A Little Shot of Joy (When You Need It Most)

This round’s on me

Get out of self-doubt

To be honest with you, I really needed some good news.

My mantra this year is: “Get out of self-doubt”. But somehow it had me in its grips towards the end of last week. I was stretched too thin, my three-year-old triplets had been incredibly challenging (no one told me 3-year-old boys get the same testosterone boost they do in puberty!), and I had been feeling the Imposter Syndrome badly.

Can I really do this?

Is it too much?

An opportunity to speak at a festival came along but it’s the same week as my boys start primary school. No can do.

This plus coming off some women’s supplements that totally messed up my hormones (maybe my three-year-olds weren’t the only ones going through a pseudo-puberty!) left me feeling pretty down.

Then this happened on Monday

I was on the Dig It podcast - where Zoe Ball and Jo Whiley talk about the messy, unglamourous side of being a mid-life woman. Uncensored and raw.

I came across it last year when they did an episode on mum guilt and Imposter Syndrome. I was hooked.

I sent in a voicenote on mum guilt and, of course, a couple of our legendary F*** Mum Guilt T-shirts and then nothing…

Then Christmas…

Then still nothing…

And then on Monday, they did a whole section on it. Go straight to it here

or watch the whole show by clicking below:

Jo described the T-shirts as “genius”, and Zoe said she’d worn hers “with pride”.

It felt like one of those moments where the Universe taps you on the shoulder and says: keep going, you’re on the right path.

Not to mention Jo’s very sound advice on dealing with Imposter Syndrome when you come back after having a baby. It was just what I needed.

If you would also like to wear your F*** Mum Guilt T-shirt “with pride” a la Zoe, your wardrobe upgrade is waiting for you here.

Over to you, the FMG community, who should we send our T-shirts to next? Think big.

I’d love to get one on Lily Allen or Paloma Faith. They speak about motherhood in such a raw, unapologetic way and aren’t afraid to raise a few eyebrows. What do you reckon? Let me know, and I’ll try to pull it off.

But what about you?

Have you managed to claim any time back for yourself in 2026 yet? If not, go back and watch the three-minute meditation I shared last week. Remember something you used to love that you haven’t had time for in a while and bring it back, or another year will zip by.

I actually got my paints out last week, although I was feeling pretty wiped out and low. I wanted to throw most of what I painted in the bin, but that’s not the point. I sat there for an hour, lost in colour. Not rerunning the negative stories in my head.

On an episode of Jo & Zoe’s podcast, they had Dr Rangan Chatterjee on, and he said: “Joy builds resilience to stress.”

So where can you find a little pocket of joy just for you this week?

Even 5–10 minutes is worth it. It can be tempting to just crack on with the chores if you don’t have long, but consciously choosing to spend that time doing something that brings you joy matters.

Listening to a feel-good song. Closing the curtains and dancing (I may have done that last night). Actually sitting down to have a cup of tea or coffee while it’s still hot. Sending a voicenote to a friend.

This stuff doesn’t actually take that long, but it makes you feel a lot better.

If you only had 10 minutes to do something for yourself, what would you choose?