Deep Heartfelt Success

Redefining Success: The Start of Something Deeper

• Heidi Marke, The Gentle Rebel Coach • Season 1 • Episode 1

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What if success could feel even better on the inside than it looks on the outside?
Explore a new relationship with success—where ease, joy, and self-trust are part of the equation. 

Success isn’t just about what you achieve—it’s about how it feels to live inside it.

Welcome to *Deep Heartfelt Success*—the podcast for big-hearted, driven professionals who want more.
More ease. More joy. More confidence.
More success that feels even better on the inside than it looks on the outside.

If you’re ready to explore your own version of Deep Heartfelt Success—and what it could look like to work with me—book a complimentary session here:
👉 https://calendly.com/heidimarke/heartfeltsuccess

🎧 Follow the podcast to stay connected.
💛 If this speaks to you, feel free to share it with someone who’s ready for their next evolution of success.

🎵 Music: “Upbeat Happy Country” by Blueway Music – Licensed via AudioJungle (Music Standard License).

**Disclaimer:** This podcast is for educational and inspirational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice. Please trust your own inner wisdom and seek appropriate support when needed.

Speaker 1:

Hello, welcome to the Deep Heartfelt Success podcast. Success that feels even better on the inside than it looks on the outside. Hello, I'm Heidi Heidi Mark, transformational Coach for big-hearted, driven professionals who want more, more ease, more joy, more capacity to fully experience and enjoy the success you've worked so hard for. Because real success isn't just about achieving more Although I'm sure you want more. It's about expanding our capacity to feel confident in it, to really enjoy it. It's time to start feeling the fulfillment, the freedom and the ease you've worked so hard for. This is where traditional success ends and deep heartfelt success begins. Welcome to the adventure. You're successful. You have a lot of what you've worked so hard for, but you want more, more joy, more ease, more peace of mind and more success, whatever that means to you. Next, you want deep heartfelt success. Success that feels even better on the inside than it looks on the outside. Welcome to the first ever episode, woohoo. Success that feels even better on the inside than it looks on the outside. Welcome to the first ever episode, woohoo. So what am I talking about? Those of you who know me from my previous podcast Overwhelm is Optional are intrigued to know. What am I up to now? Why is the lovely podcast gone? Well, lots of reasons, primarily that I've realised I'm stepping into another level of my own life of becoming more fully myself, and I just felt constricted by the premise of overwhelm is optional, and so I'm daring courageously to launch a new podcast.

Speaker 1:

To launch a new podcast, deep, heartfelt success is going way past coping with everything you've achieved or achieving more and managing better. It's about feeling truly successful, regardless of what's going on on the outside. It's really about becoming more fully yourself, a really high level, daring, graciously, gently, rebelliously. It's about feeling successful, feeling all of the things that you work so hard for. But it's very easy to never quite feel like you've made it. But it's very easy to never quite feel like you've made it. So deep, heartfelt success is that sense that you've made it, regardless of what's going on on the outside.

Speaker 1:

So when we're riding high and it looks like we're really successful, sometimes we don't feel that successful because there's no time to reflect on it. We're overwhelmed, exhausted, crazily busy and it feels like we're losing part of ourselves in the effort to hold it all together. And then, of course, imposter syndrome, I recently found out, gets worse the more successful you get. So well, that's an interesting one, isn't it? So we can't really use imposter syndrome as a measure of our success, although we could do inversely. I'm feeling really like somebody's gonna find me out. That means I must be super successful. How's that? That's a really lovely way to turn it around, isn't it? And then there's those in between times when we're between jobs or we're in a role where we no longer feel we fit. We're waiting for something Maybe we're building a business, or there's for women, there's pregnancies, there's different transitions in our lives when the outside doesn't look as successful as maybe we'd like it to be.

Speaker 1:

But what if you could feel successful regardless? What if you're able to look at all of it? Because it's all up down, up down. Everything's constantly shifting and changing. What if you were able to look at all of it through the lens of feeling successful regardless? And I don't mean that in whitewashing it, so that you just.

Speaker 1:

This is the interesting thing, isn't it about those of us who are big-hearted and driven? We're scared to let go of driving ourselves forward in case we somehow become lazy and let people down. It's just not going to happen. If you're like me, you want a lot, you're driven, you want to live fully. It's not going to happen by taking your foot off the brake and actually leaning back into the successful person. You are the successful person you will always be, because that's just who you are. It's an identity. So this is about allowing yourself to accept that's who you are. So, instead of berating yourself for always wanting more and then finding it sometimes difficult to hold it, or wondering why it never quite feels like you've made it, or any of those kind of normal things that come with success, instead of that, what if, regardless of whether you're in an in-between stage or things aren't quite right or things are, you've just got a promotion or a new round, things are riding high, regardless you're able to look at the kind of average of it all, the overall picture, and say, yeah, I'm driven, I want a lot and I am successful and I'm going to feel that, I'm going to allow myself to feel it because it feels good, and from there everything looks different. Right, once we feel safe, we know that we can trust ourselves to always create success. We will always look after ourselves.

Speaker 1:

It's easier to feel the success that we create as we create it and all of it just like. Feel all of it the joy, the safety, the beautiful house you've bought all of it. Feel it the time off. You have all of it. Goodness me, I don't know about you, but I find it very easy to miss stuff, the good stuff about you. But I find it very easy to miss stuff, the good stuff, because my mind just gets distracted by, oh, quick panic, go and fix that.

Speaker 1:

So this is a practice, it's an exploration, but mainly it's an adventure, and I'd like to think of it as the adventure of our lifetimes, of our lifetimes. I'm embodying creating deep, heartfelt success, success that feels even better on the inside than it looks on the outside. Can you imagine that? What would that mean to you? What would it feel like to you? Because it's going to be slightly different for you than me, and that's okay. In fact, that's essential, because this is about getting to know ourselves, getting to truly know what makes us happy at different seasons of our life, at different points in our lives, and responding to that with respect, with honor, with love. It's about listening to our internal guidance. It's about allowing ourselves to relax and breathe out and know that not only have we made it, but we will continue to create success, security, love, joy, fulfillment, money, all the good stuff, while being well, while having presence, while being able to sleep, while being able to switch off and have fun and laugh easily. Imagine. Welcome to the adventure, welcome to the first ever episode of my new podcast, deep, heartfelt Success.

Speaker 1:

So where on earth did this new definition methodology idea come from? Well, it's been going on all year, really. So if you've been following me for a while, you'll know that I released a new book called the One Minute Gently Rebellious Journal just before the end of last year and I've been using it and it's been really powerful. So what it does is in just one minute a day, after doing the deep work and discovering what you really want. It helps you if you use it to stay focused on what matters most to you. And as I've done this, remarkable things have shifted and I've got more and more clarity. And then I've also been working with a coach, which I don't do all the time because I just don't believe in doing it all the time, but when I do with the right coach, it's incredibly powerful. So the combination of being in a really, really good coaching container relationship and having this very much up-leveled methodology practices, attitude to 2025, big shifts have been going on and I suddenly realised that I'd changed dramatically.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to give you two stories recent stories, actually, one's still going on. Recent stories actually one's still going on. One's a short term stress response and one's a long-term one. So I think they're really good examples of how my work has changed me. So I started off trying to do something about the shame I felt and the exhaustion from burning out, and that led to me talking about overwhelm, because I felt it was overwhelm that was blocking the easier way of doing things. And then that led into yes, but I want more than just to feel better and be okay and be able to manage my life. I want more, I want more success, I want to do more, I want more energy, I want to feel more joy, I want more. And then I got to a stage where even that wasn't enough and it just has gone much deeper because I can see what I've changed.

Speaker 1:

So the first starts with a Sunday night a few weeks ago I think it's only about three weeks ago and Simon woke me up saying the sauna's on fire and I've called the fire brigade. Oh, my goodness, I'm laughing now, but I was asleep. I'd heard some running up and down the stairs, but I wasn't. I don't know. Know I was asleep, the sauna's on fire and I've called the fire brigade. So I leapt out of bed, pulled the curtains back and saw fire shooting into the air halfway down the garden and the. The fear was intense. It was really physical. It was really deep. Where when are my dogs? Where's my cat? How far away from the house is that? Is it spreading? A minute later I watched the fire brigade extinguish the fire, just like that. It was gone and I could. I was standing there looking at it.

Speaker 1:

The crisis and the solution was almost simultaneous. If I'd got out of bed, I don't know, a few minutes later, I wouldn't have seen anything and therefore would I have had the fear reaction Interesting? And then I became acutely aware of the stories running through my head about the danger of fire. And if I'd chosen to follow the thoughts of fear, the stories about the woulda shoulda couldas, that was a possibility. Then there was the possibility of anger and blame to do with Simon and the sauna. That didn't seem to be much fun to follow either. And then, at the same time, all this was simultaneous was the acute awareness of gratitude. My animals are safe. Nothing's really happened, and thank God.

Speaker 1:

I live in a country that has firemen, amazing, brave men, just amazing, just incredible all at once. And then I just looked and I watched them and they had it all in hand, and so I closed the curtains and went back to bed and then I lay in bed thinking, hmm, should I be in bed or should I be out of bed, stressed outside, getting attached to the drama? Is this a normal response, was actually my next thought. How interesting. But the truth was there was nothing I could do If I'd gone outside. Yes, I could have got involved in the drama, but the drama was over and they were all handling it, so I didn't. After a bit, I read my book because I didn't actually go back to sleep and I wanted to just check in and, you know, before going to sleep, just make sure Simon was OK. It's pretty upsetting for him. He built it, yeah, so that was interesting.

Speaker 1:

Now, previously in my life, when big stuff has happened to do with my children or bereavements, yeah, I am very, very good in a crisis. I you know, I have leadership qualities. I'm very good in a crisis. I'm able to make decisions fast, under pressure, I am very good, but that wasn't this. That's not what this was about, because I wasn't taking any, I wasn't in a position of leisure, I wasn't taking any responsibility at all. I was actually feeling, you know, I could have felt very vulnerable. No, this was me clear evidence for me of being better at handling drama.

Speaker 1:

It was so obvious that I just chose I made the conscious decision not to attach to the drama and make it worse. I chose to notice the thoughts, catch them, notice them neutrally, drop the judgment, resist the drama, resist following them, resist allowing my emotions to attach to the thoughts and getting angry or upset, or starting to. Previously, I think I would have gone out. There would have been trying to get into control, would have been furious. I would have been like what? If there would, I would definitely have been crying. There'd have definitely be some wailing, banshee stuff.

Speaker 1:

I'm not that person anymore and I I'm still surprised, as in, oh my goodness, neutral, noticing, which I've been teaching for years. It works right big time, oh my goodness. And I knew it did because it's been working for me for years and it works for my clients. But, goodness me, wow. So there was that. And then, secondly, in a week's time I'm going to walk the Italian Camino.

Speaker 1:

A year ago I was getting ready to walk the Camino de Santiago and this time last year I was kind of what would you call it, I'm seeing in my mind like going up and down a roller coaster. What would you call it? I'm seeing in my mind like going up and down a roller coaster, you know, traversing the emotional terrain of the anxiety of could I walk this far, all of the things that could possibly go wrong. And, yeah, very, very different experience this year. Why? Because I know I can walk that far.

Speaker 1:

But more than that, I know that whatever happens, I will look after myself. That's it that, to me, is essential. If I trust myself to look after myself, then everything changes. And for me, when I was pushing myself too hard in a successful career, too hard in a successful career, I broke the trust with myself. I did not look after myself properly, and that was without awareness. And now I have awareness and I choose to look after myself properly and I trust myself too, because I've proven to myself over and over again that I can and I will.

Speaker 1:

I've learned where my boundaries are. I've learned to honour what I need to feel safe, to feel well, to have energy to do what I want to do. I've learned to be my own biggest cheerleader, regardless, regardless of the imposter syndrome that comes up, the self-doubts, the fears, the anxieties. They still knock on my door. Of course they do, but I'm handling them differently and this has changed me hugely and I want to celebrate that and I want to talk about it because it matters, because so often we get caught up in unnecessary distraction from the things we really want. And what do we all really want? To feel safe, to feel appreciated, to feel joy, to feel satisfaction Pretty much that kind of thing in various flavours, in a million different ways, because we are all different, but we all have that essential need to feel safe, appreciated, fulfilled, loved, challenged in a good way. Comfort, comfort and challenge in the right combination creates this beautiful state of flow.

Speaker 1:

And the more I thought about and reflected on how much I'm, I've changed and am changing, the more I started to look behind me and look at the old thoughts and patterns I hadn't yet let go of. And how could I have more of this feeling of confidence, this calm confidence, this, this self-trust? How could I have more of this feeling of confidence, this calm confidence, this self-trust. How could I have more of it? And to me it became apparent that I needed to embody it. By that I mean to feel it, to allow myself to really feel it in every cell in my body, to feel it as a grounded of coarseness. Of course I'm the kind of person who will always want more, who will always be driven, and of course I get to look after myself properly. Of course I have headspace so I can think straight. Of course I can sleep at night, of course everything's going to be okay. Of course I trust myself, just this like of course I'm successful, but of course I've done it my way, because there isn't any other way.

Speaker 1:

And this is my version of success at this point in my life, at this season in my life, and a fundamental thing I did was rewrite my story, and I did this actually using ChatGPT. I gave it a very specific prompt and it's. I've trained chat GPT in my coaching methodology and values, and so it's it's. It's not an isolated prompt. However, I'm starting to use it with clients because it's really valuable when you start to rewrite your story in a way that shows you the success rather than hiding all of the shame. And I don't mean glossing over things, not at all. I've never been that kind of personal coach. I mean digging into the things that you're hiding and then telling them in a way that shows you what you gained from them, so you become the hero rather than the protagonist.

Speaker 1:

And this is something I want to talk about in an episode all on its own, because I found it so powerful. You can read my latest version of my story on the about page of my website if you're interested. I love it. I feel really proud of the story itself because it's both more vulnerable than I've ever shared it goes further back in time but it's also so good I can see the themes in it and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted reflected back to me. What have I been up to all this time? Why did I do that?

Speaker 1:

And in answering the why I found the themes. I could see what I was up to and it's this push-pull between freedom and success, like I could have one or the other, and now I see it as the same thing For me. I need to feel the freedom to be myself, and part of being myself a huge part of it is my work and success in work, but also success in having a home that feels good and is well run and having good relationships. That's all part of it to me, and the idea that freedom and success are opposite no longer makes sense. But I can see how I've battled with that my whole life, which is great, because it means I'm curious about success and that's why another big why, why the deep, heartfelt success podcast.

Speaker 1:

Success fascinates me. I love driven people, I'm driven, but doing it in a way that's rebellious, you know, gently rebellious, a way that's just more you, more me. That's personal. Well, that's much more fun than the whole linear success, right, the whole. Do this, then this, then that, then that, and when this then that. Then you'll feel like you've made it, because it doesn't work well, it doesn't for me. So a big question I've had is is there a plan? What's going on? What's going to be on the new podcast? So I'm just going to share some of the themes and questions I want to be exploring and then we'll venture together and see what happens.

Speaker 1:

So first the big one. Let's redefine success from not being a straight line but incorporating the squiggliness and allowing ourselves to feel successful regardless, because the in-between bits, the down bits of the roller coaster or the squiggly bits, are just as important, or sometimes more important than the times when it's obvious, when we have that obvious answer to the dreaded question so what do you do? Second theme expanding your capacity for more. So what if feeling successful is the key to creating more success? Because success begets success. Right, when we feel confident, we attract different opportunities than when we're feeling really unconfident. When we're feeling really inspired and good to be around, we have a different energy and people react to us differently. When we're acting with clarity and intentionality, we see things we don't see when we're having a down day or we're feeling ridiculously busy and overwhelmed.

Speaker 1:

So I like the idea that and I found this to be true for myself that by embodying the success we already have, by getting real clarity and really enjoying oh yeah, I made it, look where I am, I've done it noticing how you've changed, noticing the stories that reflect that back to you, like my sauna story and my preparation for the Camino story that energy what if that's the way to attract more success? That that helps expand your capacity for more, partly because you're already being the person who's successful, but also because in doing that, it does actually require the ability to courageously share to the old to say well, actually, this version of me really doesn't need to be doing that anymore, doesn't need to own that anymore, doesn't need to manage that anymore, doesn't need to worry about that anymore, because I'm this person. It's the catching up with ourselves, the allowing the conscious mind to become aware of where we really are, because I think I feel like it's got this, not jet lag, time lag, it's in the past. It's still going over old stories, old fears, old worries, still hanging on to old ways of managing things, when actually that's not where you are anymore. You're far more successful. Things have changed, and noticing that matters, because then you are holding on to things that are just not for you anymore, and then that helps create the capacity to hold more, more of what you want. Next, that helps so by fully embodying the level you have currently achieved or find yourself at. Not only is that great, because that increases self-awareness, self-knowledge and they're key to everything but it also creates more capacity for more, which, as driven people, we want, don't we? I do. Then I would like to dive into this why does imposter syndrome increase with success and how to turn that around so that it just becomes oh, I'm feeling self-doubt. That must mean I'm expanding into more success. Woohoo, that would be so cool, right? I don't know that much about it. I haven't. I mean, I haven't looked at the research on imposter syndrome for years, so that would be interesting.

Speaker 1:

Also, looking at what happens when you stop over-efforting and start allowing. I don't think you, you get more success by just sitting back and, oh yes, I just allow it to come to me like a magic genie. I think there's that. There's something between the, the challenge and the comfort, though that's really important to tap into, because the flow state is created by the right amount of challenge and ease. So what if that's the way to intuitively expand your capacity to attract and create more success or, in particular, to create more deep, heartfelt success, which, in the end, is the deeper version is much bigger and much more exciting and much more fully you and a fully lived life than just success. But traditional success, you know, business, success, work success matters as well, doesn't it? So it's all entangled and I'd like to explore that more then the powering of noticing and receiving success.

Speaker 1:

So this thing about you're already successful but you don't really feel it. That's really interesting and that's really sad to me, because that's happened to me a lot the inability to just, only in fleeting moments, say I've made it and then go back into coping, driven because it's a habit and it's adrenaline fueled and it's quite. I find it quite and I find it quite addictive. I also find it quite satisfying Get stuff done, plow out the way. Here comes a Heidi on a mission, everything's done. What's next? Oh my goodness. But not actually being able to switch off and go, I've made it. It seems a bit of shame to only have those moments fleetingly, although in my case I remember a terrible habit of going.

Speaker 1:

So I got that promotion. Great, we must go out and celebrate. What would you like to do? I don't know. I'm just going to sit down. I'm exhausted and then never actually doing it or booking something, and then, being so exhausted, I'd burst into tears at the slightest thing because I was frayed. Yeah, not, not good, not good. I'd much rather just celebrate the feeling of success every day, just for being me. That sounds much more fun and then have the added successful celebrations on top of that. But the minimum for me nowadays needs to be.

Speaker 1:

The feeling of success is embodied more and more and more, and that takes courage and it takes practice, and that's okay, because that's what we're about. That's what I want to explore how do we do all this stuff? So what happens when you shift your attention from what's next to what's here? That's a big part of it. Just move your attention. That's one of the practices why more will always be a part of you.

Speaker 1:

So if you're driven and it's annoying in many ways because it's like won't I ever be satisfied, or the opposite oh, what would I do if I didn't work like that's uncomfortable. But if you're driven, that's part of you and therefore it's a good thing. So, so what if we practice self-acceptance? Oh, that, that's just who I am. I'm always going to want more. That's okay. I can sit with both. I can sit in the feeling of satisfaction for now and the yearning for more, without feeling pressured or empty. It's that, it's the trick. There isn't there. Sitting with both states, that's exciting. I like that. The ability to stay in the energy of success and those in-between moments, that's a skill. That's a skill worth learning. I want to explore that more. Basically, lots and lots coming your way.

Speaker 1:

I'm really excited to be doing this. Thank you so much for being here. I hope the first episode has resonated. I hope that you followed and shared immediately and you're excited and can't wait for the next episode. I'm excited to be doing this. I'd love to hear from you. Please just drop me a line if you want to Heidi at HeidiMarkcouk, or find me on LinkedIn or something. Drop me a line. Love to hear from you. The next episode will be waiting for you. The next episode will be waiting for you.

Speaker 1:

For the first few episodes, I'm going to drop a lot together and then I'm going to aim for about fortnightly, because I think that's a good amount. It never feels too pressured for me and it never feels too pressured for you where you're like, oh, I should have, I've missed a podcast. I've got loads of podcasts to catch up on now. I don't like that feeling, but I would like to be doing this regularly. This matters to me. I can't wait to delve into this subject more and more and more. I'm discovering as I go. I'm walking my talk.

Speaker 1:

I'm in the process of creating more and more deep, heartfelt success for myself, and I'd love you to join me on the adventure the adventure of our lifetime. See you next time. Hey, thanks for being here, thanks for listening, thanks for joining me on my own adventure into what deep, heartfelt success means for me to explore further, make sure you hit the follow button. It really does help, helps other people to find it and if you're up for it, scroll right to the bottom of apple, where they've hidden the review section, and leave me an outstandingly wonderful review. It would be just so lovely. It would make my day.

Speaker 1:

And if you're ready to talk about working with me one-to-one, to go deeper and explore what it looks like to create your own version of deep, heartfelt success with a powerful coach walking alongside you, I invite you to book a deep, heartfelt success session. There's a link in the show notes below or you can just go to calendlycom. Forward slash, heidi, mark, forward slash heartfelt success. I can't wait to meet you and see what that looks like for you. So exciting. Here's to the next evolution of your success. See you in the next episode. Thanks for watching.