The Courage to Question, Change and Reinvent Yourself

Send us Fan Mail How do you learn to trust yourself when you’ve spent years being told what you should believe, how you should behave and what a good life is supposed to look like? Toni LaMotta knows something about questioning the rules we inherit. She joined a Catholic convent at 17 and spent 16 years living under a vow of obedience. When she eventually left at 33, she realised she didn’t even know something as simple as what colour sofa she liked. That decision became the beginning of a life that has continued to evolve through faith, ministry, academia, technology, business and coaching. Now 80, Toni is still learning, questioning and refusing to accept that there comes an age when we’re supposed to stop growing. In this episode, we explore what Toni’s lived experience has taught her about developing an inner compass after years of looking outside yourself for direction, approval or permission. We talk about the conditioning that teaches us to be “good”, the ways we can gradually lose touch with our own wants and instincts, and why midlife can bring some very confronting questions to the surface: What do I believe? What do I actually want? And whose voice am I listening to when I make decisions about my life? Toni shares the moment she broke one of the convent’s rules to comfort someone who was suffering, choosing what felt right over what she had been told was right, and how that experience became an important turning point in learning to trust her own inner knowing. We also explore some of the practices Toni now uses to help people reconnect with themselves, including the Enneagram, journalling, looking back at the stepping stones of your life, and becoming curious about the fears and patterns that continue to influence the choices you make. Toni’s story is a reminder that we’re never really finished becoming who we are. We can question the old rules, change direction, discover new parts of ourselves and keep creating a life that feels like our own — in midlife, at 80, and beyond. Visit our website to find out more about this week's guest. All of our guests, including this one, are included in our Guest Directory so that you can find out more about them and the work that they do. https://midliferebelpodcast.com/guest-directory If you'd like to support the show you can buy me a coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/midliferebelpodcast