Will You Make a Decision for Me?

It's Monday. I'm here for you.

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 this to you from my Brooklyn apartment.

My mom always tells me how March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb and I always ask how and why and what that means...

As if I forgot, but I didn't forget. I just like hearing her say:

"Like most things in life, the month starts off stormy and ends so sweet."

Like most things in life, March begins with a force of hope and fizzles out to be a calming exhale of musical notes that make up our life.

And so, I spend all 31 days repeating those words, like a mantra that's helping me

huffffffff

and

puffffff

my own release.

And it works, so good...

...things happen to me in March:

I met Adam on March 19th.
I met Goofy on March 25th.

I will soon meet a baby, my baby, on one of these March days.

And just like when I met Adam, and even when I met goofy, I want to run away again, back into February, hide in January.

Because new love is scary.

Because life makes you think you can't do the things you know you want to do.

Because the racing of your own pumping heart can give you one heck of a joyride. 

March makes me remember...extraordinary things enter our lives when we least expect them to. 

The love feels like a roar, but when it settles, it's sweet and cozy, it's unforgettable. 

Like a lion, I say, pacing around the apartment, waiting for what's about to march into my life. 

In this issue: What to do when you have decision fatigue, going out outfits I adore, and a list of personal development books that feel like you’re back in school.

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.

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Instant Pick Me Ups

🍪: I have a dare for you today. I dare you to press play on your favorite song, blast the volume, and try not to dance during it. See how long it takes you before you’re moving and grooving to the music. It’s a good, simple, joyful way to start the day. Here’s the song I’m playing.

📚: I don’t read a lot of romance books so I’m browsing this category today to find a new read for the week. If you have any suggestions, hit reply. Let me know!

🎧: If you’re looking to spend the afternoon with a podcast in your ears, here are some of the shows I listen to when I want to learn something brand new:

My First Million / The James Altucher Show / You’re Not Getting Any Younger (that’s me!!)

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Will You Make a Decision

For the past week, I've been unable to make decisions.

Even the easy ones. 

Adam asked me to pick a place to order dinner from and my mind went blank and my chest filled up with so much tension that it felt like I was wearing a weighted vest.

I could have just said pizza. I love pizza!

But I was in such a fragile and frozen state of mind - I just cried instead.

The end of February was a time when I got hit with a handful of really tough decisions all at once.

Usually, I just listen to my gut.

I go somewhere quiet and I let my gut talk to me, yell at me, guide me toward the answer.

I have a name for my gut and her name is Cynthia. 

“CYNTHIA!” I yelled, while swiveling in my desk chair. “What should I do?”

But Cynthia must have been on vacation that week because when I asked her for help, all I got was silence.

All of these decisions and my inability to know what to do  made me swallow so much stress that I felt it in every crevice of my body. I looked at myself in the mirror on Thursday and let out an elongated sigh. 

A friend I saw on Friday told me she could tell something was bugging me because of my body language, because of the dark circles under my eyes.

It's that obvious? I asked, my finger wiping off pounds of makeup. 

That friend told me to make a pros and cons list.

I laughed at her until she cut me off and told me it's not a joke.

“I know I want a magic solution for this indecisiveness I have, but come on? A pro con list? What a waste of time!”

But my friend knows me well so she knows that if I’m going to listen to advice, it needs to be given to me on repeat, until I give up and agree.

So she said it again.

And again.

Took out a piece of paper and made a template for a pro con list.

Wave it in my face and walked away.

So I did it. I sat down and made a list. I wrote my pros and I wrote my cons.

And do you want to know what happened?

I still wasn't able to make a decision.

But for the first time, in a long time, I felt organized.

I felt like I got so many swirling thoughts and conversations out of my head and onto a piece of paper. 

I made a pro and con list for EVERYTHING on my mind and carried them around with me for days until I was able to approach the decisions I had to make, one-by-one, and decide what to do.

What decision can't you make right now?

Say them out loud.

Then find a piece of paper, write the pros and the cons.

It won't be magic and it might not be as good as Cynthia (or whatever you call your gut) but it will help you stop slow dancing in your own head and start organizing how you're really feeling about all the things making you hesitate in your life.

As we head into a new mont, I’m surrounded by new pro con lists and it feels promising.

I feel a whole lot better than I did before.

You might too.

All my love,

Jen Glantz 

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Random Pick-Me-Ups

Outfit picks for a night out with friends: I recently updated my closet with these fun finds so I’m always ready to get dressed for a night with friends.

Bottoms: staple leggings / tailored pant / good jeans / flattering skirt

Tops: sequin staple / simple bodysuit / long-sleeve option

Purses: pearl purse / odd but cool / star clutch

Jackets: blazer / leather jacket / leather blazer

Books I tell so many people about: These are ones that make you feel like you just took a personal development course. Worth a read!

Never Split the Difference // Reach Out // How to Win Friends and Influence People //

Ps. Let’s work together - here’s how:

1:1 coaching // courses // company workshops & speaking

+ Random:

Books // Card Game // Podcast // Bridesmaid for Hire // Scared to Be a Mom

+Social:

Instagram // TikTok

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I’ll be back next week with a new Monday Pick-Me-Up. Until then, I leave you with this:

Whenever someone asks you:

'“How are you doing?”

Respond with anything except the words: good, okay, not good.

If a person really wants to know your answer to this question, they want to know the truth.

If you feel comfortable sharing the truth, open up and say a word that describes how you’re doing in that moment - even a sentence.

Don’t be scared that your response will scare people away.

Don’t be scared that people won’t love you because you’re not “okay”.

Don’t be scared to be open and honest.