Welcome to the new and improved Self Improvement Book Club! Featuring my mate Olivia Jacobs (yes we have the same surname but are not related that we know of) where we pick a self-improvement book and critique it.  The first cab off the rank is The Secret. Spoiler alert - it’s garbage.  In this episode, we talk about  How poorly written this book is  The mystery of why it got so much attention (like Oprah level attention)  How we’ve read the book and still have no idea what The Secret is  The gross whitewashed ‘experts’ in the book  The damage the book could cause with its false claims of ‘manifesting’ misery  If you have any self-improvement books you’d like us to critique let us know! If you want to chat more about this episode you can join the Facebook group.  You can also follow me on Instagram but I'm generally only there on Wednesday - @veryexcellenthabits I also have a bunch of workbooks and resources available on Patreon here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Straight and Curly

Self Improvement Book Club - The Secret

How are your finances looking?   It’s SUCH a loaded question and I hope I didn’t ruin your day. I feel like there are 3 money categories you can fall into. I Don’t Know (living fast loose), Medium (has a basic superannuation plan and maybe some savings) and I Eat Stocks and Bonds for Breakfast (swims around in their vault of cash like Scrooge McDuck).  This week’s guest is Victoria Devine of She’s on the Money. Victoria a financial advisor who focuses on giving millennials financial advice that’s appropriate for that generation. Her podcast She’s On The Money gets 85,000 downloads per episode which off chops. It's a rad podcast you should definitely listen to it. She's incredibly smart and practical but also extremely funny and relatable. The perfect combo if you think money is scary and boring.   In this episode, we talk about.. English Sheepadoodles, earn, spend, own and owe - the four money buckets you should always know about, how you can earn 45k per year and end up better off than someone who earns 250k per year, budgeting when you don’t have a regular income, the 6 essential bank accounts you need in your life, the worst financial advice being thrown around - it’s a toss-up between Afterpay and Cryptocurrency and the one thing you absolutely should not ignore when it comes to your finances.  If you want to chat more about this episode you can join the Facebook group.  You can also follow me on Instagram but I'm generally only there on Wednesday - @veryexcellenthabits I also have a bunch of work books and resources available on Patreon here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cleaning Up Your Budget and Creating Investment Habits with Victoria Devine

So a lot of us are in lockdown - fun times - and I’ve had some feedback from some listeners that they keep re-watching the same thing again and again and they want to get out of that rut. So this week’s guest if my very good friend Jordan Prosser who is a film director and screenwriter as well as just a massive movie buff.    We are going to talk about our top 5 films of all time and then give some tips for how to find more films like them. Here's what we chat about in this episode...  • Each of our top 5 movies of all time  • Why we like them and why they qualify  • Movie snobbery and how to avoid it  • How to find movies you will love based on movies you already love  • Jordan's top 50 movies of all time (available via Patreon as a handy checklist!)  Love it?  If you totally love the podcast I'd be super chuffed if you gave it a rating and a review. You can do that by visiting the show page (not the episode page) on your phone and scrolling to the bottom.   Oh, also I have a weekly newsletter! Lots of people seem to like it - you can sign up here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How To Stop Re-Watching The Same Thing Again and Again

This is an SOS episode.  I had Fliss (my psych mate) on the show a season or two ago and seriously everyone loved her. I had so many requests to get her back on the show. Australia has turned upside since last season. Canberra and Victoria have been plunged into harsh lockdowns and the NSW outbreak is devastating. We're all tired, we're all over it.  On a personal note, we’ve lost childcare again and for us, that’s the last beacon of hope. It’s really tiring with 2 full time working parents tag-teaming childcare and work. We’re coping but we have zero downtime and we're down the last straw.  I’ve invited Fliss back to give some more tips for grounding ourselves and being resilient when things are out of control… again. I do not have the time, strength or inclination for show notes this week. If I mention anything in the podcast and you want to know about it ask in the Facebook group.  You could try asking me on Instagram but I can't guarantee I'll be there much - @veryexcellenthabits If you want this week's bonus Resilience Work Book - Who The F*ck Knows How Long This is Going to Last you can grab that by becoming a Patreon here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Resilience Tips Because Who The F*ck Knows When This Will End

It never occurred to me how much there was to learn about my period and menstrual cycles and when I started looking into I was horrified at how little I knew. This week’s guest is Lucy Peach, the Period Queen and in this episode, she tells us everything there is to know about the Four Phases of The Menstrual Cycle and how you can embrace them to take over the world. For real.  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  Don't forget this episode bonus is printable Period Tracker so you can start tracking the phases of your menstrual cycle. You can grab it here via Patreon.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Four Phases of Your Menstrual Cycle And How They Affect Your Productivity

When things are uncertain (and consistently uncertain at that!) it’s really hard sticking to your good habits.  Illness, family illness, finances, job insecurity, the global economy, climate change… all of these things have the ability to totally derail the best of habits.  The thing is, we can’t wait for ideal circumstances. They don’t exist. All we can do is keep trying.  On that note, here are 5 tips for getting back on track when you keep getting shoved sideways.  Here’s what I chat about in this episode…  • Pinpointing what’s important  • Letting go of lofty goals for the time being  • Setting fire to Mondays and the First Day of The Month and starting right now  • How a recent study showed that contrary to popular belief Monday is the worst time to start something new  • Releasing what’s not working  • How 3 criminals escaped from Alcatraz and how their story will help you achieve your goals  • Realising that just because it’s not perfect doesn’t mean it’s not helpful  • How progression exist outside of perfection  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  This months bonus is The Anytime Goal Getter Plan - it’s designed for you to pick up any day, any time, any month and just get started on your goals. You can grab that my becoming a Patreon at Patreon.com/veryexcellenthabits and that also gives you access to all my other resources, workbooks and bonuses.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 Tips For Getting Back On Track When You Keep Getting Shoved Sideways

This month has been a doozy so I'd thought I'd take a moment to breathe and reflect. This week's guest on Very Excellent Habits is my beautiful former co-host Kelly. In this episode we chat about all the things - what we're doing, how we're going, what cool things we've discovered. For old listeners, she needs no introduction. For new listeners, Kelly was once the cohost of this show when it was called Straight & Curly.  Hope you enjoy this lovely catch up between two old friends.  Here are some useful links.  Show Notes  Patreon  Instagram  Have a gorgeous day yeah? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Very Special Guest Episode: Catch Up With Kelly

Confession time - I’m a reformed messy person. I’m not even that reformed if I’m honest. I leave shit everywhere. If I come to your house I’ll leave a pile of crap in my wake. Shoes, my bag, often little piles of jewellery I’ve taken off. My sunglasses, a scarf. Growing up I was the butt of family jokes. My parents called my wardrobe the Avalanche because when you opened the doors a land slide of books, toys and clothes would come spilling out.  I’ve made a lot changes over the last decade and it’s pretty safe to say it’s impossible to be tidy when you have too much stuff. The less stuff you have, the easier it is to manage.  This episode is all about keeping things tidy but in a detailed and realistic way. Also I made sure all of these tips are properly accessible. There’s no requirement to spend $400 on storage boxes.  So if you want to up your tidying chops, this episode is for you.  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  This week's episode comes with a Tidy House Checklist that will help you declutter in 15 days. You can grab it (and all my extra content) - workbooks, resource lists, ebooks and checklists at here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Try These 5 Tidy Tips and Feel Super Smug About How Ace Your House Looks

I think it’s really important to be diverse and cover the stories of lots of different people. I’ve never been a carer (yet - it may happen at some point) but I used to be a special ed teacher so I’ve had more than a usual amount of contact with carers. Currently, there are more than 2.65 million carers in Australia, which means about 1 in 11 people in Australia are carers. In the UK, it’s closer to 8 million.  This week’s guest is Penny Wincer - she’s been a carer for both her mother and her Autistic son. She’s written a book called Tender about the challenges of being a carer. Let me tell you, this book is a doozy. I thought it was really important to shed some light on the lives of carers and also offer some words of comfort for those who are carers through the words of Penny. This episode also touches on how we can better support our carer friends.  In this episode, we chat about…  • Penny’s experience of being a caregiver twice  • Reluctance of carers to be labeled as carers  • The importance of protecting the privacy of the people being cared for VS the need for carers to connect and talk about their experiences, often publicly through storytelling • Ableism and how able-bodied people can avoid participating in and perpetuating it • Inspiration porn and how to avoid promoting it • Tips for carers who might be struggling  • Asking yourself ‘What’s the kindest thing I can do for myself right now?’ If you’re a carer or you know someone who is a carer and you want to support them better, this episode is for you.  Links  Penny’s Book  Show Notes  Patreon  Instagram    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How To Care For Carers

When you hear the term ‘mindset’ what do you think of?  I immediately think of MLMs, Tony Robins and On Being a God in Central Florida. Oprah springs to mind too.  The mindset ‘industry’ - yep that’s a thing - is rife with sharks, privilege, classism and ableism. This doesn’t mean that mindset training isn't useful, it’s just important to proceed with empathy and caution in this space.  On that note, this week I’m dissecting the construct of Growth vs Fixed mindset and whether our fixed mindsets are holding us back from being extraordinary.  Hint: Your fixed mindset is probably holding you back. I know mine is.  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  This week’s bonus is a 3 Month Mastering Your Mindset Workbook that’s available on Patreon. Just join for $5 US or $7 Australian to grab your copy - you will also get access to all of my other workbooks, guides and resources lists.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Your Fixed Mindset Sabotaging You?

Straight up, I have a very scary and sad truth bomb. If you’re an Australian aged between 24 and 44 your mental health and drugs/alcohol are the biggest mortality risks to you. Both of those are amplified if you’re a man. I imagine the same is true of any developed Western country.  Yikes.  This episode isn’t designed to scare you (I’m still very much a classic if somewhat occasional binge drinker, even after recording this episode) it’s just a chat about alcohol, our relationship to alcohol, some facts about alcohol and maybe it might help empower you to cut back or quit if that’s something you’re toying with.  This week’s guest is Millie Gooch from Sober Girl Society. Millie is from the UK and after spending her 20s as an actual black out drunk, a few years ago she got sober and is making it her mission to empower other people to give up the booze and get back their lives.  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  Like my stuff? You can grab all my extra content - workbooks, resource lists, ebooks and checklists at Patreon.com/veryexcellenthabits.  This week there's a big resource list of all Soberish things for you to enjoy! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You Don’t Have To Give Up Drinking, You Could Be ’Soberish’ Instead

When I was a teacher, I always lamented the lack of tips and self-care ideas available for us.  Most work/life balance tips act on the assumption that you have any control over your time when you’re at work. Tips like ‘negotiate a later start time with your boss’ or ‘go to the gym on your lunch break’ infuriated me. There’s no negotiation on time when you’re a teacher - it’s pretty much illegal to not show up on time. If you’re a teacher who is supposed to be on before-school playground duty and you’re not there when a kid hurts themselves, you’re screwed. It’s a massive responsibility that very few people understand.  On that note, this week’s episode is dedicated to teachers. The guest this week is actually a listener of Very Excellent Habits who has some great tips for teachers. Work-life balance, energy and getting everything done always seems to be the sticking point with teachers so here’s Kirstie on how she gets everything done. If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  Like my stuff? You can grab all my extra content - workbooks, resource lists, ebooks and checklists at Patreon.com/veryexcellenthabits. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to Make Your Teaching Career More Wonderful and Less Hard

In a recent episode of Very Excellent Habits I was chatting to one of my guests and we both realised how much we love subscription services.  I didn’t realise it but I actually have a lot of subscription services I use and they’re really great so without further faffing here are some subscription services you might like to try.  Just a note - none of this sponsored. They’re things I use and love all the time or things I’ve seen that I think look cool.  Here are the subscription services I chat about in this episode…  Deodorant  Coffee  Toilet paper  Meal delivery kits (extra info about the environmental impact of these VS regular grocery shopping)  Dog and cat food  Contraceptive pill (extra musing on whether or not this is actually a good idea) Toothbrushes both electric and wooden handled  Seeds for gardening  Wine  Nappies  Tips to make sure what you’re signing up for is legit and not  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  This week’s bonus is available for Patreon supporters - it’s a massive list of all the subscription services you could think of. This is crowd sourced and I’ve done my best to make sure they’re all legit. You can grab it at Patreon.com/veryexcellenthabits If you love the show, consider becoming a Patreon supporter - even $5 a month would be a huge help in covering production, editing, equipment, promotion and guest wrangling. Visit Patreon.com/veryexcellenthabits See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to Simplify Your Life with Subscription Services

I used to think I waxed my legs because I enjoyed the silky sensation of smooth skin but the truth is I was taught to enjoy the silky sensation of smooth skin. My male partner wasn’t taught this. So if it was so great why doesn’t he do it? And would I have ever even thought about how my legs feel if the beauty industry didn’t bring it up all the time?  If I lived in total isolation and my body looked the same as it does now would hate it? To be honest, I probably wouldn’t even think about it. And I wish we all had that.  This week’s guest is my beautiful friend April from @TheBodzilla - we’ve been online and real-life friends for YEARS and April is walking apple pie. She’s so positive and bright and gorgeous. Her smile is off the chain. You know when you meet people and they smile at you and it’s like you’ve blessed by a rainbow? That’s April. Just one of those mega infectious joy-filled people. She does a lot of work in the body-positive space and I thought she’d be a good person to chat to about improving your own self-talk habits around your body.  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  If you love the show, consider becoming a Patreon supporter - this week's episode bonus is a resource of Very Excellent People You Should Follow if You Want to Stop Obsessing Over Your Body - you can grab it here. Patreon.com/veryexcellenthabits.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 Very Excellent Habits To Help You Stop Obsessing Over Your Body

First up, I hope no one found the title of this episode offensive. It wasn’t supposed to sound like like I am saying you’re not special. You are very special, I promise.  99.9% of the world’s population are ordinary. It’s not an insult, it’s just a fact. I’m ordinary - I have a job that pays my bills, I wipe my kids bum several times a day and I have to save up to buy things. I drive myself places in my very ordinary car. I spend most evenings with my ordinary partner with our ordinary kid. I personally think they’re the most brilliant people on the planet and I’m singularly the luckiest woman in existence but in the world wide sense, our little family is ordinary. The Kardashians aren’t ordinary. Oprah isn’t ordinary. Mariah Carey who famously doesn’t carry cash isn’t ordinary. Most of the rest of us are. And I don’t mean that because we aren’t famous or rich none of us are amazing or that we don’t matter. There are sparkly gem humans everywhere.  I’m just differentiating us regular folk from the folk that have the microphones and the money and the resources to do whatever the hell they want. It’s not realistic to look at them for advice. They can’t help us. We need to set goals from where we are, not where they are.  Perfectionism and imposter syndrome are insidious and they’re directly linked to goal setting failure. We reach for the stars - 30 kilo weight loss, a property portfolio with 10 plus properties, 50 thousand dollars in our savings account, being married with 2.5 kids by the time we’re 30, climbing Mount Everest, competing in the olympics. For us ordinary people it seems like anything less than that is kind of pointless. Trust me mate, it’s not.  We need to take the glamour, pressure and unrealistic expectations away from goal setting and be a bit more chill about it.  If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just click here for the show notes.  There's also a bonus Goal Setting for Ordinary People Handbook available to compliment this episode - you can grab it on Patreon here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Goal Setting for Totally Ordinary People

A weekly podcast for people who are obsessed with self improvement. Carly Jacobs and Kelly Exeter road test a different life hack each week and will tell you whether it’s awesome or a total waste of time.

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Straight and Curly

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