Blog and Resources

To guide you in finding your own path to the summit.

3 Reasons Why You Can’t Find Work-Life Balance (And You’re Not Gonna Like Them)
Midlife, GenX, Work-Life, Coaching Michele Walter Midlife, GenX, Work-Life, Coaching Michele Walter

3 Reasons Why You Can’t Find Work-Life Balance (And You’re Not Gonna Like Them)

If I had a dollar for every time I hear “I want better work-life balance,” then I could buy the Class B+ RV that I’ve been fantasizing about.

That longing for a better “work-life balance” is the number one concern I hear from the 40- and 50-year-old GenX’ers that come to me.

So pause for a minute, listen closely . . .

and let me give you the most valuable tip you'll hear all week.

There are three reasons why you’re not finding the “work-life balance” that you desire.

You may not want to hear them; yet, if you stick with me, you’ll be glad you did.

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4 Tips for 40/50-Year-Old Lawyers to Reignite Their Freedom
Michele Walter Michele Walter

4 Tips for 40/50-Year-Old Lawyers to Reignite Their Freedom

There's a profound irony in celebrating the 4th of July.

We Americans love to celebrate our "freedom" on this day . . .

and yet . . .

the next day, we wake up and put on the same golden handcuffs we've been wearing that leave us feeling anything BUT free.

This irony is particularly true as we enter our 40s and 50s as lawyers.

So, in honor of truly celebrating our freedom, I want to share 4 Tips for 40/50-year-old lawyers to reignite their freedom all year around.

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How Learning My Core Values Changed My Life at 49
Michele Walter Michele Walter

How Learning My Core Values Changed My Life at 49

Listen up, because this week I’m going to share with you the one thing that has fundamentally changed how I live my life. That has allowed me to feel more empowered to make conscious choices to prioritize and honor what’s important to me. This is THE most important work that I think we can do for ourselves. So buckle up, settle in, and enjoy!

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4 Reasons for GenX’ers to Get Support in Their 40’s and 50’s
Michele Walter Michele Walter

4 Reasons for GenX’ers to Get Support in Their 40’s and 50’s

As a GenX’er in your 40’s and 50’s, you may have noticed some things lately. Feeling like every day is a roller coaster. Wondering how you got here. Questioning whether this is all there is. Feeling like there’s something “more” but you don’t know what. All of that is normal. And now, more than ever, is the time to recognize our tendencies to resist getting support for what we’re going through. This post talks about 4 benefits of receiving support in our 40’s and 50’s, and how we can lean into asking for and receiving more support.

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7 Things Tornadoes Can Teach Us About Mental Health
Michele Walter Michele Walter

7 Things Tornadoes Can Teach Us About Mental Health

Fifteen years ago - May 29, 2008 - around 5:25 p.m. Central Time, an EF2 tornado came tearing through the streets of northern Kearney, Nebraska. The tornado lasted for about an hour, measured nearly 400 yards in width, and had wind speeds of up to 135 miles per hour. It left a 30-mile path of destruction. And in that path was my mom’s house. In the last blog for this month of May - Mental Health Awareness Month - I reflect on 7 things that tornadoes can teach us about mental health challenges.

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Saying “Hello” to the Grief Beneath
Michele Walter Michele Walter

Saying “Hello” to the Grief Beneath

In my experience, grief is the undercurrent of so many mental health struggles. And like a riptide in the ocean, unseen grief can pull us under without any warning. Also like a riptide, the more we fight against the grief, the more likely we are to go under and drown in the ocean of our accumulated lifetime of grief. This week I invite us to say, “hello” to our grief, so that we can soften around it . . . and so it can soften its hold on us.

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Behind the Scenes of My Mental Health Struggles
Michele Walter Michele Walter

Behind the Scenes of My Mental Health Struggles

If you’d told me 10 years ago that I could be prone to anxiety and depression, I would have LOL’d big time. No way would I have thought that I would suffer from anxiety or depression. I was raised in the 70’s and 80’s. I’m a strong, independent, resilient midwesterner who grew up as a latchkey kid and knew how to take care of herself. But this week, I want to put a face on one of the many ways that mental health struggles can manifest. And, in the process, hopefully normalize mental health struggles so that if you’re someone who can relate, you can know that you’re not alone.

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This One Thing Will Make You an Unfuckwithable GenX’er
Michele Walter Michele Walter

This One Thing Will Make You an Unfuckwithable GenX’er

Learn the critical paradox that GenX’ers in their 40s and 50s can embrace to help make them unfuckwithable. What’s that mean? It means that when you can embrace this paradox, you can learn to suffer less in life. You can experience what life throws at us through a different, more empowering lens. And when you are able to do that, life doesn’t knock you down as easily or, when it does, you can get back up with more grace and ease.

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Unleash Your Inner GenX Power:  Pt 4 - 7-Step Basic Shadow Work Process
Michele Walter Michele Walter

Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: Pt 4 - 7-Step Basic Shadow Work Process

Welcome back to that last week (or is it?) of this 4-part series to unleash your GenX Power. This week I share with you the powerful 7-Step Basic Shadow Work Process that I’ve used for years. It may be basic, but it’s profound. So grab a pen and paper for some journaling! And read to the end for a bonus announcement

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Unleash Your Inner GenX Power:  Pt 3 - 6 Reasons GenX’ers are Uniquely Suited for Shadow Work
Michele Walter Michele Walter

Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: Pt 3 - 6 Reasons GenX’ers are Uniquely Suited for Shadow Work

Welcome to Part 3 of the Generational Shadows. This week we explore 6 reasons why GenX’ers are uniquely suited for shadow work and some of the potential benefits. Shadow work has been a powerful process for me for self-reflection and exploration, allowing me to uncover and integrate parts of myself that I had repressed, denied, or ignored. See how, through shadow work, GenX’ers could experience increased self-awareness, improved relationships, enhanced creativity, greater emotional resilience, increased personal growth, and an improved relationship with money.

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Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: Part 2 - The Generational Shadows
Michele Walter Michele Walter

Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: Part 2 - The Generational Shadows

Welcome to Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: Part 2 - The Generational Shadows. This week we explore the unique cultural experiences of GenX’ers that may have created shadows for them.

Growing up in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, GenX’ers were shaped by a range of cultural influences, from economic uncertainty to the Cold War to being independent latch-key kids. These events may have led many GenX’ers to develop coping mechanisms that they now recognize as shadow aspects. Discover what some of those events were and how they shaped the generational shadows.

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Unleash Your Inner GenX Power:  Part 1 - Shadow Work Basics
Michele Walter Michele Walter

Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: Part 1 - Shadow Work Basics

Ready to explore a topic that can fundamentally change how you approach life and unleash your inner GenX power?

In this series: Unleash Your Inner GenX Power: A 4-Part Series on Shadow Work, we'll be diving into the fascinating world of shadow work, and specifically, how GenXers like us can benefit from it.

As GenXers, we're navigating a pivotal chapter in our lives, and I truly believe that this work can help us tap into our deepest sources of power and consciousness. Join me on this journey, and let's see what shifts we can create in our lives.

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