Transcript
Michele Martin: Hello, and welcome to the authenticity revolution where truth is the rebellion. This is a space for women in midlife and beyond who've outgrown the rules, roles, and rhythms that wants to find them and are ready to live from what's true instead of what's expected.
Michele Martin: I'm Michelle Martin. I'm a transformational coach and human design guide, and I don't teach you who to be. I help you to come back to yourself. Here we talk about nervous system truth, identity reclamation, and what it actually means to stop performing your life and start inhabiting it.
Michele Martin: This isn't self-improvement, it's a return to yourself. So if you hear something in you already knows, let's listen to that.
Michele Martin: So before I dive in, I want to acknowledge that I've been away for a few months. I took some time out for my own health and well-being, and honestly, this episode is part of my own return.
Michele Martin: So, if you've been here from the beginning, thank you for still being here. And if you're welcome. You picked a good one to start with. Today, i want to talk about something I'm actually living right now, not something I moved through and wrapped up neatly with a bow, something that I'm in the middle of.
Michele Martin: And I'm calling it the mud phase. You probably know exactly what I mean without me even describing it, but let me try anyway. The mud phase is when you know what you need to do.
Michele Martin: You can see it really clearly. You might even want it. But moving towards it feels like you're trying to walk through wet concrete. Everything takes more energy than it should.
Michele Martin: Even simple things feel heavy. And there's this low hum of frustration underneath it all because you know better. And somehow that makes it worse.
Michele Martin: And that's the mud phase. And if you're in it right now, I want you to know you're not broken. You're in a transition. And this, this is actually part of it.
Michele Martin: So I've been in the mud phase more times than I can count. The last six years of my life have been a masterclass in it, actually.
Michele Martin: In the last six years alone, I've navigated financial upheaval, career shifts, relationships ending, friendships falling away, my own mental and physical health, and rebuilding a business from the inside out.
Michele Martin: So I know this terrain. I've been the woman wondering if she's ever going to feel like herself again. And here's what I've learned. The hard way, always the hard way, the mud phase isn't a detour from your path. It is the path.
Michele Martin: It's what happens between who you were and who you're becoming. It's the in-between. And if you know anything about my work, you know that I live in the in-between.
Michele Martin: I guide women through the in-between. And yet, here I am in it. The first time i went through a really significant mud phase, I waited much too long to even acknowledge it.
Michele Martin: i kept pushing. i kept performing. i kept pretending i was fine until I wasn't. And the recovery from that took a really long time.
Michele Martin: This time I caught it earlier. My body told me before my mind was ready to listen. And I listened. I listened to my body. Not perfectly, but I still listened.
Michele Martin: And that's growth. It doesn't always look triumphant. Sometimes it just looks like catching yourself a little sooner than you did the last time. So here's what I want to leave you with today.
Michele Martin: Two things actually. First, a feeling. I want you to feel less alone in this. Whatever mud phase you're navigating right now, the career that's crumbling, the relationship that's ending, the identity that no longer fits, the life that looks fine on the outside but feels hollow on the inside,
Michele Martin: You're not the only one standing here wondering when you're going to feel like yourself again. And you will. I promise you that from experience, not from theory.
Michele Martin: And second, a permission slip. You do not need to have the energy to take your next step. You do not even need to feel ready.
Michele Martin: You do not need to wait until the mud clears to start moving. Sometimes you take the next step from the mud with mud on your boots, wondering what the hell you're doing.
Michele Martin: And that counts. That still moves you forward. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to take one next step, the smallest possible one, and then another.
Michele Martin: And the mud doesn't last forever. It never has. Not for me, and it's not going to be that way for you either. So if this episode landed for you, please share it with the woman who needs it today.
Michele Martin: She's out there in the mud thinking that she's the only one. I'm Michelle Martin, and this is the Authenticity Revolution, where truth is the rebellion.
Michele Martin: And so is letting yourself be exactly where you are. And remember, you're not broken, you're waking up. And I'll see you next time.
