Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

Ever get home from a shopping trip and feel like you got swept up in the moment and you’re not really going to wear what you bought? Or opened a drawer or your closet and saw stuff in there still with tags on it, and felt guilty about wasting money? I’ve got a question to ask yourself that can help change that.  It’s part of a week of episodes on planet-friendly shopping. After all, it’s back-to-s...

Is there someone in particular, or maybe even a group of people you’ve lost touch with in the last couple years? If yes, it makes sense–a global pandemic can really put a damper on your social activities! This week I’m talking about taking stock of where you’re at in general at this point in the pandemic and in the year. And a cool way to do that is to reach out to someone that you’ve lost touch w...

How often do you think about how your life has been going up to this point? Not very often, right? I’ve got an exercise for you today that can help you get a little objectivity and clarity on who you are and what you’ve done that’s also just a fun thought experiment, and that is to think about what the title of your memoir would be.  Those prompts again are: A specific incident or place that has s...

So maybe there’s something on your goal list for 2022 that you haven’t been doing–something like exercise, or saving more, or marketing your business or even posting on social media. You’re just not doing it.  Today I’m sharing something that helps me tremendously, and it’s really kinda silly. But hey, so be it. It’s turning the thing you don’t want to do into a game. Specifically, into a game of...

As we ponder what we want to do differently in the months to come, I’ve got a suggestion that will help us all take our stress levels down. Can we all just be cool with our electronic communications taking a little longer? This is my prayer (and it should help us dial back that screen use that spiraled out of control out of lockdown and, let’s be honest, hasn’t really come back down.) Is there a w...

Now that we’re three years into the pandemic–and in the last stages of summer when you can feel fall getting ready to come swinging in like Miley Cyrus on her wrecking ball–we’re in a collective contemplative moment. In today’s episode I’ll talk you through how to check in on your yearly goals, as well as a bigger picture check-in on how you’re doing in general at this particular juncture in time....

We all need inspiration in this life and one place I get mine is from my podcast crush–Make Your Damn Bed, a short daily podcast from Chicago-based comedian Julie Merica.  Today I’m sharing one of my all-time favorite Make Your Damn Bed episodes, about the healing powers of watching Bob Ross (the groovy 70s artist who had a painting show on PBS for decades). Get ready to feel soothed, inspired, an...

I’ve got a podcast crush–a show that I love that I think you will too. It’s Make Your Damn Bed, from Chicago-based comedian Julie Merica, who is just a peach of a human–plus, funny!--and who also offers short daily episodes to help you look for the good and bring your best.  Today and tomorrow I’m running one of Julie’s episodes in my feed. Today’s is all about creating that wonderful feeling of h...

Having a sense of community and a feeling of belonging to where you live is so important–both to a life well lived and your overall wellbeing. Yet, at this stage in the pandemic, so many people are at least considering how and even where they want to live after the pandemic.  Today I’m talking with Melody Warnick, a journalist who has written two great books on the importance of place–This Is Wher...

There’s something you might be doing every night without even thinking about it that could be negatively impacting your neighbors, your community, and the environment. It’s flicking a switch and turning an outside light on. Which doesn’t seem like that big a deal, right? But it can have a lot of repercussions that you’ll learn about today.  A link to the New York Times article on light trespassing...

Feeling connected to other people feels nice, but can it actually improve your health? Yes it can, and there’s one particular hormone that makes that statement true, and that’s oxytocin, aka the love hormone, which I’m sharing some cool factoids about today, as well as how you can raise it and get the health benefits it brings while ALSO feeling a stronger connection to others.  Study showing oxyt...

Let’s just say that when you’re just out and about, running errands and minding your business, an angry driver honks at you, yells at you, and flips you off. And, your kid is in the car with you. What do you do?  Well, I’ll share what NOT to do in today’s episode, based on a true story! Yep, I’m coming clean on my road rage issues today and sharing a cautionary tale.  Send me your better person Qs...

This summer I’ve been re-watching the show “Better Things,” with Pamela Adlon, on Hulu, and I I love it for its lessons in reality, and unreality, and how messy motherhood and modern life and also, how despite it all, there are so many moments of truth and beauty. It’s like one of my favorite Dolly Parton sayings, “It’s all wrong but it’s all right.”  Pamela Adlon on Fresh Air Send me your better...

Summer + reading = two of my most favorite words. Today I’m sharing the 2 memoirs I read in various summery locations that I just capital-L Loved: Easy Beauty, Chloe Cooper Jones Punch Me Up to the Gods, Brian Broome “Fearing For His Life” – Chloe Cooper Jones’ Pulitzer-nominated article Let’s connect on Goodreads Send me your better person Qs! Email: kate@beabetterpersonpodcast.com This episode s...

Need ideas for what to read this summer, whether you’re hitting the beach or just chilling in bed? I’ve got 4 suggestions for you–all ones I read while I was on vacation and loved. Today I’m talking about the two novels I read, one’s romance, one’s YA, both are awesome.  You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, Akweake Emezi The Falling Girls, Hayley Krischer Let’s connect on Goodreads Send me y...

What if there was money out there somewhere that belonged to you but you didn’t know it was there? Wouldn’t it be cool if there were a search engine where you could type in your name and see if there were any old paychecks that never made their way to you, or a 401K account from your first job that you forgot about, or a refund from a company. Welp, there is! And I have got a nutty story for you a...

Have you ever gotten home from vacation and felt… sad? Out of it? Just not like yourself? That very real phenomenon is what we’re talking about today. Both why it happens, and what you can do about it.  This episode sponsored by: Zapier.com AthleticGreens.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you think of vacation, you think of something positive–fun, adventure, relaxation, being carefree. And yes all those things can happen. But sometimes, you can also feel a little sad, displaced, or just…wonky…when you’re on holiday. I call ‘em the vacation blues, and today we’re talking about why they can happen and what to do about them.  This episode sponsored by: Zapier.com AthleticGreens.c...

Let’s talk one of the most important things about vacation: What book–or books–to read. I mean, vacation time is so precious, you don’t want to be stuck with a book that you’re just not feeling! To help you choose your vacation reading material, today I’m talking with Holland Saltsman, owner of the independent bookstore The Novel Neighbor in the Webster Groves neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri....

Vacation is fun to think about, but less fun to pack for. I just got back from our first ever two-week vacation and feel, for the first time, that I really nailed the packing. So I’m sharing the packing strategy I used with you! Here are those categories: Exercise, lounging, dressing up, weather, activities, every day, toiletries, entertainment This episode is sponsored by: Zapier.com AthleticGree...

Raise your hand if you’ve ever gotten home from a vacation and felt like you needed to check into a detox facility. Or, as the saying goes, you needed a vacation to recover from your vacation. Today, we’re talking about how to have plenty of fun when you’re away without overindulging to the point that you feel like crap.  My interview with Ashley Whillans on overcoming time poverty Interview with...

[Note–this is a replay episode! So if you hear an out-of-date reference to COVID, that’s why. New episodes start again July 25.]  Seeing people’s perfectly coiffed selves and photoshoot-ready homes on social media fuels our perfectionism and causes our mood to dip. But… why are we looking at these accounts? What if you filled your feed with people who looked like a real person, complete with bad h...

[Note–this is a replay episode! So if you hear an out-of-date reference to COVID, that’s why. New episodes start again July 25.]  We all have things about ourselves that we’re not proud of. Maybe we even feel ashamed of. Could be big, little, or somewhere in between. And perfectionism is a natural outcropping of wanting to compensate for those things.  But the truth is, your imperfections, failure...

[Note–this is a replay episode! So if you hear an out-of-date reference to COVID, that’s why. New episodes start again July 25.]  As honorable as it is to care about being a better person and to give a shit about bringing your best and making a difference, we can go overboard with it all and feel like crap if we’re not doing our best at all times.  Today I’m talking to someone who can help us embr...

[Note–this is a replay episode! So if you hear an out-of-date reference to COVID, that’s why. New episodes start again July 25.]  Perfectionism isn’t just the type A, dot every i and cross every T form personality that a lot of people associate with the term. It can show up in a lot of sneaky ways, including procrastination, workaholism, impostor syndrome, difficulty delegating, picking fights, an...