Thrive Solo

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week’s episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I’m talking to podcaster, behavioural economist and author, Peter McGraw.Dr. Peter McGraw is a behavioural economist, business school professor, and bachelor who is turning his attention to the opportunities and challenges of single living. His projects include hosting the podcast, ’Solo: The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life’, The Solo Salon, and Single Insights: The Science of Solos. As the Director of The Humor Research Lab, Peter has authored ’Shtick to Business’ and co-authored ‘The Humor Code’. A professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business, he is a sought-after speaker, giving talks at organisations, conferences, and universities around the world.In this episode, Peter and I discuss the three steps that came to affirm Peter’s bachelor status; how he’s having more fun dating at this stage in his life than ever before; and the term ‘Relationship Escalator’ which describes the only ‘acceptable’ romantic and sexual relationship that we ‘should’ all be pursuing.We also talk about the four different categories that Peter has found single people tend to fall into during the course of his solo project work; how three of these types of single already see themselves as complete individuals and how they tend to have a strong sense of autonomy; and why people in traditional couples are often scathing and cynical regarding less conventional relationships.  Our conversation also covers how men are actually faring much worse than women when it comes to finding themselves single, especially after a long term relationship; how not everybody is looking for, or interested in, sex; the different challenges that single women face as oppose to single men including the ‘older man / younger woman’ phenomenon; and co-opting the word ‘spinster’ and making it cool.  Finally, we talk about the opportunities that come with living a solo life, and how single people often don’t think broadly enough about what they can actually do given they’re not married with children.Follow Peter on Instagram: @petermcgrawFollow Peter on Twitter: @PeterMcGrawCheck out Peter's website: https://petermcgraw.org/ Listen to Peter's podcast, 'Solo: The Single Person's Guide To A Remarkable Life':Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/1G16hs9bfw9IjOQPO9lwTL Apple Podcasts Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/solo-the-single-persons-guide-to-a-remarkable-life/id1493565823 Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSPOILER ALERT: This may be the most ridiculous episode I've ever done, but take a listen anyway! ;)In today's minisode, I tell you the tragic little tale which might have ruined my all-time favourite film forever.I could not love When Harry Met Sally any more. Everything about it. The cast, the script, the setting, the music...oh, wait.To find out what the hell I'm on about, press play.And Happy New Year! Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textIn this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to entrepreneur, Lara Solomon. Lara, a Brit living in Sydney, Australia, is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Hoopsy, which manufactures 99% paper eco-pregnancy tests to help counteract the sheer amount of plastic pollution the midstream plastic tests usually create. The tubes are also made of cardboard which are fully reusable and recyclable. At the age of 45 and single, Lara decided she wanted to try and have a child so she embarked on a mission to get pregnant. She initially had IVF which unfortunately didn’t work as one of her ovaries was diagnosed as peri-menopausal - so she decided to go down the embryo donation route. She settled on having her embryo donation procedure at a clinic in Spain and whilst she did get a faint positive test, she then miscarried the embryo. It was during this process that Lara realised how many times women who are trying to conceive test using plastic pregnancy tests. In this episode, Lara and I talk about her former marriage - which took her to Australia - and her subsequent divorce; her feelings around her current single status; her experience of dating in Sydney including the time she went on fifteen dates in one week; and how so many people stay in dead end relationships because they’re afraid of change, or they don’t want to sacrifice a particular lifestyle.   We also talk about how Lara’s three siblings are all married with children, and one of her nieces is named after her; how she does experience feelings of loneliness but deals with them by spending time with friends every day; and how she always assumed that she would be a mother, but found herself aged forty-five single and childless.    Lara also tells me all about her journey of trying to conceive alone, despite never having wanted to do it without a partner; how she was told that the chances of her conceiving through IVF at her age were 2% but she was determined to go ahead anyway; and how devastated she was when she was told that she wasn’t pregnant following her embryo donation procedure in Spain, despite having initially had a positive pregnancy test. Finally, we talk about Lara’s new company, Hoopsy, the name of which comes from the old Dutch word ‘hoop’ which means hope; and how young women need to be better educated about the potential challenges of getting pregnant. Hoopsy Website: https://www.hoopsy.co/ Follow Lara on Instagram: @hoopsycoFollow Lara on Twitter: @hoopsycoLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hoopsyco/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hoopsyco Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textOn today's minisode, I'm talking about going into the New Year with a mindset of intention, positivity, and agency over our lives.We all have a choice as to how we begin 2023, so let's make sure we start it as we mean to go on. Let's decide right now to focus our attention on our goals and our dreams, regardless of our relationship status.We are the authors of our life stories, so let's take a second and think about what we want to write.  Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textHello!Now, I simply couldn't let Christmas pass without doing a Christmas playlist episode, so here it is!I'm not gonna lie, it was NOT easy to whittle it down to 20 (!) Christmas songs, but it's done, published and out there.  I hope you enjoy it.As usual, the link to the playlist on Spotify is below.Merry Christmas!!! xxxhttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bM622k16H2wDbqWGEXJSp?si=2MOyptpHQM6AmSOLxkvZ0g&pt=8d8d813eb743c1e15d05dc823eefb39d Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textIn this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to author, researcher and expert on all things childfree, Laura Carroll. Laura is a leading voice on the childfree choice and has spent around 20 years tracking and researching this choice and those who make it. She is also a prolific book author and editor whose books include ‘Man Swarm: How Overpopulation Is Killing The Wild World’, ‘The Baby Matrix: Why Freeing Our Mind From Outmoded Thinking About Parenthood & Reproduction Will Create A Better World’ and ‘Families Of Two: Interviews With Happily Married Couples Without Children By Choice.’In this episode, Laura and I talk about how she wrote her first book, Families of Two, because of the lack of other books on the topic of childfree couples; the question of why it’s so difficult for society to accept women not wanting children; and pronatalism, the old system of beliefs that have exalted the role of motherhood for centuries.We also talk about the three most powerful pronatalist assumptions; how so many of our beliefs are programmed into our subconscious minds when we are children; and how Laura knew from a young age that having children wasn’t what she wanted for her life. Laura and I also discuss the assumption that we have to have children in order to find meaning in our lives; the common thread that Laura has found in the majority of childfree women she has interviewed; and how the journey of those women who are unsure about having kids is very nuanced. Finally, we talk about how being childfree creates the potential for us to live a more expansive life. Go to Laura's website to buy any of her books:https://lauracarroll.com/ Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauraCarroll88Follow Laura on Instagram: @lauralcarroll88 Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textIn this week's minisode, I'm doing a Part 2 to last week's 'The Importance of Our Thoughts'. But this week I'm talking about feelings...Our feelings are hugely important when it comes to what we're attracting into our lives, and in this episode I touch on both The Law of Vibration and The Law of Attraction. We're all made up of 99% energy and only 1% matter,  and so we're actually vibrational beings who are constantly vibrating at various frequencies. And it's our emotions that dictate whether we're in a 'high vibe' or a 'low vibe' state.  High vibration emotions such as joy, love, hope and excitement will attract high vibration people, things and circumstances into our lives. And vice versa for the low vibe emotions such as anger, jealousy, fear and anxiety.With this in mind, we could all do worse than to consciously find and follow what feels good, even if it's just a couple of times in a day...!    Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textIn this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to author and speaker, Mary Delia Allen. In this episode, Mary and I talk about how she came up with her concept of ‘the solo’ and what that means to her; how the truth is that if you’re single there are things you’re going to miss out on, in the same way that if you’re in a couple there are things you’re going to miss out on; and how she believes that current societal shifts mean that acceptance of being single as a ‘norm’ is going to happen imminently.We also talk about how the need to pair up for ‘survival’ is no longer necessary, and that subsequently there’s nothing we can’t do in the solo life; the question of why we’re still succumbing to the pressure of marriage when the failure rate is so high; and how, as single women, we should all learn to prize and value ourselves in the same way we would if we were part of a couple. Mary and I also discuss the festive season and how it’s a mistake to think that having a partner is the measure of a great Christmas; how you might show up differently in your life if you knew that your perfect partner was coming along in one year’s time; and how the solo life gives us the opportunity to build the wonderful muscle that is self-reliance.  Finally we talk about ways to combat loneliness; and how, if we allow ourselves to turn down the noise of our relationship status and adjust to being single, wonderful things will be revealed about ourselves that we didn’t know until we gave ourselves the chance to discover them.   Follow Mary on Instagram: @enjoyyoursoloUK Link to Mary's book, Enjoy Your Solo:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Enjoy-Your-Solo-Great-Single/dp/B09L3FLZDN/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1669727157&sr=8-1 US Link to Mary's book, Enjoy Your Solo:https://www.amazon.com/Enjoy-Your-Solo-Great-Single/dp/B09L3FLZDN/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=  Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textOn today's minisode, I'm talking about the importance of our thoughts and how they are, in fact, having a huge impact on our lives.We are all creators, and we are creating our own realities day in and day out, whether or not we realise this or believe it to be true; which is why it is so, so, so important that we're thinking about the things that serve us and the things that we want, rather than the things that we don't want. The topics of 'thoughts becoming things', 'mind over matter' and 'you become what you think about' can often be dismissed as woowoo rubbish, but the scientific evidence to support these age-old concepts continues to grow. Perhaps it's time for us to start taking this all a bit more seriously because, you never know, it might actually work.  Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textIn this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to mindset coach and podcaster, Lisa John. In this episode, Lisa and I talk about where she is on her fertility journey to conceive a baby; how, despite the fact she’s married, she feels passionately about women feeling whole and complete without the need for a relationship and / or a baby; how she sometimes grieves the loss of her single life which she relished for many years in her thirties; and how our happiness does not depend on a partner or a baby because it is, in fact, an inside job.We also talk about how Lisa came to embark upon her journey of personal development; the concept of mindset, and how changing your mind can change your life; how we can all start to get rid of the limiting beliefs that hold us back from living our best lives; how important it is to meet people where they are when it comes to educating them on all things personal growth; and how so many people will happily spend money on a new car, but are resistant to spending money investing in themselves. Lisa and I also discuss her new podcast, Fertility Babe, and how she passionately wants women to realise that their worth and their happiness are not dependent on having a baby; how single women can start to shift the way they think and feel about their lives so that they truly believe that they do not need a partner to complete them; and how there is still an assumption that single, childfree women are in some way lacking until they find the relationship and have the baby.     Finally, we talk about how annoying the phrase ‘my other half’ is; and how there should be greeting cards congratulating women on being single and childfree!Follow Lisa on Instagram: @lisa_john_coachingFollow Lisa's Podcast, Fertility Babe: @fertilitybabe Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!