A Thought I Kept

Claire Fitzsimmons
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Self-Improvement

A Thought I Kept is a podcast about the ideas that stay with us, long after we’ve forgotten the rest. In each episode, a guest shares the one thought that shaped their life — the one they couldn’t let go of, and maybe you won’t either.

  1. How We Reclaim Movement in Everyday Life with Wendy Welpton

    3 days ago

    How We Reclaim Movement in Everyday Life with Wendy Welpton

    What happens when movement stops being something we measure, earn, optimise or squeeze into a busy day, and becomes something much simpler? In this episode, I’m talking to Wendy Welpton about the idea that everyday movement matters just as much as exercise. It’s a conversation that begins with movement, but quickly becomes one about trust, self-compassion, ageing, wellbeing, and our relationship with our bodies. Wendy shares her own experience of living with chronic pain, the fear and frustration that came with it, and how it led her to rethink everything she thought she knew about movement and exercise. Together, we explore what happens when we become disconnected from our bodies, why so many of us have absorbed limiting messages about ageing, and how we can begin to rebuild confidence in ourselves through small, everyday acts of movement. Whether you’re navigating chronic pain, feeling disconnected from your body, wondering how to stay active as you get older, or simply tired of wellbeing becoming another thing on your to-do list, this conversation offers a gentler way of thinking about movement, health, and everyday life. Wendy Welpton is the founder of Reclaim Movement, host of the Make Movement Matter podcast, and author of Move Well for Life: Unlock the Life-Changing Power of Everyday Movement. Through Wendy's coaching, writing and teaching, she helps people rediscover movement as something that supports wellbeing, confidence and freedom throughout life. So if you've spent the morning sitting at a desk, if your shoulders are somewhere near your ears, or if you've ever wondered whether movement could feel less like a task and more like a companion, I hope you'll stand up, walk around and join us. Mentioned in this episode • The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    53 min
  2. When Being Good Is Exhausting with Alice Bramhill

    22 Jun

    When Being Good Is Exhausting with Alice Bramhill

    There are times in life when trying to be a good person can become exhausting. A good daughter. A good mother. A good friend. A good employee. A good partner. A good citizen. So much of our lives can be shaped by trying to meet expectations, keep the peace, and make other people comfortable. But what happens when being good starts pulling us away from ourselves? In this episode, I talk to Alice Bramhill about the thought she has carried with her from Carl Jung for decades: "I'd rather be whole than good." Alice is a psychotherapist, mental health nurse, writer, podcaster, and advocate for deep feelers and big-hearted people pleasers. Together, we explore the hidden cost of constantly trying to get things right, and the relief that can come when we stop treating parts of ourselves as problems to solve. We talk about people-pleasing, self-trust, sensitivity, boundaries, burnout, and the long process of learning to listen to ourselves again. We explore why so many of us struggle to know what we really want, how assumptions shape our lives and relationships, and why acceptance may be far more powerful than perfection. Along the way, we discuss late-diagnosed neurodivergence, creativity in midlife, visibility, rejection sensitivity, motherhood, and the everyday work of becoming more fully ourselves. What I loved about this conversation is that it isn't really about self-improvement. It's about self-acceptance. About letting go of the exhausting performance of being who we think we should be, and making room for who we actually are. Alice Bramhill is a registered mental health nurse, psychotherapist, writer, podcast host, and creator of a thriving community for deep feelers and big-hearted people pleasers. Diagnosed with ADHD at 47 and autism at 50, she specialises in supporting late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults around relationships, boundaries, self-trust, masking, rejection sensitivity, and burnout. Her first book, I Need My Space But I Like You Too, is out later this year. Whether you're navigating anxiety, emotional overwhelm, people-pleasing, or simply wondering how to feel more at home in yourself, I hope you'll find something in Alice's thought that stays with you too. Pre-Order I Need My Space (But I Like You Too!) | Community & Newsletter | You Tube | Podcast on Spotify | Podcast on Apple | Instagram | Website  Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    1hr 3min
  3. How We Stay Creatively Conscious with Claire Venus

    15 Jun

    How We Stay Creatively Conscious with Claire Venus

    In a world that often feels noisy, fast-moving, and full of other people's expectations, how do we stay connected to ourselves? How do we know what's truly ours, what lifts us up, and what might be shifting us into someone we were never meant to be? This week, I’m joined by Claire Venus, writer, mentor, Substack strategist, and founder of Creatively Conscious. Claire is someone I turn to often for encouragement and guidance on creativity, community, and showing up online in ways that feel more human, more intentional, and more like ourselves. The thought Claire brings to the podcast is to stay creatively conscious. Together, we explore what that means in practice and how creativity can become more than something we do. We talk about building a life that feels like our own, the freedom that comes from questioning the rules we’ve inherited, and the importance of paying attention to what uplifts us rather than what leaves us feeling depleted. Along the way, we touch on self-trust, visibility, nervous system awareness, burnout, creative expression, motherhood, and the challenge of staying open and curious in a digital world that can sometimes feel overwhelming. Claire Venus is an award winning Engagement and Audience Development Consultant, author, Substack Expert and Mentor.  She lives on the Northumberland Coast in the UK with her husband, two children and dog; a blue whippet called Stella. In 2015, Claire left the city and followed the call to live rurally, buying a 100 year old home that needed renovation, stepping into her lifelong vision to live by the sea. After a twenty year career in worldwide festivals and events, she pivoted to start her company ‘Creatively Conscious Ltd’ and expanded her brand to work with artists, writers and female founders globally online.   Claire is the author of 6 books including How to Build a World Class Substack, an Amazon bestseller, and Invisible Trust. She has been featured in The Telegraph, The Sunday Times and ipaper. She writes to an email audience of over 19,000 subscribers and has popular social and YouTube channels too. Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube Resources Mentioned in This Episode Leonie Dawson  Emma Gannon Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale Creative Health Alliance  Brené Brown's TED Talk on vulnerability  Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    52 min
  4. How We Find Our Way Back From Burnout with Dr Jillian Bybee

    8 Jun

    How We Find Our Way Back From Burnout with Dr Jillian Bybee

    Burnout is often described as being too busy, working too hard, or having too much on our plates. But what if it has as much to do with how we relate to ourselves as it does with how much we do? In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Dr Jillian Bybee, a paediatric intensive care physician, certified coach, writer, and host of the Humans Leading podcast. Having experienced burnout twice herself, Jillian brings a thought that completely changed the way she understands wellbeing: wellness is not a state of being, but a state of action. Together, we explore what happens when we stop thinking of wellbeing as a destination we eventually arrive at and start seeing it as something woven through everyday life. We talk about the difference between stress, overwhelm, and burnout, why so many of us keep pushing through long after we've run out of energy, and what it means to build small moments of restoration into busy lives. Along the way, we discuss emotional suppression, self-compassion, nervous system regulation, perfectionism, motherhood, leadership, and the challenge of caring for ourselves in cultures that often reward self-sacrifice. Jillian shares why five minutes can sometimes be enough to begin, how burnout can disconnect us from joy as well as difficult emotions, and why rest is about far more than simply taking time off. This conversation is full of gentle reminders that wellbeing doesn't live somewhere beyond our lives, waiting for us to finally get everything right. It is something we practise, imperfectly, in the midst of work, family, grief, responsibility, and ordinary days. Whether you're feeling emotionally exhausted, navigating stress, recovering from burnout, or simply wondering how to care for yourself in a more sustainable way, I hope you'll find something here that stays with you. Dr. Jillian Bybee is a busy pediatric intensive care physician, toddler mom, certified coach, and creative who uses what she’s learned from recovering from burnout twice to help other ambitious women live less stressed, more satisfying lives. Her Substack publication and podcast, Humans Leading, aim to remind us that, although we can do amazing things, we are not machines (and even machines get regularly scheduled maintenance). She believes that we all need and deserve rest, joy, and time away from work. If you are looking to make a change in your own life, Dr. Jillian offers 1:1 coaching, group coaching for teams, and workshops.  You can find Dr. Jillian in the following places: Substack: Humans Leading | Jillian Bybee, MD | Substack Instagram: Jillian Bybee, MD (@lifeandpicu)  LinkedIn: Jillian Bybee, MD | LinkedIn Website: Jillian Bybee, MD- Physician Leader, Coach, Speaker Podcast: Humans Leading Books and papers mentioned in the podcast: Burnout: Solve Your Stress Cycle by Emily & Amelia Nagoski Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown Rehder K, Adair KC, Sexton JB. The Science of Health Care Worker Burnout: Assessing and Improving Health Care Worker Well-Being (2021). Duke Well-Being Toolkit Resources Forty-five Good Things — Sexton et al. Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    57 min
  5. When Wanting Something Is Reason Enough with Rachel Hartigan

    1 Jun

    When Wanting Something Is Reason Enough with Rachel Hartigan

    What happens when wanting something is reason enough? In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I’m joined by writer and journalist Rachel Hartigan to explore a thought that has stayed with her for years: “I do it because I want to.” This opens up some surprisingly big questions: How often do we feel the need to justify what we want? How do we separate our own desires from expectations, responsibilities, fear, or the stories we’ve absorbed about who we should be? And what changes when we stop looking for a better reason? Rachel’s thought comes from Amelia Earhart, the pioneering aviator at the centre of her new book, Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life. As we talk, Amelia’s story becomes a way into a much broader conversation about curiosity, self-trust, adventure, identity, and the unfinished stories that continue to hold our attention. Together, we explore the tension between doing what feels comfortable and doing what feels alive, the challenge of knowing what we really want, and the ways curiosity can help us navigate uncertainty when we don’t know what comes next. We also talk about visibility, creativity, midlife, motherhood, freedom, and the vulnerable experience of releasing something deeply personal into the world. Along the way, Rachel reflects on the years she spent researching Amelia Earhart, the pull of unanswered questions, and why some stories stay with us long after they should have faded. Rachel Hartigan is a writer and journalist who spent more than a decade at National Geographic and previously worked for The Washington Post Book Review. Her latest book, Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life, explores both the enduring mystery of Earhart’s disappearance and the people who continue searching for answers nearly ninety years later. This is a conversation about curiosity, courage, self-trust, and what it means to follow the things that call to us, even when we can’t fully explain why. Lost | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    52 min
  6. How People Pleasing Stops Us Choosing Ourselves with Natalie Lue

    26 May

    How People Pleasing Stops Us Choosing Ourselves with Natalie Lue

    My guest this week Natalie Lue is known to many people for her groundbreaking work on people pleasing, boundaries, emotional baggage, and relationships through The Baggage Reclaim Sessions and her book The Joy of Saying No.  We talk about the emotional roots of perfectionism and over-responsibility, the pressure to keep proving yourself, and the exhausting belief that you have to “earn” permission to change. We explore what happens when you realise you’ve over-identified with being useful, successful, capable, or needed and how frightening, freeing, and vulnerable it can feel to let some of that go. There’s so much in here about anxiety, control, people pleasing, emotional patterns, self-worth, and learning to trust yourself even when you don’t fully know what comes next. We also talk about art, midlife, changing careers, the stories we inherit about work, and the difference between striving and actually feeling alive. Natalie Lue is a writer, artist and podcaster best known for The Joy of Saying No and her long-running platform Baggage Reclaim, which has helped many people navigate relationships, boundaries, emotional unavailability, and people pleasing over the last two decades. Website | The Joy of Saying No | Let Go | Baggage Reclaim Sessions Also mentioned in this podcast: Financial Recovery by Karen McCall My episode with Gabrielle Treanor Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    1hr 7min
  7. When Self-Help Becomes Something We Do Together with Toni Jones

    18 May

    When Self-Help Becomes Something We Do Together with Toni Jones

    This week, I talk to Toni Jones about all things self-help. Toni is the founder of Shelf Help, the world’s first self-help book club and over the last decade she has read 1,000 self-help books while building a global community around reading, reflection and connection. We explore the difference between trying to optimise yourself and actually learning how to care for yourself. Toni shares why she thinks curiosity, experimentation, and connection can shift our approach to endless self-improvement culture. We also talk about emotional avoidance, self-trust, and the experience of becoming more visible to other people after years of keeping parts of yourself hidden. There’s a beautiful conversation here too about friendship, community, relationships that deepen over time, and the vulnerability of letting yourself be seen. Toni Jones is a journalist-turned-bibliotherapist and the founder of Shelf Help Club. She hosts The Bibliotherapists podcast and has spent the last decade exploring how books, reflection, and shared conversation can support emotional wellbeing and personal growth. Her new book, You: A Beginner’s Guide, brings together many of the ideas we explore in this episode. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by wellness culture, exhausted by trying to hold everything together, or wished someone would just say, “you don’t have to figure this out on your own,” I hope this conversation keeps you company. Shelf Help | You (A Beginner's Guide) | The Bibliotherapists Podcast Books, authors, podcasts and talks mentioned in this episode • Paul McKenna, Change Your Life in 7 Days • Brené Brown, Rising Strong • Brené Brown, TED Talk: The Power of Vulnerability • Brené Brown, TED Talk: Listening to Shame • Glennon Doyle, Untamed and the podcast We Can Do Hard Things • Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love and Big Magic • Amir Levine, Attached and Secure • Alexandra Elle, The Company We Keep • Shahroo Izadi, The Kindness Method • Will Bowen, A Complaint Free World • Suzy Reading, Self-Care for Tough Times Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    1hr 6min
  8. How We Live Between Belief and Doubt with Hiroko Yoda

    11 May

    How We Live Between Belief and Doubt with Hiroko Yoda

    In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Hiroko Yoda about grief, Japanese spirituality, uncertainty, ritual, belonging, and what it means to live somewhere between belief and doubt. We explore the idea of “half belief, half doubt” — the Japanese concept of hanshin hangi and how it can offer a more spacious way of relating to uncertainty, spirituality, and even ourselves. Hiroko shares how the death of her mother became the beginning of a deeper spiritual awakening, not through certainty or doctrine, but through noticing. A walk in the park. A shrine glimpsed through the trees. A feeling that perhaps we are less alone than we think. Together we talk about the everyday rituals that help us feel connected when life feels overwhelming: making coffee, eating a meal, taking a walk, speaking kind words aloud. We explore how Japanese ideas of kami — spiritual presences that exist in nature, objects, and everyday life — can shift the way we think about grief, anxiety, happiness, emotions, and connection. We also talk about anger, darkness, feminism, ghosts, belonging, and why playfulness can sit alongside spirituality rather than oppose it. This is a conversation about learning to live with uncertainty without rushing to resolve it, and about finding comfort in what cannot always be fully explained. Hiroko Yoda, a Japanese cultural historian and journalist whose work has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN and PBS, offers a path to joy and peace through the peculiar flexibility of Japanese spirituality. In her new book Eight Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan Hiroko takes readers on a journey to her homeland’s sacred core, revealing an essential part of Japan rarely experienced by outsiders – yet has much to offer those on their own quest for meaning and resilience, wherever they are.  Website | Instagram | Eight Million Ways to Happiness Support the show This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week. About Claire Fitzsimmons Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps people navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all the feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to disconnection.  Buy Claire's first book, If Lost Start Here: Wellbeing for the Anxious, Disconnected or Uncertain here. Subscribe to Claire's Substack newsletter here. Find out how to work with Claire here.  Like what you heard? Follow, rate or review this podcast.

    49 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

A Thought I Kept is a podcast about the ideas that stay with us, long after we’ve forgotten the rest. In each episode, a guest shares the one thought that shaped their life — the one they couldn’t let go of, and maybe you won’t either.

Information

  • Creator
    Claire Fitzsimmons
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    48
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Thought I Kept
  • Show Website
    A Thought I Kept

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