Very Excellent Habits
186 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 61 ratingsThe Podcast That Helps You Create Little Habits, For a Big Life. Formerly known as Straight & Curly / Poductivity.
Presented by Carly Jacobs
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Episodes
How To Tame Your Toddler... Kind Of
February 23, 2021 17:00 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MBWhen I first got pregnant I had a lot of people tell me not to read any books or follow any experts. They told me to follow my instincts and trust myself. That’s excellent advice for some people but that did not work for me at all. I’m a researcher. I like to know what options there are, if there’s anything I’m missing and what’s worked for other people. And yeah, there’s no handbook for parenting or a one size fits all method but personally I have benefitted a lot from reading parenting boo...
Motivation is about Joy Not Discipline
February 16, 2021 17:00 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBDo you ever feel like traditional punishment and reward style motivational tactics do absolutely nothing for you? You’re not alone. A lot of people respond better to intrinsic rather than acquired motivation. Meaning you’re far more likely to go for a jog because you want to rather than because you promised to put $5 in your reward fund if you went for a jog. Sometimes motivation is about joy or purpose and nothing to with rewards or punishments. I've been thinking about joy and happine...
How To Realistically Build an Ethical Wardrobe with Clare Press
February 09, 2021 17:00 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBHave you been trying to make ethical clothing choices but you sometimes have to (or want to) buy stuff at Kmart and then you feel really guilty? For the last few years (and really forever) I’ve been trying to be properly ethical in my clothing choices. I find it really hard to be totally perfect. I bought a gingham linen jumpsuit at Kmart last year for $25 and I absolutely love it. I wear it at least once a week but I’ve been feeling really guilty about buying it because Kmart aren’t tra...
Making Certain Plans in an Uncertain World
February 02, 2021 17:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBSo everything is really weird right now isn’t it? And it gets weirder (or less weird) depending on where you live. I have coped (and continue to cope) very badly with this pandemic. I’m certainly not a special unicorn, no one is themselves right now but a big part of what I perceive as my societal worth is competence. I like being the person who has their shit together and this pandemic has totally stripped me of that. I’m not for one moment suggesting that’s a healthy existence but up unt...
The Real New Year
January 26, 2021 17:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBHow do you feel about New Year's resolutions? Personally, I love them but I like to save them for February. I know that sounds bananas but hear me out. January, as a month, sucks balls. Everyone is tired, hungover, not at home, surrounded by people they’re not usually surrounded by and everything is a mess. The gym isn’t open and neither is your favourite cafe. There’s no routine. It’s a weird, floaty, chaotic month. Of course you might be on holidays in which case January is awesome b...
2020 Was a Garbage Fire… So What Have We Learned?
December 22, 2020 17:00 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBLet’s be super honest here - 2020 sucked balls. Hard. There have been some lovely moments - the birth of babies, the rediscovery of spending time at home with our loved ones, Biden-Harris 2021 to name a few - but for the most part it’s been hard. Scary, uncertain. Boring. So boring. Heartbreaking. A financial mess. Do you remember when we all thought 2016 was the worst year ever? Oh, man. We were so young. so naive. So unprepared for a fucking global pandemic. What would this year be goo...
Cancelling Body Positivity and Showing Up Exactly As You Are with Model Jennifer Atilemile
December 15, 2020 17:00 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBHonestly, I’m not equipped to talk about body positivity or diet culture because I suck at the former and I’m still deeply embroiled in the latter. I’m okay with this. It’s a work in progress. That’s what Poductivity is all about. Finding problems that are blocking us from progress and learning how to set fire to them. This week’s guest is Jennifer Atilemile, she’s an Australian model who is now based in New York and has just been signed with a major lingerie brand (can you guess which one...
BOOK CLUB BOOK #1 - Motivation, Being Valuable and The Miserable Pursuit of Happiness with Naomi Simson
December 08, 2020 17:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBThis week’s guest is also this month’s Book Club author - Naomi Simson. She’s the founder of Red Balloon and one of the shark’s on Australia’s Shark Tank. She’s motivated, she’s tough and she doesn’t take any bullshit. She wrote Live What You Love which is a book that helps people to do exactly that - live what they love. It’s for entrepreneurs and employees who truly want to nail their work-life balance. Naomi gives excellent honest advice in this episode on how to manage work and family ...
Misdirection, Managing Routines and the Art of Magic with Cosentino
December 01, 2020 17:00 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBThis week’s guest is Cosentino, magician, illusionist and escapologist. It seems most kids go through a magic phase, usually after visiting a joke shop or seeing a street performer do an amazing card trick. The thing is, being a magician looks flashy and fabulous on the surface but it’s actually one of the most disciplined professions around. The magician dream often dies when kids figure out that performing is about 1% of the job - the rest is diligently sitting in front of a mirror for ho...
How To Deal When The Shit Hits the Fan with Lisa Cox
November 24, 2020 17:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBPicture this. You’re 24 years old. Fit, healthy and living your best life. You’ve travelled all over the world, you play representative sport and you’ve just scored a promotion in your dream job. All of a sudden, you suffer a massive brain haemorrhage that changes your life forever. That’s exactly what happened to this week’s guest Lisa Cox. She spent 3 weeks in a coma, months on life support and a full year in hospital. She lost a leg, most of her toes, most of her fingers, 25% of her sig...
Morning Routines are Awesome and You Should Definitely Have One
November 17, 2020 17:00 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBI’ve been writing in the self-improvement space for over a decade and one thing that keeps coming up, again and again is morning routines. They seem to be this magical mystical thing and people seem to think if they nail their morning routine it will solve all their problems. They’re absolutely right. In this episode, I talk about the science behind morning decision making, why mornings are so important and how to create an out of the box morning routine if more traditional routines haven’...
The Power of Practice and Knowing Your Shit with Kate Ceberano
November 10, 2020 17:00 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBIt was 1992. My bedroom was filled with lit candles. I’d strung one of my mother’s chunky pendants onto a velvet ribbon and had it tied firmly around my neck, hair badly flattened in a vain attempt to train it into the choppy layered look that was popular at the time. I’d swiped my dad’s Jesus Christ Superstar CD and I was ready to play Mary, Jesus and Judas simultaneously. My parents had taken me to see the production a few months earlier and Kate Ceberano had immediately become my Beyonce...
Diligence, Discipline and Total Shark Devotion with Amy Kirke
November 03, 2020 17:00 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBRemember when you were a kid and you went to the aquarium on a school trip and you were like 'Right. That whale is so freaking cool - that's what I want to be. A marine biologist.' And then you kind of forgot about it and ended up doing something else? This week's guest actually became a marine biologist - meet Amy Kirke. When it comes to discipline and delayed gratification, we have a lot to learn from those who are scientifically inclined. If you want to learn more about sharks and steal ...
Creative concentration, cancel culture and checking yourself with Zoe Norton Lodge
October 27, 2020 17:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBIt's 2020 and we're all basically full of rage. If anyone does the slightest thing wrong, we hit them hard with the shame stick. If you want to keep your outrage in check and also learn how to be effective and creative at the time (Zoe is!) this episode is for you. If you’re interested in anything you heard about on today’s show just go here for the show notes. If you love the show, consider becoming a Patreon supporter - even $5 a month would be a huge help in covering production, editin...
153 - Farewell from Kelly
September 15, 2020 23:15 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBSo this is it. Our final show together. We had a lot of suggestions for what we should cover in this show but in the end, we decided to go with this - the six things we hope our listeners have taken away from our time together: We are all experiments of one Never stop learning Seek self-improvement from a place of abundance rather than scarcity Be kind Choose grace Laugh - self-improvement doesn’t need to be so serious What's next for Straight and Curly the podcast? Carly is not sure...
152 - How to know when it's time to move on
September 08, 2020 20:58 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBIf you're in the Straight and Curly Facebook group, you'd have heard the news. Kelly is moving on from the show. What does that mean for the show? The girls don't really know yet. And anyway, that's a topic for the final show (next episode), not this one. In this episode, they thought it would be timely and appropriate to discuss, how do you know when it's time to move on from something? Especially something that's good? It's not taking you closer to where you want to be The cost-benefit ...
151 - Dealing With Negative People
September 01, 2020 21:41 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MBIf you're someone who's quite sensitive to the moods of others, then negativity can take you down pretty quickly. In this week's episode, we share tips for managing your energy levels to buffer the effects of negativity you may encounter. Try and get the balance right Limit exposure Remember you're not responsible for other people's happiness Be kind See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
150 - 5 Ways To Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
August 25, 2020 21:22 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBComparing yourself to others is an age-old problem and it has its roots in the fact that humans are inherently wired for competition. This wiring is one of the reasons we've managed to climb to the top of the tree in the animal kingdom. But it's also wiring that can make us deeply unhappy and angsty if we don't manage it well. In this episode, we share five tips to help you manage this very natural and normal thing better. Look to the big players Remember, comparison is the thief of joy U...
149 - How To Stop Caring What Other People Think of You
August 19, 2020 04:37 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBWe'd like to think the whole 'caring what other people think of us' is a switch that can easily be flicked to 'off'. But the reality is, it's not. In today's show, we share six tips for turning the care factor down to manageable levels. Prepare better Let go of perfectionism Get over yourself Get older If you don’t like something about yourself, fix it Feel the care but do it anyway See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
148 - How To Communicate Effectively with Your Partner, Friends and Family
August 11, 2020 21:55 - 53 minutes - 49 MBLast week we tackled how to communicate more effectively with the people you work with. This week we're looking at communication with your partner, friends and family. In other words, personal relationships. Tips we share include: Try not to let familiarity breed contempt Never blame Understand good communication takes time, and be willing to put in that time Be honest always Be clear on what your personal deal breakers are Check in regularly Don't say things in passing and expect the...
147 - How to Communicate Effectively with People You Work With
August 05, 2020 02:37 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBCommunication is something that's come up a lot in the Facebook group recently. Because communication is such a big area to cover, this week we're going to talk about communicating with the people you work with. And next week we're going to talk about communicating better with the people you love. Tips we share: When emailing, make it clear WHAT kind of response is needed When emailing, try to keep it to one subject per email Start each day with a clean slate Be professional Consider y...
146 - Living (and thriving!) in Uncertain Times
July 28, 2020 21:31 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBStraight and Curly is back! In today episode we do a bit of a catch-up, as we always do at the start of a new season. And then we share our tips for navigating these uncertain times: Focus on the basics Utilise routines to create a sense of stability Have base routines to fall back on Focus on what you feel certain about Understand that no one is 'getting ahead' right now Control the controllable Figure out if you’re a Fox or a Hedgehog Set aside a time to worry each day --- If yo...
145 - Q & A with Kelly and Carly
May 19, 2020 22:16 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBIt's been a while since we've done a Q&A show so we took the opportunity to open things up to our listeners and answer burning questions including: How did Kelly's trip to Nashville go? Has Kelly found a new TV show to watch with her kids yet? How is Carly enjoying country life now she's been there for over a year? What are our guilty pleasures? What are we reading? What did isolation teach us about ourselves? What was our funniest isolation moment? This is the final show for this cu...
144 - A Beginner's Guide to Sustainable Fashion
May 13, 2020 01:14 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MB“More sustainable fashion can be defined as clothing, shoes and accessories that are manufactured, marketed and used in the most sustainable manner possible, taking into account both environmental and socio-economic aspects. In practice, this implies continuous work to improve all stages of the product’s life cycle, from design, raw material production, manufacturing, transport, storage, marketing and final sale, to use, reuse, repair, remake and recycling of the product and its components....
143 - Where do we go when we die?
May 06, 2020 00:46 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBIn this episode, Carly and Kelly take a big step outside their comfort zone by starting a conversation unsure of where they're going to end up. A conversation that starts with the question, Where do we go when we die? The supplementary question to this (one that is relevant to this podcast) is, Do your individual thoughts on this change how you live your life? Some context: After losing Ant last year, Kelly found herself really needing to know (as much as anyone can know these things), th...
142 - How to get out of survival mode
April 28, 2020 22:10 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBThere are times in life (and for many people, right now is one of those times) where you're existing in a very 'day-to-day', moment to moment fashion. Days where you wake up in the morning and all you can think of is getting through the day so you can go back to bed again because that's the only relief you get from the stress, anxiety and uncertainty you're feeling. Carly and Kelly call this 'being in survival mode' and as they both have recent (pre-COVID-19) experience with this mode and c...
141 - Can you train yourself to go against type?
April 22, 2020 01:45 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBLong time listeners of the show know that Kelly's personality type is the one that loves to take a personality test. But how seriously should we take the results of these tests? Do we have traits that are truly hardwired into us? And if we do, are we able to train ourselves to operate counter to those traits? No tips in this show. Just a discussion from Kelly and Carly on what they used to think about the above, and how that thinking has evolved over time. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...
140 - Mental health tips for social isolation
April 15, 2020 01:38 - 48 minutes - 44.1 MBAt time of recording, pretty much the whole world is in lockdown and being asked by their country's government to socially isolate and #stayathome. Which of course is creating mental health challenges for everyone. So this week on Straight and Curly we're sharing 10 tips for keeping your mental health levels as topped up as possible during this time. Work to a routine on the weekdays and leave weekends to be routine-free Find a way to move your body every day Try and eat well Get yoursel...
139 - Tips and Tricks for Working from Home
April 07, 2020 22:17 - 41 minutes - 38 MBWorldwide, any of our listeners who can work from home are now doing so in order to put the brakes on the spread of COVID-19. For many, this is the first time they've had to work from home but Kelly and Carly have both been doing it for years. In this episode, they share some of their best tips including: How to be productive during the day so you don't have to catch up at night The benefits of an accountability buddy Setting hours for work and hours for home and finding a way to 'clock o...
138 - How to Deal with Anxious Times
April 02, 2020 10:22 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBIt's been nearly four months since Kelly and Carly have recorded and a fair bit has gone down in that time. On a personal level, Carly went to New York in December to celebrate a big win for Ben and then found herself dealing with the constant threat of bushfires when she got home. Meanwhile, Kelly got through her first Christmas without Ant and also the first anniversary of his death in January. A confronting but ultimately lovely trip to Nashville followed that. And then, just as both ...
137 - How to be grateful
December 17, 2019 21:35 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBSo here we are, our last episode for the year. Normally what we do in the final episode is a Year in Review episode. But that wasn't going to be appropriate for this year. So, instead, we've decided to revisit our second ever episode - the one we did on gratitude, the one we never want anyone to go back and listen to because we feel it is so cringey. It's the one where we talked about gratitude journals and how neither of us have ever been able to do the gratitude journal thing because ev...
136 - Managing Perfectionism
December 11, 2019 03:35 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBIn this episode, we're revisiting a topic we’ve done in the past: perfectionism. The weird thing about perfectionism is relatively few people realise that certain behaviours they’re indulging are related to the perfectionistic tendencies they have. The funny thing about many perfectionists is that they don’t think they’re perfectionists. (They think perfectionists want to be perfect at everything and if there are things they can be non-perfectionistic about, then they’re not perfectionists....
135 - Re-Writing The Stories You Tell Yourself
December 03, 2019 16:02 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBQUICK NOTE: We apologise for the quality of Kelly's audio in this episode. She's not sure what she did differently to normal, but it created a quality of audio that couldn't be cleaned up in post-production. -- A few episodes ago we mentioned the concept of re-writing the stories you tell yourself. Everyone wanted more on that topic so we’d thought we’d do a whole episode on it. It's worth noting this is a really big topic. So, as always, these steps aren't intended to be all-encompassing...
134 - Is Failing 15% of The Time the Key To Success?
November 27, 2019 00:54 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBQUICK NOTE: We apologise for the quality of Kelly's audio in this episode. She's not sure what she did differently to normal, but it created a quality of audio that couldn't be cleaned up in post-production. -- This topic actually came from one of our listeners, Cat Rodie who linked us to this HuffPo article. Here's a quick excerpt: "Educational scholars have long recognised that in order to learn and grow, people need to fail every once in a while. But the latest study, led by the Unive...
133 - How to make good decisions when you're tired, anxious and depressed
November 20, 2019 00:57 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBThis is a listener-driven episode thanks to Renee who asked in the Straight and Curly Facebook group: Any tips from the brains trust in how to not let emotion cloud your judgement (especially when you’re currently exhausted, depressed and anxious)? Our group members had some awesome advice for this and there was a definite theme to that advice. Kelly and Carly shared the tips from the group before going into some of their own, and speaking to their own experience of having to make good dec...
132: How To Have Good Energy Even When You're Exhausted
November 12, 2019 17:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBKelly is battling grief. Carly is in the first year of a baby. We're both exhausted. Yet we have to show up with good energy each day for our kids and our family and our clients. Here's how we do it: Prioritise sleep Exercise every day Eat well Be careful what we say yes to Manage workload carefully Stay away from unnecessary drama Know what's important in life and be grateful if you have it Know a positive attitude can provide an energy boost, not just to you, but those around you ...
131: When Things Don't Add Up You Need To Start Subtracting
October 22, 2019 17:00 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBWe talk a lot (a lot!) about adding things to your life and changing behaviours but what if you flipped the script and took things away? Here are 12 things you can safely take out of your life, or reduce greatly in your life, and your life will be better for it: Drama Toxic friendships Alcohol Processed foods That story you keep telling yourself Consumption (scrolling, scanning, watching) Debt Clothes that might fit one day That thing you committed to People pleasing Clutter Ov...
130: 6 Steps Towards Getting Out of Your Own Way
October 15, 2019 17:00 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBOften in life, our greatest obstacle is ourselves. We indulge in self-sabotage and self-defeating behaviour and this gets in the way of us achieving our goals or even simply living the life we want to. If you feel like your biggest enemy is...well... yourself, this week's episode will give you solid tips for getting out of your own way. Step 1 - Get honest with yourself about what you want, what you need to do to get there, and how you're currently standing in your own way. Step 2 - Remo...
129: Using automation to streamline your life
October 08, 2019 16:00 - 42 minutes - 39 MBSomething interesting Carly and Kelly read recently suggests most productivity challenges come down to an issue in one of three areas: Time, Energy, Attention. Automation is a tool you can use to do repeatable task automatically (i.e. with no input from you). It helps a little bit with Energy and Attention (by not needing to focus on some things, you can have increased focus and energy for others), but it can really help with Time. Interestingly, this is something Kelly and Carly differ o...
128: How to Sit With Multiple Things Being True At Once
October 01, 2019 22:47 - 36 minutes - 33 MBThis episode is perhaps the natural continuation of Episode 127 when we spoke about why the all or nothing approach to life and self-improvement is unhelpful. Because the media doesn't operate in shades of grey, and because most things we 'know' are dictated by the media, we are subtly programmed to reject the grey. Also, the brain doesn't like contradictory things and strives to put things in boxes. And it doesn't like it when we can't put things in boxes. In this episode we speak about t...
127: The truth about the all or nothing approach
September 24, 2019 22:24 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBIn the world of self-improvement, it's all or nothing baby. We don't allow slip-ups from ourselves. And we don't allow the people we listen to (influencers if you will) to be anything less than perfect at practising what they preach. But this approach doesn't serve us at all well in the long run. It supports a 'gotcha' culture where we're all looking to catch each other out doing the wrong thing rather than applauding ourselves and others for doing the right thing. In this episode of Strai...
126: 6 tips for building resilience
September 17, 2019 21:38 - 34 minutes - 32 MBResilience is the ability to cope with adversity while you're experiencing that adversity. And also the ability to bounce back after adversity. Today Kelly and Carly share 6 simple tips to help boost resilience: Be willing to expose yourself to challenging situations Practice mindfulness Be kind to yourself Protect your emotional health Have routines and rituals to fall back on Surround yourself with good people See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
125: A simple guide to setting strong boundaries
September 10, 2019 16:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBBoundaries are guidelines that establish how others are able to behave around you, and how you want to be treated. In today's episode, Kelly and Carly share some simple tips for people who are tired of feeling taken advantage of, resentful and burnt out. The tips discussed include: Never committing to something when you've been put on the spot Asking yourself who is paying the price of your poor boundary setting? Giving yourself permission to set boundaries Deciding what your boundarie...
124: Straight and Curly is back
September 03, 2019 16:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBAs long-time listeners know, Straight and Curly has been on hiatus this year after Kelly lost her beloved husband, Anthony, in a freak accident in January. 8 months on, Kelly's heart is still hurting, but she misses the energy boost she gets from chatting with Carly on a weekly basis. So the girls have started recording again and in this episode, they take the chance to bring listeners up to speed with what their lives look like now, compared to last year. This episode is the first of a ne...
123: Checking in with Carly
March 19, 2019 16:05 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBWelcome to this second special episode of Straight and Curly, one where Kelly was keen to shift the focus from the sadness of losing her husband Anthony, to the joy she felt for Carly in welcoming baby Harriet into the world and also moving to the country. As with the previous episode, Kelly will draw on questions from the listeners in the Straight and Curly Facebook group to see how Carly is managing these two very major life changes. Questions Carly answers include: Would you be okay...
122: Checking in with Kelly
March 19, 2019 16:01 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBWelcome to this first of two special episodes of Straight and Curly. As many of you know, Kelly tragically lost her beloved husband Anthony in a freak accident in January. In this raw and vulnerable conversation, Carly draws on questions from listeners in the Straight and Curly Facebook group to check in with Kel to see how she is going navigating the biggest challenge life has ever thrown her way. Some of the questions Kelly answers: How are you really feeling? How do you get out of bed e...
121: 2018 Year in Review
November 27, 2018 17:00 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBIt's the last episode of 2018 for Kelly and Carly. We'll be back in 2019 with more life improvement hacks. For today, we're talking about the year that was 2018. Topics covered - What worked What didn't work Things we wished we spent less time on Intentions for 2019 Have a beautiful and safe holiday season dear S&C listeners - we'll be back in your ears next year! ... For more info on Kelly and Carly, and to see any links or resources mentioned in today’s episode, head ove...
120: The Social Impact of Self Improvement
November 13, 2018 17:00 - 41 minutes - 38 MBIf you're listening to this podcast you're most probably into self-improvement right? But have you ever thought about the social impact your new health/productivity/exercise routine is having on your social life? This week Kelly and Carly explore the potentially negative aspects of self-improvement. Topics included - How to cope when it feels like you're losing people you love in your pursuit of self-improvement Creating new relationships through self-improvement Maintaining relatio...
119: How To Live a Meaningful Life
November 06, 2018 17:00 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBThis is a topic that pops up often and it's such a broad topic that it's difficult to do condense into a podcast episode... that's not going to stop us trying though! This week we're focussing on the Martin Seligman (considered the father of Positive Psychology) theory of 'meaning'. He believes meaning has three aspects. Belonging Serving something beyond yourself Developing the best within you That's what we're going to work through in today's episode - how these three aspects manife...
118: The Science of Happiness
October 30, 2018 17:00 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MBHappiness is an elusive beast and the concept of it comes up quite often for our listeners. S&C fans know that we love to research the science behind everything so this week's episode is about the science behind happiness. Topics discussed - The Golden Triangle Of Happiness Theory The Desire Theory The Proximity Triangle Theory The Einstein Theory Time vs Money Theory ... For more info on Kelly and Carly, and to see any links or resources mentioned in today’s episode, head over to...