Latest / Many Things with Steph Libby / Consistency (Yes, I See the Irony)

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Consistency (Yes, I See the Irony) · Many Things with Steph Libby

Welcome back to Many Things.
I'm Steph.
I'm multi-passionate, and I'm building my dream life one step at a time, and this is the podcast where I talk about all of it.
It's been a couple of months since my last episode.
What a shocker, I know.
But I really needed a break.
The, the podcast was starting to feel like pressure, like everything else in my life.
But taking some time away has been really good for me.
It's been a really hard few weeks.
There's been a lot going on.
Um, I actually recorded several episodes, and then, was feeling so overwhelmed by work, by life, um, just everything.
The episodes that I recorded just, like, weren't very good.
They were rambly.
I mean, I ramble obviously, but so that's how you know they had to have been really bad.
But I also, like, started crying during one of them.
I was just I keep saying overwhelmed, and I just genuinely don't have a better word to describe how I was feeling.
So I took a break.
I didn't, I didn't edit those episodes.
I didn't post them.
The time away has really shown me how much I love doing this podcast and how much I missed it, and I thought about it every day.
And it's made me realize how much I want to, uh, prioritize this podcast and just how much it means to me and, um, how much of an outlet this whole thing is.
So it was hard to be away, and I'm glad to be back.
And I've decided because of everything that I've been going through, that I want to kind of go back to basics a little bit.
Um, that's been my-- that's kind of been my approach with, with everything the last few weeks.,
Back to basics and taking care of myself, back to basics with my finances, and also back to basics with this podcast.
I was feeling really solid this time last year when I was podcasting, posting new episodes every week So going forward, the episodes are gonna be a little bit shorter, uh, to make recording and editing more manageable for myself.
And I also wanna go back to my old structure where I lean on a word of the week to center the episode around.
For whatever reason, that just felt more effective and more healing for me and more manageable and meaningful, and it also made it feel easier to post every week.
So with all this in mind, I wanna talk about consistency today.
And trust me, the irony is not lost on, me at all.
Um, I fully realize that I'm the least consistent person on the planet, that I know that about myself.
But so much has been happening the last few weeks.
Work has felt crazy, long hours finances, I feel like every time I turn around I'm getting hit with some other outrageous bill for dental work or student loans or, you know, every, every time I pay a bill, it, it goes up.
My electric is crazy.
my internet bill goes up like $10 every three months.
Um, so anyway, it's been like a lot of pressure across the board, and I felt really lost.
Work had been feeling really good earlier this year, and now it's starting to feel, I don't know, it, it has its ups and downs, right? so I have been trying to go back to basics, like without having like a word of the week, back to basics has been kind of like my mantra the last several weeks.
I think instead of feeling like something's overwhelming and trying to stick with something that is unmanageable, just taking a beat and recognizing that I need to do something different, I think is important.
And this podcast gives me so much, and it benefits me so much.
And so I think just a few small shifts would really help me be more consistent, get more from this show, feel more centered, so they're gonna be a little shorter.
I'm gonna go back to my word of the week, and the word for this week is consistency.
I think I've often conflated consistency with productivity.
Shocker, I know.
Full of surprises a week- this week, right? Um, in my mind, these two things are always tied closely together.
Consistency often equals output for me, um, which can be true for some things in some situations, but I lose sight of the other aspects of consistency, like the simple self-care aspects, the way consistency helps reduce stress and keeps me organized.
it's so essential to life and happiness.
I honestly believe it's the key to a happy life.
Like, that might-- That's such a...
I feel like that's such, like, a type A person's response, but I really do think it's the key to a happy life.
I think when you can show up for yourself and do things for yourself, whatever it may be, whether it's a work thing, um, self-care, a hobby, a craft, a passion, showing up consistently in your relationship, showing up consistently for your friends.
I feel like routine and habit and balance all come from consistency.
I feel like those are all just tied together, and I do think that all those things help bring you to happiness.
It helps you prioritize the things that matter, helps you avoid making excuses to avoid the things that you do wanna do and know you should do, but don't for some reason.
Um, so yeah, so I do honestly believe that it's the key to a happy life.
I mean, also on the flip side of that, consistency brings up so much pressure, uh, for me, and then of course, I find myself avoiding it because of that pressure.
It's that all-or-nothing mentality bubbling up again, which I, which I know I talk about all the time.
But it's something that I really struggle with.
It's at the center of every decision I make is this all-or-nothing mentality that I have, that I know is there.
I'm actively trying to work on it, but can't ever seem to, like, fully fully break through to the other side.
It's hard not to take an all or nothing approach to consistency when When consistency is literally about doing something regularly.
The whole concept is about repetition and steadfastness and how often you're doing or not doing something.
So but there's a part of me that's just like, "How could that not bring pressure?" Right? So I've been really thinking about how to work towards consistency without that all or nothing mindset dragging me down.
You know, uh, 'cause consistency has always been a problem for me.
I'm not really sure why.
I'm not sure where the root of this kinda came from.
Like, I'm driven, I'm organized, I'm focused.
I have a clear vision of what I want.
Vision and dreaming has never been my problem.
It's the follow-through.
That has always been super difficult for me, and I don't know why.
I grew up in a house where my parents provided, like, uh...
At least when I was a kid-kid, like, uh, you know, before, like, maybe middle school, I had, like, a lot of structure.
I mean, when I was in high school, when I really loved something, I really stuck with it.
I loved tennis, and so I went to tennis practice religiously.
I didn't skip games, and I played a lot of tennis on the weekends and, and after school.
After practice and, and the games were done, I would still play more tennis.
I just really loved it.
Same with writing.
Like, when I would get home from school, writing was, like, the thing that I looked forward to doing.
I just would, like, finish my homework, watch some TV, and then hole myself up in my bedroom the rest of the night just writing, getting lost in these worlds that I would create.
Hours and hours writing.
When I, um, when I wasn't working in high school, I spent a lot of my weekends and my free time writing, listening to music and writing and reading, and I made tons of time for all of that, right? As an adult, it became a little bit harder.
Um, I think at some point I transitioned from it being, like, just passion and fun to obviously being something that I wanted to pursue as a career and study.
Um, so I think that that's where, um, everything started to kind of turn a little bit, and it wasn't just for fun anymore.
It was, uh, for lack of a better word, it became, like, a lot of pressure.
It became, um, a goal versus just this thing that I really, really enjoyed.
And I think...
You know, we always hear people say, like, "Oh, I'm getting back to my passion, and I'm letting go of the expectations," but I think that's really, really hard to do.
I don't know how people are able to actually, like, compartmentalize their lives like that and, like, separate, um, the new emotions that they tie to these things that they've enjoyed their whole lives.
But it's always been-- created like a disconnect for me.
So it's not just as simple as saying like, "I'm gonna reprioritize this thing and I'm gonna shut off all my feelings around it."
It, it's hard.
It's really, really hard to, change your perception around something when that perception and that drive around it has shifted so dramatically for, for very good reasons, you know? But yeah, so consistency has always been a problem for me.
Um, you know, and it sucks because like I have, I have lots of things I wanna do.
I know what I wanna do, who I wanna be, where I wanna go, where I want my life to take me, and I just fall off on the consistency of it.
I don't, I don't fall into a normal routine.
I might be good for like a, you know, a couple week streak or something, but I fall off eventually.
And I can feel myself leading up to the fall off.
It's not like I'm doing really great and then all of a sudden I just stop.
It's I'm really great for the first week and then I can feel myself questioning it or losing interest or maybe a big part of it is just that I start to like lose the belief in myself.
You know, when you're starting something new, you kind of get that like rush, that dopamine hit of, um, feeling invigorated and feeling like you're gonna seize the day and you're gonna take this thing, you know, face it head on, and that's really empowering and you get this sort of rush from that, right? And I'm a big planner.
Like I get, I get off on planning, so when I'm planning a goal or planning a, a means of attack or how I'm gonna accomplish this thing that I want to accomplish, all that's like very exciting and sexy to me and, um, it's a rush.
And then when you have to put-- step into the reality of the situation and actually do the work that you've been thinking about, it's really tough.
And I think that jump from excitement and dreaming about the future and the outcome gets in the way, um...
Well, I guess it doesn't like get in the way, it just-- it creates this like very specific feeling and then you're like basking in the glow of reward when you haven't done anything yet to actually earn a real reward, like reward or return on what you've done.
Like you're just living in this fantasy world of All the execution is done and I have this result.
So then when you start actually having to do the work and you, it, it feels sloggy, it feels slow, it feels like a doldrum.
You know? It's, it's not exciting anymore, and it's really defeating sometimes.
And it is like a big crash.
You know? You go from this really big high of excitement and, and visualizing the end result to suddenly being, you know, faced with all the hard work and the time that it takes.
You know? Because sometimes when you're dreaming about the thing that you wanna do, you're, you're envisioning something that is months, weeks, maybe even years down the road, and then you realize, "Okay, now I have to actually do the work.
I'm starting at zero or whatever," and you're looking ahead going, "Fuck.
Fuck, there's like so much time between now and then, now and this like future I can see so clearly."
And I think I start to doubt myself.
Like, once you actually have to start doing the work, it's like, man, like are these little bits of things that I'm doing actually gonna get me to where I wanna go? Like, it's, it's really hard when you're in like that small day-to-day action of believing that it will all pay off.
Um, I'm so guilty of convincing myself that it's not worth it, and that's how I usually end up slipping on consistency and, and sort of falling back into my old habits of not doing because I convince myself that it's not gonna happen for me, or none of this is gonna actually matter, or the small bits that I'm doing today aren't actually leading up to something bigger.
And I And it's weird because I know deep down that that's not true.
I know and fully believe that big gains come from tiny micro actions.
They come from like little tiny decisions we make throughout our day.
It comes from the little bits that we do repeatedly.
Like, I fully believe that.
I, I buy into it.
It's not like I don't believe that consistency is the key.
It's not that I believe that showing up for yourself eventually pays off.
Even if the thing that you end up getting in the end isn't exactly the thing that you originally imagined, so what? Like, you know, journeys evolve.
I, I get all of that.
But none of that makes it any easier.
Um, it's hard.
Like, so much of our life is about the way we feel and how our mind perceives things.
It's not always about truth and reality.
It's a lot about the truth rarely wins out in, you know, in my mind.
Um, the lies that I tell myself always win out, and I know I'm not alone in that.
I know that that happens to so many people.
But it doesn't change how it feels or the outcome of it just because it's, you know, um, a common feeling or a common behavior that so many of us do.
It doesn't make it any easier for me as the person who has to live in my own body, live in my own life, and try to make something of it, you know? it's always been a problem for me.
and it's interesting too, 'cause I surround myself with so many go-getters and so many people in my life that, like...
It's funny, like if I were to look at some of my friends, they would probably think of themselves as not consistent at all, but I actually look at them in awe, and they're a big part of my inspiration.
And when I think about doing better, I, I think about some of my friends, I think about some of my family members, um, I think about some of my coworkers, and I think about some of, like, even, like, celebrities that I look up to that I know are insanely consistent and busy and doing so many great things.
And but if...
So it's funny, I think, I guess, you know, it's just an interesting perspective to kinda keep in mind that we all kind of feel like we suck all the time.
I think we all feel like imposters.
I think we all think that we're not doing enough or we're not doing things properly.
But again, it still doesn't change how I feel about myself day to day.
I still have to live in my own mind and my own body.
But, um, anyway, at in June, I bought myself a planner to help organize my days so I can make time for all the things that I wanna do, and I've been using habit trackers for years with very mixed results.
You know, in, in theory, a habit tracker makes a lot of sense for someone like me.
I'm very type A, as I've said a million times on this podcast.
And I like that dopamine hit I get from checking something off my to-do list, but I've never really been able to sustain one and use it effectively.
A lot of times I create a tracker and, like, never even tra- never even track the first day.
Um, but I've been trying to lean into the things that I read about in Atomic Habits, a book that I've, I've talked about probably too much in this podcast, and really apply the lessons, and habit trackers are one of the strategies that are suggested in that book.
So I thought, like, "Let's just really give it a try.
Like, let's really...
Instead of just reading about this stuff and thinking about it and then planning to implement, why don't we actually just, like, really try?" And so at first I was super annoyed with myself because I took time on a Sunday night to create and think through this tracker, only to not use it at all, and it felt so futile.
And it felt like such a waste of time.
Like, and I was disappointed that I'd yet again made a commitment to myself and that I broke that commitment almost immediately.
But I told myself that even creating the tracker every week was still some sort of consistency.
Even if I didn't fill in the little squares, just the intention of it, like sitting down and writing down my intentions for the week and the things I wanna track I told myself, like, just keep doing at least that.
Like, at least then they're like at least in the front of my mind.
Even if I'm not doing anything with the tracker itself, it's like that's at least gotta be worth something, right? Just creating that was a form of consistency.
Like, just creating the tracker itself was consistency.
It was a super low bar step one.
I told myself to keep showing up, even if the showing up in that moment just meant making the tracker.
So just, like, meeting myself where I'm at.
Like, I'm not ready to do the full tracking, daily tracking of it, but I can do sitting down on a Sunday afternoon and setting out my intentions for the week.
That I can do.
So I kept doing it.
Um, I did that for a few weeks.
And embarrassed to say that several weeks went by, and probably, like, four, four or five weeks went by.
Um, probably more than that.
I'm probably lying about that.
It was longer.
But a two-- a lot of time went by, and that was all I did, just making the tracker each week.
and then the next thing I did was I started leaving my planner open on my desk.
So Sunday night I would make the tracker, and I would close my planner for the week.
And I decided, like, I ca- I have to leave it open all day, every day.
I can't just close it.
And that forced me to see this tracker every single day.
So it was such a small and, and maybe, like, obvious change to other people, but it was re- it, it has really helped.
It has forced me to look at it every day.
It's forced me to acknowledge the intention that I set on Sundays.
Am I still check...
Was I still, like, not filling in the squares? Sure.
But it did make me look at it every day and see those intentions for my week, rather than just seeing them on Sunday and, like, forgetting it, you know? I was oddly proud of myself.
Like, I removed that tiny little barrier of, you know, out of sight, out of mind.
obviously opening up a planner isn't a difficult task, but I hadn't used a planner regularly before, so that in of, in and of itself was something I needed to build consistency around.
Like, I'm not u- like, I use a, a notebook for tracking my to-do list for work every day, but, but this was, like, something a little bit different than that.
So, um, just training myself to acknowledge it every day was sort of like the next step that I needed to do so, you know, like that tracker that I kept in the planner was never going to get used if I wasn't thinking about the planner in the first place.
So again, maybe like a very small step, but I don't know.
It's helped.
I don't know how to explain it.
Like, the results of my efforts have been Really, uh, um, small, um, but I've felt them in that they've been obvious.
And Saturday morning I did...
This past Saturday, um, well, I guess now when, when this airs it'll be, like, two Saturdays ago.
So a couple Saturday, Saturdays ago, I did my skincare while doing some, like, a light resistance band workout, and that got my day off to such a good start.
Um, by 9:30 I'd worked out, did my skincare and some self-care, listened to a podcast, made a really nice breakfast for myself.
I, cut up tomatoes from my garden and made, like, an avocado toast style kind of bagel.
It w- it was so delicious.
And did some brainstorming for this podcast.
I took a shower and got out of my pajamas at, like, a decent hour rather than, like, waiting until 12, 1:00 to, like, take a shower and get on with my day.
And the rest of the day was really great, too.
Yes, I was productive, but more importantly, I simply felt like I had made the most of my day, not in terms of, like, output, but I just felt like, I felt like I really took care of myself that day, and I didn't think about work, and I just did, like, small little things.
I put, like, a little bit of extra effort into every little thing that I did that day.
I didn't do anything crazy new or different, but I just, like, put, like, a little bit more effort.
I put a little bit more effort into my breakfast.
I put a little bit more effort into my shower routine.
I put a little bit more effort into my skincare.
Like, just, like, very small things.
It was just, like, just, like, a little, a little zhuzhing on, on each thing that I did.
Um, you know, and I didn't just sit around all day watching TV f- you know, for the millionth time, stewing about all the things I should be s- doing instead of just sitting around watching TV for the millionth time.
Um- And, and honestly, like I've kept up a pretty good routine since then.
Like, I'm not checking off everything in my habit tracker, which now I am actually using and filling in every day, so kudos to me for that.
I've been able to keep up like a little, some semblance of a routine.
Like, I'm not at 100% with everything that I'm setting out to do, I'm not doing every single thing every single day, but there are certain things that I am doing every day.
And then there are other pieces where I'm like maybe doing it like every other day or every three days.
So, and I'm confident that I might be I'm confident that I I was gonna say I'm confident that I might be able to keep this up, which does not sound very confident.
But I'm, I'm confident that I'm getting into a good momentum with it, and I'm giving myself grace too, which is like the other important thing.
Normally by now I would-- if I had skipped a day on something, I would've been like, "Well, fuck it."
Like, I'm just gonna like do away with it.
I'm just gonna give up, walk away, whatever, and feel guilty about it.
But instead, I've just told myself like, "Okay, so you can't get everything done every single day.
No big whoop.
You doing something once or twice this week is better than what you had done months prior when you weren't doing that at all and on any given week."
So I think just being a little bit, um, accepting of where I'm at right now, knowing that like things aren't gonna be perfect, and f- really trying to consciously not let that all or nothing mentality sabotage me yet again.
Um, you know, and habit tracking has also been really helpful.
Um, like I said, even though I'm not hitting all of my goals 100% yet, and I might not, it has helped me realize that I'm doing a lot more than I give myself credit for.
It's really easy to lose track of a win here or there when you're just keeping track of it all mentally.
It all starts to like bleed together and you forget that you did certain things.
And, um, I don't tend to give myself enough credit for anything anyway, so, um, I'm a very unreliable source when it comes to remembering all the things that I actually did in a day, 'cause normally I will try to, um, give myself less credit than I deserve, you know? So seeing it written down, color-coded, the proof is harder to ignore.
So that's something that I really loved about a habit tracker that I didn't necessarily expect that benefit.
Um- You know, so, so that's been, that's been really eye-opening, and I think that that has helped me, encourage me to keep the momentum going because, um, you know, if you...
If I've done five things, but mentally if I'm tracking it, if I'm tracking it just mentally and I only remember two of them, that doesn't seem like such a great day.
But when I'm actually tracking it and keeping score of everything that I've done, and I actually see that I did those five things, then it does feel, like, substantial, and it does feel worthwhile, and I can move into good feelings about myself rather than beating myself up about stuff.
Um, some people seem so effortlessly consistent, and I'm so jealous of them.
I wonder if everyone struggles with consistency like so many of us do, and they're just really good at faking it, or if some people are truly just more naturally equipped to maintain it.
Like, I don't know.
Um, I would love to know.
If you're a person who, like, is naturally just very consistent, I would love to know, like, what that is like and maybe, like, why you think, um, that's just so innate to you.
Um, I don't know.
I find it really fascinating.
So a few things that I'm trying to be more consistent about.
L- so the things that I'm tracking in my tracker, there's, like, an morning tracker and an evening tracker, and I'm tracking things like daily movement, um, what days I'm doing stuff for, like, writing stuff, I'm working...
What days I'm working on stuff for my podcast, um, logging my food every day, uh, drinking my protein water in the morning, doing a skincare in the morning, doing my skincare at night, flossing, using my, um, preventative, you know, inhaler every night.
Um- Journaling is on there.
Um, take my vitamins.
Am I taking my vitamins and my iron pill every day? Things like that.
So, um, but some things that I wanna be extra consistent about that maybe aren't necessarily...
Some of them are tracked in that habit tracker, and some of them are not, because not all of my consistency is, like, wrapped into this habit tracker.
It's just been, like, a very useful tool for me.
Um, but finances is the first one, most important right now.
I keep a pretty close eye on my finances, but with the Supreme Court deciding that, um, Trump can get rid of the SAVE plan, my student loan payments are going up by roughly three to $500 per month.
Um, I'm still trying to figure out what the exact payment will be.
So I need to buckle down and figure something out because mama doesn't have that kind of money just laying around.
And it's a real...
I'm laughing about it, but I was crying about it for sure the last few weeks.
Um, I'm very nervous about it.
It's a lot of money.
Um, I'm struggling with finances anyway, so, like, having to come up with this money is crazy.
It's crazy to me.
I have no idea how I'm gonna do it.
The other thing is start and end times for work.
So I've been running myself ragged with long hours, working on the weekend, just thinking about work constantly.
I, I'm, have so many new responsibilities, and they're all kinda catching up with me at once, and I really do feel like I'm drowning.
And I blew my entire summer on work, and I feel more behind now than ever.
So there's a part of me that's like, "What did all this time this, like, that I spent the summer on it even matter?" Like, it, it doesn't.
So I'm not working 10 or 11-hour days anymore.
I'm just not fucking doing it.
I'm trying to find a solid log-off routine, like something that makes me feel like I've, I've genuinely logged off from work, 'cause I think that's really hard when you work from home to make sure that you are able to have, like, a clear separation between work and home.
Like, when you're driving to work, and then you have a drive back, you get that decompression time.
You get that alone time.
You get to have that transition time.
That's really hard to do when you work from home, and especially because so many of my hobbies are also office based, um, writing and all this other stuff.
So I'm also trying to f- how do I balance that if I'm, if the things that I wanna do more of involve me spending more time in this office? It, it's kind of like a weird thing I'm trying to figure out.
Um, use my walking pad after work has been pretty helpful.
Um, other people have recommended, like, changing my clothes, um, but that just sounds like a lot of laundry.
So I'm still trying to figure that one out.
Um, my health journey is another one I mentioned a few minutes ago, taking my vitamins, daily movement, logging what I'm eating.
Um, a lot of that is in my habit tracker.
Um, but, like, all of those things are necessary to feel good and know what I'm actually working and know that I'm, like, actually working towards a goal.
So, um, so those things are getting along, and those are things that I really need to be consistent about because when I don't take my vitamins, when I don't get enough sleep, when, um, I'm not getting movement, when I'm not eating well, um, and knowing that I'm eating well, it, it does make me feel very sloggy.
Um, and then it's creativity in my hobbies.
I wanna be more mindful of making time for them.
You know, I absolutely have the time.
Like, I even when I work long hours and I'm feeling tired, I still have the time for it.
Um, it's just easier to watch TV and tell myself that I don't have the energy, but it's just as easy to, like, turn on a podcast and listen and watch a podcast rather than, like, watch "The Office" for the millionth time.
It's so much...
It's just as easy to, like, turn on, um- you know, uh, a audiobook.
You know? Like, if I'm too tired to read, I can listen to an audiobook.
I just...
You give it-- You make excuses for yourself.
You fall into ruts.
You fall into the same bad habits, and then those kinda become the norm, and then breaking out of those feel harder.
You know, we tell ourselves that it's really hard, and it does feel hard, but, um, there are, like, easier solutions that are-- can get me the same kind of vegged-out feeling that I'm looking for but also doesn't have to actually, like, rot my brain.
Um Plus like, if I'm not eating well and tracking that, then I, my energy plummets, you know? So all that kinda goes together.
So So yeah, so consistency has been on my mind.
This-- I'm killing it with this tracker now.
I'm, I'm so impressed with myself because it doesn't seem like it would should be such a big deal, but it truly is.
I'm horrible at keeping track of stuff, staying on stuff.
I've probably gone about three weeks now, um, of regularly updating my tracker, like updating it every day, staying on top of it, and it does make me more mindful.
It...
I think that's the...
This is the thing that, like, I have to say about it.
Like, when I have listened to people talk about habit trackers, they make it seem like you-- there's like-- they create, like, this instantaneous shift and that you go from, like, one day not doing anything to having this habit tracker and suddenly you're, like, a completely different fucking person, but you're not.
And I wish more people had talked about that, that, like, it's gonna take you...
it might take you a few months before you even start using it.
It might take you a few weeks before you are checking off more than one box, you know, in your tracker.
I think if people had set that expectation for me a little bit more, I maybe wouldn't have fallen into so many shame spirals in the past when this instant shift and this instant change, um, and this-- that I didn't miraculously find this momentum that I've never been able to find before.
I think I would've maybe stuck with it longer.
Um, but now, but now that I'm aware of it and now that it's really sunk in, it's hard for me not to fulfill the stuff on my tracker.
And like I said, like, I'm someone who's, like, never following through on anything in my life.
So, but I have a hard time brushing my teeth at night and not flossing now.
Like, just because it's, it's built in.
I've-- It's just like I've gotten so used to the fact that it takes, like, an extra 20 seconds to do, so just do it.
Like, what does it matter? You know? And half the stuff in my tracker probably takes a total of, you know, for a nighttime routine, probably takes 10 to 15 minutes.
You know, like, it's no time at all, and that consists of me checking off like five or six things on my list.
You know? So it really, really, um, the doing it and the tracking it are helpful and it does actually eventually kinda click, and it does kind of eventually become a little bit of autopilot.
But it's not autopilot at first and, but I feel like that's what everyone was kinda making it seem like, that it would just immediately just click in your brain and you'd just be on the road to being this amazing, perfect, consistent person.
Um, so I would love to know what you guys deal with when it comes to consistency.
Are there things that you're working on? Have you used habit trackers or What other method are you using to help you stay consistent? I would love to know what everyone is doing.
As always, you can find me on Instagram at manythings_steph.
Um, hit me up and let me know.
I would-- very curious what other people are doing.
Um, I'm gonna wrap up this episode with a little recommendation corner.
I said that the podcast wasn't gonna be long, but I just looked over and it's, like, over 30 minutes.
Um, but that's okay.
I, I think it's...
Going forward, they will probably be, um, shorter for sure.
But, um, a little recommendation corner.
Um, I am reading "Little Monsters" by Adrienne Broder.
Um, she wrote this book that I really, really loved.
I can't remember if it was actually a memoir or if it was just, like, um, a loosely veiled fiction, but it was called "Wild Game," and it was about, um, her growing up, I think, on the Cape.
And, um, I think her mom, like, has an affair, and she has to-- she, like, keeps the secret, um, and all this stuff.
So it was a really-- ooh, I loved that book.
I, like, could not put it down.
And so I was really excited when I saw that she released a new book called "Little Monsters."
It's about a family who lives on the Cape.
Um, their mother died during childbirth.
Their dad is older, and it follows the dad, the son, the sister, and then in, like, the first couple of chapters, we learn that there is, um, another sibling that, uh, the family doesn't know about that, uh, is out there.
So, um, from, you know, the product of, like, an affair, and so it, it's very good.
I love, like, these Cape Cod-centered stories.
One of, um, one of the kids is, like, an artist, and she lives in, like, a little artist shack basically in the dunes.
Um, and she really reminds me of a friend that I'm no longer in touch with.
And, um, so I don't know.
I've just really been connecting with that book a lot.
So I started it over the summer, and it's been, like, a slow...
I started it over the summer, and it's been kinda slow getting, uh, it done.
But I'm really loving it.
And then, um, I've also been rewatching "Nobody Wants This" on Netflix.
Um, it stars Kristen Bell and, um, Adam Brody.
Um, I know probably everyone and their mother has seen it already, but the third season's coming out next month, so I've been rewatching that.
Um, and I love it because when I was younger, all I ever wanted was to, uh- Uh, marry a Jewish guy, and there was actually a point in my life where I, um, seriously tried, s- seriously thought about converting to Judaism and, um, and all that.
So I, I really love...
I love that show so much.
I love the fashion, I love the sisters, I love the romantic relationship.
Um, I love, um, Adam Brody's character's brother.
Um, it's so good.
I love that show so much.
I've rewatched it a million times.
I'm very nuts for it.
I just, I don't know, I just love it.
It's, uh, it's like my show.
Um, I've also been rewatching Sex and the City, which has been fun.
Um, I love having like a sort of mindless show I can watch from like 9:00 to 10:00 when I'm like trying to like wind down and get ready for the night and all that.
And, um, it's nice 'cause Sex and the City I've, I've seen a gajillion times, so it's kind of nice just to sit and watch something that's very familiar.
And watching something that's familiar has also allowed me to like be able to focus on other things while I'm watching TV.
Um, so whereas if I'm watching something that's like brand new, then I feel like I have to focus on it.
But to...
just to have something in the background and, and everything has been, um, helpful and I've just really loved watching that show again.
Um, I can't...
I feel like the last time, I probably watch it once every year, like I'll rewatch the whole series.
Um, I, I know that this is like a hot take maybe, but I really loved And Just Like That.
I was really sad when it ended, and I loved the ending and I know a lot of people hated the ending.
I thought that show ended chef's kiss, perfectly.
I cried.
I was also, uh...
when that show ended, um, I was, you know, that was like last fall or last summer or whatever, and so, um, I just felt like it hit me at the right moment.
Like I felt like I really related to Sarah Jessica Parker's character, um, to Carrie Bradshaw in those final episodes a lot at the time that they were airing.
So that might also be why I'm, love it so much.
Um, but so those are some of the things I'm watching, the things that I'm reading.
Um, spooky season is here, so I'm very excited.
I have a couple of, um, spooky books lined up for me to read.
I love September and October because, you know, I do love fall.
I do love fall-feeling books.
I love fall-feeling shows.
Um, I'm a very autumnal girl even though I feel like I thrive the most in summer.
And because my summer was sucky, I'm very much looking forward to making the most I can out of, um Of September and October.
So I'm very excited about that.
Um, you know, in the spirit of consistency and in the spirit of being able to, like, take a step, um, back a little bit from the podcast and really reevaluate how I wanna do things going forward, I am really going to try to get back into a weekly posting schedule on Thursdays.
We will see what happens, but, um, I think I need to.
I think...
I always make it seem like it's a want.
Like, "Oh, I'm going to, I should."
But I think that this really is...
Like, I'm not in a spot to really afford therapy right now, and this show has really, really is my therapy.
I do a lot of thinking and ruminating and journaling in order to, like, show up to this podcast every week and have something to say and have something to talk about, and the podcast really drives a lot of that for me.
So I think it's not just about putting something out into the world.
It is actually very, very helpful for myself and my mental health and so I'm gonna try my best.
I'm gonna really, really try to do it.
I, um...
And I think some of these shifts that I have sort of, that I talked about earlier in the show are gonna be really helpful for that.
So tune ba- tune, tune back in here next week.
Um, I'm gonna post on Thursdays.
I hope to see you here.
And again, like, reach out to me at manythings_steph on Instagram.
Um, would love to know what you think of the podcast, what you think of, you know, the word of the week.
And then, um, what I used to do with po- my podcast episodes, um, is give what my next word of the week is.
Like, at the end of this episode, it basically is setting my intention for this next week.
So my word of the week for next week is going to be restore.
I'm very excited about that episode.
It's something I really need, um, and I think you can already probably tell where I'm going with it based on some of the things I talked about this episode.
So I will see you there.
Bye.