustainable change.
• Step confidently into a life of joy, clarity, and self-compassion.

Schedule your free 30-minute clarity call today to see if we’re a good fit: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult
or email me directly at maryann@maryannwalker.life

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

Make sure you’re subscribed so you can catch next week’s episode: 10 Things to Start Doing in 2026 to create more joy, freedom, and balance in your life.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Free Clarity Call: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult
  
  
• “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” Journal: https://maryannwalker-life.kit.com/products/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go-journal
• Previous Podcast Episode with Kami Orange on Setting Boundaries: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/18273512
• Episode on Urgencies vs. Emergencies: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/14601572

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Struggling to set boundaries as a highly sensitive person? You’re not alone. In this episode, boundary coach Kami Orange shares 19 years of experience helping people stop people-pleasing and start saying what they mean—with clarity, kindness, and confidence.

Kami reveals practical boundary phrases and scripts you can use immediately, including how to say no without guilt, respond to difficult requests, and navigate family, work, and social situations. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by overgiving or unsure how to assert yourself, this episode is for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The four boundary choices: Silence, Indirect, Direct, and Extremes—and when to use them
• How to say no in a soft but firm way that protects your energy
• The HSP-friendly boundary framework: “I can’t do X, but I can do Y”
• Real-life examples for handling overcommitment, money requests, and challenging conversations
• How understanding communication styles and cultural differences can make boundary-setting easier

Challenge for the Week:
Pick one area where you tend to overgive and practice a boundary phrase from this episode. Notice the difference between a weak no and a strong no—and how it empowers your yes.

Work With Me:
Create a life free of guilt and overcommitment. Apply for a free clarity call here: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

Don’t Forget to Subscribe:
Subscribe to never miss tools and strategies to help you set boundaries, reclaim your energy, and thrive as a highly sensitive person.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Connect with Kami Orange: https://kamiorangeinfo.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGn3TvouJFLCLM61q6uJAGLy380YaHAWn12YzbPbrKD0JwggP6K8zFDloTmuns_aem_d5_XHEDNkcX-hoCLlVJ8dg

Purchase "Say the Thing: Boundary-Setting Scripts & Phrases to Communicate Directly & Speak Up with Kindness" By Kami Orange

Come and work with MaryAnn: https://maryannwalker.life/

Send us a text

Ever feel like every January you set the same goals… and by February you’re right back where you started?
If you’ve ever told yourself “this is just how I am” or “I’ll try again next year,” this episode is going to gently—but powerfully—challenge that belief.

In today’s episode, MaryAnn explores why New Year’s resolutions don’t fail because of willpower or motivation—but because of the thoughts and emotions you’ve been practicing for years. You’ll learn how your identity, habits, and results are shaped by practiced thoughts—and how shifting them can completely change your outcomes.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why your personality and temperament are not fixed—and how they’re created through practiced thoughts and emotions
• How limiting beliefs sabotage goals around food, money, weight, and relationships
• The difference between self-acceptance and staying stuck
• Why controlling your circumstances isn’t enough if you don’t change your mindset
• Empowering replacement thoughts that support lasting change
• How identity-based thinking keeps you repeating the same resolutions every year
• Why discomfort isn’t dangerous—and how it’s often a sign of growth
• How thought work can help you feel more empowered, consistent, and self-trusting

Common Limiting Beliefs That May Be Holding You Back

You’ll hear real-life examples of common thoughts like:

• “I just can’t say no to desserts.”
• “Making money is hard.”
• “I can’t lose weight.”
• “I’m just unlucky in love.”

And you’ll learn how to shift these into practice thoughts that create feelings of empowerment, possibility, self-trust, and momentum—instead of shame, helplessness, or resignation.

Challenge for the Week

Choose one limiting belief you’ve been repeating and write it down.
Then ask yourself:

• Is this a fact—or just a thought I’ve practiced?
• How does this thought make me feel?
• What is one more supportive thought I could practice instead?

Practice the new thought daily—not to make it instantly believable, but to build awareness and emotional resilience.

Work With Me

If this episode sparked something for you and you’re curious about the thoughts that may be quietly holding you back, I’d love to support you.

I offer six-week and twelve-week coaching packages designed to help you:

• Break free from people-pleasing and self-doubt
• Build self-trust and emotional clarity
• Set boundaries without guilt
• Create goals that actually stick

You can book a free 30-minute clarity call here: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

This month is all about goal setting, mindset shifts, and boundaries, including:

• An upcoming interview with boundary coach and author Kami Orange
• A powerful episode on 10 things to stop doing—and 10 things to start doing—to create more peace and joy

Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss what’s coming next.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Book a free clarity call: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult
• Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly support and connection & receive a FREE gift! https://maryannwalker-life.kit.com/fbd72512dd

Send us a text

Your Personality Isn’t Who You Are — It’s What You’ve Practiced

What if the parts of your personality you struggle with aren’t “just who you are”… but simply habits you’ve practiced for a long time?

As we step into a new year, many highly sensitive people and recovering people-pleasers feel both hopeful and discouraged — wanting change, but quietly wondering if real transformation is actually possible. In this episode, MaryAnn shares a powerful and freeing concept inspired by Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza: your temperament is not fixed — it’s a practiced emotional state.

Together, we explore how your thoughts create your moods, how repeated moods shape your personality, and most importantly, how you can intentionally practice new emotional patterns that support the life and relationships you truly want.

In this New Year episode, we’re breaking down the difference between mood and temperament, and why understanding this distinction can be one of the most empowering tools for personal growth, emotional healing, and lasting change.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The difference between a temporary mood and a long-practiced temperament
• How your personality is shaped by the thoughts you practice most often
• Why you are not stuck — just well-practiced
• How unconscious emotional habits influence relationships, health, and self-worth
• Real-life examples of how shifting thoughts can transform:
  • Friendships and social connection
  • Marriage and family dynamics
  • Overwhelm, burnout, and self-care
• Why identifying your practiced emotional state is the first step toward meaningful change
• How curiosity, gratitude, and consistency can reshape your identity over time

Challenge for the Week:

Take a few moments each day to observe your thoughts without judgment.

Ask yourself:

• Where does my mind go when I’m not intentionally thinking?
• What emotions do these thoughts create?
• How do those emotions influence how I show up with others — and with myself?

Then ask:

Remember: your temperament is not your identity — it’s simply a pattern you’ve rehearsed.

Work With Me

If this episode resonated with you and you’re ready to stop repeating emotional patterns that no longer serve you, you don’t have to figure this out alone.

I currently have a few openings available and offer six-week coaching packages designed to help you:

• Identify the thoughts shaping your current experience
• Shift emotional habits that keep you stuck
• Build a more supportive inner dialogue
• Become the person you want to be — on purpose

✨ You may be surprised how much change is possible in just six weeks.

📧 Email me at maryann@maryannwalker.life

Or click here to connect: https://maryannwalker.life/contact-me — I would truly love to work with you.

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

If you found this episode helpful, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss future conversations on emotional awareness, boundaries, self-worth, and creating healthier relationships — especially as platforms continue to change how episodes are delivered.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza: https://amzn.to/4piO5vH
• Work with MaryAnn Walker: www.maryannwalker.life
  
  

✨ Your

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Story Telling & The Meanings We Create: Separating Fact from Fiction

What if the thing that's actually upsetting you isn't what happened... but the story your mind is telling about it?

For highly sensitive people, it can feel like tone, facial expressions, silence, or subtle shifts in energy cause our emotions. But this isn't the case. In this episode, MaryAnn Walker shares one of the most freeing concepts you can learn as a recovering people-pleaser: circumstances are neutral until we assign meaning to them—and that meaning is optional.

You’ll learn how to stop emotionally reacting to imagined stories, reclaim your power, and respond to life (and relationships) with more clarity, peace, and confidence.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why circumstances are always neutral—and how thoughts create emotional pain
• How highly sensitive people become conditioned to over-interpret tone, silence, and microexpressions
• The crucial difference between facts vs. stories (and why your brain loves filling in the gaps)
• Real-life examples including:
  • A partner not texting back
  • A friend canceling plans
  • A mother-in-law’s holiday comment
  • Divorce and relationship transitions
• How confirmation bias reinforces anxiety, guilt, and people-pleasing patterns
• A powerful two-highlighter exercise to separate truth from interpretation
• Why it’s not your job to intuit what others are thinking or feeling
• How letting go of story can reduce anxiety and create more trust in relationships

Work With Me

If you’re tired of your mind creating anxiety, guilt, or emotional exhaustion—and you’re ready to feel calmer, clearer, and more grounded in your relationships—I would love to support you.

This is one of my favorite things to do in coaching: helping highly sensitive people untangle thoughts from circumstances so they can choose stories that actually support their well-being.

✨ Wanting to start the New Year off with support? Click here to apply now! https://maryannwalker.life/contact-me

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

If this episode resonated with you, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss future conversations on emotional regulation, boundaries, anxiety relief, and healing people-pleasing patterns.

New episodes are released regularly, and subscribing ensures they show up automatically in your feed.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Explore 1:1 Coaching for Highly Sensitive People & Recovering People-Pleasers https://maryannwalker.life/contact-me

More Episodes to Explore:

• Facts vs Stories https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/11068994
• Boundaries vs Manuals: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/11236956
• Holiday Manuals: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028767/episodes/11604245

💛 You deserve to take up space—even in your own mind.

Send us a text

🎄 Holiday Expectations, Emotional Triggers & Radical Acceptance: How Your “Manuals” Are Ruining Your Holidays

What if the thing making the holidays so stressful isn’t your family… but your expectations?

In this special holiday episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on something that quietly runs our emotional lives—manuals. These are the invisible rules we carry about how people should behave, how holidays should look, and how we should show up. And during the holidays? These manuals go into overdrive.

When technology issues cut short my holiday interview with fellow coach Kellyn Legath, I had a choice: spiral into frustration—or practice what I teach. This episode became a real-time lesson in radical acceptance, emotional regulation, and reclaiming your peace when life doesn’t go according to plan.

Together, Kellyn and I explore how holiday manuals create resentment, burnout, and emotional reactivity—and how learning to recognize them can help you feel more grounded, empowered, and emotionally free this season.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• What a “manual” really is—and how unspoken expectations create resentment
• Why the holidays intensify emotional triggers for highly sensitive people
• How manuals silently put other people in charge of your emotions
• The difference between reacting emotionally and responding intentionally
• How to identify your own holiday manuals (for others and yourself)
• Why communication—not mind reading—is the key to healthier holidays
• How to set realistic, measurable expectations for how you show up
• Practical ways to navigate family dynamics without people-pleasing
• How radical acceptance helps you find peace even when things go “wrong”
• Why letting yourself be human is more powerful than trying to be perfect

Challenge for the Week

Before your next holiday gathering, pause and ask yourself:

1. What am I expecting here?
2. Have I communicated that expectation—or am I assuming others should know?
3. What are three realistic ways I can measure that I showed up well—without needing perfection?

Notice every time the word should pops into your thoughts. That’s your manual asking for attention.

Work With Me

If this episode made you realize how much emotional energy you spend managing other people’s feelings—or how often your happiness depends on things going “just right”—you don’t have to navigate that alone.

I support highly sensitive people and recovering people-pleasers in learning how to:

• Regulate their emotions
• Set boundaries without guilt
• Stop feeling responsible for everyone else’s experience

Apply to work with me here: https://maryannwalker.life/contact-me

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

If you found this episode helpful, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss future conversations on emotional regulation, boundaries, and creating more peace in your relationships—especially during emotionally charged seasons like the holidays.

Links Mentioned in This Episode

MaryAnn Walker: life coach for highly sensitive people & recovering people-pleasers

Contact MaryAnn: https://maryannwalker.life/contact-me

Contact Kellyn: https://www.instagram.com/daydreamercoaching/

Send us a text

If you’ve ever felt like you had to keep it all together, even when you were running on empty, this episode will feel like a deep exhale. Together, we explore how letting go of perfection and focusing on feeling just 10% better can become a gentle, sustainable path toward healing and self-connection.

In this episode, I’m joined by my friend, author, and public speaker, Marissa Campbell, for a heartfelt conversation about burnout, emotional exhaustion, and learning how to come back home to yourself.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why burnout often hides behind busyness and people-pleasing
• The power of checking in with your emotional battery before you hit empty
• How to let go of thinking healing takes time and shift to feeling “10% better” today.
• Simple, somatic ways to reconnect with your body and emotions
• How to identify your early warning signs of emotional depletion
• What it really means to lead — and live — from the heart

Challenge for the Week

Pause once today to ask yourself:
🩵 "How full is my battery and what emotion am I experiencing right now?”

Then give yourself permission to honor whatever answer arises with no expectations.

*Bonus* Ask yourself what might help to charge your battery, and give it to yourself. Small steps count. They build momentum. And they remind you that you are worthy of care, even in the smallest of ways.

Work With Me

If you’re ready to stop running on empty and start rebuilding from a place of peace and self-trust, I’d love to help.
You can book a free clarity call to explore how coaching can support you at calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Links Mentioned in This Episode

• Connect with guest Marissa Campbell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mc.speaks/
  
  
• Purchase your copy of Lead With Heart: https://amzn.to/3JxdByw

Send us a text

Understanding the Family Scapegoat: Healing, Identity, and People Pleasing

Today I am joined by Elle Boone, host of The Family Scapegoat Chronicles. Elle dives deep into a role that many empaths and highly sensitive people unknowingly carry—that of the family scapegoat—and how it shapes identity, people-pleasing tendencies, and emotional well-being.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What it means to be the family scapegoat and how this role is assigned in dysfunctional and narcissistic family systems.
• The three key dynamics of scapegoating: blame, shame, and rejection, and how these affect long-term emotional health.
• The concept of “family mobbing” and how siblings and other family members may unconsciously or consciously participate in scapegoating.
• Differences between the scapegoat, golden child, and lost child roles—and how these roles can rotate over time.
• How scapegoating contributes to people-pleasing, overgiving, and identity confusion.
• Signs that you might have been scapegoated, including minimized successes, silent treatment, backhanded criticism, and heightened responsibility for family dysfunction.
• Practical strategies for healing: observing patterns, pacing your recovery, and reclaiming your personal identity.
• Recommended resources, including Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed by Rebecca C. Mandeville, and the documentary The Wisdom of Trauma by Gabor Maté.

Challenge for the Week:
Take a compassionate pause to observe your patterns. Notice how often you apologize, overgive, or seek approval. Write down at least three recurring behaviors and reflect on where they might have originated. This is the first step toward reclaiming your identity and untangling the people-pleasing and scapegoating patterns in your life.

Work With Me:
If you’re ready to start identifying the roles that hold you back and learn to set healthier boundaries, you can book a free clarity call with me here: https://calendly.com/maryannwalkerlife/freeconsult

Don’t Forget to Subscribe
Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss future episodes. Each week, we dive deeper into the practices that help recovering people pleasers create balance, self-worth, and authentic connection.

🎯 email me now at maryann@maryannwalker.life to work with me!

Follow me on my other platforms and join the conversation!

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryannwalker.life/
Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryannwalker.life
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maryannwalker.life

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

• Elle Boone’s podcast: The Family Scapegoat Chronicles https://thefamilyscapegoatchronicles.podbean.com/e/the-family-scapegoat-chronicles-i-true-stories-of-survival-and-healing-after-narcissistic-and-family-scapegoating-abuse/
• Elle Boone on Substack:https://thefamilyscapegoatchronicles.substack.com/
  
  
• Book: Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed by Rebecca C. Mandeville – https://a.co/d/7kLN3lG
  
  
• Documentary: The Wisdom of Trauma by Gabor Maté – Watch here https://thewisdomoftrauma.com/