Becoming Without The Rush | We’re Back — And We’re Not the Same

We’re Back — And We’re Not the Same

Welcome back to The Striving Butterfly Podcast — or welcome if this is your first time here.

This episode sets the tone for 2026.

It’s not about rushing.
 It’s not about proving.
 It’s about becoming — with intention.

In this opening episode of the year, Coleen reflects on what it means to return grounded, aligned, and honest. This season marks a shift in style and depth — less hustle, less fixing, and more forming. More inner safety. More truth. More permission to be where you actually are.

If you’re rebuilding, re-centring, or starting again without having all the answers, this space is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• Setting the scene for 2026 with clarity and intention
• The evolution of The Striving Butterfly Podcast
• Letting go of pressure and trusting your pace
• Why becoming doesn’t need to be rushed or explained
• A closing moment of reflection with 10 grounding affirmations for the year ahead

About The Striving Butterfly Podcast:

The Striving Butterfly Podcast is a space for honest conversations about growth, healing, faith, identity, and becoming. Created for women and men navigating life transitions, shedding old versions of themselves, and choosing alignment over performance.

This podcast isn’t about arriving — it’s about unfolding.

Chapters

• 0:00 A Quiet Return And Reset
• 1:45 Redefining The Striving Butterfly
• 4:20 Consistency Over Comparison
• 6:30 You’re Early, Not Behind
• 8:40 New Format: Integrated Affirmations
• 12:00 Closing Gratitude And Next Steps

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

I am in my studio. I've had to stop the heating because it's making too much noise and it is burning too much on my generator. It is currently 8.16, just gone 8.15, and we are going to get into it. I have been very quiet at the start of 2026. Haven't seen much from me. That has been deliberate as I took some time to just reflect, plan, listen, and be still. I am back now. Well, me and Sabian, we are back now with another episode of The Sh driving butterfly. So welcome back, or welcome if this is your very first time here. Now let me just set it out. This episode isn't loud, it isn't rushed, and it isn't trying to prove anything. Now, like I said, I deliberately took some time out in January, and people are like, start strong. I did start strong. I have been walking 10,000 steps every day with a group of accountability friends since we started January, and I have planned very, very well how this year is going to work. So check, check, but hey, really, if you felt like 2026 already carries a different vibe where you're more reflective, more honest, more grounded. Let me tell you, you're not imagining it. I'm with you. I didn't disappear, I was just becoming. Like I was really becoming. You would have seen that I done some social posts, you would have seen that I did keep the page up to date with micros, but I haven't really been sitting in the sofa. And that is why I was really thinking about how I really transitioned the striving butterfly. And this space, this podcast is evolving with me. This season is about not forcing growth or chasing a version of myself that looks good just online. Now, I know we all try and do it, we all want to always show up good when we come online, but the striving butterfly was never about that. It was about being your authentic self, it's about alignment, integrity, and being rooted before we're revealed. The conversations here are shifting, less hustle and giving you all this, that, and the other, less fixing and more forming. That's right. I done it before, and I'm coming to you with a bit more of a difference because a lot has happened in my own personal life that I want to bring, and even from listening to a lot of my followers and hearing what you're saying, I want to bring a lot more inner safety, and as my language changes and evolves, a lot more truth spoken a little bit more gently, and more permission to be where you actually are, not where you think you should be. This season is for those who are rebuilding, recentering, and starting again without shame. Before we go any further, let me pause right here for a moment. I know I have new people following me, but if you've been listening to this podcast, if these conversations resonate with where you are in your life, this is your moment to subscribe. Subscribing helps you stay connected as new episodes drop and it supports the growth of this space more than you might realize. So if this episode speaks to you, like it, share it, or send it with someone who might need a reminder that they're not behind their becoming. This community grows through connection, not algorithms, and it is definitely not growing on likes or comments. And I am so glad you actually came upon me and you found me, or someone shared me with you. So for those who are new and you're wondering what this is all about, the Strive and Butterfly podcast is a space for honest conversations. It's about growth, healing, faith, identity, and becoming all the things that I am showing up for. It is very much for women and men navigating change, those wanting to shed old versions of themselves, those learning to rebuild inner safety, and those choosing consistency over comparison. That's a big one for me this year. As I've done a lot of reading, a lot of reflecting, and we can't help but compare ourselves with our friends, with our colleagues, with our network. Um, we're just always comparing, and that's not gonna change, it's how we use that comparison to shift and change our stance, and it's where we take it. Do we let it linger in our minds or do we act upon it in a way that is positive for the direction in which we're growing towards? Comparison isn't bad, it's just what we do and how we use it. Here I talk about real life, real transitions and real transformation without pressure to perform. So when I'm showing up, I am showing up as me. Right now, I am cold. This isn't about arriving, it's about unfolding, and I am unfolding, and you will see the change. And if you are new or if you are existing, you would have seen the change just in how I have come forward. If there's one truth I'm holding on to this year, it's this. I don't need to rush what is forming. What is forming has already been formed. I just need to allow it to play out. I need to trust the process and enjoy what is ahead and not labor on what happened in the past, not labor on the things that are trying to strip me apart and hold me back. If your year feels quiet or uncertain or slower than expected, please know you are not behind. You are early in your process. Becoming doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like staying, resting, listening, trusting. And really, it starts with you. Whatever it is that you want to do, whatever it is that you feel you need to change, whatever it is that you feel you need to shift, do it. Do it. We can't please everyone, we can't tick every box. There is gonna be someone upset and someone disappointed. You cannot help how someone else feels. But if it is the right thing you're doing, because you're the only one that can see it, do it. I want to close this episode differently. As you know, I also do affirmations, and usually there's a separate episode for the affirmations, but going forward with these episodes, what I will do is at the end of every episode I will leave affirmations for everyone that is listening and aligned with every episode so you don't have to just go over to the affirmation episode, you actually get a dose right here. So wherever you are, take a breath and let these words land. I enter this year grounded with the present and open to becoming. I enter this year grounded in the present and open to becoming. I release the need to rush what is meant to mature in its time. I release the need to rush what is meant to mature in its time. I trust the season I am in even when it feels unfamiliar. I trust the season I am in even when it feels unfamiliar. I choose alignment over pressure. I choose alignment over pressure. I am allowed to evolve without explanation. Brap, that's my one. I am allowed to evolve without explanation. What is forming in me is steady intentional and secure. What is forming in me is steady, intentional and secure. I honor my pace and respect my process. I honor my sp I honor my pace and respect my process. I honor my pace and respect my process. I show up whole, but not perfect, but real. I show up whole, but not perfect, but real. I will move through this year with clarity, courage, and compassion for myself. I move through this year with clarity, courage, and compassion for myself. I am becoming who I need to be. One faithful step at a time. I am becoming who I need to be. One faithful step at a time. Thank you for being here. Thank you for choosing to grow gently. Now I didn't want to drag this episode out, I really just wanted it to be an opener for the next episode and what is to come. If this episode spoke to you, remember to subscribe, like, and share. And I'll meet you in the next one. You're not late, you're right on time.