Grow the Good

What if quitting was courageous? In this episode, I sit down with Lindsay Crouse, a former New York Times journalist and producer who spent 15 years at the Times, where she worked in Opinion and helped commission hundreds of short documentaries for Op-Docs. As an endurance athlete herself, Lindsay also became known for telling powerful stories about female athletes, pregnancy, sponsorship, and the hidden challenges women face in sport. Now, Lindsay has written a book about quitting.
We talk about why our culture celebrates pushing through at all costs, how perseverance can become a trap, and why quitting can sometimes be the wiser, braver, more values-aligned choice. Lindsay shares what led her to leave the Times, how motherhood changed her relationship with work and running, and why so many women in midlife start asking whether the lives they built in their twenties still fit who they are now.
I also share a story I haven’t really talked about before: the moment I decided to quit chasing sponsorships after pregnancy, even though I was still winning races. I had overcome so much, but the cycle of overdelivering, being unseen, and trying to prove my worth had become damaging to my mental health. Someone called it “positive quitting,” and that phrase has stayed with me.
This episode is for anyone who has been taught to never give up, but is starting to wonder whether continuing is actually helping or hurting. It’s about identity, motherhood, sport, learned helplessness, hope, sunk costs, fear, and the freedom that can come when we stop forcing ourselves to stay on a path we’ve outgrown.

Top 5 Takeaways
Quitting is not always failure: Sometimes quitting is the choice that allows us to preserve our energy, integrity, health, and future possibility.
Perseverance can become passive: Continuing is also a choice, even when it feels like the default.
Identity can keep us stuck: When we are known for something, it can feel terrifying to let it go, even if it no longer fits.
Women often feel pressure to “hold up the sky”: In sport, work, motherhood, and life, quitting can feel like confirming someone else’s bias instead of honoring our own truth.
Hope can be complicated: Optimism and hard work can keep us locked into paths where we no longer have real control or momentum.
LINKS
Learn more about Lindsay Crouse
Follow Lindsay on Instagram
Read The Case for Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting Out
Listen to What It Really Means to Matter
Listen to Hope Is the Strategy: Burnout, Mattering, and Meaningful Work with Jen Fisher  
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

A couple of days ago, I finished my first ultra trail running race: the Squamish 50K. This episode is a reflection on what it took to get there, what actually happened out on the course, and what I’m still processing afterward. This wasn’t a fairy-tale race story. I came into it after broken ribs, sickness, a short training window, and a lot of uncertainty about whether my body would hold up.
I kept coming back to one idea: race to the level of my durability, not the level of my fitness. That was humbling. I had to go against old instincts from 20 years of mountain bike racing, let people pass me, manage pain, and accept that who I am today is not always the same as who I’ve been in the past. But I finished, my kids ran across the line with me, and I learned a lot about patience, limits, identity, and what it means to show up honestly.
This episode is for anyone who has had to meet themselves where they are, not where they wish they were.
Key Takeaways
- Race to the level of your durability, not just your fitness
- Who you are today matters more than who you’ve been
- Finishing can be meaningful without being glamorous
- Pain and suffering don’t need to be glorified
- Identity is allowed to shift
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

This week, I’m bringing back a conversation from the archives with Ethan Kross, one of the world’s leading experts on the conscious mind and the author of Chatter and Shift.
I wanted to replay this episode because it connects so strongly with what I’ve been exploring lately on Grow the Good: impatience, rushing, emotional regulation, mindfulness, and the way our inner voice can either help us move through challenges or keep us stuck in loops of overthinking.
Ethan’s work looks at the conversations we have with ourselves and how those conversations shape our health, performance, decisions, relationships, and well-being. In this episode, we talk about negative self-talk, chatter, emotion, mindfulness, problem-solving, and why creating psychological distance can help us work with our thoughts more effectively.
One of the tools Ethan shares is called distant self-talk: coaching yourself through a challenge the way you would coach a friend, even using your own name or the word “you” to create a little more space. That shift can help us move from being consumed by our thoughts to relating to them with more perspective.
This conversation is a great reminder that our thoughts are not always facts, and our inner voice does not have to be in charge. We can learn to work with it, redirect it, and use it as a tool for more clarity, resilience, and self-compassion.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
The difference between self-control and willpower
What emotions are and how they shape our behavior
Problem-solving versus overthinking
Negative self-talk versus chatter
When mindfulness helps, and when reframing may be more useful
How distant self-talk can shift perspective
Why sleep and chatter are so closely connected
LINKS:
- Original conversation with Ethan Kross
- Learn more about Ethan's work
- Read Ethan's books "Chatter" and newly released, "Shift"
- Listen to Self-Talk for Performance: Mental Skills for Athletes
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

What does it actually mean to keep growing as an adult? In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend Travis Macy for a conversation that is less of an interview and more of a real, honest exploration of adulthood, grief, parenting, identity, intimacy, and mattering.
Travis and I have had many podcast conversations over the years. I’ve been on his podcast, he’s been on mine, and we became good friends through this work. In a lot of ways, we’ve lived these almost parallel lives as professional athletes, parents, podcasters, keynote speakers, authors, and people trying to figure out who we are beyond performance.
In this conversation, Travis shares about his father’s eight-year journey with Alzheimer’s and his recent passing, and how that experience became a major developmental milestone in his own life. We talk about grief, appreciation, gratitude, and the strange way hard things can deepen us when we are willing to stay present with them.
We also explore adult development: how our beliefs, identities, relationships, and sense of self change over time. We talk about moving from approval-seeking to mattering, from performance-based identity to something more flexible, and from people-pleasing to more honest communication and deeper intimacy.
This episode is for anyone navigating transition, grief, parenting, identity shifts, or the question: who am I becoming now?

Top 5 Takeaways
Adult growth is not just personal development: It changes how we understand ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us.
Grief can become a developmental milestone: Travis shares how his father’s Alzheimer’s journey and passing reshaped his sense of adulthood, gratitude, and appreciation.
Identity has to become more flexible: Many of us are learning who we are beyond performance, achievement, sponsorships, or old versions of success.
Mattering is different from approval: Feeling valued and knowing we add value can move us beyond people-pleasing and the need to prove ourselves.
Relationships help us grow: Parenting, partnership, friendship, community, and emotional honesty can all become places where adult development happens.
LINKS
Learn about Travis’s work
Follow Travis on Instagram 
A Mile at a Time with Endurance Athletes Travis and Mark “Mace” Macy
The Ultra Mindset with Endurance Athlete and Coach Travis Macy
Performance, Imperfect Preparation, and Flexibility with Travis Macy (Live Podcast)
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

In this Mindfulness in Action episode, we’re practicing patience in real time.
If you listened to last week’s solo episode, I talked about impatience, rushing, and how so many of us move through life like our self-worth depends on our productivity. This practice is about noticing that urgency in the body and gently turning the dial down.
You don’t have to cancel everything or suddenly become a completely calm person. This is about slowing down just 2%, enough for your nervous system to notice that you are no longer rushing. You are just moving.
I guide you through a simple walking meditation to notice your default pace, where urgency shows up in your body, and what changes when you soften, breathe, and move a little more slowly.
This is a practice for anyone who feels like they’re living in fast-forward mode and wants to come back to the present moment.
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.