The Chillster Trap: Why Waiting Too Long Costs More Than You Think

In this episode of the Gutsy Chick Podcast, I’m diving into a surprising combo I see all the time—high-achieving chillsters. You know the type: cool, collected, totally capable… but quietly putting their health and well-being on the back burner. In today’s episode I’m sharing how to spot the early signs before things spiral, and what it looks like to shift into empowered, strategic action. If you’ve ever said, “I’m fine” while secretly knowing something needs to change—this one’s for you.  

In this Episode:  

00:00 Understanding the High Achieving Chillster 

03:07 The Dilemma of Delayed Action 

06:10 Transforming Chill into Strategic Power 

10:08 Empowerment Through Early Intervention 

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Take the Gutsy Chick Quiz to find out how your athletic mindset might be holding you back from healing your chronic health issue: https://gutsychickquiz.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding the High Achieving Chillster
• 3:07 The Dilemma of Delayed Action
• 6:10 Transforming Chill into Strategic Power
• 10:08 Empowerment Through Early Intervention

Transcript

0:04

Generally, we don't put these two words together, but on today's episode, we do. High achieving, chillsters. That's right. I'm your host Amanda Smith, creator of the Gutsy Chick Quiz. Hopefully you've taken it by now because this is one of the last episodes in this series about the archetypes in that quiz. the chillster. We don't hear high achieving chillster shoved together because usually when we think about high achievers, they're type A, they are aggressive, they are forthright. And in this instance, when it comes to their health, they chill out. It's wild to watch. In fact, I'm married to one of these people. The chill sitters are the ones that say, I'm fine. They're slow to react. They're steady on the surface. They're unbelievably strategic. And secretly, they're overloaded. Yeah, that's why you can say that they're a chillster on the surface. The thing about chillsters that drives me bonkers because I'm a bruiser is that they tend to wait too long when it comes to health issues. They take their sweet time to find the right doctor, find the right remedy, do their own research. And by the time they get to the point where they're like, yeah, I think I'm ready to make a move. Things have already escalated. On today's episode, we're going to talk about why chillsters often wait until it's too bad to ignore. I'm going to share some client stories and some, maybe a personal story about my husband on why they delay action and what that's created for them in their life. And on the flip side, how chillsters can actually be strategic. powerhouses when they finally decide to move. Let's be real, the chillster isn't chill at all. And she's definitely not careless. And some people tend to put those two things together. You're waiting and waiting and waiting. Isn't that reckless? Isn't that careless? Do you even care about what is happening to you? She chills because she's used to pushing through like a bruiser. She's unbothered by the early warning signs. She sees them, but she's not going to respond to them because she wants to gather more information. This is her strategic side. And she is really good at coping, even when her body, business, or emotions are quietly waving all the red flags. She's a person who feels a little tightness in her hips and stretches it off for six months before checking it out. She's the business owner who's overwhelmed, but tells everyone it's just a busy season. She's the mom who's exhausted, but says, I'll rest when things calm down. Does that sound familiar? Is that you? Or do you know somebody who's like this? The Chillster appears easygoing, but she's actually carrying a ton. And because she's so functional, people don't realize she's on the edge until something breaks. How do I know? How do I know? live with this. Let me tell you about a client. We will call her Jess. Jess is a busy mom. She is a business owner. She is... the woman who can do everything for everyone all the time and everybody is so unbelievably impressed with how much she can handle, how much she can accomplish. She's the classic Chillster. She's dealing with bloat, fatigue, joint pain, fibromyalgia. Shall I keep going? She kept thinking, it's just stress. It'll pass. I'll get it under control. She didn't want to make a big deal about it. She didn't want to be the center of attention. She felt like other people had more serious stuff going on. How many times have I heard my husband say that one? By the time she came to me, she had full blown gut dysbiosis, nutrient deficiencies, feeling foggy all the time, pain everywhere. Couldn't sleep because of the pain, needed the sleep because of the pain. And she even said, I didn't think it was bad enough yet. Huh? That's the classic Chillster dilemma. Your capacity to tolerate discomfort is so high. You don't take action until your quality of life is tanking. Once we started working together, we did some targeted testing. We shift nutrition, added in a couple of supplements to help support her body, give her some movement practices. So her nervous system felt supported and safe. And then she started making huge progress. It took a while, but she started making huge progress. And when I say a while, if it takes longer than three months to see a shift, that's a while in my book. I like to go fast. That's just me, I'm a bruiser. She always said, I wish I'd done this sooner. A lot. She said that a lot. The strategic Chillster. This is the flip side of the one who waits and waits and waits and waits. The strategic Chillster, we'll call him Sam. Sam took his time, but this time it was strategic. He was building a business and figuring out how to manage a team. And he was doing phenomenal work serving people to heal. He wasn't jumping into every opportunity or burning himself out trying to do it all. He was slow, but on purpose. He evaluated every move to gather info. And when he made a decision, it was solid. This is the other side of the chillster. When they learn to use their chill as a superpower, they become powerful, intentional. leaders. They're not reactive. They're measured, but the key difference they act, they don't avoid. They actually move. It's been fascinating to, to watch in particular, my husband grow through this process, knowing he's this chill. I'll, I'll wait until it's really, really bad. That was how he used to be. then watching him in, in work. COVID gave us that opportunity. He's in the military, so I don't generally get to watch him work, but I watched how measured and decisive he was at work. And I started pointing that out to him on how he could use that. in his health adventure that he was on. And it worked. And I'm watching him make more strategic moves with his health all the time. And I love it. Makes my life a little easier. which is why you never work with your family members as a healer. Because it directly benefits you and that's not okay. Here's the breakdown. Chillster superpowers, calm under pressure, able to ride out stress without spiraling, measured and thoughtful when it comes to change. Chillster sabotage looks a lot different, delaying action until the damage is done, downplaying symptoms, stress or burnout, waiting for a quote unquote perfect time that never comes. The difference comes down to this question. Are you delaying out of wisdom or avoiding out of fear? Because real chill is powerful. Something my husband taught me. But fake chill, when you're ignoring your needs, that's just self abandonment with a pretty face. Don't do that. I've worked with so many women who have told me I'm fine when they're really not. really meant, what they really meant was I'm learned to normalize dysfunction. I've gotten really good at coping instead of healing. I'm scared that if I stop and feel everything, I'll fall apart. If that's used the words, the words today, if that's you, please know there's no award for waiting until it's bad enough to get help. You don't have to earn your right to get help. You're allowed to intervene early. You're allowed to say this doesn't feel quite right and take action before it becomes a crisis. That's leadership. That's power. Here's your challenge. Step one, name one thing in your life right now that you have been tolerating. Maybe it's a symptom, a stressor, a feeling of meh. Step two, ask yourself, if this were a client, friend, daughter telling me this, would I say it's fine? Step three, take one action step. Make the call, book the session, start the protocol, ask for help, shift the plan. Don't wait until you can't act. You're allowed to take action now. DM me or tag me or drop me a comment. What did you stop tolerating this week? You don't have to hustle. You don't have to panic, but you also don't have to wait to lead your life powerfully. Chilsters, you've got a gift. bring calm into chaos, but don't let that calm turn into silence. Don't wait to be in crisis to deserve care. If this hits home, share it with a fellow high achiever who says, I'm fine a little too often. And if you haven't taken the gutsy chick quiz, go find out what your archetype is. Find out, are you actually a Chillster? I'm not, it's definitely not me until next time. Stay gutsy.