356 ~ How to Protect Your Mind in 2026

your mind is a place to protect... 🧚🏼

nourish your mental peace by saying NO to these things in 2026... perhaps make it part of your new years resolution.

it is time to take care of you & in turn enjoy greater peace, joy & love

overview:
• choosing values over people-pleasing
• spotting unhealthy coping mechanisms and swapping in better ones
• treating anxiety as information, not an enemy
• turning fear and anger into allowing and problem solving
• rejecting the “I’m only one person” myth
• designing a nourishing mind diet and using mental fasting

Book your free 30-minute Anxiety Coaching Session via the link below 🪬

love, Madison Mindset x

Transcript

Framing The Year Of Saying No

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello, magical human, and welcome back to Madison Mindset the podcast. In this episode, we're going to be going through what I am saying no to in 2026. You may have heard me say some of these things before. It may be the first time you hear me say them. It's all going to be about the mind. So we're looking at what am I saying no to in terms of how it affects my mind, why I'm doing it. It was all to do with the mind. So it's not so much to do with, you know, not exercising or looking at food or what's actually, you know, what's going on. It's more to do with what am I saying no to when it comes to taking care of my mind. So I hope this episode helps you. If you have been struggling with your mind, definitely stay tuned. You might just find something that really, really helps you. Let's jump into it. The first thing I'm saying no to in 2026 is trying to make everyone happy. I have tried to do this my entire life. And even though I hear over and over again, you'll never make everyone happy, stop trying to please everyone. I've heard that so many times. I've read that so many times. I've said it so many times, you know, and still it is something that is not easy for me. It still really affects me. Trying to make everyone happy. And it's it comes from a state of anxiety, right? I think about, alright, what are my options? Right, I've got option A, B, and C. Okay, well, option A is gonna make this person happy, but it's gonna make that person unhappy. Option B will make me happy, but it'll make this person unhappy. Option C will make this person and me happy, but will make this person unhappy. And then I'm trying to find the right option. Do I pick A, B, or C? It's incredibly difficult and you will never make everyone happy. It is good to try and show up for other people and try and do the right thing by others, but if you're not hurting anyone and you've got a good stance behind why you're choosing to do what you do, and it's not anyone else's business, then you get to make the choice that's best for you. You know, and considering we're never going to make everyone happy, why not pick the one that makes you happy? And the people who really love you and care about you will be happy as well. You know? Sometimes there's a bit of a grey, fuzzy area around this kind of thing, and it can be really difficult to see what you should, right? You should shouldn't should on yourself, but what you the choice that is right to make. And more often than not, I will have my moral compass guiding me, you know, what are your values? You know, often my my mind gets all wrapped up in what I want to be doing or what I should be doing and what everyone else wants me to do. But often your heart will tell you what the best thing to do is, you know, like if you'd rather just have a really quiet Christmas, for example, and you'd rather not do the big family thing, but you're gonna let your grandma down and your mum down and this person down, and you can just go and do that and then go and have time for yourself. You know, you can feel your heart is gonna tell you what the right thing to do is, your moral compass is gonna give you the answers. So often we're looking outside for answers. What should I do? What should I eat? What should I wear? How should I be? And often if you just shush, listen to yourself, be calm, the answer is right there. And sometimes telling everyone that that's your decision or this is the way I'm going, sometimes that's really hard, and that's why we avoid making the decision because we don't want to inform everyone that that's what we're doing. But you just literally have to stand your ground. If you've got real reason behind what you're doing, you can back it up. And what my partner always says is like rehearse the conversation, you know, what is something they might throw in your face about it? Have a decent answer for that. Have a decent response for the reactions you might get, and you'll be fine. As long as you can stand your own ground and in your heart that's the right answer, no one can tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing. So as it it may be very hard, but you've got this. And I'm gonna say no to that because it steals so much of my mental energy. There's no point sitting around making pros and cons lists. You know, when the answer is right inside you the whole time, your intuition knows you just have to trust. So, no, you can't live your life to please others. You will never make everyone happy, even if you try your whole life to do that, to do just that. So do what you want to do. After all, this is your life, as long as you're not hurting anyone or you're not, you know, seriously impacting someone else, then you can do what you need to do. Number two, unhealthy coping mechanisms. Here's a little insight into my life. I will go to a couple of things with coping mechanisms. Number one is picking the skin around my fingers. I do it all the time, especially if I'm stressed. If I'm up in my head, my body just starts to do this little picking thing, and then I I eventually realize and I'm like, oh no, what am I doing? And I'm trying really hard to stop that. I've been doing that since I was a kid, and it's hard. It is not easy. I'm getting way better. I've improved dramatically. But if I have a period of stress, my partner and close friends pretty much know it because my fingers are torn apart. They're like, what's been going on? You know, if my fingers are relatively clean and good, then it's fine. And yeah, it's quite dangerous. And I have actually gotten an infection in one of my fingers because of the amount of picking I was doing. It was terrible. It was like antibiotics and all this stuff. So obviously not good for me. Unhealthy coping mechanism, this fidgeting, and we all have similar things like that. You know, some people twirl their hair, you might pick a different part of your body, you know, just playing with your skin, you know, playing with your clothes. There's a heap of different coping mechanisms, you know, even um more to do with the senses. So you might be eating all the time or or not eating all the time. You might, for example, watch something that helps. That's the other thing I do. I go onto YouTube and I watch absolutely mind-numbing, silly comedy. The kind of comedy I'm talking about is, you know, that typical YouTuber, let's all play games and laugh with our friends. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with that, except for the fact that it drives no purpose, and I only do it when I'm unhappy. I'll often tell myself I'm just gonna watch one 20-minute video, and then three hours pass, and I've just been staring at a screen, and I feel worse. It's just a brain number. So I want to stop doing those things. And what I've decided is, you know, all those practices that I do, you know, the meditation, the yoga, the reading, EFT tapping, you know, the meditations and affirmations and grounding in nature and all those things, those practices are what I want to substitute for my unhealthy coping mechanisms. You know, I'll I tend to choose the healthier things when I feel quite good. And that makes sense, right? Because when I'm feeling good, feeling grounded, I'm good, it's much easier to make a better decision for yourself. It's like if you choose to get out of bed in the morning and go to the gym and eat really well, the choices for the rest of your day are gonna be much easier to make in an aligned, healthy way. Whereas if you scroll on your phone, you avoid your alarm, you don't go to the gym, you don't eat properly, suddenly the rest of your day kind of feels like it's on a downward spiral. So, you know, just one healthy decision, one moment where you go, I'm gonna do something good for myself, that can change your entire day. So, what I want to be doing is when I feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed, whatever it is, and my go-to is to go into these habits of coping, whether that's a physical picking or watching something, then I'm gonna go, all right, I need to slot in a healthy behavior because that's gonna break the cycle. What is this? This is habit breaking, right? This is not gonna be easy, and I'm gonna fail. And I've already been working on this and I've already failed a million times. I'm not gonna give up because it really does start to change things. You know, it makes it each time you choose the healthier option, each time you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and do something good for you. Each time you do that, it gets better and better and better and easier and easier and easier to handle. So that's what I'm working on. And I do not want to indulge unhealthy coping mechanisms. I understand that they're there, I understand that they're helpful. You know, let's watch Netflix for five hours, you know, let's whatever, you know, and I'm not saying to never do those things, you know, I'm not saying to never do those things, but you know, look at why you're doing it. Because sometimes I sit down to watch TV, especially with my partner. We'll go, oh, how nice it'd be just to watch TV. And we don't do that a lot. I'm not a TV kind of person, but if you say, yeah, I'm gonna sit down and watch something, when I'm in a good place, I end up watching good things. I end up watching documentaries, you know, I end up watching movies I've never seen before. I end up watching something that after I do it, I'm like, wow, that was a great experience. It was very intentional, I enjoyed my time. Now let's move on. If I'm in a state of unhealthy, you know, coping mechanism and I'm using the TV as a number, you know, as something to help me stop my brain, that's when I end up watching things that A, I've already watched a million times before, such as TV series and all these things. I've got to watch something that my brain can predict, you know, like so I've watched the Friends TV series. Oh, I don't know, I'd reckon I'd be in the top 5% in the world. I've watched it a lot. We were put in front of it as kids, and I've continued to re-watch it into my adult life, and now I'm 28. So, you know, it's been a long time watching Friends. When I put Friends on, it numbs my brain. I know exactly what happens in Friends. There's no surprises, nothing I can't handle. It's very easy to watch. It numbs my brain. Whereas if I watch a new TV series, a new movie, I don't know what's going to happen. It's unpredictable. And usually I'm going into these coping mechanisms because I can't predict something, I'm stressed out, I just want things to feel easy for a moment. So that's why I'll turn to things that I've already seen before, or some kind of reality TV show that just numbs your brain and gives you absolutely nothing. So, unhealthy coping mechanisms. If you have unhealthy coping mechanisms, and I know that most of us do because I've been working as a coach for over five years, and I haven't yet met a person who does not have some kind of unhealthy coping mechanism. Yes, scrolling for hours on Instagram is a coping mechanism. If you've got one, see if you can identify them and ask yourself, when do I do this? Why do I do this? How does it help? And then go into what would I rather replace that with? Are you gonna do 50 star jumps? Are you gonna do 10 burpees? You know, are you going to meditate? Are you gonna go outside? Are you gonna do some somatic work, you know, shaking or breathing or whatever? You know, if you can start to change and supplement healthier coping mechanisms for the ones that are not so healthy, it changes your life. It changes your life big time. Number three, fighting with anxiety. I'm saying no to fighting with anxiety. I've said this before. Anxiety is here to help. It's trying to support you. It is a healthy emotion that has created the survival of human beings for thousands of years, right? It is the thing that tells you not to walk down that dark alley, to be careful when you're walking alone by yourself, to not jump off the cliff. It's that thing that tells you to be safe, to hold on to the railing, to make sure that your child's okay. You know, it's it's the thing that literally guides, it shows you what's important and it keeps you on track. Too much anxiety, which, you know, we're living in a world that is anxiety provoking, too much anxiety is crippling, and it leaves us in a state of stillness, but not healthy stillness. Like, I'm not gonna take steps in my life, I can't go outside, I can't say what I want to say, you know, all these fears of failure and being taken in the wrong way, and whatever it is, you know, all these fears, like what's gonna happen, what might happen. You know, this world is so fast-paced and there's so much going on. We could be living a much more simple life, but that's not the reality. We're living in crazy times. And yeah, this is our this is our opportunity, this is our moment to take it seriously. You know, anxiety is your friend, it's not out to get you, but we're living in a world that is literally pressing the anxiety button in every single human being, including children. So, what we need to do is rewire that button. We've got to stop being so easily provoked. And it's hard work, but you get there. And this is exactly why I'm doing my new coaching program, which is anxiety to abundant, we're taking an anxious mindset and turning it into an abundance mindset. We're changing anxiety as the reaction to abundance as the reaction. And as my gift to you towards the end of the year in the new year, period, I'm giving away free 30-minute coaching sessions with me. So if you are struggling with anxiety and it is debilitating for you and it is getting in your way of having a loving relationship, or in loving yourself, or in going and doing the things that you want to do in your life, if it really is impacting you on a deep level, I encourage you to go down below, click the link in the show notes, and book your free 30-minute session. And let's see if we can make some shifts in that time. I'll offer my thoughts, my opinion. You'll get to tell me everything about what's going on, how it feels within you, and I will do my very best to point you in the right direction and guide you the best way I can. So go down below and book that session. But for me personally, I'm done fighting with anxiety. The more you fight with her, she just comes back with vengeance. All right, do not try and push it away. It's there to help, but the button keeps going off. And it's not anxiety's fault that the button keeps going off. That's the environment that we're in. You know, red lights, red buttons don't go off by themselves. Someone has to push it. Someone has to trigger it. And our environment and the life that we're living, this modern, man-made artificial life is pushing every single button, every survival button that we've got. And that's why you're anxious. So we've got to rewire our environment the best way we can, but we can also rewire that button. Because otherwise you'll just the more you press that button, the more and more it just you end up breaking. So you've got to be able to do something about it, and this is your opportunity. Go down below, book your free 30-minute session, and I will be looking forward to seeing you on Zoom. Number four, I'm saying no to letting fear and anger overwhelm me. I often freeze. We've all heard, you know, fight or flight. Depending on the situation, if there is a physical threat, such as a snake, I run, which I know you're not supposed to do, but I just can't stop it. I just I leg it. I've never ran so fast in my life. I've never seen such a fast reaction time from myself. So yeah, I run in physical threats, I'm a runner. But in emotional threats, mental threats, I freeze. And when I freeze, I feel this anger arise inside me because there's fear, and I'm annoyed that there's fear. You know, I'm annoyed that something has happened, like something isn't fair, something isn't right, this world is messed up, you know, what is going on? And that makes me angry. And then I do my very best to not allow that to explode out of me, and I push it down even more, but eventually it just eats me up from the inside. So I want to turn fear and overwhelm into problem solving and allowing. You know, the challenges and the things that are happening in this world are happening. We've got to be in a state of allowing. Because there's nothing we can do about a lot of it. And even if there is nothing you can do, sometimes the best thing you can do in that situation is spread more love, spread more peace, and help raise the frequency on this earth. So yeah, yeah, I don't want to let fear and anger as a combo overwhelm me anymore. I need to channel that in healthier ways. Next I'm saying no to not believing in my power to influence the world. I mentioned this in a previous episode, but I hear so many people say I'm only one person, so who cares? I'm only one person who's dropping rubbish on the ground, so who cares? I'm only one person who doesn't care about the environment, so who cares? I'm only one person who, you know, cuts everyone off on in traffic, so who cares? I'm only one person who didn't pick up the rubbish or didn't help the animal or didn't help the insect, so who cares? I'm only one person, so really is it really gonna mean the biggest difference, you know, if I don't try and save the world like I'm only one person, let someone else do it. The amount of times I hear this, the amount of times I've said this to myself, when I say that kind of thing, when I hear it, the more it makes me reflect on the fact that everybody is saying it. And if everyone in the world is saying I'm only one person, so what's what's the you know, what's the point? I'm only one person, what power can I possibly have? If every single one person in the planet are saying, I'm only one person, so why does it matter? And every single person, the seven, eight billion people that are on this earth, we all drop one piece of rubbish per day because I'm only one person, so why does it matter? You know, if seven to eight billion people all say, Well, I'm only one person, so I can't change the world, I'll leave it to someone else. If everyone is saying that, do you see the problem? If you give yourself reason enough to drop rubbish, to not pick up rubbish, to not help a friend, to not show up in this world, to not volunteer, to not donate, to not stand up and try and change the world, if you are giving yourself the excuse I'm only one person, then you're letting everyone else in the world have that excuse as well. Do you want everyone in that world, in this world to have that excuse? I'm only one person, so what's the point? First of all, look back over history, heaps of just one person have changed the world. And more than that, we are powerful as a collective. And if you decide I'm just one person, so what's the point? You are encouraging everyone else to think that. But we shouldn't, because one person has immense power to. Change the world. So much power, you don't even realize your power. Even when you walk down the street, if you're in a foul mood and you walk down the street with hate and anger in your heart, you influence the people you walk past. Your frequency will draw them down, even if they don't even talk to you. You have so much power in this world. You have so much. And you know what it is? It's laziness to say, oh, I'm just one person, so whatever. But you can't do that because the minute you fall into that, you give everyone else permission to do the same, and you are voting for no one standing up, no one caring, because we're just one person. Screw that. I'm saying screw that this year. Okay? I am one person and that's why I'm putting my rubbish in the bin. I am one person, and one person can clean up an entire beach, and I'm gonna do that. I am one person and I can pick up this single coffee cup that I found on a walk. That's only a one-man job. I can do that. Right? I'm one person and my words have dramatic impact. You know how it feels when someone calls you a name or brings you down with their words, they don't even have to touch you. How does that affect you? Some people are still complaining about things that people said to them years ago. How much power did that have on you? Heaps. So your words have a lot of power. There is equally so many people out there in the world that have heard inspiring speeches or have been inspired by something, and they're still inspired to this day from one person saying one thing. When I see people on the side of the road cleaning up rubbish, you know what it makes me do? Want to go and join them. It makes me reflect on why I'm not doing that right now. Right? They're not even talking to anyone about it, but their actions and all of us seeing their actions encourages that part of us that is so human, that cares, that feels, that has compassion. It brings out that part of us. And we need more of that in this world. So in 2026, no more. No more. Oh, I'm just one person. What's the point? I can't be bothered, there's no point, I won't be able to do it. Screw that. I'm gonna change that to I am one person, and one person has an amazing amount of power, and I'm gonna take that seriously. The final thing I'm saying no to is not being aware of what I'm feeding my mind. We talk about nutrition and what are you putting in your body, what are you and recently it's what are you putting on your body, what are you putting near your body. You know, we're really looking at the chemicals and everything that's happening in our environment. But something that is still not really spoken about in terms of consumption. You know, what are you consuming? The mind consumes as well. It's not just the physical body that consumes, the mind is part of that. There are some foods that make you groggy, some foods that pick you up. But more specific than that, I'm looking at what are you feeding your mind specifically? What you're listening to right now, my voice is feeding your mind. You are giving yourself mind food. And if you listened to podcasts or music for 10 hours straight, we've all done this, right? You've gone on a long drive, you've listened to music. By the time you get to the end of your drive, you just cannot listen anymore. Music. Doesn't matter what style it is, doesn't matter what artist it is, you just had enough. You're full of music. No more music today. Right? Same with podcasts. I've had streaks with podcasts, I've listened to 10 in a row, and eventually, even though the podcasts are great, I just can't do it anymore. My mind is stuffed. I'm completely full. You know, you know when you've got too much going on in your life and you just can't comprehend one more thing, you've got too much. The mind is digesting too much. Okay? This happens a lot in life, and you've probably had that experience yourself. The mind needs a break, just like your stomach needs a break. You give your stomach periods of fasting, right? I'm not talking about massive three-day fasts. I'm talking about the simple fast of you have dinner, you go to sleep, you're not eating anything for like eight, ten hours, and you get up and eat. That's a ten-hour fast. Right? Even in between breakfast and lunch, you eat breakfast at eight, you eat lunch at one. There's a fast right there. You give yourself a break. If you were to eat and consume all day, we all know where that would go. So your mind is the same. If you're listening to music while reading something, while studying, while people having conversations around you, number one, you're not gonna be able to concentrate. Number two, you're gonna feel so tired because there's so much information, so much to consume in that environment. Sometimes you've got to give yourself a break. Alright? The Instagram reels that you mindlessly scroll, that's mind food. But you know what it is, you know, and it depends. I say Instagram scrolling is a coping mechanism for sure. But you know, some of the content you some of the content you consume, because there are things that I've watched that have helped me, that have taught me something that I really enjoy and I feel like is healthy, but people who are gardening, people who are, you know, foraging in forests, or you know, learning how to cook really cool meals or, you know, something helpful, something inspiring, or they're mindset coaches like myself, and I really gain a lot of inspiration and they teach me a lot. You know, I am all for that kind of stuff, but ultimately you can't watch it all day. Right? Ultimately you can gain a little bit of inspiration, a little bit of guidance here and there, but you can't have that constant wisdom coming through. So I want to paint you the picture of Instagram or any kind of scrolling, but let's picture Instagram as the same equivalent as lollies or candy, right? Not that great for you. Too much of it is gonna make you feel sick. When you're watching content that makes you feel good or that teaches you something, such as the types that I just described, that actually is good for you, that's like eating healthier lollies, healthier candy. You know, it might be the equivalent of eating dark chocolate, you know, or you know, eating, you know, some kind of like I've just been eating these coconut bites, which are delicious and they have peppermint in them, but they're organic and gluten-free and vegan and all the cool things. And I know if I eat the whole bag, I'd feel sick, but it's much better than sitting there and eating red frogs or whatever candy. I know I'm speaking to so many people in different parts of the world, so you're probably like, well, what is that? But you know, like your sugary, spongy, jelloy, jelloy? Oh, I don't even know. Like jelly kind of lollies. You know, if you eat three of those, you start to feel sick, right? So I'm saying the healthier stuff is kind of like your healthier organic candy, but your, you know, the stuff that's like cat reels and, you know, let's prank our partners and scare our kids and use our kids on Instagram and you know, all that kind of very, you know, just it's literally designed for views and it's designed to catch your attention, and it is completely pointless and useless. That kind of stuff is like the high sugary stuff, you know? It probably shouldn't be touched. And if it is touched, take it very lightly, and definitely not every day. You know, your mind is consuming every conversation, every piece of music, every podcast, every book, everything that comes on on the TV, everything all around you, it is consuming. And it gets tired, and it gets full, and it also is possible for you to have a really unhealthy mind diet. And it might be time to reflect what are you going to feed your mind? The mind rests and regenerates and gains clarity and peace when you stop feeding it and embrace silence, stillness. No music, no podcasts, no books, no anything, just sitting with your own self in your own thoughts. The mind regenerates in that kind of environment, it regenerates in nature. So I encourage you to really think about that. What are you feeding your mind? Because, you know, you've heard the phrase, you know, you become what you eat. Well, you also become what you feed your mind. It's not just about what you feed your physical body. What do you feed your mental body? Because you become that as well. If you watch a bunch of nonsense cat videos and like my coping mechanism, watching, you know, ridiculous comedy and people playing games and laughing and making ridiculous jokes and I mean I don't want to become that. I want to have more intention, more purpose than that. So just be mindful. I'm not saying you can never eat chocolate. I'm not saying you can never eat, you know, YouTube candy, Instagram candy. I'm not saying you can't do that. I'm just saying it needs to be monitored, and it certainly shouldn't be an everyday occurrence. So you might like to write down now, what are the things that you give your mind to consume? And do you ever find yourself just so tired and your mind's just exhausted? You can't think, you can't speak properly, nothing, no, you can't form sentences, you're just mentally exhausted, and it's only lunchtime. Do you have those experiences? Because if you do, then I highly encourage you to perhaps think about changing your mind diet, or at least welcoming in some greens, some things that are really good for it. Thank you so much, Magical Human, for tuning in to this episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment or leave a review on the platform that you listen to this podcast through. It truly helps me reach new people. Please rate the podcast. It also helps as well. I'm wishing you a beautiful end of your year. If you were looking for some guidance for your new year period over January and February, you can go ahead and book a single 75-minute coaching session with me. You can go on there right now, the link is in the show notes below. Go and book yourself one of these sessions. We're going to be going into what's your intention for the year, what are the goals you're setting? What can you do to change the outcome, right? If you want your year to go differently than it did in 2025 or 2024 or any of the years, if you would like something to change, then what you're doing has to change because you've got to align with whatever it is that you want to bring in. Okay, so if you're struggling with that, if you're not quite sure what to do and you don't want to hire a full-time coach, which is usually what I do with people, I'm with people for seven months minimum, right? If you just want one session where we can sit down, talk about your goals, talk about your habits, what do you need to change? Try this, try that. I'm there for you. We can chat, and then you've also got my contact information. So you can send me a message if you ever need anything, any further support, I am there. So if you would like these sessions, they are limited. It is for end of January and February, period. So please book in now. There's only a few spots available. Go and get your session. I can't wait to meet you and to help you create an amazing 2026. Sending you lots of love. Enjoy the rest of your day.