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On today’s Thursday Thoughts, Polly & I are talking about responding versus reacting. 

We share what the difference is between the two, why responding is preferable, and some tools to keep calm during stressful moments.

We hope you find something useful in here.

Love,
Polly & Lucy x

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this week’s episode, I’m welcoming the brilliant Peter McGraw back to the podcast!

Dr. Peter McGraw is a behavioural economist, business school professor, and bachelor who is turning his attention to the opportunities and challenges of single living. His projects include hosting the podcast, ’Solo: Building A Remarkable Life Of Your Own’, The Solo Salon, and Single Insights: The Science of Solos. As the Director of The Humor Research Lab, Peter has authored ’Shtick to Business’ and co-authored ‘The Humor Code’. A professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business, he is a sought-after speaker, giving talks at organisations, conferences, and universities around the world.

Topics that Peter & I cover are: 

• the opportunities that come about when you step off the ‘relationship escalator’;
• how Peter's new book is a celebration of the opportunities that come from singlehood, and how to live a remarkable life;
• the difference between solos and singles;
• the three main characteristics of a solo, 
• how Peter has always been an unconventional thinker, one of the characteristics of a solo;
• the concept of the ‘someday singles’ who feel incomplete without a partner, and are waiting for their ‘ride or die’;
• how Scandinavian countries have the highest numbers of people living alone;
• how women in some counties and cultures are still fighting to be free of the patriarchy;
• how the best places to live in the world are also the ones with the highest number of singles;
• the fact that solos are often more socially connected than their married counterparts;
• the ‘just may’, ‘no way’ and ‘new way’ solos;
• how Peter believes that he is the man he is in large  part due to his friendships;
• how being single has allowed him to work on becoming the best version of himself;
• why Peter thinks Taylor Swift is a solo at heart, as well as the ultimate spinster! 

Read Peter’s article about Taylor Swift:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/if-you-desperately-want-taylor-swift-to-marry-travis-kelce-this-is-for-you_uk_6582f193e4b085747d67e6c7 

Follow Peter on Instagram:
@petermcgraw

Follow Peter on Twitter:
@PeterMcGraw

Buy Peter’s book (US):
https://www.amazon.com/Solo-Building-Remarkable-Life-Your/dp/1635768861 

Buy Peter’s book (UK):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solo-Building-Remarkable-Life-Your/dp/1635768861 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

On today's minisode, I'm sharing my thoughts and feelings around some emails I've received from married women with children. 

I did wonder whether I should even record this episode, but after alot of thought I decided that it was both important and interesting on many levels. So...let me know your feedback! 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

If you’re trying to make a change or cultivate a new habit, you need accountability. And that is exactly what Polly and I are talking about on this week’s Thursday Thoughts.

Having accountability has been a game changer for both of us. We are each other’s accountability buddies in business, and I also had a fabulous accountability buddy when I first started getting up at 5am a few years ago. Had it not been for her, I simply would not have stuck to it.

Whether you hold yourself accountable by posting about a goal on social media, hiring a coach, or simply checking in with a friend every day, you are waaaaaaay more likely to do the damn thing when you’re being held accountable.

We hope you’ll find something useful in here!

Love,
Polly & Lucy x

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this week’s episode, I’m talking to the fabulous Ea Utoft.

Ea is an Assistant Professor of Gender & Diversity Studies at Radboud University. Originally from Denmark, she currently lives in the Netherlands, and is single and childfree.

Topics that Ea & I cover are:

• how Ea is very comfortable with her singledom; 
• how being single enables her to do certain things and allows her to be flexible;
• how Kinneret Lahad was the first person Ea ever heard actually asking questions about singlehood;
• how the isolation she felt as a single person during lockdown motivated her to tell a story that she felt wasn’t being told;
• how the first question that people ask Ea, and other singles, is often “Are you seeing anyone?”;
• ‘concern trolling’ and how it speaks to the stigma around being single;
• Ea’s experience of online dating and how she finds it exhausting;
• how people seem to feel entitled to ask about single women’s love lives;
• the ambivalence of singlehood and how it can be both good and bad at the same time;
• the word ’spinster’ and how it pertains to Ea’s love of, and fascination with, Jane Austen;
• what Ea loves the most about being single;
• some words of wisdom Ea heard from someone else that she shares with you.

Follow Ea on Twitter:
@eautoft

Follow Ea on Blue Sky:
@eautoft

Follow Ea on Instagram:
@eaeffie

Email Ea:
[email protected] 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

On today's minisode, I'm talking about living life by design, rather than by default.

Are we drifting along in life without much direction? Or are we actually being intentional about creating the life we truly want?

Press 'Play' and let me know what you think!

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

On today’s Thursday Thoughts, Polly and I are talking about purpose.

We all have a mission on our heart, something we’re passionate about whether it be big or small. But are we following it?

I once heard somebody say that the opposite of depression isn’t happiness, it’s purpose. And when you think about it, we all need something that gives our lives meaning and direction.

In this conversation, Polly & I talk about what purpose is, why it’s important, and what we can do to find it. So whether it’s baking cakes for friends, starting a charity, or setting up a candle making business, ask yourself what lights you up, and start taking baby steps towards it…😉

We hope you’ll find something useful in here.

Love,

Lucy & Polly x

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this week’s episode, I’m talking to the wonderful Nanette Riendeau.

Nanette is a psychotherapist living in Illinois, US. She is married, but spent several years as a single woman having married relatively late in life. She is childfree by circumstance and shares this aspect of her life on her Instagram page @childlessgrace.

Topics that Nanette & I cover are:

• how Nanette is passionate about helping other childless women;
• the relationship that Nanette thought would result in children, but subsequently ended;
• what she learnt through her master’s degree in Women’s Spirituality;
• how desperately she wanted to grow and birth a baby, as well as be a mother;
• Nanette’s journey of self-discovery and personal growth during her single years from age 37 to 44;
• the ‘secret’ that women actually get better with age;
• how Nanette felt it was the pandemic that finally closed the door on her having a baby;
• her advice for those women who are grieving not having children;
• knowing that you are the observer of your thoughts, not your thoughts themselves;
• how we always romanticise the paths in life that we didn’t take;
• how cultivating our relationship with ourselves is one of the most important things;
• social media, and the concept of ‘likes’;
• how so many people don’t ask us about our lives if they don’t involve partners and kids;
• the damaging narrative that you 'haven’t been chosen’ if you’re single;
• the importance of understanding that our worth is inherent;
• the awesomeness of Taylor Swift.

Follow Nanette on Instagram:
@childlessgrace

Check out Nanette’s coaching website:
https://coachingwithnanette.com/ 

Check out Nanette’s therapy website:
https://therapywithnanette.com/ 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

On today's minisode, I'm talking about 15 ideas for solo dates.

Despite being single and childfree, and subsequently spending a fair bit of time in our own company, it's important to spend intentional time going on dates...with ourselves. Planning out solo dates is a way of showing ourselves that we love and respect the person with whom we have THE most important relationship of all.

So press 'Play' and let me know what you think!

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Polly and I chat about letting go.

We cover letting go of unhelpful feelings and beliefs, letting go of what people think of us, and letting go of resentment and relationships.

We hope you'll find something useful in here. Enjoy!

Love,
Polly & Lucy x

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book

• Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo

• Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the Most
  Annoying Questions Single Women Get Asked'
•  Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks

• Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson 

• Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

• Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/

• Email me: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!