The Pick Me Up is a Monday morning newsletter filled with advice, personal stories, and tips to help you get out of bed and jumpstart your week.
Greetings, friend! It’s me, Jen Glantz. I’m writing to you from Brooklyn.
I’ve lived in this little tiny apartment for almost 5-years. There were times I was desperate to move. I’m in a phase right now where I love it here.
Adam recently asked me:
“Why are you suddenly so happy here.”
For the first time, in perhaps ever, what's making me happy in New York City is this odd feeling of community.
I've never had that before: a park near my house, a group of friends nearby, a gym I go to every morning.
ROUTINE AND COMMUNITY! Gaw, Jen, you’re becoming such a grown up.
I tell Adam that and he asks what will happen when the friends move away and the park gets stale.
“I can't think about that today,” I proclaim, not eager to trade dirty sidewalks for swaying palm trees just yet.
What makes you happy today is enough.
We don't always need to yearn for so much more on a Monday.
In this issue: What to do when you lose something you adore, a book I can’t seem to put down, and a batch of podcast episodes all under 10-minutes.
Why you’re getting this: I'm Jen Glantz and this is The Pick-Me-Up newsletter. I've been sending it every Monday, for 8-years, to thousands of awesome humans, just like you. Thank you for letting this email live in in your inbox. It truly makes my heart explode with joy.
Meet Pick-Me-Up Sponsor: Sunsama
At the end of the month, all the things I procrastinated on come back around and haunt me and my to-do list. I find myself working late, unable to enjoy date nights, and staying up past my bedtime to rush to get things done.
This month was the first time, in a long time, that didn’t happen. Here’s why - I used Sunsama. They’re the only “planning assistant” that’ll act as your friend in need if you want to prevent burnout and establish a sustainable routine. It pulls your emails, calendar events, and tasks from your favorite apps into one focused view for just today and hand-holds you towards work-life balance.
Guess what? You don’t even have to put your card in to try it: Plan your day in Sunsama.
Instant Pick Me Ups
🍪: What’s something completely random you can do today?
Call a friend out of the blue and say hello
Make something you’ve never made before for dinner
Book a Saturday adventure at a local spot you’ve wanted to explore
Send an email asking for something you deserve
Take a dance class
You get the hint. Today is random day. Do something random.
📚: I love this author’s books so much. Years ago, I tweeted him that I loved his books and we ended up meeting for coffee and becoming friends. We lost touch a few years ago but I still respect him as a person, his work, and the way he was able to turn his book into a Hollywood movie.
🎧: I’ve got a batch of new podcast episodes for you. All of them are under 10-minutes. Press play on a topic that you need a little pick-me-up on.
I Lost It Again
Ever lose it all?
Ever find yourself kissing what feels like a winning lottery ticket in your life only to watch it fumble out of your hands?
Ever got that thing you wanted so badly? Worked so hard for? That jumbo job promotion….that acceptance letter to your dream school…that raise at your full-time job……met that person you thought was the person you'd spend forever with….
Only to watch it slip away?
Only to get fired, laid-off, pushed out? Only to find out that person wasn't who you thought they were?
Ever lost what feels like a winning lottery ticket? Ever feel like you've lost it all?
I think about this as I bend over in pain. I hit the one mile mark and I pulled over to stand on the sidewalk.
This time, 2-years-ago, I was running 10 miles. I was on track to run my first half marathon. I had gone from not being able to run more than 1 mile to running 10 and feeling like the hero of my own life.
Ever lost it all and made the decision to start over again?
To try again? To button yourself up and stand up tall and go back to the beginning?
There I was, trying again, stretching out an injured knee that made my running adventure end last year. I keep attempting to start the adventure again, a whole lot slower, with a whole lot more pain.
I thought about all the times in my life I went from dancing on stage during a highlight moment of my life - only to be locked out of my own party just a few days later.
A year after getting a major book deal with a well-known publisher, I couldn’t even get a meeting with any of them. My third book was rejected by over a dozen of them, including three publishers that had a bidding war over the second book.
I once found out that a person I loved dearly wasn’t who I thought they were after knowing them for a very long time. SO much of who I thought they were turned out to be one giant washcloth of a lie.
Years ago, right after getting a giant raise at a company I worked for, I found myself sitting in a conference room with my boss as he delivered the news that I was getting laid-off. The raise didn’t even kick in by the time I was getting kicked out of the front door.
Losing it all is different from rejection.
Rejection is when you try and you just don’t get that thing.
Loss is when you had it! YOU FREAKING HAD IT! And now it’s gone.
I quit stretching out my injured knee and I make a new goal for myself to get to the other end of the sidewalk before calling it quits for the day.
That’s some advanced human stuff, I thought to myself as I’m huffing and puffing down crackled pavement...to lose that lottery ticket in your life and start again from scratch.
To try again…
To try one more time..
To apply again, love again, ask again…
To swallow your ego and be willing to wake up in the morning and start back where you started many years ago…
We’re all chasing after some kind of lottery ticket…
Love it dearly, when it’s in your hands, and find the courage to chase it again, if you still want it, once it slips away.
All my love,
Random Pick-Me-Ups
Spring Hobbies: I'm super eager to spend as much time as possible outside during the spring so I'm looking at different hobbies I can pick up that help keep me outside.
Here are a few favorites:
Ps. Let’s work together - here’s how:
👏1:1 coaching: I specialize in working with people who want to switch careers, start their own business, improve their personal brand, or are feeling lost in life. Book a session and let’s work together this month.
👏Courses: Want a quick pick-me-up? I offer a handful of digital courses that include videos, assignments, and real-time personalized feedback from me along the way. Check them out here - the most popular one is the personal branding course.
👏Company workshops & speaking: I offer company workshops and conference keynotes on topics that include personal branding, social media trends, storytelling, and more. I’ve worked with Google, Apple, HBO, ESPN, and more. Learn more here.
Advertise: Want to showcase your business or brand in one of my newsletters or on my social media? Let’s chat about open opportunities.
+ Random:
Books // Card Game // Bridesmaid for Hire // Scared to Be a Mom // Shop
Instagram // TikTok // Podcast
I’ll be back next week with a new Monday Pick-Me-Up. Until then, I leave you with this:
Why do the things we love the most feel impossible to re-start?
It's not just because our body or our mind has to re-train itself to get back into the swing of things.
It's because we carry so much emotion with us when we got to start again.
Understand those emotions.
Process them.
When you’re ready, go again.
Start again.
Hi Jen!! . . . if you look at the flip-side of what you think you lost, you see that you've gained a BABY . . . and fuggedabout the raise, you started your OWN SUCCESSFUL business!! So it's not what you lost, it's what you've gained in your new chapter in LIFE!! Hope that's in your new book. KUDOS Mom, Loving Wife, Entrepreneur, Coach, Mentor!!