Finding motivation on your commute through podcasts
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Being American in England, I find a lot of disconnect in attitudes or ways of thinking from how I grew up and where I live now. There is a definite difference between being a very contented British person and a very motivated and ambitious American. I feel very conflicted a lot of times because in the way I live now, I’m happy with what I do, where I live, how my family structure is set, and everything in between. As an American, I feel that pull that I should be doing more, achieving goals, and setting the bar for myself.
To be honest, when I wasn’t a mother, I was insanely bored. I had Passion Planners and “goals” that I just didn’t care about. It felt like a Plan B for achieving the real goal that I wanted in life. I felt a lot of shoulds about myself. I should want to write my book series, I should write a non-fiction book, I should go back to university, I should want to do a run, and I should want more for myself. But I just didn’t. I worked full time and spent the weekend traveling to B&Bs with my husband. It all was filler and time-killing.
For a long time, I thought I needed more of a social life or closer friends, or someone to just understand that I wanted to do the things but I didn’t want it more than I wanted a family.
Fast forward to now when I’m a mother and working part-time. My days at home are for looking after my son and just being present with him the best I can. That is the essential desire in my life and the one I take the most care of. I protect those days.
However, now that I’ve achieved my big dream, I can go back to find other projects that are for me, by me, and this is where my podcasts fit in. I commute for a couple of hours at least each day, and while some days I just want to zone out on music because that does motivate me to imagine scenes for a book to write, most of the time, I need to hear someone to say, “this is what I’ve found that works well in my life.”
I know that the self-improvement business is huge and I don’t really follow a lot of people who are promoting the “go go go” attitude. A lot of them, I find are for businesswomen and other than the business of “author” I don’t have the need to know how to make more money just yet. What I like is hearing people who do live a life like that and who are continually trying to improve themselves and their brand. For me, all the books I have as my goals to set for myself will be tied to my brand of me.
What I’m saying is: if you want to find someone who inspires you, there are always podcasts. Someone’s story and experiences will fill in those gaps you find when you’re trying to plot out how you want to model your life and you just don’t have the resources available in real life.
Don’t get me wrong: I find tons of good, helpful advice and chat with other mothers which is why I started my own podcast, Jack’s Mum, because I wanted to help other mothers who may have felt the same need for connection and help that I do.
