Episode 13: Debbie Weiss

What if you could completely transform your life after 40? Our guest today, Debbie Weiss, shares her heartfelt journey of self-discovery, emphasizing the necessity of self-care. After dedicating over 40 years of her life to taking care of others, Debbie found herself needing to put herself first. She shares her insights on prioritizing and understanding that self-care is not selfish but crucial for everyone.

Debbie is not just a devoted family caregiver, she’s also a first-time author. She opens up about facing her fears and finding the courage to write her book, “Start From Zero: Rediscover Yourself, Reclaim Your Power, and Rise Again,” amidst the challenging time of her husband’s terminal cancer diagnosis. You’ll hear her candid stories of overcoming fear of judgment, her family’s reaction to her new endeavor, and the strength she discovered to complete her book despite the tough circumstances.

Debbie also delves into her personal weight management journey. After losing 90 pounds in three years, she shares her approach to balance and how she views her journey as a lifestyle rather than a diet. She talks about her shift in mindset and taking control of her life using the ‘E plus R equals O’ formula from Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles. Join us to hear Debbie Weiss’ inspiring wisdom on living a life of purpose over 40, finding courage through writing, and maintaining balance in weight management. Let her story inspire you to take control of your own life and rediscover your potential.

ABOUT DEBBIE

With over half a century of experience navigating some of life’s most formidable challenges, Debbie stands as a beacon of resilience and determination. An expert in pursuing dreams regardless of the hurdles, she penned the best-selling memoir, “On Second Thought, Maybe I Can.” Debbie’s literary prowess doesn’t end there; she is also a co-author of the Amazon best-seller, “Heart Whispers.”
A multifaceted entrepreneur, Debbie manages both an insurance agency and her beloved online store, “A Sprinkle of Hearts”. As the host of the “Maybe I Can” podcast, she’s extended her reach into the auditory realm, resonating with listeners around the globe. A sought-after inspirational speaker, coach, dedicated family caregiver, and loving mother, Debbie epitomizes the spirit of breaking boundaries.
Having triumphed over her own limiting beliefs and fears, Debbie now embraces life with vigor and purpose. Her core passion is to uplift and inspire others to unearth their true potential and embrace their best life. When she isn’t steering others toward success, Debbie revels in laughter, dance, reading, and maintaining an active lifestyle.

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TRANSCRIPT

Debbie Weiss: 0:00
And I agree 100% that it is a very fine line, but I’ve learned that when I don’t, or we don’t. A few years ago I think actually when I turned 50, I started to realize that I had lost myself. I didn’t know what I wanted. I never had a dream, but when I started getting that positive feedback and started believing in myself, it brought sunshine and I’m sure many of your listeners have unfortunately had the experience.

Caroline Balinska: 0:39
Welcome to the Life On Purpose Over 40 podcast, where empowerment, elegance and health take centre stage. I’ll be your guide on this thrilling journey to outshine your past self. This is a podcast all about transformation, plunging head first into exactly what health, wellness, style, relationships and career look like as a woman over 40. You’ll be hearing from all the most sought after global trailblazers and experts. This isn’t just about learning. It’s about embracing your inner, fierce, fabulous self. Let’s get started. Welcome everyone back to the podcast. I have the gorgeous Debbie Weiss here. She just had a quick chat before we got onto the recording and she has been an absolute bright, shining star today, so I’m so glad to have you here. Debbie. It’s fantastic to have you. I’ve been wanting to get you on for a couple of weeks, so thank you for joining me.

Debbie Weiss: 1:32
Oh, my goodness, thank you so much, and I thank you for calling me gorgeous Wow, I love that adjective.

Caroline Balinska: 1:38
You’ve definitely got air of happiness and bubbliness and positivity that radiates through, so it’s fantastic to have you. Thank you, thank you and Debbie, I am blown away by a lot of things that you have done with yourself, and I just want to run the listeners through a couple of things, because I’m going to read from my show notes, because there’s quite a lot to cover. So you are a speaker, you’re a coach, you also manage an insurance agency, you also have an e-commerce store, you’ve also written two books and, on top of all of that, you have your mother and you’ve also been a family caregiver, and I believe that you lost your husband not that long ago as well. Correct, how on earth do you cover everything? You are amazing. While women at your age are looking at settling down and taking it easy and putting on their little knitted socks and sitting with a cup of tea, you’re out there getting everything done, so you’re definitely an inspiration to everyone.

Debbie Weiss: 2:42
Thank you so much. You never know what life is going to throw your way, and I have been a family caregiver for over 40 years. It started when my dad had a massive stroke when he was 45 and I was only 17, and he survived and I became his caregiver for the next 30 years and had, as we discussed beforehand, I had my children at 37 and 39 and my oldest one, at two, was diagnosed on the autistic spectrum and then later on with depression and anxiety, and then my husband had mental and physical illness and you know, for so long it was about everybody else except for me. So all those things that you’ve mentioned have really been things that I’ve done recently, when I realized that I have the right to have a life of my own Not that I regret and taking care of everybody else. And you know, like you said, my husband passed away about 10 months ago. My dad passed away years ago. So you know, now it’s just me and my two boys, but it doesn’t have to be with the exclusion of yourself. You can take care of others, but we still need to make ourselves a priority. We don’t want to get to the end of my life looking back and saying what happened, where did the time go, and I never did what I wanted to do.

Caroline Balinska: 4:23
It’s interesting because I know a couple of women that are very, very selfish. They’re all about themselves and they put themselves above their children, and they put themselves above everyone, especially their children. And then they, those are the type of women that say could I have to? If I don’t put myself first, above everyone, then I won’t get what I want. And I think there’s a fine line and I think there’s something to be said for I would never put myself above my daughter. So, but at the same time, I do need a break and I do need to have a bath. So sometimes, hey, sorry, little one, you’re going to go and play and do something else while I have a bath or while I look after myself. And I think that we can do it while looking after others and looking after ourselves.

Debbie Weiss: 5:11
And look at the example. You know, look at the example that you’re setting for your daughter to. You know it’s okay and it’s necessary and I agree 100% that it is a very fine line. But I’ve learned that when I don’t, or we don’t, take care of ourselves for an extended period of time, in the end then we’re not doing, we’re doing a disservice to those we care for, because then I’m not coming with the right mindset. I’m coming with and I’m not talking about your three year old I’m coming with anger and resentment and you know, is that the way you want to show up for those you love? I don’t think so. So you know, if it takes making sure that you get a little something of what you need to regenerate, you know, refuel, fill your tank, you know all of that it’s not selfish, it’s necessary and in the end it’s good for everyone.

Caroline Balinska: 6:18
So tell us a little bit more about you mentioned a couple of terrible things that you’ve had to experience. Tell me more about the journey that’s led you to where you are now, and your book, because you’ve got a book with an amazing title, which I think is fantastic. So maybe I can tell me more about how you got to that point.

Debbie Weiss: 6:36
Sure, so a few years ago I think, actually when I turned 50, I started to realize that I had lost myself. I didn’t know what I want. I never had a dream of being an author or anything that I’m doing now very far from it. But after I turned 50, I kind of started out on this exploration journey that I really didn’t even consciously do. I just I had always had issues with my weight. It kind of started with that and a shift in mindset and when I saw how that made such a difference in my weight journey, I thought to myself OK, I have always been happy, positive, kind of a bubbly person on the outside, but I have had a lot of dark clouds and I spent my life feeling like I was a victim of all of my circumstances, all the things that had happened to me, and I internally felt like why me? And doing that terrible comparison? It is thing right, looking at everybody else’s life, that seems so much better. So after I had that realization, it kind of led me on this journey and just a few years ago I realized that while I do enjoy my job of my insurance agency, I do, I like helping people, but is it my passion? No, I don’t know what my passion is, I don’t know what I want to do, and I kind of listened to my gut and one thing led to another and that’s a very long story for a very long podcast. But eventually people would always be saying I have, I do have so many stories and they’d say you need to write a book, you need to write a book. And I was just, you know, oh, yeah, yeah, and never really thinking about writing a book, because I went to school for accounting. I was an accountant for 10 years and now I’ve been an insurance agent for 30 years. Nowhere in there does it say anything about writing. Writing was nothing that I ever enjoyed and ever dreamt of doing, but I heard a woman being interviewed on a podcast and she helped first time authors get their stories out there and there was something about her that really spoke to me and so I contacted her and we talked on zoom for an hour and I was just. She made me feel so comfortable and safe and kind of took away all of my concerns about not knowing how to write or where to start and she was starting a 12 week course for first time authors and I thought to myself well, you know, this book thing is showing up in my face for a reason. Let me just join the course. And I honestly never thought that I would complete a book Number one, number two when I had to make the decision about joining, my husband had just received a terminal cancer diagnosis. So I actually went to my therapist and said I’m embarrassed that I’m even asking you this at a time, you know, at this time in my life. And I told her about the course and I said of course you’re going to tell me not to join now. This is ridiculous. And she said no, just the opposite. I think that you need something separate from what’s going on, just for you. And she was right. And I would set aside time every day and to write, even though I had no idea what I was doing and my husband passed away December 30th 2022. And I was two chapters short of finishing.

Caroline Balinska: 10:35
Wow.

Debbie Weiss: 10:38
So it’s yes and it’s called on. Second thought, Maybe I can.

Caroline Balinska: 10:44
You’re giving me goosebumps so I want to understand better what actually will, what we thinking? Because you’re going through that, your husband’s gotten this diagnosis. You’re looking after your husband. You’re looking after you’ve got a son already that needs care as well, and your father might have just my father was already deceased by then. But you had so many things going on when you spoke to this woman and between that time of speaking to her and you thought, ok, she sounds fantastic, she’s explained to me that I can try this. But then you still went to your therapist to ask, with the expectation to get a no to shut you down. What was your mindset then? What was going through your head? That you were going in there to get a no?

Debbie Weiss: 11:38
Well, I was also going in there to get a no because I was afraid. I was afraid I didn’t have the capability to do this. I was afraid that I was going to be judged because my writing would be childlike and I was. I think I was actually hoping that my therapist said no. You know, I was also afraid we would meet weekly on Zoom and I was afraid I didn’t know what. If she gave you know, quote unquote homework and I wasn’t able to do it, then you know I’d be a failure. You know all those limiting beliefs that came with me from my childhood and you know, if my therapist said no, well then I. I had permission not to face those limiting beliefs. But when she said yes, I said uh, oh. And all of those fears were really put to rest in the first couple of weeks when I met the other women. You know, I knew I had come to the right place.

Caroline Balinska: 12:46
This fantastic? And what about your family? How did your son and your husband react to your doing something for yourself?

Debbie Weiss: 12:55
So my son, my husband, also suffered from mental illness as well as physical illness and, unfortunately, right before he was diagnosed, he had just gotten out of a mental illness hospitalization where he actually came out Really a different person, you know, happier, I don’t know we had felt so hopeful. You know he was embracing therapy, something he never really did before. He just had a sunny outlook and hope and it gave the rest of us hope. And then the fact that six weeks or less later he received this diagnosis was just so incredibly cruel, you know, to all of us for so many reasons, and that progress that he made. He slowly, as you know, the difficulty of what he was going through physically and mentally took over and he slipped back into that dark place. So my husband was actually sometimes resentful and would say that you are planning your life for after I’m gone, which was the furthest thing from the truth. So that, yeah, he was scared and you know this thought of you know, and the things that had led me to that moment of saying yes to write the book really happened before his diagnosis. There was no plan, you know, there was no plan. I didn’t know that he was going to receive this, this, you know, life ending news. So that made it difficult for me. My son, you know, he really he, he’s fine as long as I give him what he wants, when he wants, he’s, he’s okay. So he really wasn’t an issue. I, I would, you know, I would schedule time to write at 6am before my husband got up, and when I couldn’t do that, or some, you know, sometimes he was up at that time Then, you know, I would say in the afternoon, when I knew he was going to lay down or or didn’t need me, I would say to him I’m going upstairs, I’m going on a meeting, if you don’t bother me, unless it’s an emergency. And he, you know, he kind of got used to it, but he did have those, those moments of resentment and that was difficult for me.

Caroline Balinska: 15:32
Yeah, yeah, I can imagine it would be. But then what I can’t believe even more is how you continue to push through, because at that stage a lot of women would have given up on that and just said, ok, this is, this is not working because everyone’s angry at me or people are angry at me. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. What was that that kept you going through that?

Debbie Weiss: 16:02
Thinking about it, I even there was, because my husband had a lot of hospitalizations and I would bring my computer with me because I would sit with him all day there. I would stay with him, you know, as long as I could and I would work in his hospital room when he was napping. You know, what I found is that my therapist was 100 percent right. This was something that was bringing joy into my life at a very dark time and it gave me something else to look forward to. It gave me something I couldn’t believe as I was writing. And then, when I shared, you know, we would go to the groups and we’d have to share not have to, but they’d ask if you wanted to share anything that you’ve written which was extremely scary the first time. And then, when they gave me positive feedback, I didn’t believe it. I said to the woman who ran it. I said well, you have to say good things. She said, no, I don’t have to say you know. So it took me a while, but, but when I started getting that positive feedback and started believing in myself, it it brought. It brought sunshine. It was a sliver of sunshine into my life and it helped me really get through an extremely challenging time and and I’m sure many of your listeners have unfortunately had the experience of taking care of or being there when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness. But the mental illness side was really what was more difficult.

Caroline Balinska: 17:46
Yeah, I had to care of my my ex-fiance’s father through cancer until the end and I can only imagine, because I know what he went through, when he’s mental well being declined extremely badly and he wasn’t that well beforehand, so he wasn’t diagnosed with anything but he was always like you know we’d laugh grumpy old man, but he was always like an angry old person and it no, not old. He was always like that his whole life. So, yeah, it got worse and worse and it’s terrible at that stage. So I can imagine you.

Debbie Weiss: 18:27
Yeah, it was very, very taxing myself mentally.

Caroline Balinska: 18:32
And so is that when you decided to shift from I can, I can’t, I can, because is that where your book title came from? Like you’re writing a book, but what was that whole experience of deciding to call it this? And then, where did that shift come from?

Debbie Weiss: 18:49
So a year or two before that, I had met with someone called a story coach, which I was unfamiliar with that term, but he really helped kind of figure out what. What is your story? How do you tell your story to other people? And so, of course, first I have to tell my story to him, and as I did, he said he was actually the one who coined the maybe I can. And then I added the on second thought and he felt that my life was really me being told no, you can’t. And I would open up the door a little bit and say, maybe I can. And it’s funny because I didn’t see it like that. So it’s so interesting when you have somebody else’s perspective on what’s going on. And then when I reflected and I realized, oh, you know, I think he’s right, I do do that and I didn’t even know it and I was so quick or I have always been have this knee jerk reaction. Whenever someone asks me to do something new, unfamiliar, or something that I think I’m not going to be good at, I immediately say, oh, no, I can’t, or I don’t do that, or you know right away. But then if you stop for a minute and pause and think to yourself well, on second thought, why can’t I do that? You know we’re so quick to list all the reasons to tell ourselves why, no, this is not a good idea. Well, let’s pause for a minute and tell ourselves all the reasons it might be a good idea. And I think it’s that space in between, that little like beat, where, instead of just saying no and walking away, give it another second because you’ve got to find on the other side. There are a lot of reasons why you absolutely can. It’s just probably you’re scared.

Caroline Balinska: 20:55
So is that the main thing? So for me, I’m the exact opposite. I’m the one that’s like, yeah, I can do that.

Debbie Weiss: 21:02
Yeah, I can do that, I can do that, and I’m saying it way before I actually think about it.

Caroline Balinska: 21:06
Then afterwards I say I can go Okay, I said yes to it, so I’ve got to make it happen. How am I going to make it happen? So I’m that person and my mom said I was always like that. So one of the sort of things that you tell yourself of the reasons why you can’t do it.

Debbie Weiss: 21:24
Oh, I mean, I think it stems from those limiting beliefs, it’s those fear of failure or being rejected or, for me, I think, fear of judgment, because I feel like people judged me when I was younger for my appearance, for being overweight, and I never wanted to be seen because of that, because I figured if someone sees me now they’re going to judge me and so anything to put myself out there where I might look foolish fail, I just wasn’t doing it.

Caroline Balinska: 22:03
And you said that you had weight issues and then you had a mindset change and then you changed that. What was that experience?

Debbie Weiss: 22:11
Yeah, so, like I said, right around 50, my whole life I had gained and lost thousands of pounds, probably if I added all up and I was always had that perfectionist mindset either on the diet, off the diet. I have a strict goal I have to lose 25 pounds in three months and if I didn’t hit that, this is a failure right. There was no gray area and even though I had tried every diet under the sun, weight Watchers was what worked for me the best and was easiest to integrate into my life. So at 50 plus, I needed to lose over 100 pounds and I went back to Weight Watchers for the umpteenth time, but this time I said the only goal that I have is attending a weekly meeting. That’s it. It has nothing to do with the number on the scale, it has nothing to do with a timeframe or how I’m gonna. You know Weight Watchers, you track your food and there’s points involved. I’m not paying attention to any of that and that’s what I did until I got consistent and I found a group. You know, again, this is a while ago, so it was way pre COVID. I found a group that really resonated with me and was a time that fit into my schedule and then it became a part of my routine and I really didn’t lose a lot of weight, maybe a couple pounds, which is nothing, when you’d have to lose 100. And once I got that down, I added something else. Okay, now I am gonna pay attention to what I eat and track my food 50% of the time and I just slowly built from there. I had no expectation of how long anything was gonna take, probably and I really need to look at this it probably took me three years three years to lose 90 pounds. There were ups, there were downs, there was you know, but the thing was I didn’t let that derail me completely, and in the past I always had, because I was on, I was off, I was good, I was bad and I had realized at that stage guess what? I’m never getting off this. This is really and my kids still make fun of me today this is a lifestyle. They would say is that on your diet? And I’d say I’m not on a diet. It’s a lifestyle, right, I mean now it’s a common term, but when I was throwing it around it really wasn’t. And they would make fun of me. But you know what? No, it’s okay that I have a cookie. Is it okay that I sit here with a box of cookies day after day? No, that’s not okay, you know. And I never hit the 100 pounds, and that’s okay. I’m still on the journey. Like I said, it’s a lifestyle and I’ve gained back 10 to 15 pounds of the 90 and then I’ve lost it again and, you know, played with it. But for me, I have never been this under control or comfortable or whatever. It’s probably been now about seven years that I’ve been able to.

Caroline Balinska: 25:36
That’s fantastic, that’s really fantastic. And I don’t think gaining 10 pounds here and there and losing it and gaining it, I don’t think that. I think the people that are really stuck on a very, very strict diet and they have no room to move, it doesn’t bring joy either, because then their whole life revolves. I’ve got enough friends like, when I go out with them, the way they eat it, I’m like, oh my God, and I had serious stomach problems for so many years so I couldn’t eat most things I was on yeah, I mean, that’s a long story on its own and I fixed that in the meantime but the things I couldn’t eat and just constantly thinking about food, to that extent and, like you said, having a cookie every now and then, you have to live and you have to live enjoyably as well. So congratulations, that’s great.

Debbie Weiss: 26:31
Thank you, it is very freeing, actually, it’s a very freeing feeling to not let it bother me, you know, to just know it is what it is. I am not. I just I turned a month ago, I turned 60, and three of my friends and I went to Italy for 10 days, which was amazing. And you know what? I didn’t care. I ate gelato, probably I don’t know six, seven days, and I didn’t care. I didn’t care what the number on the scale said when I came back, because, unfortunately, I don’t know how many more times I’m going to Italy, you know, and that’s what I enjoy. I’m going to eat pizza and pasta, like I’m not thinking about it, and that’s okay, to not walk around with. It’s almost like this dread or this, you know, or berating myself. No, I’m having it, I’m enjoying it and you know, when I get back home, it’s back to it.

Caroline Balinska: 27:29
Do you feel like you put on less weight than you would have say 10 years ago if that was the same situation?

Debbie Weiss: 27:37
Yes, especially because I would have let that trip then make its way into the rest of my life. So I might have said oh well, I’m going to Italy in two weeks anyway, so does it really matter what I do leading up to the trip and then on the backside? The same thing as well. You know, once you get used to a certain way of eating, then it’s almost like by the end of the trip you’re you can’t wait to kind of get back to that. You know you’re done now and you’re ready.

Caroline Balinska: 28:11
I was in Italy as well a few months ago and I had the same thing because I haven’t eaten, because of my stomach. I haven’t eaten pastas and wheat that often, even the last couple of years, even though now I can eat more of it. And yeah, I was eating the gelato and the ice, the pastas, and I got back going okay, I’m going to get back to some fresh fruit and veggies and some grilled fish, yeah, but that’s okay and you can’t just have on the gelato.

Debbie Weiss: 28:39
Exactly, Exactly Like you said. That’s living, that’s what living is, it’s just that moderation and and. But going back to what we talked about in the beginning, it was it was all a shift in mindset, because Weight Watchers didn’t change their program. You know, yeah, they changed it a little bit here and there, but they didn’t change their program. The only thing that changed was my approach and how I was thinking about it, and it made all the difference. So you know, that was spurring me on to realize well, if it worked there, why can’t I apply the same concept to the rest of my life? Because I was at a point where I was really not very happy with my life, even though you wouldn’t have known it, and I don’t think that I really thought about how unhappy I was on so many levels.

Caroline Balinska: 29:29
So what else? So this is like a control. This is about controlling your life and controlling situations around you. So what was it that changed in your life as well, around that time?

Debbie Weiss: 29:42
Well, what wound up changing was me and thinking about things differently and realizing that I’m not a victim. I have, you know, I have a responsibility. A couple of years ago I was introduced to this simple formula called E plus R equals O. It’s from the book Jack Canfield’s book, the Success Principles, and it means event plus response equals outcome. So, you know, I didn’t realize, I didn’t think about the R. I thought if there was an event, right, something happening to me or to my loved one, the outcome was predetermined, like they equaled the same thing. However, I might not be able to change the event right. Oftentimes we can’t change the event. However, I can change how I respond to the event and that in turn can then change the outcome, kind of realizing that, hey, I have to take responsibility for my life. All these things didn’t happen. You know people say it didn’t happen to me, it happened for me. It takes a while to maybe get there, but just being able to say, okay, this happened so that doesn’t mean that I cannot still take control of my life, regardless of what the circumstances are, because we all have circumstances. If you think about so many different successful people, think about Oprah and the circumstances that she had. It wouldn’t be so easy to say forget it, there’s not a chance that I can make anything of myself, and I am absolutely sure that there’s millions of people who do think just that. So it is all about what you tell yourself.

Caroline Balinska: 31:42
Yeah, it’s so true. I think that I’ve had a realization in the last sort of six months the same sort of thing and pieces of forward together, of that’s a really nice way to say it the response, event plus response equals outcome. And yeah, I think that while certain situations, certain events happen to us, we can look at things differently. I think your husband is saying that you’re thinking of moving on with your life. I think that’s a good example. Your response to that is not trying to move on, but I’ve got to still live my life as well.

Debbie Weiss: 32:26
Exactly. Yeah, I’ve got to have a little something for myself. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all deserve that.

Caroline Balinska: 32:34
Fantastic, and how’s your life changed daily. So what’s the situation that you’ve been in for the last?

Debbie Weiss: 32:41
couple of years. Oh, my goodness, it’s changed tremendously. And when I look back, I would never have known three years ago, even a year ago, honestly, where I would be today. And I don’t know exactly where I’m going because I, like I said, I just started this journey of exploration and now my life is completely different. And I have to say there is a gift in everything. When my husband was ill, you know, for that six month period of time, and really a little bit before that, I was forced to change my work habits with my insurance agency, and I’m very lucky to have an amazing team of women who are there for me and there for our customers. They don’t need me. When I go in now, they’re like what are you doing? Stop asking us questions, we have this. And I was so. Again, in my mind, I was, I was the boss, but I was restricting my own freedom Because I was scared. I think I was afraid. You know, I don’t want them to think that I’m deserting them. I don’t know what I thought, but I set strict rules to myself. And then, when Gary, my husband, got ill, I didn’t have a choice and so I had to step back and I barely went into the office and I have, you know, I have a computer at home to go online and I did very little and I think that empowered them, instead of kind of me micromanaging everything which who wants to have that over your head every day. That empowered them, and then that empowered me to take a look at what I can do on a daily basis. And so now since my husband passed away, I’ve kind of still stuck to the same routine, in that I am working more on my own projects outside of my insurance agency While they run everything. And again, I know what’s going on and I’m, you know, got my hand in it, but not on a regular basis. So now, instead, my days are filled of things that bring me joy. I like talking to you on this podcast. It’s amazing. And so every day when I wake up now, it’s more of this excitement of what is my day going to bring to me today versus I don’t want to say drudgery, because I didn’t really feel like drudgery going to my office every day and doing that work, but it was just a. It’s a very different feeling. It’s now. Each day, it’s like a little spark of excitement that I didn’t have before.

Caroline Balinska: 35:44
Yeah, it’s funny because we all make this. You know this is worldwide joke about the accountant and the type of person that accountant is. Oh yeah, One of my best friends is an accountant, so I’m not going to like say anything because I know that there’s not a lot of truth to that. There are certain people like it makes me laugh because it makes me think that you are living that life as an accountant for all those years, but actually you’ve got this ray of sunshine inside you that’s completely different from that typical, what we call an accountant type of facility.

Debbie Weiss: 36:16
Exactly. It was always such a joke when I especially when I was practicing for 10 years it was like, oh my gosh, I don’t want to tell anybody I’m an accountant, because right away they’re going to think that I’m, you know, a person who doesn’t smile is serious and I don’t know. You know no sense of humor, and it’s very different from who I am.

Caroline Balinska: 36:36
Yeah, and now, especially now, now you actually get to shine and show off that side of you. It’s great, fantastic. So, debbie, I’ve got a couple of last questions for you. I ask all of my guests this before we finish up I want to know three things that women should take action on immediately that will help them either with happiness or to live a more purposeful life.

Debbie Weiss: 37:02
It can be anything. So I would say try something new and try something that you’re afraid of Get out of your comfort zone. I don’t know if that’s one, two, I think it’s really one thing combined. So stepping out of your comfort zone for sure, trying new modalities, that’s something that really helped open my eyes to things that I said no, I don’t meditate, I don’t journal, I don’t, you know, I can’t. Those all came beforehand and each one of those things has really changed my life. And three give yourself permission. You deserve to have the life that you want while still taking care of others.

Caroline Balinska: 37:47
I love it Fantastic. And Debbie, I want you to let it for a know about your podcast, because you also have a podcast. So let it for a know about your podcast.

Debbie Weiss: 37:56
Thank you, yes, I do. It’s the Maybe I can podcast and I started it back in May and right now I am actually doing five day a week, little inspiration morning inspirational two to three-minute podcast, because I found that one of the habits that I started was, in the morning, reading like a little I don’t even want to say a chapter of five minutes Of some something that I find inspiring or just kind of put me in the right mindset for the day. So I decided to do that on the podcast.

Caroline Balinska: 38:37
I love it Fantastic, and you also have some freebie that you give away as well, I do.

Debbie Weiss: 38:44
Yes, on my website, which is Debbie are wisecom the R is important because there’s a lot of other Debbie Wices out there. I do have. I have oh gosh, I don’t know maybe four free things on there. You can get the first couple of chapters on my book for free. I have a download about finding time for self care, which is very important. We all say we don’t have time, but we can all find the time, regardless of what’s going on in your life. I have an inner power workbook kind of tapping into that inner power we all have that we might not know we have or remember that we have. So some steps to kind of set you on that way. And the last thing are some journal prompts called morning sprinkle of goodness.

Caroline Balinska: 39:32
Oh, wonderful. And, Debbie, I’m going to put all of your information in our show notes. So if anyone listening wants to or watching wants to get your information in the show notes is the links to everything and I have to thank you so much. You have been wonderful, you’re an inspiration, and so good to speak to you because I think you really open everyone’s eyes to what’s possible, no matter how you’re feeling that’s right.

Debbie Weiss: 39:56
Well, thank you so much. It’s an absolute pleasure.

Caroline Balinska: 39:59
Thanks, debbie, and thanks everyone for watching. Until next time, bye.