Episode 5: Structure & Systems for Success

EPISODE 5: Structural Support — FROM FOUNDATION TO MOMENTUM

Podcast: Badass Thriving with Caressa Dunphy

Show Notes:

After rebuilding from square one, what comes next?

In this episode of the Badass Thriving Podcast, we talk about the moment you decide to climb—not with hustle, not with chaos, but with structure, systems, and self-respect. Caressa walks you through how to move from surviving to rising, one aligned action at a time.

This episode dives deep into the real work:

• Why motivation is a liar
• How discipline becomes your superpower
• What daily routines support your next-level self
• And how to build momentum that actually lasts

You’ll hear stories from Caressa’s own journey—fitness, food, military life, motherhood—and exactly how she reverse-engineered her routines to rebuild from burnout, pain, and starting over. This is about designing your days with intention so you can live the life your badass self is asking for.

This is not just another hype-up session. This is about structure, self-honesty, and the decision to rise—even when no one’s clapping.

TOP 7 TAKEAWAYS:

1. Motivation is fleeting. Discipline is built.
2. You don’t find momentum—you design it.
3. Structure supports consistency. Systems support freedom.
4. Daily habits create a life you don’t need to escape from.
5. Your new life requires new routines—sleep, food, fitness, and stillness.
6. Keep micro-promises to yourself to rebuild trust and identity.
7. You are not behind. You are climbing—and that’s the most badass thing you can do.

THIS WEEK’S MANTRA

I don’t wait to feel ready. I choose to show up. I am building momentum one aligned action at a time.

JOURNAL PROMPTS

• Where am I still relying on motivation instead of structure?
• What system or habit would support the new version of me?
• What small promise can I keep to myself this week—and why does it matter?

If this episode hit home, please like, share, or leave a review.
It helps this show reach more badasses around the world.
Tag us on Instagram @badassthrivingpodcast and tell us how you’re climbing this week.

Want more real talk meets nutrition, energy meets fitness, and all-around badassery?
 Sign up for The Badass Avocado Newsletter at www.aisforavocados.com
→ One bold email a week with mindset gems, food wisdom, fitness tips, and reminders to show up like the badass you are.

You’re not behind. You’re building momentum. And that is badass as hell.

Transcript

0:00

Hello, my little bad asses. Welcome back to the Badass Thriving Podcast, where we go beyond the mind, the body, and the plate. I am your host, Caressa Dunphy, and if you've been here for the last few episodes, you already know that we've been laying a pretty in depth. Pretty intense foundation around what it means to really lean into having that badass vibe, having the audacity to claim that for your life and how you can go about from where you've been, where you're going to go from here as that badass and claiming that. So the stepping stones that we have been talking about these last several episodes, and so we have talked about trust, we've talked about. Building we've talked about returning home to ourselves and even the last episode of where it is from square one, where we decide to go from here. So now we're gonna talk about what it means when it's time to climb. If we are starting from that square one, like we talked about in the previous episode, and now we are moving forward with more intention, how do we begin that climbing of the mountain that is in front of us? Because for some folks it's, been going through life trugging, just chugging along. And now we're like, okay, now if we're going to. Go from point A to point B. We've got a little bit of a climb ahead of us, in this episode, we are gonna talk about fueling the climb. We're gonna talk about what life looks like after square one. In that last episode we talked about when the fire is lit and that path ahead still feels really long. This is where we shift from. I'm heading to. I'm rising, not with hustle and not with grinding, but with structure and systems and that self-trust. So really leaning into the self-trust component, letting your inner voice, inner intuition lead the way. And so if you've been asking yourself, okay, I am been doing that inner work. I'm, I've been doing that deep dive into what that intuition feels like and what trusting myself feels like, and I'm returning home to my. Self. And that next question is now what? Then this episode is for you, so let's dig in. So from rebuilding to rising rebuilding, it was talking about clearing out that rubble. Coming in with a demolition crew saying, some of these things no longer serve me. I need to excavate it out. And it was about this radical honesty with really sitting with. The habits, the maybe some people, maybe some different situations and scenarios that you found yourself in that you're like, this is no longer serving me. So it was about stepping away from that chaos and choosing instead, this new blank slate, this new blank chapter, this new blank, something in front of you, right? That you get to write the story. You get to be that. Author of that, you get to take that control. And so rebuilding is not the end goal. It's the beginning of the climb. It's that initial step. And the climb is not fueled by emotional highs or bursts of motivation. It's fueled by consistency. It's fueled by. Being very intentional, very mindful, and then the repetition of those particular systems and steps and habits that lead you forward. So this is the part that I find we all skip because we don't want to do it. We don't wanna continue to have this very radical, honest conversation with ourselves around our own habits and how they may or may not be serving us. They may or may not be helping us to become better humans. We all do it. You're not alone in it. I'm not alone in it. It's just. Really part of being that human experience. And so we often. We build enough just to feel stable again, so that things don't feel so shaky underneath of us. But then we just settle, right? Like we like to be comfortable. We don't like to be uncomfortable. Uncomfortable is just damn right uncomfortable. It is, no, nothing about it is appeasing when you're just like, okay, I've reached the. Edge of my resistance. I'm feeling, if I go any further, it's very scary, right? We've talked about fear. We've talked about how fear cannot lead the way, fear. We can acknowledge it, we can go and talk to that part of ourselves, and we can say, you can come along for the ride, but you can't lead the way. And if I'm fearful of going into the unknown, into that uncomfortable space. We need to do a lot of work around that too. Myself included, there's so many things in my life right now that I'm like, huh, this is hella uncomfortable. And it is very interesting when you start to realize like kind of the edges of your resistance. You're like, I can feel it right there. And this is on that outer edge that I am. I'm stepping into someone I've never been before and. It's like we're not here to settle for that. We're not here to stay in a comfy position the rest of our life. Like we continue to evolve and to grow as humans. And if you're not continuing to evolve as a human, and you're very much just sedentary in that way, like that's not a joy filled life. If you are not leaping into something unknown that is exciting and terrifying at the same time are your dreams big enough? Is what I have asked myself if. If my dreams and my goals don't light a fire inside of me and are also a little hella scary all at the same time, then my dreams are probably not big enough, grand enough. I still want something that still makes my soul, feel alive and you can only walk into that unknown if you are ready to rise. And so I invite you along on this conversation if you are also feeling this way. So I wanna just talk about what discipline is. I wanna talk about what motivation is and go into there too, because I feel like it all is part of this topic and I think it's really interesting and. I think it's relevant, so discipline over motivation. So let's just be real. Motivation is a goddamn liar. Motivation will hit for a split second, and you're gonna feel all, jazzed up inside and ready to go, make all the big changes, and then you find. Yourself slipping backwards. And it's like we become a little more inconsistent. It's more of this emotional spark we got going and then we just fade it off, right? It shows up when it wants to, but it's usually after, a perfect playlist or a gorgeous sunset or the New Year's resolution is, there right after all the holidays and you're feeling sluggish and then all of a sudden you're like. I did that for two weeks and I'm done with it now. So motivation is very fleeting, but discipline. Discipline doesn't wait for you to feel ready. Discipline is a decision that you have to consciously make every single day. I don't have to be perfect, I just have to show up. And guess what? You don't find discipline. You build discipline. And I think that is such a great topic right now because if we are moving from square one into how do we go forward and. Climb the damn mountain. You have to really go, okay, it's not about motivation here. Now this is where the rubber hits the road and I have to build it. It is a skill. It is a practice. It's like a muscle that you have to work at every day to make stronger, right? And once it kicks in, that's when you build the momentum. So do not confuse motivation with discipline and do not confuse motivation with momentum. So the systems that we put into place are what keeps us. Adhering to that next step. It is the structure, it's the scaffolding, it's the guardrails, right? It is there to set you on your path and keep you moving. So thriving doesn't happen by accident. It happens by design. If you want to feel better, if you wanna function better, if you wanna perform better. What systems support that. That is the key right there, is what systems support that. So when I am, crazy busy, I just came off of, all of my schooling and people are like, how do you do it all? And I just shrug it off and be like, oh, I just make it happen. I make it work. But really it's the systems that I have put into place. It is the non-negotiables that I have said, you know what? Everything else has to be put off onto, secondary, tertiary to-do list. Like it cannot be my primary focus right now. These are my primary focuses, and these are the systems that I need to put into place in order to make it happen. So my movement routine, my weight training, my exercise, my hiking, like that is non-negotiable to me. If I do not work out, if I do not take that time for myself, I am not okay. Like mentally, I need that stress relief. My body needs it. I need to feel, all of the feelings and the emotions and put it into. Something productive. And so my anxiety sometimes gets out of outta check and I'm like, all right, I need to go for a walk. I need to go for a hike. I need to go lift some heavy weights. My mind is spinning. I need to go clear my head for a little while, and my kids are driving me a little crazy, whatever it might be. I go work out. Like working out is my always number one priority. It is my go-to for everything. And so my movement routine, it's. Not always reflecting of like where I want to be, but it's certainly not where I used to be. And so right year. Right now, that is okay. I always have goals that I am working at and I'm always trying to reverse engineer okay, if I wanna get to this goal, what do I need to do every day? And order for that goal to happen because it's the micro tasks, it is the little movement of the needle moving it forward a little bit every day. That puts those. Particular movement and exercise goals into actual, I got that done. Check mark. Check that off my list. The nutrition that I choose to fuel myself with is Whole Foods, and then on top of that, it has to align with my celiac and lactose intolerances. For me, like I feel like garbage. If I eat outside of that, I can go away for a little trip and enjoy myself, but it always has to stay gluten-free and dairy free because regardless of, if I'm having. Whatever pizza or desserts, it's always at least gluten-free and dairy free because it I don't feel well, like I literally have these two intolerances and allergy and it, I'm a train wreck if I don't feel good with nutrition and so movement and nutrition are my two. Biggest things that I always prioritize and I also am like, how do I make nutrition work for me where I'm not planning for hours and cooking for hours and it's this really huge to-do every single time I have to go into the kitchen, so putting plans in place so that we know what we're gonna have for dinner, and then we plan it accordingly. My husband and I take turns cooking. We always try to have some kind of a game plan for the majority of the week of. Okay. How are we going to, do our dinners this week? Can we reverse engineer it right? A non-negotiable for me is my sleep. Like I need eight hours of sleep, and if I don't prioritize that and even try to get more like nine hours of sleep, I don't function. I am one of those human beings that needs a lot of sleep, and I am downright bitchy and ornery if I don't get it. When I was in my internship, I was going to sleep at 7 45 in the evening and getting up at four. Four 30 in the morning to go to the gym and the sun was up and the birds are shining. And I knew my kids were still up for a little bit longer, but I would call and say goodnight to them and be like, all right, mom's out for the night. I love you. I'm going to bed. Because you ha, if you don't prioritize those things, then how can you show up for everything else that you have going on? Being sleep deprived is. A tactic for, the military for a reason. It literally is the worst for your body when you don't get sleep. And it's like having a newborn who doesn't sleep through the night. My, my youngest didn't sleep through the night for two years and it was brutal. And sleep is so important. So absolutely prioritize it, and even if you can sneak in a little 20 minute cat nap or something, if you're really dragging on some of those days, do it. If you can do it. You have a whole to-do list of stuff to do, but like you can't do it if you have an empty battery. And then, daily amounts of stillness for me are really important. I'm out on a hike right now. I'm literally sitting next to a beautiful little creek and the birds are singing and the movement of hiking feels really amazing to me, of course, but also being in nature and the stillness when I come in and I. Sit and I listen to the birds and I just really take those intentional deep breaths to just listen to the birds and breathe deeply and get to, smell the smells. And even in the morning when I'm having my cup of coffee, those moments of. Stillness. My cats are usually nearby and I usually do a little bit of meditation and those moments of stillness where you can come from the place of kinetic, chaotic, whatever is going on in your life, to come back to that regulation, come back to, baseline for yourself so that you can, instead of react, you are. Coming from a place of calm and collectiveness and that you can move forward more intentionally. And, if we're always just reacting, that's not a great place to be all the time. It doesn't feel good. We all do it. We all have days. Yesterday was like that for me and I was just like, oh my gosh, I just, I didn't have enough alone time. I didn't have enough stillness the last several days. So I need to go on a hike. I need to go sit in the woods. I need to, do that for myself. Those are my non-negotiables. Those are how I built in structure and support around those particular topics. Here's the thing is that the daily habits are what truly build the routine. It is the little actions that create this flow and not the friction of it. It is. Being intentional with how you structure your day. Your systems don't have to be fancy, but they have to support you. It could be that what works for me is not gonna work for you, and that's totally fine. You can take some of these ideas and tips and tricks and you can modify them. You can say, oh, this could be a really cool idea for me, but I'm gonna have to change it a little bit because I have, different life. Expectations and responsibilities, and that's absolutely okay. Take what you need from it, right? So this can mean, a consistent sleep schedule that works for you. Maybe you're more of a night owl and you enjoy having a little bit more alone time before you head to bed for the night. Totally fine. Some people are like that. I am not one of them. I am, I'm definitely a morning person. But some people very much enjoy their quiet time at night and enjoy staying up a little bit longer, but then their morning is gonna look a little bit different. If you're gonna be meal planning, try to meal plan once or twice a week so that you have, an idea for at least like two to three days at a time. I find it easy to sit down on Sundays, plan out my meals, kind of work backwards once I figured out what days I want. What kind of protein then I can build in the recipes that I would like or have at least a little bit of a game plan with my husband. What we wanna do, if we're gonna be doing any traveling or what have you. And it's really easy towards the end of the week to like taper off and be like, I didn't plan past Wednesday, so I am really not sure what we're doing tonight for dinner. But, make it simple on yourself. Something I recently started to do on Sundays was just make like a big charcuterie board and just make it so that I had stuff that I could eat and my family can come in and eat and nobody had to cook it. It's like we just get to the point where what's for dinner is literally the worst question in the worst, but. If we can have a little bit of foresight and a little bit of wherewithal for the majority of the week, some of those other meals can be just a little bit easier. There's nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner, I'm just saying. As far as a gym schedule, remove the, if I will go to the gym and replace it when I go to the gym, make it a. Appointment that you keep with yourself so that you know at X amount of time every single day, this is when you go to the gym and your body gets used to that. Your body gets used to, oh, I roll out of bed. I put the gym clothes on that I set out last night. I put my shoes on and I head out and I just go do the damn thing. And it's. One of my favorite things to do in the morning is to get up early, and I do have a tiny home gym, but it's not quite what I need for my own self to really, get a really deep workout, really good workout. But when I was getting my workouts in at 5:00 AM during my internship, I loved it. I loved it because I felt like I just. Conquered the day I got the damn thing done, and now the rest of my day is only can get better from here because I've already done what literally is the hardest part of putting on the shoes and walking through the gym door and starting the workout. I have a rule with myself of, even if I don't wanna go to the gym, I need to show up and try for 15 minutes. Sometimes you have to play little mind tricks with yourself like that. And normally you get into the workout and in 15 minutes you're like, all right, I'm good here. I got into the rhythm of it. I'm good. There's only been a handful of times where I've actually let myself leave and after 15 minutes I'm like, I don't wanna be here. I tried and I, it didn't help me get into a better, state of mind. I literally wanna leave and I'll let myself leave, but I showed up and tried for at least 15 minutes, and that's only happened maybe three or four times. And then. 10 years I've been doing that little mind trick. Give that one a shot. Maybe that will help you, but there's little systems that you can have in place. Like I said, having your gym closed, set out, having your water bottle filled, having your headphones charged, having everything just ready to go because. It's literally taking out whatever barriers you can that will keep you from doing the thing. So try to just problem solve all that stuff ahead of time. If you know that you're gonna have a really crazy next day, but you can pack your lunch and your. Your day's worth of food the night before while you're prepping dinner. Do it just while you have all that stuff already pulled out. Make yourself an extra portion of dinner and make it into your lunch portion. That's one of my biggest hacks actually. People are always like, how do you eat so healthy all the time? How do you cook all the time like that? And I'm like, I just. Eat leftovers because why work harder? Why not just double the portion and keep it moving along? With what I've already got dish up and in fact I always try to dish up my food before my kids go back for seconds because I have a teenager and a 9-year-old and I have two boys and they are growing like crazy and so hungry, and so I'm always like pilfering my little food off first. So that. They can just go at it and clean out the dinner so it's always just that kind of stuff of. How can I work smarter and not harder? How can I make that as efficient and an effective for myself? Again, what are the systems that I can put into place? Always trying to strategize how to streamline your day to align with this new version of you. It's very easy that we get stuck in these habits, and fighting it so that you're not like, oh, I'm just gonna run through the drive through really fast. Ask yourself, is it worth it to me and do I really want it? You know when you ask yourself those two questions and then you say, yes, it's worth it to me, and yes, I want it. Then ask yourself, does this support my new version of me? Like 2.0, does this support the 2.0 version of me and would I still feel good if I went and did this, does this, new system? Support me as these, it's the guide rails, right? It's the scaffolding, it's the structure. And it's all part of the journey. So again, allow yourself some grace. If you are totally human one day and you're like, fuck it, I don't care today. Okay? But tomorrow, hold yourself to it. Hold yourself to it and be like, yesterday was yesterday and that's where it stays. And today is a new day and I like to tell my kids. Tomorrow's a new day and there's no mistakes in it yet, right? Make different mistakes mean make new mistakes. Don't do the same thing day in and day out. Hold yourself to it. Hold yourself to the new day and just try your best and. These are the small and seemingly boring steps, but they are what builds the momentum. They are what gives you the stability. They are what gives you that new foundation. And that's exactly why we don't rely on the motivation part of it, because motivation is so fleeting. But if you put these little steps and protocols into practice, then it is the system that will carry you forward. So that momentum is not sexy. It is boring as hell when people are like, Hey, let's go out and go do something tonight. And I'm like, cool. What time? And they're like, oh, like seven. And I'm like, hard pass. I'm done. I am PJ's on at seven. I'm not gonna lie. Like I don't do anything in the evenings. And it can be boring, but if you're like, I'm gonna hold myself to my bedtime schedule so that I can get a good night's sleep so that I can wake up and feel good in the morning, and I can hit the ground running, then that's what you need to do. Your yeses, you're saying yes to certain things is so valuable. It's that really honest part of yourself of if it's not a whole body, 1000%, yes, please. Hashtag worth it. Then it's a, or if it's a, maybe a maybe is a no. Let's just go ahead and clear that right up. If you're like, nah, maybe just go ahead and say no. Just do yourself a favor. It's boring. Like it really can be boring when you're just like, oh, I'm gonna do the thing that supports my life in this new and wholesome way. I am going to go to bed on time. I am going to, get up and go to my workout. I'm going to prep my food. I'm gonna do all these things. And. And I'm gonna stay true to this new system and this new scaffolding and the new like little stepping stones that are taking me towards these goals. And that's the momentum, right? But momentum is boring. It's not shiny, it's not inspiring, it's not Instagram worthy all the time, but it's. You and your gym clothes on a Tuesday doing the damn workout that you said you weren't gonna do last week. It's choosing water over soda. It's closing the kitchen down, and being like, all right, I hit my macros for the day. I am. Comfortable with where I'm at. I'm satisfied with my meals and anything after this is just me snacking because I'm bored. I need to shut the kitchen down and walk away. I need to log my meal. That'll be a conversation that we have in upcoming episodes about logging your nutrient macronutrients and hitting your goals and stuff like that. It's. I'm gonna add some extra vegetables to my plate. Even though, mom's not saying, eat your vegetables. I know vegetables are good for me, right? Like they're high in nutrients, and so I am trying to put more good nutrients into my body and be intentional with how I am. Eating and all of that. And momentum is not built on peak monumental moments. It is built on the mundane, boring ass little, choices. But it's okay. It's okay that it's repetitive. Let it be quiet, let it be boring because the boring stuff is what actually moves the needle forward. It's what actually ticks you into the right. Direction, day in going that, that direction. And it's like the day in and day out stuff can just feel really like mundane and, oh, I feel like I did the same thing yesterday. But your body knows what it, what to expect though. It knows. This is when I'm gonna get up. This is when I'm gonna go to the gym. This is when I can expect to eat my next meal. This is when I know that this is gonna happen, right? Like it's very smart like that. And so then your body gets really used to being fed all the time. Your metabolism's gonna speed up, right? Your body's gonna respond to the nutrition that you're putting in and the workouts that you're doing, right? Because then it feels safe. Your body is cool. We can thrive now. We're not in survival mode. We feel like we are being, supported and fed in all the right ways, and now we can, go forward and conquer everything, right? And it's keeping the promises to yourself. It's that self-trust isn't a feeling. It's a record of your actions. It's every time you say, I'm going to do this, and then follow through, your body knows that, and it's, you are re reinforcing the identity of someone that can be counted on and your body knows, okay, I can count on. Your brain told me this, and I'm along for the ride, and I can believe you when you say that you're gonna feed me and you're going to, move in an intentional way that feels good to me. All the things, right? And so your body and your mind are not always in sync. And this is how you bring it into that synchronicity. And so the more that you say, I'm gonna do this and follow through, you are. Bringing both your mind and your body along for the ride, and you're reinforcing over and over again. When you make those intentional habits, you're reinforcing in that positive reinforcement way, and then it becomes a new habit, right? Then you keep those micro promises, the more you believe it, the more it just becomes a part of who you are, and it doesn't have to be this loud declaration to anyone. It doesn't have to be big. It just has to be true, and it has to be true for you. And. Honestly, like you don't need more information. You don't need a new shiny plan, a new diet, a new exercise program, like your body knows you know what you need. It's just sometimes we're just oh, but and so inspiring, and I really like, okay, great. Follow that person on social media. See how they show up. You can be inspired to do your own thing. We all have people that we look up to, but you just need to follow through with what you've already got going on. The thing that you already said that you were going to do. Just keep doing it, build that consistency because it's a long game. In the day and age that we all have this instant, technology, instant gratification, right at our fingertips. Everything can be, here in four minutes. If you order it on Amazon, sometimes it's here later the day, it's like we don't. Where we don't get the body that we want and the life that we want with just a snap of our fingers, right? It is a form of self respect. When you show up for yourself every single day and say, today I choose to put in nutritious food into my body. Today I choose exercise that feels good to me today. I choose to do these things because I know that they are going to support me. They're gonna continue to support me. And maybe there's some things that along the ways you're like, okay, I tried that. It didn't quite work that way, but I'm gonna change it and modify it just a bit and then I'm gonna give it a shot and see if that works, right? Like you have to do a little bit of trial and error, but it is those tiny little aligned actions that do. Add up over time, right? It's like the dripping faucet, that drip and that drip, and you're like, oh, it's just a little bit of water dripping. But that little bit of water adds up to quite a bit if you were to catch it all in a bowl, right? And so if you just think about this little tiny bit at a time, it all adds up over time. So here's the deal. The next season of your life is really about your decisions over your emotions. It's about clarity over chaos. It's about showing up even when you would rather check out. You are already rebuilt. Now it's time to rise. You are already cleared the rubble from whatever you've just demoed out of your life. But now it's time to create something new. The climb is slow and the climb is sacred, but the climb is worth it. So here's the mantra of the week. I don't wait to feel ready. I choose to show up. I am building momentum one aligned action at a time. And here are your journal prompts. Where am I still relying on motivation instead of structure? What systems or habit would support the new version of me? What small promise can I keep to myself this week and why does it matter? Here is this episode's. Top takeaways. Number one, motivation is fleeting. Discipline is built. Number two, you don't find momentum, you design it. Number three, structure supports consistency, systems support freedom. Number four, daily habits create a life you don't need to escape from. Number five, your new life requires new routines, sleep, food, fitness, and stillness. Number six, keep micro promises to yourself to rebuild trust and identity. Number seven, you are not behind your climbing, and that's the most badass thing that you can do. If this episode hit home, I'd love to hear what part spoke to you. Tag at Badass Thriving Podcast and let me know how you are building momentum this week. Don't forget to sign up for the Badass Avocado Newsletter at www a is for avocados.com. It's one bold email each week with mindset, gems, food wisdom, fitness tips and reminders to show up like the badass that you are. Now go out there and make it a good one. Until next time.