👋 You make decisions based on what you know.

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

Life forces you make decisions based on what you know.

But what if what you know limits you? Lies to you?

Looks at you with a big old smirk and says:

Who do you think you are? It didn’t work then, it won’t work now. Pick the same route as last time. Don’t change a thing.

Welcome to the Monday Pick-Me-Up. I can’t stop thinking about how different life could be if I just living like I always have. Here’s what I mean:

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Greetings friend.

It’s me - Jen Glantz.

My knee has been yelling funny little things at me for about two-years now. Mostly: Stop using me!

But I always yell back: Lalala I can’t hear you!

If I try to run, it throws a temper tantrum. If I do more than 10 squats, it ignores me for a week and I walk with a slight limp because of it.

I need this knee but this knee needs help.

Back in October, I was supposed to call the physical therapy office that’s three blocks away from my apartment — but here we are.

February is practically tomorrow.

I have not even picked up the phone once to try.

I strolled over there one afternoon in November, ready to book an appointment, but there was a piece of paper on the window that said: closed for employee training.

This is a sign! I convinced myself. That getting physical therapy is just a waste of time.

I almost tried again in December, but I was at the gym badmouthing my knee to a neighbor, telling her that I’ve got to call the physical therapy place already when she said:

Why bother? Psychical therapy is a waste of time.

And of course I believed her because she’s a doctor! A vet.

Here are the stats:

The line ‘I’m going to call tomorrow’ has fallen out of my mouth 678 times in the last 6-months. I’ve picked up my phone 12,952 times, giving me so many chances to just dial up the place and book an appointment. Instead, I opened up TikTok and watched videos of people contour their faces like artists.

But now we’re in January and my knee has given me an ultimatum. After a brief 5-minute walk, it said: We will not go any further until you get me the help that I need.

What is my problem? Why am I like this? What is stopping me from doing something that will take me less than three-minutes? I have done much harder and exhausting things this month. Why can’t I call the physical therapy place!!!

The answer is clear:

Deep down inside of me, I believe that things won’t get better.

I’m scared that I’ll have this pain forever.

I worry that if physical therapy doesn’t work, the “s” word will be tossed out (surgery).

I have convinced myself that because I have never gone down this route before, it can’t be welcoming to me or even present a solution.

A lot of this is because I am an intense combination of stubborn and scared.

But it’s also because we make decisions based on what we know.

I’ve never gone to physical therapy before. I don’t know how it works or if it works. So it’s easier for me to just not go and suffer.

Makes sense but wow, what a tough way to live life.

If we start to see we’re making a lot of simple, wrong, safe decisions that aren’t fixing what we need changed, maybe it’s because the path we’re picking is just the familiar one. But it doesn’t always mean it’s the best one.

When we limit ourselves like this, it’s tremendous how many big and beautiful things we miss out on.

Stay tuned next week. I’ll tell you what I did or did not do.

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⚡Instant Pick Me Ups

📚: This is on my read list. It looks great and good amazing reviews.

📱: A fun way to change things up in your life is to get a new phone case. I’ve had the same one for two-years and decided to get a new one that’s a bit unique. I picked this one. It really caught my attention. But this brand has a lot of really bold ones.

❤️:Galantine’s Day Gift List

• Heart-shaped waffle maker for the friend who loves homemade brunch

• These safety-pin earrings are in style this season.

• My go-to candle brand.

• I always wanted to get best friend necklaces like this and give half to a friend.

• Personalized purse.

• I want to make the holidays special this for Gemma so I bought some easy decorations to set up around our apartment. These hearts to hang across the windows and these balloons to hang on the wall behind the couch.

• For the gals or for yourself: I’m eyeing these.

🎵: I take Gemma to a fun little play class on Thursday’s and the teacher ends the class by turning the lights off, turning on the bubble machine and strobe lights (it’s vibe!) and blasting this song. It’s such a fun song and Gemma loves songs about heartbreak for some odd reason.

😋:I read in my friend Molly’s newsletter that one way to stay connected to friends who live far away is to ask them to pick your nail polish color. 99% of my best friends live in other states so I sent one of them a picture of the polishes and asked her to pick. The one she selected is a color I never would have picked in my entire life but now I have committed to wearing it for 2-3 weeks and it’s a fun way to think of her during that time. I get my nails done every 6-weeks, so comment below if you want to be on my polish pick list. I’ll reach out to you this year to make a decision!

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😮 Progress Report

Sharing updates on little things I am working on life.

• Skincare:

  I received so many suggestions about skincare products and put together this list here. It has everyone’s top picks, why they love the item, and where you can grab it. I’m the type of skincare shopper where I have to go into a store and feel the products before buying them. So I’m setting a date to go to a few stores in Manhattan in February that have products on the list. I was shopping at WholeFoods this weekend and picked up this moisturizer (I read good reviews online) and I really like it. I also picked this up (a reader suggested the brand) because I love turmeric. I used it once so far and I woke up to brighter skin. Keeping both.

• People Magazine:

  I was featured in People Magazine last week. It’s one of those moments that’s so hard to digest. I appreciated so many people reaching out and congratulating me but I was in such a shock that it was hard to even answer them. I’ve been working on my business for almost a decade. I really want big things to happen this year - and some of those big things are taking shape (more updates soon). One of those things is public and popular.

• Apartment:

  Last year, I looped you all in that I am manifesting a two-bedroom apartment in my apartment building but it feels like an impossible thing to come true. Mostly because nobody seems to ever leave this building (a lot of people have lived here for 5+ years - including us). Until this happens, I think we’ll stay living in our tiny 1-bedroom apartment. It’s around 600 square feet and holds all my stuff, Adam’s stuff, Goofy’s stuff, and baby Gemma’s stuff. It’s a lot of stuff. Also, I saw this week that a one-bedroom in this building (which is usually around $3,000-$4,000) doubled in price. The building is listing a one-bedroom for $6,200. I nearly fainted. That could mean a two bedroom would go for $8,000 and that’s just insanity. Does this mean my manifestation is dead? Should I give up? Will we live here forever? I’ll keep you posted…

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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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