Life Happens with Barb & Michelle

You don’t need to reinvent yourself this year 💫
With all the pressure to “fix” your life overnight and become a brand-new version of yourself, we’re taking a different approach to the new year—one that feels grounded, compassionate, and sustainable.
In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we’re answering your questions on how to start the year with clarity and confidence—without stress, overwhelm, or unrealistic expectations. From self-acceptance to pursuing your dreams, this episode is a gentle guide to stepping into a year that loves you back.
💬 Barb shares how she’s redefined purpose and goals in her life, releasing pressure and unrealistic expectations.
💬 Michelle opens up about why self-care can feel “boring,” and how she discovered a practice that actually works in real life.
✨ What We Talk About
Starting the year intentionally: Releasing urgency, reframing the “new year pressure,” and letting go of unrealistic timelines
Practicing self-care consistently: Finding what supports you without feeling impractical or forced
Navigating triggering topics: Knowing your boundaries, honoring your standards, and speaking up when something feels unaligned with your values
Approaching goals with grace: Breaking your dreams into realistic milestones while staying connected to what you truly want
The pressure to reinvent yourself every January is exhausting. You don’t need a new version of you — you just need more compassion for the person you already are.
📘 USA TODAY BESTSELLER — Dear Friend by Michelle Maros
Start 2026 with New Year, Brave You. Dear Friend is the perfect 365-day companion to help you cultivate self-love, clarity, presence, and inner peace—one gentle reflection at a time.✨ Begin the year with intention and courage.
👉 Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
🎧 listen to the audiobook today and step into a year that truly loves you back. 👉https://amzn.to/459zSdt
Mentioned in the episode:
💛 The Three Gates of Speech Principle: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one.
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕
Today’s Episode Sponsors:
🎙️ Host by:
https://www.instagram.com/peaceful_barb/
https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/
Join our community⬇️
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LifeHappensThePodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifehappensthepodcast/
Substack: https://lifehappensthepodcast.substack.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifehappensthepodcast

Listen to our podcast anywhere→ https://michellemaros.com/podcast/ 
🎙️ New episodes of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle are released every Tuesday

✨ Available Now✨ Order Dear Friend to receive daily doses of clarity, hope, and heartfelt encouragement.💌 https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
✨Coming soon✨
You asked. We answered.
We've been quietly creating a platform designed to support your emotional and mental wellbeing with practical tools, heartfelt teachings, and science-backed practices.
Next month, our new Emotional Wellbeing Toolkit will be LIVE! Save the date and join us in stepping into a year that loves us back💕
Be the first to know and have access by signing-up for our newsletter: https://peacefulmindpeacefullife.substack.com/

Our Sponsors:
* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code LIFEHAPPENS20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Step into a year that loves you back 💫 You deserve your own friendship—kindness, care, and compassion included. You are worthy of the same love you so freely give to others.
In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we continue our conversation on daily practices by exploring one of the most powerful tools for resilience and confidence: affirmations. We talk about how intentional self-talk can shift your mindset, strengthen problem-solving, and help you show up with more self-trust.
💬 Barb shares her wisdom on rooting the mind in truth and self-compassion, even when self-doubt and life’s challenges feel loud.
💬 Michelle opens up about discovering affirmations and how this simple practice transformed her relationship with herself.
✨ What We Talk About
Becoming Your Own Best Friend: Offering yourself the same grace and care you give to others
Negative vs. Positive Thinking: How choosing supportive thoughts helps create new neural pathways
Building Resilience: Staying grounded in your affirmations instead of spiraling into worry or self-doubt
Honoring Your Feelings: Affirmations don’t bypass emotions—feel your feelings without letting them define you
Remember: celebrate the small moments and the big wins. Speak to yourself with kindness, honor who you are becoming, and stay present in your day-to-day life.
📘 USA TODAY BESTSELLER — Dear Friend by Michelle Maros
Start 2026 with New Year, Brave You. Dear Friend is the perfect 365-day companion to help you cultivate self-love, clarity, presence, and inner peace—one gentle reflection at a time.✨ Begin the year with intention and courage.
👉 Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
🎧 listen to the audiobook today and step into a year that truly loves you back👉 https://amzn.to/459zSdt
💛 Episode Topics
Stepping into a year that loves you back
Combatting the negativity with affirmations
Trusting and believing in yourself
Celebrating yourself more and noticing the small moments

💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one.
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕
🎙️ Host by:
https://www.instagram.com/peaceful_barb/
https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/

Join our community⬇️
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LifeHappensThePodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifehappensthepodcast/
Substack: https://lifehappensthepodcast.substack.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifehappensthepodcast

✨Coming soon✨
You asked. We answered.
We've been quietly creating a platform designed to support your emotional and mental wellbeing with practical tools, heartfelt teachings, and science-backed practices.
Next month, our new Emotional Wellbeing Toolkit will be LIVE! Save the date and join us in stepping into a year that loves us back💕
Be the first to know and have access by signing-up for our newsletter: https://peacefulmindpeacefullife.substack.com/
Listen to our podcast anywhere→ https://michellemaros.com/podcast/ 
🎙️ New episodes of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle are released every Tuesday

✨ Available Now✨ Order Dear Friend to receive daily doses of clarity, hope, and heartfelt encouragement.💌 https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg

Our Sponsors:
* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code LIFEHAPPENS20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

With the New Year comes pressure to become the “best version” of yourself but true transformation starts with intention, patience, and compassion. 💫
In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we’re digging into a modern epidemic fueled by entitlement, comparison, and our fast-paced culture: impatience. We explore why slowing down is not a weakness, but the pathway to confidence, alignment, and ease as we enter 2026.
💬 Barb shares why she chose patience as her intention word for 2026 and offers simple, grounded ways to cultivate patience in everyday life.
💬 Michelle opens up about her struggle with waiting for things to align and how trusting her timing—and herself—completely shifted her experience.
✨ What We Talk About
• The entitlement epidemic: How instant gratification and individualism have shaped our expectations and how awareness helps us reconnect with compassion.
• How impatience hurts us: Acting out of alignment, rushing decisions, and feeling hopeless when life isn’t moving fast enough.
• Patience attains all things: Trusting your timing, embracing the “in-between,” and finding purpose in waiting seasons.
• Building a relationship with yourself: Pausing, breathing, reconnecting, and beginning again, over and over.
Remember: the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.
Have patience. Your small shifts matter—and they are creating a better tomorrow.
📘 USA TODAY BESTSELLER — Dear Friend by Michelle Maros is out now!
A powerful 365-day companion to help you cultivate self-love, clarity, presence, and inner peace.
👉 Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
💛 Episode Topics
The consequences of impatience
Why we’re more entitled than ever
How patience attains all things
Combatting hopelessness and stress
Cultivating patience in our daily lives

Mentioned in today's episode:
💛 Prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila: https://bit.ly/4qLmftu
💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one.
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕

🎙️ Host by:
https://www.instagram.com/peaceful_barb/
https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/
Join our community⬇️
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LifeHappensThePodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifehappensthepodcast/
Substack: https://lifehappensthepodcast.substack.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifehappensthepodcast

Listen to our podcast anywhere→ https://michellemaros.com/podcast/ 
🎙️ New episodes of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle are released every Tuesday

✨ Available Now✨ Order Dear Friend to receive daily doses of clarity, hope, and heartfelt encouragement.💌 https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
🔖 Hashtags:
#Patience #NewYear #2026 #IntentionSetting #Entitlement

Our Sponsors:
* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code LIFEHAPPENS20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Change isn’t something to fear—it’s an invitation to grow, evolve, and step into what’s possible. 💫
In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we close out the year with a powerful conversation about the one constant in life: change. Instead of viewing impermanence as something negative, we’re flipping the script and exploring how change can be a doorway to clarity, freedom, and fulfillment.
All growth is born from change—and learning how to work with it, rather than against it, can transform the way you move through life.
💬 Barb shares how embracing small shifts and cultivating self-awareness helped her recognize where change was needed in her life, ultimately leading to one of her biggest turning points.
💬 Michelle opens up about her struggle with resisting change, getting stuck in the habit of complaining, and what helped her begin moving forward with intention.
 In this episode, we explore:
Embracing Change: Reframing change as an opportunity instead of a disruption
The Habit of Complaining: How staying in negativity keeps us stuck—and what to do instead
Small Shifts, Big Growth: Why easing into change creates lasting transformation
Practicing Presence: Finding peace by staying grounded in the present moment, even when things feel uncertain
You may not know how the story ends—but every chapter offers a new beginning. Trust the process, honor the season you’re in, and allow change to guide you forward.
📘 USA TODAY BESTSELLER — Dear Friend by Michelle Maros is out now!
A powerful 365-day companion to help you cultivate self-love, clarity, presence, and inner peace.👉 Order your copy:https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
💛 Episode Topics
Being alone during the holidays
Redefining family, tradition, and what celebration means 
Grieving and making space for difficult emotions
Navigating disappointment with compassion
Giving yourself grace, care, and permission to choose what you need
💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one.
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕
🎙️ Host by:
https://www.instagram.com/peaceful_barb/
https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/
Join our community⬇️
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LifeHappensThePodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifehappensthepodcast/
Substack: https://lifehappensthepodcast.substack.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifehappensthepodcast
Listen to our podcast anywhere→ https://michellemaros.com/podcast/ 
🎙️ New episodes of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle are released every Tuesday
✨ Available Now✨ Order Dear Friend to receive daily doses of clarity, hope, and heartfelt encouragement.💌 https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg

Our Sponsors:
* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code LIFEHAPPENS20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Growth doesn’t happen all at once. It happens in honest moments, hard conversations, and small shifts we make every day. If you’ve been feeling disconnected, uncertain, or like you’re never quite enough, this conversation is for you.
In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we’re reflecting on some of the most meaningful moments from our podcast this year. Together, we revisit powerful conversations on navigating conflict in relationships, the loneliness epidemic, self-doubt, body image, and the quiet practices that help us come home to ourselves.
This episode is a reminder that you’re not alone and that real growth begins with awareness, compassion, and presence.
✨ In this episode, we explore powerful moments from past conversations, including:
Navigating heated arguments with honesty and compassion — from Why Your Relationships Aren’t Working (And How Hard Conversations Can Help)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u88XpgOMGqA&t
Why loneliness is rising and how to reconnect with yourself in a disconnected world — from Loneliness Is Killing Us (Connected but Disconnected)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWZ1ij3Ii7Y
Moving through self-doubt to rebuild confidence and clarity by trusting your intuition — from Self-Doubt Ends Here | Leaning Into Your Intuition and Inner Voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UHQ1vas5_U&t
Understanding body image and why true confidence comes from within—not external validation — from Why We Think We’re Not Enough: The Truth About Body Image & Confidence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKOFVr5HQ2Q

📘 USA TODAY BESTSELLER — Dear Friend by Michelle Maros is out now!
A powerful 365-day companion to help you cultivate self-love, clarity, presence, and inner peace.
👉 Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕
🎙️ Host by:
https://www.instagram.com/peaceful_barb/
https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/
Join our community⬇️
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@LifeHappensThePodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifehappensthepodcast/
Substack: https://lifehappensthepodcast.substack.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifehappensthepodcast

✨ Available Now✨ Order Dear Friend to receive daily doses of clarity, hope, and heartfelt encouragement.💌 https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg

Our Sponsors:
* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code LIFEHAPPENS20 for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy