Clean Your F*cking House B*tch
Our minds are like houses. When they're new, they're empty. As we live our lives we acquire treasures that eventually turn into shit that creates clutter. Some of this stuff is useful, while some of it is simply junk which just creates obstacles for us. What if we could eliminate the nonsense we don't need, and create more room for useful things? Join us on this podcast where we discuss removing what we don't need, implementing beneficial changes to our minds, bodies and souls, to create a life of abundance and fulfillment.
Clean Your F*cking House B*tch
Ep. 111 - When Life Derails You: How To Show Up Anyway
The day went sideways fast—sore throat, coughing, and even the dogs weren’t cooperating—yet we still showed up. Not to glorify hustle, but to unpack a smarter way to move through messy moments: read your state, respect your limits, and make a clean choice. We explore the tradeoffs between pushing and pausing, why consistency earns you the right to rest, and how to scale your effort without slipping into shame or excuses.
We talk through practical tactics for sick or low-energy days: skip the gym without guilt when symptoms point south, keep hydration and hygiene front and center, and use simple structures—checklists, acronyms, deliberate pacing—to offset cognitive drag. Illness can be a strange teacher; when autopilot fails, attention rises. That discomfort becomes data. Instead of spiraling into why me, we shift to perspective and control: focus on what you can influence today, communicate what others can expect, and let go of the rest.
You’ll hear how habits cushion setbacks so a single bad day doesn’t erase weeks of progress. We share how showing up at 70 percent can still serve your team, why managing expectations speeds recovery, and when a full stop is the wisest move. The thread running through it all is choice: awareness helps you read the moment, acceptance stops the fight, and choice turns insight into action aligned with your values.
If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a quick review—what helps you most on low-energy days? Your stories shape what we explore next.
Hello and welcome to Clean Your Fucking House, bitch, with Nancy, Kevin, and Lou. In our program, we get real about the challenges of life and living. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have to ensure you are on your desired path for success and satisfaction. Yet, from the day you are born, you gradually and subconsciously fill it with tons of useless shit that gets in your way. Why is that? How can you clean that mess up? We'll show you how. Get ready to clean your fucking house.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yes, perfect start. Shit happens, everybody. What happens to shit happening? Uh yeah, we were just talking about shit, figurative and literal shit happening.
SPEAKER_01:One of those days.
SPEAKER_02:One of those days, right? So like every day is not going to be great. Every day you're not going to wake up feeling energized and motivated and grounded on what you want to achieve. And we kind of just wanted to explore that concept of um, you know, showing up, also kind of reading what you need to. So we were chatting about my day. I'm sick, and our dogs all have digestive issues right now. And it has not been a fun day, but I've pushed through. We're here, right? Talking. I had a lot going on today. Um, at the same time, I got up early to go to the gym, and I was like, you know, maybe that wouldn't be the best thing for me. So I did a little research, you know, my my personal assistant, AI. And it kind of made sense. Like, you know, you don't want to dehydrate yourself. You could do a light workout, kind of said if it's more like above the neck, maybe it's okay to go do something light. Mine starts being in my chest. I'm like, I'm very consistent. I can take a little break just for recovery. Plus, you know, I wouldn't want to get anyone else sick or whatever. And I realized that in the past, a lot of times that I would get sick or whatever, I would have a real challenge not following through with something, mostly because I hadn't developed that consistency yet. Right? So it's like, fuck, of course, and I don't want to use an excuse. Of course, it happens right now when I was gonna actually go, and that was like a mental mind fuck. But because I'm consistent with it, I was able to give myself the grace to be like, you know what? Give it a rest for a day, see how you feel tomorrow. And I think you know, I think it worked out for the most part. Still, the day continued to be hectic, but here we are, and tomorrow maybe it'll be shitty again, or maybe it'll be a little bit better. I don't know. I'm excited to find out, you know.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, you held on to something positive, you keep looking forward. You started by taking a step back, right, and reframing the situation. So uh uh the words on the tip of my tongue are high five, but I was trying not to say that.
SPEAKER_02:But you said it.
SPEAKER_00:But it came through multiple times today. So so starting with already having to rethink and take a different action than your normal routine, each time you were presented with something, how did you keep how'd you do it again? How how'd you do it again?
SPEAKER_02:I think mostly what helped me push through uh was doing the things where other people were kind of depending on me. You know, and just showing up and and putting in effort even if it's not a hundred percent, I think is you know my approach. You know, I give a hundred percent every other time. So for the most part, I mean completely everybody was super understanding and it was all good. But yeah, it was more like I just and I'm also I have a lot on my plate, so I don't want to get bogged down too much, I don't want to take a full day off. Like if I was real ill, like bedridden, which happens a lot with man sickness specifically, because sickness hits men so much harder, right?
SPEAKER_00:I love that man sickness. I've seen it, I've seen it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's a consistent thing across the board. Um, that would be a different story, but um, you know, I took some breaks, I sat down, gave myself some space here and there throughout the day, and just tried to uh be aware and cognizant of how I was feeling.
SPEAKER_00:Other people centered and self-graced.
SPEAKER_01:Well, the thing about being sick, too, that beautifully said, you know, always stuck with me is your it your body's telling you you need a break. It's just really where it's I mean, certainly when you catch something that isn't planned, you know, it's it's slightly different, but oftentimes it's I think we're strong enough to fight off quite a few things. And when we struggle with that, it's just you know what, you're you're burnt out in so many ways, or stressed, or whatever the case may be. And you know, things like colds and flus. I I I actually do truly believe we can fight those a lot better when we are very mentally and physically strong. Oh yeah. But when we're stressed and anxious and all that, it's just the body's like, you know what, I need to a break. And you know, it's kind of good when that happens, but boy, what a when it breaks the routine. Uh it is a mental struggle.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it's hard to listen. I it's also sorry, sorry, Kev, but I love that you said that, Lou. Like, yeah, you have to listen. What is the message?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I've been like Kevin too, uh uh powering through. I actually traveled recently. And of course, when you're traveling, you have a dedicated time slot for things. You know, the meeting will be held on this day, you got to fly out at this time, and etc. I had no choice but to go because I wasn't bedridden either, and it was important, and I and I couldn't delay, couldn't reschedule easily. Perhaps I could have, but it would have come at a cost. But I just had to do whatever I could do to power through, and it just really uh yeah, messes, you know, with it. It's almost like it requires a 300% extra effort to do that. I mean, even as I'm do less. Yeah, like as I'm preparing and executing, I was ever so meticulous and and diligent with my words, my thinking, because it everything was impacted. You know what I mean? It's like you have to move a little slower to make sure you're moving correctly.
SPEAKER_02:That's a good point. You could you you're less likely to be operating on autopilot, right? Because you're in a constant state of discomfort. That's actually a really good point.
SPEAKER_00:Well, the cognitive thing is so real, it's working more slowly. The same amount of energy isn't going up to the brain cells. So the words aren't coming as fast, the thoughts aren't connecting as fast. So I'm told.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, when the on and just as a quick note on the converse, when there are those days, and I'm sure you both had them as well, when things are actually so super aligned and going so smooth and so well that you actually feel like you're talking fast and moving fast and doing things lightning speed and completing things, it's kind of goes both ways. It's uh when you're in the zone. When you're in the zone, yeah. It's almost effortless. Effortless. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_02:The one thing that I guess I can find to appreciate about being ill, maybe or whatever, is like putting into perspective, pushing through to do things that you know maybe you lack the motivation, air quotes, to do. Um, it makes it a lot easier. It's like I would rather be doing that and feel good than feeling like shit and not be doing it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Tricking my own brain.
SPEAKER_01:And of course, even I know when I feel bad and meaning sick in ways like cold, flu, or just sore throat, lousy day, not something really, really serious. I always try to keep that in mind. Like, you know what, it could be worse. It could be something debilitating, it could be an accident that I break a leg or whatever. I so important because it puts us in a, of course, a mental state if we're thinking, man, this really fucking sucks. I I, you know, I'm sick now and I gotta give this presentation, and all these people are gonna like it so easy to go off in that way, which would certainly make things even worse. Always keep it in perspective.
SPEAKER_02:You just made me think of like how how I would feel sometimes when I when something like an illness or sickness would happen, and it would almost get to the point of like, why me? This always happens to me. Like, you know what I mean? It's like not entirely in my control, like I live healthy, but shit happens. That's totally different than how how I feel about it now. And I actually was going to bring up as an idea, um, just something that I've been trying to really focus on at this juncture in my journey, is focusing on what we can control and accepting the things we can't, like the house situation that I told you guys, like um, yeah, it's sure you you feel disappointment, but we did all we could, right? And and you move on. Same thing here. It's like, yeah, I feel like shit, I'm cleaning up shit around the house. It is what it is, like I just have to do it.
SPEAKER_00:You accepted it. Yeah, it's also choice. Like what and what you said earlier made me think the same thing. You said, you know, tricking my brain, but you could in a lighthearted way look at it as tricking your brain, but it you made a choice, just like what what Lou was just saying. You could be all bunched up and this bullshit is gonna mess up whatever's coming next, or you could be like, Okay, I gotta do it. Let's find out how to do it and keep going. And and so you made a choice.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. What just came to mind is like meeting it where you're at.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And and adjusting accordingly. Because again, my my my uh the only way, at least that's worked for me that I know how. I'm sure there's plenty of different options or ways, but is like I said, just okay, slow down, take a breath, approach what I need to do with just a little bit more um, like you said, a non-autopilot sort of way, more, more diligence or focus or whatever the awareness. Awareness, probably, yeah, excellent word, is it requires a lot more, you know, even something that you may do over and over again, uh, say as a training class, a presentation, whatever the case may be, you know, say you have three points and you know those three points, like the back of your hand, you can rattle them off in your sleep. All of a sudden, you may find yourself, okay, maybe I need to think of an acronym or something because I I don't want to mess this up. I gotta make sure I execute right and easy. And that's happened to me before, you know, when I have lost focus is um in years past, is oh shit, I said the wrong thing. I meant to say this other thing. I said that. I'm like, fuck. Then, like you said, you start blaming the damn sickness. Well, if I wasn't sick, and all of a sudden it makes it even worse. And then in your mind, all this is going on while you're still trying to smile at people and present. Yeah, spinning out of control.
SPEAKER_02:And just like we talk about, you know, baby steps and tiny developments and tiny changes to create habits, once you're at the point of having, you know, the habits that you feel like serve you, then you know you'll just you'll jump right back on it. Like it doesn't have to be something that completely derails you and it doesn't change all the progress uh that you've made, all the achievements that you've that you've had. Um it's just another hurdle, another bottleneck. But if you are in a spot of trying to find that rhythm for yourself, then I, you know, for me personally, it can completely derail me. And then I start the negative self-talk and all, you know, and then not only am I sick, but I'm I'm grouping all the things that are also happening, right? Like all the things I talked about before we started recording, like those are all isolated things, you know, they're not all related and life's not out to get me type of thing, but that mindset starts creeping in, and that can be very overwhelming.
SPEAKER_01:And it's funny how when you you know, we all get sick periodically, it's just a fact of life. Yet when it happens and oftentimes happens unexpectedly, or when we least can say afford it, although is there ever a time we can afford it? But yeah, yeah, we still kind of like, what the hell? You know, I I I don't put my fingers in my nose and mouth and ears and in places where germs can't and all that, and I try to wash my blah blah blah and yet it still happens. I just I'm like, you know what? The the road of life is filled with potholes, and there's always gonna be potholes the entire way down that street, and we just gotta navigate them.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I think the cool thing is when you find ways to overcome and stay somewhat consistent with your methodology as an individual, you can kind of apply a lot of different lessons and views into a lot of different unrelated scenarios. Right? Like it creates strength, it creates the ability to adapt in your own way and how it means to do it for you and what works for you. We're really putting a positive spin on being sick today. This is amazing. How are we doing it?
SPEAKER_00:Well, you're smiling and you're here. That's how we're doing it. Like you showed up, you know, and it's all the words came out of everything we always talk about. Awareness, acceptance, listening, choice, and it's just and then Nike, just step and do it.
SPEAKER_02:Just show up. I love how you said show up, like unrelated to this, just show up, do the things that you always talk about to other people about doing and the things you say you want to do so bad, but it's uncomfortable. Like, just show up. You're gonna suck at anything that you do the first few times, right? Like, isn't that a reality of life? Like, you're you're always gonna be better at whatever it is the hundredth time, yeah, compared to the first few times you do it. But if you never try, then you will never get better at it. You won't get there.
SPEAKER_01:And oftentimes the first few that are of a learning nature, what happens as we get better, aren't usually as bad as we think either.
SPEAKER_00:Oh no, in hindsight, of course.
SPEAKER_01:In hindsight, you know, like I mentioned screwing up a couple times with the president and whatnot, and as I seek feedback, we're like, I didn't even notice. You didn't sound sick or you didn't come across rattled because of sniffling or whatever, you know, it it's uh usually not as bad as we think. Always we tend to exaggerate, I think, in that way.
SPEAKER_02:That's a good point. Expectations. Going into something new or waking up feeling like crap, you weren't anticipating and expecting to feel like shit. You go into new experiences with expectation and minimal exposure and experience to new things. Maybe that's one of the keys, you know, just do it, be present, and take it for what it is, and that's it. Show up, experience it, really try to tune in. Are you aligned? Does it resonate with you? You know, being sick doesn't know for sure, but other things, you know, just in general. I think that also helps. I love all that.
SPEAKER_01:I think that also helps with uh with recovery, though, when if we're sick and we're like, uh, I'm not gonna show up, I'm just gonna either stay in bed or sit on the couch, watch TV, whatever. What and that's happened with me in the past, it feels like my recovery is longer. Now, not that I'm saying one should always plow through while they're sick and doing something, but depending on the degree of sickness, again, like if I have a bit of a sore throat or a cold or something that isn't like making me bedridden, I I feel actually better sooner by keeping myself going and knowing that I'll get through this and I can handle this and manage this, and it's not so bad, then versus oh my god, I'm sick again, and it almost literally feels like I feel sicker by thinking I yeah, sure. Mine is so powerful. Yeah, it's easier to let go if you're not hanging on, yeah, like a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing, maybe.
SPEAKER_02:It's true. I think part of it too is building up the understanding of yourself through what you're able to handle, right? So if you're consistently pushing yourself and putting in the work to understand you and how your mind operates, your emotional state, like all those things. I think you're at least for me, I'm speaking about myself, but I'm much more able to tune in to what I need versus you know, anytime I'm feeling shitty and I hate my job, anyways, I'm obviously gonna stay home and then I'm thinking about being sick, feeling like shit because I have nothing to distract me. I'm laying in bed, versus on a consistent basis, kind of just going out there and doing things, regardless if it makes you uncomfortable or not. Um, this is just another form of discomfort, and so it's all good. Yeah, work your way through it mindfully, mindfully, care for yourself.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, because I think on the opposite, I love all that, and I will just say for anyone listening who feels like sometimes you need to just be down and take the day off or whatever. Yes, that's true, but then that's because you're also listening to your body and reprioritizing, taking a step back, shifting your perspective. So both choices are good if they're done with self-reflection.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. Kevin mentioned self-awareness, you know, just knowing exactly how much you can handle, how much you can manage. And your body will tell you when you know, literally are at a point where nah, this ain't working.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, I will say more often than not, that's not the case. It's really has to be something very serious to kind of keep keep me down anyway, and I would think with most people.
SPEAKER_02:Life is short when you're gonna do that.
SPEAKER_01:And that's why they made over-the-counter medicine.
SPEAKER_00:Let's give Kevin a gift today. And wrap with that. Own your state of being. Choose what's okay as the next best way to move forward in whatever way you feel each day, and hold to your true values and what's meant to be will follow.
SPEAKER_01:And manage those expectations. Awesome. Love it. Okay. Well, Kevin, I'm sure we all, all of our listeners included, hope you feel better. And we hope all of you join us for our next episode. Thank you for joining us for this one. Bye for now.