👋 Are you in the backseat?
It's Monday. I'm here for you.
At any given moment, you are either:
The type of person who is letting things happen (backseat riding through life) or you are type of person who is making things happen for yourself (vroom, vroom, behind the wheel).
Welcome to the Monday Pick-Me-Up. I’m driving my life these days, after a few years of hiding in the backseat. Neither spot is better than the other. Both bring dazzling things. Let’s talk about why that is.
Greetings friend.
It’s me - Jen Glantz.
12 years ago today I packed up my life, bought a $99 one-way ticket on JetBlue, and moved to New York City.
I didn’t want to move to New York City. I just wanted a new life and to be honest that new life could have been anywhere, doing anything. It’s just that New York City drafted me first.
Two years prior, I graduated college with a degree in creative writing and a resume that made me qualified for absolutely no job at all. Ten days before graduating, I remember sitting in front of a guidance counselor, asking what a person with a degree in creative writing does when they graduate. She crossed her arms on the desk, scooted closer and scoffed:
You should have asked that question four years ago.
And if I did? I replied.
You wouldn’t be graduating with a degree in creative writing, she said.
I waited for someone to knock on my door and hire me to write. Nobody did.
I laid back on the couch and said: Universe! I’m leaving this up to you.
And the universe said: o0oh really? Are you sure about that?
And I guess I said yes because a couple days later, I managed to scoop up an odd job. The sorority I was in during college hired me to work as a traveling consultant.
I spent a year visiting different colleges and integrating into the chapter of the sorority there. I was getting paid to make sure everything was kosher: no hazing, no drinking in the sorority house, no bullying, no trouble.
Ultimately, I was tasked with mentoring women who needed help figuring out their lives. I couldn’t even understand the mismatched equation of my own.
I was a year removed from their world, with a useless degree, working the only job I could get, which had me living out of a suitcase, sleeping on dorm floors, and telling anyone who would listen (which was nobody, really) not to major in creative writing.
When that job ended, I moved back home to the upper east side of my parent’s house. Back in my twin-sized bed and beside posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and shoeboxes of Beanie Babies worth as much as my resume.
I wasn’t letting the universe guide me this time! Instead, I begged my way into the next job.
I emailed someone I desperately admired - the editor of a local magazine and asked for a meeting.
She gave me a gig as assistant editor.
Friend, let it be known, I wrote approximately 0 articles.
Instead, my tasks were more “hands on”. Mostly, I cleaned up daily dog poop around the office and things of that shitty nature.
It was awful.
Almost a year into it, I had another convo with the universe.
I said: Look, listen. I’m all yours again. Take me somewhere else. I’ll sleep on dorm room floors. Anything but this smelly place.
I applied to around 378 jobs all over the world. Nobody would hire me.
I started to lie. I changed my location on my resume. If it was a job in LA, I said I lived in LA. If it was a job in London, well what do ya know? Your girl said she lived in London.
Still, most of these employers and HR reps didn’t care. A few jobs in New York City, for some weird reason, did. One gave me an offer and two weeks to move there.
The universe picked New York City and so hello, here I still am.
During my 12 years here, so many tremendous things have happened to me. I met my best friends, created my own odd job, wrote a couple books, started a family.
But the other day it hit me:
Some of those things happened because I let the universe make decisions for me.
Some of those things happened because I fought so hard until they did.
My friend, there’s no one right way to be.
If you were to unzip the details of your wildest accomplishments and life timeline, you’d be able to see your own statistics.
How many things happened because you made them happen?
How many things happened because you let them happen?
Once you find out, perhaps the only real lesson is this:
Both move life forward.
Both bring you toward something and away from something else.
But if you don’t know which one you are opting in for in this moment, you will simply, flat out, feel lost.
Look at your life, the last few weeks, the recent decisions, the happy moments, and the awfully sad ones.
Were you in backseat breezing or the front seat with the foot on the gas?
And are you okay with the seat you are in. Or is it time to switch?
So many great things happened when I let the universe guide me. But right now, I feel like I want to drive. I want to give the universe a break. Let it take a nap. Let it off the hook for what happens to my life.
Don’t get too comfy back there universe. I might need need you to take the wheel again soon.
Tell me about you:
⚡Instant Pick Me Ups
📚: I didn’t read any books this week but I’m really into reading recipes right now. Let’s see how long this lasts. But I want to make these two dishes this week: a salad a friend recommended + a soba noodle dish that seems extremely easy to toss together.
🎵: I mentioned how much I love this song a few weeks ago and this cover of it is so sweet. I’m dazzled. Also, I heard this song in Lululemon and it reminded me how much I adore it.
😋: One way to get comfy doing something that you are procrastinating on or avoiding with all of your might is to watch videos of other people doing it. I need to fix my eating habits. I can not just eat pizza every night for dinner. I need to treat my health better. I also can’t keep uttering the lie that cooking takes too much time and time is something I don’t have. There are some meals you can literally make in five minutes. I have five minutes. I have a lot of five minutes (just look at my TikTok usage). So I’ve been watching cooking videos of people making easy veggie dishes. I also replaced our very old kitchen tools with this set.
🎧: I like this dude’s podcast because he asks his guests to tell the audience how much money they make and how much they spend on stuff. It’s wild. On an episode with an influencer, she shared how she makes millions and it was mind blowing.
😮 Progress Report
Sharing updates on little things I am working on life.
Cooking:
I’ve been craving this dish for a year. I had it for the first time at a friend’s house and finally was so desperate to have it again that I attempted to make it myself. My cooking skills are horrible. Mostly because I do not like to follow directions. So I made this for the first-time a few weeks ago and I rated it a 5/10. Last week, I made it TWICE more. Adam, my honest taste taster, rated it a 10/10. He kept going back for more which was shocking. On our fifth date, I thought it would be nice to cook for him and he still brings up, almost a decade later, how he thought I was poisoning him because the meal I made was so disgusting. But finally, praise for my cooking skills happened. Woohoo!
Skincare:
So many of you shared incredible suggestions for my skin. Going to create a round-up of all of the comments/emails you sent and share it with the entire audience next week. Until then, you can read a selection of suggestions in last week’s comment section.
Saying nooo:
I’m staying true on my promise to say no to things. One more way I am doing that is by not making false promises. I have a tendency to say things I don’t mean instead of saying nothing. Ex: Let’s get together soon…when really I don’t have the time to get together soon or really do not want to. So in addition to flexing my no muscle, I am also practicing silence instead of uttering pleasantries that are misleading.
Why you’re getting this: I'm Jen Glantz and this is The Monday Pick-Me-Up newsletter. I've been sending it every Monday, for 9-years, to thousands of awesome humans, just like you. Thank you for letting this email live in your inbox. It truly makes my heart explode with joy.
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Who the heck is Jen Glantz? Hi, that’s me! I’m the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire, a nonfiction author, and content creator. I live in Brooklyn with Goofy (the dog), Gemma (the baby), and Adam (the husband). I eat pizza almost every day. If you want to say hello, hit reply or leave a comment. Ps. if you want to work together: I offer company workshops, digital courses, and pick-me-up coaching.
See you next week! Woohoo!
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I like this view of things and I’d say I live my life in the same way - sometimes I let things happen to me and other times I take life by the horns and make things happen for me! I’m not sure if it’s a 50/50 deal but I don’t really worry about that too much. Can’t wait to read all the skin reqs... 💕
Man, I needed to read this today!! Feeling very stuck at the moment...
My word for 2024 is devotion which I'm hoping will help me figure out what I really want as I move into the next phase of my life.
I don't want to settle and ever become complacent but always putting myself out there makes me feel so vulnerable. But, I've been in the driver's seat before and it was glorious! Somehow I need to gather the courage and get back to that coveted space again.