Advice from the Cheerbrarian

This week I'm baring my soul as I share my lifelong challenge with setting goals and being intentional to work to achieve them. Trying is filled with absolute tedium and frustration! Giving something a chance to grow and develop? UGH. THE WORST.

We will gripe about it together and break down what may underly such feelings and how forward momentum is possible.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Start with baby steps (set a 10 minute timer and ask yourself...what is one thing you have know you want to do that you've been resisting? Identify one barrier and work on taking it down. And remember to embrace. the possibility of failure: bubble wrap was a "failure," and Maya Angelou didn't publish her first book until the age of 39 (!).

Unrequired Reading - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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Today is the final episode of our Power of No series wherein I'm encouraging us to say NO THANK YOU to things that don't serve us, and today we are talking about immediately responding. Today’s world is spinning faster and faster and it’s easy to get caught in a Pavlovian response cycle - Outlook ping RESPOND. Text received RESPOND. But is immediately responding really helping you, or actually slowing you down?

Plus, we are excited to share another co-hosted episode (welcome Zoe!) so Zoe is here to score her own response rates (the good, the bad, the needs some work) and give her own spin to the weekly stack o’ pancakes.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Take a pause and think about how quickly you respond, and if it’s necessary. In your personal life and work, experiment with changing your rate of response rate. Give it an extra five minutes or (gasp) an hour. Does anything negative come of it? Does anyone really even notice? Have conversations at work and at home about communication expectations so that you ensure you aren’t holding yourself to expectations that no one else is holding you too.

Want to see our receipts? Check out Oliver Burkeman’s “4000 Weeks” book and see this article from Cosmo and this article from Karbon HQ (linked directly in show notes on Podcasting platforms, or DM for links!)

Recommended by Zoe - Rules of Civility Amor Towles

Recommended for Zoe: Straight Man by Richard Russo and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Unrequired Reading - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.Frankweiler by E.L. Koningsburg 

Today is part 2 of our Power of No series wherein I'm encouraging us to say NO THANK YOU to things that don't serve us, and today we are talking about guilty pleasures.

Don't worry, I'm not telling you to give up reality TV or beach books or eating peanut butter from the jar or any other of life's simple pleasures. I'm here to tell you the fun should stay, but that guilt has got to go!

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Kick the phrase "guilty pleasures" to the curb and be satisfied to like what you like. Ignore that voice telling you otherwise (I'm talking to you, Societal Sally). Want to read more about it? See article from The New Yorker referenced in the episode.

Unrequired Reading - Saga (Volume 1) by Brian K. Vaughan and Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

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Episode 21 - The Power of No - Say NO to Apologizing!WE ARE BACK BABY. It's been a few weeks and we are SO EXCITED to see you. Is that a new haircut?! You look great!

Today we are debuting a "live with a studio audience" format wherein I'll be sharing advice with a real human, instead of just talking to myself (Say hi to Lea! "Hi Lea!). This week we are excited to dig into why you should say NO to apologizing... or at least say it only when you mean it, and say it with a reframe.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Step One - Step back and ask yourself if apologizing is even justified. Step Two - Once you determine an apology is warranted, instead of the tired "I'm sorry," try a reframe with "thank you for x" to lead with gratitude and be clearer on your intentions.

The Books

Recommended by Lea - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Recommended for Lea - The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Unrequired Reading - Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

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Celebrating milestones is important, and today we are going to do that here on the pod: it's our 20th episode (insert trumpet fanfare, with a gong finale) and we are going to look back at how far we've come.We are excited to go down this memory lane with you! Come for the highlight real (and of course, much mouth air horn) and stay for announcements about the future of the pod (Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere!)

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Top 5 moments of the first 20 episodes, as selected by listeners and the host. Funny bits, vulnerable reflection, and good advice abound.

Unrequired Reading - Recaps of my favorite recommendations: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman, My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, Whose Mind is it Anyway by Lisa and Franco Esile and Wellness by Nathan Hill

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In Episode 16 I kicked off the start of summer with a special episode, wherein I recommended great books to read for FIVE vacation destinations. But not everyone will be going on a vacation this summer, so if you want something to read for when you’re closer to home, then this part 2 is for you!

We have five awesome books for different summer moods that will give you a vacation from your life…from the comfort of wherever you are.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Time travel to the relaxation of the summers of youth by burying yourself in a good book.

Unrequired Reading - The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian, Storm Front (Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher, The Stand by Stephen King, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1) by Alan Bradley, and Life Moves Fast Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned from 80s Movies by Hadley Freeman

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This week on the pod we are shocked SHOCKED to realize we are officially halfway through 2024 (!!!) And what perfect time to take a peak back at those New Year’s Resolutions and see how it’s going…come for the accountability buddy, stay for the reminder to be kind to yourself. Note: however you’re doing with goals you set is just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Also, I wish I could just read you this week’s book front to back, but I’ll have to settle for sharing with you my favorite tidbits. Amy Poehler delivers some A+++ advice, and I’ll give you my top highlights after reading it 4 times (!)

IN THIS EPISODE:

Unsolicited Advice - Dust off those New Year’s Resolutions: use me as a guide to give yourself some props for how far you have come, and recalibrate if you must, so that you can finish out 2024 strong.

Unrequired Reading - Yes Please by Amy Poehler

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In part 2 of the happiness series, we dive back into the quest for happiness, but this time time from a new vantage point, by staring unhappiness square in the eye and asking it, what's its deal?? Seriously.

We will question whether happiness is really better then being unhappy (or just has better publicists) and find out what we can learn from putting on our unhappy pants and sitting with negative feelings.

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This week we are celebrating the start of summer with a special episode, wherein I recommend great books to read for FIVE vacation destinations (which somehow turns into SEVEN books cuz deciding between books is haaaaard).

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"I'm lazy." "I wish I was more motivated." We've all been there, languishing in the hope that we could do more, be better, and achieve higher if only we could find the motivation. But y'all, motivation is a whack concept.

Instead of looking around corners and under your doormat for that missing motivation, we will go deep into understanding how building habits, a more sustainable and logical practice, can be the key to unlocking forward momentum.

IN THIS EPISODE:

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