Me, Myself & My Best-Self

Me, Myself & My Best Self: A Quick Introduction

• Claire Bennett • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Ever felt like life's a constant loop of mundane activities? Welcome to the first episode of "Me, Myself and My Best Self," where I, Claire Bennett, share my journey of breaking free from the ordinary and stepping into the exciting world of personal growth. Amidst laughter, relatable anecdotes, and real talk, I'll be unveiling my motivation behind this podcast - a desire to enrich my life and inspire others to do the same. From my time living in Madrid to juggling multiple jobs, you'll get a glimpse into the life events that sparked my fascination with self-help and personal growth.

As we navigate this journey together, we'll tackle the concept of self-improvement and the art of embracing imperfection. Remember when I tried to run 5k? It was a pure testament to the highs and lows of personal growth. By sharing this experience, I'll be highlighting the importance of planning, anticipating setbacks, avoiding the pitfalls of perfectionism, and most importantly, seeking joy in whatever you undertake. This podcast is a space for self-improvement enthusiasts and curious minds alike. So come along, and let's embark on this exciting journey towards becoming our best selves.

Speaker 1:

Hey there, curious minds and self-improvement dabblers, welcome to me, myself and my best self. The podcast where we casually navigate the maze of personal growth without the hype, no promises of overnight transformations or grand life revelations here, just real talk, relatable stories and a few laughs as we figure out this whole becoming our best selves thing. I'm Claire Bennett, your guide through the maze of life's quirks and challenges. Let's wander through it together. No pressure, no perfection, just a touch of curiosity. This is my very first me myself and my best self podcast. To be honest, it's my first ever podcast full stop. I decided that the first episode will be a little bit of an insight into what the podcast is about and I thought I'd take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about me. It's going to be very brief and I'm sure you'll learn more about me as time goes on. So where do I start?

Speaker 1:

I'm 43, I live just outside London with my husband and four dogs. Yes, I said that right, four dogs. I have two cockapoo's and two Labradors and, yes, I do walk them all at once. And yes, I do constantly get mistaken for a dog walker. And yes, my house is mad, especially when the doorbell goes. I even bought my current house because it had a shower on the ground floor, which meant I no longer had to take muddy dogs upstairs to the bath. So what else? I started my work life in insurance. I actually liked my job, but just a year after meeting my husband, in 2009, he got offered a job in Madrid and, to my luck, I got offered redundancy at the same time, after working for the company for 10 years. It was one of those seven dippidus moments when the stars align.

Speaker 1:

We lived in Madrid for four and a half years. I loved living there, but it was a huge life change. I didn't speak the language, I had no friends there and no job, but I learnt a lot about myself and I made some great friends and I did manage to learn a bit of the lingo. Then we came back from Madrid, both of us homeless and jobless. I quickly got another job, this time working for a bank, but after two years realised the corporate world was not for me. I then left and did a year of study.

Speaker 1:

I'm now what I like to call a multi-job professional, so I do more than one job. Ideally, I'd love to make enough money teaching people about self-improvement. I am a qualified life coach and I do work with people on a one-to-one and a group coaching basis. I'm also trying to launch a social enterprise that is focused on social safety, but that's a whole other topic. I also do projects for other companies ad hoc, sometimes involving staff improvements, staff wellbeing. Sometimes it's more business focused. I love having the flexibility I do work from home and majority at the time, but I would love a bit more master of one rather than jack of all trades. I hope that's a little bit of an intro to me and we'll get back to why we're here.

Speaker 1:

The podcast and I'm going to kick it off with a little truth bomb. I am a total self-improvement nerd. I'm not saying that I know everything, but I am hooked on all things self-help and improvement and, if I'm being completely honest, I'm also the person that's trying to find a shortcut. I'm generally fascinated by this stuff. I even snagged a degree in psychology and a master's in positive psychology and coaching. But here's the kicker I'm still on this wild journey, figuring out how to lock the best version of me. So the real deal behind me launching this podcast is not because my friends have hit their limit with my ramblings and it is a selfish reason. I needed a space to clear the mental clutter and find a way to document my thoughts on positive improvement, and I'm hoping that by doing this podcast, it will help me close some of those tabs.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so, what do I mean by tabs? Okay, so my tabs are all those things personal improvement that I want to know more about, or that I want to buy, or that I want to do, or that I want to research, or it's just those random ideas that come into my head. More often than not, I'll actually open a tab on my computer or my phone and I start digging into a particular subject, but then reality calls and you're back to your day job and instead of closing that tab, I leave it hanging, thinking I'll swing back to it later. Except nine times out of ten that later never comes. Before I know it, I've got a whole chaotic sea of open tabs with zero follow through. Or the other example is if you, like me, have a million Insta or Facebook and posts and videos saved for later except in later never materializes. I also have another example, and this one I'm bad at. So you know those free personal development tech lists or information. You know the ones where you join their mailing list for a freebie, and the thing is is that I save all of these into a read later folder on my computer and guess what, yeah, I never open it again.

Speaker 1:

I hope I'm making sense, who knows. But what I'm trying to say, badly, is that this podcast has selfishly been created to keep myself accountable to my personal development, and hopefully all those tabs and downloads will give me some inspiration for future episodes. I also hope that you guys learned something and that you enjoy it, and this podcast will cover a multitude of personal improvement topics, from fundamental to the bizarre. Hopefully we can get some guests if it's popular, or I can ask a few friends, and it will talk about topics that I'm passionate about, such as simplify my life, goal setting, self love and care, positive psychology, being the authentic you, but also with a sprinkle of how you can make it as easy as possible. But it also talk about new trends in personal improvement, research and anything in between. And but if you want to suggest any topics, share your stories or even want to come and speak on the podcast and just get in contact, I'd love to interact with as many of you as possible.

Speaker 1:

So, as I said, I'm a complete personal improvement junkie, and this has been for as long as I can remember. I'm also very lazy, and so always looking for ways I can improve without it costing me too much time or too much energy. But, in all seriousness, I have learned a lot about myself, and I do have some insights about self improvement, and so, as my first podcast, I'm going to share with you five of what I think are the key points to when you're starting to make any kind of change, and so those five key points that I think are important is number one you need to be realistic about where you are now, and what I mean is that if you, for example, want to start running 5k three times a week and, like me, have only ever run for a bus, then you are going to have to start running one minute at a time. There will be a few of you out there that say I'm going to run 5k three times a week and, straight off, you're running 5k, but for us, mere mortals, the truth is we're going to have to take it one step at a time. Also, being realistic about where you started helps later on down the track, because it helps you to track your progress. Especially at those times when you feel like it's an uphill battle, you can look back and be proud of how far you've come.

Speaker 1:

Okay, number two research and plan. So let's take a look at again at their 5k running example Research, how others have done it. You are not the first person to run 5k, so how have others gone from zero to 5k? What do the experts say about running your 5k? Also, how do these people stay motivated? Even tricks to getting you in your running gear.

Speaker 1:

So when I started, I worked out that I had to be in my running gear before I even thought about it. So I used to get up, brush my teeth and put my running gear on. If I didn't do that nine times, that in the run didn't happen. And then, and also taking that first step, how are you gonna open that door and take that first step? Plan, okay. So plan everything when are you gonna run, what time, what days, also the route you're gonna take. Research, what you are gonna wear and if and what music you're gonna listen to. The more decisions that you can pre-empt, the less obstacles on mainly mental that you can eliminate. Okay.

Speaker 1:

So, number three Plan to fail. And what I mean is there is gonna be a point when you give up. So plan this If you stop running for a week, how are you gonna remotivate yourself to get back out there? It is a fundamental part of self-improvement. This is also where you can look at how to keep yourself accountable. There are loads of options, and 5k example would could be join a running club, do a park run with a friend, sign up for a 5k, and if you add to that you get charity money from your friends and family to run the 5k, you're more than likely gonna do it. Tell friends and family what you're doing. Or maybe you have to stop because life changes. So you're meant to run on a Monday, wednesday and Friday and suddenly you can't run on a Monday anymore. So, but instead of giving up, change the plan Run on Tuesday, run on Saturday, whatever it is, plan to fail.

Speaker 1:

Number four Don't be a perfectionist and accept being uncomfortable. This is probably one of the hardest, but probably one of the most important points. When starting anything new, you are not going to be great at it. You may even look stupid. For example, me for the first. First two years of yoga. Yes, two years of feeling stupid. Four years on, I am much more confident, but I'm still not that flexible. But you are going to have good days and you're going to have bad days. You're going to have days when you achieve the unexpected and days when you are just well. Let's face it, you are shiked. But the key thing on those shiked days is to be grateful that you tried. And even when you can comfortably run 5k, you are going to have good days and bad days. It's just at the beginning. More likely than not, the bad days will outweigh the good. So just measure yourself on effort rather than distance or speed. And my number five is that you need to do things that you enjoy and sometimes you may need to change direction.

Speaker 1:

As I said, I have on more than one occasion, tried to run 5K three times a week. So that was my goal on more than one occasion, and on more than one occasion I've given up. My most successful attempt was when I joined a couch to 5K community group and I lasted, I think, about nine runs. I think I got to that point of where you run for five minutes and walk for three minutes and you repeat it like six times. Anyway, I finally admitted to myself that I do not like running and the effort was not worth the reward. I really looked at why I wanted to run, and I realized that my goal was to get fitter and to connect more with my body. So, though I quit running, I didn't quit the goal. Does that make sense? So I quit running, but I didn't quit the one in to get fit and the one in to connect with my body. Instead, I found an activity that I enjoyed, and it was yoga. I now do yoga three to five times a week, and, yes, I still have those weeks where I do not go. Actually, I just did my first yoga class a day in like two weeks, but I always swing back to it. I also still have good days and I still have bad days, but luckily, the good days definitely outweigh the bad.

Speaker 1:

You could say well, you weren't very good at number three. You plan to fail, as you technically failed at running, but in my reality, or my perspective, or the way I am going to choose to look at it, is, I change direction to get to the same destination. So I have achieved my goal. I am fitter and I definitely am more connected to my body. I just used a different route. So there are five points that I wanted to discuss today about self-improvement and what I've learned along the way. I also wanted to give you an example of something that I didn't achieve, but when I look back, I have something even better, on a kind of separate but same theme, and it will also be a good time to mention here.

Speaker 1:

Something that I kind of feel is important is personal. Improvement is just that. It's personal, and you should never judge yourself against anyone else's standards. Your life, your situation is different to everyone else. So when you're looking to make improvements, do it for you and do it your way. I've done many self-improvement methods over the years that just did not make me happy, and in some cases they did work, but to me the effort was not worth the result or the result meant that other areas of my life suffered. For example, high intensity exercise plans really result in me feeling tired and less productive and I eat a lot more. They do bring results, but for me, the lack of productivity in other areas of my life are just not worth the payoff.

Speaker 1:

So what I'm trying to say is don't listen to anything. No, what I'm trying to say is is take an idea and make it your own, personalize it to your life and your goals and your situation. So maybe go back after listening to this podcast. Maybe go back and really look at a goal that you've been pursuing or maybe something that you'd like to start doing. Be realistic about where you are starting, then research and plan how you're gonna implement the change, and then plan to fail and find a way to keep yourself accountable. Again, do not be discouraged by not being perfect and get comfortable with discomfort. And finally, if it doesn't quite work out as planned, maybe change direction rather than quitting.

Speaker 1:

So my fellow curious minds and self-improvement dabblers, that's going to be a wrap for today's episode of me myself and my best self. I hope you enjoyed our quick dive into the world of personal growth, messy tabs and the art of embracing imperfection. It was a very quick dabble, but we will re-look at some of these things in more detail in future episodes. I just wanted to introduce myself and the podcast and, to be honest, I'm not planning on making any of the episodes too long. I am aiming to keep them short and sweet. I do like to be efficient and quick wins are always preferred.

Speaker 1:

Now I'd love to hear from you. What topics would you want us to explore in future episodes? Do you have any personal stories or experiences you'd like to share on the podcast? Whether it's a success story or a learning moment or just a funny out-of-date, I'm all ears. You can connect with me on Instagram at Claire4Living that is Claire4Living, so it's my name C-L-A-I-R-E, claire, and then full F-U-L-L, and then live in L-I-V-I-N-G and it's all our word. Or send me an email at hello at ClaireBennettcom. Don't be shy, let's make this a two-way conversation. After all, we're in this journey of self-discovery together. Remember, it's not about perfection, it's about progress. Take me in this podcast. I am definitely in discomfort, but it was my first ever podcast and it can only get better from here. I hope Well, I hope it wasn't too bad and that you will join me again. Until next time, stay curious, stay true to yourself and please keep wandering through the maze with me. Cheers, bye.