371. What Are You Still Carrying That Doesn't Belong in Your Life After Divorce?

Dear Divorce Diary: A Fresh Approach To Healing Grief & Building A Life Of Confidence After Divorce

Dear Divorce Diary: A Fresh Approach To Healing Grief & Building A Life Of Confidence After Divorce
371. What Are You Still Carrying That Doesn't Belong in Your Life After Divorce?
Aug 18, 2026 Season 5 Episode 371
My Coach Dawn

There are things you learned to carry because, at one point, you had to.

The responsibility. The mental load. Other people's expectations. Keeping everyone okay. Being the strong one. Being the woman who could handle it.

But just because you needed that version of yourself then doesn't mean you have to keep being her now.

This week, Dawn sits down with Alexis Contos, founder of The Breadwinners, a community redefining what it means to be an ambitious, successful woman—and creating spaces where women can put down the titles, roles, accomplishments and performance long enough to figure out who they actually are.

Which, hello. Divorce.

Because divorce has a way of forcing you to confront the identities you've accumulated—and decide which ones actually belong in the life you're building now.

Dawn and Alexis talk about:

  • What you carry vs. what you bring into your relationships and your life
  • The versions of yourself you never became because you got so good at being this one
  • Why divorce can feel like both falling and failing in public
  • The friendships, careers and identities we eventually outgrow
  • Why protecting everyone else can quietly become sacrificing yourself
  • The "egg" you're terrified to drop
  • What happens when accomplished women stop performing and start telling the truth
  • How to borrow someone else's belief in you while you're learning to believe in yourself

Because sometimes the next version of you doesn't need more.

She needs you to finally put something down.

So what are you still carrying that doesn't belong anymore?

Support the show

You can't think your way into healing 🥵 You have to practice your way there 👭If you're ready for the next step, learn more about  A Different D Word and apply here ✨

Episode Artwork 371. What Are You Still Carrying That Doesn't Belong in Your Life After Divorce? 1:05:53 Episode Artwork Ep. 370 Dating After Divorce: The Questions You Need to Ask Before You Get Attached 5:33 Episode Artwork 369. A Year After Divorce: 3 Women Tell Us What It Took to Become Themselves Again 53:14 Episode Artwork Ep. - 368 10 Things Nobody Ever Taught You About Emotions (And It's Making Divorce So Much Harder) 3:51 Episode Artwork 367. Will I Ever Be Done Healing After My Divorce... or Does My Ex Get to Haunt Me Forever? 45:14 Episode Artwork Ep. 366 - Why Can't I Hear What I Really Need After Divorce? (A Guided Journaling Exercise) 4:00 Episode Artwork 365. Why You Can't Trust That Everything Will Be Okay After Divorce (Yet) 46:21 Episode Artwork 364. One Day, This Could Be You | What Building Secure Attachment Actually Feels Like 5:05 Episode Artwork 363. Dear Divorce Diary... I Said Yes Again - Even Though I Promised Myself I'd Say No 48:01 Episode Artwork Ep. 362 Why Does Everything Good for Me Feel Like a Chore After Divorce? 4:01 Episode Artwork 361. Three Core Ingredients of Letting Go, Moving On & Manifesting a Life You Love After Divorce 23:43 Episode Artwork Ep. 360 - The Deep Rest Your Divorce Recovery Needs | Retreat Yoga Nidra 3:09 Episode Artwork 359. Why Is Letting Go After Divorce So Hard When He Acts Like None of It Happened? 44:37 Episode Artwork 358. What If I Don't Fit In After Divorce? 4:16 Episode Artwork 357. Why Does Scrolling Dating Apps After Divorce Sound Like a Better Idea Than Going to Bed? 44:54 Episode Artwork Ep. 356 What Do I Do With Everything I Never Got to Say After Divorce? 4:21 Episode Artwork 355. Why Do I Feel So Out of Control Around Food & Weight Since Divorce? 39:47 Episode Artwork 354. Why Do I Feel Responsible for Everyone Else's Happiness After Divorce? 3:12 Episode Artwork 353. Why Do I Need Wine to Turn My Brain Off After Divorce? 46:53 Episode Artwork Ep. 352. Divorce Recovery Isn't Just Healing or Understanding. It's Learning to Surrender. 3:54 Episode Artwork 351. Why Did I Text Him Back? Divorce, Self-Abandonment & The Pain I Couldn't Sit With 46:02 Episode Artwork Ep. 350 - I Know the Divorce Was Necessary... So Why Do I Still Feel Guilty? | Guided Meditation 3:28 Episode Artwork 349. Why You've Done So Much Healing... But Still Feel Stuck in the Same Divorce Patterns 38:50 Episode Artwork Ep. 348. The Loneliness Divorce Creates | A Guided Healing Meditation 3:45 Episode Artwork 347. - Why Do Smart Divorced Women Keep Doing Things That Make Them Feel Worse? 19:27