When Your Life Falls Apart, You Need To Sit With The Mess

“Mindset is just step one because with mindset comes action. And it’s only if you take action on the things that you’re learning, the things that you’re discovering, can you make any kind of change.”

Episode summary:

In this episode, Natalie Mullin shares her journey of facing the pressure and challenges that come with running a business that’s like your baby and the toll it took on her mental health. She also delves into the unexpected divorce request from her husband as a result of overworking and the challenging depression that followed. Throughout this, Natalie learned to prioritize her own wellbeing, finding the strength to rebuild herself and, surprisingly, her marriage. She emphasizes the importance of self-motivation, healing childhood wounds, differentiating hope from denial, and the commitments needed for a happy lifelong partnership. If you’re navigating adversity, personal growth, and taking action to create a fulfilling life, this conversation is for you.

What to listen for:

  • Natalie’s background in teaching, coaching, and starting a tea business
  • Navigating building a business while living in Antigua
  • The pressure that comes with people knowing about your business
  • Challenges that took a toll on Natalie’s mental health

“It wasn’t just business. Because the thing is, when you start a business, it’s like your baby, right? You’re so attached to it. And so somebody comes and tries to knock it off, or maybe they try to hurt your business, they spread lies, like all of these things… It really takes a toll on your mental health and psyche. And I never even saw that as a possibility. All I wanted to do was sell bubble tea.

  • Working to find balance in her life as an ambitious person
  • How Natalie ended up blindsided by her husband asking for a divorce
  • The depression and rock bottom that followed her marriage ending
  • When your life falls apart, you have to sit with the mess
  • Why she pretended like everything was okay when it wasn’t

“It’s rock bottom. But then eventually you’re like, ‘okay, I gotta build myself back up. How do I get out of this?’ So I started working with a wellness coach, and she was like, ‘You gotta prioritize your own wellbeing. Put him aside.’ I was spending all my effort trying to get him to work on the relationship, trying to get him back. And she was like, ‘No, you’ve gotta stop. You’ve gotta focus on fixing yourself.’

  • How Natalie did the work to start finding herself again
  • Taking ownership of her role and learning you can’t control other people
  • How focusing on herself created the opportunity to restore her marriage 
  • Learning to let go, surrender, and trust in what’s happening
  • Finding the inner motivation to keep going

“You gotta pull from deep within somewhere. And sometimes you have to pull on other people’s strength; I just wanna share that. There was a point I had zero motivation even to wake up and open my eyes in the morning. I was like, ‘I can’t do it.’ But thankfully, I did have people in my life who were like, ‘Natalie, pull it together. Get up, go wash your face. I’m coming over; we’re gonna go do this.’ And go to therapy, sit, and figure out where you went wrong. What can you do better? It’s really important.’”

  • Unearthing childhood wounds she didn’t know were three
  • Why you can’t take bad things happening in your life personally
  • The difference between hope and denial and facing the reality of what’s happening
  • Holding marriage as a life-long commitment and why we don’t always see it that way
  • Why Natalie and her husband feel grateful for their hard time

“We came back stronger, and we came back because we chose to come back to each other as opposed to just staying together because we felt like we had to. This was a conscious choice. I think that intentionality, it’s like if we could find our way back to each other through all of that, we know to never let things slip that much again to ever get here again.

  • Going through dark times and digging into the work
  • Partnership should support both people in thriving
  • Understanding that people grow at different paces
  • The importance of having a vision and clarity in your life
  • Mindset is just step one; you also have to take action
  • Steps you can take if you’re not happy with something

About Natalie Mullin:

Natalie Mullin is a Certified Wellness Educator, Speaker, and Coach focused on helping teachers and women with side hustles develop a new relationship with time so they can pursue life goals, juggle roles and responsibilities, and still prioritize their wellbeing. As host of the “From a Full Cup,” a mental wellness podcast, she inspires women to dream big and take action. Drawing from her own challenges during a mental health breakdown, she was able to prioritize her wellbeing and go from overwhelm to balance. Natalie emerged as a thought leader in Disruptive Wellness and now teaches her clients how to transform their lives and improve their wellbeing so they don’t lose what matters most to them.

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