The Stone in My Shoe
Debbie Thompson · Podcast host · Educator · Life coach
Live more by choice,
and less by pattern.
Have you ever wondered how much of your life is shaped by beliefs you don’t even know you’re carrying?
Do you want your next chapter to be your best?
Nothing is wrong, but something feels off. You sense there’s more, and that life could be richer, more fun, more honest, more yours.
I help you recognise the invisible stones that quietly shape how you walk through life, so you can walk with greater freedom, authenticity and joy.
Not ready yet? Start with the free reflection →
However you got here
- Some of us come because something hurts.
- Some of us come because one part of life quietly feels off, while the rest of it is good.
- And some of us come with nothing wrong at all, just a question about whether the next chapter could be the best one.
You don’t have to know which one you are.
Most women can’t say it yet, and that is usually where this starts.
What is the stone?
Like a real stone in your shoe, it’s small and invisible to everyone else, yet it changes every step we take. Most of us simply learn to walk with it.
We all carry invisible stones.
- Old stories
- Expectations
- Beliefs
- Experiences
The stone is the subconscious beliefs and patterns we carry, most of the time without noticing.
Some Stones are obvious. Others have been with us for so long we’ve forgotten they’re there.
It helped once.
The Stone isn’t the event. The Stone isn’t your past. The Stone is the invisible pattern that formed because of your past.
It once helped you cope. It once protected you. It once helped you belong or succeed.
So we adjust, until it feels normal.
We adapt to the discomfort instead of stopping to ask why it hurts.
Do that long enough and you forget there was ever a stone. You think that is just how you walk.
This is not about becoming someone new.
It is about removing what has been getting in the way.
Why we keep walking
Why don’t we just take the stone out?
Most of us don’t. Not because we can’t, but because:
- Life is busy, and everyone else comes first.
- It doesn’t hurt enough to stop.
- We’ve walked with it so long it feels normal.
- We’re not quite sure what we’d find if we looked.
The cost of not looking
Nothing falls apart. That’s the quiet part.
We just keep shortening our step. Year after year, we live a little smaller than we could.
And one day we look back and wonder why we held back.
What would it feel like to take it out, and see what’s possible?
What changes
The journey doesn’t end when you find it. It begins.
Through storytelling, reflection and a simple framework, women begin to:
- recognise their Stone
- understand why it formed
- change their relationship with it
- rebuild trust in themselves
- make more authentic choices
- create a life that reflects who they truly are
What I’ve come to believe
- You can have a good life and still want more.
- You can belong and still express yourself.
- You can give everything and still choose yourself.
In their words
Women who’ve done this work
I found my smile again.
Over this time I found my smile again, my ambition is slowly returning, and I have a sense of excitement about my future.
Now I feel centred, alive and hopeful.
Before I started this six week programme I felt lost and had a sense of foreboding. Now I feel centred, alive and hopeful.
A new sense of focus and control.
Before the course I never realised how much my thoughts, feelings and actions were being driven by my subconscious mind.
A turning point for me.
Because of this journey I have stopped waiting to do the things that matter.
Life feels lighter now.
For years I believed I had to push, fight, and work hard for everything. Debbie helped me see, and let go of, the part of me that believed that was the only way.
Hello, I’m Debbie
A step or two along the same road.
For most of my life I had a stone in my shoe. Not big enough to stop me walking. Just there.
Mine was earning my worth through what I achieved. Keep busy, keep proving, keep going.
At 52 I read that one of the top regrets of the dying is not having lived a life true to yourself. It stopped me.
What I found wasn’t a problem to fix. It was information I had been ignoring.
“I don’t want women to get to the end of their life and realise they held back. That’s the whole reason this exists.”
“This is about the moment you realise you are holding back, and what happens when you get curious. How could your life change?”
Debbie ThompsonThe letter
One thought worth sitting with.
A short letter, most weeks, sharing ideas and stories from the podcast, and one thought to take into your week.
Get in touch
I’d love to hear from you.
- Email: debbie@thethompsons.com
- Instagram: @thestoneinmyshoe
- Facebook: The Stone in My Shoe
- Come on the podcast: tell me about your stone
When you’re ready to look, you don’t have to do it alone.
Work with me