Hello Reader,

I hope you are EXCEPTIONAL this fine Friday.

We had about 36 hours of sunshine this week in the UK, so happy days. Until February 12th, it had rained every single day of 2026, lovely.

Anyway.

I did something that made me really uncomfortable this week.

And I got a massage.

Doesn't sound like that should be something that made me that uncomfortable. (nothing to do with the masseuse, Emma was phenomenal, that call is coming from inside the house) If you're local to Berkhamsted, UK, reply to this email if you want her details. Bonus: she's reasonably priced!

ANYWAY.

I recently signed up for a Content Creator Academy. If you want to get good at something, you're better off playing the long game and getting some support.

I'm not special because I'm a coach; we all do better with a skilled 3rd party perspective.

And the first two week so February, there was a posting challenge, we got a prompt every day for 14 days straight, and I told myself if I completed the challenge, I would book myself a massage.

I've never posted every single day for two weeks solid in my whole life.

But to get good at anything, you need to get the reps in.

I was so incredibly determined not to let myself down that I booked the massage long before the challenge was over, and I completed all the prompts, did the tasks, and I fucking crushed it.

A group of 300+ other creators and business owners, and only 88 actually completed all of the required tasks in order to be in the running to win (I didn't win 😭, next time, babes), so already even finishing was an achievement many flaked out on.

And yet.

On Monday, my brain was on fire.

"Who do you think you are? Booking a massage at your house? Like some sort of fucking prima Dona"

(damn straight)

(In high school, my dad and step-mom used to say in arguments, "Who the hell do you think you ar,e Rachel, Eva D'angelista?" I didn't know who she was, but shes the supermodel that said I don't get out of bed for less than 10,000, and I love that for her. So not bonus points for guessing where my brain was deriving that little prima donna comment from...)

My brain is VERY skilled in 'more productivity is more' 'If you're not working, you're wasting your time,' which, as a business owner, your to-do list is like calculating Pi, it never fucking ends, so it's easy to be 'just opening my laptop to get some bits done' 24/7 until the end of time.

Or a personal favourite, 'you didn't even do that well during the challenge, so you don't even deserve it'

But I KNOW, in my heart of hearts, and from the research, that if I don't find a way to strengthen my relaxation skills, I will not be as productive when I am working, or decisive, and if my nervous system is fried, I will be a shit coach

(Bit of a head fuck that your business is essentially letting your clients borrow your nervous system so that they can make aligned decisions from a balanced place, I can't sack off my own self-care and be good at my job, the accountability goes both ways!)

If I don't learn to love building, if I don't learn to treat success as a never-ending process instead of an outcome, I'll be out of business by the end of the year.

That's just the truth.

Instead of ignoring the old critical-style brain chatter, I accepted it. And I reminded myself of what the objective was, the objective was to take an evening off from work (since I'm working at least a couple of hours 7 days a week at the moment), brick my phone and celebrate COMPLETING the challenge

• Not winning it
• Not crushing it (by who's standards, anyway?)
• Not hitting 1M followers...

Completing the challenge. That's it.

It would have been really easy for me to cancel the appointment and be fucking miserable all day "Well, you didn't even do that well, so what's the point?"

But I didn't.

And you know what?

Firstly, it was magical...

I then proceeded to sleep like a baby.

I then felt proud of myself for following through on looking after myself well.

And I've had an incredibly productive work week...and I'm still posting every single day as a commitment to myself. (come hang out on Insta here if you're not already there)

I am pushing myself at the moment, increasing coaching skills, learning to be a content creator, creating new client resources, rehabbing my lower leg injuries, eating my protein, fibre and veggies every single day, keeping a horse alive and happy (shock, horror, horses need a lot of fucking exercise and it's really tiring in winter).

And I won't be able to become the coach I dream of if I run myself into the ground.

If I never say no. If I never take a night off, if I don't have a life outside of my business.

The sun has the moon, yin has yang, your lungs expand and compress, rain has blue sky, everything has an equal opposite, we need both.

I need to push myself and accomplish things to feel like I'm myself, but I need to brick my phone and read fiction in bed at 8 pm too because we can't have push without a developed soothe strategy. Or a massage in my flat with a candlelit and a raspberry-flavoured kombucha... (thinking this may become a quarterly or bi-annual ritual, stay tuned)

This week's pod Ep. 67 Your New Year’s Resol... Feb 13 · Bolder 24:55   ​

Hot topics episode with my friend Michelle, chatting about ADHD and nutrition coaching. A particular pet peeve of mine. Also, Michelle is a friend, but she's also a phD candidate at the University of Edinburgh for body image...

Or listen directly HERE​

Recs this week:

I have no good recs this week, so I shall not waste your time 😉. Other than going to the lounge at the Standard Hotel in London, I loved that

I hope you have a fab weekend...

If you have a burning query for me about body image, nutrition or habits, tell me what you're struggling with, and I'll do a podcast episode just for you and your problems. FOR FREE

​Ask Coach Rach Here​

Speak soon,

xx Rach ​​​​

Portland House Westfield Road, Leighton Buzzard, England LU7 9GU
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