S3 E130 When Success Doesn’t Feel Enough: Self-Trust & People-Pleasing with Noreen Noble
Growing Tall Poppies Podcast: Season 03, Episode 130
You can be successful, capable and someone everyone relies on, yet still find yourself wondering: Is this actually the life I want, or have I become very good at doing what everyone else expects?
This week, I’m joined by self-trust coach and author of The Superhero Inside, Noreen Noble. After more than twenty years in corporate America, Noreen had built a life that looked successful from the outside. But beneath the achievements was a difficult recognition: she had spent years earning approval without really asking herself what made her happy. And admitting she wasn’t fulfilled brought guilt of its own.
We talk about how people-pleasing can shape your career, your relationships and even your sense of who you are. Noreen shares how cancer and the loss of her parents prompted her to reconsider what mattered, and how combining mindset work with somatic practices helped her develop a different relationship with herself and her body.
There’s also a wonderfully unexpected thread through this conversation: superheroes. After researching more than 150 superhero origin stories, Noreen identified nine pathways that became the foundation of her book. We explore how understanding your own story can help you recognise strengths you’ve dismissed as ordinary, including the perspective you bring because you’ve always felt different.
We also get personal about caring for a parent while still longing for their recognition, and why knowing your worth intellectually can feel very different from believing it within yourself.
If you’re ready for your next chapter to reflect more of what you want, this conversation offers a place to begin.
In this episode, we explore
Why achievement and external approval can leave you feeling unfulfilled.
The guilt that can surface when you want something different from a life that looks successful.
How being rewarded for being the “good girl” can carry into adult people-pleasing and self-doubt.
Noreen’s experience of combining mindset coaching with somatic work and listening to her body.
The difference Noreen noticed between performing for others and showing up as herself.
What superhero origin stories can teach us about recognising our own strengths.
Caring for a parent, wanting their approval and learning to recognise your own worth.
Why being seen as your real self can feel more vulnerable than being praised for a performance.
Beginning with awareness, curiosity and compassion, rather than turning personal growth into another task to get right.
A question to reflect on
Where in your life are you still measuring yourself by someone else’s expectations and what would you choose if you trusted your own?
Notice the next time you tell yourself, “I should.” Is it something you want, a responsibility you consciously choose, or an expectation you haven’t questioned?
Explore your own patterns
You may already know how to achieve. What you’re ready for now is to move forward without continually overriding yourself to do it.
My free Archetypes of Transformation™ Quiz is a starting point for recognising your strengths and the protective patterns that may be influencing how you lead, make decisions and show up in your life.
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Connect with Noreen Noble
Noreen Noble is a Self-Trust Coach who helps thoughtful, accomplished women rebuild self-trust so they can live with clarity, confidence and joy. After more than twenty years in corporate America, she traded helping companies grow for helping people thrive. A somatic coach, thought work coach, reiki practitioner and sound healer, as well as a cancer survivor, wife and mum of three, Noreen believes the search ends where self-trust begins.
Website: https://noreennoble.com
The Superhero Inside: https://thesuperheroinside.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoreenNobleCoaching/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noreenleilani.noble/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noreen-noble-b510206/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@noreennoble.coaching
Overthinking to Inner Knowing course: http://thejoylabcollective.com/signup-oitk
Noreen also hosts her own podcast, In Every Thought, which she describes as a passion project. You can find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Stay connected
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And remember: you were never meant to cut yourself down to make other people comfortable.
There is always room to grow tall and shine brightly.
If this episode resonates with you, then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released, and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen
Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.
Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.
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👉 Episode 129 - Finding Your True Voice After Trauma and Burnout with Francesca Lion
