How to Release What’s Holding You Back | Francesca Nardelli

There’s a reason you feel like you’re moving but not arriving. Success doesn’t always slip away because you’re unprepared or unworthy. It stalls because you’re still carrying what isn’t yours anymore. People. Thoughts. Things. Each one holding on to you like static weight.

This isn’t abstract. It’s real. And until you name it and release it, you stay tethered.

release and glow

People: The Attachments That Drain You

Not everyone deserves a front-row seat to your life. Yet we keep handing out tickets. The “friends” who deflate your excitement. The family member whose opinion you never asked for, but still absorb. The partner who loves your potential but resents your progress.

If you leave a conversation doubting yourself, that’s not love—that’s resistance disguised as closeness. Release doesn’t always mean confrontation. It can be quiet: less availability, fewer explanations, shorter replies. Protect your energy the way you’d protect your time. Ruthlessly, but with grace.

Thoughts: The Narratives That Trap You

The voice in your head that whispers not yet, not enough, not ready—that’s not intuition. That’s fear performing a monologue it’s rehearsed for years.

Self-doubt isn’t humble. Perfectionism isn’t discipline. Overthinking isn’t foresight. These are the masks fear wears to convince you it’s useful. The truth? They are nothing but brakes.

Release means catching yourself in the spiral and choosing differently. Replacing “what if I fail” with “what if I thrive.” Refusing to let the same recycled thoughts script your future.

Things: The Weight You Don’t Notice

Walk into your space and look around. The pile of clothes that remind you of who you used to be. The calendar filled with obligations you don’t even enjoy. The habits you repeat only because they’re familiar. These things aren’t neutral. They’re messages. They say: stay small, stay safe, stay the same.

Clearing them isn’t cosmetic—it’s energetic. When you edit your environment, you edit your reality. Releasing objects and obligations is a direct line to clarity.

Release: The Act of Power

Release isn’t passive. It’s not waiting for something to naturally fade away. It’s decisive. It’s active. It’s the moment you delete the contact, cancel the plan, throw away the item, set the boundary.

And yes—it feels like loss at first. But what you’re really doing is creating space. Space for people who celebrate you. Space for thoughts that propel you. Space for routines that move you forward.

Release is how you tell the universe: I’m done repeating. I’m ready for more.

The Glow Edit

This isn’t about cutting everything. It’s about refinement. Just like your wardrobe, your life requires edits. You keep what feels aligned with the future you, and you let go of what doesn’t.

Every release is a declaration of self-respect. Every boundary is a reminder that your glow is not up for compromise.

So ask yourself: what am I carrying that I no longer need? Who still has access that no longer deserves it? What am I tolerating that blocks my momentum?

Write it down. Circle one. And release.

Not someday. Now.