1505: On not pushing through
To kick off this week, we’re giving ourselves grace, meeting ourselves where we’re at, and not pushing through for the sake of it.
Episode transcript:
Good morning, Daily Peppers, and a very happy Monday to you. So, like I'm sure many of you have done, I have welcomed in the new year feeling pretty under the weather. I was so excited to get back with brand new episodes of the Daily Pep last week, but it just wasn't happening. And I really want to take that as inspiration to kick us off for this week, because if there's something I think we could all do with more of, it is more grace towards ourselves. Because there are so many things that are outside of our control, and rather than seeing it for what it is, we reverse engineer, we kind of time travel and figure out all the ways that we could have stopped it from happening, while all the time forgetting that as much as we wish we could have, we do not have magical powers.
So, as you start this week, I invite you to meet yourself wherever you are at, rather than where you wish you were at. And I get that that can be frustrating and it can take a shitload of courage, but I know that you do have a shitload of courage. Very often we can only work with what we've got in the moment, but don't let that put you off doing anything at all.
For me, it was tempting to come back to the Daily Pep when my voice is completely better and I feel completely recovered, but I'm doing what I can with what I have right now, and that's actually making me feel a bit better now. Just to be clear, this is not about pushing through regardless of the circumstance. For example, last week I could not talk and I couldn't do much more than lie down and rest, and any pushing through would have been absolutely detrimental. So be honest about where you are right now. Give yourself extra grace if it is simply not a time for pushing through, and know that the minimum that you have to give, well, it might just be enough. One of the superpowers that we do have as creatives is, is that we are flexible, is that we are adaptable, and we can think of many different outcomes and ways of doing things, and that might be just what you need right now. Planning for the perfect time often sets us up to fail, and doing what we can with what we have often gets us further than we think. So here's to grace, here's to flexibility, and here's to not pushing through to our own detriment.
And on that note, I'll wrap this up, look after my voice, and I can't wait to be back with 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!
1500: 3 lessons from 1500 episodes!
To celebrate 1500 episodes of The Daily Pep! I’m sharing 3 helpful lessons I’ve found along the way!
Episode transcript:
Good morning, Daily Peppers and a very happy Monday, a very happy episode 1500 and a very happy 2026. So to mark this occasion, I thought I would share with you the three most helpful things that I have found that have helped me stay consistent with the Daily pep with my daily practice that I think can be applicable and helpful to all of us, regardless of what we're working on. So the first thing I want to share with you is that you will never feel 100% ready. There will always be more research to do. There will always be something or many things you don't know. And if you wait for the perfect conditions, you're never going to start. If you've been around here a while, you're probably used to me saying this, but a reminder that you find out so much and you discover so much in the doing that you could have never known in the planning stages and you learn so many more answers in the doing. Number two is to keep it ridiculously simple and easy.
This is one that your current, your past and your future self will be incredibly grateful for. And it will also trip you up along the way. It is so easy to get caught up in what other people are doing and their processes and their methods. Especially if, like me, you're a complete nerd about those things anyway. But it's when I've tried to religiously implement other people's systems and veer away from what works for me, that's when it is felt the hardest and the most confusing. I know for me and the daily pep, I don't need a content calendar. I don't need some fancy database in notion that might work for other people. It doesn't work for me.
I need myself, a notebook, the microphone and a vague idea. And don't get me wrong, it has taken me a little while to get here. The first episodes, I absolutely wrote transcripts and read them out verbatim. But one of the joys that comes with consistency is that we also build trust up in ourselves. But in order to get that trust, we need to keep it simple in the first place. So make it easy. That's not being lazy, it's being really strategic. And number three, this is especially helpful if you're trying to create a habit or or create a daily practice of any kind.
Start with a container. Give yourself parameters. I know many of us around here really, really value freedom, myself included. But sometimes we can have the most freedom within some kind of container. So for me, the container is simple. Every Monday to Friday there needs to be an episode of the daily pep going out. It needs to be around three to four minutes long. And it is me, my laptop and my microphone.
This stretcher has allowed me to have a hell of a lot of freedom. I've recorded the daily pep all over Europe when we've been traveling. I've never missed a day. And a bonus number four, give yourself an option for off days. And this is another way you really build up that trust muscle when you're starting out. If you do it for long enough, it gets to the point that it just becomes something you do. You worry a lot less about how you're gonna stick at it and all of the reps you've done so far really do count. On days when I don't have anything to say, I'm having a hard mental health day or things just get really, really hectic.
I'm so grateful for pass me for showing up and I know I couldn't have done it without number one, starting before I was ready. Number two, keeping it ridiculously simple and number three, keeping it in a container. That gives me freedom. So whatever you are embarking on or whatever you're continuing, I really hope this helps. And if I can do this with a neuro spicy brain that still keeps a hell of a lot of things on pen and paper. I have no fancy systems. I sometimes have really wobbly days, I struggle to regularly brush my teeth and I've only recently got into the habit of taking my tablets every day regularly. Then you can absolutely do it too.
I hope you have a fabulous start to your week and you find some unexpected joy and you start the damn thing because the world will be a brighter place for it and I think you might also be brighter for it too. 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!