New Year,New Nurse

What 2026 Could Look Like If Nurses Governed Their Inner World?

Nurses are fighting back.

We’re striking, speaking up, demanding better pay, safer ratios, and basic dignity. And we should be.

But here’s what I’m noticing: many nurses move forward, only to feel like they’re taking two steps back. The external battles are exhausting, and the cycles feel endless. We fight for change, get a small win, then watch it erode. We speak up, face retaliation, and begin to wonder if anything will ever truly shift.  

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the work of Neville Goddard, particularly his idea that “feeling is the secret.”

In simple terms, Goddard taught that our inner state—our beliefs, emotional tone, and self-concept—shapes how life responds to us. His message was bold: we are not passive victims waiting for the world to change; we are active participants shaping our experience through what we consistently think, feel, and expect.

His work has experienced a resurgence in recent years as people search for ways to reclaim personal power inside systems that feel overwhelming, rigid, and unchangeable, which is exactly where many nurses find themselves.

Why “Feeling” Matters in Nursing

When Neville Goddard said “feeling is the secret,” he wasn’t talking about mood or wishful thinking. He was pointing to the internal state we operate from—the emotional and nervous-system posture that shapes how we think, speak, and respond.

For nurses, this matters because the state we’re in determines everything downstream:

• How quickly we speak up
• How firmly we set boundaries
• How clearly we communicate
• How safely we practice under pressure

A nurse operating from fear, bracing, or powerlessness behaves differently than a nurse operating from grounded confidence—even with the same skills and experience.

This isn’t about pretending conditions are okay. It’s about choosing the internal stance from which we engage with reality. When nurses feel grounded, authorized, and supported internally, they advocate sooner, document clearly, and lead with steadiness instead of reactivity.

That’s what “feeling” really means here:
the inner state that governs professional presence, safety, and agency.

So I keep coming back to this question:

“What if 2026 isn’t only about fighting external systems? What if it’s also about mastering our internal ones?”

What might happen if nurses shifted even a portion of their focus from the external realm—the broken systems, inadequate staffing, disrespectful management—to the internal realm: our thoughts, our beliefs, our emotional posture, and the way we show up energetically?

This is not about letting anyone off the hook.

It’s about taking responsibility for where our energy goes—because that energy is shaping more than we realize.  How much energy do we pour into dreading our shifts, rehearsing worst-case scenarios, and replaying yesterday’s disrespect? How much mental space do toxic managers, unsafe staffing, and feelings of powerlessness occupy in our inner world?  That energy isn’t neutral. According to Goddard, it’s formative. And if we spend most of our time focused on what we don’t want, we unintentionally reinforce it.

This is about reclaiming that power in 2026.

The External Fight Is Real—But Incomplete

The challenges nurses face are absolutely real and ongoing:

• Unsafe staffing that puts patients and nurses at risk
• Bullying, lateral violence, and retaliation
• Chronic lack of resources and respect
• Burnout that feels inescapable

These external realities have shaped nursing for years. They are frustrating precisely because change feels painfully slow—or nonexistent. Many nurses don’t want to leave the profession; they leave because they want to be treated with basic respect and dignity.

So the question becomes:

How long can we wait for external validation, external change, or external permission to feel safe and valued?

Goddard taught that our emotional state and core beliefs form a kind of blueprint for how our world responds—individually and collectively. The victory nurses seek will not come only from someone agreeing to give us something. It comes from an inner knowing that we were made for more—and that more is not optional.

The Uncomfortable Truth: We Are Creators

This is where it gets uncomfortable.

What if you woke up this morning already believing you didn’t have the power to govern your day, be heard, or be respected—and the day simply unfolded to match that belief?

I know how strange that feels when there is a very real nurse manager undermining you, a health organization exploiting you, or a patient verbally attacking you. I’m not denying those realities. They matter.

But what if part of the struggle is that nurses have been conditioned for so long to feel powerless that we show up that way—and the world mirrors it back?

Energy matters. Presence matters.

Goddard taught that we are not simply reacting to circumstances—we are participating in their continuation through our inner posture. And the way we participate is through what we think, what we expect, and the emotional tone we carry.

When you walk into a shift braced for disrespect, expecting to be unsupported, already preparing to fight just to survive the day, that inner stance communicates loudly. And systems—often unconsciously—respond in kind.

What Do Nurses Actually Control in 2026?

Let’s be clear about what nurses do not control:

• Hospital budgets
• Staffing decisions (most of the time)
• Administrative priorities
• Other people’s behavior

But here is what we always control:

• Our thoughts
• Our words
• Our emotional regulation
• Our energetic presence
• Our boundaries
• Our responses

For nurses who are constantly doing—fixing, moving, responding, saving—the idea of simply being may sound like relief.  And it can be. But “being” is not passive.  Being requires responsibility. 

It means taking ownership of our emotions, thoughts, actions, and words. It means interrupting autopilot reactivity and becoming conscious of what we are reinforcing internally. It means governing ourselves with the same precision we use to manage critically ill patients. 

Learning to tune into and manage the inner world can fundamentally change how the outer world responds.

So maybe 2026 isn’t about gym memberships or wheatgrass smoothies (but that has its benefits!!!).

Maybe it’s about:

• Reframing the day without victimhood, judgment, or blame
• Setting boundaries that honor who you are—and enforcing them
• Speaking up instead of biting your tongue out of fear
• Showing up grounded instead of shrinking
• Believing you deserve respect—and refusing to accept anything less

Core Concepts From Neville Goddard—In Nursing Language

Here are several of Goddard’s core ideas, translated into language nurses can use in real life.

1. Emotional State Drives Outcomes

Your emotional state influences how you think, speak, and act—and how others respond.

For nurses: Before your shift, take five minutes to intentionally settle into the felt sense of being respected, supported, and safe. Don’t analyze it. Let your body recognize it. Then walk into your shift from that place.  Our inner state is the blueprint for our outer world.  

2. Identity Shapes Experience

You don’t experience what you want; you experience who you believe you are.

For nurses: Stop waiting for permission to feel worthy. Practice showing up as the nurse who expects to be heard and protected. Speak and decide from that identity.  If this is challenging for you to work through, let’s connect.  I have tools that can help you tap into that inner strength that allows you to grow in ways that help you embrace your worth.  

3. Practice From Resolution, Not Fear

Where attention goes, behavior follows.

For nurses: Instead of mentally rehearsing everything that could go wrong, imagine yourself handling challenges with calm authority. Expect support. Let that expectation guide your tone and actions.  Grace and ease is the name of the game!  “I do all things with grace and ease” and “everything is working out for me, better than I could have imagined” are my regular affirmations.

4. Agency Restores Power

Acknowledging inner influence doesn’t deny injustice—it restores choice.

For nurses: Unsafe systems exist. Toxic managers exist. But when you stop outsourcing your sense of worth and safety to them, you reclaim internal authority.    

Unsafe systems exist. Toxic managers exist. Acknowledging that reality matters.
But when you stop outsourcing your sense of worth and safety to those conditions, you reclaim internal authority.

As you become more regulated—emotionally, mentally, and energetically—you naturally attract less chaos, less intimidation, and fewer situations that rely on your silence. Not because the world magically changes overnight, but because you do. You respond differently. You set clearer boundaries. You are harder to manipulate.

When you know your worth, fear loses its grip.

You don’t stay quiet out of desperation.
You don’t tolerate toxicity because you believe there’s nothing better.
You don’t shrink to survive.

You command the authority you need to manage any situation—calmly, professionally, and clearly. And from that place, you no longer feel trapped in jobs that don’t honor you, because you trust your ability to create something better.

You are worthy.
You are capable.
And yes—you are absolutely the bee’s knees. 🐝

5. Inner Dialogue Shapes Culture

What you repeat internally becomes normal externally.

For nurses: If your mental soundtrack is “I’m not safe” or “No one listens,” that message leaks into behavior. Begin replacing it with language that reinforces support and clarity. Repeat until it becomes natural.  I like to use I am a whole lot.  My office door has “I am” statements all over it.

Why "I Am" Statements Matter

“I Am” statements are powerful because they speak directly to identity. They don’t describe what we hope to do someday or what we wish would change; they define who we are right now.

In nursing, where so much control is external, identity becomes the anchor. When a nurse repeatedly tells themselves, “I am overwhelmed,” “I am not supported,” or “I don’t have a choice,” the nervous system organizes around those beliefs. Behavior follows. Boundaries soften. Silence feels safer.  “I am” statements interrupt that loop.

When nurses use constructive identity language—I am grounded. I am capable. I am heard. I am worthy of respect—the body and brain begin to respond differently. Confidence stabilizes. Communication becomes clearer. Advocacy feels safer. These statements aren’t about pretending conditions are ideal; they are about choosing the internal stance from which we engage with reality.

What we consistently declare about ourselves becomes the framework we operate from. In a profession that has long asked nurses to shrink, “I am” statements are a quiet, powerful way of reclaiming authority—starting from the inside.

The Collective Shift: When Nurses Unite Internally

Now imagine this work happening collectively. Across units. Across hospitals. Across countries. Imagine nurses walking into work not isolated or braced for impact, but grounded supported by themselves, by one another, and by a shared sense of purpose.  Imagine the shift when fear, scarcity, and powerlessness are no longer the dominant operating system. That is infrastructure. Policies matter. Contracts matter. Advocacy matters. But inner coherence creates outer leverage.

When One Nurse Stands, We All Rise

I’ve worked in toxic environments where all it would have taken was one other nurse standing with me. Instead, silence won. Not because people didn’t care—but because fear felt safer. Families needed support. Bills needed paying. 

I understand that fear.  And I also understand its cost.

I believe that doing the right thing always creates a path forward. There is always a ram in the bush.  Many nurses know what’s right but don’t believe they have the power to act.

But confidence—quiet, grounded confidence—changes dynamics. Presence changes conversations. Energy communicates before words do. When you know your worth, others sense it. And they respond differently.

What 2026 Could Look Like

Here’s my vision for 2026:

• Nurses around the world begin bringing vision, intention, and conscious self-leadership into the workplace.
• Workdays feel more united—not because administration suddenly becomes perfect, but because nurses stop waiting for permission to feel whole.
• Nurses govern their thoughts, words, and emotions with the same care they give medications and IVs.
• Nurses set boundaries that honor who they are—and hold them, even when it’s uncomfortable.
• Nurses show up as participants in their experience, not passive recipients of it.

And when one nurse speaks, others stand with them—because they trust that integrity creates support.

The Practice: How to Begin

If this resonates, here’s how to start in 2026.

Morning Practice (5–10 minutes before your shift):

1. Close your eyes and feel what it’s like to have a supported, safe, respectful shift.
2. Let your body register that feeling.
3. Speak internally: I am heard. I am respected. I am protected. I am grounded.
4. Walk into your shift from that identity.

During Your Shift:

1. Notice your inner dialogue and gently correct it.
2. Set boundaries calmly, without apology.
3. Speak when something is wrong—even if your voice shakes.
4. Support another nurse—be the one who does not choose silence.

End-of-Shift Reflection:

1. Acknowledge moments of courage.
2. Notice where fear showed up without judgment.
3. Recommit to inner leadership.
4. Release the day.

The Revolution Starts Within

External change matters. Keep advocating. Keep pushing for safety and fairness. But don’t underestimate the most powerful shift available to nurses right now: inner governance. 2026 does not belong to broken systems.  It belongs to nurses who remember who they are.

Welcome to the inner revolution.  Welcome to the Nursing Revolution! Welcome to 2026.

The power was always yours, you just didn’t know it was yours to wield.

--Dr. Rachel

P.S. Want to explore conscious leadership in nursing—and activate those inner capacities that create a better experience at work and in life?

Consider our courses offered through Professional Continuing Education LLC (PCE), designed specifically for nurses who are ready to heal inner wounds, strengthen their sense of self-authority, and practice from a place of authenticity and power.

The courses and programs support nurses in developing inner regulation, clear boundaries, and confident presence—so you’re not just surviving the system, but leading yourself within it. It’s an invitation to grow from the inside out and to practice nursing in a way that aligns with who you truly are.