Free Coaching: How to Achieve Your Goals, Using Neuroscience
When your mind and body are fueled and in alignment, you naturally generate the internal resources that build the foundation for elevated mood and focus, restful sleep, and high energy.
I recently attended a free neuroscience Masterclass by Emily McDonald, aka @emonthebrain on Instagram, and was blown away.
On one hand, achieving your goals – whether it’s landing that dream job, creating a successful business, sculpting the body you want, or finding the relationship of your dreams – is fundamentally simple.
“If it were really that simple, I would have achieved this by now!” – You.
Hear me out: Achieving your goals might not be easy, but the process is fundamentally simple.
Get Clear on What You Want
Get clear on what your goals are. Write them down along with the steps it will take to achieve them. Demystifying the process can often be enough on its own to disarm procrastination or hesitation.
Challenge the Beliefs Holding You Back
These are the sneaky mental scripts that surface when you hit your upper limit threshold —the point at which success starts to feel uncomfortable and self-sabotage kicks in.
Write them down. Examine them one by one. Be honest and ruthless.
Dr. Daniel Amen’s “kill the ANTs” (Automatic Negative Thoughts) technique is powerful here. I’ve added a few of my own reflective questions:
Where did this belief come from?
Me — or someone else? Many limiting beliefs are inherited: from parents, teachers, or peers. Seeing that helps you release them.
Is it true? Is it really true?
What would my life look and feel like if I didn’t believe this?
Reframe it.
What’s the empowering, truthful opposite of this belief? Some examples:
Limiting belief: “I can’t slow down — everything will fall apart if I do.”
Reframe: Rest isn’t collapse — it’s recalibration. My nervous system needs recovery to sustain high performance. When I slow down, I actually expand my capacity to lead, parent, and create.
Limiting belief: “Everyone else’s needs come before mine.”
Reframe: Prioritizing my needs isn’t selfish — it’s structural integrity. When I’m resourced and regulated, I show up with more patience, creativity, and love for everyone else.
Limiting belief: “If I delegate, it won’t be done right.”
Reframe: Control is my nervous system’s way of seeking safety. True safety comes from trust and collaboration. When I let others support me, I teach my brain that help is safe.
For most of us, these beliefs were formed in childhood — a time when our identity and worldview were still developing. They rarely reflect who we truly are now. When you start questioning them, they crumble.
As Emily said: “Stop arguing for your limitations.”
Create Identity Shifts
Your identity determines your behavior. If who you believe you are doesn’t align with who you want to become, your brain will resist change.
This happens because of the Default Mode Network (DMN) — a subconscious system that, among other things, will do anything to keep you consistent with who you think you are. To reach new levels of success, you must teach your brain to accept a new identity.
Here’s how:
Define your future self.
Who is that person? How do they think, act, and feel?
Normalize what you want.
The brain equates “familiar” with “safe.” Surround yourself with people, places, and ideas that make your new goals feel normal.
Use awe to rewire your brain.
The emotion of awe associates safety with expansion. Practices like meditation, visualization, travel, and environmental shifts are common methods for achieving this.
Identify mentors or role models.
When you think, “If they can do it, I can do it,” you’re actively rewiring your neural pathways and reshaping identity.
At first, this may feel fake or forced. That’s normal. Identity change is built through repetition — just like a muscle.
Reward Your Brain for Aligned Action
Your brain releases dopamine when you make progress. Reinforce that momentum with small, meaningful rewards: a walk in nature, a nourishing home-cooked meal, or time with friends.
These micro-rewards teach your brain to associate achievement with pleasure — creating a positive feedback loop that drives motivation.
Reset Your Dopamine System Each Night
Scrolling and binge-watching before bed floods your brain with cheap (extrinsic) dopamine, and negatively impacts your ability to produce intrinsic dopamine, which is much more beneficial.
Try a nightly dopamine detox instead: no screens before bed, dim lights, gentle stretching, or journaling. You’ll sleep better and wake up with more focus, drive, and motivation.
Effortless Effort
Success isn’t about working harder — it’s about rewiring your mind to work for you, not against you. By repeating empowering mental habits, they eventually become your default setting, overwriting outdated scripts that no longer serve you. You’ll know you’ve made progress when it takes less effort to handle the very tasks that once triggered procrastination or dread.
Taking even the smallest step forward today is still 1% better than yesterday’s zero. Its impact may be hardly noticeable at first, but as James Clear explains, the compounding effect of 1% better every day leads to a 37% improvement over a year.
That’s life-changing.
Now imagine applying that same principle to your body.
The by-product of your mind and body being well-resourced is that you generate the intrinsic dopamine and feel-good chemicals like serotonin, oxytocin and GABA that fuel motivation, elevate mood, and restore restful sleep. This, combined with supporting your gut health, raising BDNF levels, and optimizing your mitochondria, helps build the foundation for calm focus, clarity, and high energy.
Imagine waking up feeling great in your body every day — steady, clear, and resilient. Being well-resourced at your foundation — both mentally and physically — allows you to meet life with ease and recover quickly when challenges arise.
If you’d like support retraining your mind and fueling your body for sustainable success, let’s work together. I help high-achieving women and men heal from burnout, insomnia, and stress to create lasting transformation — from cell to soul.