Shows / Make Your Damn Bed
Make Your Damn Bed
@MYDBpodcast is a bite sized, real talk, daily motivation podcast to play while you make your bed every morning. Build momentum - better your life.
Each episode is around 10 minutes and intended to encourage, motivate, and inspire you to get out of bed - so you can start making it!
Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
All content, including text, graphics, images and information, is for…
Episodes
- Make Your Damn Bed
1666 || an online AYCE buffet, what are you eating?
If the internet is an AYCE buffet of unlimited, endless options, there’s bound to be items you find disgusting, that will make you physically ill. There’s also…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1665 || what if the act of "choosing" is enough
I accidentally ritualized something that is typically mundane, and that, in itself, is a magical and empowering act. Now, as much as I want to push society…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1661 || being "above" it, means being apart from it.
"It feels good to look down on people until you realize that being above society is also being apart from it. It pulls you deeper into your own home, your own…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1660 || surveillance makes us docile
How do we feel like we’re not being watched, when we are being watched? Studies show that citizens tolerate being surveilled, and eventually stop thinking…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1659 || psychic burden of being surveilled
Cameras "take" and "capture" reality, but even when we know it's manufactured, we tend to trust what we can see. Today, we talk about the historical and…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1659 || personal panopticon
I have tried to be conscious of any of the personally imposed surveillance that I take part in. It’s futile, I’m sure, but: I opt out of everything I can…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1658 || personal system assessment
I realized trying to balance things by pushing back and forcing a reset, rather than allowing the swing of humanity, with the full spectrum of human emotions…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1657 || the year you give yourself a chance
If the “experience” is the goal, failure ceases to exist. “you will figure it out.” You should trust that. If you don’t believe it, maybe its time to give…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1656 || controlled demolition
Sometimes, when the facades are crumbling, you may start to recognize the need for a controlled demolition. Not to destroy anything of value, but to…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1655 || no shame new years
We write narratives about ourselves that we show up and reflect back. Address the narrative, and recognize you can show up around your "shame" and it doesn't…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1654 || science news around a meaningful life
2025 brought in some studies that left me with some hope about the future, and I wanted to share that with you. You can read the ones I missed here at…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1653 || it's not a debate
Today is the finale of our series on street epistemology, and we're digging into what NOT to do. Wonder: The big question. Hypothesis: The interlocutor's…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1652 || when faith is more valuable than reason
Some people think their faith is "enough". Today I share ways to get them to reflect on the flaws in that thinking, and how to deal with people who refuse to…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1651 || elenchus
Wonder: The big question. Hypothesis: The interlocutor's proposed answer to the question. Elenchus: Question and answer to discover what other reasonable…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1650 || neutralizing language helps
You can't change minds when people are defensive. Practice using neutral language and reframing techniques to minimize defensiveness. These are difficult…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1649 || embrace the silences
You can affirm a person without affirming their ideas. Treat people with respect, leave space for silent reflections, and allow yourself humility in how you…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1648 || faith isn't enough
We are fallible. We can't "know that we know" everything. Street epistemology is based on reliabilism. It's not dogmatic, but it does help us recognize…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1647 || the inner work required to bridge a connection
Challenge your biases + stereotypes. Focus on first-hand experiences. Focus on individual humanity, not their group membership. Assume good intentions. Be…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1646 || "bridging our differences" isn't for everyone
It's not about changing someone's mind, it's about finding common ideas so you can expose the vulnerabilities + biases, but there are risks involved. You may…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1645 || street epistemology
Lately I've been avoiding arguments by asking people about their "mode of justification" rather than the justification, itself. It's helped me in my genuine…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1644 || highly sensitive + trying not to lose that
When you deep clean your kitchen cabinets, your guests won't know what a MESS it used to be. It's invisible labor. They won't see the chaos that you had to go…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1643 || how's your scholastic disposition?
Here are the learned dispositions that coincide with education + critical thinking: Comfort with abstraction Willingness to defer gratification Belief that…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1642 || frustration tolerance
Kids are losing their tolerance for frustration, and it's showing up in their education. Have you noticed a change in your own? The school system is broken…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1641 || how to deal with the constant flow of negative news
"Everything will seem like a world-ending crisis if we don't know what has/hasn't happened before. If it has happened before, it's can be hugely comforting to…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1640 || live for the next cup of tea
Being dysregulated is actually a sign of a healthy nervous system. You don't need to focus on staying "regulated" but instead, learn to listen to the signals…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1639 || 10 ways to connect to your purpose
Today I share 10 scientifically backed ways to connect with your personal (subjective) sense of purpose. You can watch the original video that I quoted in…
- Make Your Damn Bed
you're not running late (rerelease)
You haven't peaked. You haven't plateaued. You aren't "cooked" or "spent" or "done". You may actually be suffering from something called "hurry sickness" and…
- Make Your Damn Bed
the end result of chronic stress (re-release)
Originally posted on day 1375 Stage 1 – Honeymoon Initial commitment and excitement to engage in tasks. For example, when you first start your journey in a new…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1638 || breaking up with your phone
Instead of trying to get rid of dopamine, focus on stepping away from habits and behaviors that no longer serve you. Read the Harvard Article on Dopamine…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1637 || how to stop scrolling so damn much
How to stop scrolling. Start from where you are. Recognize what is a systemic issue. Practice "deciding" with intention when scrolling. Practice staying…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1636 || dopamine detoxes are useless
Why would you want to disconnect from your joy, when trying to restore your sense of joy? You can't go on a T-break for pleasure. Instead, focus on the…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1635 || it really is these damn phones
I've been working on my relationship with my phone, on and off, for years. Sometimes, I use it as a tool. Sometimes, it feels like it's using me as a tool…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1634 || when nothing sounds fun anymore
People associate the feeling of feeling the most alive when they’re laughing and playing and goofing off. People feel the most connected with their purpose and…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1633 || analyzing the fun out of it
I overthink things that don't require second thought. I suck the fun out of joyful activities by worrying about doing it "correctly" or "perfectly" or…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1632 || allergic to wondering
We love answers. We love conclusions. We tend to steer clear of open ended problems and tasks, because of this. But there are so many things that leave us with…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1631 || are you becoming the morality police?
have been trying to stop thinking of every single decision I make as some deep moral test. Every time I stay in the shower a little too long, or support a…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1630 || the swiss cheese method
I have complex feelings about our personal responsibility. As we know the richest 1% cause more climate damage than over half of humanity. 57 companies are…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1629 || shifting from apathy to agency
We can actually build a better world, but we have to break the cycle of cynicism, first. THE CYCLE OF CYNICISM 1. Finding out about a problem 2. Wanting to do…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1628 || shifting from a cycle of cynicism to a cycle of hope
We can actually build a better world, but we have to break the cycle of cynicism, first. THE CYCLE OF CYNICISM 1. Finding out about a problem 2. Wanting to do…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1627 || but we're all so cynical
We can actually build a better world, but we have to break the cycle of cynicism, first. Read the Inner Self Article on How to Make the World a Better Place…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1626 || time worship
The invention of the modern clock has turned time into a commodity. It's something you can spend, save, waste, lose, or trade for money directly. Clocks should…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1625 || one must imagine sisyphus happy
“Do you think that the trees grow tired every winter of having to shed their leaves and think to themselves, I don’t want to go through another bitter winter?…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1624 || longtermism
A society grows great when old men plant trees under whose shade they know they’ll never sit. Yesterday we discussed the difficult task of creating Long-term…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1623 || what to talk about, after the arguing (the nuclear waste problem)
If you need a conversation starter to break the awkward lulls and post-fight silences at your Thanksgiving dinner, I HIGHLY suggest looking up the wikipedia…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1622 || the limiting nature of overthinking
"If we focus [too much] on ourselves and how we feel, then we are limiting our experiences by definition." Victoria Spratt wrote, in her article: "You’re…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1621 || finding purpose at an all you can eat buffet
Finding your purpose in life is like finding your favorite food at a brand new "all you can eat" buffet. You arrive hungry and excited, and everything looks…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1620 || self absorbed vs. self aware
"If we focus [too much] on ourselves and how we feel, then we are limiting our experiences by definition." Victoria Spratt wrote, in her article: "You’re…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1619 || stop overthinking yourself
"I think about myself a lot, and not in a good way. I find myself obsessing over past mistakes, cringey moments, etc. and end up feeling guilty and panicked…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1618 || we’re in a self-objectification crisis
Understanding your identity is honestly, none of your business. Don't attach yourself to an identity, because identity, is inherently limiting to it's…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1617 || if your screen is your kingdom
Some of us don’t engage with the rest of the world anymore not because the rest of the world sucks any more than it always has - but because you have built an…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1616 || how to do hard things
The brain’s main goal is to protect us, so when we ask it to do anything new (particularly if you are neurodivergent) it signals to the brain that there may be…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1615 || the hot stove conundrum
Our brain’s main goal is to protect us, so when we ask it to do anything new (particularly if you are neurodivergent) it signals to the brain that there may be…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1614 || how to do a cost/benefit analysis on your habits
How do we hold space for two contradictory ideas? How do we hold space for the reality that things won't always make sense? We can't control everything, but we…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1613 || running from your shadow makes it bigger
"Living systems theory has been so helpful to me. I think there is a drive within living systems to complexify, to wake up—there is an evolutionary movement. I…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1612 || the great unraveling
Today we talk about what Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone's book Active Hope. Specifically the three stages of dealing with the current crisis. “Business as…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1611 || are we blaming the wrong guy?
America has a habit of blaming poor people + immigrants for the problems that policy makers create. Stop letting the oppressors scapegoat the oppressed, and…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1610 || break some rules for justice
"Perhaps the greatest failure of liberal democracies is their historical failure to successfully protect the vital economic and security interests of their…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1609 || how do you know?
How do we really know anything? Well, it starts by connecting with what you feel. Faron Sage's article: "How Do We Make Heads or Tails of What's Going On?"…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1608 || when rules are meant to be broken
It's that time again, where we take a step back and check in with the cop in our heads. “One day you will be called upon to break a big law in the name of…
- Make Your Damn Bed
1606 || buck what society says
Your brain does what is reliable, not what is best. It does what is safe, not what is productive. Our culture has shaped each and every one of us through rules…