Flourishing After Adversity
If you've experienced grief, illness, loss, or life-altering setbacks—and you're ready to reclaim your joy—this podcast is for you.
Hosted by Laura Mangum Broome, Resilience Coach and author of Flourishing After Adversity, this weekly show is your go-to resource for overcoming life’s toughest challenges with hope, courage, and clarity.
Each episode dives into real-life strategies for emotional healing, building resilience, managing mindset, navigating unexpected change, and rediscovering your strength after adversity.
Whether you're facing the aftermath of divorce, struggling to move forward after loss, or starting over later in life, you’ll find practical tools and encouragement to help you grow—not just go—through what you’ve been through.
If you're searching for inspiration, resilience coaching tips, or mental health support for difficult seasons, hit play and start flourishing after adversity. You've got this!
Flourishing After Adversity
S1:E14 How to Simplify Decisions During Setbacks
S1:E14 Simplifying Decisions During Setbacks: One Step at a Time
In this episode of the Flourishing After Adversity podcast, host Laura Mangum Broome offers crucial guidance for those feeling overwhelmed by decision-making in the face of adversity.
Laura explains why decision-making becomes difficult after setbacks and provides a step-by-step method to simplify it. Listeners will learn how to identify what’s within their control, take small actionable steps to move forward, and navigate through mental fog. The episode also offers a free resource, 'Reframe the Spiral,' to help shift negative thoughts and reclaim one's day.
00:00 Introduction to Flourishing After Adversity
00:23 Today's Topic: Simplifying Decisions During Setbacks
01:06 Free Resource: Reframe the Spiral
01:46 Understanding Decision Paralysis
02:20 The Myth of the Full Plan
03:35 Radical Acceptance and Control
04:54 What Doesn't Work: Panic Mode
05:24 Action Steps for Decision Simplification
06:04 Real Life Example: Overcoming Illness
06:42 Decision-Simplifying Toolkit
07:20 Recap and Final Thoughts
07:58 Closing Remarks
Free Resource: Reframe the Spiral: 5 Quick Coping Strategies to Shift Negative Thoughts and Reclaim Your Day https://www.icope2hope.com/reframe
iCope2Hope Resilience Framework: https://bit.ly/FrameworkRoadmap
Website: iCope2Hope: From Hardship to Hope https://www.icope2hope.com
Move Beyond Adversity Blog: https://www.icope2hope.com/blog
Free Newsletter: Wednesday’s Resilient Recharge https://www.icope2hope.com/newsletter
S1:E14 How to Simplify Decisions During Setbacks
Welcome to the Flourishing After Adversity podcast. I'm your host, Laura Mangum Broome. If you've been knocked down by life, from grief, illness, loss, or unexpected change, you're in the right place. Get ready to turn your setbacks into stepping stones because healing, growth and joy are just the beginning.
Today's Topic: Simplifying Decisions During Setbacks
Have you ever been so overwhelmed that you couldn't make even the smallest decision?
Today's episode is for anyone who's standing at a decision making fork in the road and feeling completely overwhelmed. We're talking about how to simplify decisions during setbacks, especially when you feel like the stakes are high, but the fog is thick.
By the end of this episode, you'll know why decision making feels harder after adversity. How to focus on what's truly yours to carry, a step-by-step method to make choices with less fear and more clarity, and a simple tool you can use today to get unstuck and move forward.
Free Resource: Reframe the Spiral
But before we do...
If you're stuck in spirals of negative thinking, I have a free resource that will help. It's called Reframe the Spiral, five Quick Coping Strategies to Shift Negative Thoughts and Reclaim Your Day. These are the same tools I use when my mind starts replaying the worst case scenarios. They work fast, they're simple, and they're exactly what I wish I had in my darkest seasons. You'll find the link in the show notes. Or, you can go to iCope2Hope.com/reframe. Download it, print it, and keep it handy.
Understanding Decision Paralysis
After adversity, making a decision can feel like standing at a fork in the road during a storm. The wind is howling. The signs are barely visible. Both paths ahead are covered in thick fog.
You want to move forward. You want to make the right choice, but you can't see far enough ahead to be sure. So you freeze. You overthink. You wait for someone else to tell you what to do. If that's where you are right now, you're not stuck. You're overwhelmed. And there's a way through.
The Myth of the Full Plan
One of the biggest myths about decision making is that you need to have a full plan before you can take a step. You don't. When life feels uncertain, you only need to find one solid step, something steady right at your feet. That's how you simplify decisions after a setback.
Slow down the mental chaos. Let go of the pressure to fix everything at once. Choose one small step that's yours to take today. This step doesn't have to solve the whole problem. It just has to move you forward.
When you're in a painful season, decision making feels exhausting. Not because you're incapable, but because you're afraid.
Afraid of choosing wrong. Afraid of letting someone else down. Afraid you'll make things worse. So you freeze, you overthink. You ask everyone else what they would do. You delay and then you feel stuck. Not just in your circumstance, but in your mind.
Here's the truth I discovered from my own setbacks. You're not bad at making decisions, you're just overwhelmed, and there's a better way.
Radical Acceptance and Control
One of the core truths in my iCope2Hope 3-Step Resilience Framework is this. You don't need to control everything. You only need to take action on what's truly yours to carry. This is where radical acceptance comes in.
Radical acceptance isn't about giving up. It's about letting go of the battle against reality so you can heal and act with clarity. It starts with two simple questions. What is in my control right now and what is out of my control right now? Grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Label, one side "In My Control" and the other side "Out of My Control."
Examples of what's in your control: how you respond, who you reach out to, what you say yes or no to, your next small step, how you care for yourself today. Examples of what's out of your control: what others think or say, their choices or actions, the past, the timing, what's already happened. Even the simple act of listing things out can clear mental fog, give you breathing room, and show you where your energy belongs.
What Doesn't Work: Panic Mode
Let's talk about what doesn't work. Pushing through in panic mode. Most people try to figure it all out too quickly. They make rush decisions from fear. Try to predict every possible outcome. Seek approval from everyone around them. Shame themselves for not being further along. But clarity doesn't come from panic. It comes from slowing down and simplifying.
The one small step that changes everything.
Action Steps for Decision Simplification
Once you've made your list, look only at the "In My Control" column. Choose one thing, not five, not three. Choose one. Maybe it's texting a friend, making your bed, saying no to something draining, scheduling a counseling appointment, organizing your papers for a task you've been avoiding. Whatever it is, do that one thing today. Make sure it's small and achievable, just for today. Because action, even tiny action builds momentum. Momentum builds hope, and hope opens the door for more decisions tomorrow.
Real Life Example: Overcoming Illness
I'd like to give you a real life example from my foggy road. When I faced a life-threatening illness, the decisions I needed to make came fast and heavy. I had no roadmap. I was scared, exhausted.
What helped me most wasn't making a perfect plan. It was learning to accept the reality that I couldn't change my diagnosis. Asking for help, something that was very hard for me at first. And taking one step, sometimes just one breath at a time. That's how I got through it and that's how you can too.
Decision-Simplifying Toolkit
Let's put it in action with your Decision-Simplifying Toolkit. Here's your quick exercise for today. Number one, list it out. Make your "In My Control" and "Out of My Control" list. Number two, circle just one. Pick one action step from the "In My Control" column. Number three, do it today or break it into smaller steps and do one step today. And number four, say this out loud. I don't have to know it all. I just have to choose what's mine to carry today.
Recap and Final Thoughts
Let's recap. Today we talked about how to recognize that fear of uncertainty is what stalls you after a setback. How to move forward without having the whole plan. Use the "In My Control" and "Out of My Control" exercise to clear mental fog. Choose one small doable action step to build momentum.
As a resilience coach who's walked through heartbreak, illness and reinvention, I want you to know this. You can simplify your decisions. You can trust yourself again. You can move forward one step at a time.
Closing Remarks
As I mentioned earlier, if negative thoughts keep you spinning downward, download my free guide: Reframe the Spiral: 5 Quick Coping Strategies to Shift Negative Thoughts and Reclaim Your Day. The link is in the show notes or go to iCope2Hope.com/reframe.
All right. That's it for today's episode. Take a second to subscribe so you'll be notified when the next episode comes out. And if you found this helpful, rate or review the show. It helps more people find us. Better yet, please share this with three people in need of hope.
Remember, adversity can make you bitter or better. Choose better. You've got this!