Designing Work-Optional Lifestyles for Women & Couples with Dynamic Financial Plans | Financial Consultant for Executives & Business Owners in Sports & Tech | Financial Wellness Speaker

Most financial advice wasn’t made for women with full lives.
It was made for simplicity, and usually, for men.


The people I work with aren’t starting from zero. They’re earning well, making smart choices, and juggling a lot of moving parts - work, family, and future plans all at once.

Some make financial decisions on their own, others share them with a partner. Either way, they want to see how it all fits together and feel confident that the choices they’re making now won’t limit their options later.

I’m Renee Cohen, CFP®, founder of Nexa Wealth, a life-first financial planning firm for women in their 40s and beyond, and the partners who plan life alongside them.

I started Nexa because I was tired of watching capable women follow generic advice that ignored their real lives. Money touches every choice: career shifts, equity compensation, real estate, caregiving, stepping back or leaning in and each one deserves context.

My role is to be your steady partner in decision-making:

• To make complex choices feel clear and manageable
• To help you weigh trade-offs without judgment
• To keep your plan flexible enough for both now and later

Together, we build a living financial roadmap that evolves with you, so you can move forward knowing every dollar has direction and every decision has perspective.

My clients describe me as calm, direct, and easy to talk to. I’m here to help you think things through, not judge your past decisions or tell you what you “should” do.

Most of the people who find me don’t have the time or desire to become experts about money.
They just want someone they can trust to make sense of it all, explain things clearly, and help them make smart choices without turning it into a second job.

If that sounds like you, and you’d like a partner who helps you make confident financial decisions without putting life on pause, you can reach me here or at nexawealthplanning.com.

Renee Cohen, CFP®

My brain is still buffering.

Week one of 2026 is done.

I've opened the same email three times without reading it.
I wrote 2025 on a client wide message I sent yesterday.
My to-do list looked at me and laughed.

Somewhere along the way, we decided that "back to work" means "immediately performing at peak capacity."

That's not how humans work.

But I showed up. The work got done.
Just maybe not at full speed and that's okay.

If your first week back felt more "survival mode" than "CEO mode".  Same.

We made it. That counts.

Happy Friday. 💙

→ What's the most "week one" thing you did this week?

Renee Cohen CFP®

Financial planning that puts life first | Partnering with women and couples to make confident money decisions | Founder, Nexa Wealth

“Okay, maybe a dumb question…”


“Don’t you just make money off managing investments?”

She said it halfway through our intro call.

Fair question.
You’ve probably wondered it too.

I hear that all the time.
And I don’t blame you.

The industry hasn’t done a great job of explaining how this actually works.

So let’s break it down.

Financial advice has often been pitched as a “free perk” if you buy a product:

A mutual fund.
An annuity.
An insurance policy.
(Take your pick.)

But the advice?
It’s not really free.
It’s just buried in the fine print or baked into a commission.

So the real question becomes:

Was that advice truly in your best interest
or was it about meeting someone else’s sales quota?

That’s why I charge for advice first.

When you’re paying for a plan,
you know the recommendations are built around your life, goals, and values,
not what someone’s trying to sell you.

And yes, sometimes we implement investments or insurance too.
But that comes after the strategy is clear, not before.

And when we do place a product?
It’s because it fits your plan.
Not because there’s a bonus attached.
Not because it’s the “recommended option” from a brokerage firm.

Financial planning should feel like clear, unbiased guidance across all the pieces of your financial life.

If no one’s ever walked you through how this works, that’s not on you.

This industry hasn’t always been transparent.
But you don’t have to stay in the dark.

You deserve to know who’s truly in your corner
and who’s working off a commission.

📌 What’s one thing you wish you understood more about working with a financial advisor?

My nephew checking his inbox during the holidays.

Zero unread.
Full focus.
Very serious business.

I unplugged for the holidays, but my inbox didn't get the memo. 847 emails waiting.

Hope your holidays were filled with good food, good people, and maybe even some real rest.

The kind where you actually put the phone down and didn't feel guilty about it.

Now back to reality. 😅

But I'm back now and glad you are too. Happy 2026.

What does your inbox look like this week? Clean or chaos?

Financial planning for women | Real conversations about money for women in their 40s and 50s | Financial Planner + Founder, Nexa Wealth

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The biggest drain on your money usually isn’t what you’re spending.


It’s the mental load of carrying all the decisions at once.

Not the obvious, one-time choices.
The ongoing ones that never really turn off.

Should I change this now?
Am I missing something?
Is this still the right move given everything else going on?

What wears my clients down isn’t lack of discipline.
It’s having too many moving parts living in their head at the same time.

This week alone, that showed up in a few different ways.

One client is moving overseas.
Exciting, yes. But it comes with layers of decisions around what happens to her accounts, what can stay in the U.S., what needs to change, and how to handle taxes without creating problems later.

Another client has several big expenses coming up at once, all competing for the same dollars.
The question wasn’t whether she could afford them.
It was how to prioritize them without putting unnecessary pressure on cash or derailing what she’s building.

And another client inherited a large stock position years ago.
It’s now a big part of her net worth, right as she’s planning a major home renovation.
So we had to think through diversification, taxes, timing, and how to fund the renovation without everything feeling tangled together.

This is the part of money work most people don’t see.

It’s not one decision.
It’s how every decision touches several others.

A big part of my role isn’t telling clients what to do.
It’s helping them get everything out of their head and onto the table.

We look at how the pieces connect.
We talk through trade-offs.
And we make decisions in a way that fits their life.

That’s the kind of work I do with clients, and I don’t open it all the time.
I do have two spots for my 3-month planning work right now.

If you want to talk through whether it’s a fit, just DM me.

Some of the costliest money decisions don’t look risky when you’re making them.


They look reasonable.
It’s the choice that lets you move on and get back to your life.

When clients come to me, this is usually where they are.

They haven’t made some obvious “big” mistake. For the most part, they’ve been making “good moves”. 

But they’re carrying a lot of decisions at once, and decisions feels like it impacts five other things. 

Something that worked a few years ago may not be working the best now. 

Using cash for one thing changes what’s available later.

Moving investments affects taxes and timing in ways that don’t show up right away.

Because nothing feels wrong in the moment, it’s so easy to keep going as is. 

By the time we talk, they’re usually overthinking the same questions.
And wondering if they missed something.

This is the point where I slow things down.

I don’t start by fixing anything.
I start by separating the questions that have been competing with each other.

What needs attention right now.
What can wait without causing a mess later.
And what decisions would limit you in if you made them too soon.

Once those pieces are no longer tangled together, their decisions start to feel easier to make.

Because the client isn’t trying to solve her entire financial life in one conversation anymore.

She’s deciding the next right thing, with the bigger picture present.

Most of the time, there isn’t something wrong with your money.

You’re just carrying more decisions than you should have to on your own.

And that’s usually when money starts to feel reactive, instead of something you can actually see and steer.

“I know it’s dumb, but I still feel like I’m not where I should be.”

I hear this every week.
Usually from women with more money than they’ve ever had.

You may not have said it out loud.
But you’ve probably thought it.

“I should be further along by now.”

Further along than who?

An article that says you need $3M to retire?
A calculator that doesn’t know your life?
A coworker who talks big but has no real plan?

The goalpost keeps moving because it was never yours to begin with.

What’s usually missing isn’t money.
It’s a definition that actually fits.

Most people aren’t behind.
They’re measuring against someone else’s formula.

Instead of asking “Am I on track?”
Try asking, “What does enough actually look like for me?”

→ Anyone else feel this way right now?

In your peak earning years, this feeling is common.

You're earning more than you ever have.
And yet money doesn't feel simpler.

You thought higher income would bring relief.
More confidence.
A sense that you were finally "there."

Instead, the questions got harder to answer.

This is usually when money stops being a math problem and starts becoming a decision problem.

Every choice affects something else.
Saving affects spending.
Spending affects flexibility.
Work affects energy.

Nothing exists in isolation anymore.

In your 40s, you're often carrying more at the same time.

Career expectations.
Family needs.
Future planning.
Your own health and bandwidth.

So money isn't just about growth.
It’s about support.

And that shift can feel unsettling if no one names it.

Many women I talk to assume this discomfort means they're doing something wrong.
Maybe not saving enough.
Maybe not thinking far enough ahead.

But that's rarely the issue.

More often, it means your income has outgrown the way you're thinking about money.

You're using old questions for a much more complex season of life.

Clarity at this stage doesn't come from chasing the "right" move.

It comes from understanding what your money needs to do for this phase of your life and what it doesn't.

If money feels heavier now than it used to, that's not failure.

It's a sign that your growth requires a different perspective.

→ Anyone else feel like the questions got harder, not easier?

“New year, new me.”
(The lie we tell ourselves every January.)

I don’t really have a morning ritual.
No cold plunge. No 5am journaling. No vision board.
I just start.

Some years I hit January running.
Other years I’m still mentally on the couch, halfway through a Netflix binge.

This year, I’m somewhere in between.

I keep seeing every January:

The pressure to have it all figured out by week one is another way to feel behind.

I see it show up with money, too.

The urge to treat January like a hard deadline.
New goals. New systems. All at once.

One client finally started her business at 51.
She didn’t launch in January.
She launched in March after two false starts and changing her mind more than once.

Another client left her marriage and rebuilt her finances from scratch.
It took her until April to open her new accounts.

Most meaningful financial moves don’t always happen because the calendar flipped.

They happen when someone finally has the space to look at things honestly and decide what actually matters next.

January isn’t magic.
It’s literally a calendar page we assign a lot of pressure to.

The reset happens when you’re ready.
Not when the date tells you to be.

If you’re still easing back in this week, that’s fine.
If you’re already in full work mode, also fine.

There’s no right pace.
Just the one you’re actually in.

→ Are you fully back or still mentally on vacation?

You can think you’re “on track”
and still feel unsure where it’s headed.

At some point, “Am I on track?” stops being a yes-or-no question.

You’re doing what you were told was responsible.
And yet, something doesn’t sit right.

Most advice makes this feel simple.

Hit the number and you’re fine.
Miss it and you’re behind.

But a lot of women I talk to have solid numbers.
They still don’t feel settled about where things are going.

That’s because being “on track” isn’t really about how much you’ve saved.

It’s about where all of this effort is actually leading.

You can make good decisions for years
and slowly realize you’re building toward something you never really chose.

In your 40s, this gets harder to ignore.

Career decisions are more impactful.
Family needs change.
Time and energy matter more than they used to.

One reasonable choice quietly shapes the next.
And changing direction starts to feel more costly than it once did.

So maybe the more useful question isn't
"Am I saving enough?"

It's whether the way you're using your money is still supporting the life you want now.
Not just the plan you set five years ago.

One keeps the plan intact.
The other helps you decide if the plan still fits.

→ Does anyone else's 'on track' feel different than it used to?

If money hacks could make you rich, we’d all be millionaires by now.

There’s no magic financial tip waiting to “blow up” your wealth overnight.
If there were, everyone would already be using it.

It’s why so many women earning multiple six figures still wonder if they’re missing something.

The issue isn’t income.
It’s that most advice points you toward hacks instead of building a strategy that fits your life.

When you step back and create a plan that reflects your goals and values—
Your money stops feeling scattered.
And it starts working for you.

Here’s what that looks like in real life:
→ Big decisions feel easier
→ You’re in the right financial vehicles for growth
→ You keep more of what you earn
→ And you have breathing room to actually enjoy your money today

The “secret” isn’t another hack. It’s this:
→ Knowing where every dollar goes without feeling restricted
→ Choosing investments that fit your future, not someone else’s
→ Walking into tax season without the “what if I missed something” pit in your stomach

That’s what a strategy built around you delivers.

—

📌 What’s the best money tip you’ve ever received?

Making more money doesn’t automatically make you feel safer.


For many women in their 40s, it actually makes decisions feel more complicated.

By this point, your income is higher than it used to be.
You’re more established in your career.
You’re not starting from scratch anymore.

So there’s an expectation that money should feel simpler now.
Instead, decisions start to require more thought.

Not because anything is going wrong, 
but because each choice affects more parts of your life than it used to.

In your 40s, money decisions rarely live in isolation.
They touch your time, your energy, your family, your career flexibility, and the options you want to keep available later.

Changing direction (slowing down, stepping away, or reworking priorities) feels more consequential than it did before.

I hear this a lot from women in this stage:

“I have more money than I ever thought I would…
and I’m less certain about what I want next.”

So you find yourself standing at a point where the old path doesn’t quite fit anymore.

The risk isn’t making a bad decision.
It’s staying on autopilot because everything looks fine.
That’s how drift shows up in your 40s.

That discomfort isn’t a sign you’ve failed with money.
It’s a sign that the definition of “doing well” you built earlier in your career needs to be updated for where you are now.

Feeling secure in this season comes from understanding what your money is meant to support and what it needs to stay flexible for.

When that’s clear, decisions start to feel steadier and more intentional.

→ Anyone else in this phase right now?

You shouldn’t need to justify enjoying your money.

But somehow, every time you book the flight or splurge on the birthday dinner… guilt taps you on the shoulder.

This past weekend, I bought the $1,000 shoes I’ve been eyeing.
And for a split second, I hesitated.
Not because I couldn’t afford them,
But because that little voice whispered,
“Shouldn’t you be saving this instead?”

That voice doesn’t vanish when you start earning more.
Or when you “know better.”
Or even when you build financial plans for a living.

It sticks around when your money feels disconnected from your life.

Because enjoying your money and being smart with it shouldn’t feel like opposites.
But for a lot of high-earning women—it still does.

Not because they’re reckless.
But because they’re not 100% sure what’s already handled and what isn’t.

That’s where the doubt creeps in.
That’s where the overthinking starts.

What changes everything?

→ Knowing what’s going toward the future
→ Knowing what’s fueling the life you want right now
→ And knowing you’re allowed to enjoy both

That’s the kind of permission that doesn’t come from a budgeting app.
It comes from a plan that gets you.

Not just the numbers.
The way you want to feel when you spend, invest, save, and live.

If you’ve been earning well but still feel like you have to justify every “fun” purchase…
This isn’t a money problem.
It’s a strategy gap.

And that’s fixable.

“What should my financial goals be for this year?”

I get this question every January.

But I never answer it directly.

Instead, I ask:
“What do you actually want your life to look like in December?”

If you hesitated, that’s the point.

Most people set financial goals backwards.

Save more money
Max out my 401k
Pay off debt faster

These aren’t goals.
They’re tasks without a destination.

Here’s how I work through this with clients:

1. Start with the life (not the number)

Ask yourself:
→ What do I want to say YES to this year without hesitating?
→ What would I do if money wasn’t the thing holding me back?
→ What does my ideal Tuesday look like in five years?

Write it down. Get specific.

2. Work backwards to the money

Once you see the life clearly:
→ The lake house = X amount by Y date
→ The career pivot = Z months of runway
→ Early retirement = a real drawdown strategy

Now you have targets that mean something.
Not arbitrary benchmarks from an online calculator.

3. Identify what’s actually in the way

It’s not always “not enough money.”

It’s usually:
→ Cash sitting idle instead of working
→ Tax inefficiency quietly eating gains
→ No system connecting income → investments → real life goals

4. Build the bridge

Map the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Then reverse-engineer the quarterly actions to close it.

That’s a financial plan.
Not “save more.”

Because “enough” is a moving target.
A number on a calculator.
A fear dressed up as math.

But:
Take my daughter to Portugal without guilt.
Leave this job by 50 on my terms.
Buy the vacation home.

Those are goals.

The number isn’t the goal.
The life is.

→ What’s one thing you want to say YES to this year?

Being gifted stock can quietly turn into a tax headache if you don’t know what you’re dealing with.

On the surface, it sounds like a win.
But the rules matter more than most people expect.

A lot of people assume gifted stock works like an inheritance. It doesn’t.

There’s no step-up in basis.
You get the stock and you also get all the built-in gains that come with it.

Most of the stress isn’t about the money itself. It’s the uncertainty.

You’re holding something valuable, but you don’t really know what it costs to use it.

That’s usually when it becomes clear this isn’t a simple decision.

If you sell everything without a plan, the tax bill can be massive.
And once that happens, there’s no undo button.

Most people come in asking, “Should I sell?”

I’m usually focused on what decisions are still open before anything is final.

That’s how I worked with a client who was gifted just under $4 million in a single stock, with about $2.5 million of gains.

We sold shares over time in years when her income was lower.
We used some of the most appreciated stock for charitable giving.
And we rebuilt the portfolio so it supported her goals, not just what she inherited.

Once she could see the path forward, it stopped feeling like a guessing game.

Sometimes the most important money decision isn’t earning more.

It’s knowing how to use what you already have without creating a problem you didn’t need.

If this is something you’re navigating, it’s worth talking through early, before taxes make the decision for you.


→ Did you know gifted stock works this way?

MASTER COACH 💪 | Leveraging Lived Experience in 🌪️ Trauma Recovery, 🧠 Resilience & Mindset Transformation | 💥 Overcame Homelessness, Addiction and PTSD.

My name is Corey Preston,

Personally, I have undergone a vast transformation over the past eight years, escaping homelessness on the streets, drug trafficking and three suicide attempts. Previously diagnosed with CPTSD/PTSD, but now mostly symptom-free due to a lot of hard work and commitment. I'm a true Phoenix who has escaped hell and was lucky enough to find my purpose in serving community.

I'm the Founder of Mental Health Simplified. An organization that provides Mental Health Coaching and Motivational Speaking seminars. Our Coaches all have Lived Experience. Meaning they have overcome Mental health & Addiction related challenges. This allows us to better connect and relate with our clients to support their needs. Not just guiding someone from a text-book, but by actually showing them the way from experience.

Corey Preston

Smashing beers and chain smoking joints was my past mental health routine. When I really wanted to escape, I'd lean hard on cocaine and a cocktail of uppers and downers. If I felt sad or uncomfortable, I always had tools to make myself feel "better."

That was until the high went away, and I ended up feeling even worse than before. I was so stuck in trying to survive day to day that I didn't even know what I was fighting for. In fact, I didn't even know that there was any hope. When you're in the shit, you don't think about sunny days. That only made me more angry because I was in such a dark hole.

Eventually, I got so sick of drugs and binge drinking. Whenever I had the thought of getting wasted, I would think of all the shameful memories I had made. It would bring a certain type of inner disgust that I felt in my stomach. Each impulse I had to do drugs was met with significant discomfort. I'd visualize the worst moments of my life each time.

This actually reprogrammed my mindset with addiction. Previously, I would feel happy at the thought of getting high. But slowly, as I met each toxic thought with this approach, my desire for getting loaded began to fade. I replaced those self sabotaging impulses with healthy ones.

I'd work out, read books, watch personal development podcasts, and created a foundation of tools like grounding exercises, affirmations, cold showers, and practicing gratitude daily. I celebrated every positive action I made, telling myself that I'm proud of my efforts each time an action was achieved. Eventually, the monster within turned into an inner guardian. My inner voice no longer wished to hurt me, and I broke free from survival mode.

If youre struggling with addiction. Don't give up. Replace those negative impulses with healthy habits. Celebrate each win you have with gratitude. You'll shift your addictive mind to crave healing and growth. 

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

To sign up for my 1 ON 1 or 4-WEEK Group Coaching program PM me to REGISTER 🙂🙏 OR TEXT 778-330-0437 - Corey@mentalhealthsimplified.ca 

#healingjourney #overcome

Master Coach | Trauma Recovery & Burnout Resilience | Helping High Achievers Move from Survival Mode to Sustainable Success 🧠

I was on the streets, starving, and had to do terrible things to survive. I was a drug addict and homeless. And when you’re in those types of situations, really bad things happen...

As a young man, I never thought in a million years that I would end up in such a dark place. I looked in the mirror and all I wanted to do was punch myself. I wanted the pain to go away, but instead, I kept putting myself in more horrible situations where the suffering got worse not better....

I felt that I deserved to suffer, so I kept putting myself in risky situations.... I had so much hate in my heart. I thought it was for the world, but really, that hate was for myself. I wasn’t a nice person to others, but I was the most cruel to myself.

How I overcame this started with stabilizing my life. Fortunately, the court system picked me up, and I got some form of therapy. But the real healing began when I stopped being a victim and took responsibility for my life.

When I chose to get better on my own terms.

I had to look back at my past and understand why that little boy decided to walk through the gates of hell like i did. I discovered that childhood trauma causes many to go on a similar journey that i went on. Which allowed me to have empathy for myself. And feel human.

I realized that i wasn't broken or inherently bad. Rather I was handed challenging cards that brought me through those twists and turns.

There were scrapes and scars all over my soul, but somehow, by the grace of God, I was able to break free from that tragic hell. The wounds run deep, but my heart was too strong to be consumed by the darkness. Fast forward 8 years and I'm successful, married and honestly very happy.

It’s my mission now to inspire other people who are suffering to get help. To understand that no matter how far gone you may feel, you can always come back. You can always find yourself. You can always come home to who you truly are beyond the Trauma.

Look back at your child self, the innocent kid you were before all the horrible things happened, and remember... that’s who you’re fighting for.

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

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Abusers have roughly a 90–95% chance of having been born an innocent child who later became narcissistic/abusive due to childhood trauma and parental attachment injury...

 Whereas about 1% of people are psychopathic and are largely genetically and neurodevelopmentally predisposed toward predatory, exploitative, and sometimes violent behavior...

So this means that the vast majority of abusive people were hurt growing up as a kid. Imagine if the school systems had effective mental health programming. Where children could grow up learning emotional resilience, self-care, boundaries, and how to foster strong connection with relationships...

Childhood trauma is the root cause of much of society’s dysfunction, criminality, and addiction. 

Yet we continue to address the symptoms but not work on prevention. It breaks my heart to see all these poor kids going into the jungle of life unprepared. They do anything they can to fit in, to belong. And sometimes that means doing drugs, stealing, or even bullying others.....

We need a paradigm shift to change this. It’s time to wake up and stop doing what doesn’t work. Our old systems are outdated. Bureaucracy and stubbornness in leadership are what hold us back from growing from our past mistakes...

Sincerely, 
Corey Preston,

Id like to celebrate a major victory. After 11 years I finally got my full license back. I was previously homeless on the streets doing tons of drugs. And my life was a complete mess.... 

I was medically suspended because I was hooked on drugs and made a lot of bad decisions. I was suicidal and burned my entire life down to the ground. Picking up the pieces has been a challenging journey. I healed my PTSD from my childhood. I let go of toxic people. And I also stopped hating who I am and learned to love and appreciate myself. Today was the last piece of the puzzle of reclaiming my independence. 

I cannot express how grateful I am to see my entire life finally move forward. For anyone struggling with Mental health or Addiction. I know things can feel hopeless. But we create hope by taking action. The biggest reason I was able to overcome my circumstances was because I accepted responsibility for my life. I stopped being a victim and put maximum effort into getting better. We can all OVERCOME if we put our full heart into growing beyond our past. Dont give up. ❤️

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

Moms, the deepest pain for a mother isn’t exhaustion or sacrifice. It’s when your child resents you, despite all you ever gave.

Your child used to hold you tight. You were their protector. The most important person in their life.

Somewhere along the way, things changed.
Maybe you went through a challenging divorce. Perhaps you struggled with carrying your own childhood trauma. Or maybe you had another parent playing them against you.

The stories may be different for everyone. But the emotional pain feels the same for all. The feeling is abandonment. You feel abandoned by your child.

How could they not understand? How could they not have empathy for you? Don’t they see you, or understand your journey?

Even if you did your best and they still turned against you, there is something you need to know.

You must stop chasing, sacrificing, and overgiving. Remain kind and compassionate, but do not position yourself as a doormat for abuse.

You may feel like you deserve to be hurt by them. That it’s only fair.... But it’s not. You’re human. We all screw up. 

Stop focusing on trying to fix things outside of you. The only thing you can do in this situation is heal your own pain.

Stop abandoning yourself in hopes that you’ll be loved. Instead, become a strong role model, and show them indirectly the path to redemption.

This path involves prioritizing your healing, building boundaries to be respected, and loving yourself like your life depends on it.

Become so resilient that you can empower yourself to get through anything. The solution to your problems will not be found outside. 

The answer is deep within your wounded heart. Open the door. Accept your faults. Forgive yourself. In doing so you will change disrupt this vicious cycle.

Inspire change by changing yourself. 🙏

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

If you're seeking support on your journey. Feel free to private message me for details on our 1 ON 1 and Group Mental Health Coaching programs. ❤️

#healingjourney #overcome #mentalhealthmatters #moms

In the past year, I’ve been paralyzed and almost died due to my spinal cord being crushed.

My wife’s family has experienced two wars. My parents-in-law literally live in a country that was getting bombed and may be heading into another war very soon. That has created a lot of trauma. All while working with people that struggle with Mental health and addiction.

So how the hell do I maintain an optimistic mind?

I’ll tell you what....

Yes, shit can hit the fan. But one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is this...

Your foundation must be powerful if you want to get through the most challenging moments of your life... A foundation holds you through the storm.

I have a strong base of friends with deep connection who allow me to feel emotionally supported.

I journal and check in with myself frequently. My wife and I actually solve our problems by talking...

I have meaning and purpose through serving vulnerable populations with mental health coaching.

I work out consistently and eat whole foods. I also have a structured mental health routine every morning.

I practice gratitude and appreciation when things are going well. And im compassionate to myself when they're not.

Because of this, even when darkness shows up, there is still a choice to experience moments of joy. They might be a few minutes or hours. But those feelings counter the heaviness of pain.

We need to understand something important...

Resilience isn’t just mental strength.
Resilience is a culmination of many things you appreciate in your life that bring you contentment.

To be content is to be resilient.

When you are truly happy with who you are and you love what you do, you will always be able to overcome the challenges in front of you.

....Because you have something to fight for....

This is not meant to shame anyone who isn’t in this place right now...What I want you to know is that you can get there.

Fulfillment is not luck....It’s skills..It’s tools..consistency and connection.

In practice over time you build the muscle stronger.

When you intentionally build these into your life, you can transform through adversity, grow stronger each time, and learn how to hold both suffering and joy together.

That balance is what allows you to keep going, even through the hardest moments.

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

For details on my 1-ON-1 and Group Mental Health Coaching programs. please Private message me for details or text/email:

778-330-0437 
Corey@mentalhealthsimplified.ca

#healingjourney #resilience #personalgrowth #wellness #burnout

Stop RUNNING and turn towards the STORM. ❤️ You have the capability to OVERCOME any challenge in front of you. 

#traumarecovery #healingjourney #wellness #resilience #mentalhealthawareness

MEN, Youre not WEAK for having EMOTIONS or getting HELP. I hope this message inspires you to WAKE UP!!! 

#mensmentalhealth #healingjourney #selfresponsibility  #childhoodtrauma 
#personaldevelopment

Stop COMPARING and COMPETING with everyone in your life. For this is what TRIGGERS your INSECURITY. Then your "Im not Good Enough" Story will continue. And guess where that leads to? Only more suffering... F*ck living like that. ❤️

So you're not SEXUALLY ATTRACTED to the good guys, the good girls. You're just scratching your head, wondering, Why do I always keep choosing the abusers? Why do I always keep choosing the people that excite me but also bring me the most chaos and drama? Why do I push away the stable people, the healthy people?

Well, you're not insane. It's just that these toxic relationships remind you of the familiarity of your emotional home, of your childhood. Perhaps it’s your mom or your dad was a bully. There’s a faimiliar connection from the past that reminds you of how you felt as a kid, and you’re in a cycle of reliving that experience over and over.

It’s an emotional and nervous system response, and it’s because you have unprocessed emotional trauma that needs to heal. If you don’t heal this, you’re always going to keep attracting toxic people into your life.

My best piece of advice is to go inward. Stabilize yourself by both working on the past and also stabilizing the present by starting to learn how to put boundaries and higher standards in place for yourself. Understand that yes, you may feel excited to be with these people, but ultimately, they are the destruction of your life, and you need to start reevaluating.

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

Are you seeking support with our 1 ON 1 or Group Healing programs? Private Message me for details ❤️ 

TEXT: 778-330-0437 
Corey@mentalhealthsimplified.ca 

 #healingjourney #wellness #trauma #personaldevelopment #resilience

Trauma isn’t pretty. It’s ugly. It f*cks your life. It makes you question your existence and your self-worth. That’s exactly why we have to fight for a better life.

Because what happened was sad and terrible. Many of us grew up in unsafe environments, where we literally developed as humans under significant stress and pain. Our survival responses become entangled with our personality.

So we’re not just healing emotional wounds. We’re actually rebuilding an entire identity system of who you are. That is a lot of work. And if we don’t accept this journey and only put in minimal effort, you will unfortunately remain trapped in your trauma story.

Those who actually break free from their past all have one thing in common. Their WHY was bigger than their HOW. Where so many remain stuck is that they look outside of themselves for answers and fear opening the door to their wounded heart.

Yes, it feels painful to feel and experience the grief you avoided for most of your life. But we need to feel those emotions to access our WHY and move forward. Your pain is what actually sets you free.

After my breakdown, I felt significant suffering. But that pain woke me up to the truth. It motivated me to get better and change my life.
Being stuck is not because of your trauma. It’s because of avoidance of facing your trauma.

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

For my 4-WEEK Group Healing programs. Private message me for details. 🙂

#traumarecovery #childhoodtrauma #hope #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment

The three fundamentals to overcome BURNOUT. And burnout isnt just working too much. Its caused from an injured nervous system due to unprocessed Trauma. 

#resilience #burnout #survivalmode #business #wellness

My family is going through some darkness right now. It is not easy seeing your wife/family watching their people get massacred in Iran. And you cant do anything but VOICE awareness so hopefully something changes for the better...

Their people are fighting against oppression and for their freedom, while the Islamic Republic traumatizes and kills innocent people.
Witnessing and feeling this collective trauma has been challenging, to say the least. 

I have many people who count on me for support. I lead a large mental health organization. My schedule is packed. But if I did not utilize my self-care tools, I would fall apart.

Emotional strength is not some mystical thing. It is discipline and routine that get you through the darkest moments. Anytime I feel stressed, I stop. I take care of myself, and then I increase my emotional capacity.

Eventually, it becomes instinct. You put on the brakes when necessary, and you keep pushing hard when you can move forward. This was the greatest lesson my healing journey taught me.

No matter what happens, I can trust myself to navigate crisis and turn it into an opportunity to grow. Even the most painful experiences in life can help us become a better person.

Please pray for my family and the beautiful Persian people. May they find the freedom they so deeply deserve. 

Free IRAN from the dictatorship. 🙏

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,

#IranProtests #freeiran #iran

HOW to UNF*CK your LIFE with LIVED EXPERIENCE wisdom.

#healingjourney #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment

My wife’s people are being massacred for demanding freedom. 

There are millions of Iranians protesting in the streets across the country. They are being brutally beaten, arrested, and tortured for standing up against oppression. The Iranian regime has shut down the internet to control, silence, and suppress the Persian people. This is a tactic they used during the uprisings in 2019 and 2022 to stop the world from seeing what is actually happening.

People often associate Iran with terrorism. Did you know that 80% of the Persian people want to see regime change? They do not want to live under dictatorship. They do not want to live under tyranny.

I have a Persian family. They are kind, loving, and peaceful people. They do not want war. They do not want violence. They just want their freedom.

For over four decades, the Islamic Republic, under the rule of the Ayatollah, has brought fear, repression, and darkness upon the Iranian people. The world looked away in 2019 when security forces killed hundreds of people. Peaceful protesters were imprisoned, tortured, or disappeared for demanding basic human rights.

The Islamic Republic has systematically violated international human rights laws, including the right to life, free expression, and peaceful protest, and must be held accountable for these atrocities.

So how can you support the Iranian people? Share this video. Tell your friends and family. Spread awareness. Stand with the Persian people in their fight for freedom.

Let’s give the beautiful people of Iran an opportunity for peace in the West. We have millions of Persians who have created innovation in our marketplace. They have the greatest food. They are wonderful people. Let’s stand with them so that they may become free and have an opportunity to feel the security, peace, and stability that we all take for granted.

#IranProtests #FreeIran #IranRevolution #iran

Life will HIT you like a fu*cking TRUCK. When life squeezes you with pressure, it exposes your true vulnerability and reveals holes in your foundation. 

So many of us feel strong when things are going well. We feel resilient, like we can take on the world. But the moment something goes wrong and things start falling apart, we break. We shut down, sometimes for months, sometimes for years..

Then we get back up. We work on ourselves for a bit. We start feeling good again. We feel resilient. But more bullshit comes our way. Stress spikes, and before we know it, we crash again. 

We keep cycling through these extreme highs and lows, not because life is unfair, but because we have not truly faced our past or dealt with our emotional scars and wounds.

The more pain you carry through life, the heavier the backpack becomes. And the heavier it gets, the weaker and more fragile you become. Real strength came for me when I stopped running. I had to feel the pain, write it out, say it out loud, get help, and actually understand what was happening inside of me.

Eventually, I realized something important. I deserved self-compassion for the cards I was dealt, instead of only judging, hating, and shaming myself for suffering. Most people do not see the light in themselves because they do not seek answers. The most powerful thing you can do to become emotionally resilient is to return to wholeness.

Last year, I almost died, and instead of letting it destroy me, I experienced post-traumatic growth. It sucked, but it taught me patience, acceptance, and love. I chose not to let my trauma turn me into a victim. 

I became a guardian of my pain, because pain is a garden and we reap what we sow. If your life is full of peaks and valleys, it is not random. On the other side of the storm, there is not just hope. There is possibility. Move through the struggle with compassion, curiosity and courage. You will break free soon after. 

Sincerely,
Corey Preston, 

For our 1-ON-1 and Group Mental Health Coaching programs please Private message me for details ❤️

#responsibility #resilience #healingjourney #wellness #mentalhealthmatters

People addicted to SEX are RUNNING from their EMOTIONAL Trauma.

They’re addicted to dopamine
and the feelings that come with it.

Sex becomes a self soothing coping mechanism.

I work with a lot of people who tell me:
“My partner is always looking at other women or men.”
“They’re cheating.”
“They’re constantly thinking about sex.”
“That’s all they care about.”

No judgment.
That is someone running from unprocessed trauma,
and they’ve chosen sex as their drug.

Of course, sex itself isn’t bad.
Sex is a beautiful thing.
But it becomes destructive
when it’s used to avoid past emotions.

People who can’t self regulate
and have to externally use other people
through sex or sexual intimacy
end up being some of the most miserable people in the world.

Why?

Because they live in a constant cat and mouse chase.

When their sexual needs aren’t met,
all the feelings of unworthiness
and “I’m not good enough” surge back in.
They become bitter.
They become resentful.
And then they go right back into the hunt
to fill the void.

So how do people overcome this?
You have to face the origin
of why you’re operating this way.

Whatever you fear most
is usually driving this primal need.
When people turn around
and face what they’re running from,
they can build a healthier relationship with sex.

Where it’s not about coping.
It’s about connection.

Until you feel safe in your own skin,
you’ll keep distracting yourself with pleasure.

So do the hard thing.
Turn around.
Face your demons.
Because you can’t build a happy life
when your mind is only focused on attraction and stimulation.

Healthy relationships have sex consistently,
but they’re not obsessive.
Emotional safety outweighs sexual urgency.
Sex matters.
But it is not the center of life.
It’s part of contentment,
not the foundation of it.

Sincerely,
Corey Preston,
(Real Writer/Non-AI Posts)

For my 1-on-1 or Group Mental health coaching programs. Please Private message me for details 🙏👊❤️

#healing #business #relationships #sex #addiction

Not LETTING GO of RESENTMENT is Self Abuse.

#anger #resentment #healingjourney #personaldevelopment #childhoodtrauma

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Corey Preston

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The Battle

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