Share

Make Your Damn Bed
bite sized, real talk, daily motivation
Latest episode

1803 || identity shift first, take action second
10:06|It is really fucking hard to change your habits and your actions while believing everything you currently believe about yourself. It’s more effective in the long run to shift your ideas about your identity first, and allow the actions that align with that identity to support this identity shift. To live “like” the person you want to be, you first have to recognize your capability to do so. If I want to complete a marathon, I have to become the type of person that prioritizes running. If I want to learn to swim, I have to be someone who is willing to put on a bathing suit and get in the water. I can’t keep thinking of myself as some ineffective, incompetent failure if I don’t want to feel like an ineffective, incompetent failure. I have to start thinking of myself as capable, and competent, and effective; and I really have to do my best to believe it. The more I am able to align myself with that identity, the easier it is to show up and do the things other people who identify the same way do. It’s easier to think of these new behaviors as a lifestyle choice. Not a habit you’re trying to do more of. If I say, I’m trying to eat less meat, it is less convincing to myself than when I say, I’m no longer eating meat. Or even more so, if I can call myself a vegetarian. When I leaned fully into the vegetarian identity, it was easier for me to know what choices did and didn’t fit with that. Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
More episodes
View all episodes

1802 || learning to love future me
10:54|It takes time to get comfortable in unfamiliar frequencies, but once you do, you may find yourself more comfortable than you imagined you could be.Success is a compounding byproduct of motion in the direction of your dreams.Engaging in behaviors you admire will protect you from the feelings you're avoiding.Core questions to ask yourself:What's going on? What are you trying to address? is there something specific you'd like to accomplish? or integrate more or less of into your life? Is there anything you know you need to change but have been resisting or avoiding? What is a recurring (core) issue that pops up in your life?What does my current daily life look like? If it's inconsistent or your daily routine varies from time to time, outline a few "typical" days. Set alarms for every 15-60 minutes to check ins to see where your time is actually goes.What brings you happiness or makes you feel alive or connected to humanity? Brain dump. Include minor things.BRAIN DUMP:Skills (you have currently): What am I good at?Resources (you have currently): What are some of the good things in my life?Problems (you have currently): What are the not so good things in my life?Can any of the resources or skills you currently posses help you solve or cope with the problems?What would you say to a loved one with the same problem?How would an optimist approach this situation?Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
1801 || goal getting 101 || part 2
10:38|Success is a compounding byproduct of motion in the direction of your dreams.Engaging in behaviors you admire will protect you from the feelings you're avoiding.How to (convince yourself to) get anything you want:Identify your goal. (ideally experience based)Identify your current state: values, feelings you'd like to cultivate more of, current habits, current questions.Identify actions that would point you in the direction you'd like to move towards.Consider YOUR pitfalls + interests to make it impossible to not do. Get comfortable with friction and reduce it when possible.Curate your life around the most optimistic outcome working out perfectly.Give yourself enough time to properly adjust to a new version of "comfortable". Build tolerance for patience and change.Success is a compounding byproduct of motion in the direction of your dreams.Engaging in behaviors you admire will protect you from the feelings you're avoiding.Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
1800 || goal getting 101
10:30|How to (convince yourself to) get anything you wantPREVIEW:Identify your goal. (ideally experience based)Identify your current state: values, feelings you'd like to cultivate more of, current habits, current questions.Identify actions that would point you in the direction you'd like to move towards.Consider YOUR pitfalls + interests to make it impossible to not do. Get comfortable with friction and reduce it when possible.Curate your life around the most optimistic outcome working out perfectly.Give yourself enough time to properly adjust to a new version of "comfortable". Build tolerance for patience and change.Success is a compounding byproduct of motion in the direction of your dreams.Engaging in behaviors you admire will protect you from the feelings you're avoiding.Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
1799 || ready is a choice not a feeling
10:06|If it’s not a matter of my physical location, or my circumstances, it comes down to it being a matter of direction. “Simply beginning” is a great sentiment, and an effective practice when possible, but in my case, it’s often better in theory. Most days I don’t know where to begin, let alone how. So, when that happens I try to follow my curiosity. I let tiny cravings speak more loudly if they feel worth pursuing. It doesn’t have to be productive or sufficient or even important. It just has to be interesting enough to convince me to start. To stop scrolling and do literally anything else. There’s no right or wrong method here that works all the time, there are just techniques that can sometimes break the cycle of consternation that often comes from a lack of direction and access to the internet. Quoting Bourdain again here, “Maybe that’s enlightenment enough: to know that there is no final resting place of the mind; no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom...is realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”So, instead of looking for clarity, I will continue to experiment with the options I can think of until one of them works this time, and next time I’ll try again and again until I find what works for that version of myselfRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
1798 || your body isn't a temple
11:33|Because that’s the thing for me: the idea of almost everything scares me but the practice often leaves me room to surprise myself. Anthony Bourdain said something like, “Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park, enjoy the ride.” And I fuck with that heavy. Like most people, I do better when I have something to look forward to, outside of my daily chores and needs and expectations. When I have small goals that feel fun and interesting and exciting to work towards, life feels lighter. It provides me with space to experience more enjoyment in getting my base needs met, and I don’t dread everything nearly as much as I do when I have nothing to look forward to. Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
1797 || taking up the space that pain once lived
11:07|I've been trying not to let myself identify with the pain but it's easier said than done. it's easier when you fill your time with so much good that there is less space for the painful patterns to persist. "if you're trying to love yourself, you already do. where do you think the trying comes from?" Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.