🍁 7 Truths to Let Go Of This Autumn: What Evy Poumpouras Reminded Me About Courage, Fear, and Growth

Autumn always feels like a truth-telling season. The air gets colder, the days shorter, and everything that's not meant to stay starts falling away. Trees don't cling to their leaves. They don't bargain with the wind or panic about what's next. They just let go of the dead leaves because they don’t need them anymore. Because that's what this season demands. And if you’re honest, it’s what you deserve too.

This year, I've been thinking about how we hold on to things long after they've stopped serving us. Beliefs, fears, expectations - all the mental clutter that quietly keeps us stuck. I know I’ve done it! And you probably have to.. Whether it’s holding onto limiting beliefs, not letting something go, old habits, negative self talk, self-doubt, etc, etc.

​"Holding on is believing that there's only a past; letting go is knowing that there's a future." - Daphne Rose Kingma

Then I watched a TED Talk by Evy Poumpouras - former Secret Service agent, author, and one of the most grounded, badass women I've ever listened to. Her talk hit me like a truth serum because it perfectly encapsulates everything I believe, nicely articulated in 7 powerful points. Wow.

She talked about courage, resilience, and emotional strength, not as something shiny and perfect, but as something earned. Her lessons aren't about hype or "you've got this" mantras. They're about clarity. Accountability. Power rooted in self-respect.

So in the spirit of the Autumn Reset we’ve been talking about, here are seven truths Evy shared and my take on what they mean for anyone ready to release what's heavy, step into what's real, and stop waiting for permission to live deliberately.. And boldy.

1. You Are Not That Special

Wait! Before you flinch, this isn't an insult. It's liberation. Evy said that believing you're "special" sets you up for disappointment. Life doesn't owe you ease because you're good, smart, or kind. You still have to earn your strength.

To me, this is about dropping entitlement - the idea that the world should recognize your effort just because you're trying. It's not personal. It's just reality. When I first started my business, I thought if I worked hard and did meaningful things, success would naturally follow. Spoiler: it didn't. Not right away.

That's when I realized being talented isn't enough. You have to keep showing up, even when no one's clapping. You have to keep building belief before the results arrive. And you know what? You’re going to fail sometimes. You’re going to take hits you didn’t see coming. You’re going to be afraid. You’ll

That's what letting go looks like in real life - releasing the fantasy that progress will be linear or fair. It's not. But it's still worth it.

2. You Are Not Alone

Evy said something I think many times we forget: "You're never the only one going through it." Fear, failure, doubt - they're universal. Everyone you admire has questioned themselves. Every person you think has it together has probably fallen apart behind the scenes.

When clients tell me, "I feel like I should be further along by now," I always remind them you're not behind. You're just comparing your messy middle to someone else's highlight reel. We don't all start at the same place. And we all do our best with the emotional tools that we have at the time. Autumn reminds us we're part of a cycle. Everyone's releasing something. Everyone's between chapters. No one gets a perfect map. Letting go isn't lonely when you realize we're all doing it, in our own ways, at our own pace.

3. Confidence Is Overrated

We glorify confidence like it's oxygen, something you need before you can start. Something someone else more could do because they have it and we don't. But Evy said it perfectly: "Confidence comes from competence."

You don't build confidence by thinking. You build it by doing. You earn it one decision, one boundary, one brave conversation at a time. When people say they're waiting to feel confident before taking action, what they're really saying is, "I don't trust myself yet."

And that's okay. You don't have to. You just have to move anyway. When I first started doing workshops, I didn't feel confident at all. My hands shook. My voice wobbled. But the more I did it, the easier it became. Not because I fixed my fear, but because I built proof that I could survive it.

Confidence isn't the goal. Self-trust is. And that's exactly what EFT Tapping helps you build - the ability to regulate your body so your brain stops interpreting every new challenge as danger. Once your nervous system learns that discomfort isn't a threat, confidence stops being a performance and starts being who you are.

4. Motivation Equals Mediocrity

This one made me laugh and wince a little. Motivation is great for Monday mornings and Pinterest quotes. But when things get hard? It disappears. Evy said, "Motivation is a feeling, and feelings are fleeting."

If you rely on motivation, you'll only show up when it's easy. But if you rely on discipline, emotional regulation, and clarity of purpose, you'll show up even when it's hard. That's where belief meets biology.

When you're dysregulated - anxious, frozen, or overwhelmed - your brain literally blocks action. It's not a mindset issue. It's a survival one. Your body is saying, "This feels unsafe." That's why I love EFT. It helps you create the physiological safety to follow through. You tap, you calm your system, and suddenly what felt impossible feels doable bit-by-bit. Motivation burns out. Self-leadership doesn't.

5. You're Nobody's Prey

Evy spent years protecting presidents and high-stakes targets. She's seen fear, manipulation, and aggression up close, and her message here was simple: don't hand over your power. When we constantly worry what people think, we become prey to their opinions. When we stay quiet to avoid conflict, we hand over control.

Autumn asks us to shed that habit too. You don't need to prove your worth to people who wouldn't notice your absence. You don't need to chase approval to feel secure. Being assertive doesn't make you ‘difficult’. It makes you honest. Setting boundaries doesn't make you cold. It makes you clear.

If you've spent years dimming yourself to avoid rejection, it's time to stop. Because the truth is, the people who can't handle your authenticity are the ones who benefit from your silence. Letting go of the need to please is one of the most powerful forms of emotional freedom you'll ever find.

6. Your Fear Is Not You

This one hit home. Evy said that fear isn't the enemy. It's information. It's a signal, not a sentence. Your fear doesn't mean you're weak. It means your body learned, at some point, that uncertainty wasn't safe.

And that's why regulating your nervous system is only half the story. You also have to challenge the belief that created the fear in the first place. If your fear of rejection comes from a childhood moment when speaking up cost you connection, your body still remembers that.

If your fear of failure comes from a time you tried and were humiliated, your nervous system is still bracing for it. But beliefs can be re-taught. Safety can be relearned. Brains, beliefs, and thoughts can be rewired. Through EFT Tapping, you interrupt that old pattern, not by fighting the fear, but by allowing your body to feel safe while the thought is present. Over time, that safety rewires the belief itself.

You don't erase fear. You outgrow its authority.

7. You Don't Need to Heal to Be Resilient

This one made me exhale. Because there's so much noise in the self-development world that tells us, "You have to heal everything before you can move forward."

Evy flips that script: you can be healing and strong at the same time. You can be scared and still brave. You can be uncertain and still move. You can still have trauma, doubt, or old patterns and still choose growth. Healing isn't the absence of pain. It's the presence of perspective. It's knowing you can carry what hurt you without letting it control your future. You don't have to wait until you're "ready." You just have to decide you're done letting fear pick your path.

🍂 The Autumn Connection

Autumn is nature's reminder that endings aren't failures. They're transitions. The trees don't lose sleep over what they're shedding. They let go to make room for new life. Maybe that's the real lesson underneath all of Evy's truths. You can let go of the stories that keep you small and still be strong. You can face uncertainty without collapsing. You can stop chasing motivation and start building self-trust instead. Courage doesn't look like fearlessness. It looks like walking into the unknown with your nervous system steady, your beliefs aligned, and your next step clear.

🍂 Your Turn - The Autumn Reset Special (Last Chance!)

If you've been sitting on the edge of change all season, waiting for the perfect time, the perfect confidence, or the perfect plan, this is your sign to stop waiting. Because the truth is, the world doesn't reward potential. It rewards audacity.

The Autumn Reset is a five-session EFT coaching experience (€499 VAT incl., open until October 31) designed to help you:

- Identify and reframe the beliefs that trigger your stress response to stop you from following thorugh
- Calm your nervous system so action stops feeling unsafe and procrastinating or being stuck
- Rebuild confidence and momentum, one step at a time to show yourself that it’s possible
- Take aligned, brave action toward what you've been avoiding

Together, we'll reset your system for incremental growth so by the time winter comes, you're not just surviving. You're moving forward.

Book your spot: https://bit.ly/4g4cIrD
You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to be willing to start and keep going, one brave step at a time. 🍁​

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About Andrea Hunt:

I’m an EFT Tapping Empowerment Coach and I help ambitious professional women reach their goals faster by breaking free from fear, self-doubt, and impostor syndrome so they can build confidence like a muscle—one bold step at a time—and finally step outside their comfort zone to create the life they know they deserve.

Curious about EFT Tapping? Download my FREE EFT book and discover how tapping can enhance emotional resilience, improve mindset, and reduce perfectionism and negative self-talk.

➡️ Get Your Free Ebook Here to Learn the Healing Transformative Power of EFT Tapping  https://bit.ly/3U2eHnw

➡️ Book a call with me here! https://bit.ly/4g4cIrD

➡️ Learn more about me: www.dreahunt.com

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