Today, I'm sharing a simple truth that often goes unspoken: life is not linear. We're conditioned to believe that progress should be a steady, upward journey, but what if our lives actually operate in cycles, not straight lines?

I'm unpacking the "momentum cycle" and exploring why your energy, creativity, and focus naturally ebb and flow through distinct seasons—surges of expansion, hard stops of crisis, the uncertainty of transitions, and the necessity of recovery—and why striving to always be at your peak can actually hinder your progress.

If you're tired of measuring your life against an unfair expectation of nonstop achievement, tune in for fresh insights on honoring your energy, matching your actions to your current season, and finding power, even in the pauses.

Show Highlights:

• Details of Kate Northrup's upcoming money workshop. [00:59]

• The fallacy that life is linear vs. the "momentum cycle." [03:44]

• The highs and gradual low of growth and expansion. [07:31]

• Navigating crisis periods with focus. [09:40]

• How transition and change can become accelerators. [12:49]

• Do you allow yourself time to recover and heal? [16:59]

• Suffering due to misaligned output and capacity. [21:00]

• How can you honor your human limits? [24:57]

• The power and opportunity in pausing. [26:24]

• Find out whether you're in sync with your phase. [28:53]

• The joy of trusting the cycle and celebrating others' wins. [30:00]

To register for Good with Money click here: https://thefreefam.ontraport.net/t?orid=497195&opid=170

Subscribe to the Brilliant Balance Weekly: www.brilliant-balance.com/weekly

Follow Cherylanne on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cskolnicki

Today, I'm sitting down for an eye-opening conversation about wealth with bestselling author, entrepreneur, and creator of the Relaxed Money Method, Kate Northrup, who brings a refreshing perspective on money—seeing it as a relationship, not just a set of numbers.

Why does making good money not necessarily make us good with money? Kate explains to us how our stories about money shift through life's seasons, the surprising role our nervous system plays in financial decision-making, and why feeling truly safe with abundance is the real prize.

If you've struggled with the tension between ambition and the pull of "real life," or financial shame and secrecy, take the first step to recalibrating your relationship with wealth with Kate's wisdom. After the episode, you may want to join Kate's upcoming workshop!

Show Highlights:

• Money as a number vs. a relationship in your real context. [02:17]

• Reimagine financial tasks with the "money date" concept. [05:02]

• Financial shame in successful women and the cost of secrecy. [08:19]

• The real key to being good with money beyond the topline. [11:47]

• Uncouple your identity and nervous system from money beliefs. [18:23]

• How to power-reset your nervous system. [24:07]

• The lie of scarcity and separation vs. energy of clarity. [30:01]

• Kate Northrup's free "Good with Money" workshop. [38:24]

• Check out Kate's podcast Plenty. [41:13]

To register for Good with Money, click here: https://thefreefam.ontraport.net/t?orid=497195&opid=170

To find Kate's podcast Plenty: https://katenorthrup.com

Subscribe to the Brilliant Balance Weekly: www.brilliant-balance.com/weekly

Follow Cherylanne on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cskolnicki

Are you ready to reevaluate how much being liked really matters? In this episode, I'm talking about the surprising, powerful, and sometimes uncomfortable truth that seeking approval can actually keep us from reaching our full potential.

I'll explain how the need to be liked is a fuel woven into our early lives and careers, but then becomes a constraint as we step into midlife and leadership roles. I'll show you why we need to trade our need for approval for clarity, courage, and the kind of power that inspires true leadership—the power of shifting focus from managing perceptions to forging real outcomes.

If you've felt the powerful pull of wanting to be liked, ever softened your opinions, over-accommodated, or hesitated to claim your authority for fear of ruffling feathers, you know what this episode is about. Tune in to discover how trading approval for influence can open up a chapter of freedom and impact, and the legacy you crave!

Show Highlights:

• What does our need for approval stem from? [01:05]
• The early power of approval and high-achiever conditioning. [04:35]
• How approval becomes a clashing limiter at midlife. [06:47]
• Approval-oriented vs. power/influence-oriented behaviors. [07:45]
• Understand true power. [11:48]
• Learning to withstand disapproval and hold your own. [13:46]
• Costs of overoptimizing for approval and underclaiming space. [15:42]
• The "I" statements of the "liked" vs. "influential" identity. [18:58]
• Five steps to reclaim influence without approval polling. [21:08]
• The benefits of earning influence over approval. [24:02]

Subscribe to the Brilliant Balance Weekly: www.brilliant-balance.com/weekly

Follow Cherylanne on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cskolnicki