Take back your time with Claire Hill

TL;DR

In my conversation with Claire Hill, I’m exploring how busyness gets mistaken for productivity and how reclaiming your time starts with mindset.

We’re diving into her Kickstart Formula for prioritizing tasks, setting boundaries, and overcoming procrastination, reinforcing that self-trust and rest are just as important as action.

Take Back Your Time:

• Prioritize with Purpose – Claire’s Kickstart Formula helps you structure tasks and eliminate distractions.
• Set Boundaries with Confidence – Break free from people-pleasing and redefine success on your terms.
• Work with Your Brain, Not Against It – Leverage dopamine and mindset shifts to stay motivated without burnout.

By shifting from busyness to intentionality, we’re creating space for what truly matters. Taking back your time isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what actually moves you forward.

Listen:

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My guest episode of Claire’s show (No Rest for the Vivid) →

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Transcript

Rachel Meltzer (00:00.64) Yay, welcome to the show Claire!

Claire Hil (00:04.32) so happy to be here Rachel when you were on my podcast my face hurt from smiling so I reckon yeah it's gonna be basically we're just gonna have a little party party podcast and teach some stuff

Rachel Meltzer (00:11.59) It was so fun.

Rachel Meltzer (00:16.864) Well, for people who don't listen to your podcast or don't know you yet, can you introduce yourself?

Claire Hil (00:27.628) Yes. My name is Claire Hill. I am a business coach, but I'm an expert in productivity and self belief, which means I am supporting you to get all of the blocks out of the way in making your dreams come true because more often than not, it's down to procrastination and self doubt or imposter syndrome sort of same thing. and yeah, I'm the founder of the Vivi business club, host of the No Rest For The Vivi podcast. And I think that's it in a nutshell. I help people.

Rachel Meltzer (00:52.96) E?

Claire Hil (00:54.52) with a business owners with a warrior spirit. That's the bit that was missing out.

Rachel Meltzer (00:58.157) This is perfect. I love the name of your podcast, No Rest for the Vivid, and how neon pink everything is. It just brightens any day.

Claire Hil (01:07.278) Exactly. I've really been embracing like my vivid brand and keep asking, you know, I always think how am I living a vivid life? Like how am I being my most vivid self? Is this, I experiencing this in the most vivid way? But I really like, you know, when you're like, you're doing something and then you're like, right, actually I'm talking about it a lot more, really owning that part of my brand. And I just feel like

The way that I help people transform in their business and their lives is that they're in like gray scale, beigey, then they sort of, nothing against beige by the way, you can have rainbow, but you know what mean? Like they're in gray scale and then all of a sudden they're in Technicolor, you know, like in Wizard of Oz. They're before the tornado, after the tornado. I'm, know, Oz, I'm in Oz. And I feel like that, when you ask yourself that question all of the time,

Rachel Meltzer (01:51.38) Yes.

Rachel Meltzer (01:56.915) Yes.

Claire Hil (02:01.782) It allows you to be so authentic to who you are. And then when you do that, you can show up so much better for your business and for everybody that you love.

Rachel Meltzer (02:09.94) Yeah, yeah, it's one of those things that sort of lines up well with one of the stories we talked about a lot on the podcast lately, which is like, everybody who's a new freelancer, especially women, are afraid of selling themselves or they have an ick towards it. And when you can look at it more like, am I showing up as my most vivid self? That feels so much better than like, am I confidently selling myself? It's such a leap to go from.

having the ick towards sales and confidently selling yourself. I always say you're not really selling yourself. You're selling your solution, your expertise, you know, whatever, your service, but that almost feels easier. It's like a bridge between not wanting to sell anything at all and feeling confident.

Claire Hil (02:57.934) Yeah. And I think we just got to remove the focus. Like it's not about us. It's about who we are here to help. Like as soon as you shift that. And also I had a, um, I hosted a group coaching session in my membership, literally an hour ago. And, um, I have a networking group that people come to now.

Rachel Meltzer (03:01.705) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (03:16.366) And one of my members of the membership is close enough to come to the networking. And so she said to me, you're teaching how you're showing up. It's like, you just, how do you do it? Like you're doing so well. And I was really embarrassed. thinking, I was like, no, you got to accept the praise, Claire. And I said, it is literally because I own it now. I know that I'm here to teach with my energy. And I think my energy is my superpower. And sometimes I used to think, is that really enough? So I know, yeah, actually that is. And it's just literally,

stepping into that and I sell, I am selling 24 seven. No one realizes I'm selling 24 seven unless I'm going, guess what, I've got this great offer, do you want it, la la la. But if I'm not doing that, then you you are constantly reassuring and selling goes beyond just, this is what I have, you must want it, it's gonna change your life. It's about trust and nurturing. Like, do you wanna be my mate on the internet? Let's go, you know, that's okay.

Rachel Meltzer (03:47.648) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (04:09.758) Yeah, yeah, I always say the more value you give away for free, the more you'll sell because people don't realize that you're selling when you're giving them value and you're not really selling, you're just helping them and showing them how you can help them. And once they realize how you can help them, they're like, yeah, I want more of that. That's the easy way in my opinion. Before we get too far, I would love to share with our listeners, how did you get started in?

Claire Hil (04:29.527) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (04:38.482) entrepreneurship and starting your own business. What led you down this path?

Claire Hil (04:43.682) I'm sure that a lot of listeners are a light list where they sort of had a bit of a business when they was a kid and they sort of made money. My thing was I used to tidy my friends' bedrooms for them and then they would then, I would say, look, I'll do it for you. Select some things I can have of your stuff and then that's how you pay me. Like that was my first thing. And I then had a business when I was 14. I made bags, like crossover bags.

like PE bags, you know all of the stuff for my friends like scrunchies and I spent six weeks of my summer holidays that's all we have in the UK six weeks my summer holidays and I made six pounds which is about nine dollars and I must have worked god so much it was ridiculous and then I had another one where I sold stuff on eBay with my friend and then I saw then I had this business called Violet and May

Rachel Meltzer (05:31.296) you

Claire Hil (05:43.568) where again I was hand sewing accessories so wedding fascinators, jewelry, worked, really lucky to know somebody that knew a shoe designer so I did some work for them and Beyonce had a rose that I made on her foot that blew my mind and Oprah Winfrey yeah, best week of my life, same week that I met my husband which is literally this time actually 13 years ago it was insane and then yeah and then I grew that business and then I

Rachel Meltzer (05:59.572) No way.

Rachel Meltzer (06:07.626) That's crazy.

Claire Hil (06:13.392) And all of that time, was working with adults with learning disabilities, went into management of homes for them, then started working in the community with homeless families. And because of my background, like my childhood was a bit pants and I grew up with quite a lot of financial issues, like basically didn't have finances, we didn't have any money. So I was like, I'm gonna give back, I wanna help these people. And then I got made redundant from that role and went into teaching.

And again, quickly progressed, loving it, helping all these kids. So in all of that, that was like 20 years of me supporting people to be the best versions of themselves. Um, and then I had a baby called Jackson, who is now six. And in that fog after the first three months got out of the way, I was like, I just want to be creative again. And vivid why I was born, which was a wire art business, but I was because of everything I'd learned from my other businesses. I, and all of those were before Instagram existed. So this.

Rachel Meltzer (06:56.874) Mm-hmm

Claire Hil (07:11.952) one was different because it was online it was like e-commerce and the others hadn't been apart from the eBay one I was a bit like okay how can I use what I've learned you know with selling and very much I used to go up and down to stores trying to say sale and return sale and return all my stuff like you have to really believe in your products when you're doing that because the amount of nose you get is ridiculous. They can't hide their face. like it's savage.

Rachel Meltzer (07:15.648) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (07:31.668) Yep. And you're in person. Like, you cannot fake anything. Yep. They can't just ghost you.

Claire Hil (07:42.624) No they can't, no because I'm just doing my stuff. Hiya! But that's the thing as well, used to do like wedding fairs and with the other stuff, god it was insane but they're moving on to Instagram, how can I replicate the magic of that that I was really good at onto an online presence? Did that through Vivid Wire?

really was like, I'm an artist, I'm going to pay, charge what I want. So from the beginning, I knew how to charge appropriately. And so I felt a lot of confidence in pricing strategy, which I've finessed now. Like I just, think a good pricing strategy builds confidence in you, regardless of whether, you know, it's just the best. And then I eventually, because it was handmade business turned

Rachel Meltzer (08:19.52) Absolutely. Yes.

Claire Hil (08:28.718) parts of it and revenue streams into passive and semi passive income. And not many people were doing it that they were basically moaning because all they were doing was making all day long 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I was like, no, I'm not doing that. I've just burnt myself out being a teacher. I'm not, are you having a laugh? No thanks. So all of the things that I was learning as well as I was studying a master's degree when I was a teacher.

I created this concept of warrior energy and I actually did some action research with a school where I said, if you do certain activities in the morning, how does that help your mental wellbeing, your confidence to change from a warrior into a warrior? Built this framework, it landed so well. And so then I started applying it to myself, applying all of these strategies and people were like, can you help with my business? And then the business coaching started. So I think I'm,

Rachel Meltzer (09:09.172) Mmm.

Rachel Meltzer (09:19.168) you

Claire Hil (09:23.598) When I say what I teach, I am the advert for it and I have never ever taught anything that I have not tried and tested on myself. And you know, the fact that I've had quite a few businesses, I think it allows that I've got such a thick skin. I'm just like, if something bad goes, you know, if something wrong happens, I'm like, oh, brilliant, I'm well excited. What amazing thing is around the corner because of this? So in a nutshell, Rachel, there you go.

Rachel Meltzer (09:39.37) Mm-hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (09:51.188) That's perfect. No, I love to hear the squiggly journeys because it's everybody thinks from the outside that like, you're so confident and you're so good at what you do. You must have been doing this all along and that's how you got here. And it's like, actually, we've all had these crazy like I also used to be a teacher. I used to work in politics and it's former teachers are going to take over the world, I think.

Claire Hil (10:16.536) Let's get her name in straight away, old polyclover!

Rachel Meltzer (10:20.188) I know, Polly's the same, yeah. And she's also doing incredibly well. But what they don't see is behind the scenes, we were all three of us working on our money mindsets. And all three of us had struggles with money growing up. And those things, the things that make the foundation of your business, the majority of it is your mindset. Yes, you need to be able to have a business bank account and do your taxes and you know.

Claire Hil (10:29.859) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (10:48.304) execute your services and sell your services. But at the end of the day, the only way you can do those things and do them well is if you are working on your imposter syndrome, working on your mindset with money and just like actually growing as a human being as well.

Claire Hil (11:04.172) Yeah, yeah. was talking, I had a conversation with someone yesterday about this because they, so many people will spend so much money on strategy. Like.

Rachel Meltzer (11:13.364) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (11:14.978) do it like this and this will happen. But that's, and I know this is such a commonplace thing, but I just don't know if enough people embody it, is that only, success comes from 20 % is strategy. 80 % is mindset. Like, and when I meet clients, I'm just been doing some previous, a period of market research, everything. What is limiting you? What is your biggest challenge? Me, my head, I get in my own way. And imagine if you are, you know, as we go back to the beginning,

of what we were saying is if you wake up every day and you are authentically your most vivid self, you look after your mindset like it is another person, that future self, future version of you is your top priority, then imagine how much more you'll execute in a day, imagine how much more you'll show up if you want to, imagine how much more courage you'll have to be brave. It's limitless then, it's the only thing, like you can be successful with a bad strategy if you've got the good mindset, the strategy is just only part of it.

Rachel Meltzer (12:07.008) Absolutely.

Rachel Meltzer (12:12.678) Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Claire Hil (12:14.728) actually is part of it is like it's the path of least resistance isn't it strategy get another course do another course do another like learn that thing learn that thing but are you gonna implement it you can't with the right mindset

Rachel Meltzer (12:19.904) Mm-hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (12:27.892) Yeah. Experience is very much the best teacher and it's important as well. Like you can get someone else's strategy and they might be doing really well. Like I took a course on passive income and I thought that it was going to like unlock passive income for me. I did everything the course said and I still struggled. And I realized after the fact that like, I just needed to do it my way. Like I didn't need to like have a fancy camera with a teleprompter. I didn't need to have like

video editor doing the videos for my course. Like no one cares that much about the quality of the video. They care about the value that they're getting from the course. In addition, courses are not passive income if you are having to sell them by launching. Like it's not, that's not, everything's semi-passive.

Claire Hil (13:14.094) That is so true. That is so true. You've hit the nail on the head. I paid a lot of money to be in a mastermind last year. And I'm not going to talk down about it and I'm not going to mention what it is because I did learn a lot but it definitely wasn't a mastermind because there was 100 people in it. That to me is not a mastermind. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (13:29.92) Mm.

That's crazy.

Claire Hil (13:34.894) And it was very specific way to, and it was focused on my membership to the Vivi Business Club and I really wanted to maximise it. But what they taught, and I tried it three times, it didn't work. It didn't work for me. And I think when you have that moment where you go, that was a lot of money for something that I'm not gonna do anymore. Like I've got...

Rachel Meltzer (13:48.561) Mm. Mm.

Claire Hil (13:57.442) Think about the fact that, you know, and if you rely on the strategy to fix the problem, then you are going to end up in that situation. But what I did learn from it was not what not to do, which actually was genius, but without the mindset to back that up and go, it's because a lot, if you've got the wrong mindset in that situation, you go, it's me, it's me, I'm the problem. Yeah. But it's not. So you need that mindset. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (14:11.946) Just as helpful.

Rachel Meltzer (14:19.796) Yeah, you're the problem. Yes. Yeah. And it's not, I think it's also important to see that like, it's not necessarily a failure or like maybe it is a failure, but you can learn from it. But like, I felt like such a failure that my course for two years that I worked, it took me two years to build and I spent two years trying to sell it, did not sell the way that this course promised me. And at the end of the day, what I realized is like, I actually hate Instagram. And I think probably people can tell.

Because I don't fucking want to be here. And that was like, repelling people, you know, and it was just too much. It was too much for me. And when I switched to LinkedIn, like everything changed for me. I talk about that all the time. And that's not to say that like you shouldn't be using Instagram because obviously it works for you, Claire, but like for some people or some mediums or some niches, maybe it's not the best place for you. Maybe for your personality, it's not the best place for you. And it's OK to like try something and fail.

Claire Hil (15:08.013) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (15:18.13) And as long as you learn from that, Like the learning from it could just be, I don't wanna do that. The learning from it could also be like, here's how I could do this better. And it's not that like that course that I took didn't teach me anything or it was a waste of money. I think it was a little overpriced, but at the end of the day, I learned, like you said, what I don't wanna do and what I do wanna do and that you have to make everything yours.

I have a bunch of free Notion templates, for example, for people like a freelancer's dashboard and an ideal clients tracker. And people are always like, well, how do I do this in the tracker? Like, how do I keep track of individual people in the tracker? And I'm like, I don't know, how do you want to do it? And they're like, well, I think I should create a new card for every single person. And I'm like, okay, then do that if that's what you want to do. Like make it work for you. It's just a template. A template is a starting point that you can adapt to your business and how you work. It is not like,

the end all be all. The best part of Notion templates is that it's not like a rigid structured software that you have to use the way it was built. You can do whatever you want. And I think we expect because it works so well for someone else's success that we have to do it exactly that way in order for it to work for us. And it's not, it's like, that's like the opposite of what I would hope you would do with my templates, you know?

Claire Hil (16:39.086) And just reminds me of, you know when people get really annoyed if some clothes don't fit them right, they walk into a shop and they're like, oh those jeans don't fit me right and they blame their body. It's like, the jeans don't suit, they're not made for you. It's the same kind of thing that you're not gonna walk in and find the perfect pair. You gotta try a few on. I mean jeans especially, like you've got to try or just throw them out and wear joggers. Like don't worry about it. you know, it's that idea of what about, wouldn't it

Rachel Meltzer (16:52.97) Yes!

Claire Hil (17:09.2) fun if I go and try that and it does work wouldn't it be fun if it doesn't because my god the transformation in that learning is gonna be phenomenal and it's gonna make me it's gonna literally make me and allow me to own my space in a totally different way and again I was talking today in my membership about launching memberships because I've got some people in the membership who want to you know and I've supported them to launch their own and they I was saying you know like you you set your price point

Rachel Meltzer (17:12.832) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (17:38.912) listen to your intuition as you set that price. When you are confident in your lane, then start looking elsewhere. Because the worst thing to do if your mindset isn't like, this is what my membership is for and this is who I serve, especially, you know, like anything with your course or whatever, anything that you're selling, if you're not really standing by what you sell, then you go and look at somebody else's go, my shit, because I'm not doing that. Then it ends up being your message is diluted immediately because you're

Rachel Meltzer (17:55.328) Mm.

Claire Hil (18:08.816) you're not backing yourself. So I was saying like go and have a look in about a year. Get in your groove first, see who's gonna be attracted to what you want to do and then move on. But yeah, get curious. Just get curious with it all.

Rachel Meltzer (18:18.72) It takes time. Yeah. Having a curiosity mindset rather than a like a should mindset or, or why can't I, those are the things that sort of stop us. But like, how can I? Feels much better and more exciting, right? Well, one of the things that we really connected on on LinkedIn recently was not

Claire Hil (18:37.866) Yeah, absolutely.

Rachel Meltzer (18:46.602) having enough time in the day. I asked freelancers, like, what are you struggling with on LinkedIn? And the most popular comments were the ones that were like, I just don't have enough time in the day to get everything done. And it feels like I'm constantly just scarce for time. And to me, there are so many reasons you might feel this way. One of those things could be that you

don't have systems that are working for you. So you're sort of like spending a lot of your day sort of fighting your systems or like having to do things that like things are taking longer than they maybe could if you streamlined. But another, a bunch of other things could be going on too. Like you could be procrastinating, which for me is part of the process. I've built procrastination into my schedule. I personally find that it helps me, but I also have ADHD. So that could be why.

And I've also noticed some people who feel like they don't have enough time in the day are allowing their tasks to sort of expand because they're giving them too much time or they're not being strategic with their time in their booking. Or there's also the people who will sort of randomly take days off. Like I used to work like six days in a row and then I would take two days off and they were never like designated days. It's not like I take Sunday, Monday off. It would be like.

this time it's a Wednesday, this time it's a Friday, you know what I mean? I would just take it off when I felt burnt out and I would always feel like I don't have enough time in the day and I'm working too much, I'm working six days a week, why is this happening to me? I can make my own schedule, I should. It really came down to like, I was just allowing things to expand in this space that I was giving them and then when I did take the day off, I felt so guilty for taking the day off that it.

I was basically just making myself more burnt out instead of resting and making myself feel better. So then it just is a cycle that keeps repeating itself because it's just like a piranha eating away at your psyche. So there's so many reasons you might not have enough time in the day, but I feel like you as a productivity coach and someone who also understands neurodivergence.

Rachel Meltzer (21:00.606) to an extent, like what are your thoughts on the not having enough time in the day dilemma?

Claire Hil (21:08.13) well.

There is so much to unpick here, so I might go off on a little bit of a monologue. The first thing I want to say is when it comes to rest, when you don't believe you should be resting or you're feeling guilty, that is attached to worthiness. Now, there is so much mindset in productivity. Like, it is not a strategy, it is a strategy problem, it's a mindset issue and about productivity.

Rachel Meltzer (21:13.684) Yes.

Claire Hil (21:39.022) I have worked years with children with ADHD and myself I have symptoms but it's trauma affected. But I'm gonna drop a bombshell here Rachel and I don't know how it's gonna land but procrastination has got nothing to do with ADHD. Which a lot of me, I know and it's crazy when people say oh I'm procrastinating because of ADHD, no that's about your focus but procrastination is avoidance. But it is something that is in fashion.

Rachel Meltzer (21:49.536) You

Rachel Meltzer (22:04.596) I think it's also like a, it's like a living in dysregulation thing. Like typically when I'm most productive at work is when it's urgent and it's either urgent or it's a creativity flow that I'm enjoying following. Like when I do websites, I really get into like a design flow and I love that. Or I need the urgency because I'm not interested enough in the work that I'm doing, but then it just sort of like, you're living on a roller coaster of dysregulation and

I have yet to find the balance of regulation to not use the tools of urgency and procrastination to get my shit together. And I think part of it too is hormones. think nobody talks enough about how, people talk about cycle syncing and getting your hormone flow in line with your work and working to your hormone schedule.

Claire Hil (22:46.476) The thing is, it was the past year.

Claire Hil (22:51.221) Yes.

Rachel Meltzer (23:02.484) But a lot of people like me who are dysregulated because of something like polycystic ovarian syndrome or endometriosis or something like that, it's impossible to cycle-sync because your cycle is not regular. And so a lot of times, like, my hormones are also fucking with everything. I am working to get them under control, but it just takes so long and so much effort. Like, I constantly think about what I eat and what this lack of sleep is, or whatever, you know?

so I know it's not necessarily like I procrastinate because I have ADHD. It's like I procrastinate because I'm dysregulated and I have yet to find the balance of regulation. So I'm kind of using it as a tool, but it's like maybe not the sharpest tool of the shed, if you will.

Claire Hil (23:45.516) Yeah, and the thing is that, like, in the talk that I did yesterday, I said two myths and a lie. To be honest, my cold has made me forget what the other facts, not truths and a lie. And the lie was that deadlines are the best way to get over procrastination. And they're not, because...

Rachel Meltzer (23:58.656) Yeah.

Claire Hil (24:07.242) you're not looking at the root of why you're procrastinating and you are. And when we talk about hormones and I bloody love, I love the fact that you mentioned it. You know, if you are able to regulate, you have a regular cycle and be really productive when you're ovulating and then go, you know, there's a great book called Period Power. It's by a UK author. So I don't know if you've got it over the US, but it is phenomenal. It's by somebody called, her name's Hill, Maisie Hill.

Rachel Meltzer (24:09.738) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (24:36.94) And she talks about the seasons of your cycle. And my VA knows where my period's coming because I've got it all over my calendar and I plan accordingly. But like you say, it's not, that's not possible for everybody.

Rachel Meltzer (24:43.406) Ha!

Claire Hil (24:50.136) But the hormones that we can have something to do with that really take a really big part with productivity and mindset. Number one, the king of all hormones is insulin. So what is food? If you're starting the day, and I'm not gonna go, I will go down a rabbit hole with this, so I'm gonna try and curb myself, but if you start the day with a heavy, carby breakfast that's got a lot of sugar in it, that is gonna impact your insulin levels, therefore you are going

Rachel Meltzer (25:03.092) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (25:20.08) going to feel more tired, feel more lethargic, it's going to beat yourself up, etc. So always high protein if you can and try and avoid those really low GI carbs. So that's that. Also,

Rachel Meltzer (25:23.87) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (25:33.748) Yeah. Also, if you want the biggest thing that changed my life with insulin, I read the glucose revolution. Sure. By the glucose goddess. Yeah, that was life changing to me. My friend recommended it to me last year and I was like, my God, I think I have blood sugar problems. And I went to my doctor and she was like, yeah, you totally do. You have insulin resistance. You have polycystic ovarian syndrome. And I was like, why didn't anyone tell me this when I was diagnosed with PCOS? And they were like, well.

Claire Hil (25:42.274) by the glucose for this.

Claire Hil (25:51.49) Yes.

Claire Hil (26:00.948) You've got, you've got hyper then. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (26:03.294) Yeah, so I'm on a blood sugar control medication now, and my PMDD symptoms went from like, I am a dragon one week a month, and I wanna, like my boyfriend probably wants to kill me at this point because of how psychotic I am towards him, to now I rarely notice that I'm having PMDD symptoms unless I'm like having road rage. Like that's the only time it comes out now because I'm controlling my blood sugar better. I'm also controlling it with my diet.

But because of my insulin resistance, it's really, really hard. But yeah, highly recommend if you feel like you're tired after every single meal you eat, which I did, and you're on this exhaustion roller coaster, you might wanna look at either A, what you're eating, and also what your blood sugar is doing.

Claire Hil (26:54.286) I've got something called hypoglycemia so I'm the opposite. My insulin is too reactive and I don't talk about it too much but it's a pain in the ass. It's so annoying. A couple of times I've had such severe hypos that I've nearly passed out and I'm with my son because they just happened and I'm like my god and it's just so debilitating. I have to literally carry back jelly babies and a carton of juice.

Rachel Meltzer (27:00.645) yeah, yep.

Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (27:07.488) Mm-hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (27:20.554) Yeah.

Claire Hil (27:26.28) I'm not diabetic because it's just that my insulin goes, oh, we're having a party, let's get the glucose in the cells, woo, oh no, we've done it too much, oh bugger. So I literally have so much protein in my diet to try and regulate that. The odd biscuit just can't do it, it's just gonna make me feel poorly. first up, look at insulin in your diet, that's gonna be really key. But also, these beautiful hormones and chemicals in our system, they're not actually hormones, they're chemicals.

Rachel Meltzer (27:26.826) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (27:40.128) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (27:54.27) adrenaline is adrenaline, adrenaline might be actually well a hormone the definition of a hormone is a chemical that sends a message and makes something happen so i'm just gonna go with it

Rachel Meltzer (27:57.93) feel like it is.

Rachel Meltzer (28:05.408) I'm not a doctor.

Claire Hil (28:05.922) I'm trying to remember my size. But yeah, so adrenaline and dopamine. And as somebody with ADHD, we got to find that dopamine everywhere. And that is like people need dopamine as much as anything else. So everything I teach about productivity is all about let's dial down your adrenaline addiction. Last minute Lindas leaving everything to the last minute. Let's dial up that dopamine.

Rachel Meltzer (28:31.601) Last minute lint.

Claire Hil (28:33.676) Let's turn you into those prepared paulers because it doesn't do anything for your system and it makes your hormones so imbalanced and then you need magnesium in your life. you want, if magnesium glycinate, if you're struggling with anxiety, sleep or anything to do with last, doing last minute, everything magnesium glycinate and specifically magnesium glycinate needs to be a supplement that you take. am disclaimer. I am not a doctor, but

and go and read about it. And also if you're having painful periods, because there is a mismatch with the messaging that magnesium can help where the pain is too much. So, and I'm talking from experience where my diet, know, foggy, all of that, I was a last minute Linda, always, I do my best work when I leave it to the last minute. my God, it's so good. Like I do it on purpose because I'm literally a queen when those deadlines are coming.

Rachel Meltzer (29:07.744) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (29:30.688) you

Claire Hil (29:30.894) It's like, yeah, but I was literally a shadow. come to the end, I'm like, ugh, like a zombie because I've got no energy left. Exactly, or longer, like just wiped me all out. So the way that I talk about all of my productivity stuff, which I'll come to in a minute, is all about searching for the dopamine. And a deadline just does nothing. So if you're procrastinating about something, the real reason you're procrastinating, if that's the issue you've got too much on.

Rachel Meltzer (29:35.816) and then you have to recover for your whole day.

you

Claire Hil (29:59.662) So I'm gonna just quickly go back through all of those examples that you said because I wanna make sure I cover all of the things because another thing you were saying was about having too much. So if you've got too much on your plate, your worthiness is attached to how busy you are and how you are in service to others, therefore you take on too much. You're a people pleaser and have no boundaries. Again, attached to worthiness, doubt, and imposter syndrome, and fear as well. So it's all there. I teach.

Rachel Meltzer (30:19.914) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (30:23.904) I think some of that too is like, there's a little bit, I see so frequently, I'm like, well, how many clients do you have? I don't know. How much money are you bringing every month? I don't know. Like they're just in the pursuit of getting clients and getting the yes for the validation that they're doing the right thing and people do wanna work with them and they can't say no to anything because they feel like they need the money so desperately.

Claire Hil (30:34.55) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (30:48.99) And it's like, okay, but did you actually charge your rate? Like if you go through and list all of your clients, how much time you're spending on them, like legitimately how much time you're spending on them, not how much time you think you're spending on them, how much you're actually earning from them. And you really look at it, like actually audit your business. You might see some things a little more clearly. And you're right. It does so frequently tie back to that self-worth piece or the money mindset. And this is why like on my freelancer dashboard, the template and the

dashboard that I use personally, there's a little section. So every time you get a new client, you write them in there and you keep their notes in there and you have all that information laid out. So every day you're seeing it. can't ignore and avoid it. But it is like, even if you have a system, it's not going to fix any of your problems unless you take a look at your rates and you take a look at your money mindset and you take a look at your self-worth as well.

Claire Hil (31:47.374) Yeah, and what happens as well with some of my clients is they say, I haven't got time. No, I've got no time. I've got so much on my plate. And in next sentence, I don't have enough clients. I haven't got enough. I'm like, well, you've just told me you've got no time. Where are these clients? What are they gonna do? Where are they gonna fit in if you've got no time? Well, the universe is this and then it's going, yeah, you want more clients, you haven't got no space. We've got to trust that void a little bit more when that happens. But also, when...

Rachel Meltzer (31:58.304) Mm-hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (32:15.69) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (32:17.407) When that happens, how many clients do you want? What does it look like when you are fully booked? How many hours a day do you want to work? Remember that you need CEO time because you want those clients in the pipeline, bringing them in. And so that comes down to having boundaries around what work you're going to do. There's a great book called The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. I'm just going to check that it's, I think I'm pretty sure it's Gerber. And he talks about the different, building your business like a franchise. And he talks about

Rachel Meltzer (32:38.24) Yep.

Claire Hil (32:47.408) McDonald's and I went hell for leather for this when I learned about it so I my whole business is split like I've got 30 members of staff they've all got job titles at the moment there's only three of us in my organization and multiple hats but

In that sense, it means that when I am ready to hire more, I go, there's your job. There's your job description. But it also means it's very easy for me to go, okay, today I am CEO, tomorrow I'm marketing director.

Rachel Meltzer (33:18.944) you

Claire Hil (33:19.138) and I block out those different roles because the worst thing you can do with your energy is take one hat off and then put another one on and then put another one on and put another one on. And what happens if you don't have a proper strategy to what work you're working on is you get, think, I'll just do that quickly. no, I'll just do that while I'm there. Now a symptom of ADHD is being distracted. Now this is one I do have and I will open up my phone.

to look for research or something but then something triggers my heart like da da da, I'll go over there and do it, I'll just do that quickly. Or I'll go down a rabbit hole of doing different things. Like you, I time that in because sometimes, I'm so much better than I used to be, but sometimes I will only lose five minutes. Sometimes I've lost half an hour or more. And it's just one of those things that I don't notice straight away.

Rachel Meltzer (33:57.92) Mm.

Claire Hil (34:15.66) It's just, like the meerkat thing. And that's where it comes from trauma related. I just want to look at all the time for something. So on the, with that, you, I have this system, it's called the kickstart formula and anybody can have this. It's completely free. It's on my website. Just go to clarehill.uk slash free stuff. This, yeah, the kickstart formula is so good. Everybody that uses it loves it.

Rachel Meltzer (34:22.196) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (34:37.204) Yeah, we'll put the link in the description as well. Yeah.

Claire Hil (34:45.422) I didn't realise how powerful it was because I started using it when I was 20, when I was in university, writing my dissertation and I use it every day. I used to use it, like I use it at the weekends. I use it, I literally use it every single day because without it, I am a floating plastic bag. Going around in the wind with nothing to anchor on. I'm just floating around, you know, literally like that firework song by our good friend Katy Perry. No idea what I'm doing with my life.

Rachel Meltzer (35:02.907) Hahaha

Claire Hil (35:14.382) I need to anchor it. I write, the first step is to brain dump everything that you're holding onto in your brain. Second is you highlight what you must do. Always focus on what is important, not urgent. Usually urgent is attached to somebody else's urgent. And this is where we forget to work on our businesses first, especially if we have lots of clients, because we want to serve our clients and.

Rachel Meltzer (35:36.618) Yep. Yep.

Claire Hil (35:40.642) What if they don't like us and we don't answer that message straight away? my God, imagine leaving them for 20 minutes. know, again, attached to self-worth. So you write it all down, you highlight what you must do, and then you do the simple thing of putting a number next to each one. Now, number one, when you put that number one down to the first task, it is essential that you choose something easy or that you're gonna apply a two-minute time or two. If you've got nothing on there,

Rachel Meltzer (35:46.73) Yeah

Claire Hil (36:10.402) You're gonna have to choose the worst job first because you get double dopamine when you do that. One, we build momentum by doing an easy thing to get going, but choosing the worst thing first to do means that you get dopamine when you tick it off and then you reward yourself with an easier job next. The worst thing about procrastination is it gets worse through the day.

If you've got something that you don't want to do because it's boring as fuck, it's really boring, right? There's so many things in business you're like, this is, why? Why have I got to do this? If you keep putting it off, I'll do that in a minute, I'll do that in a minute, the energy of the heaviness of it just drags you down. I literally, I did a piece of content yesterday on Instagram of this amazing guy, he's Norwegian and he danced with a teacup. I don't know if you've seen him on social media, my, he's.

Rachel Meltzer (37:02.441) No.

Claire Hil (37:04.29) joy, joy in a reel, I'm just gonna send you this reel, it's just so good. So I saw this piece of content and I did my own version of basically he's dancing and he's like, this is me when you put something off for ages and then you smash it out within 20 minutes. Because the perspective of that thing that you think is really, really difficult, it's not gonna actually take you that long. Just get it done, get it done fast. And then the weights lifted off your shoulders, you have more energy to carry on, which means you start working.

Rachel Meltzer (37:25.024) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (37:33.858) more quickly, giving yourself more time. That is the thing, it's not the amount of tasks a lot of the time, it's how much we think the tasks are taking us and not prioritizing our own business because when you get to the end of the day, you're like, shit, I still didn't post any content, I still didn't do that, I still didn't do that, worries me, you're feeling inadequate and what you've done by doing that is broken that self trust. You said at the beginning of the day you were gonna do that, then you didn't.

Rachel Meltzer (37:44.32) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (38:02.926) And when we impact self trust, that impacts your self belief. Because if you can't trust yourself to do the little things on your to do list or the stuff that's important, how the hell are you gonna be able to believe you can do the big stuff? Your doubt is sitting there going, you can't even get up on time when you put an alarm on. You snooze, you snooze the alarm. So you think that you're gonna be this amazing freelancer traveling the world being a digital nomad and you've just snoozed the alarm again. Get a grip love.

Rachel Meltzer (38:15.156) Yeah, yeah.

Claire Hil (38:32.716) Like that is what having a dad's fit in.

Rachel Meltzer (38:33.364) It's also one of those things you learn so quickly when you're responsible for something else. Like I took care of my friend's kid for three days and like took her to school every morning. And she has like her whole routine, like listed out with timestamps for me to follow to take care of her. She's like six. And I had no problem getting up at six o'clock in the morning to take care of her and take her to school. And I had a great day and I got so much done while she was at school. And I was just like, wow.

It's like, cause I have purpose. Like I love this kid so much. I have purpose. have no problems getting up at six AM, but if it's for myself, forget it. Like I don't want to get up at six AM. I'll snooze that alarm until eight AM. It's so bad.

Claire Hil (39:16.686) And the thing is that it's so... used to be like this. There's a story that I tell about the fact that I used have nine alarms in the morning and everyone had snows. Yeah, I just... Yeah. good. Well, the thing is I had...

Rachel Meltzer (39:25.364) Yeah, yeah, I hate those people. I just stopped setting alarms, I just don't have one. I just wake up when I wake up. Which is sometimes worse.

Claire Hil (39:35.734) I do have a human being that I have to get up for, when I didn't, it used to be tough, but before he was born, and I did start this before he was born, thank God, I read this article, again, about cortisol. It's all these chemicals and hormones in our bodies.

Rachel Meltzer (39:51.968) I

Claire Hil (39:54.374) Cortisol is set off when you snooze that alarm because your body goes, we've got to be on alert, we've got to work up soon, but we don't know when do we? Is it nine minutes? No, I can't remember. Is it 10? No, I'm not sure. Just in case, we'll just lay here and that's what your brain's doing. It is not good sleep, but you can get into that groggy shitty sleep, which impacts. So before you've even dealt with anything in your day,

your body's already full of the stress hormone. So there's one thing that I was really struggling, I used be a complete insomniac, like really bad insomnia, for like 10 years. Like that was my identity. I am an insomniac, nice to meet you, my name's Claire. And I had to do something because then when I was teaching, like you cannot be an insomniac when you're teaching, like, no. So I just did this thing where I just stopped snoozing the alarm.

and just worked really well on my sleep hygiene, but not snoozing. Sometimes I fall off the bandwagon, and God do I know it, because I feel like a gray sludge about me all day. Like my energy isn't just there. Also makes me a bit more weepy and a little bit, like my doubt gets a bit more of an edge in and so I can hear it a bit more. that's one thing, but it links so closely to self-belief. And people think I'm daft when I say this.

Rachel Meltzer (40:51.104) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (41:00.671) Yeah.

Claire Hil (41:17.582) I was like the worst time for you to snooze, don't snooze the alarm one day and it's really hard the first day. And you literally get up and just say, no negotiation, I'm getting up, I've put the alarm on, I'm keeping these promises myself. And then you slowly, your self trust happens. And again, that's another dopamine hit because you are saying, look, I've just done something. I said I would do. brilliant. And then you start the day building that little momentum.

Rachel Meltzer (41:39.84) Mm.

Claire Hil (41:44.718) you will find you'll become more productive as a result of just doing that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's not, it is the first one. Like if I fall off the bandwagon, which does happen, it is always harder the next day when I go, no, don't snooze, just get up. But I never ever regret it. I never ever regret not snoozing.

Rachel Meltzer (41:48.256) And your body gets used to it too, you know? Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (42:08.906) No, I don't either. That's just so, it's like, it's like an addiction. It's a horrible feeling. It's just the same as how sometimes I really like, I just want to like smoke weed, play Stardew Valley and watch Gilmore Girls all at the same time. And then just like binge eat a bunch of sugar, even though I know it's horrible for me, because it's this like, it's like self-sabotage mixed with like.

scratching an itch, it's like scratching poison ivy. Like you know it's the worst thing you could possibly do, but it feels so good in the moment. And then the next day, you're gonna regret it after going to bed at one o'clock in the morning and singeing your eyeballs out and getting a bunch of quarters all dumped in your system while you're playing a video game. Like sure Stardew Valley is like a cozy chill video game, but like I am running around. I'm drinking like 10 cups of coffee, my character in that game every day. Like it's not chill for me. I'm an overachiever. I need to like really go hard.

Claire Hil (42:40.163) Yeah.

Claire Hil (42:58.797) Yes.

Rachel Meltzer (43:02.058) But it's one of those things that like, you don't realize how shitty you feel when you're, like, you know you feel kind of shitty because you're not sleeping enough, but you don't realize how bad it is until you get like two weeks of really good sleep and then you have that again, that shitty sleep again, and you're like, my God. Because I used to be an insomniac as well, and I would like blame it on my anxiety and then I wouldn't do anything about it. And when I stopped bringing my phone into my bedroom, I make sure it's like actually dark and cool.

Claire Hil (43:17.601) I guess.

Yes.

Rachel Meltzer (43:31.186) I do yoga before bed now and it's like five minute yoga. It's not like I'm doing half an hour yoga video with Adrienne on YouTube. Like it's like five minutes of just like, I do too, but not every day. It's too much for me. Right?

Claire Hil (43:35.758) There you go.

do love yoga with Megan. Not for a five minute. You go out to her YouTube channel and go, where's the 18 minute video again? I can't see. what you talking about? Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (43:49.44) Exactly. And it's like even wearing pajamas, like I have the same pajamas every night or, I, my roommate thought I was psycho for doing that when I first started doing it. And I was like, no, my chiropractor recommended it. And it's actually amazing. And the magnesium before bed, like if you, and I think my whole nighttime routine maybe takes 30 minutes and it's feels good the whole time to me now. But the first, the beginning is like the hardest part.

to break out of your old habits. And then once you get into it and you actually feel better, you're gonna be so addicted to feeling better that you're like, okay. And you're gonna fall off the wagon. I do it all the time. Not all the time, but frequently. At least once a month, usually around my period. But it's like, you just start again and it's okay. And you're like not a failure. It doesn't mean that you are gonna be an insomniac again forever. It just means like, okay, now we try again. But the difference is,

Claire Hil (44:34.069) Yeah, could be a little slick.

Rachel Meltzer (44:48.044) So like you can feel it in your body and your intuition if you really like get in tune with yourself. And that's like the high I ride is like how good I'm feeling, you know?

Claire Hil (45:00.162) Yeah, and I think it is so much there because when you were talking about when we let go of these old habits, we're grieving the person we were that was forming them. If you really want the success that you, know, all our clients bang on about, like if you're listening to this right now and you're like, I really want that success. You cannot have excuses and success. I know that is a savage statement, but it is true. There was a workaround for everything. And I'm telling you now, I've worked with people that were paralyzed from the chin down and wanted to live on their own.

And we made it happen. Like nothing is impossible. And so when I do get frustrated when people say, this is this, I've got this, I've got this. I'm like, okay, fine. But

and that's where I used to be. can't do that, my dad died when I was really young. was such a terrible childhood. Watch me get my violin out. It was really sad, but without that I wouldn't be proud to be the woman I am today and this, I was made for this. That made me, so I want that success. Any excuse that comes up for me, and I probably am a bit annoying with this, but...

you know, that's way it is. If there's an excuse that comes up for me, I will work around it. I will find something. I never have an excuse. If say like this week I've got a cold, the testing point of whether I'm ill enough not to work is can I be bothered to put makeup on? And the only reason, again, I was talking to someone about this yesterday, my CEO version of Claire is hair down makeup on.

Rachel Meltzer (46:07.904) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (46:17.546) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (46:24.79) As soon as I finish work, hair is up on top of my head, lenses are out, glasses are on. And I'm very similar to you. I have two sets of pajamas I wear when they get washed. At the weekend, I wear this. This is hilarious that I do this, but every weekend I wear the exact same clothes. I wear a pair of leggings and a jumper.

and I wear them every single weekend and I never ever deviate them from that and I've got my hair on top of my head, makeup because I have to transform, I have to keep this part of me, which is very authentically me, out of the other way so I can rest appropriately. But it's about, I've forgotten my point now, where was I? It's cold, yeah, about the excuses. So when I'm ill, like if I can't put my makeup on,

Rachel Meltzer (46:59.882) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (47:11.022) I'm like, okay, rest time. But if I can, there's no way, my business brings me so much joy. I'm not letting a cold stop me from recording a podcast with you when it's like this. Like, I'm obviously fine, I've had a coffee. You know, like, but there have been a lot of times I've been ill and I'm like, nah, it's not happening today. I cannot, bye bye. Like, I've got to reschedule it and not feel guilty. And there was something I heard recently that said, when you're feeling guilty about resting,

We say, you worked hard enough to rest? But let's flip that and say, have you rested enough to do your best work? And there's so many people that don't. It's like, the hustle, the hustle, the hustle, the hustle. The way I teach productivity is that you can double your productivity and work less. We're not into toxic productivity. I'm not gonna tell you all that busy work that you think you should do. Yeah, keep going, babe. No, that's attached to your self-worth.

Rachel Meltzer (47:46.782) Mmm. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (47:58.464) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (48:09.418) You... People say, you know, there's this meme that goes around like, everyone says they got their shit together, no they haven't, they're just lying. Nope. I've got my shit together. And I've truly have got my shit together and at any point I think, I haven't got my shit together today, I tweak and sort it out. Because I define what my shit together means. I don't do that much. You know, like, I haven't got that high expectation to myself of I have to... I don't know, I don't even know what the shit is that other people do because I'm just not interested in it.

You know what mean? Like I'm not one of those mums where my kid goes to all of the clubs and has to have all of the... like... He don't give a shit, he's loved. To me, that's good. But I define what that shit together means. There's one thing that I used to really feel inadequate about was birthday cards. Like, I've got this cousin and I love her and she's so good at it, but she used to send... she remembers every birthday, every anniversary, she sends out a card. I to think, my god, I can't even remember to text someone!

Rachel Meltzer (48:39.999) Yeah, yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (48:48.672) you

Rachel Meltzer (49:05.726) Not me.

Right?

Claire Hil (49:09.134) My people in my life only believe I love them on the one day of the year that they must receive a card from me. They obviously don't really know me. Therefore, I don't give a shit. Like, the right people are gonna go, Claire loves me. And I might ring you or send you a song down a voice note, but I tell you what, when you need something, I'm there. Or let me make you some food, come round for a cup of tea.

Rachel Meltzer (49:20.8) Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (49:37.919) Mm-hmm.

Claire Hil (49:38.328) birthday card but you know when you like you measure your adequacy and your worth in the world measured by everyone else wants to do yeah stay in your own world

Rachel Meltzer (49:46.41) someone else's yardstick. Yeah. I think it's important to acknowledge that you didn't say, I don't have excuses anymore, I don't use excuses anymore. You still have them. The difference is you're examining them and doing something about it. I'm also the same way. I used to have so many excuses. I would try to blame everything on everyone else, especially my lack of success at the time. And I learned

Claire Hil (49:59.694) Thank

Rachel Meltzer (50:15.186) over time, how do I identify what's an excuse and a limiting belief that I can do something about? And what is like, you know, something that is actually standing in my way? And even if there is something standing in your way, there's probably what they call the third door, like another way to go around it. And it's not to say that I deal with my excuses instantaneously, like...

Sometimes it takes a little while to realize you're making an excuse or you have to sit down and journal or it takes a few days to find a solution or whatever, you have to sit with it. It's not to say that we're perfect, we don't have excuses. It's just that we are actively reflecting on our thoughts and identifying the things that are holding us back and doing something about it. takes time. Sometimes it takes multiple tries to get around an excuse or a roadblock, but it doesn't.

Claire Hil (50:44.076) Mm Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (51:08.064) Like nobody's perfect and you can start literally just by identifying what is holding you back and trying to be more curious about it rather than beating yourself up and being like, well, that's an excuse and I can't do that. And then just like trying to block it out, trying to just like shove it down is not helpful. You do have to like examine it, know? Yes.

Claire Hil (51:28.938) No, ever shove it down. Shove it down is the worst. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think you're right. my... thing that I used to do that I just don't do anymore was have a really big pity party. And I would just invite everybody and be like, do you want to hear my suffering? Because it feels so good to me. And it was a complete, you know, one of those pains that was exquisitely beautiful because I was addicted to it. I addicted to the pain, addicted to the misery.

Rachel Meltzer (51:42.048) Mm.

Claire Hil (51:58.874) I felt so comfortable and wonderful in being miserable about my really horrible childhood as well as everything else right now I am at a point now in my healing that I do say stuff like that because I say it like that like it was really shit and I had you know grew up in poverty but I'm not saying it as a but no I used to say as a yeah like it was like a badge of honor going look what I've been through like trauma competition or something and now I just realized one day I'm like

I don't want to go to my pity party anymore. It's a draining of my energy. Like I can feel myself dragged down in. So when you're talking, when I talk about having these excuses, you're right. Like I'm not saying that people don't have reasons why they're not moving forward. But if you can't, if you're not willing to be curious about a way around it, you, and this is savage, but it's true. You probably don't want it enough. and save everybody's, this is really savage really, but save everybody's...

Rachel Meltzer (52:55.647) NAH!

Claire Hil (52:56.462) time and your own by finding something that does light you up. Because when something lights you up, like with me, if I've got an excuse, if an excuse comes up like you were saying, or a limiting belief, I find it, I grab it. It's like that mosquito flying around the room. I'm gonna find it. And I'm gonna flip it because there's no nothing that's gonna stop me from getting to my dreams. I am so passionate about my mission and what I'm here to do. I want it that much.

and just have a really honest conversation with yourself. Do you want it enough? And a lot of the time it is around people around you. So it might be, yeah, but so and so thinks so and so, or you know, such and such. Like usually it's like, but my partner, I just don't want him to think or her to think this and the other. It's like, yeah, okay. But is that a story that you're telling yourself? Have you actually had that conversation? And remember that difficult conversations create an easier life when we're actually really honest with the people around us.

Rachel Meltzer (53:45.632) Mm.

Claire Hil (53:53.869) you find out a different story exists and it's actually the story you made in your head. But the person that a lot of people aren't honest with is themselves. And like you were saying, sitting down and asking yourself journaling questions. I've got a set of prompts and if anybody is listening and wants them, just message, find me on LinkedIn. I'm all over LinkedIn now, Rachel. Mess with me on LinkedIn and I'll send it to them, but they're shadow prompts. Have you ever done shadow prompts before? I just feel weird.

Rachel Meltzer (54:15.156) Hell yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (54:19.582) Yes, yeah. So helpful.

Claire Hil (54:23.468) It's like Harry Potter and his wand or Hermione really, like coming in with their light and bringing up the flash of darkness and you just discover things that they're like little gremlins. You were being carried around and you had no idea and all of a sudden pop and my god, I feel amazing. And that's down to you wanting it enough to sit down and journal and find it.

Rachel Meltzer (54:26.698) Mm-hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (54:35.956) Yep, there's so many.

Rachel Meltzer (54:45.824) I think sometimes I'll say it's okay to not want it enough. Like I was trying so hard. I did van life for a year and at the end of the year in the winter, was just like, it's brutal living in a van in the winter, especially if you're not in the South. And I came back to Maine and ended up like renting an Airbnb for a little while. And at the end of my Airbnb rental, was like, shit, I have to get.

Claire Hil (54:50.382) Why are you so sick?

Claire Hil (54:59.616) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (55:13.108) And I had to like admit to myself, and I think I stopped wanting to do van life when I was in like Utah. Like it was months before that. It was like October. And now I'm in February and thinking, I don't really want to go do that again. But it's sometimes it's hard to admit to yourself. And some of that as well is again, that external pressure. Like what will people think of me if I quit? I have this big Instagram following because of this and my sponsorships and this and this. And I'm just like, you know what? It's not worth.

Claire Hil (55:18.754) Yeah. Yeah.

Claire Hil (55:34.241) Yep.

Rachel Meltzer (55:41.896) living a life you hate for other people to be satisfied with who they think you are when they don't even know you, you know?

Claire Hil (55:49.902) It's all based on a lie then. That's where that inauthenticity gets really loud, like really really big and loud and gets in the way of everything because if you're not being true to yourself, if you're not being your most vivid self, like we're going round to the beginning now, that was nice. If you're not living as your most vivid self then everything is disjointed and a lot of people, this is plagued for, well actually

Rachel Meltzer (56:04.032) right back. That was perfect.

Claire Hil (56:19.856) basically everyone people pleases. So I should really, just because you can help people doesn't mean you have to. If it's not going to light you up and make you feel amazing, it's okay to say no to preserve your energy. You've got to be self-focused. That's got nothing to do with selfish. Because when you're self-focused, you are such an amazing version of yourself. You are like the most potent, beautiful, like juice concentrated squash. I don't know if you have squash in the US, but

that kind of juice that's so like you drink it and your mouth rains instantly because it's so strong how much further does that go because it's so vivid and strong as yourself you get to love more and be more yourself and spread all of that out because you filled your own cup up first and there you go I think that that

Rachel Meltzer (56:49.984) Heh!

Rachel Meltzer (57:12.256) That's perfect. Perfect place to end.

Claire Hil (57:15.118) We should end there because that was a right beautiful da da da.

Rachel Meltzer (57:19.572) Delightful full circle, bow on the present. Well, thank you so much for doing this with me, even though you have a cold.

Claire Hil (57:28.8) I love it.

Rachel Meltzer (57:30.432) Do you want to tell everybody where they can find you online before we jump off and if there's anything you're promoting right now, feel free to share that too.

Claire Hil (57:39.328) Yeah, so I am writing a book about the kickstart formula. I urge everyone to go and download that. It honestly is a game changer for productivity. But I also have a productivity masterclass. If you go to clearhill.uk slash free stuff, all of my tools there, there's a, it's just packed.

it's packed, there's a self-belief masterclass, there's just loads of stuff there. Obviously I've got my podcast as well, No Rest For The Vivid, and your episode is banging, so that's there as well. But you can find me, if you search I Am Claire Hill, I Am Claire Hill everywhere, so LinkedIn, Instagram, where else? That's where I'm hanging out now, so yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (58:20.576) Perfect, thank you so much for coming on the show, Claire.

Claire Hil (58:24.012) You're very welcome. Thank you for having me.