The End of the Day Podcast with Kari Watterson: Using Mindset Work to Live Your Best Life

You’ve always been affirming something—whether you realized it or not.

In this episode, I explore why affirmations can feel cringey to some and grounding to others—and how much of that has to do with language, not logic. I break down the connection between affirmations and self-talk, the neuroscience of repetition and identity, and why most of us have been unintentionally affirming negative beliefs for years.

I also guide you through...

Casey Stillwagon is a teacher, ultrarunner, and mental health advocate based in Tokyo, Japan, and the human behind the uplifting Instagram account @Run5555km.

Along with the mantra, Stronger Every Stride, Casey shares messages of hope, self-compassion, and quiet resilience to remind others, especially those struggling, of the inner strength we all carry.

Earlier this year, Casey launched a personal challenge: to run 5,555 kilometers ...

What if the real reason you keep restarting your goals isn’t about discipline — but about how uncomfortable it feels to watch yourself do the journey imperfectly?

In this episode, I’m naming something I call perfectionist resetting — a hidden form of perfectionism that keeps us chasing clean slates instead of staying in the process long enough, messy enough, to actually cross the line.

If you’ve ever struggled with feeling like you h...

What would you share if you had just 45 minutes to offer someone a few tools that might stick with them for life?

That’s the question that sparked this special 100th episode.

When I was invited to speak to my daughter’s high school class, I asked myself:

What are the mindset tools I wish I’d known earlier?

The ones I return to again and again — in my life & in coaching others.

And the ones I’d want stud...

We’ve heard a lot about inner child work—and many of you might also be familiar with reparenting.

But what happens when the inner parent you created to support yourself becomes the one holding you back?

This episode was born out of my own frustration with that voice in my head—the one that once helped me feel grounded and safe, but slowly turned into something else.

What I now call: the hovering or helicopter inner parent.

The voice th...

We all have an inner voice.

It helps us plan, reflect, problem-solve, and create meaning.

But when that same voice starts spiraling into rumination, self-doubt, or mental noise—or chatter—it can become the very thing that keeps us stuck.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the science and psychology of the inner voice, drawing on the groundbreaking research of Dr. Ethan Kross, author of the bestselling book, Chatter: The Voice i...

Why do certain thoughts feel impossible to shake? 

Why does your brain keep looping on self-doubt, worry, or fear—especially when you know those thoughts aren’t helping? 

In this short but powerful mini-episode, we unpack the neuroscience of salience—your brain’s “this matters” tagging system—and how it fuels mental chatter, emotional suffering, and stuck patterns. 

Inspired by insights from Dr. Ethan Kross’s book Chatter, this episod...

What if the reason life feels so heavy right now isn’t because it’s hard… but because it’s the only thing in focus?

In this episode, we explore what happens when the little things—like chores, emails, or keeping up with life—start to take up too much space… and how the antidote might not be better time management or efficiency, but something much more nourishing:

Letting yourself want more.

You’ll hear:

• A story from coach Jody Moor...

What makes a habit sustainable—one that makes you excited to build?

It’s not just about discipline or consistency. It’s about what your brain wants to come back to.

And that comes down to choosing the right craving—and satisfying it well. 

In this episode, we re-explore James Clear's four-part habit loop—cue, craving, response, reward—with a spotlight on the craving–reward connection that changes everything. 

Because when you choo...

For so long, we’ve been taught that strength looks like pressure. That discipline has to hurt. That if we ease up, we’ll fall behind. But what if there’s another way?

In this episode, I explore the idea of Gently Strong—a quiet, rooted power that doesn’t rely on cortisol, perfectionism, or overperformance. Whether you once identified as high-capacity and are rebuilding after burnout, or you’ve never quite felt “strong” in the way th...

Ever notice how you can go from feeling confident… to spiraling in self-doubt… in a matter of minutes?

That’s not weakness. That’s a pattern.
And once you see it, you can change it.

In this episode, we’re unpacking the mind-body feedback loop—the often-invisible cycle where your body sends a signal, your brain assigns it meaning, and together they reinforce a story that feels true…even when it isn’t helpful.

This loop isn’t just f...

We all know what busy work looks like at the office — tasks that take time, energy, and focus away from making meaningful progress on the projects that actually move the mission forward. They feel productive, but at the end of the day, they just keep us occupied.

And we do the same thing in our minds.

We spend hours ruminating, second-guessing, and mentally rehearsing conversations — not because it helps us move forward, but because ...

Have you ever felt like you’re moving through life on autopilot—checking off the to-do lists, meeting obligations, doing what’s expected—without feeling truly alive? You're not necessarily unhappy, but you're not fully alive either. You feel like you're just going through the motions.

That restless, 'blah' or 'meh' feeling has a name: languishing.

Psychologists like Adam Grant describe languishing a...

"I wish I had let myself be happier."

In this episode, I share insights from a conversation with ChatGPT on one of the most profound regrets from Bronnie Ware’s memoir, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, based on her experiences caring for patients in the final stages of life.

The conversation dives into the active word in that statement—"let."  

What does it mean to let ourselves be happier? Why do so many of us r...

Many personal growth strategies assume you already know what you want.

But what if you don’t?

Not having a clear vision can feel like an obstacle to progress. It’s easy to believe you need answers before you can take action. But waiting for clarity can lead to years of hesitation, second-guessing, and inaction.

This episode explores how to move forward even when you don’t have a defined end game. It brings together insights from high-...

We hear a lot about motivation, discipline, and consistency when it comes to transformation—but what about endurance, the ability to sustain change long enough for it to truly take root?

In this episode, we’re exploring the often-overlooked key to long-term growth: mental, emotional, and physiological endurance.

Transformation isn’t about a single breakthrough—it’s about the thousands of moments where we choose, again and again, to r...

This is the final episode in a special three-part series on ADHD-friendly strategies for improving productivity—focusing on task initiation, continuation, and completion.

(Missed the first two episodes? This episode builds on Episode 85: Touching the Task—a strategy to bypass resistance by physically engaging with a task in a small way, and Episode 86: The Sufficiency Mindset—reframing the belief that you don’t have enough time, ene...

This is Part 2 of a special three-part series on ADHD-friendly strategies for improving productivity—or, more specifically, task initiation, continuation, and completion. 

(Missed Part 1? This episode builds on Episode 85: Touching the Task: An ADHD Strategy for Overcoming Task Avoidance, featuring the work of Dr. Russell Ramsay, a leading expert on Adult ADHD. If you haven’t listened yet, I highly recommend starting there.)

If you’v...

One of the biggest challenges for individuals with ADHD (and honestly, for many of us) is overcoming the initial resistance to task initiation.

In this episode, we’re diving into a simple yet powerful strategy called Touching the Task, developed by leading Adult ADHD expert, Dr. Russell Ramsay. This science-backed approach shifts the focus from thinking about starting to physically engaging with the task in small, tangible...