The 13 Secrets of Successful Women
Hi, I am Louise and I have lived this story HARD. I am an ex-corporate lawyer (I quit the moment I qualified - much to my Dad’s dismay!), three-time entrepreneur, and I have single-handedly built three multi six-figure businesses with zero business or marketing training (read more on my professional background here or on my LinkedIn here) . As an overachiever, I also run a top 1% podcast and have qualified as an Integrative Health Practitioner. Today. I specialise in helping ambitious women with epic potential learn the foundations of somatic success so they can reach their dreams without destroying their health, happiness, hormones, fertility and connection to self (and others!) in the process.
For nearly two decades, I pushed harder through every barrier and door, chasing success the way most high-achieving women do: with caffeine, high cortisol, and sheer willpower. I felt like if I just pushed more, I would eventually get there and everything would slot into place.
But behind the scenes, my body was quietly breaking down (although I didn’t realize it at the time). I battled a 20-year autoimmune disorder, chronic pain, weekend partying and the kind of burnout that no green juice or motivational quote could fix. One day, things got too much and I closed down my business. Then? The rest of my life began.
I started on a healing journey. On that journey, discovered that success is not just about mindset, strategy, or discipline. It is somatic. It is understanding yourself, your drive your ambition and how your body always keeps the score. I then started to understand this concept called ‘Somatic Success;.
I started to see that the women who keep rising year after year are not necessarily working harder. They are working smarter by aligning their body, brain, and energy through nervous system regulation. But what I saw? There were many millions of booked, busy & brilliant women who were damaging their health, hormones, happiness and relationships through their pursuit of success.
Let me share what I have learned about the habits of successful women along the way (and keep reading to the end as I’m gifting you my 23-minute Morning Ritual ‘The Morning Rally Wake Up Walk’ totally free as a gift for you finding this blog post).
These are the 10 successful women habits that separate women who sustain success from those who burn out chasing it. I call this ‘somatic success’.
Secret 1: Successful Women Know ‘I’ll Be Happy When Is A Myth'
The Problem: For as long as you can remember, you've been chasing the next milestone your entire life. "I'll be happy when I get the promotion." "I'll feel successful when I hit six figures", “I’ll feel content when I set this offer passive or sign the next client” or for so many people “I just need to fall in love”. But somewhere along the way, you sacrifice your health, hormones and happiness in pursuit of the ‘end goal’.
The Biology: I call this the Golden Girl Effect (check my 2 hour Masterclass inside Daily Devotion here) - the belief that happiness lives on the other side of ‘achieving something’. But here's what successful women have figured out: what you're really chasing isn't the promotion or the revenue goal. It's a feeling. You want to feel worthy, successful, proud, or finally enough. You want to feel able to relax, to soften, to slow. So we keep pushing, from a state of ‘lack’ and ‘striving’. This keeps cortisol elevated, keeps the body in a state of ‘stress’ (fight & flight) and blocks your nervous system from experiencing safety in the present moment. But successful women? They learn to understand that they need to meet themselves along the way of the journey, to soften and enjoy as well as pushing hard. This trains their nervous system to enjoy abundance, which actually accelerates your success journey. Because abundance, ease and joy attracts abundance ease and joy.
The Shift: This week, ask yourself, do I have an “I'll be happy when..." belief? What milestone are you pinning your hope and happiness onto?
Secret 2: Successful Women Know Their Body Is Their Business Plan
The Problem: Most busy women treat their body like an afterthought - something to optimise after they've "made it" or something to look after "on the weekend" or “on their next holiday”. Successful women? They would never.
The Biology: The most successful women understand that their body and nervous system are their ultimate source of abundance, health, magic and power. They know that it is the true foundation of sustainable success - one where they don’t burn out repeatedly along the way or contribute to downstream health, hormonal or autoimmune issues. You cannot lead, build, create, or manifest at a high level if you are depleted or don’t understand the foundations of your nervous system. Successful women invest in sleep, nourishment, nervous system education and recovery like they invest in strategy and work wardrobes. They know that energy, health, nervous system regulation and wellbeing are currency, and that they compound over time.
The Shift: This week, on a Sunday, audit your calendar for the week ahead. Where can you add a space for you to do something for you? A weekly massage, a daily walk? Your body is the CEO of your future. Ready to get started on understanding your Nervous System? Start with our free 11 part Nervous System 101 course inside Daily Devotion app (free and available on Apple and Android).
Secret 3: Successful Women Do the Inner Work
The Problem: Busy women live in constant forward motion. Successful women know that real power comes from looking back and staying present.
The Biology: The most successful women understand something crucial: you can spend your entire life caught in an endless cycle of busy days, each one bleeding into the next. But here's what sets them apart - they recognize that their past and present aren't separate from who they are today. Every experience they've lived through has shaped their belief system, building the foundation they now stand on.They also understand this: when you accelerate toward success, it's because your body and subconscious mind are working with you, not against you - releasing the limiting beliefs that we all pick up through childhood. Many successful women counter that voice in their to truly tell themselves ‘Yes we can’.
These women admit that much of their drive comes from a deep-rooted need to achieve, to excel, to finally feel "good enough." And while that drive has made you exceptional, it's also exhausting. Your body wasn't designed to function under constant internal pressure. So, the most powerful shift isn't to stop achieving - it's to change the voice behind your ambition. When you move from "I should" or "I have to" to "I get to" and "How can I enjoy this without harming myself in the process?" - everything changes.
The Shift: This week, notice your internal dialogue. When does "I should" appear? Before a workout? A call you're dreading? Every time you catch yourself saying "I should," pause and reframe it (because ‘should based language’ is often rooted in shame’). Can you turn "I should work out" into "I get to move my body"? Or "I should take this call" into "Do I actually want to take this call, or is this obligation disguised as choice?". This simple shift is a great starting point.
Secret 4: Successful Women Trust in Compound Returns, Not Breakthrough Moments
The Problem: Busy women push so hard, day after day, and then wait for the big breakthrough moment to feel like they’ve made it’ while overlooking the small daily rituals that actually create transformation and can speed up the moments you’re waiting for.
The Biology: Successful women realize that success is not one big breakthrough moment. It is micro-moments stacked over time through consistent daily rituals for success. Sure, some wins will be bigger than others, but women who thrive need to show up day in and day out, so they intentionally support their body with daily decisions that can help them go the distance. They also realize that a nervous system and body in fight, flight, freeze, fawn or living with limiting beliefs and scarcity (or a body weighed down with toxins) will take the longest, slowest way ‘to the top. Successful women understand that high performance comes from feeling safe in the nervous system, and through the daily decisions we make.
They prioritize the water they drink, the morning light they get, the food that balances their blood sugar, and the breaks that support cortisol regulation. Every input, nutritional or emotional or energetic, shapes the output of their day. The problem? A lot of the wellness advice we’re given actually damages our hormones further as they are not built for busy women.
The Shift: Start to understand the power of nutrition for Booked, Busy & Brilliant women. Next week, can you eat breakfast before coffee? Step outside for 5 minutes of morning light before opening your emails? Eat protein, fat and fibre at breakfast? Hydrate with clean electrolytes? Small inputs create compound returns and help with burnout prevention.
Secret 5: Succesful Women Know The Power of Consistent Sleep-Wake Times
The Problem: Busy women treat sleep as optional, something they’ll catch up on when things slow down (spoiler: you never do). And when you wake up tired? You push through again.
The Biology: Successful women often treat sleep as optional and as something they will 'catch up on later', but sleep and a consistent sleep and wake cycle is the most powerful hormonal reset you have for cortisol regulation. It regulates cortisol, melatonin, and thyroid hormones. Sustainable success without regular rhythmic rest is short-lived because the body cannot build longevity while experiencing burnout and stuck in survival mode. And slep? it’s when your body clears out cellular waste, toxins and inflammation from the day before that slow you down on route to your dreams and goals.
The Shift: Understand more about how ‘tired mornings’ are not normal and then set out to implelement a non-negotiable sleep and wake time for the next week. Same time every night and morning. Make them reasonable. Your body craves rhythm more than it craves those extra hours of work. This is one of the most powerful successful women habits for managing high cortisol.
Secret 6: A Morning Routine with Movement Creates Real Cellular Energy
The Problem: You think of movement or fitness as something you do for aesthetics, weight loss or when you have time (which is never).
The Biology: Successful women realize that movement is not just for aesthetics. Movement and moving our body is biological electricity and essential for burnout prevention. Movement, especially walking, pumps the lymphatic system, oxygenates every cell, and clears stress hormones such as the byproducts of adrenaline and high cortisol which busy, brilliant women are drowning in. Successful women treat movement as a non-negotiable meeting with their future self - not because they "should," but because they understand it changes their chemistry in real-time.
The Shift: Move your body for 20 minutes tomorrow morning. This is exactly why I created a 23-minute Morning Rally Walk as part of my morning routine for energy. Movement every morning, optimised for busy women even when you can't make it to a Pilates studio, changes how your day unfolds and supports nervous system regulation.
Secret 7: High-Achieving Women Control Anxiety Through Somatic Practices
The Problem: You've been told anxiety is just part of being ambitious, something you have to live with, manage with medication, or push through. You wake up with a tight chest, your mind racing before your feet even hit the floor or you can’t sleep at night.
The Biology: Successful women understand that anxiety isn't normal and it's not a personality trait you're stuck with or born with. Anxiety is your body responding to your environment (inside and outside) through an overactive HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) and high cortisol. When your nervous system gets stuck in fight-or-flight mode, your body literally cannot tell the difference between a looming deadline and a physical threat.
The good news? Anxiety can be regulated through somatic practices. Somatic practices like walking, shaking, and slow, calming breathwork send safety signals directly to your nervous system, helping to downregulate your HPA axis and support cortisol regulation. High-achieving women who master anxiety don't just think their way out of it - they move and breathe their way through it.
The Shift: The next time you feel anxiety rising - that chest tightness, racing thoughts, or overwhelm - try somatic shaking for 90 seconds or long slow calming breathwork. For daily anxiety management and burnout prevention, explore our Daily Devotion Somatic Shaking and Breathwork library with a free 7 day trial.
Secret 8: High-Achieving Women Learn to Connect To Their Body & Intuition
The Problem: You're so good at thinking your way through problems that you've disconnected from what your body is trying to tell you.
The Biology: Successful, type A, high-performing, overachieving women are incredible thinkers, but living only in your head disconnects you from intuition that lives in our body. The body often knows before the mind does. Gut feelings and sensations are a somatic compass that guides you toward alignment and abundance. Somatic practices help high-achieving women stay connected to their body's wisdom. The more you listen, the faster you flow.
The Shift: As you close your eyes in the evening before you sleep, practice dropping down into your body. Put a hand on your stomach or your heart space. Ask, how did I feel today? And give yourself some moments to connect into your body through this simple somatic practice. Need some help? Try our Daily Devotion Somatic Experiencing Class to help to learn to drop into your body.,
Secret 9: Successful Women Process Emotions to Avoid Burnout
The Problem: You've been taught to be professional, logical and regulated to thrive in a masculine-dominated world which often means suppressing how you actually feel.
The Biology: Successful women know that emotion carries a frequency and impacts nervous system regulation. Guilt, shame, and fear operate at low vibration while joy and gratitude operate high. The women who rise do not suppress how they feel. They know their thoughts drive their emotions, and their frequency, so they allow themselves to feel, move feelings through their body with breathwork, shaking, journaling, or somatic release. Repressed emotion is stored energy and it will slow you down and contribute to experiencing burnout. They learn that maybe these emotions aren't welcome in the boardroom, but they're welcome everywhere else in their life.
The Shift: When you feel something big today - frustration, anxiety, excitement - don't push it down. Try a Daily Devotion 5-minute somatic shaking stress release ritual and alchemize it. This is a powerful burnout prevention tool and found in the Daily Devotion Rituals Library.
Secret 10: You Can Create Magnetic Success Through Daily Rituals
The Problem: You've been taught that the only way to get to the top is to work harder, grind harder and hustle harder.
The Biology: Successful women know that every frequency they emit through their thoughts, frequencies, emotions, and words they choose through the law of attraction, attracts similar experiences. They realize that manifestation is a full body experience and the more they move their body, think good thoughts, believe in their possibility, speak about their derams, share with people who also believe in them, they realize they can magnetize more sustainable success as well as just working hard. This is one of the most overlooked successful women habits. You have to feel it first, because your frequency sets the tone.
The Shift: Try a 23-Minute Morning Rally Walk one morning this week and watch how easy and euphoric it feels to shift your frequency. Access here.
Secret 11: Understanding Real Energy vs Fake Energy to Avoid Burnout
The Problem: You're running on cortisol, caffeine, adrenaline and calling it productivity while experiencing burnout.
The Biology: Busy women move fast, and react quickly, but successful women move with power. Fake energy comes from caffeine, chaos, and high cortisol. Real energy comes from minerals, oxygenation, light, nourishment, and nervous system regulation. When you push through fatigue with adrenaline, you are borrowing energy from the next day. This is how ambitious women end up experiencing burnout even when they think they're being productive.
The Shift: Learn more about Toxic Stress and the impact it has on Ambitious Women here. Next, notice when you're reaching for coffee or sugar to push through. Try taking a midday walk to rest. Learning to identify real versus fake energy is crucial for sustainable success and one of the most important successful women habits.
Secret 12: Successful women know that success isn’t a self-sufficient game
The Problem: You think success is about being self-sufficient and not needing anyone. But actually, that's a trauma response.
The Biology: Sustainable success is not a solo sport. Healthy relationships regulate your nervous system. Oxytocin lowers stress and stabilizes your heart rate, helping with cortisol regulation. Successful women surround themselves with people who expand their potential and protect their peace. Connection is chemistry. Chemistry is health.
The Shift: Audit your relationships. Who makes you feel calm, seen, and energized? Who makes you believe in yourself? Who leaves you depleted? Protect your nervous system by being intentional about who has access to your energy and don't be afraid to cut or change your friendship group. This is essential for avoiding burnout.
Secret 13: Successful Women Honor Rythmic Regulation & Rest to Prevent Burnout
The Problem: You believe that slowing down means falling behind. In fact, you run so fast because your body is so used to functioning in a state of HPA axis dysregulation, pumping with cortisol, adrenaline, (good) stress and excitement.
The Biology: Successful women know that the female body is not the same as the male body. They know and accept they cannot accelerate forever without experiencing burnout. The nervous system, particularly the female, is meant to speed up and slow down and it needs these moments of downshift and downregulation to regenerate, to support detoxification and more. Successful women know that they want to keep up the pace, but there are toxic byproducts of stress residue when that happens. So they learn to intentionally pause to remain powerful. Slowing down is not falling behind. Sleeping and resting is not lazy. Walking, breathing, and restoring on the weekends is not ‘failing’. It is building capacity, building resilience to hold it all and practicing burnout prevention.
The Shift: Schedule one hour this week where you do something only for you. No phone. No tasks. Maybe that's a sauna, a massage. Just rest. Watch how much stronger you come back. This is one of the most underrated successful women habits for sustainable success.
The Biology Behind All Of These Successful Women Habits
Here's what ties all 10 successful women habits together: successful women know that their body is their business plan.
The most successful women do not do more. They do a lot, but they do it differently.
And they do it all understanding the Upward Spiral of Success.
They build sustainable success and move up this spiral from regulated nervous systems, real energy, and daily rituals for success that help them lead at their highest level without experiencing burnout.
You do not need another productivity hack or another diary or planner. You need daily rituals that energize you with real, cellular energy and support cortisol regulation.
Your Next Step: Add one Daily Decision - The Morning Rally Walk
After learning all of the above the hard way, this is why I created The Morning Rally Walk: a 23-minute morning routine that activates all 10 successful women habits in a single daily ritual for success.
It blends morning light exposure, with morning breathwork, and interval-paced walking to regulate your nervous system, optimize cortisol regulation, pump your lymphatic system, shift your state, prime you for productivity, and build sustained energy to take you through your day and your career, as well as powering you up with affirmations and self belief.
No gym required. No complicated protocols. Just you, 23 minutes, and some sneakers and headphones. It’s the movement ritual that thousands of successful women are using to power their success journeys.
On the days I moved my body early, I always performed better. But with 8am meetings and a full calendar, rushing to a studio was not realistic. So I designed something that could happen anywhere, anytime - and still deliver results for high-achieving women experiencing burnout or wanting to prevent it.
I am living proof: you can achieve big things, expand your potential, and feel good in your body while doing it through nervous system regulation and these daily rituals for success.
👉 Try your free Morning Rally Walk here with a 7 day free trial
This is the one morning ritual that I engineered for high-performing, busy, successful women who want to go the distance and achieve sustainable success without sacrificing their health, hormones and happiness in the process.
Start tomorrow morning. Your future will thank you.
xo Louise
