1700: On comparison and poking ourselves in the eye

Today I’m sharing a weird little story about eyeliner to remind you about the realities of comparison and why it’s not only okay, but expected, to have wobbles.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Monday to you. So something I've learned about myself this year, and just a heads up, it's not particularly exciting, but I'm using it to illustrate the point, is that I can do my liquid eyeliner On my top lid and my bottom lid, completely in the dark and also without a mirror. And I would say 9 out of 10 times it needs no corrections and it's good for the day. Now this might just seem like some really weirdly specific party trick, and not a very interesting one at that, let's face it. And some people who maybe never wear eyeliner might think that's quite impressive. But here's the thing, I would say I've been wearing liquid eyeliner every single day for at least the past 20 years, which if you took the time to add it up, that is many thousands of days doing the exact same motion on surprise my very same eyeballs, day in, day out, repeatedly. So really, it is no wonder that I don't stab myself in the eye Because I just know that motion. It is in my body.

And the reason I bring this up today is because when we start something and we inevitably poke ourselves in the eye, we smudge everything, we get it all wrong, we have the tendency to beat ourselves up and kind of say, well, how am I doing it so wrong? She over there can do it literally with her eyes closed in the dark. But going back to my boring story, I've done it every day for 20 years, and that's the thing we forget. When you start out at something, there are going to be days where you suck. I do not have some weirdly specific genius talent when it comes to applying eyeliner. I'm just somebody who stubbornly stuck to the same makeup routine for over 2 decades. But how often do we tell ourselves, well, if I'm not fabulous or fantastic or even pretty good right off the bat, then what is the point? The truth is talent can be a bit overrated. It's a bit like a lot of people talk about being an overnight success. They're like, well, you didn't see the years and years and years before that happened.

Now, just to be clear, The point of this story is not that you're going to be shit for a decent amount of time because it takes years and years to get good. That is not what I want you to take away from this. I want you to take away from this that it is often the showing up and the doing it again and again, even on the days where it doesn't go right, that tend to make a lot more difference than innate talent. You cannot compare your day one of liquid eyeliner with my 20 years of liquid eyeliner, which is sounding more ridiculous the more I say it out loud, the same way that if I was to take up a sketchbook practice trying to own my fine art skills, my day one is gonna look nothing like somebody who's been doing it a really long time. And maybe it is as simple as that. So if you've been in the comparison trap lately I really want you to look at where your starting line is and what you're comparing yourself to. Your starting line is nothing to be ashamed about, and you might find you've got a bit of a skill for it. And if that is the case, absolutely lean in.

The start will be wobbly. That is the whole point. That is how you learn, and that is where you can also really lean into the joy and the passion behind it. Which is so, so precious. So that is my boring story for you today. Have a fabulous Monday. I hope you find some unexpected joy this week, and I can't wait to be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning. Take care.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1699: Some bossy Autumn homework

If like a lot of us you struggle with seasonal changes, we're round off this week's Daily Pep! with some really joyful homework.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Friday to you. So one of the things I know that we can struggle with around here is the changing of the seasons. Everything can feel a little bit wonky for a little bit of time, and if you're in the Northern Hemisphere where it's autumn and the evenings are getting darker quicker, I know a lot of us can struggle with that. So for today's daily pep and to wrap up this week, I have a bossy piece of homework for you, and that is to plan 3 things to look forward to this autumn/winter. Now to be clear, this isn't about spending a shitload of money. It does not have to be about doing anything fancy. It is simply leaning into the things that you really enjoy doing and giving yourself some hope on the horizon. For example, it could look like catching up with a friend who always really makes you laugh, who maybe you don't see that much of.

It could be taking a book that you're really excited to read to a cafe, or it could be a bit of a TV marathon and watching one of the TV shows or a film that you absolutely love. What I'm trying to say here is it doesn't have to be big, but it has to be something that you really look forward to. Because this time of year can feel a bit wonky, but if we get intentional about how we spend our time and how we lean into it, I think it can make quite the difference. So as you're going around your day today, have a think about something that you really enjoy doing. Is there, for example, a certain type of food that you've been always wanting to learn how to cook? Is it about having a gathering with friends that might not have met each other before And doing something low-key and cozy? Or does it look something like putting together an autumn bingo and getting really intentional about enjoying the little things that the season has to offer? So have a think. I want you to think about 3 things. I want you to commit to them as much as you can. I want dates in the diary.

This time of the year can feel a bit dark, but there is also a shitload of light. I hope your weekend gives you some unexpected joy, and I can't wait to be back with you bright and early here on the Daily Pep on Monday morning, or in your inbox if you're part of my email community, where I'm sharing the behind the scenes of my new chapter in Liverpool and some very exciting dreams that are emerging. And you can go join that for free by going to therebelrousers.com/letters or clicking the link in the show notes. Whether I see you back here on Monday or Sunday in your inbox, Have a good one, and remember that everything changes when you believe you matter.

Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1698: Expectations vs reality

Today's a juicy one, as we dive into the loop of high expectations leading to disappointment, and how we can shake things up.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Thursday to you. So I thought we'd jump into a juicy one today and dive into the difference between anticipation and expectation. Now, I am somebody who has struggled with high expectations my whole life. And when I say I've struggled with it, I mean that I build something up into my head to such a fabulous height that the reality rarely comes close. And then when I do do the thing, rather than enjoying being in the moment and enjoying all the things that I didn't expect, I often found myself instead focusing on all the ways it didn't meet what I thought it would be. And I just really ended up disappointed. Now, one of the things I really hoped I'd get out of our long-term travel experiment was a new way of thinking about expectations, or just to change this kind of wonky thinking. Because I realized that kind of instead of wearing rose-tinted glasses, I was wearing shit-tinted glasses, and it just wasn't much fun.

And I think the biggest thing I've learned is that the The before and the during are 2 completely different things. The anticipation stage is so much different to the living-in-it stage, and it's okay if they both look different. For example, before we went traveling, I spent so long looking up each place we would go to, mapping out everything, and when we got there, I really enjoyed going down the random side streets And the things that brought me the most joy were things that probably didn't appear on many of the lists I'd made. And in fact, I forgot that I'd made most of them. And the same with our recent move to Liverpool. I have thoroughly enjoyed putting Pinterest boards together, thinking about all the things I'm gonna make, and I have this vision of our really cozy flat. And now that I'm in it The fact that it's not really cozy already and I don't have my dreamy gallery walls does not bother me one bit. I am sat here, we haven't got lampshades yet, we've got a couple of lamps which are kind of playing musical chairs based on where we are, and I'm really, really happy.

And I think the thing here is that one doesn't invalidate the other. The Pinterest boards, the research, the anticipation I really got to savor that in the build-up. And because I don't have such a fixed view on what I think my life should look like at this exact moment and what the flat should look like at this exact moment, I'm actually really able to enjoy where I am right now without picking holes in it. So if, like me, you struggle with expectations and reality meeting those expectations, what if it is a case of they are 2 separate processes? One does not negate the other. In fact, I think they complement each other really well. I know there was a research study done where people enjoy planning their holiday nearly, if not more, than the holiday itself. And we get to enjoy the anticipation and the buildup and the excitement. And we can also enjoy and get curious about the unexpected joys that might be waiting on the other side of the actual thing That we don't even know about.

So that is some serious brain food for you this morning. I hope you have a fabulous Thursday, and remember, as always, that everything changes when you believe that you matter, and you really do.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1697: What if mess is a part of the process?

Today we're taking some unconventional wisdom from cleaning and moving house!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Wednesday to you. And a very happy hump day to you from my very messy office. Now, if you'd come in here a couple of days ago, it looked quite busy, but there were a lot of boxes Now I've got rid of all the boxes, there is stuff everywhere. There seems to be no rhyme or reason if you were to look at it, but there is definitely one in my head. And on the surface, it looks like it's gone from, um, to a lot worse. And I think that's what a lot of us feel like when things start to get messy. It's a bit like when you start cleaning your fridge out, when you're moving, when you're unpacking, when you're decluttering. Things tend to look a bit more chaotic before they turn into what you actually wanted them to turn into.

I know there have been many times in my own life where I've attempted to clean something up or sort something out, only to end up in such a bigger muddle than I was to begin with, and it is beyond frustrating. And at the time, it just feels like it would be easier to throw the towel in Except a lot of the time when it's dealing with our own stuff, we literally have to sort it, otherwise there is no room to walk. But if we think about the more intangible things in our lives, I think sometimes things do get really messy and we do just kind of say fuck it because we assume that the mess is the problem rather than part of the process. For example, I am so excited to have my office all set up And the only way I'm gonna get there is to clean everything off the floor, even though it does not look like fun. The same way as when I started the Daily Pep, I knew I wanted to do a daily podcast. I had a rough idea, and then it all got really messy. I had to think about the name, I had to think about the format, I had to figure it all out, and it just felt really jumbled, and it would have been easier to give up than it was to continue. But my goodness, that doesn't mean that you should give up.

If we see mess as part of the process, I think it also really shapes our sense of success and failure. Because what if everything being messy doesn't mean you've failed, doesn't mean you've done something wrong? It is just part of the journey. I don't know about you, but I find that quite liberating, and there's a lot of hope in there too. So whatever you're working on in your own life, if things are feeling really messy, then think about decluttering a room. Think about what a state it gets in. But also know this: there are different parts of our lives where we do get to shut the door on the metaphorical messy room and walk away because we no longer need that room. So if you need that permission slip today, Please take this as it. I hope you have a fabulous hump day.

I am off to clear away the rest of the mess, and I am really excited for what's on the other side. So sending you lots of hope, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1696: A more truthful way of looking at new chapters

As we enter a new season, and as I personally enter a big new chapter, I’m sharing a reminder I think both of us need to hear.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Tuesday to you. So I am now moved into my flat in Liverpool, and it is the start of a new chapter for me, and I thought it would be interesting and maybe helpful to talk a bit about new chapters. Because I think so much of what we hear in the personal development world and the self-help world about new chapters is actually talking about starting a new book. It's this idea that you can start afresh, completely from scratch, that you are starting completely over, and while at times that can feel, and it can be very alluring, it's also not necessarily true. Because your story is part of a book, and new chapters are literally just that— new chapters within that book. And I think to completely give up on the book and start another one isn't really honouring past you, and all the fucking hard work you've done, and everything you did to get to where you are now, even if where you are now isn't where you want to end up. You have so much hard-won wisdom. You also have so many fabulous stories, and your book gets to be tattered and written on and thrown in a bag.

It does not always have to look like you just came out of Waterstones. I think one of the things that we can do when we start a new chapter is pretend like nothing happened before then, and I think that that really does erase So much inner wisdom, because you have so many lessons that you've already learned that you could take forward that would probably help you more than any self-help bestseller could. As I'm starting my own new chapter, I am having to remind myself of this constantly, and I'm having to remind myself that it has to be imperfect because it will be imperfect, and actually to declare myself a whole new woman is not only factually incorrect, but it also does pass me a huge disservice. So as we enter a new season and maybe you're thinking about seasonal routines, things that you wanted to start, or as we're coming to the end of the year, maybe you're thinking about projects that you want to take on or different challenges you want to set yourself, remember that you do not need to be a whole new person to do them, and you don't need a different book. Yes, you might need a new chapter, and you can have a lot of fun writing that chapter, but you don't have to, and you probably shouldn't throw out the whole book. So here's to continuing to work on ourselves imperfectly. If you want to really embrace the season, you might want to check out my Rebel Cosy Club that I'm starting this Thursday. There's more about that in the show notes, and you can go to therebelrousers.com/cosyclub, and I can't wait to be back with you tomorrow. Have a good one.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1690: What are you harvesting?

To kick off this week, we've diving into seasonal living and going on the search for the things you're harvesting from this year. If you don't think there's anything to harvest, this episode is especially for you!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Monday to you. So at the time I recorded this, we are firmly going into cozy season. October is around the corner, and if we think about seasonal living, which I definitely do a lot, One of the things that is the most important at this time of the year is harvesting. And for us around here as creative and multi-passionate women, I think we can translate that as looking at where we've come from and looking at the fruits of our labor, looking at the lessons we can find, and really taking a moment to pause and also to reflect. And I think it's particularly important that we do this now because Traditionally, the one time of the year where we really look at our big life plans and our dreams and we set our intentions is the start of the new year, which is deep into winter. And like I've shared before, I really don't think that winter, especially not the deepest, darkest days of the first weeks of January, is the best time to set ourselves up for success and to do all our reflecting and our planning. But I think at this time of the year, before we head into the winter, it can be really helpful to think about what crops we've been growing, what we've been focusing on, what sprouting roots, what things we've planted that actually we're not bothered that they didn't grow, and maybe even what we'd like to be harvesting this time next year. Now, this is not about piling all the pressure on, nor is it about beating yourself up for things that didn't happen.

And it is an enormous time for grace because much like the seasons, whether it is a drought or whether there is so much rain is largely out of our control. And some years some crops do better than others, other times it can just feel a bit like a soggy mess, which while it's not great, it is okay because things are cyclical, things are seasonal, and not everything blooms at the same time. So as you're going about your day today, as we start this week, I want you to just gently start prodding around in your brain and thinking about what seeds you've planted this past year. What are you seeing that is starting to bloom? Are there any big disappointments? Are you more or less bothered than you thought you'd be about said successes and disappointments? And what are the real things you're harvesting? Because no matter what kind of season you've been having, There are always things that have been happening. There are always lessons to take, and there is always wisdom to be gained. So root around, see what you can find, be extra kind to yourself. And here's to knowing, my dear, that you absolutely, most definitely do have things to harvest. It might just be that they're less expected, less conventional.

But my goodness, if there's anything we do well around here, it is we celebrate the unexpected and the unconventional. So do that with yourself too. Happy start to a new week, and I'll see you back here tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1684: F*ck perfect

Today's a sassy one to round off the week, and I've got a feeling it might be just what you need to hear.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Friday to you. I have a simple one for you today and a sassy one because this Friday I just want to say fuck perfect. For so many of us, we know logically that perfection is an illusion, that it just doesn't But it still stops us in our tracks a lot more than we'd like it to. Now, I don't know about you, but there are many things in my life that I wish I had created, made, said, put out there that I didn't because I couldn't quite find the perfect way or the right way to say it. Now, in the moment that mattered, but looking back, I'm just like, Meg, you should have just done it as it was. That would've been more than good enough, and even more importantly, that would have existed. Now, don't get me wrong, it can be hard to put out imperfect things, to make imperfect things, and to say things in an imperfect way, but it is a lot better to do it imperfectly than to think, fuck, I should've just done it anyway. For so many of us, we have this huge fear of failure, but I think if you actually got deep with each and every one of us and really asked us what failure meant, Failure would probably look more like not doing the thing.

So today I just want to remind all of us, myself included, to fuck perfect. It is way too overrated. Expecting perfection of ourselves is just really cruel, and I think life also gets a lot more interesting when you say fuck it and just give it a go. One of the things I find that really helps me remember this is that when I'm getting stuck in that trap of perfectionism, I think about all of the makers markets that I love going to, all of the times that I get to go into an independent shop that is full of artist-made goodies. And I am always drawn to the imperfect and the wobbly, and that is part and parcel of getting anything handmade. You don't exactly want the super, super polished version That a million people could have. I love the thumb imprints in mug, seeing where the paint has dripped. I love paintings of really fun birds, and rarely are they perfectly symmetrical.

And if they were, it would take away so much of the fun and the beauty of it. So whether you are wrestling with a big creative project, whether you're trying to have a hard conversation, Whether you're trying to get yourself to do something that you really need to do, or you're trying to start or finish something, fuck perfect, because life gets a lot more interesting when you do. I know it takes courage, but you have that in fucking bucketfuls, so remember that. And also remember, and I'm thinking of myself here too, that you cannot be perfect at being imperfect either. Happy Friday! I can't wait to be back here bright and early Monday morning, or in your lovely inbox on Sunday if you sign up for my Letters of Rebellion, where I share the wobbliness and imperfectness of my own journey of building a life I love and share some of the things that I wish somebody had told me in the hopes of saving you some time and also some heartache. And if you're not already part of my email community, you can go sign up at therebelrousers.com/letters, and I would love to see you there. Have a good one, and I can't wait to see you soon.

Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1683: A cheesy challenge

Forgive me for getting a bit cheesy, but today's episode is an invitation to do something we need to do more of!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Thursday to you. Now today's episode is very cheesy. I also have a challenge, but I also think it might be something that brightens up your day a bit. So in a world where it can be hard to tell what's real or not anymore And we can find ourselves behind our screens a lot, and we have things on our to-do list that are always there, and something else seems more important. I just want to encourage you to take a minute to text somebody, message somebody, or voice message somebody, and tell them something real.

Now, I'm not talking about unburdening yourself with your biggest secret, but what I'm saying is, I don't think any of us will get to the end of our lives and think, Shit, I think I told my friends that they really mattered to me too much. And also, on the subject of friends, they actually want to know how you're doing, so if you're struggling, tell them, because you would much rather a friend told you than you would for them to struggle on their own. Now, they may not have the perfect response, they might not say the right thing, they may say entirely the wrong thing, But you've given them a chance, and I know in my own life when I've been really struggling, sometimes a friend telling me exactly what's up with them has been what I needed, because maybe I needed to feel useful, or I needed to get out of my own head for a while.

But I also know, going to the brighter side of things, every time I get an unexpected message, or a postcard, or something from a loved one, it always makes my day. So, in a world that can feel downright shitty, my challenge for you is to either share some joy today and tell somebody that you think a lot of them, or send them a funny meme and tell them you're thinking of them, or to bring the light into your own life by opening the crack a bit and letting people in. What we forget when we look at this big, bad, scary world out there is that there are a fuckload of good people. That there are so many random acts of kindness that you simply don't and never will hear about. And it's also easy to forget that joy is an act of resistance. So, that is your very cheesy homework from me today. I sincerely hope you do it, and I also really hope that you have a day as fabulous as you are. And if nobody's messaged you in a while telling you that you are doing a fucking good job of being you, then let this episode be it.

Happy Thursday, and remember that everything changes when you believe you matter.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1682: Find inspiration in unusual places

If you're stuck in rut or your inspiration well has dried up, today's episode is for you!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Wednesday to you. Now, if you are stuck in a creative rut, this Hump Day's episode is just for you. Sometimes it can be hard to get out of the familiar, and we just get really uninspired by the things that usually work for us. Or maybe we don't have things that work for us, or we're going through a bit of an identity shift. And there's something that I do that really helps me get reinspired, make connections between new things, and just fills up my curiosity like nothing else. And for me, that is diving deep into an artist. For me, it's mainly musicians, mainly people that I've never heard of before, and watch a documentary on them. There is something that I just absolutely love about delving into a world where I've got no preconceptions, and the only thing that is familiar to me is the format.

I know that we're going to do a deep dive into somebody's life and their creative process. And as I'm recording this, I'm realizing that I think one of the reasons I find it so inspiring is because it reminds me that this is simply a person. Like I mentioned before, I tend to watch things about people that I've got no idea about, and realizing that there's this whole world that exists that I didn't know about is really exciting. But more than that, seeing that these amazing creatives are simply humans reminds me that I also am human and I can do fun creative shit too. Now, I'm not necessarily telling you to go and watch some really obscure music documentaries. However, that is a good shout. But what I really want to say here is go and see what you can find from places where you wouldn't usually look, because one of the most amazing skills we've got as creatives is the ability to make really unique and unusual connections. And if you're widening the things that you can make connections between, that can really lead you to some interesting places and help you get out of that rut.

So if you have no interest in football, Go and read the first couple of chapters of some big football manager's autobiography. If poetry just isn't your thing, see if you can find some podcasts interviewing poets. Intentionally look in the places that you wouldn't usually look, and you might just create some ideas that you usually wouldn't make happen, and that is fabulous for your creative spark. So that is my challenge for you today. And since it's a Wednesday, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about my really fun email that I send out on a Wednesday called Wildcard Wednesday. And it's basically a really fun and eclectic roundup of the things that I'm finding interesting and helpful in my own life, some things that are inspiring me, some things that are making me think, some things that really make me laugh. And it is just a really fun dose of the weird and wonderful and something to brighten up your inbox midweek. And if you'd like to join that, you can go to therebelrousers.com/letters.

And it's one of the things I most look forward to putting together every week. So if you haven't already, come and join me over in my email community. I hope you have a fabulous rest of your day, and I hope you find inspiration in an unlikely or unusual place. I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1680: Your creativity is like glitter

If you’ve ever beaten yourself up about abandoning projects, or you generally give yourself a hard time about not finishing everything. Today’s episode might be the reframe you need.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Monday to you. So as multi-passionates, one of the things that we give ourselves a hard time about is going deep down a rabbit hole, getting obsessed with something, and then one day going off of it and having a pile of unfinished projects. And if that sounds familiar, this one is for you, because one of the things that we forget is that we take a bit of everything into everything we do. What I mean is that our creativity and the things we learn and our curiosity, they are like glitter and they get fucking everywhere. I don't know if you've ever spilled a massive glitter tube or a small glitter tube before, and it doesn't seem to matter How careful you are in tidying up, you will still be finding glitter under your boob 2 weeks later. It spreads even if you can't see it, and to the most unlikely of places. The truth is, the things we learn, they come with us in all shapes and sizes to every single project. And sometimes you have to go down one rabbit hole to end up at another spectacular rabbit hole.

that you might not even have gotten to if you hadn't said fuck it to that project. And one of the fabulous things about being creative and multi-passionate is that we end up cross-pollinating so many different things, but often we can only see how the pieces fit together later, and in the moment it can feel messy, and we can have a big dollop of shame around not finishing everything. But I don't know about you, but if somebody sat me down and forced me to finish every single project That absolutely would not be my definition of fun. Your creativity and the things you do and the things you learn and the rabbit holes you get lost in, they are never ever wasted. And creativity is so much more nuanced than just saying, I fancy baking a cake, let me get all the stuff, get a recipe, let's bake the cake, ta-da, done. I'm not saying that isn't creative because it is creative, but the creative process is very rarely that linear, and we give ourselves such a hard time about things that are actually part of the process and are to be expected. But because they feel so messy, and because our inner dream shitter is so loud when it comes to a bunch of this creative stuff, because it is outside of our comfort zone, we think we must be doing something wrong. And that is not true.

If you take nothing else from this episode, remember that creativity And your curiosity, they are both like glitter, they stick to everything. And giving up on a project or losing interest is not a sign of failure, it is a sign of being a wildly curious person, and not everybody gets that. And while it can be sometimes frustrating, it is also such a gift. So here's to reclaiming our glitter. If you're curious about your own superpowers and kryptonite and haven't taken my Rebel Archetype Quiz, It's really quick, it's really fun, and also genuinely really helpful. And it can be a fabulous way of understanding more about you, your creative process, and how to harness your gifts. And you can go do that for free over at therebelrousers.com/quiz. And I hope you have a fabulous start to your week. Take care.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1679: Meeting yourself where you're at vs mental gymnastics

If you find yourself turning moment into an opportunity for self-flagellation, this one's for you!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Friday to you. So for me, as it comes to the end of the week, I am feeling knackered. And what I realize about myself and also a lot of the women I work with is that if we are people who tend to push ourselves pretty hard When we feel exhausted, rarely do we just think, okay, I'm feeling exhausted, I need to take care of myself. We immediately start going through a mental checklist of whether we are justified in how we feel. It doesn't take long until we're arguing with ourselves that actually we shouldn't feel this tired because we didn't even do XYZ, and instead of meeting ourselves where we're at and tending to where we actually are, We just get so much harder on ourselves, and we also spend so much extra precious time and energy on the mental gymnastics. Now, many self-help books will say that this is simply a mindset issue, but I think this goes so much deeper into systems of oppression, into all of the bullshit ways that we're taught we have to show up in the world, and it is not as easy as just turning it off or thinking brighter thoughts. But if we could take where we are at face value, we might be a hell of a lot kinder to ourselves. Around here, we are curious, we love to know the why, and sometimes it is about not needing to analyse every single one of our thoughts and being okay that we're tired because we're tired and letting it be as simple as that.

I know that I could spend a good hour on a list of reasons why I, quote, should be as tired as I am, and a list of reasons why I shouldn't be, and all the things I didn't get done. But it doesn't really get me anywhere, and actually, if I took that same amount of time and just slowed down and did something nice for myself, well, I think that is a much better use of time. But for so many of us, if we're not beating ourselves up, we think that we must be doing something wrong, and I want to call absolute bullshit on that. Whatever you did or didn't do this week is not a reflection of your value or your worth as a human being. Unlike near enough everything you will see around you, your value is not dependent on how productive you are. And you might just be tired because you're tired, and life is a lot. So see if you can go into this weekend giving yourself grace for where you are, rather than arguing with yourself or bargaining with yourself about how you should feel. And maybe simply ask yourself the question, what do you need right now? And listening to the answer, even if it doesn't make sense.

I hope you are kind to yourself this weekend. I hope you find some unexpected joy, and I can't wait to be back with you on Sunday if you are part of my Letters of Rebellion community. And you can find out more about that by going to therebelrousers.com/letters or clicking the link in the show notes. I'll be back here as usual bright and early on Monday morning. Take care and remember, everything changes when you believe you matter.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1678: Chances are you need to hear this

Today I'm sharing something we all know logically, but I know I need to hear it again, and again, and I figured you might too.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Thursday to you. So I'm popping in with you today with something that I have to remind myself a lot. I know I've probably shared it a couple of times here on the Daily Pep, but I think it bears repeating and is perhaps exactly what you need to hear today. And that is that it's okay to not know all the answers. Now, I'm not gonna lie, I spend a good portion of my life trying to figure out all the answers and picking something up and looking at it from every single angle. And the thing I act completely surprised at every single time is the fact that things often have a funny way of working out that you couldn't have predicted even if you tried. And believe me, I try. But the thing is, and I know we both know this logically, that there are many things that we literally can't know in advance because the information isn't there, or, and this is a lot of the time, there is no one right answer, and we can just make our own best guess with what we've got at the time, remembering that how we feel is as important as the facts.

So whatever your week is looking like, whatever you've got on your plate, whatever you're dealing with, I want to share a kind reminder that it's okay not to know all the answers. Sometimes it's not even possible, but that doesn't undo the fact that you are one wise, brave motherfucker, that you can and do make good decisions. And we also have to remember that sometimes we worry about things almost prematurely, That don't even end up being problems. So from one creative brain that tends to get quite carried away to yours, it is okay that we don't know the answers to everything, and that doesn't mean we're doing anything wrong. And let's see if we can buy back and reclaim some of the headspace and the time that we do spend trying to figure everything out and give ourselves a shitload of compassion. I don't know about you, but when I'm asked that question about whether I wish I had a crystal ball, I really, really don't want one. But my goodness, sometimes it would be handy. And maybe if we did have one, we would actually be more delighted and surprised than we thought.

Have a great rest of your Thursday. Remember, you're doing so much better than you think you are, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1677: Listen to the curious nudges

Today I'm sharing something that's really helping my creative resistance, and I think it might really help yours too!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Wednesday to you. So one of the things I've wanted to work on for quite some time now is my writing. I want to get sharper at it, I want to do it more, and believe me when I tell you I've got the books, I've got the courses and I know what to do. But oftentimes having what we need to have and knowing what we need to do does not make the thing done. And I want to share with you something that I'm doing this week that has just cracked a lot of things wide open as a reminder to leave room for the unexpected. So this weekend I was randomly just scrolling through Substack. It's not really important where I was looking, and I came across this series of writing prompts that the writer was releasing every week. And there was just simply part of my brain that thought, hmm, that looks interesting.

So this week I just decided, fuck it, let's give it a go. And I've probably done more work on my actual writing this week in terms of the craft than I have in a long time, even though I haven't actually spent that much time doing it. And I think what really helped is finding something that didn't already have existing pressure. It wasn't a course that I'd already put huge high hopes on. It wasn't a book or something from a writer that is absolutely on a pedestal for me, and it was enough curiosity to just think, do you know what, I'll just give this a go. And I think that's often what we need. I know I can put so much pressure on stuff, and my creative resistance often looks like perfectionism, and I get caught up in the best thing that I could learn from. But if you can catch your brain off guard a little bit And maybe if you leave a bit of room for the unexpected, you might find exactly what you've been looking for, and that doesn't come with all of the weighted stuff that other things sometimes can.

I know for a fact that if I was to look up a kind of guided year-long writing thing with prompts, I would probably still be trying to figure out which was the best one come next Christmas. But because my brain was half interested, because I hadn't planned it, And because there's a huge part of me that knows I really do want to work on this stuff, it just took away a lot of the self-sabotage and a lot of the creative resistance. So this is to say, keep an eye out for opportunities that you might not have considered, lean into those curious nudges, and know that whatever gets you started is what gets you started.

Now don't get me wrong, there is part of my brain, definitely my inner dreamshitter, which is jumping 50 steps ahead and wondering whether this is going to be something I stick to, whether it's sustainable, whether it's just going to be something else I forget, etc., etc., etc. But what I have to remember is that right now it doesn't fucking matter. What matters is I'm doing the thing that I wanted to do, and that I'm enjoying it, and that gets to be enough. So here's to finding something weird and wonderful that's to do with something you wanted to do, That allows you to do it without the pressure, that invites the fun back in, and also remembering you don't need to know how it turns out, and you can go with how it feels in the moment. Happy hump day, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1675: Let's make Mondays a bit brighter!

It's that time of the year where we're supposed to be taking it easier, but that can be so hard with busy brains like ours. So today I've got a prompt to help us! 

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers,and a very happy Monday to you. So in my own life and also here on the Daily Pep, I'm starting to think a bit more seasonally and get a bit curious about how we can really establish our own rituals and routines based on the literal seasons and also based on the different seasons that we have in our own lives. And I thought it could be interesting to start with to think about how we approach a Monday, because for many of us, Mondays don't necessarily have the best connotations. We might think about going back to work, we might think about how we used to feel knowing it was school the next day when we were younger, there might be pressure to make this next week amazing, or it could be a bazillion other different things. And I think this is where it gets exciting because we get to take back control. And you get to have a ritual or a routine on a Monday that you really like and changes the way you think about a Monday. And I'm going to give you some examples of what I mean, because I don't mean huge sweeping changes, just things that maybe can help you romanticize your life a little bit, make things a bit more joyful, or get you out of a rut. So Monday could be about going a different route to somewhere you always go to.

And trying to figure out a different way to get there each Monday. It could be about declaring that Mondays are not for sorting life admin out. You do no life admin on a Monday unless it is absolutely urgent, and you get a bit rebellious and reclaim Monday as a day where you're also allowed to do nice things for yourself and not just sort everything out. It could be that you try a new recipe on a Monday It could be that you phone a certain friend, but what I'm trying to really say is that it doesn't have to be a big thing. And when I say about doing something nice for you on a Monday, I don't mean saying fuck it to all your obligations. Not many of us have that luxury. But maybe knowing that you don't have to tack everything onto a Monday, knowing that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday you will still be getting shit done. So this Monday, I invite you to have a think about what comes up for you when you think about a Monday, and what could make it more joyful, Interesting, less depressing if you find it depressing, whatever you need it to be.

It's so easy for life to become very same old, same old. And also remember that we do have power to change things. So give it food for thought, perhaps especially if you're resisting this a little bit because perhaps you're not sure where you would start. And know that starting tiny is the whole point. We are not trying to create an entirely new project. We're trying to do something that is sustainable and easy for you to do and make your life a bit brighter. So happy thinking, happy Monday, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1674: Remember short bursts exist

Today I'm reminding you that you don't have to have hours and hours available to get sh*t done!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Friday to you. So this week on the Daily Pep, we have been focusing on getting back to our usual or new routines after the summer, not overhauling our entire systems And not falling into black and white thinking that we either get everything done or we don't bother. And I want to wrap up this week by sharing something that I know you know, but might be something that we are both fairly good at forgetting. And that is the fact that you can get more than you think you can done in a short amount of time.

So often we convince ourselves that we need massive, massive expanses of time In order to get anything done, but for lots of different things, especially what I refer to as little fuckers, you don't need an entire afternoon, and you can probably get some of them done in 10 minutes. I think we have all been there where we have put off and put off and put off doing something, and by the time we do it, we curse ourselves because it took no more than 10 minutes, but it has taken up so much of our brain space And I'm saying a huge fuck that because I want to reclaim both of our brain space for more fun and creative things. I know sometimes when I'm working on a big project, I can get way more done in more frequent short bursts than on some days where I just sit and stare at the laptop. Yet I get completely frustrated when I just sit and stare because I forget there are so many different options available.

So as we wrap up the week, I'm reminding you that there are definitely alternatives out there, that short and sweet is often a lot kinder to our brains, and that you can do the tiny fuckers. I hope this week has been a good one for you. I hope you have some unexpected joy this weekend, and I can't wait to be back with you bright and early on Monday morning as usual, or in your inbox on Sunday if you're part of my fabulous email community called Letters of Rebellion. It's where I share my most vulnerable stuff that I'm learning when it comes to building a life that I love. I try and make it as helpful and as colorful as possible, and if you're not over there, I think you're really gonna like it. You can join us by going to therebelrousers.com/letters. And whether I see you on Sunday or Monday, happy Friday and happy weekend.

Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1673: All or nothing is bullsh*t

When you're getting back into a routine or trying to get your sh*t together, it's so easy to think you have to do everything RIGHT NOW. Today I'm calling BS.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Thursday to you. I was giving myself and you a firm reminder that you do not need to overhaul all your systems even though it is the start of September and the start of pencil case season and new notebook season. And today's episode is a bit of an extension of that because I want to remind you that not everything has to get done right now. Now I get that you may have deadlines, you may have things that have very real-world consequences if they don't get done, but I'm not talking about individual projects. I'm talking about the need that a lot of us have at this time of the year, or when we're trying to, quote, get our shit together, to do absolutely everything Which can sometimes lead to black and white thinking that if we can't do everything, what is the point in doing anything? Which we know is bullshit, but sometimes it's bullshit that we would rather believe, because sometimes it is nice to say fuck it. But sometimes you can also say fuck it, I will do what I can, what is reasonable and kind to expect of myself, and what I can't get done, fuck it. It doesn't have to be all one way or all the other way. And realistically, it is very, very unlikely that you actually need to do all of the things at this exact moment.

So I hope this takes a bit of the pressure off today, and if you are struggling to get shit done, whether that's shit you have to do, fun shit you want to do, or things that you struggle to show up for but really want to show up for, next week my Pop-Up Coworking Club is returning with a September reset theme. So if you fancy getting your bum in the chair and getting some shit done with me and a lovely group of like-minded creative and multi-passionate women, I would love to invite you to join us. And you can check it all out by going to therebelrousers.com/resetpopup. That's all one word. And I've also put the link in the show notes as well. We're going to be gathering together weekdays online at 11 AM UK time, which is 6 AM New York time. To get some shit done with good company and some compassionate accountability. Whatever your first week of September looks like, I hope you are being as kind to yourself as you would be to a very loyal friend, and I also hope you remind yourself that transitions are just kind of awkward, and that's okay. I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1672: You probably don't need a whole new system

Creative resistance can be one sneaky trickster, so today's episode is an attempt to keep it at bay! 

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Wednesday to you. So it's the start of September, it is officially that back-to-school feeling, and I know for many of us, even if we fucking hated school, we still get that itch to buy the new notebooks and pencil case, everything. And there's almost this temptation to do everything in this whole new way. Now, I love a fresh new leaf feeling. I am not trying to shit all over that, but I'm sharing with you today something that I need to remember as I get really excited to go back to projects and as I get back into things. And I know these are the words I need to hear: you do not need a new fancy system. You just kind of need to get on with it. Yes, there's room for improvement, but you can do quite a lot with what you've already got.

You do not need to go through every single file on your laptop. You do not have to have some massive organizational overhaul. While it might feel good at first, it will become really fucking overwhelming pretty quickly, and you'll realize that that was just a procrastination method, and you'll be even more tangled than when you started. Now, there are definitely times to overhaul your organization and your systems, but you can also be intentional about doing that. I know my temptation is to start on an evening a task that is mammoth, only to use up all my energy, be so much more overwhelmed than when I started, and just end up in a right pickle. So remember that your systems have got you this far, even if this far isn't how far you want to go. Remember that what you've got is good enough, and remember that procrastination and creative resistance can take many, many forms. And one of those many forms lies in things that look very productive on the surface but aren't really.

I hope this has saved somebody from going through their entire inbox and implementing a new system, from doing a sweep of every single file or your folder system in Dropbox or Google Drive. And I really hope this helps somebody use their precious energy for the things that might feel scary but are the things they actually want to do. And believe me, I am trying to take my own advice. So from this Type A overachiever, let's reserve our energy for the things that actually matter. I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1671: New leaves involve new wobbles (and that's okay)

Today I'm sharing a gentle reminder ahead of pencil case season!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Tuesday and a very happy beginning of September to you. It is great to be back after the summer holidays, and I thought I would start with a reminder a lot of us need to hear, because while the summer can be fabulous, it can also be weird. It can contain a lot of emotions. It also tends to really throw us off our routines. And I know for me, I love September for that new pencil case feeling, the start of a school year, the freshness, the ability to change things up. But I also know that sometimes I go into it so fast, expecting so much of myself, that I just crash and burn. One of the things I don't think many of us were taught is how to navigate transitions. And for so many of us Type As, we not only expect ourselves to come out of the gate swinging, but doing the best swinging we have ever done in our lives.

So this is my frustrating and hopefully not too patronising reminder to pace yourself, to remember that not everything needs to be done this week, to expect some wobbles because they are part of the process, not you doing anything wrong, and it's okay if there are growing pains. For many of us, we are going from one very distinct season to the next, and it's a bit like with the New Year, we're expected to go from chilling out and enjoying ourselves to becoming a brand new person, while in August we're supposed to chill the fuck out, squeeze all the last drops out of the summer, and then September, be powered up like a Ferrari and ready to go. It very rarely happens like that, and that is totally normal. So here's to a gentler and maybe wobblier week than you might be expecting. Here's to expecting that and letting that take some of the pressure off. And here's to bringing some of the summer fun with us into this next season, knowing that you are capable of epic things and you're also capable of treating yourself exquisitely while you do it. It is so good to be back. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. And have a fabulous rest of your Tuesday. Bye.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1649: Taking a break before you need to

We all need rest, but sometimes it can be hard to take, so for today’s episode we’re diving into preventative rest vs recovery.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Friday to you. Lately it feels like we are in the absolute height of the summer, and I don't know about you, but I know I need a little bit of a break. In order for anything to be sustainable you need to build in rest points, and I'm really excited to take August that bit slower and that bit gentler. So for the month of August, rather than releasing new episodes, I'm going to be sharing some of my favourite episodes of The Daily Pep while I take a quick break. And I just wanted to share 2 things with you before I do. Firstly, I'm so grateful you're here. I love the fact that often without even knowing it, me and my podcast get to go on walks all around the world I get to accompany you doing the dog walk, making the bed, waking up in the morning, and I am so honoured that you tune in. And it is honestly such a privilege, if not a bit wild to think about.

So thank you for being here. I love being a part of your day. And secondly, I just want to remind you to take a break before you have to take a break. I know for so many of us, we have a very complicated relationship with rest. And many of us will just work until depletion because that's just how we've grown up, and that's what society kind of trains us to do. And the idea of preventative rest or restorative rest can feel a bit uncomfortable, but it is very, very necessary. As I have said many, many times on The Daily Pep, you do not have to earn rest. And I know for many of us, we would choose rest over recovery any day of the week, And sometimes that involves doing uncomfortable things.

After all these years, I still feel a little bit uncomfortable about taking August off, but then I remember I have to practice what I preach. So thank you for being here. Here's to resting, not just recovering, and I look forward to being back with you with new episodes in September, where I will be getting ready for a new chapter in my life because we are moving back to Liverpool. We are ending our long-term travel experiment, and we are very excited. I share the very real behind-the-scenes wins and wobbles every Sunday with my email community, so if you would like to keep in touch in the meantime, if you want to hear my hard-won wisdom as I win it, and if you just want some more joy in your inbox with my very colourful emails, head over to therebelrousers.com/letters and come join us. I would love to have you there. So happy Friday, have a fabulous weekend. Past Meg will be back with you on Monday for an episode of The Daily Pep as normal, and I look forward to being back with you with brand new episodes in September.

See you then, and remember, even though I'm sure past Meg will remind you a lot, that everything changes when you believe you matter.

Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP!

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!

1648: On camping, cakes and procrastination

Now, it'll become pretty obvious I don't know a huge amount about camping; but I do know a lot about procrastination. So that's exactly what we're diving into today!

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Thursday to you. So I don't know about you, but when it comes to a lot of things in life, I like to know all the answers. When it comes to a project I'm working on, I want to know exactly how to describe it. When it comes to a big life change, I want to know that it is definitely going to happen. And as all of us know all too well, life very rarely comes with bows on, and things are rarely served in perfect pristine packaging. Now this sounds like it could get a bit grim and become a bit of an anti-pep talk, but we are going the other way with this one because I think it can actually be really freeing when we start to realize that actually in most scenarios the very best we can do is a good enough job and make some educated guesses. I know in my own life I have spent a lot of time trying to find the right packaging for something, or waiting for something to be 100% true or 100% certain to move on, and I have to say it's never been time very well spent. Sometimes I think we just have to move on to the next step With the best attempt that we've got, and remember that in most situations that will very much suffice.

It's a bit like putting up a tent. You could spend days making sure that the tent pegs were in at the perfect angle. You could get out your compass and make sure that you were in the perfect direction for the sun to be streaming on your face when you woke up. And I'm showing my lack of tent knowledge here because I'm sure there's many other things that you could do with a tent, but really what you need to have is something that is stable, that you can sleep under, that doesn't fall down, and that does its job. And I think the camping experience would be very much wasted if you spent your entire time trying to get the perfect tent pitch. Now, if you fucking love the outdoors and that sounds like your perfect weekend, by all means go for it, and maybe insert a cake analogy in here instead and think about making a cake When you're hungry, as opposed to the most delicious cake in the world. But I think either way, whether you love the outdoors, whether you love camping or not, whether you love a cake, I think you get the gist. The thing is, our dream shitters are sneaky bastards, and they will have you putting up the tent over and over and over again, because while you are putting up the tent, you're not moving on to the next thing, and you're not doing the scary thing.

It is so easy and so tempting to spend so much time in the research phase, but I think we all know when research turns into procrastination. Trust yourself to make good decisions. Trust yourself that you have your own back, and some of the answers are things that you could only figure out on the way. And dare to do things imperfectly, because newsflash and reminder for all of us, Perfection doesn't exist anyway. So go take some action today, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Transcription automatically produced by Castmagic.io

ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST

New episodes air every Monday - Friday 6AM GMT.

A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.

If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines.

MORE REBEL-ROUSING THIS WAY!