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Finding Your Joy Spot is your wee spot of weekly joy—part reflection, part reminder—to come home to yourself.
Hosted by Leona deVinne, leadership coach and guide for wholehearted living, each episode blends soulful storytelling with research-backed tools to help you live a life rooted in real, lasting joy.
This podcast is for anyone ready to embrace who they are wholeheartedly and show up—bravely and unapologetically. Because real joy isn’t something we chase—it’s something we cultivate when we live our lives on purpose.
These short episodes are an invitation to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what lights you up.
Whether you're on a walk, making your morning coffee, or stealing a few quiet minutes for yourself—tune in and find your joy spot.
Podcast Script: Burying Doubt to Just Own You
Welcome back to Finding Your Joy Spot, the place where we talk about how to create more joy in your life—not as a nice-to-have, but as a guiding way to live.
For me, joy isn’t just about feeling good—it’s about doing things that create more joy. And it’s also the acronym at the heart of my work: JOY — Just Own You.
Here’s the thing:
We cannot truly Just Own You—we can’t be genuine, bring our whole selves to the world, or share our gifts—if we’re stuck in doubt.
Doubt is one of the most effective jailers of your true self. It doesn’t always come at you with flashing lights and sirens. Sometimes, it slips in quietly, convincing you that you’re not ready, not good enough, or not the one for the job. And when we believe it, we start making our life smaller—bit by bit—until one day we realize we’re only bringing a fraction of ourselves into the world.
Today, I want to share how I’ve been confronting my own doubt—literally burying it—and how you can, too.
Part 1: Setting the Scene
Doubt. I’m so done with it. I literally buried it in my backyard.
Last time I told you about metaphorically grabbing a shovel—well, this time I couldn’t find one, so I used a garden rake.
And I wish I could tell you that burying it once meant it was gone forever, but the truth is… doubt is persistent. Even as I write this, I can feel it creeping in.
Why bother? No one really needs—or frankly cares about—what you have to say.
Sometimes doubt shouts. Other times it whispers. Sometimes it’s like a smell you’ve gotten so used to that you don’t notice it anymore. And that’s the dangerous kind—because it seeps into your beliefs, setting itself up as if it were truth.
Part 2: The Real Stakes of Doubt
I want to finish writing my book. Not a book—my book—about helping women reclaim their voices. And part of claiming it is using the right language: my book.
It’s been parked in my Google Drive for over a year—like a coat in the back of the closet that you don’t wear but can’t quite give away. Sixty thousand words already written… and yet I’ve been stuck.
And this is the thing about doubt—it’s not always loud. Sometimes it hides in what feels like “reasonable” avoidance. I tell myself I’ll get back to it later. I tidy it away so it doesn’t fall out or take up too much space.
But deep down, I know this is how I’m meant to use my voice. This is how I’m meant to help—even if it’s just one person.
Part 3: The Prison of the Mind
Recently, I was listening to the Jefferson Fisher podcast and his guest, Damon West, said something that landed right in my gut:
“The hardest place to do time is the prison of your mind.”
That’s exactly what doubt feels like—a cell you lock yourself in. Damon said he doesn’t pay much attention to his thoughts—at least, he chooses not to listen to them.
That reminded me of something I read in Ethan Kross’s book Chatter. When our inner voice gets noisy, one of the simplest ways to quiet it is to use our own name when we talk to ourselves.
It’s called distanced self-talk, and here’s why it works:
When you say, “I can’t do this,” it’s you, tangled up in the emotion. But when you say, “Leona, you’ve done harder things before,” it’s like stepping outside of yourself for a moment. You become the coach instead of the critic. Your brain switches to a more rational, problem-solving mode.
Part 4: The Ritual
So here’s what I did:
I wrote down each doubt, one per piece of paper.
I looked at the words and said the opposite truth—out loud—using my name.
I don’t have talent. — Leona, you do have talent.
I don’t have the resources. — Leona, you have what you need to begin.
Then I folded each paper, took them to the only patch of exposed dirt in my backyard, and raked the soil over them. Done. Dead and buried.
Here’s the thing: rituals like this matter. They give form to the invisible. When you take your negative self-talk and connect it to a physical act—burying it, burning it, releasing it into water—you send a clear signal to your brain: something has shifted. And your brain listens.
Part 5: Where JOY Fits In
This is JOY in action—Just Own You.
When we drop the weight of doubt, we free up the space, the energy, and the courage to bring our whole selves forward. We can’t live in alignment with joy if we’re living under the terms set by fear.
Part 6: Guided Reflection (Listener Engagement)
So I want to walk you through this right now. If you can, grab a notebook.
Ask yourself:
What would you love to do if you weren’t afraid?
How does doubt creep in?
What do you notice in your body, thoughts, and beliefs when doubt is present?
What’s the opposite truth? (Say it using your own name.)
When have you acted bravely before?
Who benefits when you don’t let doubt win?
What’s one small, courageous step you can take this week?
When you’ve written these down, take the physical step—bury it, burn it, or release it into water. Do it with intention.
Closing
Your doubts may try to return, but each time you do this, you strengthen your belief in your own truth. You train your brain to recognize the voice of the critic—and choose the voice of the coach instead.
Because joy isn’t just the reward—it’s the compass. And every time you Just Own You, you make more room for it.