I Have Notes with Coach Stephanie Finigan

We all have them - those sneaky, scary worries that we can kind of push aside in the middle of a busy day, but always manage to creep back in in the middle of the night. Whether it’s “I am not saving enough money” or “I’m stuck in this unhappy marriage” or “I should have left my job years ago, it’s too late now” or “It’s too late for me to have the life I want”, it’s hard to deny how real these thoughts seem. In this episode Coach Stephanie unpacks how to shift away from this unhelpful thought pattern and lean into a more productive way of thinking that will actually help you move away from midnight worries and move towards taking actual action to solve them.

It’s easy to keep chasing your goal when it seems reachable - but what happens when your goal is so big that it feels impossible to reach? Do you change your approach? Make your goal smaller? Quit altogether? In this episode Coach Stephanie is talking about the tools to use to keep yourself going when that big goal seems just too far away, and she answers the question: "How do I know when I should quit?"

One of the most common topics people seek coaching for time management - or more specifically, the issue of not having the time to do all the things we want to do. On this episode Coach Stephanie walks you through the myth of “I don’t have the time” by giving practical steps for you to follow to uncover where you time is going, how to prioritize the time you have, and most importantly how to better manage your mind so that you can better manage your time.

You had to know this was coming. There can't be a podcast called "I'm the Problem" that doesn't have an episode about Taylor Swift. But this one will be useful for you whether or not you're a Swiftie. Taylor is, among other things, a master at the art of making a pivot, and there's a lot we can all learn from the professional and personal pivot's she's made over the years. In this episode, coach and devoted Swiftie Stephanie will walk through 4 key lessons from Taylor's pivots that anyone can use as they're making their own big life changes. Consider this one "Pivoting (Taylor's Version)".

We've all heard that we should "think positively" when something in our life goes sideways, or when we hit a wall and start asking ourselves, "Why is this happening?" But we all also know that throwing a few good thoughts on top of your problems doesn't make them go away. Positive thinking works - but only if you know how to think positively in a way that your brain actually buys into. This is where coaching comes in. In this episode Coach Stephanie will use her current example of a never-ending spring sickness to highlight the process of going from "Why is this happening to me?" thinking, to the much more useful, "How is this happening FOR me?". This simple process will help you get out of negative or defeatist thinking (which happens to all of us now and then), and bring yourself back to a place of empowerment and energy, so that you can solve whatever problems are in front of you (because you can!).

What is it that you really want to do, but you feel like you just can’t because it’s too late, you waited too long, you should have started sooner, or you’re just too old to do it? Do you want to change careers, start a business, write a book, train for a marathon, get married, get a divorce, leave it all behind and travel the world….? Whatever it is that you want to do, it’s not too late, you haven’t waited too long, and you are never too old. In this episode, Coach Stephanie will explain why our brains default to this “I’m too old, so I can’t” thinking, and walks you through 5 steps to overcome that mindset, so that you can get started today on whatever the thing is that you really want to do - no matter how old you are.

Setting boundaries is the first step, but actually following through when someone crosses your boundary is a whole other challenge - so this topic is getting a whole other episode! Building off of the previous episode about setting boundaries, and continuing to use examples from reality TV's favorite boundary-breakers, the cast of Vanderpump Rules, Coach Stephanie uses this episode to outline common reasons people struggle to following through on the boundaries they set, and how to overcome those challenges so that you can be someone who not only sets boundaries, but carries them out too.

Setting boundaries is something we should all know how to do, but very few of us are ever taught how to do it...And watching Vanderpump Rules is something we probably never need to do, but so many of us do it. In this episode, Coach Stephanie will walk you through how to set a boundary in a way that's actually going to be helpful for you - and gives you an example of how this is (and isn't) done on a vintage episode of Vanderpump Rules. Because who better to learn "what not to do" from than those crazy kids on Bravo....Enjoy!

Worrying about what other people think of you is normal, but it's not very useful. And if you're someone who is trying to make a pivot - like change your career, your relationship, where you live, who you spend time with, how you spend your money, your health habits, or anything else - it can be really easy to get sidetracked by the opinions that other people may have about what you're trying to do. In this episode Coach Stephanie walks through this very common problem (she experiences it often when telling people she's a life coach!), and offers a process you can use to move past the opinions of others and stay true to what it is that you really want for yourself.

We all know there's no such thing as "perfect" and yet so many of us let our perfectionism get in the way of our goals. We think, "If I can't do this perfectly, what's the point of even trying?" Whether it's weight loss, relationships, making money, building a business, paying off debt, launching a podcast, or accomplishing anything else that we want, perfectionism can get in the way even for those of us who never thought of themselves as perfectionists. On this episode Coach Stephanie talks about being a perfectionist (without realizing it), and how it impacted even the making of this exact episode of the show. If you're looking to manage your own perfectionism so that you can move forward with whatever your goals are, this (imperfect!) episode can help.

Regret is an incredibly common human emotion, and yet it's one we typically don't talk about...we'd rather suffer in silence or try to avoid or ignore it (which never works) rather than deal with it. And as a result, most of us walk around carrying past regrets into our futures. You don't need to do this. In this episode Coach Stephanie will walk you through her 7 step process for overcoming regret so that you can leave your past in the past, and move forward without past regret weighing you down.

If you're looking to make a career change, this is the episode for you. Life coach Stephanie Finigan will walk you through how got started making her own career pivot by focusing on changing her self identity first, and will break down a 5-step process for you to make your pivot possible.

If you're a "worst case scenario" thinker, this episode is for you. You will hear life coach Stephanie Finigan talk through her own experience as a "worst case scenario" thinker and how that played out recently in her life, as well as the coaching process she puts herself through in order to change her mindset and her outcomes, and how you can do the same.

This episode will walk you through the problem of trying to get "back" into shape. Life coach Stephanie Finigan will talk through her own experience of trying to become a runner like she was in the past, the problem with "past focus" thinking, and how to change your thought patterns to be future focused instead, which is the key to accomplishing your goals.

In this episode, life coach Stephanie Finigan will walk you through the fundamentals of what life coaching actually is, how and when it makes sense to hire a coach, and what the limits of coaching is as well. You will hear how Stephanie found coaching herself, and walk away with a solid understanding of the purpose and usefulness of life coaching.

Welcome to the I'm the Problem Podcast with Coach Stephanie Finigan. Stephanie is a certified life coach who is also, often, the problem. The good news is, she's her own solution too. This show will highlight how to apply life coaching tools to your own life in order to overcome everyday challenges, and will give you real life examples of how Stephanie, and her clients, use these tools as well. This brief episode will give you an overview of the show and tell you want to expect each week as you listen. Welcome!