Épisodes

  • 173: #173 When Your Capacity (and Energy) are Low
    Jan 29 2026

    In this episode of Messy Business, I’m talking about capacity - what it actually is, how it feels when it’s low, and why pushing through isn’t always the answer.

    🟠 Motivation and capacity are not the same thing. You can want to do the work and still not have the mental, physical, or nervous-system capacity to hold it - and that doesn’t mean you’re uncommitted or doing anything wrong.

    🧡 I share honestly what low capacity has looked like for me over the past couple of years, including grief, burnout, life upheaval, and the unseen exhaustion that builds when you keep overriding yourself.

    🟠 You'll hear:

    • Why everything feels heavier when capacity is low
    • The difference between procrastination and genuine exhaustion
    • How resentment builds when you keep pushing past your limits
    • Why winter, grief, and the state of the world matter more than we admit
    • What “capacity-appropriate” work actually looks like in real life
    • Why doing less - with honesty - is often the most sustainable option

    🧡 This isn’t a doom-and-gloom episode. It’s about sustainability, trust, and learning to build your business around who you actually are, not who you think you should be.

    🟠 If things feel harder than usual right now, you’re not alone. You might just be tired.

    Helpful links:
    📙 Read my book: Life in Business - https://libbylangley.com/book
    🌍 Visit my website - https://libbylangley.com

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    27 min
  • 172: #172 Finding Your Sweet Spot in Business
    Jan 22 2026

    People talk a lot about “finding your sweet spot” in business, as if it’s a destination you eventually arrive at once you’ve tweaked enough, learned enough, or built the perfect offer.

    In this episode, I talk honestly about why that idea kept me stuck for years, and how I’ve come to understand my own sweet spot not as something I had to create, but something that was revealed once I stopped forcing, polishing, and over-engineering everything.

    This is a reflective, grounding episode about exhaustion, burnout, simplification, and what happens when you stop trying to be impressive and start paying attention to what actually feels right.

    We explore why chasing the “perfect niche” or “perfect offer” often pulls you further away from your sweet spot, not closer; and how relief, calm, and ease can be much more reliable signals than excitement or hype.

    🧡 Why your sweet spot isn’t something you engineer, it’s something you uncover
    🧡 How removing pressure, packaging, and performance can bring unexpected clarity
    🧡 The difference between proving your expertise and quietly trusting it
    🧡 Why feeling less busy, less impressive, and less urgent might mean you’re closer than you think
    🧡 How orientation - not optimisation - helps when you feel lost, tired, or disconnected from your work
    🧡 The signs you’re near your sweet spot (and why you don’t need to name it yet)

    If you’ve been feeling weighed down, disoriented, or are fed up with chasing the next thing, this episode is an invitation to pause, notice what’s already working, and let simplicity do some of the heavy lifting.

    Helpful links:
    📙 Read my book: Life in Business 👉 https://libbylangley.com/book

    🌐 Visit my website 👉 https://libbylangley.com

    If something in this episode landed for you, I’d genuinely love to hear what it stirred. You can find me on Instagram - https://instagram.com/libbylangley - or via my website; and if you’re feeling disoriented in your business right now, you’re very much not alone.

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    28 min
  • 171: #171 The Mental Weight of Digital Clutter
    Jan 15 2026

    Digital clutter isn’t just a bit annoying. It’s cognitively demanding - the invisible weight you carry around in the background that slowly drains your focus, decision-making, and energy.

    In this episode of Messy Business, I’m talking about the mental load of digital clutter: the tabs you never close, the old offers you don’t run anymore, the Canva designs you’ll never use, the dusty folders called some meaningless name, and the inbox that gradually becomes a list of things asking something of you.

    This isn’t an episode about productivity, inbox zero, or becoming some kind of minimalist monk. It’s an orienteering episode, because when everything feels foggy, heavy, scattered, or “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore”, sometimes the most stabilising thing you can do is remove the background noise.

    I share what it’s felt like to start 2026 by making small, doable edits - like closing 65 Chrome tabs (yes, really), getting my inbox down from 1,256 emails to 35, and deleting photos so I’m not paying for endless iCloud storage. Not because I became a new person overnight, but because I needed to feel lighter.

    We talk about:

    • Why digital clutter often feels heavier than physical clutter (because it’s always with you)
    • How it keeps you tethered to past versions of yourself
    • Why it’s not the time it takes, it’s the attention it steals
    • How deleting is actually an act of self-trust (not ruthlessness)
    • Why “lightness” is one of the clearest signals your nervous system gives you
    • And why you don’t need to know what’s next before you let something go


    If your head feels full, your business feels noisy, or you can’t hear what you actually want anymore… this episode will help you reorient. Not by adding more, but by removing what no longer belongs.

    ✨ Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do isn’t to plan better. It’s to delete what’s been under-the-radar asking something of you for years.

    Helpful links:

    📙 Read my book: Life in Business - https://libbylangley.com/book
    🧡 Visit my website - https://libbylangley.com
    If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on Instagram https://instagram.com/libbylangley and tell me what you deleted (or what you’re finally ready to let go of).

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    27 min
  • 170: #170 Starting Again When You Don't Know What's Next
    Jan 8 2026

    It’s January 2026 and the internet is screaming fresh start! and big year energy! - but this episode is the quieter truth underneath that.

    Because sometimes the most honest place you can be in business is this: you know what can’t continue… but you don’t yet know what’s replacing it.

    In this episode of Messy Business, I share what it’s actually felt like to close my main programme at the end of December - a decision that came from capacity, health, burnout, shingles, life being life… and the realisation that carrying on would’ve meant showing up as a husk of myself. I talk about the mix of emotions (relief, sadness, fear, pride), and why that huge sense of lightness is often the clearest sign you’ve made the right call.

    We explore the difference between ending something gracefully and burning everything down dramatically - and why ending doesn’t mean failing. Sometimes it simply means the structure no longer fits who you are and what you can hold.

    I also talk about what I’ve outgrown: the business model that relied on scheduled Zoom calls. Not the people, not the support - the structure. Because it wasn’t the calls themselves that were the problem… it was the fact they existed in the diary, acting like a constant constraint when life was already full.

    This episode is a reminder that being good at something, or being known for something, doesn’t mean it’s still right. And it’s also a gentle nudge to stop keeping things alive purely because past-you set them up.

    Along the way, I share what I do know about 2026 - even without a shiny plan:

    • I’m not building my business around endless Zoom calls
    • I’m not creating content for algorithms
    • The podcast stays front and centre
    • I’m leaning into more creativity, flexibility, and experimentation
    • And there will be simpler ways to access my brain without me holding a huge container

    And I leave you with reflective questions that might land hard (in a good way):

    • What are you doing purely because past-you set it up?
    • If nothing was required of you for three months, what would you naturally gravitate towards?
    • Where are you overriding your body and brain because you said you would?
    • What are you saying yes to that leaves you resentful… and what lights you up without trying?

    ✨ You don’t need a dramatic rebrand or a big announcement. Sometimes the first move forward is just quietly not renewing something.

    📙 Read my book: Life in Business - https://libbylangley.com/book

    If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on Instagram https://instagram.com/libbylangley and tell me what you’re ready to stop forcing in 2026 - and what you want to make space for instead.

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    27 min
  • 169: #169 The Return to Creativity: Letting Joy Lead Your Work
    Jan 1 2026
    This isn’t a strategy episode. It’s a wondering-out-loud episode. An episode about curiosity, colour returning to things that felt grey for far too long, and what might happen if we let joy, not pressure, lead the way.

    In this episode of Messy Business, I talk honestly about how fun kind of left the business room. How work became performance, value became output, service became self-sacrifice, and visibility replaced connection. And how easy it is to stay competent while feeling absolutely nothing.

    I share why joy isn’t frivolous or unprofessional; it’s essential. How play expands capacity, creativity unlocks solutions, and why clients want presence far more than polish. I talk about the invisible cost of being dependable, the pressure to keep proving yourself, and the freedom that comes from finally saying, I don’t need to do that anymore.

    This episode also marks a shift. I explore what joy-led work might actually look like in 2026 - slower, smaller, more human. Experiments instead of funnels. Conversations instead of campaigns. Depth over volume. Creativity without monetising every spark. And trusting that being yourself isn’t a risk; it’s the whole point.

    I share my predictions for where business is heading next: less AI slop, more real voices; less polish, more rough edges; more in-person connection; more neurodivergent-aware, capacity-led business models; and a collective fatigue with performing for algorithms instead of living real lives.

    ✨ Business isn’t meant to be endured. You don’t need to prove anything. Fun isn’t a bonus; it’s a compass.

    📙 Read my book: Life in Business — https://libbylangley.com/book

    If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on Instagram https://instagram.com/libbylangley and tell me what fun looks like for you - big or small - and what you’re ready to let joy lead towards in 2026.

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    27 min
  • 168: #168 Making Space for What Matters
    Dec 25 2025
    This episode is being released on Christmas Day - and if you’re listening today, I’m really glad you’re here. Whether you’re hiding from chaos, peeling potatoes, avoiding small talk, or simply enjoying some quiet, this one is for you.

    This isn’t an episode about planning, goal-setting, or using the time between Christmas and New Year wisely. There’s no strategy here. Instead, this is a breathing-space episode, a gentle pause in the noise of business, life, and the online world.

    I talk about why proper time off feels harder than ever, especially when our businesses live on our phones and in our heads. We explore the myth that we have to be available all the time, the pressure to fill every gap with content or productivity, and why making space for what actually matters isn’t a luxury - it’s essential.

    I share reflections from my own business after closing my group programme, going into this quieter period without pressure for the first time in years, and noticing how creativity returns when you stop forcing it. We talk about the beauty of doing less, why volume isn’t the answer, and how human connection has been quietly replaced by clicks, likes, and noise.

    This episode is also an invitation to step back, to stop narrating everything, to let yourself enjoy moments without turning them into content, and to remember that business is not your whole identity.

    You don’t need to optimise this moment. You’re allowed to rest, exist, and make space for what matters, without explaining yourself.

    📙 Read my book: Life in Business — https://libbylangley.com/book

    If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on Instagram https://instagram.com/libbylangley and tell me where you’re listening from - especially if it’s Christmas Day and you’re out for a walk, hiding from the family, or enjoying some quiet.

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    26 min
  • 167: #167 A Really Honest Review of 2025
    Dec 18 2025
    This isn’t a shiny year-in-review. It’s the truth.

    I’m sharing the most honest reflection I’ve ever recorded - a look back at a year that stretched me, broke me open, and forced me to finally accept myself in ways I’ve been talking about for years but hadn’t truly lived.

    I talk candidly about the emotional, physical, and practical weight of 2025 - from a country that feels heavier and more divided, to global politics seeping into daily life, to the financial strain so many of us have felt. I share the reality of my husband working away for months, the chaos of selling and buying a house, renovating a doer-upper with no kitchen for weeks, my dad being in hospital, and the slow, creeping burnout that finally caught up with me.

    I open up about what it’s like to hold space for clients while actually falling apart, the difference between being able to support and feeling able to support, and the bone-deep exhaustion that made even joyful things feel heavy. I talk about the shingles that forced me to stop, the guilt I’ve carried, and the realisation that my capability has far outpaced my capacity.

    And then - the shift. The letting go. The relief.

    You’ll hear about the programmes and structures I’m releasing, the too-many Zoom calls I’m never repeating, the creativity I’m bringing back into my life, and the excitement I feel for 2026 - a year with less noise, more life, and space to rediscover the sparks I’ve lost along the way.

    You’re human. And if this year has stretched you thin, you’re not alone.

    📙 Read my book: Life in Business
    🧡 Visit my website
    If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on Instagram and tell me what you’re ready to leave behind in 2025, and what you’re making space for in 2026.

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    27 min
  • 166: #166 What Happens When You Stop Forcing It?
    Dec 11 2025
    After 14 years in business, something finally forced me to stop - burnout, shingles, and life all colliding at once. The surprising thing is when you stop pushing, things don’t fall apart. They soften, they slow, and you begin to hear yourself again.

    In this episode of Messy Business, I’m sharing what truly happens when you stop forcing your business forward and give yourself space to just be. We talk about the difference between "can" and "should"; how self-marketing can become a trap; and why stepping back isn’t the beginning of the end, it might be the beginning of clarity.

    You’ll hear the story of the moment I almost quit back in 2017 - and how letting go opened the door to unexpected opportunities that sustained my business for years. And I’ll walk you through what this most recent burnout has taught me about capacity, creativity, and rebuilding slowly, joyfully, and on your own terms.

    You’re allowed to stop before you break. Taking space isn’t stepping backwards; sometimes it’s the only way to hear what comes next.

    If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it. Tag me on Instagram and tell me what you’re ready to stop forcing.

    📙 Read my book: Life in Business

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    27 min