If you’ve ever considered writing a book, you’ve also probably asked yourself this common question: is my idea any good? 

Is the story or topic I want to write about interesting to anyone other than me? 

There are many ways to answer this question and unfortunately, how you answer might determine whether or not you write your book. Imagine if the author of your favorite book had decided, before ever writing, that their book idea was “no good”.  

In today’s episode, I’ll teach you how to answer this question for yourself and talk about the common pitfalls aspiring writers fall into. 

Hopefully I inspire you to give your book idea some space to develop into what it was meant to be. 

(PS) As I mention in the episode, I’m bringing back my signature course A Book in Six Months as a self-paced workshop and offering a generous discount for loyal listeners starting Friday November 28th. I will post the link to purchase as soon as it's ready. 

 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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We hesitate to tell our stories for a thousand reasons. It’s vulnerable, for starters, and we hate the feeling of giving others power over us. 

We decide ahead of time that our story isn’t that interesting, that nobody else would care besides us, and that our situation is 100% unique to our experience. 

But what if wisdom is buried inside of your personal story? 

What if keeping your story secret is hiding that wisdom, even from you?

Today’s episode explores this topic and encourages you to take a single step to unpack the miracle that is your personal story.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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When someone asks, “how are you doing?” Do you smile and say “I’m fine”? 

Or do you tell the truth? 

You might have a thousand reasons for holding back your truth in the face of a relatively benign question like “how are you doing?” — some of which may even be justified. But I suppose a better question is: do you know what is true for you? 

Are you in touch with your own truth? 

Are you able to share it with at least one trusted person? 

And have you considered the power and possibility of sharing your truth more broadly? 

This is what I’m exploring in today's episode. No matter how impossible it might seem to tell the truth — no matter who you think it might hurt or what you worry would unravel, the old maxim is right: only really the truth can set you free. 

Watch the Martha Beck + Tim Ferris conversation that was mentioned HERE!

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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Do you believe there’s more to life than what you can see? 

If so, how does this affect the way you move through the world? 

Does it impact how you make decisions; how you deal with disappointment; how you make meaning from your story? 

What about not getting what you want? 

In today’s episode, I share a message that came to me through my yoga practice and talk about how it brought peace to a situation where I’m not getting what I want. 

If there’s more to life than what we see, then maybe “what we want” is about much more than getting what we want. Sounds simple on the surface but tell that to yourself when you want something and you’re not getting it. 

Whatever it is that you want but can’t have right this minute, I hope this episode brings you some peace.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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My five year old daughter recently asked me why sometimes we ask God for things and she doesn’t give them to us (I secretly love that she refers to God as female, even though we’ve never gendered God in our house). 

As I processed the answer to her question — and thought about all the things I’ve wanted in my life but never gotten — I recorded this episode. 

This episode is an in-real-time, thinking-out-loud kind of an episode. More of a “questions” kind of episode than an “answers” kind of episode. 

But maybe, as I talk out loud to myself about what it means to want something and not have it, you’ll hear something that resonates with you that you can take with you on your own journey of wanting and not having. 

What do you want that you don’t (yet) have? 

The answer to that question might be a powerful invitation on a journey that will change your life forever.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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When life is confusing and you don’t have the answers, what is your first response?

Do you get tied into knots trying to figure it out? 

Or are you comfortable with the open-ended nature of things?

Last week I unpacked the power of “I don’t know” and this week I’m continuing the conversation about how life improves when you let it be ok that you don’t know.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Human beings don’t deal well with uncertainty, which is why a mystery draws you in and why a cliffhanger on a TV show can keep you watching well past your bedtime. 

Your brain is wired for answers. 

Yet life is full of uncertainty. So how do we manage this tension? 

When a story is unfolding and you wonder, “how will this end?” Or when the big questions of life go unanswered and you lie awake wondering, Who is God? What am I here for? What does all of this mean? 

How do we handle not knowing? 

In today’s episode, I want to share a practice I’ve been using that is helping me live with the inevitable uncertainty of life. 

But I’m not just living with it. I’m using it as leverage to unfold into the fullness of myself. 

Check out the episode and I’d love to hear what you think.

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if your life was meant to feel good?

I don’t mean that in a “if you can dream it, you can do it!” kind of a way as much as I mean… what if your life—as it is—was meant to be pleasurable? 

What if you could learn to slow down enough to see every single day, every breath, every new opportunity, every inconvenience, every hiccup, even every heartbreak as an absolutely gripping reminder that you get to be here and to experience this?

If you’re like me, it’s not always easy to get there. 

But I think it’s worth a try, don’t you? 

Come along with me on today’s episode where I discuss this very topic and invite you to practice with me: going slow and finding pleasure in everything.

 

The two books I mention are below: 

Fawning by Dr Ingrid Clayton (Link HERE)

A Rebellion of Care by David Gate (Link HERE)

 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

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When you’re in the middle of your story and it appears that no resolution is on the horizon, it’s easy to assume that you must be doing something wrong. 

Maybe if you were stronger, wiser, or more "positive" you would be able to find a solution and bring your story to resolution. 

But what if the point of the story is not to resolve the story?

What if the unresolved, chaotic, painful middle of a story is exactly where you belong? 

In today’s episode I’ll talk about our very human impulse to relieve the pain and pressure of our stories, to find resolution, and I’ll also explore what happens when we allow the middle of the story to be exactly what it is: confusing, unsettling, upsetting and painful. 

Are you in the middle of a story?

What would it be like to soften into the middle and let it change you? 

Book mentioned: When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever get the feeling like you’re telling the same story over and over again? The details may change (new boss, new partner, new hometown) but the cycle of the story stays the same. In today’s episode I talk about what to do when you seem to be stuck in the same frustrating story on repeat. I’ll share my own experience with finding myself in this rut and talk about how to move when you’re ready to finally make an edit. 

Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.com

Follow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.