☔️ When It Rains, It Pours! How to Reframe FAILURE and Keep Moving Forward

Ever had one of those weeks where everything seems to go wrong?

This week, RV Queens Podcast host Kate White found herself completely knocked out by a mystery virus—six days in bed, zero energy, and absolutely no productivity. On top of that, unexpected expenses piled up, from truck repairs to insurance bills, and even her visiting in-laws (whom she loves) were sick too. It was one of those weeks.

As Kate rested, her mind kept running in circles, replaying one frustrating thought: I’m failing. She found herself dwelling on everything she wasn’t doing—missed podcast recordings, canceled meetings, unanswered emails. But in the midst of it all, she had a realization: her worth isn’t tied to her productivity. 

And neither is yours!

In this solo episode, Kate shares her personal struggle with rest, productivity, and self-worth, unpacking why so many high-achieving women feel guilty when they’re forced to slow down. She also breaks down the four mindset shifts that helped her escape the “failing storm” and reframe her week in a healthier way.

Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Zoom Out on the Bigger Picture

• A tough week feels massive in the moment, but will it matter in a month? Probably not.

2️⃣ Separate Tasks from Self-Worth

• Failing at a task doesn’t mean you are a failure. Productivity isn’t the measure of personal value.

3️⃣ Look for the Lesson

• Challenges always carry lessons. The sooner they’re learned, the less they repeat.

4️⃣ Expect the Blessing After the Storm

• Life storms don’t last forever, and often, something good is waiting on the other side.

For fellow travelers, business owners, and dreamers who have ever felt behind, this episode is a reminder to give yourself grace and redefine what success actually means.

Join the Conversation!

Send Kate a DM on Instagram @RVQueensPodcast and share what resonated most with you. And if you found value in this episode, leaving a review helps more travel-loving entrepreneurs find this community. 🚐✨

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to the RV Queens Podcast, where we discuss making
money and living life on the road.
It's Kate White, your host, and today I'm coming at you on a
chilly winter day from a super cozy spot in my RV.
I'm coming at you with a solo episode and we're diving into
something we all struggle with failure.

(00:21):
Or at least the feeling of it. Whether it's falling behind at
work, hitting a rough patch financially, or just feeling
like life is throwing way too much at you all at once, I've
been there. In fact, this past week has been
a master class in dealing with setbacks.
Between sickness, unexpected expenses, and completely
derailed routines, I found myself stuck in that all too

(00:44):
familiar mental loop of I'm failing.
But here's the thing, I had a breakthrough and today I'm
sharing 4 powerful mindset shifts that helped me reframe
those thoughts, shift out of survival mode, and actually see
the bigger picture. So if you've ever found yourself
wrestling with self doubt, feeling like you're dropping the

(01:04):
ball, or questioning your worth when life slows you down, this
episode is for you. All right, my friend, grab your
coffee or hot tea and let's roll.
Hello, my friends, and welcome to another episode of the RV
Queens podcast. This is Kate White, your host,
coming at you from the comfort and coziness of my bed.

(01:29):
I'm surrounded by pillows and I've got some hot tea.
You can probably hear in my voice that I'm a little sick.
I've actually been sick for about 6 days in a row.
And you guys, it completely wiped me out this week for
almost a whole week. Yeah, more on that in a minute.
But I, I want to let you know that I've been releasing these

(01:53):
solo episodes this year here andthere for a couple of reasons.
One is to bring you some mindsethacks that I hope you can use.
And also what I hope is inspiration to give you a little
mental boost. Because as we all know, travel,
life and entrepreneurship is noteasy.

(02:16):
It is not for the faint of heart.
And if I can be here to give youa little high 5 butt slap,
whatever you want to refer to itas, I would love to be able to
do that. And the second reason I'm
recording these solo episodes isactually as an exercise in
personal growth. It's actually way more

(02:37):
stretching for me personally to record solo episodes that I
think bring value to you listeners than it is to record
interviews. And if you stay with me today,
I've got some good Nuggets to share that I think will help you
reframe thoughts of failure and low self worth when they come

(03:01):
up. So bear with my sick voice if
you will. And here we go.
OK guys, so as I mentioned, thisweek has been just full of
sickness. I'm not kidding.
My husband got it first and my son Teddy.
And then as it goes a few days later, I got it on Monday.
I went to the doctor, they did the swab Dude, this virus like

(03:25):
does not show up as anything. It's not strep, it's not COVID,
it's not What else would it be? The flu?
Nothing. So here we are.
All I've been doing is lots of sleep.
I don't get sick very often, butwhen I do, I'm used to, you
know, the kind where you rest for a day or two and then I
bounce back pretty quickly. But this has taken me out.

(03:48):
Like I am just feeling my energyreturning on what is this day
six or seven or something. It's crazy.
On top of the sickness, we've had the in laws visiting us,
whom I love, but they were also sick.
So unfortunately for them, they had a 10 day Florida vacation.

(04:11):
They're from Nebraska, so back home it was like freezing
temperatures and snowing and they came down all the way to
Florida to be sick with me and my family and we just had a big
old coughing sleeping party. It's been crazy.
So on top of this, the week prior to all of this sickness
was one of those weeks when you just kind of feel like you're

(04:35):
hemorrhaging money every day andyour usual schedule, like just
normal routines. Our normal schedules got
completely thrown off. Our truck needed new batteries
and new tires. We had to switch insurance and
pay that bill. Our Thousand Trails annual

(04:55):
payment came up. It was just like one of those
weeks that it's like when it rains, it pours and I know you
guys know what I'm talking about.
It was crazy. So we had first a week of like
bleeding money and then we had aweek of sickness.
And the weirdest part to me about being sick is like the

(05:16):
mind games that go on in your head.
You know, like when you hit the point that your body can't move
from fatigue, but you also like,can't sleep anymore.
Like your, your brain is just moving forward, but your body
just has to lay still. And it surprised me for the
first couple days that I kept having this phrase run around my

(05:41):
head that I'm failing. Like, all I could think of was
all of these little things that I was failing at because I was
sick. You know, like, do you ever just
observe your thoughts and kind of wonder at them?
Things that I was thinking I failed at.
OK, so a lot of it was like podcast and business related.

(06:02):
You know, we had this online Galantine's event and I meant to
record it so I could release part of the audio for an
episode. I totally failed at recording
that. Yep, failed at that because I
was sick. I had to cancel a podcast
interview that felt like me failing.
I had to cancel a phone call with a potential partner that

(06:23):
I've been trying to get on the phone with for weeks and weeks.
Lauren, if you happen to be listening, I'm so sorry.
You know who you are, but we will catch up soon.
All of these emails I had to return, I felt like I was
failing at clients and partners to respond to communication with
my team. The normal weekly task.
I'm not kidding. My mind was like going around

(06:45):
and round about all these thingsthat I felt like I was failing
at and like, what is that? Like why would my mind
automatically go to my days of needing rest to heal from a
sickness as failing? Are you kidding me?
Like what is going on in the programming of my brain that

(07:06):
this is how I'm conditioned is to just consider that I'm like
failing when I'm sick? OK, I've been mulling over this
a lot in the past few days and Ihave an interesting conclusion
to share with you, which is why I'm recording a podcast episode
for you with my sick voice. I think this is going to speak
to at least one of you high achieving women out there who
are listening. The reason I feel like I failed

(07:29):
at life this week is because I wasn't productive, like at all.
I was literally doing nothing. I couldn't even do like
domestic, helping with breakfast, helping with dishes.
All I could do was like feel like I survived the day, you
know? Like I was still alive at the
end of the day and that's all I could do deep down.

(07:50):
Here's what I realize is that I view rest, even when it is a
freaking necessity to survive, as a lesser use of my time.
I think this is extra weird thatthis is still part of my psyche
because we started RV life to travel and slow down the pace of

(08:13):
our family life. Like I wanted more rest.
I've invited more rest and slowness into my life over the
past couple years, and it's beenawesome.
But there's still something in my mind that tells me that my
value, like even my worth as a human, is tied to what I do, to

(08:36):
how productive I can be in a day, and to what I can create
for others. It's like I'm not good enough as
a human unless I'm doing something for other people.
This has come up this week, and it surprised me because I
thought I had LED all of this type of what I consider

(08:58):
psychosis. I thought I let this go when I
stopped working as an employee. You know, what I found about
myself this week is that I've returned to my old ways of being
in a way, addicted to productivity.
Like a big part of myself worth is tied to what I create.

(09:18):
Some of this, you know, I think is innate as a human being.
We are all little mini creators who crave a sense of purpose and
our work. You know, as moms, there's
something that happens in you when you have kids.
It's like you have to take care of people.
It's just it just becomes innate.

(09:40):
So you know, some of that is like just being a human, I
think. But there's something that I
feel like is also going on in mymind and I know this can happen
to all of us high achieving women that have big dreams.
We're trying to do a lot in our travel life as we're making
money and have all these endeavors that we're like

(10:04):
chasing after. So you're probably.
Planning out your travels for the rest of the year and if
you're heading out West? I.
Hope that Bryce Canyon is on your must see list.
It's one of our family's favorite national parks.
I recommend staying at Bryce Canyon RV Resort.
Which is a. Short drive from the park
entrance has incredible. Views full hookups.

(10:24):
And all the family friendly amenities you're looking for.
Bryce Canyon RV Resort is an OurJourney campground so you know
it's going to be clean and safe.Click the link in the show notes
to book now and start your journey with Our Journey.
Having the words I'm failing floating around in my head in
this week when I'm literally just sick and needing rest seems

(10:47):
like I've gotten a bit off in this area.
This was kind of a red flag to me and it's kind of funny.
I posted a podcast a couple weeks ago about this alternative
I have to setting yearly goals and I mentioned the concept of
being codependent on the goals we want to achieve.

(11:08):
And here I am this week being codependent on productivity to
feel a positive self worth. So still a work in progress over
here people. OK anyways, back to the point.
Now instead of letting myself sit in this weird mind Stew of
feeling like my life is going topot while I was sick, I did a

(11:29):
couple of things that helped. And here's the part I want you
to pay special attention to and even return to when you're
having similar thoughts of low self worth, when you're feeling
like you're failing at somethingthat you're doing or failing at
being someone that you want to be.
Let me share with you what helped me this week get through

(11:52):
this all right. Number one, I widened my
aperture, as the artists say. That means I zoomed out in my
mind on the situation. So instead of looking at this
weekend in particular and everything I felt like I had
failed at and I was missing out on, I just took a step back.

(12:14):
Like next month or even next week.
Will this week of rest be a complete detriment to my life
and business? No, obviously not.
Well, the cancelled meetings andthe delayed podcast and the late
e-mail responses and everything that I feel like I had to like,
delay and push off be the end ofme.
No, it's just going to be a blip.

(12:36):
I'm just going to apologize to everyone for being late because
I was sick. And guess what?
Everyone's going to be understanding and it's going to
be fine. The other thing, second thing
that I did this week to help me shake off the feeling of failure
is I made an important distinction in my mind of using

(12:58):
I failed instead of I'm a failure.
You'll notice even most of the way through this episode, I
haven't said I felt like a failure.
I've been saying I failed at things at tasks.
That's because I'm still forcingmyself to keep the delineation
between failing at tasks I perform and me as a human being.

(13:23):
You know, just because you fail at a performance doesn't make
you a failure of a person. And I this week didn't even let
my mind go there because I knew that was a dark hole that I did
not want to go down. The third thing that I did this
week to keep my mind out of the fail failing storm is I kept

(13:44):
asking myself what is the lessonhere between the previous week
of, you know, the hemorrhaging money week and then this really
hard week of being sick and having to host on top of it.
I just kept thinking, what is the friggin lesson that I need
to be learning? I'm sure there's something that

(14:07):
you know, divine intelligence, God, the universe, what have you
is trying to teach me and maybe even us, me and my husband, we
talked about this. What are we supposed to be
learning in these hard couple ofweeks?
I still am not totally sure whatit is, but I know that if I
don't stay open to learning and understanding, then this lesson

(14:30):
is just going to keep coming around until I get it, you know?
Maybe the lesson is that my identity is still a bit too
intermingled with being a productivity machine because I
grew up in America and it's justkind of in me.
Or maybe I need to learn to stopbeing a martyr and to stop

(14:50):
abandoning my personal well-being for the sake of
others. That's something that I've kind
of struggled with a lot over theyears.
Still working on that one, but my mind is definitely going in
that direction. And lastly, the 4th mindset hack
that I kind of used this week toget out of this failing storm is

(15:11):
that I remembered the past. This week has felt extremely
challenging in many ways, and I let myself remember weeks in the
past that have felt just as challenging.
And here's the crazy thing, you guys, Drew and I have observed
over and over in our thirteen years of marriage that when we

(15:33):
go through these times like, youknow, that feel like storms,
literal storms in life that are just like, what the heck is
happening right now? Why is this all hitting us at
once? It feels like an attack out of
the blue. Everything's fine and normal,
and then bam, when it rains, it pours.
I know you know what I mean. Like we all go through these

(15:53):
periods. There's a blessing that comes on
the other side of it, and we've observed this so many times.
I'm not kidding. It sounds so cheesy, but it's
seriously like a rainbow comes after the storm.
Sometimes it's monetary, like a large amount of money will come
out of the blue. Sometimes it's like an

(16:14):
incredible connection, like, youknow, connecting with a certain
person or a certain group or something like that will happen.
Sometimes a deal goes through orgood news comes in or, I don't
know, something. It's some kind of like really
positive thing that happens after one of these live storms.
It's happened to us over and over, and this week in the

(16:36):
sickness storm, I kept telling myself to wait and see what
blessing is going to come on theother side of this.
Something good is coming. Hold on to that.
That's what I keep telling myself.
So you guys, it's just now the end of February and I'm already
sharing some thoughts on failurewith you.

(16:58):
Great way to start the year, right?
It might seem counterintuitive, but you know, I want us all to
be equipped mentally for the year ahead.
The majority of this year is going to be full of beautiful
successes and feeling good and operating out of a sense of ease
and growth. But you know, there are also
going to be these weird life storms that pop up for you and

(17:21):
for me again. And I want you to have these
four mental hacks at the ready when you need them.
So whenever you are having a failure storm in your life,
whether it's in your mind or when real life hits you hard, do
this. Number one, zoom out and think
of the bigger picture. This isn't forever and this is

(17:43):
just going to be a blip in your ear #2 make the mental
distinction between failing at tasks versus failure as a
person. Do not let your mind go there
tell you that you're a failure as a person.
It's OK to fail at tasks. That doesn't mean it's connected

(18:03):
to your identity as a human #3 Iwant you to keep an eye out for
the lesson. You can learn from what you're
going through. It's in there.
There's always a golden nugget to learn in these things.
And you guys, you don't learn atonce.
This lesson is just going to keep coming round and round
until we learn it right? And the fourth thing I want you

(18:24):
to do is to look for the blessing that comes after the
storm. Oh my goodness.
Thank you guys for bearing with me and my scratchy, sick voice
for this episode. I hope you feel like you have a
few tools in your mental tool belt for helping reframe failure
or the days when you feel like you're failing and for dealing

(18:45):
with those weeks that it feels like when it rains, it pours.
We all go through it. They're temporary, but they're
very challenging to get through.If you like this episode, I'd
love for you to leave me a comment or a review based on
what platform you're listening on or let me know on Instagram
at RV Queens Podcast. And with that, my friend, I will

(19:08):
see you next week, or hopefully I will see you on the road.
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode and for
being part of the RV Queens community.
Remember to hit subscribe on whatever platform you're
listening on. And guess what?
You can have conversations like I had on this episode with your
fellow RV women who are living intentionally and making money

(19:31):
on the road. Head to
rvqueenspodcast.com/community tojoin RV Queen circles today.
It's a totally unique online space with a shared prosperity
model that's all about communityover competition.
I'd love to have you be a part. All right, guys, I'll see you
next week or hopefully I will see you on the road.

(19:51):
Something good is coming. Hold on to that.
That's what I keep telling myself.