Foreign.

So hi everyone.

Welcome back to another more yourself solo episode with me, Kate Moore Youssef.

I am delighted to be back and it feels like we've had a bit of a break.

I don't know about you, but I feel there's a different energy.

There's a different energy with the start of this year.

I made a promise to myself that this year was going to be about my inner peace.

And I decided that I was going to make my inner peace my priority.

And as a coach you can probably imagine that I do quite a lot of inner work, self reflection, self development.

Because if I don't do the work, how can I ask other people to do the work as well?

So over Christmas I really honed in on what I'd done, achieved, how I felt this year, my nervous system this year.

And I recognize that definitely my inner peace was not my priority.

So this year I am definitely saying to myself every single morning, making a commitment now the first thing I do is I do a gratitude practice just for a few minutes, I take some breaths, I don't go on my phone and I really kind of check in that my peace is my priority this year.

And so every decision, every choice, every action, everything comes from a place of is this going to help me feel more peaceful?

Is this going to contribute to my inner peace?

Is going to this going to take away from my inner peace and using that as kind of like my barometer.

Now I know that we live in a fast paced world and a busy world and we have busy lives and there's lots of things that need doing but there was a few things probably last year that I wasn't so boundaried on and my piece wasn't my priority and I guess productivity was my priority.

Now listen, I brought out a book, I published a book in July, the ADHD Women's Wellbeing Toolkit.

And there was a really serious lead up to that.

Know there was pressure from the publisher, there was pressure from myself because I really wanted it to do well.

I wanted people to find the book I put so much work in and I kind of saw myself in a bit of a container of this needs to be done and you need to say yes to lots of things and you need to show up and you need to work probably harder than you ever have done because you don't write them, publish a book for then no one to read it.

So for me it was really important to get the message out there and it still is important.

But for me now is I'm going To go through that lens of making peace my priority now.

I'm a firm believer that when we are aligned with how we want to feel, the right people, actions, choice, things flow.

And I wanted to use this podcast as an example.

So what's astonishing is that as we speak today on the, on the release of this date of the podcast, it is almost to the day.

Four years since I launched the podcast.

So that's four years of showing up consistently working with the same editor, giving me faith shout out here, who has been by my side since the very beginning.

And I've consistently chosen to always prioritize the podcast.

And it's paid off.

You know, I'm not up there with hundreds of millions of downloads, but nearly three and a half million downloads.

It's been, you know, listened to globally and the book was published off the back of this podcast.

I had no idea any of this was going to happen.

But going back to what I was trying to say before is that we have to make a decision to choose an energy that we want to work from.

Because from an energy that works and aligns with us, we flow.

So whether you're choosing a energy or a word or a feeling, this year that might be something different, it might be about connection, it might be about meeting someone, it might be about your energy, your physical energy that you want to exercise more or you want to be in productivity mode, maybe you've kind of been in hibernation mode, whatever that might be, you might be wanting to have more fun.

That's definitely a priority for me this, this year I want to prioritize my piece, but I also want to have it a bit more fun.

And I want to connect with like minded people and collaborate and do everything from a place of fun.

So whatever you're choosing to use as your modus operandi or that kind of lens, that filter that you want to go through your day that helps you stay in flow.

Now, flow is that feeling of when time just goes by and you don't notice.

It's that feeling of being so sucked in and just so kind of like focused on that one thing that you can't believe that there's all this noise going on around you, all this chaos and you're just totally in, in the moment.

It's just that feeling of knowing that you feel so present and you feel that you should be doing the thing that you're doing or it feels effortless, it feels easy, it doesn't feel like you are having to put yourself in another mold.

It just feels Authentic to you.

And that is what this podcast has always, always been about for me.

So being ADHD consistency has been a bit of a problem of mine.

I have lots and lots of ideas, so much enthusiasm, so many things that I want to do.

So many.

I guess I really want to kind of experience life and do lots of cool things.

But at the same time, I've got a family, I'm perimenopausal.

Sleep's really important.

I love being cozy and being at home and all these different things.

And so there are some sort of barriers to entry with some of the things I want to do.

And so I kind of, the consistency is always been a bit of a problem.

However, four years ago I decided that there needs to be a podcast about adhd, women's well being and finding more holistic lifestyle ways to support ourselves with adhd.

And four years has gone by so fast, so, so fast.

And that has been a flow.

That's been my flow.

And I've never once kind of dreaded a podcast.

I've never once not been present.

I love speaking to my guests.

I love re listening, relearning.

I love shar it.

I love seeing your reactions.

I love hearing from you.

I love hearing the feedback of when you've listened to a podcast that helps explain so much of your life.

And that is what makes someone feel like they're in flow now.

The podcast for me is my flow.

But what is it for you?

And I really want to kind of give this back to you.

I want you to have a little think about where you find yourself in flow.

Not where things feel difficult and challenging and hard and oppressive and restrictive.

Like, we know that there's things like that going on in our lives.

But I just want you to have a little think now about when you genuinely feel at ease.

Everything feels, you know, effortless.

You just feel you're like your most authentic self and you don't need to have to explain yourself or you don't have to feel like an imposter, anything like that.

So with the podcast, obviously, you know, I talk about not feeling like an imposter.

Yes, I probably did at the beginning feel like an imposter.

That who am I?

But four years ago, not everyone had a podcast.

Kind of feels like everyone has a podcast now.

But I'm really proud of the fact that I've showed up for four years and there's been awards.

You know, we've won quite a few awards over the past few years, like really great industry awards.

I'm really Proud of.

We've helped educate.

We've changed.

I know we've changed the landscape of neurodiversity and, and women's health.

I know that I've helped educate doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists in different sort of healthcare for women.

I know that we've helped move the needle.

And what's incredible about why the podcast has sustained my attention, sustained my energy and focus, and I've remained in flow with it, is because I'm constantly learning, I'm evolving and this subject evolving as well.

So this subject, you know, we started four years ago and I was thinking there's definitely a connection with hormones and there's a little bit of, you know, evidence and there's a couple of doctors that are talking about it.

You know, what's exploded over the past 18 months, I would say is a complete validation that women's hormones are intrinsically linked to how our neurodivergence shows up and mutates across the lifespan.

What we're learning now is there's so many other things at play and histamine is one of them.

And I think that's good.

This is going to be a really, really big year where we're going to be talking about mast cell activation syndrome, histamine intolerance.

I'm already speaking to different doctors about it.

I'm having personal experience, really learning and deep diving for myself and in my family.

One of my daughters is really struggling with it.

I'm speaking to other experts in the field about it.

And we're really recognizing this area directly impacts our immune system, our endocrine system, our gut health, our cognition, our energy, pain, inflammation, the mitochondria.

It's really, really, really big conversation and potentially could be masking as adhd, where actually there's mast cell activation syndrome.

And so we still don't know a lot.

You know, you may have also noticed that we've had lots of conversations about hyper and loss, addiction, anxiety, rsd.

There's so much that we still don't know.

Like we can talk about it, but we are still waiting for a lot of research to substantiate.

Substantiate, sorry, our lived experience.

So I will continue to keep bringing the podcast to you because for me it lights up a lot of the values that I find really, that really drive me, which is evolution, growth, education, teaching, really being of service and hopefully making a difference, like leaving an impact.

And those, those things really, really matter to me.

But it also kind of is fun and I don't have to be perfect at it.

And I know that this audience is really accepting.

So if I cough or sneeze or stumble over a word or make a make a mistake with an analogy or a comparison and all this many things that I do in this pod, I know that's okay as well.

And that for me, it feels like a really safe space.

It also means I can share.

I can show it vulnerably.

So, again, I'm going to pass this back on to you.

And can you find something like this in your life that lights you up the way that the podcast has done for me and continues to do?

So, going back to all of this, this is about this year.

I really sense a year of more people stepping into who they authentically want to be.

More people kind of dropping that mask and the feeling that we need to be doing things a certain way and actually just going, sod it, I don't want to do this anymore.

My life's too important, my health's too important, my family's too important, my relationships are too important.

And actually recognizing that we're in a change, I really think there's a change in consciousness.

And anyone that's into horoscopes and Chinese, these horoscopes especially, that we are leaving the year of the snake.

I think 2025 was the year as the Snake.

There was a lot of shedding, There was a lot of releasing.

I think it was a difficult year for many people.

I really felt that.

I felt it was quite a heavy, oppressive year.

I felt like there was a lot of healing that needed to be done.

And I'm still doing, but the coming year, and I think it's coming into play around the 20th of February is the year of the fire Horse.

And feel free to go and have a look at all of this and see how this relates to you and your star sign and where you are.

But I really, truly believe in things like this.

I do a lot of learning, especially around kabbalistic astrology and horoscopes, and it really aligns with me.

But find what aligns with you.

And I know that 2026 from sort of middle of February is going to come in the year of the fire horse, I believe, and the fire horse energy is building that momentum.

If you think about a horse where they start sort of slowly and then they start, you know, trotting and then galloping and then going faster and faster, and I think that is what is being asked of us, is to start stepping into what we enjoy, what lights us up, what ignites that fire within us.

And we are able to do that without asking for permission from other people.

I think we have passed that point now where we are kind of hiding or we're shrinking ourselves or we're minimizing ourselves.

It's kind of like you've done the releasing, you've done the inner work, you've done the, the recognition and especially around, I guess my work with, with women who are maybe like yourself, who are realizing their neurodivergence later on in life.

Perhaps you've recently got a diagnosis or you're waiting for one, or you're self aware and you're.

This is.

This way of living hasn't served me and I didn't know all of this, but now I know about it and I'm on this path to understand more and to create more education and awareness and healing and learning and changing and evolving.

And I'm ready to do things differently now.

And I kind of sense a bit of that energy.

This is this energy of growth, but aligned growth.

And that's something that I'm going to be stepping into as well.

I'm really excited, actually.

I feel very excited about the year ahead because this is about just stepping into who you want to be, how you want to feel, the things that you want to do unapologetically without asking permission.

It's like this is it now.

Let's, let's start galloping and doing the things that light us up.

So I'm going to leave you with today's episode of Think about a word that you want to step into for this year or a few words, I think with adhd, with there's a few versions and Personas of us.

So like I said, you know, there's a part of me that really wants to prioritize inner peace, but then there's another part of me that actually just really wants to have some fun, travel, collaborate, do new things, try, try some, you know, fun, exciting adventures.

But I want it to be through this lens of this really serves my soul.

This really lights me up and really kind of contributes to feeling peaceful and at ease.

So maybe have a little think about what, that, you know, what, what 2026 is bringing to you.

And I also want you to think how you can channel this through flow through flow that feels good to you.

And then I want you to have a little think about maybe some actions, some small actions that you can take to follow this through.

Because we can do a lot of the energetic work, the internal work, the visualizing, the breathing, the meditating, all stuff, all this Sort of somatic embodiment.

I love all of that.

But we have to follow through with action, we have to follow through with steps, and it has to be aligned from that energy.

And that is when we start putting boundaries up.

That's when we start sending emails.

That's when we start putting ourselves out into sort of comfort zones.

And, you know, I'll share today.

I'm recording this on a Thursday, and I'm going to an adult kind of dance hip hop class for the first time tonight.

And so instead of putting my pajamas on, doing the same thing that I normally do, sitting, watching TV and putting myself out my comfort zone, and I feel like I want to do something upbeat.

I do a lot of yoga, a lot of walking, but I just kind of feel like I want to do something different.

I want something higher energy.

So just honor that.

You know, honor that and don't question it and just be curious.

So take a pen and paper if you know what I've said to you in this.

Today's episode just sparked some things, and there's things popping in your head.

Get it out, get it onto a piece of paper.

Write down what you're feeling, what you're thinking, what's coming to you, what are you.

What momentum is there that perhaps last year didn't feel quite.

You didn't feel quite ready for.

And this year you're kind of thinking, oh, okay, I quite like this.

I quite like this.

For me, I feel like there's courage there.

I feel like there's energy there.

I feel like the momentum is ready.

It's so interesting how we have different, you know, eras and stages in our life.

And, you know, I'll leave this with actually mentioning eras.

I watched the Taylor Swift eras documentary that was on Disney over Christmas, and I'm.

I think I wrote about it on Instagram.

I'm not like a Swifty.

I'm not really into her music.

I like a few of her songs.

But I watched this and I just thought, my God, this woman is a powerhouse.

Like, she has evolved and changed and genuinely had, like, different eras, you know, different music, the way she's brought out different clothes, different versions of herself, different relationships, and she just keeps growing.

But she's not ashamed of the version because each version, each era she had has contributed to a different, you know, next version.

And she's just taking this aligned action and not judging herself and recognizing that each maybe relationship, each song, each album that she's brought out has been another stepping stone.

So this is not about looking back and being resentful or regretting or critical.

This is about using everything that you've learned from the past.

All the lessons, all the difficulties, all the challenges.

Let's not criticize them or judge them.

Let's just use it as powerful wisdom.

You know, we can use everything we've done, whether you are proud of it or not, as powerful wisdom to ignite you forwards, to move you towards the next version of yourself.

This is a new era.

I really believe it.

I feel there's a new chapter coming for this world that I'm embodying.

This maybe this podcast, my business.

I feel like there's a generation of women who have been diagnosed and given awareness over the past five years and it's like, now what?

What are we going to do with this?

How are we going to serve?

How are we going to help?

How are we going to make changes not only to the outer world, but to our inner world?

How are we going to live differently?

With more aligned energy, with more flow, with more ease, with more fun?

Yeah, I'm saying bring it on.

If you are feeling aligned with this energy, if this feels like I'm speaking to you, I would love to hear.

Please message me, drop me an email, because I love that.

I think with a collective consciousness, collective energy, things can kind of feel a bit contagious as well.

So I'm going to leave that here with you today.

Wishing you a great week, a great day, and I will see you all very soon.

Take care.

If this episode has been helpful for you and you're looking for more tools and more guidance, my brand new book, the ADHD Women's well Being Toolkit is out now.

You can find it wherever you buy your books from.

You can also check out the audiobook if you do prefer to listen to me.

I have narrated it all myself.

Thank you so much for being here and I will see you for the next episode.