Let It Be

They say all good things must come to an end ...

And while this episode isn't necessarily the end of Let It Be forever, it's the end for now. With that in mind, Kelly and Brooke take the opportunity to bring listeners up to speed with everything they've been up to in the six months since last recording. Hint: they've been rather busy!

This is a wide-ranging conversation that covers:

• The realities of dreams coming true
• How exposed one feels when they have a new book out, much less two
• The consequences of making hard decisions
• What to do when you're a self-improvement writer who is struggling to meet their readers where they are

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Want to stay in touch with Kelly and Brooke? Brooke and Ben will continue to produce the Slow Your Home podcast while in Canada (yes, they're moving to Canada) while the Straight and Curly podcast Kelly co-hosts with Carly Jacobs will continue on into 2018.

• Slow Your Home: https://slowyourhome.com/
• Straight and Curly: http://straightandcurly.com/
• Twitter: @kellyexeter @brookemcalary

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Kelly has recently finished reading Mark Manson’s new book, The Subtle Art of Not giving a F*** and was struck hard by what he calls Manson’s Law of Avoidance.

So aside from the fact that Kel now wants to discover and name a law of something (Exeter’s Law of Providing Value in Conversation has a nice ring to it?) the law itself really struck a chord.

Manson explains that, “The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid doing it.”

“That means that the more something threatens to change how you view yourself, how you believe yourself to be, the more you will procrastinate ever getting around to doing it.”

Given recent episodes where Kelly and Brooke have discussed change and assumptions and the pain involved in shifting our habits, this is an awesome topic to dive deep in to. Not surprisingly, they come at it from very different places.

Kelly from a place of personal improvement and Brooke from a place of fear. What neither of them really expected though was for it to be so uncomfortable, and to delve in to the idea of not being universally liked.

Head over to the Let it Be wesbite to learn more about Kelly and Brooke and subscribe to the show!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kelly and Brooke answer a listener question about how best to maintain positive changes in life, when things start getting complicated.

In this episode Brooke and Kel answer a question they received in their Let It Be Facebook group recently:

“I just took a 3 month sabbatical and the difference it has made to my self-awareness, daily mindfulness and overall happiness is indescribable. I think it was the mental space created by such a massive change in routine that made everything I've been working on feel like it's finally coming together. Any advice for maintaining these positive changes - in particular the changes to my mental habits - on my return to daily life and the stresses of work?"

This is a big topic for both Kelly and Brooke, as they discuss in this show. Those well-worn tracks of habit and behaviour patterns are well-worn for a reason, and it’s often when life gets busy or difficult that we find ourselves treading the old familiar path again before we even realise what’s happening.

Brooke talks about the importance of awareness, priorities and patience, as well as remembering to be compassionate as we learn how to negotiate these new paths, while Kelly shares her experiences in self-sabotage and how she now manages her behaviour to limit those regressions.

The other really important thing to remember, that both Kelly and Brooke agree completely on, is to give ourselves credit for the improvements we make, rather than lambasting ourselves for perceived ‘failings’. It’s somewhere in this delicate balance between willpower and gentleness that maintenance lies. (Which makes it sound easier than it is!)

Head over to http://www.letitbe.fm to learn more about Kelly and Brooke and subscribe to the show!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kel and Brooke chat about their own personal experiences with depression and anxiety in this episode that’s slightly heavier than normal.

Recently Kelly and Brooke hosted A Simpler Way in Sydney, alongside their mate Alexx Stuart. As part of Kel’s presentation at the workshop, she shared her story of anxiety and depression – something that has had an enormous impact on her life for many years. Considering that Brooke has also openly shared her experience of post natal depression and that both ladies believe it’s important to speak freely about these issues, they decided to chat about it today.

They begin by sharing their personal experiences of anxiety and depression, as well as the process they each went through in recognising that there was an issue greater than ‘exhaustion’ at play. Brooke shares her experience with medication and treatment in the early days, as a mum of two little kids, as well as the management strategies she uses on a daily basis now.

Kel shares what the early days were like for her, how she reached out for help and why she always advises people who are suffering to talk to someone. Kel also talks about her current strategies and what happened when she found herself feeling the grip of anxiety again earlier in the year.

Interestingly, Kelly and Brooke both look at the initial dark period as a catalyst for some incredibly positive changes in their lives and as a result are far more aware of the impact stress, poor health, sleep deprivation and overwhelm has on their mental health today.

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Now, this is an interesting episode. Again, inspired by a question from one of the Let It Be members in the Facebook group, Kelly and Brooke this week look at the topic of control. Specifically, when is a desire for control helpful and when does it become a burden?

Kelly and Brooke come at the control issue from very different places, as Kelly freely admits she’s a control freak (to a certain extent, anyway) who feels more at ease and more productive when she’s in control of her physical surroundings.

Brooke, on the other hand, used to cling to the idea of control as a way of dealing with her anxiety and depression, but over the past couple of years has really learnt to let go and find freedom in not being in control at all.

It’s fascinating to hear the different points of view on control and its impact, but super interestingly, both Brooke and Kel agree that there’s a big difference between controlling our environment and controlling Life (and people) and that this is often where the tension of control lies.

Head over to http://www.letitbe.fm to learn more about Kelly and Brooke and subscribe to the show!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.