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On today's minisode, I'm talking about comparison.

Most of us have a tendency to compare ourselves to, or feel envious of, other people. Whether we're comparing our house, our career, or a particular quality that someone else has, comparison truly is the thief of joy.

But when you think about it, comparison is actually a total waste of time; because each and every one of the 8 billion people on planet earth is completely and utterly unique. No one can do things or say things the way that we do, and no one else can show up in the world exactly the same way as we do. And therein lies our superpower.

In this digital world of social media, it's hard to not feel envious whilst we're scrolling through our Instagram feed. But maybe we can learn to reframe it, and use it as a source of inspiration - a signpost in the direction of what's possible - instead of allowing it to negatively impact our sense of self worth.  

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

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• 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'
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And thank you so much for listening!

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In this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to childfree life coach and podcaster, Anna Olson. 

Anna is a certified life coach who works specifically with women who are struggling with the decision to be childfree. In previous stages of her life, she has been many things from a flower farmer to a jewellery maker. She came across life coaching whilst going through a rough period herself, and was looking for inspiration and direction. Her world was transformed so much for the better by the life coach she subsequently found, that she decided to become a coach herself. Anna also has a podcast, We’re Not Kidding, and a community of the same name.

In this episode, Anna and I talk about how she is the youngest of five siblings, only one of whom currently has children; how she arrived at her decision to be childfree despite having initially assumed she would have kids; and how the rhetoric and societal expectations around women having children motivated her to be as vocal as possible about her decision not to.     

We also talk about how Anna decided she wanted to help other women with their decision to be childfree; how she used to think that there was something wrong with her because she didn’t want children; and how she came to be a life coach as a result of her own life struggles.

Anna also tells me that many of her coaching clients have made the choice to be childfree, but then enter a period of questioning their decision; regret, and how a high number of her clients are afraid of the possibility that they will regret not having children; and how Anna herself has never worried about regretting her decision.

Finally, we talk about Anna’s podcast, We’re Not Kidding, and how she started it so that other women wound’t feel so alone; and how what she loves most about not having children is being able to truly invest in the things that bring meaning to her to life. 

Follow Anna on Instagram: @coachannaolson

Find out more at Anna’s website:

https://annaolson.com/  

Listen to Anna’s podcast, We’re Not Kidding, on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/4ioZWeJqUQIp4MQiYVG4YS

And on Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/id/podcast/were-not-kidding/id1580005187 

Check out the We’re Not Kidding Community at:

https://wnk-club.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!

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On today's minisode, I'm talking about purpose.

It's so important to feel as though we have purpose in our lives, particularly as single, childfree gals. Purpose gives our life meaning and can be the difference between us feeling good and us not feeling good. 

If we're spending at least some of our time on a pursuit that motivates us, and we have goals to mark on our calendar, we will feel a sense of direction; and in this crazy world, we all need to feel as though we have some control over our lives and how we're living them.

So if right now, your only sense of purpose is coming from the latest Netflix series, (if that's the case, I feel ya!) perhaps it's time to investigate what truly lights you up. Because when we follow what feels really, really good, that's where the magic happens.  

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

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In this week’s episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I’m talking to podcaster, behavioural economist and author, Peter McGraw.

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: The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life’, 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.

In this episode, Peter and I discuss the three steps that came to affirm Peter’s bachelor status; how he’s having more fun dating at this stage in his life than ever before; and the term ‘Relationship Escalator’ which describes the only ‘acceptable’ romantic and sexual relationship that we ‘should’ all be pursuing.

We also talk about the four different categories that Peter has found single people tend to fall into during the course of his solo project work; how three of these types of single already see themselves as complete individuals and how they tend to have a strong sense of autonomy; and why people in traditional couples are often scathing and cynical regarding less conventional relationships.  

Our conversation also covers how men are actually faring much worse than women when it comes to finding themselves single, especially after a long term relationship; how not everybody is looking for, or interested in, sex; the different challenges that single women face as oppose to single men including the ‘older man / younger woman’ phenomenon; and co-opting the word ‘spinster’ and making it cool.  

Finally, we talk about the opportunities that come with living a solo life, and how single people often don’t think broadly enough about what they can actually do given they’re not married with children.

Follow Peter on Instagram: @petermcgraw

Follow Peter on Twitter: @PeterMcGraw

Check out Peter's website: https://petermcgraw.org/ 

Listen to Peter's podcast, 'Solo: The Single Person's Guide To A Remarkable Life':
Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/1G16hs9bfw9IjOQPO9lwTL 
Apple Podcasts Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/solo-the-single-persons-guide-to-a-remarkable-life/id1493565823

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!

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SPOILER ALERT: This may be the most ridiculous episode I've ever done, but take a listen anyway! ;)

In today's minisode, I tell you the tragic little tale which might have ruined my all-time favourite film forever.

I could not love When Harry Met Sally any more. Everything about it. The cast, the script, the setting, the music...oh, wait.

To find out what the hell I'm on about, press play.

And Happy New Year!

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!

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In this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to entrepreneur, Lara Solomon. 

Lara, a Brit living in Sydney, Australia, is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Hoopsy, which manufactures 99% paper eco-pregnancy tests to help counteract the sheer amount of plastic pollution the midstream plastic tests usually create. The tubes are also made of cardboard which are fully reusable and recyclable. At the age of 45 and single, Lara decided she wanted to try and have a child so she embarked on a mission to get pregnant. She initially had IVF which unfortunately didn’t work as one of her ovaries was diagnosed as peri-menopausal - so she decided to go down the embryo donation route. She settled on having her embryo donation procedure at a clinic in Spain and whilst she did get a faint positive test, she then miscarried the embryo. It was during this process that Lara realised how many times women who are trying to conceive test using plastic pregnancy tests. 

In this episode, Lara and I talk about her former marriage - which took her to Australia - and her subsequent divorce; her feelings around her current single status; her experience of dating in Sydney including the time she went on fifteen dates in one week; and how so many people stay in dead end relationships because they’re afraid of change, or they don’t want to sacrifice a particular lifestyle.   

We also talk about how Lara’s three siblings are all married with children, and one of her nieces is named after her; how she does experience feelings of loneliness but deals with them by spending time with friends every day; and how she always assumed that she would be a mother, but found herself aged forty-five single and childless.    

Lara also tells me all about her journey of trying to conceive alone, despite never having wanted to do it without a partner; how she was told that the chances of her conceiving through IVF at her age were 2% but she was determined to go ahead anyway; and how devastated she was when she was told that she wasn’t pregnant following her embryo donation procedure in Spain, despite having initially had a positive pregnancy test. 

Finally, we talk about Lara’s new company, Hoopsy, the name of which comes from the old Dutch word ‘hoop’ which means hope; and how young women need to be better educated about the potential challenges of getting pregnant. 

Hoopsy Website: https://www.hoopsy.co/ 

Follow Lara on Instagram: @hoopsyco

Follow Lara on Twitter: @hoopsyco

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hoopsyco/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hoopsyco

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!

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On today's minisode, I'm talking about going into the New Year with a mindset of intention, positivity, and agency over our lives.

We all have a choice as to how we begin 2023, so let's make sure we start it as we mean to go on. Let's decide right now to focus our attention on our goals and our dreams, regardless of our relationship status.

We are the authors of our life stories, so let's take a second and think about what we want to write. 

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

Hello!

Now, I simply couldn't let Christmas pass without doing a Christmas playlist episode, so here it is!

I'm not gonna lie, it was NOT easy to whittle it down to 20 (!) Christmas songs, but it's done, published and out there.  I hope you enjoy it.

As usual, the link to the playlist on Spotify is below.

Merry Christmas!!! xxx

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bM622k16H2wDbqWGEXJSp?si=2MOyptpHQM6AmSOLxkvZ0g&pt=8d8d813eb743c1e15d05dc823eefb39d

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 of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to author, researcher and expert on all things childfree, Laura Carroll. 

Laura is a leading voice on the childfree choice and has spent around 20 years tracking and researching this choice and those who make it. She is also a prolific book author and editor whose books include ‘Man Swarm: How Overpopulation Is Killing The Wild World’, ‘The Baby Matrix: Why Freeing Our Mind From Outmoded Thinking About Parenthood & Reproduction Will Create A Better World’ and ‘Families Of Two: Interviews With Happily Married Couples Without Children By Choice.’

In this episode, Laura and I talk about how she wrote her first book, Families of Two, because of the lack of other books on the topic of childfree couples; the question of why it’s so difficult for society to accept women not wanting children; and pronatalism, the old system of beliefs that have exalted the role of motherhood for centuries.

We also talk about the three most powerful pronatalist assumptions; how so many of our beliefs are programmed into our subconscious minds when we are children; and how Laura knew from a young age that having children wasn’t what she wanted for her life. 

Laura and I also discuss the assumption that we have to have children in order to find meaning in our lives; the common thread that Laura has found in the majority of childfree women she has interviewed; and how the journey of those women who are unsure about having kids is very nuanced. 

Finally, we talk about how being childfree creates the potential for us to live a more expansive life. 

Go to Laura's website to buy any of her books:
https://lauracarroll.com/ 

Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauraCarroll88
Follow Laura on Instagram: @lauralcarroll88

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!

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In this week's minisode, I'm doing a Part 2 to last week's 'The Importance of Our Thoughts'. But this week I'm talking about feelings...

Our feelings are hugely important when it comes to what we're attracting into our lives, and in this episode I touch on both The Law of Vibration and The Law of Attraction. 

We're all made up of 99% energy and only 1% matter,  and so we're actually vibrational beings who are constantly vibrating at various frequencies. And it's our emotions that dictate whether we're in a 'high vibe' or a 'low vibe' state.  High vibration emotions such as joy, love, hope and excitement will attract high vibration people, things and circumstances into our lives. And vice versa for the low vibe emotions such as anger, jealousy, fear and anxiety.

With this in mind, we could all do worse than to consciously find and follow what feels good, even if it's just a couple of times in a day...!   

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!