Podcast
Project Joyful
Hosted by Tracy Tutty · EN
This podcast is dedicated to the art of joyful living. More than being happy, rediscover that soul filled joy moment by moment.
Fall back in love with your work or find work that feeds your soul.
21episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
What High Performers Misunderstand About Energy
5d ago00:20:40Tap to summarizeYou're doing the things: yoga, meditation, maybe magnesium on the bedside table and a sleep-tracking app telling you you're getting enough rest. Yet there's still a low-level hum of anxiety that doesn't seem to shift.This episode explores why.The answer isn't in the practices themselves. It's in the physiological state you're bringing to them. The difference between a wellness practice and the nervous system baseline you keep returning to underneath it is the missing piece in most conversations about energy and restoration.We'll explore your autonomic nervous system, why a chronically activated baseline can override even the most consistent wellness habits, and what it takes to make those practices create lasting change.What We Cover in this episodeWhy the practices aren't the problemYoga works. Meditation works. Both are backed by solid physiological evidence. So why aren't you feeling different? We start by honouring what you're already doing before exploring what's happening beneath it.Your autonomic nervous system and the dance between the two branchesThe sympathetic nervous system governs activation, alertness, and stress response. The parasympathetic nervous system governs rest, recovery, and restoration. In a healthy system, these branches move fluidly according to life's demands. We explore what happens when that flexibility is lost.Why a chronically activated baseline overrides restorationWhen the sympathetic nervous system has been activated for years through high responsibility, visibility, and consequence, it can become the body's default setting. Even after a restorative practice, the system quickly returns to that familiar baseline.The heating and the fan A simple analogy that makes the relationship between wellness practices and nervous system baseline instantly clear.Why the email arrived in child's poseWhen your to-do list appears during meditation, it's not a failure. It's often evidence that your parasympathetic nervous system is finally creating enough space for unfinished thoughts to surface.The herbal medicine parallelConventional medicine often addresses symptoms. Herbal medicine looks for the underlying condition creating them. Energy restoration works the same way.A guided extended exhale to closeWe close with a simple practice that gives your nervous system a direct experience of the parasympathetic state—not another task to add to your list.The Practice from this episodeThe extended exhale stimulates the vagus nerve, a key pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system.Inhale for four counts. Exhale slowly for six to eight counts. Let the second exhale become a sigh. Notice what shifts.Work with TracyIf this episode has landed for you, the link to explore working with Tracy privately is below.https://www.tracytutty.co.nz/RevitaliseConnect with TracyWebsite: projectjoyful.comInstagram: @tracyctuttyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracytuttyAbout Project JoyfulProject Joyful is the podcast for high-achieving women in corporate leadership who want to understand the biology, subconscious patterns, and nervous system science shaping the way they lead, perform, and live.Hosted by Tracy Tutty, Neuro-Identity Coach and Medical Herbalist.#ProjectJoyful #BiologyOfLeadership #NervousSystemHealth #HighAchievingWomen #NeuroIdentityCoaching
Transcribe →
Why Your Body Knows You're Over Capacity Before You Do
2w ago00:31:38Tap to summarizeHave you ever found yourself crying over a spreadsheet, snapping at an email, or feeling completely depleted by something that wouldn't normally bother you?What if the problem wasn't the spreadsheet?What if your body had been trying to get your attention long before that moment arrived?In this episode, Tracy explores why high-achieving women in leadership often miss the earliest signs that they're operating beyond their body's sustainable capacity. Drawing on neuroscience, physiology, nervous system regulation, and the science of allostatic load, she unpacks how your body continuously monitors your energy budget and often knows you're over capacity long before your conscious mind catches up.You'll discover why tears, irritability, sleep disruption, jaw tension, and emotional reactivity aren't signs that you're failing. They're physiological data. Intelligent signals from a highly adapted nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do.This episode is for ambitious women in leadership, finance, and corporate environments who are carrying significant responsibility and want to understand how to lead sustainably without sacrificing their health, wellbeing, or sense of self in the process.In this episode, you'll learn:• What allostasis and allostatic load actually mean and why they matter for leadership• Why your body begins preparing for demand before the demand arrives• How a depleted energy budget affects emotional regulation, resilience, patience, and decision-making• Why crying is one of the body's most sophisticated self-regulation mechanisms• The difference between a demanding season and chronic physiological depletion• Two simple nervous system regulation techniques you can use in under a minute• Why awareness creates choice when it comes to sustainable leadership• How to recognise the signals your body is sending before they become symptomsResources MentionedJoin Biology of Leadership, Tracy's free three-day live online experience exploring the hidden biological factors influencing leadership, performance, resilience, and wellbeing:https://www.tracytutty.co.nz/LeadershipBiologyIf you'd like to join us, simply DM Tracy the word JOYFUL and she'll get everything set up for you.Connect with TracyWebsite:https://www.tracytutty.co.nzLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracytutty#BiologyOfLeadership#NervousSystemRegulation#WomenInLeadership#ExecutiveWellbeing#LeadershipDevelopment
Transcribe →
The Hidden Difference Between Being Busy and Being Activated
3w ago00:23:57Tap to summarizeYou finish the meeting. The presentation went well. The emails are handled. And yet your brain is still moving.Still scanning.Still preparing.Still holding what has not happened yet.In this episode of Project Joyful, Tracy explores the hidden difference between external busyness and internal activation, and why so many high-achieving women in leadership struggle to truly switch off even when nothing urgent is actually happening.This conversation unpacks the Biology of Leadership beneath:• mentally rehearsing tomorrow’s conversations during the drive home• opening emails on Sunday “just to get ahead”• waking at 3am thinking about a meeting agenda• arriving on holiday while part of your nervous system is still at work• feeling tired in a way that rest alone does not fully resolveTracy explores how the brain’s default mode network, cortisol patterns, subconscious preparation loops, and nervous system conditioning shape the way high-performing women experience leadership, responsibility, and rest.You’ll also hear:• why your nervous system learned to stay in anticipatory readiness• the physiological difference between genuine demand and chronic activation• how high-functioning leadership patterns become identity-level adaptations• why nervous system coherence changes the way teams experience leadership• the hidden energetic cost of constantly staying “across everything”• how embodied leadership allows performance without self-abandonmentThis episode is not about becoming less ambitious, less prepared, or less capable.It is about what becomes available when your nervous system no longer needs to stay permanently braced for what might happen next.If you have ever felt physically exhausted despite “handling everything well,” this episode will likely feel deeply familiar.Connect with Project Joyful on LinkedIn for deeper conversations, leadership reflections, podcast clips, and Biology of Leadership insights.ABOUT TRACY TUTTYTracy Tutty is a Neuro-Identity Coach, Medical Herbalist, and leadership thought leader helping high-achieving women recalibrate the subconscious and nervous system patterns beneath overperformance, chronic stress, perfectionism, and emotional self-protection.Through the Biology of Leadership, Tracy bridges nervous system science, subconscious identity work, emotional regulation, and embodied leadership to help women succeed without chronic self-abandonment.#BiologyOfLeadership#NervousSystemRegulation#HighAchievingWomen#LeadershipDevelopment#CorporateLeadership
Transcribe →
Why Your Brain Keeps Solving Problems After Hours
4w ago00:12:16Tap to summarizeYour body leaves work, but your mind never fully does.You finish the meeting, drive home, make dinner, and technically stop working… while part of your brain is still replaying conversations, mentally organising tomorrow, and anticipating what needs attention next.In this episode, Tracy explores the neuroscience behind why so many high-achieving women struggle to fully switch off after work, and why constant mental activation often becomes mistaken for professionalism, competence, and effective leadership.This conversation goes far deeper than “overthinking.”Because when women spend years being rewarded for anticipating problems, staying mentally prepared, and carrying responsibility exceptionally well, the nervous system can start associating ongoing cognitive readiness with safety, success, and identity itself.Inside this episode:• Why your brain keeps solving problems after work hours• The neuroscience of anticipatory thinking and cognitive readiness• How high performance conditions the nervous system to stay mentally “on”• Why mentally carrying leadership becomes exhausting over time• The hidden difference between strategic thinking and continuous subconscious preparation• How constant mental activation can quietly reduce clarity, presence, and restoration• Why coherence, not vigilance, creates more powerful leadershipThis episode is especially for women in leadership, finance, corporate environments, and high-responsibility roles who feel physically exhausted in ways rest alone does not fully resolve.You’ll also hear about the new Project Joyful LinkedIn page where Tracy is continuing deeper conversations inspired by these episodes around neuroscience, leadership, subconscious conditioning, and cognitive load.If this episode resonated, send Tracy the word PRECISION.CONNECT WITH TRACY:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectjoyful/ Podcast: www.ProjectJoyful.comNeuro-Identity Coaching™ | Leadership | Nervous System Leadership
Transcribe →
When Success Stops Feeling Like Success
May 2300:26:36Tap to summarizeThere comes a point for many high-performing people where success no longer feels the way they thought it would.The career is working.The mortgage gets paid.You’ve built a life younger you once dreamed about.And yet internally, something feels different.Not because you’re failing.Not because you hate your career.Not because you’ve lost your ambition.But because achievement can quietly become linked to safety, self-worth and identity in ways we rarely talk about out loud.In this episode of Project Joyful, Tracy explores the nervous system patterns, subconscious safety contracts and hyper-independence behaviours that often sit underneath high achievement, and why so many intelligent, capable people become exceptionally skilled at building successful lives they don’t fully have the capacity to experience while they’re living them.This conversation unpacks:• why success can start feeling emotionally flat over time• the hidden relationship between achievement and safety• hyper-independence as a nervous system strategy• why many high performers live “neck up” and disconnected from their body• Hans Selye’s stress physiology research and how the body adapts to chronic pressure and stimulation• the difference between accumulation and expansion• why spaciousness has become such a luxury• how to recalibrate without burning your life down• creating a version of success your nervous system can actually live inside of sustainablyThis episode is for anyone who has ever looked around at the life they built and quietly wondered:“Why doesn’t this feel the way I thought it would?”And more importantly:“What if success could feel different from here?”If you’re beginning to realise the version of success you built no longer matches the internal experience you want to live inside of, you can book a private Clarity Call with Tracy here:Book a Clarity Call with Tracy#ProjectJoyful #NervousSystemRegulation #HighPerformanceWomen #LeadershipDevelopment #NeuroIdentity
Transcribe →
Why High-Achieving Women Stop Responding to “Self-Care”
May 1400:22:14Tap to summarizeSometimes high-achieving women become incredibly good at doing restorative things… without actually feeling restored by them.The yoga classes.The supplements.The meditation apps.The herbal teas.The massages squeezed into lunch breaks while mentally rehearsing tomorrow.And somewhere underneath all of it, the shoulders are still tight. The jaw still aches. The mind keeps moving even in moments that are supposed to feel restorative.In this episode of Project Joyful, Tracy explores why self-care can quietly stop working when the nervous system experiences it as another performance metric. This is a sophisticated conversation about anticipation physiology, optimisation culture, leadership capacity, adaptogens, and the difference between forcing restoration versus allowing responsiveness.You’ll learn:• Why many high-achieving women unconsciously approach rest with achievement energy• The difference between optimisation and nervous system responsiveness• Why pressure and performance can become unconsciously linked• How anticipation physiology affects restoration, creativity, and decision making• Why adaptogens work differently from force-based wellness strategies• The subtle signs your system may be asking for responsiveness rather than more discipline• How coherent leadership begins changing in tiny everyday momentsThis episode is for the woman who is highly capable, deeply responsible, and quietly wondering why all the “right” self-care practices no longer seem to create the restoration they once did.Because sometimes the issue is not a lack of discipline.Sometimes the nervous system no longer responds well to being treated like another productivity project.And sometimes the smallest moments change everything.Connect with Tracy:Instagram: @tracyctuttyPodcast: Project JoyfulWebsite: projectjoyful.com#ProjectJoyfulPodcast#NervousSystemRegulation#HighAchievingWomen#LeadershipPhysiology#BiologicalCongruence
Transcribe →
Why You Can’t Switch Off Anymore
May 900:14:16Tap to summarizeThere’s a point where the day is done… but your mind isn’t.Everything has been handled. Conversations have landed, decisions have been made, and on the surface there’s nothing left that requires your attention. And yet, something in you is still moving. Still replaying. Still stepping ahead into what’s coming next.In this episode, we explore why that happens.Not from the perspective of workload, time management, or needing to “switch off better”… but from the way your system has learned to operate beneath all of that.You’ll start to recognise:• Why your mind continues to loop, even when everything is complete• The anticipatory pattern running beneath your thinking and decision-making• The difference between your capability… and the constant background state that supports it• Why switching off isn’t the absence of work• What it actually feels like when that internal state begins to shiftThis isn’t about doing less, or managing your thoughts more effectively.It’s about understanding what’s happening at a biological level… and what becomes available when your system no longer needs to stay in that constant state of readiness.If you recognise yourself in this, you’ll understand why this work matters.Biology of Leadership26–28 MayYou can register here: https://www.tracytutty.co.nz/LeadershipBiology#BiologyOfLeadership #ExecutiveWomen #WomenInLeadership #NeuroLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment
Transcribe →
The Cost of Holding It All Together
May 200:10:10Tap to summarizeHave you ever had a moment where you stop and think, I’ve created this incredible life… but do I actually want to keep doing what it takes to maintain it?This episode explores a quieter layer of leadership that often goes unnoticed. Not the level you operate at, but what it requires of you to sustain it day after day.Inside this conversation, we look at:The subtle ways high-performing leaders stay ahead of everything without realising itWhy some days feel harder than others, even when nothing externally has changedThe difference between the level you operate at and the way you’ve learned to hold itWhat actually creates your edge, and what simply sits around itThere’s a version of leadership that is built on anticipation.Thinking ahead. Staying prepared. Holding multiple moving parts at once and ensuring nothing drops.From the outside, it looks like competence. Professionalism. Reliability. The kind of leadership people trust.And it is.But there’s another layer underneath that isn’t always visible.The constant engagement required to stay ahead of everything. The subtle bracing before moments that matter. The way your mind continues to run even when the day is technically finished.Not because something is wrong.But because of how your system has learned to operate at this level.Over time, that way of operating can start to feel different depending on the day. Some days it flows. Other days, the same level asks for more.And that’s where a quieter question begins to surface.Not about the life itself.But about what it takes to keep sustaining it.This episode sits inside that question.Not to evaluate what you’ve built, but to look more closely at the relationship between how you lead… and what it requires of you to keep doing so.Biology of Leadership (3 Sessions)If you want to explore this work more deeply:https://www.tracytutty.co.nz/LeadershipBiology#LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveLeadership #WomenInLeadership #HighPerformance #NervousSystem
Transcribe →
The Leadership Stand Down Signal
Apr 2500:19:43Tap to summarizeEpisode InsightThere’s a version of responsibility that most high-performing women never question, because it has worked for so long.It becomes how you lead.And then, quietly, it becomes something your body carries.This episode explores the pattern beneath high-functioning leadership. The one that keeps you slightly on, even when nothing is required. The one that looks like capability, but is actually your biology maintaining safety through control.Not as a flaw.As an adaptation that worked.Until it no longer needs to.Key Moments from This Episode:“Responsibility doesn’t start as something you carry. It becomes something your body learns to hold.”“What you’ve been doing has worked. But it’s not the reason you’re effective.”“Responsibility was never meant to live in your body, only to move through it.”What You’ll Hear In This EpisodeIn this episode, Tracy takes you into the subtle pattern that sits beneath high-performing leadership and why it often goes unnoticed for so long.You’ll hear:How responsibility shifts from something you do into something your body carriesThe everyday moments where this pattern shows up, including overexplaining, stepping in, and staying mentally engaged after workWhy this pattern has been reinforced throughout your career and how it became linked to your successThe impact this has not only on you, but on your team, your leadership environment, and your personal lifeWhat regulation actually looks like in practice, beyond conceptThe distinction between your true leadership capability and the strategy your body has been usingWhat becomes available when your body is no longer holding leadership in this wayFull Transcript[insert transcript here]Ready to Go Deeper?If this episode has you seeing yourself more clearly, not as something to change, but as something you can no longer unsee, there is a space to explore this further.Inside The Biology of Leadership, you’ll begin to experience what shifts when responsibility is no longer held in your body in the same way.This is a free 3-day experience where you’ll start to understand how your biology shapes the way you lead, and what becomes available when that changes.If you find yourself curious about this, you can explore more inside The Biology of Leadership:https://www.tracytutty.co.nz/LeadershipBiologyBottom of Form
Transcribe →
When Responsibility Lives in Your Body
Apr 1800:19:40Tap to summarizehere’s a version of responsibility that most high-performing women never question.It looks like leadership. It feels like capability. It’s the reason you’re trusted, relied on, and known as the one who holds everything together.But underneath that, there’s a pattern.One that lives in your body.In this episode, Tracy takes you into the subtle, often invisible way responsibility becomes a constant internal state. The background tracking. The overexplaining. The inability to fully switch off, even when everything is handled.You’ll begin to recognise how this pattern has supported your success… and where it’s now quietly limiting your clarity, your capacity, and your leadership edge.This isn’t about doing less.It’s about understanding what your body has been carrying, and what becomes available when it no longer has to.In This Episode, You’ll Recognise:The subtle ways responsibility shows up in your body, not just your roleWhy overexplaining, stepping in, and staying “on” feel so naturalHow this pattern shapes your team, your environment, and your personal lifeThe difference between your actual leadership capability and the strategy your body has been usingWhat shifts when responsibility stops living in your bodyThis Episode Is For You If:You’re known as the reliable one in your work or leadershipYou find it hard to fully switch off, even when nothing is urgentYou notice yourself stepping in, tightening, or holding more than is requiredYou’ve reached a high level of success, but something still feels constantly engaged beneath itExplore Further: The Biology of Leadership (Free 3-Day Experience)If this episode resonates, you can explore this work more deeply inside The Biology of Leadership.A 3-day experience where you’ll begin to understand how your biology shapes the way you lead, and what becomes available when that changes.https://www.tracytutty.co.nz/LeadershipBiologyConnect with Tracy TuttyFor more thought leadership on Neuro-Identity Coaching, leadership, and the biology of performance, connect with Tracy:Instagram: @tracytuttyLinkedIn: Tracy TuttyPodcast Series: The Biology of LeadershipThis episode is part of an ongoing body of work exploring how leadership evolves when biology, identity, and nervous system coherence are brought into alignment.YouTube Hashtags:#BiologyOfLeadership#WomenInLeadership#HighPerformanceLeadership#NervousSystemRegulation#LeadershipDevelopment
Transcribe →