157. Why Real Success Takes Time: Rewiring Your Brain for Patience

Shamelessly Ambitious I Helping Ambitious Women Prevent Burnout + Create Nervous System First Success in Business, Motherhood, & Life

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Hi sister friend. Back at it again... and today, we’re slowing all the way down. Because somewhere between instant coffee, instant Amazon deliveries, and instant validation, we forgot that most things worth building take time.

This one’s your permission slip to take the long way, to build something that lasts, to stop chasing the dopamine hit of “fast results,” and to start measuring success by how alive and at peace you feel, not by how fast it happens.

Real success, I mean the sustainable, fulfilling, nervous-system-safe kind... is slow. It’s mornings where you show up with zero proof it’s working. It’s boring consistency. It’s quiet trust. Let’s talk about that.

TOPICS & TANGENTS:
• How social media rewired our brains for instant gratification
• Why we mistake impatience for failure
• The hidden cost of “I need it now” energy
• Why most people quit before the results land (it’s not lack of strategy, it’s lack of stamina)
• The difference between capacity and compulsion
• What it means to practice active faith instead of frantic action
• Building a pace you can hold for years... not just a season
• Success measured in peace, presence, and patience

POINT OF THE STORY:
Patience isn’t passive. It’s power. It’s self-trust in motion, the willingness to stay with what’s working long enough for it to work for you.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
• My chat with Sophia Parra on Marketing Unfiltered — all about high-functioning burnout, what happened when I tried to be “more professional,” and how I rebuilt my business with nervous-system-led marketing.
• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt — a must-read on how tech reshaped our brains and attention spans.
• If Only I Had a Bigger Kitchen — reflections on simplicity, home, and redefining “enough.”
• The Regulated Woman — my signature mentorship for women ready to grow slow, steady, and sustainably.

POINT TO REMEMBER:
The kind of success that lasts? It’s unsexy consistency. The mornings you show up without proof. The long road that makes you come alive.

Take the long way. You’ll actually enjoy the view.

MORE ABOUT ASH
I am the definition of duality — I swear like a sailor and break rules like it’s my job, but I also hold incredible space for my clients and work my ass off to help them achieve the success they’re after. But I'm also here for the non-preneur woman, too. My background in counseling gives me a unique perspective on what it means to show up, serve, & create connection for those who feel like they've never belonged before.

LINKS:

• Become the Regulated Woman
• Get emails that feel like your best friend (if your best friend was a therapist and actually told you the truth).
• Use code BB20 to get The Burnout Breakthrough for only $7
• Follow me on IG (dropping in once a quarter for updates & gossip)
• Website: ashmcdonaldmentoring.com

Work with me 1:1

• Therapeutic Mentorship
• Business Therapy (therapy + strategic mentorship)
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