A few years ago, I found a journal from 2017. The goals I'd written? I was still writing them. Different year. Same list.

That moment changed everything — because I finally realized this isn't a discipline problem. It's a foundation problem.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the three questions you need to ask BEFORE "what's my plan?" — and why skipping them is the reason your goals keep dying.

In this episode:

• Why the same goals keep showing up year after year (and it's not what you think)
• The difference between relief goals and resonance goals — and why one drains you while the other fuels you
• The three questions that have to come before strategy
• A client story that might sound uncomfortably familiar
• What's actually possible when you build on a solid foundation

Memorable Moments:

"Relief goals run FROM pain. Resonance goals run TOWARD purpose."

"Her soul hadn't been blocking execution because she was undisciplined. It was protecting her from building something she didn't actually want."

Resources mentioned:

• Breakthrough Blueprint Quiz: https://subscribepage.io/breakthroughblueprint
• You & Your Soul-Led Business Program: https://ascensionacademy.life/product/you-your-soul-led-business-development-program/

Connect with Anik:

• Website: https://masteringascension.com/coaching/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anikmalenfant
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.malenfant

Next Episode: When Everything's in Place But Nothing's Moving (January 12)

For six years, Mattanja Lennings tried to fit into a box that was never hers.

She shaved off parts of herself. Followed every rule. Did everything "right" — Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, classical opera training.

And she lost her joy. Her spark. Her reason for singing in the first place.

Until her spirit whispered: "Go paint."

She went to the dollar store. Bought some supplies. And started creating again — this time, with zero rules.

Now she sells paintings for five figures. Not because of strategy. Because she followed her intuition instead of the industry.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• How six years of "doing everything right" led to complete emptiness

• The moment her spirit whispered something that changed her path

• Why not knowing the rules became her biggest business advantage

• The Hathor story: when a painting told her to charge €3,333 (and she'd never sold above €200)

• How to expand your nervous system to hold what your intuition already knows

• The question to ask yourself: What's YOUR opera?

About Mattanja Lennings:

Mattanja Lennings is an artist, former opera singer, and mentor from the Netherlands. After six years of classical training left her empty, she followed her spirit to painting — and built a business selling work for five figures without ever learning the "rules" of the art world.

Connect with Mattanja:

• Website: https://www.mycosmicdreams.com

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattanjalennings/

Connect with Anik:

• Website: https://masteringascension.com/coaching/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anikmalenfant

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.malenfant

Resources:

• Your Breakthrough Blueprint (Free Quiz): https://subscribepage.io/breakthroughblueprint

• You & Your Soul-Led Business Program: https://ascensionacademy.life/product/you-your-soul-led-business-development-program/

Memorable Moments:

• "For six years, I made myself smaller and smaller to try to fit in the box. In the end, I did not fit and I had completely lost myself." — Mattanja Lennings
• "Every year you stay in a box that isn't yours, it gets harder to remember who you were before you started performing." — Anik Malenfant
• "The goals aren't the problem. The foundation is." — Anik Malenfant

If this resonates: Leave a review and tell us — what rules are YOU following that you never actually agreed to?

The Pattern to Leave Behind in 2026

I snapped at my husband over something small. And what came out of my mouth showed me a pattern I'd been running for years.

"I know we joke that you guys can all just access my brain — the family cloud — but I'm exhausted. I'm out of bandwidth."

He didn't see me juggling four calendars. The meal plans. The bedtime routines. The constant "Mom, where's my..." Managing my team while holding the vision for my business. I was the cloud for my family AND my business.

Before you set a single goal for 2026, you need to see what patterns you're dragging with you.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The moment I realized I'd made myself "the family cloud" — and what it cost me

• Pattern #1: Hyper-Independence — why "if you want it done right, do it yourself" is keeping you stuck

• Pattern #2: Conditional Permission — the "once/then" trap that sounds like wisdom but keeps moving the goalpost

• Pattern #3: Time Scarcity — why it's not ambition, it's self-abandonment

• The questions that help you work with patterns (without adding them to your to-do list)

• My challenge for you before the new year

Featured Moment:

"I gave myself maybe sixty seconds of satisfaction before my brain kicked in: 'Okay but what's next? You're behind on this other thing.' Sixty seconds. That's all I allowed myself. And I remember thinking: If I can't celebrate this — if I can't let this land — what's any of it for?"

Connect with Anik:

• Website: https://masteringascension.com/coaching/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anikmalenfant

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.malenfant

Resources:

• Your Breakthrough Blueprint (Free Quiz): https://subscribepage.io/breakthroughblueprint

• You & Your Soul-Led Business Program: https://ascensionacademy.life/product/you-your-soul-led-business-development-program/

Memorable Moments:

• "I know we joke that you guys can all just access my brain — the family cloud — but I'm exhausted. I'm out of bandwidth."

• "He didn't know it, but he'd just thrown a match into a pool of gasoline."

• "Hyper-Independence is dangerous because it works."

• "That 'once/then' language? That's the tell."

• "It's not ambition. It's self-abandonment."

• "You cannot change what you refuse to look at."

• "2026 will give you exactly what you allow."

If this resonates: Leave a review and tell us — which pattern hit you in the chest? We read every one.

For 12 years, Laura Johnson's business lost money. Every spreadsheet, every logical analysis said the same thing: quit. But her gut said something different. So she made a radical choice—she left her corporate job, put her health and happiness FIRST, and watched everything change. 210% growth later, she's proof that your intuition knows something your spreadsheet doesn't.

In this episode, you'll discover:

1. Why Laura kept going when 12 years of data said stop
2. The post-it note philosophy that changed everything: "Health and happiness first. Income second."
3. How leaving corporate wasn't about escaping—it was about going all in
4. The pivot that transformed her business: targeting frustration instead of demographics
5. What an 11-year-old girl taught her about why this work matters

Featured Moment: Laura shares the moment she realized she couldn't keep living two lives—the corporate employee and the entrepreneur with a dream. "I couldn't give up without really fully putting my whole heart into it. And that doesn't mean 80 hours a day. Because I quit my job for balance and sanity."

About Laura Johnson: Laura Johnson is the founder of Bust'DD, a mobile bra fitting service helping women finally feel confident in their bodies. After 12 years of building her business on the side while working corporate, she took the leap in 2024—and hasn't looked back.

Connect with Laura:

1. Website: www.bustdd.com
2. Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/bustdd/

Connect with Anik:

1. Website: https://masteringascension.com/coaching/
2. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anikmalenfant
3. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant/
4. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.malenfant

Resources:

1. Your Breakthrough Blueprint (Free Quiz): https://subscribepage.io/breakthroughblueprint
2. You & Your Soul-Led Business Program: https://ascensionacademy.life/product/you-your-soul-led-business-development-program/

Memorable Moments:

1. "You trusted yourself—and that trust became the strategy." — Anik
2. "Number one: health and happiness. Number two: income, business, money." — Laura
3. "Your intuition is not mystical guesswork. It is your highest form of intelligence." — Anik
4. "I've grown 210% from last year to this year." — Laura

If this resonates: Leave a review and tell us: When did YOUR gut know something your spreadsheet didn't?

Top highlights

00:28 – Meet Laura Johnson, Founder of Bust'DD
01:39 – Laura’s Turning Point: Frustration to Purpose
02:26 – The Birth of a Business Idea
03:17 – Pivots, Intuition, and Breaking Patterns
04:55 – Overcoming Fear and Trusting Yourself
06:00 – The Leap: Leaving Corporate for Entrepreneurship
09:14 – Health, Happiness, and Redefining Success
11:34 – The Power of Intuition in Business Decisions
12:22 – Rapid Fire Round: Daily Practices & Advice
17:13 – Impact, Transformation, and Leading with Purpose
19:32 – Closing Thoughts & How to Connect with Laura
21:41 – Outro & Final Message

I was sitting at the dinner table with my family—food gone cold on my plate—because I'd spent the entire meal answering "urgent" messages. I told myself I was making an impact. And I was... in everyone else's life. But in my own? I was living in a deficit.

In this episode, I share the pattern I finally had to name: I was both the arson AND the firefighter in my own life. The fires weren't the problem. The pattern starting them was.

I also share a recent client conversation where I almost lost a client—on purpose—because I saw something she couldn't see. And what I discovered underneath her overwhelm will sound painfully familiar.

If you've ever wondered why things never seem to calm down no matter how hard you work... this episode is for you.

In This Episode:

• Why I spent years with cold dinners and counting down to bedtime

• The pattern that keeps high-achievers exhausted (arson + firefighter)

• The inherited belief that creates "indispensable" syndrome

• The boundary I set with a client that changed everything

• 3 questions to ask yourself next time a "fire" shows up

• The shift from "sacrifice for success" to "prosperity AND presence"

"I was both the arson AND the firefighter in my own life."

"Productivity, is the most socially acceptable form of self-sabotage there is."

"You made yourself indispensable. And now you're trapped inside the very thing you built."

"My daughter's not going to remember how many clients I helped. She's going to remember if I was there."

Your Breakthrough Blueprint (Free Quiz): https://subscribepage.io/breakthroughblueprint

The You & Your Soul-Led Business Program: https://ascensionacademy.life/product/you-your-soul-led-business-development-program/

Connect With Anik

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.malenfant

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anikmalenfant

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant/

Website: https://masteringascension.com/coaching/

Timestamps:

• 00:54 — The cost of overcommitting: Missing family time and feeling exhausted.
• 01:34 — Emotional deficit: Realizing the impact on personal and family life.
• 02:38 — Self-judgment: Questioning motherhood, entrepreneurship, and boundaries.
• 03:34 — When did your family last get the best of you? Reflecting on priorities.
• 04:42 — The pattern of saying yes: How small favors become big commitments.
• 05:15 — Productivity as self-sabotage: A client story about overwhelm and boundaries.
• 06:37 — Inherited patterns: Service as love, sacrifice as worth.
• 07:51 — Why exhaustion persists: Always another fire to put out.
• 08:28 — Setting boundaries: No more crisis calls after hours.
• 09:09 — Empowering clients: Stepping back to let others grow.
• 10:35 — The shift: Building a business that supports life, not the other way around.
• 11:29 — Three questions to ask when a fire shows up in your life.
• 12:44 — Patterns vs. time management: How to truly change.
• 13:52 — Breakthrough Blueprint: A tool to identify your invisible ceiling.
• 14:36 — The discomfort of change: Proof that the pattern is breaking

There's something running your entire life that you can't see. It's setting your prices, choosing your clients, and deciding how hard you push. In this episode, I'm helping you find the blindspot that's been holding you back—so you can finally break through the invisible ceiling.

In This Episode:

1. The pattern I couldn't see during my 15 years on Wall Street
2. Why the pattern that kept you safe at 7 is keeping you stuck at 47
3. The 4 types of blindspots: Values, Intuitive Discernment, Energetic Alignment, Strategic Execution
4. The buffet metaphor: Why you're eating food you never ordered
5. How an 8-figure CEO went from wage negotiation to 7-figure exit—in 45 minutes
6. Why permission is never coming—and what to do about it

Quotable Moments:

"The pattern that kept you SAFE at seven is keeping you STUCK at forty-seven."

"Don't wait for a breakdown to choose a breakthrough."

RESOURCES:

1. Here's the Quiz I mentioned in the show, Your Breakthrough Blueprint:
2. The You & Your Soul-Led Business Program: https://ascensionacademy.life/product/you-your-soul-led-business-development-program/

Connect with Anik:

1. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.malenfant
2. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant/
3. Website: https://masteringascension.com/coaching/

Can you trust your intuition in a courtroom?

Most people think intuition belongs in yoga studios, not in high-stakes legal environments where lives hang in the balance. But JoDee Neil—a former prosecutor who handled crimes against children for 15 years—will tell you straight up: intuition wasn't optional. It was essential.

In this powerful conversation, JoDee shares:

→ How she used prayer and journaling to prepare for jury trials (and left room in her strategy for what her gut told her to ask in the moment)

→ The parallel life she lived as a prosecutor and an undisclosed survivor (and how connecting with survivors became her own path to healing)

→ What it feels like when your soul says "I can't do this anymore" (even when you have a steady paycheck, health insurance, and external success)

→ The inner work that gave her the courage to leave prosecution and step into advocacy, speaking, and writing her book on disclosure for survivors

→ Her advice for anyone who knows they need to make a change but is paralyzed by fear

JoDee's story is proof that intuition isn't separate from strategy—it IS strategy. And that the most courageous thing you can do is recognize when your values are calling you toward something different, even when it terrifies you.

This episode will challenge you to ask yourself: If success looks good on paper but feels heavy in your body—whose life are you actually living?

🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS

Connect with JoDee Neil:

• TikTok: @jodeeneilattorney
• Instagram: @jodeeneilattorney
• Website: neilnowlegal.com
• Pre-order her book: Outcry Witness

Work with Anik:

Free Soul-Led Productivity Toolkit Discover how to align your energy with your ambitions—without the burnout. 👉 Get your free toolkit here

You & Your Soul-Led Business Program The proven framework to decode your patterns, strengthen your intuition, and build a business that doesn't deplete you. For soul-led professionals ready to stop performing success and start living it. 👉 Learn more & apply

1:1 Coaching with Anik Private mentorship for leaders navigating major transitions, hitting revenue ceilings, or building businesses that honor who they are. 👉 Explore 1:1 coaching

More from Anik:

1. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anikmalenfant
2. Website: masteringascension.com

💬 QUOTABLE MOMENTS

From JoDee:

1. "It's exciting scary versus paralyzing scary. When you're connected to your values, fear transforms."

From Anik:

1. "When you work from pressure, you over-control. When you work from overflow, you prepare AND trust."
2. "The question isn't 'Can I afford to leave?' The question becomes: 'Can I afford to stay?'"

Here's what nobody wants to hear: All those productivity tools you're investing millions in? They're not going to save you. Not because the technology is bad—but because you're using it to optimize a broken system.

Right now, 56% of leaders are burned out and nearly half of organizations lost half their leadership teams last year. Companies are spending billions trying to automate their way to productivity, but the real problem isn't efficiency—it's human capacity.

In this episode, I'm sharing the counterintuitive solution that has nothing to do with your tech stack and everything to do with how humans actually work. You'll hear the story of how values-based systems allowed us to retain an entire 8-figure book of business during a high-stakes firm transition—while the industry average is losing one in five clients.

This is about strategic execution: Building systems that honor the human in the business while scaling for sustainable success.

What You'll Learn:

• Why spending billions on productivity tools won't fix your burnout problem—and what will

• The "quiet cracking" phenomenon affecting 54% of employees (and costing companies $438 billion globally)

• How we retained an 8-figure book during a firm transition when competitors lose 19% on average

• Why stressed leaders can't make strategic decisions (and what to do about it)

• The 3-Question Leadership Audit you can do RIGHT NOW

• How to build systems that scale while honoring your soul

Top Quotes:

💬 "You can't software your way out of a human problem."

💬 "We built business models designed to extract value from humans until they break—and then we act surprised when they do."

💬 "Sustainable success isn't going to come from the old model of business. It's built on systems that honor the human in the business."

The Leadership Audit (Do This Now):

Pull out your phone and answer these three questions honestly:

1. Am I leading from OVERFLOW or PRESSURE? Write the first word that comes to mind.
2. What's my REAL retention number? How many top performers left in the last 12 months?
3. Are my systems designed for EXTRACTION or RECIPROCITY? Do they fuel people or drain them?

If you don't like what you see? That's not failure. That's DATA. Now you know what needs to change.

Ready to Build Systems That Scale—While Honoring Your Soul?

Your Soul-Led Business Program – We work through all four pillars to create systems that honor the human AND scale the business:

• Values – Know exactly what you stand for and what you won't tolerate

• Intuition – Make confident decisions without second-guessing yourself

• Energy – Build from overflow, not fumes

• Strategic Execution – Create systems that work even when you're not in the room

Two Ways to Work With Me:

Option 1: Group Program – All 4 pillars with coaching and implementation support. Cohort starts soon. 👉 Learn More & Enroll

Option 2: 1:1 Coaching – Custom-built for YOUR business model. 👉 Apply Here

Free Resource:

📥 Soul-Led Productivity Toolkit – Get instant access to tools and frameworks for building from passion, not pressure 👉 Download Free

Connect With Anik:

🔗 LinkedIn 🌐 Website