It's July and your goals have derailed. Instead of pushing harder, sink into yourself and ask three questions that will show you exactly what's wrong. Centering yourself is the key to achieving goals that actually align with who you are.

Three questions to recalibrate:

 1. Why do you want this goal? (Check your connection and investment)
 2. How will you feel when you achieve it? (Remember the emotional payoff)
 3. Is the process enjoyable? (Sunk cost fallacy check and making it better)

Goals are tied to your self-perception, confidence, and self-esteem. When you sink into yourself, you ensure you're working toward something that actually matters. Make the process enjoyable with micro goals, progress tracking, and self-compassion instead of negative self-talk.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that your goals should serve you, not the other way around.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What's one goal you need to recalibrate? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari!

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

Mari's Book List: https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

How to Center Yourself and Actually Achieve Your Goals This Year

Books became essential to my healing journey from trauma, depression, and emotional abuse. Three specific books guided me through understanding what happened, building unbreakable boundaries, and reconnecting with the parts of myself I'd lost.

Three healing books:

 * "Whole Again" by Jackson MacKenzie validates your experience and teaches self-forgiveness
 * "Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship" by Adelyn Birch is short, direct, essential
 * ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas helped me reconnect with my love of reading and myself

My coach gave me assigned reading as part of my healing work. These books became homework, validation, strategy, and eventually, joy. Reading for healing isn't just about information. It's about seeing yourself in the pages and knowing you're not alone.

Reconnecting with reading was reconnecting with who I was before the trauma. Old Marisol loved reading. That got lost. Getting it back was getting myself back.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that healing has many forms and sometimes it comes through the pages of a book.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What book has helped you heal? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari!

📚 Books mentioned:

 * Whole Again: Jackson MacKenzie [https://bookshop.org/a/56486/9780143133315]
 * Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship: [https://www.amazon.com/Boundaries-After-Pathological-Relationship-Adelyn/dp/1523368829]Adelyn Birch [https://www.amazon.com/Adelyn-Birch/e/B019PLC03O/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1]
 * ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses): Sarah J. Maas [https://bookshop.org/a/56486/9781635575569]

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

Mari's Book List: https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

Healing Books That Changed My Life: A Reading Journey Through Recovery

Mid-year check-in on my two main goals for 2026 and where I stand at six months. Instead of setting goals in every area of my life, I narrowed focus to financial freedom by paying off credit card debt and getting back into shape. This approach is working better than years of overachieving and doing too much.

Two goals and real progress:

 * Credit card debt: Started with $12,500, now paying $1,400 monthly, adjusted strategy in May when progress felt too slow
 * Fitness: Lost 5 pounds, increased muscle definition in legs and glutes through lifting and cardio, struggling with nutrition consistency
 * Why two goals work: Less overwhelming, more achievable, better for accountability than setting ten goals

I struggled with emotional eating while healing from depression and CPTSD. The deeper I healed, the more emotions surfaced, leading me to emotionally eat through the recovery process. Now working on consistency with nutrition while maintaining a healthy food relationship.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that focusing on two goals creates better outcomes than trying to achieve ten at once.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What are your one or two goals for 2026? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari!

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

Mari's Book List: https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

Mid-Year Check-in: What I'm Keeping, What I'm Changing, What I'm Letting Go Of

Six life lessons about self-esteem, friendship, and toxic relationships I wish I'd known at 26. Self-acceptance and radical acceptance are the foundation for real confidence. Your flaws are not a moral failing and you deserve to celebrate your achievements.

Six lessons across three categories:

 1. Self-esteem and confidence: Your flaws are not a moral failing, celebrate your achievements
 2. Friendship lessons: Deep friendships require intentionality, friends are your village
 3. Love life lessons: If your creativity dies because of him, leave him, one hard conversation shouldn't end a relationship

I learned these lessons through mistakes, painful friendships that faded, and a toxic relationship that took my creativity. Looking back, I wish I'd known my flaws didn't define me and that I deserved to celebrate my wins.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that the lessons you learn the hard way are worth sharing so others don't have to wait 10 years to understand them.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What's a life lesson you wish you'd known sooner? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari!

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

Mari's Book List: https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

6 Life Lessons I Wish I Knew at 26 About Self-Esteem, Friendship, and Love

Poetry and mental health intersect beautifully in this conversation with award-winning poet Leisly Roman about her seasonal poetry collection that guides intentional living and personal growth. Her latest book "All That a Season Can Carry (In Me)" is organized by seasons to help readers explore the emotional landscapes of winter, spring, summer, and fall while understanding how their inner world connects to nature.

What we cover:

 * How seasons guide self-reflection, healing, and intentional living throughout the year
 * Winter as an opportunity for peace and quiet self-reflection instead of just depression and darkness
 * Moving intentionally through seasons instead of carrying the same goals and guilt all year long

About Our Guest: Leisly Roman is an award-winning Dominican American poet and mental health advocate from New York City. Her debut bilingual collection "Living in Phases" explores mental health journey with honesty. Her latest work uses poetry to help readers connect their emotional experiences to nature's rhythms and find healing through self-reflection.

The book shows that each season offers different emotional and spiritual opportunities. Winter brings rest and self-discovery. Spring brings growth. Summer brings action. Fall brings completion. When you move intentionally through seasons, you let go of what each season teaches before carrying it into the next.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that your inner world connects to the world around you and moving intentionally through seasons helps you let go of weight you've been carrying all year.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! Which season are you in emotionally right now? DM me on Instagram!

📖 Get Leisly's Books:

Living in Phases [https://bookshop.org/a/56486/9798986084497]

All That a Season Can Carry (In Me) [https://bookshop.org/a/56486/9798994549476]

💌 Follow Leisly:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/_literaryhope/]

Website & Links [https://linktr.ee/leislyann_?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=6cd9154c-ea53-4773-bc59-9c79b97ded46]

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

Mari's Book List: https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

Poetry as Medicine: A Conversation With Poet Leisly Roman about her Latest Collection

People pleasing in parenting is costing your children their self-worth, emotional regulation, and healthy boundaries. Kids learn through observation, so if you're a people pleaser, your children are picking up those same behaviors and internalizing them as normal. This is how generational trauma works and how the cycle continues unless you heal it.

How people pleasing affects your children:

 * Kids learn interpersonal skills through observation and copy your people pleasing behavior
 * You normalize overextending yourself and putting everyone else's needs first constantly
 * Toxic family members stay around because you can't set boundaries, exposing kids to potential harm

People pleasing parents struggle with consistent discipline and handling conflict, making parenting inconsistent. This becomes generational trauma that your children inherit.

In my Growing Pains, I recognize how my parents' people pleasing affected me. Now as an adult healing, I understand this is a generational curse I want to break with my future kids.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that your healing is your children's healing and breaking the generational curse starts with you doing the work.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! How has people pleasing shown up in your family? DM me on Instagram.

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

We might just have the same taste in books Check out my Book List [https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List] (Bookshop affiliate)

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

Breaking the Generational Curse: People Pleasing and Family Patterns

People pleasing in your career is costing you money, promotions, and career growth. If people pleasing is ruining your love life, chances are it's also ruining your finances. People pleasers take on more work for free, can't say no, avoid negotiating, and don't assert themselves for opportunities like promotions or raises.

How people pleasing shows up in your career:

 * Taking on more work for free and to the detriment of your own projects
 * Unable to say no so you're always the last to leave, missing deadlines on your own tasks
 * Taking blame for things that aren't your fault, damaging your professional reputation

This directly impacts promotions, raises, and how much money you make. Good leaders are authentic but people pleasers can't be authentic so they stay stuck. Money impacts everything: healthcare access, where you live, what food you buy, your overall quality of life.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that healing people pleasing requires recognizing how it's affecting your career and finances, and taking small steps to assert yourself.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What's one thing you said yes to at work that you wish you'd said no to? DM me on Instagram!

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

We might just have the same taste in books Check out my Book List [https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List] (Bookshop affiliate)

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

People Pleasing at Work: How It Ruins Your Salary, Raises, and Career Growth

People pleasing in your love life is ruining your relationships, whether you're dating or in a committed partnership. If people pleasing has been ruining your life, I guarantee it's affecting your love life too. I've both experienced and witnessed how people pleasing leads down a path of feeling unloved and unfulfilled relationships.

In the dating stage, people pleasers ask the wrong questions:

 * Does he like me instead of do I like him, are they right for me
 * You accept low and minimal effort because low self-worth has you feeling undeserving
 * Minor red flags and small transgressions become the foundation of disrespect later

I was a people pleaser with low self-worth and ended up in an emotionally abusive relationship. It led to years of depression and CPTSD. But healing is possible. I'm now a healed people pleaser in healthy relationships.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that healing people pleasing is possible and you deserve to be truly loved and cherished.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What red flag did you ignore early that you wish you hadn't? DM me on Instagram!

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

We might just have the same taste in books Check out my Book List [https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List] (Bookshop affiliate)

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

People Pleasing in Your Love Life: How It's Sabotaging Your Relationships

In this Stories That Shape Us episode, I'm breaking down A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon, a book about depression, hope, and stepping into your power when you least expect it. The unnamed protagonist is 29, depressed, drowning in debt. As a 35-year-old American with three degrees, hard relate. She's saved from attempting suicide by a clairvoyant magical girl and discovers she might be the one who saves the world.

🚨 Major spoiler alert for A Magical Girl Retires and trigger warning for attempted suicide.

What this book teaches about hope and transformation:

 * By the mere act of trying, there is hope—persistence shows something worth living for
 * You dare to hope then boom disappointment—that quick switch to "yeah that makes sense"
 * From suicidal self-doubt to saving the world, then choosing yourself by retiring

The story shows that for those of us struggling with depression and mental health challenges, we can't deny how much hope we still have. The mere fact that you keep moving forward shows there's still a kernel of self-love, love for your dog, friends, family, something beautiful enough to keep going. Even if it doesn't feel good.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that finding hope in unexpected places and choosing yourself, even after achieving something amazing, is radical self-acceptance.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! What book unexpectedly taught you about hope? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari!

🎧 Related episode: Embracing the Dichotomy: How to Hold Space for All of Yourself [https://open.spotify.com/episode/45JzdEEHqsN25Am0RQVvhP?si=eb076705f87149c8]

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

We might just have the same taste in books Check out my Book List [https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List] (Bookshop affiliate)

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

Stories that Shape Us: What A Magical Girl Retires Teaches About Radical Self-Acceptance and Choosing Yourself

Do you ever struggle with loving yourself at the beginning of your healing journey when you're not a finished product? That constant feeling of not being good enough, not worthy, not deserving, even of things you've worked for. One day you feel confident like "Yeah, one step at a time, let's go." The next day you feel so low: "Is this even for me? Maybe I'm not meant to get better."

The highs and lows of healing and transformation:

 * Happens at beginning stages when you want change but haven't gotten there yet
 * Affects your mood, mental space, and progress creating a vicious cycle
 * High achievers attach self-worth to achievement—slow progress triggers self-hatred

I also talk about being a writer. It feels like a "was" even though it's an "is." I lost my creativity in a toxic relationship and it took years to heal it back. Now I get frustrated with myself for not writing "enough", even though I recognize my life is busier and I need more sleep now than I did before.

Subscribe. Share. Remember that radical self-acceptance means you can have love for yourself now while you are at the beginning of your journey.

Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨

Join the conversation! How do you practice self-acceptance during transformation? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/]!

💬 LET'S CONNECT:

Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] | Growing with Sol Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/]

Buy Me a Cafecito [https://hustling-innovator-3453.kit.com/products/buy-me-a-cafecito]

We might just have the same taste in books Check out my Book List [https://bookshop.org/shop/Marisol-Book-List] (Bookshop affiliate)

🌱 LET’S GROW TOGETHER: Schedule your discovery call [https://calendly.com/yourcoachmari/30-minute-discovery-call]

Embracing the Dichotomy: Holding Space for All of Yourself (Even the Parts That Don't Make Sense)

Life's little lessons with a big impact. 

Welcome to Growing with Sol, where we explore the moments and stories that shape who we're becoming. I'm Marisol, and I love having conversations about growth, self-discovery, and learning to put yourself first.

Whether we're diving into books that change our perspective or unpacking personal experiences that teach us something new, this podcast is for women who are done playing small and ready to embrace their own journey.

If you've struggled with putting everyone else first or battled self-doubt, you're in the right place. This isn't about perfection—it's about the messy, beautiful process of growing into yourself.

Come grow with me 🌱

Let's stay connected! Join our growing community @YourCoachMari [https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachmari/] and @GrowingWithSolPod [https://www.instagram.com/growingwithsolpod/] on Instagram, and catch me on TikTok @YourCoachMari [https://www.tiktok.com/@yourcoachmari] for bite-sized growth tips between episodes.

Marisol Moran

Shows