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Balance & Beyond

Jo Stone

Balance and Beyond is the podcast for ambitious women refusing to accept burnout as the price of success. Here, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and strategies you need to achieve true balance, where your career, relationships and health all thrive and where you have the power to define success on your own terms.

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  • 29 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 11 min
  • English

Episodes 29

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  • Tuesday · 12 min

    Can You Let Something Good Land?

    Compliments should feel like a gift, yet for so many high-achieving women they feel like a threat. We have watched it happen again and again: put accomplished, capable women in a circle and invite them to say something lovely about each other, and confidence suddenly turns into squirming, deflection, and self-deprecating humour. If you’ve ever struggled to simply say “thank you” and let the moment land, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken. We unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface: how receiving praise challenges the identity built around being useful, competent, and in control. We talk about why some compliments are easier to tolerate than others, especially when they touch parts of you that you have not learned to see as valuable, like being a good mum, being a steady presence, or being deeply caring. We also explore workplace recognition and the fear of owning your leadership, even when two things can be true at once: the team is brilliant and you led them bloody well. From there, we widen the lens to receiving help and support. We dig into the “invisible ledger” many of us carry, where generosity becomes a transaction in our heads, and support is contaminated by guilt, apologising, or the frantic need to repay. We also speak to money mindset and the discomfort that shows up when good things arrive with more ease than our old programming says they should. The big takeaway: receiving is a capacity you can build, like a muscle, by practising staying present long enough for something good to actually land. If this resonates, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share the episode with a woman who needs it, and leave a review to help it reach the people it’s meant for. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • Friday · 5 min

    One Day… But Not Yet (Jo Moment)

    You know that feeling when you can see the next chapter so clearly you can almost taste it, yet you’re not ready for what has to end to get there? That’s the head-and-heart tension we sit in today, and it’s far more common than we admit, especially in the thick of parenting teenagers and juggling the mental load at home. We start with a simple moment: my husband says he’s looking forward to the version of our future where we can decide to go away for a few days without checking school schedules, exams, or who needs to be where. Then reality hits. The NFL comes to Melbourne, it’s his bucket-list weekend, and the timing is shocking: Year 11 exams, family logistics, and life doing what it does. We make the call that so many couples make in this season, he goes and I stay home, and the frustration that follows opens up a bigger conversation about fairness, resentment, and missing out. From there, we zoom out to the real takeaway: you can be ready for parts of a season to end without being ready for the season itself to be over. Waiting for “complete freedom” is a trap because every life stage comes with constraints, and later it might be health, energy, or ageing rather than school calendars. We talk about choosing the version that’s available now, taking turns, keeping experiences in your life that make you feel alive, and not letting future dreams steal present-day joy. If you’re navigating a busy family season, a stretched relationship, or that restless itch for more, press play and sit with this duality with me. Subscribe to Balance and Beyond, share this with a mate, and leave a review so more people can find these short mindset shifts. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • September 15 · 14 min

    What if you don't actually need better boundaries?

    If switching off from work feels harder than it “should”, it might not be a boundary problem at all. We’re talking about the hidden reason so many high-performing women keep drifting back to email, Teams, and “just one more thing” even after they’ve learned all the right productivity tools: work is often the only part of life we’ve intentionally designed. We dig into why work can feel like intellectual crack, complex problems, clear frameworks, a sense of control, and a steady hit of significance. Then we name the uncomfortable flip side: home can feel like a second shift of logistics, errands, appointments, washing, and mental load. When that’s what waits on the other side, no wonder “work-life balance” sounds good but feels impossible to live. From there, we shift the question from “Where do I draw the boundary?” to “What am I building beyond it?” We explore how to give your personal life the same strategic attention you give your career, including your relationship, health, friendships, sisterhood, creativity, play, and the parts of learning that aren’t monetised. We also call out the trap of turning self-discovery into another optimisation project, and why real change requires space, experimentation, and permission to change your mind. If you’re ready to design a life that pulls you offline instead of a life you escape from, press play. Subscribe to Balance and Beyond, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more women can find the permission to build what they actually want. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • September 11 · 8 min

    How Do You Know When It's Time to Give Up? (Jo Moment)

    What if the thing you’re calling perseverance is actually stubbornness in disguise? We unpack the moment where “keep going” stops being brave and starts being a way to avoid admitting a plan isn’t working. If you’ve been pushing hard, second guessing yourself, or feeling whiplash from constant pivots, this one gives you a clean lens for making calmer decisions without trashing your confidence. We talk about why failure can feel so personal for high achievers and perfectionists, and how that emotional sting keeps us locked into proving we were right. When a mistake becomes a verdict on your capability, you either cling to the same approach or bail the second it gets uncomfortable. Instead, we shift to a more useful mindset: failure as feedback. In business, careers, projects, and even relationships, the world is moving faster, information is messier, and experimentation is unavoidable. The aim isn’t the “right” decision; it’s the next best decision based on what you now know. You’ll also hear a practical framework from Seth Godin that helps you decide whether you’re in the dip (the tough middle that leads somewhere better) or stuck in a cul de sac (effort without real movement). We finish with one question you can use today to work out whether to persevere, pivot, or stop pouring good after bad. If you get value from this, subscribe to Balance and Beyond, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find these bite sized breakthroughs. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • September 8 · 11 min

    The Wobble Nobody Warns You About

    That wobble you feel when a bigger role lands, the visibility ramps up, or the stakes suddenly feel higher? We’re not convinced it means you’re failing. We think it might mean you’re growing. We talk about the difference between branches and roots: the external markers of success we can all see, and the internal strength that actually holds you steady when the wind blows. If your “old way” of succeeding relied on white knuckling, perfectionism, over-functioning, and proving yourself, it makes sense that those habits come calling the moment things get hard. They worked before. The problem is the price you pay: long hours, broken boundaries, second-guessing, and that 3 am ceiling-stare where you suddenly feel like you need another qualification to be “enough”. We also dig into a tricky dynamic in women’s leadership and corporate culture: when someone successful tells you how to do it, their certainty can overpower your own emerging self-trust. That’s where self-abandonment can masquerade as being strategic or professional. We share practical ways to build internal evidence through real-world reps: letting work go out imperfectly, delegating without rescuing, holding a boundary when breaking it would be easier, and taking feedback while still deciding what belongs to you. If you’re navigating career growth, imposter syndrome, burnout risk, or a shift towards more sustainable success, press play. Then subscribe, share this with a woman who’s levelling up, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. What’s one “root” you’re building this week? Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • September 4 · 7 min

    The Donkey That Died Trying to Have Both (Jo Moment)

    You know that moment when two things you care about collide and your chest tightens because either choice feels like proof you’re failing? I had it this week: my child was in tears needing me, and I had an urgent client deadline for an opportunity I genuinely wanted. The pressure wasn’t just the clock, it was the story in my head about what each choice meant about me. I found clarity through a blunt old parable about a donkey stuck between water and a carrot, unable to choose and collapsing in the middle. It sounds dramatic, but it perfectly describes what happens when we believe there must be a “clean” third option where nobody waits and nothing gets neglected. For many of us juggling parenting and career, partners, ageing parents, health, friendships and our own needs, that belief becomes an inherited rule: a good woman never lets anything important drop. The truth is harsher and kinder at the same time, because a full life guarantees uneven priorities. We also talk about the hidden cost of taking the middle with us: being at work while mentally parenting, being with our kids while mentally writing emails, trying to rest while running a silent checklist. That’s where mum guilt and the mental load show up as a constant tax. Guilt doesn’t give more care to what’s waiting, it steals presence from what you chose, which hurts your focus, your connection and your wellbeing. If you’re craving real work life balance strategies, boundaries without shame, and a calmer mindset when everything feels urgent, this bite-sized episode will help. Subscribe to Balance and Beyond, share it with a friend who’s stretched thin, and leave a review. What’s the one thing you need to let wait today so you can truly show up where you are? Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • September 1 · 14 min

    When Everyone Has AI, What Makes You Valuable?

    AI is getting very good at sounding certain, and that is exactly why we need to talk about the one thing it cannot replace: your judgement. When a tool can produce an impressive argument in seconds, it becomes tempting to hand over your decision making, your confidence, and even your inner voice to whatever sounds most authoritative in the room. For women who have spent years chasing validation, perfectionism, and “doing it right”, that pull can hit hard. We unpack how AI can keep us stuck in our heads, and why the most valuable workplace skill is shifting from knowing more to discerning better. Judgement is the ability to read what is happening under the words, to notice the tiny hesitation, the human signals, the customer impact that is missing from the risk register, and the question nobody is asking yet. That “hang on” moment often arrives before you can explain it, which is why high achievers can talk themselves out of saying anything until it is too late. You’ll hear practical ways to speak up without complete certainty, how to sit in the discomfort when the room does not immediately agree, and how to use AI for cognitive load without letting it override your inner wisdom. We also explore how to marry intuition with data so your gut becomes something you investigate, not something you suppress or blindly follow. If you’ve ever swallowed your words because someone else sounded more sure, press play. Subscribe, share it with a woman who needs to hear it, and leave a review to help the Ripple Effect reach the right listeners. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 28 · 6 min

    Why Being Bad at Something is Good (Jo Moment)

    When was the last time you were genuinely bad at something, not “stretching”, not “challenged”, but properly clumsy, slow, and unsure? I’m teaching my 16-year-old to drive, and it has been equal parts hilarious and confronting. She walked in confident because she’s watched driving her whole life, then met the real-world reality of steering, blind spots, speed, and a body that won’t yet do what the brain understands. That messy gap is what I call beginnerhood. What surprised me most wasn’t the wobbly lane keeping, it was how quickly her early excitement faded once she realised she would not be good straight away. That’s the moment many of us start negotiating with ourselves. As high achievers, especially women who have spent decades becoming capable and dependable, competence can turn into a comfort zone. We build careers and routines around what we can already do well, and we avoid anything that risks looking mediocre. I talk through the two classic escape routes when beginnerhood bites: turning the new skill into an intense achievement project, or quietly deciding it’s “not really my thing”. Both protect the ego, and both limit growth. Real learning often cannot be solved with insight alone. You still have to do the reps, even when nothing impressive is happening, and accept that embarrassment is sometimes the entry fee for anything worth doing. If you have been playing it safe inside your existing competence, this quick episode will help you spot what you are avoiding and why. Listen, then share it with a friend and subscribe to Balance and Beyond, and if you can, leave a review so more people find these bite-sized breakthroughs. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 25 · 11 min

    Why Your Cognitive Load Is So Hard to Put Down

    You can look fine on the outside and still feel like your brain is running a thousand tabs in the background. I’m talking about cognitive load: the remembering, anticipating, noticing, double checking, and quietly carrying the responsibility for outcomes at home and at work. And here’s the harder truth: sometimes the load feels so heavy not because you have too much to do, but because you’ve become the person who holds it all. I tease apart why “mental load” doesn’t capture the full picture, and why two women with the same life logistics can experience wildly different pressure. We go into the emotional weight attached to tasks, the identity rewards of being the competent fixer, and the way hypervigilance becomes a dominant brain habit after decades of practice. If you’ve ever thought, “If I don’t manage this, everything will fall apart,” you’ll recognise exactly how safety can get tangled up with control. We also talk about the “ANTs” that drive overload: automatic negative thoughts that spiral from a small mistake into fear, shame, and worst-case stories. From there, we look at how perfectionism and constant auditing can accidentally train the people around you to stop noticing, leaving you with even more mental ownership. The shift isn’t lowering every standard, it’s learning which balls are glass, which ones are plastic, and what it would mean about you if you didn’t carry it. If you’re ready to loosen the grip without losing your edge, hit play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so this reaches the women who need it most. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 21 · 5 min

    You’re Allowed to Change Your Mind (Jo Moment)

    Twenty minutes into a run, I catch myself doing something ridiculous: negotiating with my own brain about whether I’m “allowed” to stop a podcast and put music on instead. It’s such a small decision, yet it exposes a huge pattern many of us live by, especially high achievers who pride themselves on follow-through. We talk about the sunk cost fallacy in everyday decision making, and why time already spent can start running the show. When we’ve invested effort, earned qualifications, built a reputation, or told people “this is who I am”, changing direction can feel like invalidating the whole past. But it doesn’t. A choice can be right then and not right now. New information includes the fact that we’ve changed, and that matters. We also name the key distinction that keeps this from becoming an excuse to bail: discomfort versus a genuine change of mind. Sometimes the hard thing is exactly what we need to stay with. Other times, we’re only continuing because “past us” chose it and we don’t trust ourselves enough to pivot. The real permission is simple and powerful: our present information gets a vote. If you’ve been stuck in a loop of “I should keep going”, come listen, then ask yourself where you’re choosing consciously and where you’re choosing by sunk cost. Subscribe, share this with a mate who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find Balance and Beyond. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 18 · 15 min

    The Pick-Me Girl Grows Up

    If you’ve ever watched someone else get the opportunity you knew you could handle, the sting might not be about your capability. It might be about conditioning. We’ve been trained to chase gold stars and wait for a shoulder tap, and for high-achieving women that pattern can run for decades because it keeps “working” right up until it starts costing us our freedom, fulfilment, and energy. We talk about the system that rewards being picked and why it creates a life that looks successful on the outside but can feel strangely flat on the inside. When the old scoreboard stops motivating you, new questions get louder: Do I even want that next role? What do I want my days to feel like? How much of my career have I consciously chosen versus simply said yes to? We explore the grief and anger that can surface when you realise you played by the rules, yet still don’t feel like you’ve won. We also get practical about what changes in midlife, especially for the “safe pair of hands” who gets things done, keeps everyone steady, and says yes by default. When you start wanting boundaries, delegation, spaciousness, and time to think, the workplace and the people around you may keep inviting the old version of you back. Choosing yourself can mean re-weighting internal measures like meaning, vitality, connection, and control over your time, even when there’s no applause or clear next ladder. You don’t need a dramatic reinvention to start. You can pick yourself in micro moments: asking for what you want, creating opportunities, and making choices before checking what everyone else thinks. If this lands with you, subscribe, share it with a woman who needs the nudge, and leave a review so it reaches the people it’s meant for. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 14 · 5 min

    I Said I'd Never Go Back (Jo Moment)

    You know that decision you made with absolute certainty, the one you swore was final? Today we hand you a permission slip to revisit it, without shame, without guilt, and without needing to justify yourself to anyone. Jo Stone shares a familiar “every few years” season where she starts questioning everything: who she is, what she wants, what she values, and whether the paths she ruled out still deserve a hard no. Here’s the twist: Jo feels pulled back towards the corporate world after once saying she’d never return. Not as an employee, but as a consultant whose zone of genius is spotting the pattern before the room does. She talks about listening to someone’s story and reflecting back what’s really going on underneath, the invisible rules, identity scripts, and the leadership dynamics that shape behaviour. With so many workplaces stuck in restructures, disengagement, and fear, she argues that clear-eyed pattern recognition and honest feedback have never been more needed in a boardroom. We also dig into a practical mindset shift: staying curious instead of staying loyal to a decision made by a past version of you. If something you thought you’d outgrown starts “knocking” again, Jo invites you to explore it, ask the question, and open the door just enough to see what’s there. No dramatic reinvention required, just a willingness to learn what’s true now. If you’re navigating a career change, returning to corporate, leadership challenges, or workplace politics, this bite-sized reset will land. And you can DM Jo at any of the links below if you want to talk about how she might be able to help you, your team or your organisation more broadly. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 11 · 15 min

    You Can’t Think Your Way Out of This One

    Save Your Spot at Get Your Brain Back in 5 Days https://www.balanceinstitute.com/brainback You know that moment when the meeting ended hours ago, but your brain is still sitting at the table? You’re making dinner, driving the kids, lying in bed and somehow you’re also replaying the look someone gave, rewriting what you should’ve said, and rehearsing tomorrow like it’s already happening. If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t switch off, we get right to the point: your mind isn’t broken, it’s doing what it has been trained and rewarded to do. We unpack why overthinking and rumination feel like “being responsible” for high-performing women, especially when work uncertainty, economic uncertainty, and constant change crank up the pressure. Thinking has delivered results for decades: planning, anticipating, problem-solving, staying three steps ahead. So when life gets wobbly, the brain reaches for the strategy that’s always worked and does more of it. The catch is that another lap around the thought at 3 am doesn’t create better outcomes, it just keeps your nervous system activated and pulls you out of your actual life. We also talk about why common work-life balance advice can miss the mark. You can set boundaries, put your phone in another room, even meditate, and still run a full meeting in your head with no keyboard in sight. The real shift is learning when thinking deserves your attention, and building the skill of interrupting the pattern in the moment it shows up, at the sink, in the car, mid-conversation. If you want to practise with support, I share my free five-day WhatsApp series, Get Your Brain Back, starting 24 August, with one tiny five-minute practice each morning. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s stuck in the loop, and leave a review so more women can find a calmer way back to presence. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 7 · 5 min

    Who Is in Control of Your Brain? (Jo Moment)

    Get Your Brain Back - A free 5-Day Experience to interrupt the spirals that steal your time, energy and attention. We start 24th August. 🧠 Click here to save your free spot Your mind can be sharp enough to solve big, gnarly problems at work and chaotic enough to obsess over bananas five seconds later. We’re talking about that relentless, background “thinking” that so many women carry every day: the mental load, the distractions, the spirals, and the quiet exhaustion that comes from never truly switching off. We dig into why the usual tips don’t stick, because they rarely touch the real driver underneath overthinking. Our brains are incredible at producing thoughts, but they’re not designed to filter for what matters most or to dwell on the good stuff. Left unattended, they catastrophise, run wild “what if” chains, and keep us staring at the ceiling at 3am. If you’ve ever felt your mind hijack your calm, your sleep, or your presence, you’ll recognise this instantly. Jo shares a brutally honest moment of being “off with the fairies” while her daughter is talking, which lands as a reminder of what distraction actually costs us: the moments we can’t get back. With more inputs than ever and a new era of outsourcing thinking to AI, we explore a practical question that cuts through the noise: are you in control of your brain, or is your brain controlling you? Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • August 4 · 12 min

    The Workplace Shift Nobody's Talking About

    If you want to know which patterns are showing up for you in light of this shift, take our brand new free Success Strategy Assessment. Work feels like it is speeding up while the ground keeps shifting underneath us. One minute we are told to move faster, take more risks, and “fail forward”; the next minute we are trapped in red tape, risk aversion, and a culture that rewards visibility over real value. I unpack what I am seeing across workplaces right now: low-growth pressure, restructures and acquisitions, return-to-office mandates, and the growing uncertainty of AI and automation, especially for white-collar roles in middle to senior management. When that pressure hits, it does not just change workloads, it wakes up old patterns. We talk about the urge to overdeliver so you feel indispensable, the way perfectionism spikes when stakes feel higher, and how boundaries collapse through after-hours emails, constant notifications, and never truly switching off. I also name the “invisible work” so many women carry: picking up what falls through the cracks, holding team emotions, and absorbing the impact of company decisions as if they are personal responsibilities. You will leave with language to recognise what is happening in your body and behaviour, plus a clearer lens for sorting strategic effort from survival mode. If you are noticing people pleasing, micromanaging, procrastination, shame spirals, or decision paralysis creeping back, you are not broken, the rules have changed and you can adapt without burning out again. Subscribe, share this with a woman who needs it, and leave a review so the Ripple Effect reaches the people it is meant for. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • July 31 · 6 min

    No One Tells You How Hard It Is To Be Yourself (Jo Moment)

    “Just be yourself” sounds empowering until you realise it gives you nothing to do. If you’ve spent years being the capable one, the reliable one, the person who can carry everything, you might not even notice how often you edit yourself to stay safe and loved. Jo Stone unpacks why this common advice can feel hollow for women in midlife, and why the real work is less about thinking your way into authenticity and more about living your way there. We talk identity shift and reinvention as a series of tiny experiments: saying the thing you’d normally swallow, wearing what feels a bit bold, letting someone be disappointed, and practising boundaries without a colour-coded life plan. Along the way, Jo shares how self-discovery often begins with small “hang on” moments, like realising your default answers are just old habits. That simple noticing becomes a powerful tool for personal growth because it helps you collect evidence of who you are now, not who you were trained to be. The deeper layer is the part many people don’t say out loud: the fear of being too much. Too opinionated, too bossy, too weird, too fast. We explore how your nervous system can treat honesty as a threat to belonging, and why the uncomfortable middle of change can feel unsettling even when you’re moving in the right direction. If you’re in that in-between space, consider the reframe: maybe you’re not lost, maybe you’ve stopped pretending you’ve already arrived. If this lands, subscribe to Balance and Beyond, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these bite-sized breakthroughs. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • July 28 · 20 min

    The Hidden Strategy Behind Your Success

    Discover your dominant Success Strategy here. You can be capable, reliable and wildly productive, and still feel like your life no longer fits. That tension is often not a motivation problem. It can be a success strategy that worked brilliantly for years, then quietly started costing more than it gives back. We dig into how patterns like over-helping, over-planning, over-working and over-perfecting become default settings in the brain. When a strategy brings rewards like validation, promotions or praise, it can shift from something you do into something you believe you are. The tricky part is the blind spots: we stop noticing the emotional labour, the cognitive load, the resentment, the constant vigilance or the fear of stillness that rides along with the “success”. I walk you through five common success strategies I see in women’s coaching and leadership work: the Sponge, the Controller, the Hustler, the Achiever and the Pleaser. You’ll hear what each one looks like at its best, what it costs over time, and the key question each strategy needs to face when life gets more complex. We also break down why generic productivity and mindset tips can fail, because two women can share the same symptoms, like overwhelm and exhaustion, but need completely different solutions depending on what is driving them. If you’re ready to stop playing whack-a-mole with your wellbeing, listen now, take the free success strategy assessment in the show notes, then subscribe, share with a friend and leave a review so more women can find what they need. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • S4 · E71
    July 24 · 5 min

    When Your Whole Life Feels Like It's at a Crossroads (Jo Moment)

    We talk about why so many of us feel stuck at multiple crossroads at once, from work and relationships to health and identity. We share a simple filter that cuts through overthinking by separating irreversible choices from decisions you can test and adjust. • feeling overwhelmed by interconnected decisions and too many options • why more information and more choice can create decision paralysis • using the one-way door vs two-way door framework • examples of reversible decisions in career and health choices • treating two-way doors as experiments so outcomes become information • giving ourselves permission to make mistakes and move faster If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today. And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • S5 · E157
    July 21 · 15 min

    Why So Many Successful Women Are Questioning Everything

    If you feel like you’re holding a dozen competing problems and somehow still making no real progress, you’re not broken, you’re overloaded. Jo Stone speaks straight to high-achieving women who look fine on the outside but privately know the old model of success no longer fits. The cultural conversation used to centre on burnout and pushing through. Now it’s fractured into a “soup” of questions about career change, perimenopause and hormones, neurodiversity, parenting pressures, ageing parents, and even how AI is reshaping work. We talk about the quiet grief that can hit when you finally “arrive” and realise it doesn’t feel the way you expected. That emotional clash often sends us searching for certainty through more books, more specialists, more podcasts, more hacks. The twist is that knowledge isn’t the main problem anymore. The real challenge is deciding what applies to you, first, and resisting the temptation to outsource your judgement to the loudest expert voice, the most convincing algorithm, or the latest trend in women’s health and wellbeing. Jo unpacks how decision fatigue shows up as productivity, how perfectionism keeps you gathering information instead of making change, and why “fixing” your hormones or routines won’t automatically solve a toxic workplace or missing boundaries. The goal is to find the one question that will move the needle most in your life right now, then take small, deliberate steps that rebuild trust in your inner knowing. If this resonates, listen through, then tap “send a message to Jo” and tell us what question is on repeat for you. Subscribe, share with a woman who needs it, and leave a review to help the Ripple Effect reach the people it’s meant for. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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  • S4 · E70
    July 17 · 5 min

    The Most Valuable Failure I've Had This Year (Jo Moment)

    I cancel a workshop after ticket sales fall flat, and I unpack why that “public failure” ends up being one of my most valuable lessons this year. I show how to separate disappointment from self-doubt so we can move faster, learn more, and stop paying the hidden cost of personalising outcomes. • cancelling a workshop after strong early signs but no sales • perfectionism wounds and the urge to make it mean something • how personalising failure becomes expensive over time • why speed matters and self-doubt slows us down • the difference between disappointment and losing confidence • treating outcomes as experiments to protect self-worth • using feedback and data to refine and try again • the question that reveals what we are ignoring If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today. And don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite sized breakthroughs. Send a text message to Jo The Balance & Beyond Podcast Hosted by Jo Stone, founder of The Balance Institute For women who are already succeeding, but beginning to wonder if they're willing to keep losing themselves in the process. We know high achievers, because we are one. This podcast draws on Jo's 20 years in global leadership and thousands of hours coaching executives and ambitious women: the patterns she sees, how to untangle them, and what it actually takes to keep your success without paying for it with yourself. If something landed today, there's more where that came from. And if you know a woman this would resonate with, send it her way. 🎙️https://www.balanceinstitute.com/podcast 🔗 www.balanceinstitute.com 💼https://au.linkedin.com/in/stonejoanne 📷 @therealjostone

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