By Rachel Cline · August 26, 2026

Episode 39 · Radiantly Rooted with Rachel

I used to smoke a pack a day for years, and somehow along the way, without ever really planning it, I became a marathoner. This week I’m telling you that whole story, identity shift and all, because it was never really about cigarettes or running shoes. It was about deciding who I was going to become before I had any proof I could pull it off.

Whether you’re quitting a habit that no longer fits or feeling a bigger shift move through your life whether you asked for it or not, I want to walk you through what that actually looked like for me, plus a short exercise to help you find your own next step if you don’t know yet what it is.

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Welcome & Intro

Hello, and welcome back to Radiantly Rooted. I am your host, Rachel Cline, and today I wanna talk to you about something that might surprise you a little bit. Because believe it or not, I used to be a smoker. It’s true. I smoked a pack a day for years, more years than I care to admit. And somehow along that journey, without ever really planning it, I became a marathoner.

My Smoking-to-Marathon Story

And so in today’s episode, I wanna tell you that story. But more than that, I wanna talk to you about what was really going on beneath it. Because it wasn’t really about cigarettes or running shoes. It was about deciding who I was going to become before I had any proof that I could actually pull it off.

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It was about deciding who I was going to become before I had any proof I could pull it off.

That, my friend, is an identity shift. I was a smoker, and I wanted to step into the identity of a non-smoker. And let me tell you, there were wins along the way, but there were real challenges too. And in the end, the pain of quitting was worth more to me than the unknown risk of staying exactly where I was.

And the reason that I’m bringing this up is because I liken the experience to something many of my clients are going through right now, which is what it’s like to be a woman in midlife navigating some kind of big life transition. Some identity shifts are the ones that we reach for, right? I wanted to be a non-smoker.

I was a smoker, and so that was an identity shift that I chose.

Shifts You Choose, and Shifts That Choose You

So was moving from a girlfriend to a wife. So is stepping into a promotion at work where you have to grow into a version of yourself. But other shifts show up whether we want them to or not. It might be a relationship ending or evolving into something else. Could be the kids moving into their college dorms or the house feeling different than it did when it was full, emptier in a way that you just weren’t ready for yet.

So either way, whether it’s wanted or unwanted, it’s still a shift, and shift means change, and change can be scary and hard, right? Even when at least some part of you knows that it’s the right thing.

So today I’m gonna share my story with you first, and then I wanna kind of pull it apart a little bit and talk about identity shifts more broadly. And I’ll give you a short exercise to help you find your own big goal, and especially if you don’t know yet what it is. And then at the end, I’ll wrap it up with an invitation in case you want support with whatever shift you are in the middle of.

Trading Smoking for Running

So I traded smoking for jogging, believe it or not, and I never looked back. So like I said, believe it or not, I used to smoke a pack a day, and it is so strange for me now to look back because my life is so different now. I can’t even imagine picking up a cigarette these days. But when I was a smoker, I tried to quit time after time, again and again.

I even made it a year and a half one time before I had a really bad day at work. I bummed a cigarette off a coworker, and before I knew it, I was back to smoking a pack a day. And until my mom passed away, quitting smoking was absolutely the hardest thing I had ever done. After I lost her, getting through that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done But I’ll tell you the truth, I would rather run another marathon than ever have to quit smoking again, because that’s how hard it was for me.

And I think a big part of the reason why it was so challenging was because I didn’t really want to quit. I knew that I should quit. There was this anxiety and worry about what smoking could eventually do to me. And to be honest with you, I was really embarrassed that I still smoked, even though I knew how bad it was for me.

The Ritual I Had to Replace

Smoking, gosh, it was how I took a break, it was how I calmed down, how I dealt with stress, how I gave myself a few minutes just to breathe. And I really enjoyed my morning coffee and cigarette ritual on the patio. And then one day I was out hiking with my dad, and it was a pretty challenging trail up a steep hill, and he had to stop and wait for me to stop to catch my breath, and I just thought that was so embarrassing.

But to be fair, he’s probably still in better shape than I am. But what it came down to ultimately was that I did not wanna have to worry about what smoking might eventually do to my health. I didn’t want cancer, I didn’t want COPD, I didn’t want somebody else to have to take care of me because I hadn’t taken care of myself.

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It didn’t mean I was weak. It didn’t mean that I lacked willpower.

And so I had to think this through, you know? What can I do to help me quit when everything else I’ve tried hasn’t stuck? And so I’d run off and on before, but after that hike with my dad, I kind of started taking it a little bit more seriously. I needed something to do that could replace what smoking gave to me, but beyond that, smoking was so ingrained into the rituals throughout my day, I needed something to replace it with that wouldn’t let me go back.

What Running Gave Me Instead

And so what I found was that running gave me the deep breathing, the stress relief, and the mental break that I had been getting from smoking. Now, at the time, I couldn’t sit still long enough to meditate. I’ve talked about that before, but I could run. I could run. And so running became my moving meditation I ended up signing up for a marathon.

I knew that I needed a goal that was bigger than I could imagine so that I could not go back to smoking even if I wanted to, if I hoped to accomplish that goal. And what I found along the way is that there were some benefits that I found from running that surprised me, ones that I hadn’t anticipated or planned on.

Amazing friendships, road trips, laughs, and so much support and motivation, women I’ve met on the racecourse that I still keep in touch with to this day. I also discovered an inner strength and this perseverance that I truly did not know that I was capable of. Somewhere along that journey, somewhere along the way, I realized that I had not just quit smoking, but on that journey, I became someone who knew she could do hard things.

I learned to trust myself. You can change your life with one decision and the courage to act on it. You don’t have to know exactly where it’s gonna lead you. You just have to be willing to start. And so when I ask you to consider what is one decision that has changed your life for the better in ways well beyond what you could ever have expected?

Breaking Down the Identity Shift

And so that’s my story, and I wanna go back now and kind of pull it apart for a second because one way to move through a shift like this is to find something like I did that can take the place of whatever’s already ingrained into your daily routine. That’s what running did for me. Smoking had been a part of my everyday life for years, and I needed something to take its place, somewhere that I could put my attention instead.

Now, for you, it might be something else completely, and in a minute we’re just gonna spend some time figuring out what that could look like for you. And so this is the part that surprised me. When a goal is bigger than you can currently picture yourself accomplishing, you don’t get there by staying exactly who you are and trying harder.

You have to step into the identity of the person who already does this thing, whatever that thing turns out to be. I had to become a runner. I had to become a marathoner. I had to trust myself to do hard things. I had to push through even when it was hard. And so when you do step into that identity, it comes with benefits that you never asked for.

It also comes with challenges you didn’t see coming, too. But along my journey, I found friendships that I never would have come across, right? I found out I could keep going when every part of me wanted to stop. But I also found out that some days it’s just hard in ways that nobody ever could have warned you about.

A Visualization Exercise

And so acknowledging that is part of the journey. And so let’s take a minute here together. I wanna do a little visualization exercise with you. So if you are driving right now, please just listen. You don’t need to close your eyes for this one. But if you are somewhere where it’s safe to do so and you can, you might just take a deep breath in.

Let your shoulders soften away from your ears. And if you’re not driving, if it is safe to do so, you have the option to let your eyes soften down or close. And just give yourself a couple breaths here. Let yourself breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. And one more time just like that.

And then I’ll invite you to picture where you are today, right now, exactly where you are, inside of whatever may be shifting for you or around you

And not where you think you should be, but where you actually are

The Gap We’re Working With

And then try to bring to mind who you want to be on the other side of it, who you’re stepping into. What does that identity look like? You don’t have to know every detail. Just try to get a sense of her. What does she feel like? What’s different about how she moves through a day?

And that space between those two, where who you are now and who you’re picturing, that right there is the gap we’re working with, my friend. And you don’t have to close that gap today. It’s just an invitation to start to get curious about it, to try to see it a little bit more clearly. And if you’re sitting with this and you really don’t know yet what that big goal even is, who that person even is that you wanna step into, that’s totally fine, too.

It may not be as obvious as training for a marathon was for me. Maybe it’s something you haven’t given yourself full permission to want yet, or maybe it just hasn’t shown itself to you. Sometimes it shows up through something that you’re drawn to, something somebody invites you to but haven’t tried yet.

Share Your Shift

And so I would love for you to let me know where you’re at, whether the shift that you’re dealing with right now, if it’s wanted or if it’s unwanted. So if you’re navigating through a shift that you are choosing, drop a little smiley face in the comments below. And if you are navigating a shift, a transition, an identity, relationship changing, if it’s one that chose you, just drop a heart down in the comments.

That way I can get a feel for what different people are dealing with right now. And so I have a guest joining me next week that will kind of build on this just a little bit in the sense that, um, her thing was kind of dropped into her lap, and it was knitting. She talks about how beneficial it can be as a practice for our mental health and our overall wellbeing.

So stay tuned next week for that conversation. And I’m bringing it up right now because, you know, running turned out to be my thing. Yoga is another one of my things. Maybe knitting turns out to be your thing. Maybe it’s drawing. Maybe it’s puzzles. Maybe it’s writing. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be my thing.

It Was Never a Discipline Problem

The point isn’t really what the specific thing or hobby is, but it’s more about giving yourself somewhere to put your attention that will help you shift and grow and evolve into who you’re becoming while acknowledging and honoring the version of you that you’re outgrowing And so I don’t know about you, but there have been plenty of days that I’ve sat there thinking that, “Oh gosh, I should have this figured out by now,” or wondering why change feels this hard, and especially when other people, other women seem to move through it so easily.

And so I just wanna say something about that, just to address it, ’cause it was never a discipline problem. I tried to quit smoking more times than I can count. Like I said, I even made it a year and a half one time, and then that bad day and a single cigarette sent me right back to square one. It didn’t mean I was weak.

It didn’t mean that I lacked willpower. It meant that I hadn’t yet found what running turned out to be for me, and that was something that could actually replace what smoking was giving me, instead of just taking it away and leaving that hole, that gap, where it used to be. And so if you’ve started and stopped before, whatever version of that is, it’s not evidence against you.

It’s just information to get curious about. And if there is a part of you wondering whether it’s too late to step into this next version of yourself, I would gently push back on that. I had run off and on for years without it ever really sticking, and it wasn’t until I got serious about it that everything shifted for me.

Recap: What Running Taught Me

And so it’s very rarely too late, even when it feels that way. It might just mean that you haven’t found the version of this that’s going to stick for you yet. And so let’s just kind of recap, bring it all together, ’cause we’ve talked about a lot today. Running showed me an inner strength and a perseverance that I did not know I was capable of.

I started running to help me quit smoking and get in better shape. I didn’t realize at the time that I was also looking for a different way to handle stress and to clear my head. And so running gave me so much more than I ever could have imagined. Friendships, adventures, so many stories, but most importantly, trust in myself.

I learned that I could do something really hard and keep going even when I wanted to stop. And over time, it changed the way I saw myself. So looking back, in hindsight, right, I can see that some of the biggest changes in my life started with that single decision made because something didn’t feel right anymore.

Even though I didn’t know exactly where that choice would guide me, it became clearer once I started walking that path, or in this case, running it. And so inevitably, things turned out better than I ever could have imagined. And so maybe that’s why I am not as afraid of change now as I used to be. And this matters to me so much because of who’s usually listening here.

If You’re in the Middle of It Right Now

By the time she finds this podcast, she’s not usually at the beginning of her shift. She’s already in the middle of it, disoriented and uncertain about which way is forward, which way is back, who is she now, who is she stepping into. And so maybe for you, it’s not smoking or running at all. Maybe it’s a relationship that needs to change, or a career that stopped fitting a while ago.

Or maybe the season of motherhood is shifting beneath you faster than you’re expected and faster than you’re ready for it to. And so for the intents and purposes of today’s episode, it doesn’t matter which one of those is, is necessarily. They all have their own journey. They all, all have their own path, their own process that we have to walk.

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One step at a time leads to massive transformation.

But, you know, I’ve stood exactly where you’re standing, in that space between not knowing what was on the other side of a decision, and choosing to move anyway, taking the next A.L.I.G.N. step forward, and then the next one. One step at a time leads to massive transformation, and that’s exactly why I built my coaching the way that I did.

Coaching Invitation

You don’t need someone to hand you a script for what your version of running is supposed to look like, for what your thing is. You need someone in your corner who’s gonna help you to find it. And so if any of this is landing for you today, if you are in the middle of your own identity shift right now, I would love to guide you on your path.

I keep my one-on-one coaching spots small on purpose because I pour so much energy into the women that I work with. So if that’s something you would like to explore, I will drop the link in the show notes below, or you can just head on over to Instagram and message me directly. I’m @radiantlyrootedyoga.

Closing Thoughts

And one more thing, you don’t always need to know where a decision will take you. Sometimes you just need to trust yourself enough to take that first step. So what’s one decision that you’ve made that ended up changing your life in ways that you never expected? Let me know in the comments. Until next time, my friend, take care of yourself, and I’ll see you next week.

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Sometimes you just need to trust yourself enough to take that first step.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an identity shift?

An identity shift is what happens when you start becoming someone new before you have any proof you can actually pull it off. It goes deeper than changing a single habit. It’s about deciding who you’re going to be on the other side of it, whether that’s a non-smoker, a marathoner, or a woman in the middle of a completely different kind of change.

How do I figure out what my version of running is, if I don’t know yet?

Start by paying attention to what you’re already drawn to, even if you haven’t tried it yet. It doesn’t have to be running. It might be yoga, knitting, drawing, or something someone’s invited you to that you keep putting off. The visualization exercise in this episode is a good place to start if nothing’s coming to mind right away.

Is it too late to make a big change like this?

It’s very rarely too late, even when it feels that way. If you’ve started and stopped before, that’s not evidence against you, it just means you haven’t found the version of this that’s going to stick for you yet.

Why do some habits stick and others don’t?

A habit tends to stick when it actually replaces what the old one was giving you, instead of just taking it away and leaving a gap where it used to be. Running worked because it gave the same deep breathing, stress relief, and mental break that smoking had been giving, not because of willpower.

Do I need a goal as big as a marathon to make this work?

No, the goal just needs to be bigger than you can currently picture yourself accomplishing, so you can’t quietly slide back to who you were before. If you’re in the middle of your own identity shift and want support finding what that looks like for you, that’s exactly what one on one mentorship is for.