Transform Your Life with the Change Your Story Retreat Series Update

This week’s post tells the story of a woman who’s spent her life doing for others but never learned how to prioritize herself. Through coaching, she’s begun exploring her internalized guilt and rescuer identity. Shadow work is helping her uncover why saying no feels so difficult—and why creating space for herself is essential. This post invites anyone who gives too much and wonders when it’s finally okay to choose themselves.

Life-altering events can shake us to our core—but they can also shape us in powerful ways. In this post, I reflect on two major turning points in my life: the loss of my business and my divorce. Both left me disoriented and hurting. But through extended retreats—first at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and later through plant medicine—I found perspective, healing, and a path forward. If you’re navigating a personal upheaval, this post offers insight into the psychological toll of big change and the quiet power of stepping away to reconnect with what matters.

Talking to yourself in the third person (Illeism) may feel odd at first, but it creates instant distance from swirling emotions. In this post I share how “Name It to Tame It” carried me through a rough divorce, why it works neurologically, and how you can use it for quick, compassionate shadow work. I also invite readers to go deeper through one‑on‑one coaching or an upcoming plant‑medicine retreat at Tubac Ranch.

In this honest and uplifting reflection, Mark shares a personal story about a friend whose daily commitment to his artistic calling brought unexpected healing. He weaves in insights about depression, procrastination, and the voice that says “not today”—and how shadow work helps us meet it with curiosity. The post ends with a powerful call to reconnect with what matters, even if you’ve fallen off track. Because saying yes to the grind, over and over, is what unlocks the goodness.