In this episode, I explore a truth many high performers live but rarely name: ambition can coexist with healing—but only if your nervous system isn’t stuck in survival.

I unpack why staying busy often becomes a coping mechanism, how success can mask unresolved stress, and why waiting to “pause life” to heal doesn’t actually work.

This conversation is about learning how to regulate while moving, finish the stress cycle in real time, and build a life where ambition doesn’t come at the cost of your body, relationships, or peace.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• You don’t need to stop performing to heal—you need to regulate while you move
  
  
• Ambition often becomes a strategy to outrun discomfort and unresolved stress
  
  
• A dysregulated nervous system keeps success from ever feeling safe or satisfying
  
  
• Healing doesn’t require retreat; it requires awareness and completion
  
  
• Finishing the stress cycle is essential for long-term resilience
  
  
• Productivity can coexist with regulation when safety is restored
  
  
• Your body doesn’t need less drive—it needs more recovery signals
  
  
• Healing in motion prevents burnout without killing momentum

Links and Resources:

Follow Terri-Ann Richards: https://terriannrichards.com/

The Happy Stack Newsletter: https://happystack.substack.com/

Success Takes Courage Book: https://a.co/d/dgOqpbj

If this episode helped you see your ambition differently, share it with someone who’s succeeding on the outside but struggling on the inside.

Subscribe to The Happy Stack Podcast and choose one way this week to finish your stress cycle instead of pushing through it.

• (00:00:01) - How to Stake Out a Happy Life
• (00:06:41) - How to Shorten Your Stress Cycle