January 10, 2024 • 41 mins
Everybody has a superpower--you don't have to be a superhero to have one or to know what it is. Mary Beth Robinson, a "superpower queen," helps us find out what our special talents are, and how we can best use them to help ourselves and other people. In this episode, Mary Beth describes her own gift of intuition, and then uses her unique ability to "tune in" to evaluate Elizabeth. How accurate was she? We reveal everything during the interview; share how you can find your own superpowers; and show why your creativity, joy and motivation can increase when you're working "in flow" using your own special talents.
In this episode:
01:44--What is a superpower?
03:31--Mary Beth describes her own superpower
06:10--How Mary Beth "tunes in" to help others discover their superpowers
09:30--Her experience going through life being so intuitive about other people
11:43--You can start integrating your superpower into your life right away
21:05--Mary Beth "intuits" some things about Elizabeth
28:44--Elizabeth reads an email Mary Beth wrote to her right after they set up the interview, and responds to its accuracy
32:35--Mary Beth's advice on how Elizabeth can use her superpower moving forward
38:27--How anyone can find their superpowers
Want to know more about Mary Beth?
- Check out her website: https://www.superpowerinc.org/
- Tweet her on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SuperpowerQueen or @SuperpowerQueen
- Find her on TikTok: TheSuperpowerQueen
Want to know more about "What It's Like To..."?
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
When we know our superpower, ourgenius comes out and there is no
end to our creativity and ideasand motivation, when we are
really working in harmony withwho we are.
We're amazing
Elizabeth (00:27):
Hello, and welcome to "What It's Like To..." The
podcast that lets you walk insomeone else's shoes and live
vicariously through their uniqueexperiences I'm your host,
former journalist, ElizabethPearson Garr.
And each episode, I'll be askinga new interviewee all the what,
why, when, and wheres of howthey do what they do.
(00:47):
If they can do it, so can you.
If you were Asked the question,what superpower would you like
to have?
I think many people would answerstrength, super speed, flight,
invisibility, the ability totime travel, things like that.
But there are different kinds ofsuperpowers, ones that we all
(01:09):
have, but may not know about.
My guest today, Mary BethRobinson specializes in finding
people's superpowers.
Mary Beth, welcome to thepodcast.
Thanks so much Elizabeth forhaving me.
I'm really excited to have youhere.
And as I just mentioned, theseare not superhero movie kind of
(01:30):
superpowers.
These are personal superpowersthat we have.
So let's start right there.
Can you talk about thesesuperpowers that most of us
have?
Yes, in fact, all of us havethem which is great.
They don't discriminate.
So a superpower is somethingthat just naturally great at.
You don't really have to work atit.
(01:50):
People, may say to some people,gosh, you're like the best
teacher.
Everything you say, Iunderstand, so it's something
that you're naturally good atthat you love to do that you'd
want to do every single day.
And that makes a positivedifference for yourself and
others.
That's what a superpower is, andmost of the time it's hard to
find what your superpower isbecause we've had it since we
(02:14):
were born and we do it sonaturally, we think it's not
that big of a deal.
I just do this and they come soeasy to me that it's nothing
right that we don't even thinkabout it.
I mean, more obvious when peoplewho are really good at music
somebody who just sits down tothe piano and they're Amazing,
(02:34):
or if somebody is great atdrawing, those are more obvious
things.
I wouldn't necessarily call thata superpower.
There's always a purpose behinda superpower, but, those are
just things that people arelike.
Yeah, you just draw it out.
It's no big deal.
But to someone like me, I'mlike, how?
I cannot imagine knowing how tojust draw things.
(02:56):
Until somebody says, wow, you'reso good at this, or you always
make me feel special or.
I notice how you always figurethings out.
We often don't see what our ownsuperpower is.
So you have this incredibleability.
You're a superpower queen andyou're intuitive, right?
(03:17):
You can.
sense this in people.
In fact, you did this for me.
We set up this interview andthen you wrote me an email.
You didn't do any research onme, right?
No.
So my superpower is that I amsuper intuitive, but I couldn't
work with police on solvingcrimes and I don't know the
(03:40):
future and whatever, but I cantune in with people and know,
like, how special they are andhow they are special.
That's what I do.
And I did that at a young age,even though it took me decades
to figure out what I was doing,the culmination of all that I
(04:00):
would just tune in with peopleand, when I was really young, I
would just search around withinthem and be like, am I safe?
Is this a safe person?
Because, like, as a kid, whenyour parents are leaving you
with somebody, you're like,yeah, safe or should I be
worried?
So that's how it started.
But I noticed that through theyears, I always wanted to tune
(04:22):
in with people.
And so there was a long andwinding road to figuring out how
to use my gift.
And over many years of workingwith people and doing readings
for friends and family, Ifinally was like, okay, now I
get it.
So can you explain to us what itis you do?
(04:42):
Because I think it sounds alittle woo woo, to someone who
can't do it.
Like, how in the world can youtune into someone?
Because I will say we have neverseen each other face to face
until 5 minutes ago when westarted this interview.
The fact that you could intuitme and figure me out just
through email or through sensingme is incredible.
(05:06):
Yeah.
You know what?
For me, it's not though, Peoplewould say, how do you tune in?
And this is a flippant responseand I don't mean it to be, but
how do you not, how do you nottune in?
Yeah.
Okay.
How do you draw a tattoo and putit on someone's arm and color
it?
And the people who are good atthat, they're like, I just do it
(05:26):
so that's the, that's theexample of something that comes
naturally to someone.
I guess it's when somebody writea song I'm a writer.
I can understand how someonewrites lyrics, but I cannot
understand how someone writesmelodies.
That just seems incredible tome.
So those are the examples, butpeople can do it.
I cannot do that.
(05:46):
So this is yet another exampleof something you can do and I
cannot do.
Right.
And you know what if I were totry to do your superpower, I
could really work on it and Icould get better and stuff, but
there's no joy.
There's just a lot of hard workif I want to go do something
(06:08):
that is counter to what I'mreally great at.
So, my purpose is to help peoplefind their superpowers and
explain them in a way that theycan use it.
And to have it be practical.
If it didn't make a differencefor people, I wouldn't do it.
Because I want to make adifference.
I want the world to be a betterplace when I leave.
I want people to appreciate whatthey have and who they are and
(06:31):
their own process.
That's all involved in what Ido.
So here's what it looks like.
I knew I was going to be on yourpodcast.
We figured out the date and thetime and I'm like, okay, it's
time for me to, do a write upfor you.
And so I would tune in and I'dbe like okay, okay.
Got it.
And then I would write it alldown.
And as I went, I would get moreinformation.
(06:53):
So for those who are listening,you just sat for that amount of
time, that 15, 20 seconds, andyou just looked into space, but
you're just feeling it you'regetting the intuition, you're
getting the feeling about theperson.
Exactly.
And the reason that I like lookand, my eyes move around, I'm
(07:15):
just shifting how my brainworks.
If in the middle of a forest,you're on a really hard trail
and all of a sudden the personyou're with says, stop and
listen, it's like your brainchanges from, let's make sure
that my footing is good to letme listen.
That's how it is.
(07:35):
I'm focusing Exactly.
I just focus on, what isElizabeth?
Like an energetic dish, like asatellite dish and I get it
tuned in and I'm all ah.
There we go.
Kind of like tuning in a radioand then I know.
And in that short of an amountof time, it's not like a few
hours or something.
It's so funny because people arelike, did you do research on me?
(07:57):
I'm all, oh, that's a lot ofwork.
Who has the time?
Why would I do that?
Because no amount of research Iwould do, Elizabeth, is going to
tell me that about you, anyway.
It's so deep within us I couldguess and everything, but why
(08:18):
would I, when it takes me, 5 to10 seconds at the most to really
get a sense of somebody.
Why would I want to look them upand do any research?
That's why I like to do my firstimpression with people without
seeing them, without knowinganything about them, because
then I am not distracted, but myown expectations are.
(08:41):
Do you know how many people likeyou there are?
This can't be that common of a,phenomenon.
I don't know anybody that doesnot to say that there aren't
people.
I have heard of one person whowas like a seer he would see
people and mine is just a littlebit different.
I think the aura around him waslike, Oh, he's so in tune.
(09:03):
And I am a funny, kind, nicefriend.
And I am just more down toearth.
So my flavor of that is a littlebit different, but no, I
haven't.
never heard of anyone doing thatin such a direct way.
So can you go back a little bit?
You said as a kid, kind of knewthat you were reading people.
(09:26):
Are they safe or not?
Was there a time that thispower, this ability overwhelmed
you at all.
Oh my whole life until I waslike, in my early 30s.
So I'm 53 right now.
And the problem with beingreally intuitive, and really
empathic, because I feel thingsas well, the problem with that
(09:46):
is that if you're not careful,you pick everything up.
And so I had no boundaries.
It was like I was tuned into allstations at once.
And that was horrible.
It was really horrible andsometimes I couldn't tune it out
I'm a regular person with aregular degree in college and,
that kind of stuff, but itdidn't occur to me to ask
(10:08):
somebody, hey, by the way I'msure picking up a lot of
emotions and energy fromeveryone.
How do I stop that fromhappening?
and who would I ask?
I guess again, because it justwas normal to you.
That was just your experience.
And when we are young, we thinkwe are just like everyone else.
So, If we have something that isdifferent about us, we think
(10:31):
everybody is different in thatway.
And you don't really want tocall yourself out as different.
Everyone wants to be kind ofpart of the norm when you're
young, but now you've maturedand can use these powers for
good in the world.
Exactly.
And now that I know how to usethem, I was always really
careful to not overstep and notto do something that was
(10:51):
inappropriate or say somethingand, and I don't know private
things about people.
That's not my gift.
But you've got to be careful.
You need to ask permission and,be responsible and also not say.
I have all the answers becausethat's certainly not true
either.
I've been doing this for 20years, but I haven't been doing
(11:12):
it full time, full out until, mykiddo went off to school last
year because I was a single mom.
I had things that I needed to doand an everyday job.
So the thing that I want peopleto know is, you have amazing
things within you, and you justprobably don't see them.
There's so much more to discoverabout what you can do and
(11:36):
everyone has a great superpowerand no matter what your
superpower is, they're allamazing.
It's how aligned you are withyour superpower that makes it
powerful.
It's not what your superpoweris.
If you are using your superpowerand living it, then you're in
your flow state more often.
(11:57):
And then you tend to be happierand more productive.
You're actually fitting withyour purpose more.
Absolutely.
And when I say aligned, what I'mnot saying is trash your life as
it is and create the new one.
Most of us do not have thewherewithal to do that.
Plus we're learning about oursuperpowers as we go.
(12:17):
I would say it's knowing whatyour superpower is.
And every day keeping it infront of you oh, wow.
Even though I'm super intuitiveand my job may be like, a
cashier, am I positive withpeople?
Do I see them?
Or am I just yep.
Whatever.
Have a great day.
Do I stop?
(12:37):
And I'm like, I'm aware of you.
I see you.
So we can do that in our livesright now.
There is no waiting period.
People are like when I do thisand when I have the perfect job,
that'll happen.
Nope.
No, no, no.
That's not how it goes.
You can use your superpowerbecause you're always wanting to
do it anyway.
You're always trying to do it nomatter what.
(12:57):
No matter what your job is, nomatter what your situation is,
it's just your makeup.
It's how you are put togetherthat you want to do your
superpower.
So, let's say you're a greatlistener and you work in a store
and when people come in and yousay, are you looking for
something?
Blah, blah, blah.
You may find that they justreally talk to you.
(13:17):
And that you listen, and thenall of a sudden, they're like,
really, what I want is this.
And then they're surprised thatthey say it because you're such
a good listener.
That what they really needreally comes out.
Start using your superpower,whatever it is, and it is going
to feel like, I'm just a littleold me, that doesn't make a
difference, but it does And canit change throughout your life,
(13:40):
or do you tend to have it?
And that is your stringthroughout I, you I would say
your purpose and your superpowerstays the same, but your
expression of it absolutelyevolves.
Let's say you're somebody whois, amazing at having people
feel safe and you work at ashelter for years and years and
(14:02):
so people are like, oh my gosh,I feel safe.
That's a perfect place for youmatch.
Yeah.
Uhhuh.
Exactly.
But then when you're 55, youretire.
And that person is going to thenseek out some other way, and it
could be I'm going to fosteranimals.
Whatever it is, or I'm going togo read to kids, whatever
(14:24):
they'll be just expressing thatdifferent, but the superpower
and the purpose is still thesame.
It's a really great exercise,especially for teenagers,
college students, peoplethinking about what they want to
do with their lives to reallyget to know who they are and
what their superpower is orsuperpowers-- I don't know if
(14:45):
someone can have more than one,I think oftentimes people are
trying to fit into what theworld expects them to be.
And by the world, I guess I meantheir little mini culture, or
their family, or their collegeroommates, or whatever they
think they're supposed to be.
I was just at a dinner the othernight and sitting next to a guy
and he said, his daughter is a2nd grade teacher and she just
(15:08):
loves it.
But she started out working intech because that's what
everyone was doing.
And she hated it.
And finally she said, I'vealways wanted to be a teacher
and it fits but it took a lotbecause she took a huge pay cut,
lifestyle's different and allthat.
But, I just think often there'sjust this push of what you're
supposed to do.
Is there a way that people couldfind their superpowers, even if
(15:31):
they don't know you?
Yes, absolutely.
And I have got a program that Iam working on.
Anyone can go to my website andon the front, there is what is
my superpower and I take time todo quick write ups for people
every day that are free and sothey could always do that.
As long as I'm able to do that,that button will be on my
(15:53):
website because I don't thinkthat you need to be in the upper
echelon of making money in orderto know what your superpower is,
that doesn't make any sense.
Everybody should know what thatis.
and also my content on Twitter,which is now X.
I'm at superpower queen and Ihave so much material there.
(16:13):
Yes, you do.
It's like daily doses ofinspiration.
thank you for that.
But I would love to have someprograms specifically for high
school and college students andpeople in trades, whatever,
people around that age, becauseyou're absolutely right.
So many people, my kiddo is agreat example, because they
(16:36):
wanted to be an astrophysicistor they said they did.
You know why?
Because they're smart, and theyfigured I should do that.
They're gonna be an Englishteacher.
Wonderful profession, but verydifferent from astrophysics They
could do astrophysics, but theydon't really want to.
(16:58):
When they were young they usedto set up all their stuffed
animals and teach them.
They had a little pointer, andthey would teach class.
And at the age of 5, I got thema teacher planner.
I knew what this kid is going todo, but even that and having a
mom who is an expert insuperpowers they still thought I
(17:22):
should go be an astrophysicistbecause that's what the world
wants me to do.
And the world is not served whenwe do something that we really
don't want to do because when weknow our superpower, our genius
comes out and there is no end toour creativity and ideas and
motivation.
(17:43):
When we are really working inharmony with who we are.
We're amazing.
Each of us.
Yeah.
Think of just how much happierand more fulfilled people are
when they're doing jobs thatthey want to do.
Exactly.
Or just work.
It doesn't have to be jobs.
It's just the work of life.
Exactly..
Because one of the things thatpeople think is what job does
(18:04):
that fit in with?
And whatever your superpower is.
It's not your job.
It is what you bring to yourjob.
And some people find like me Iwant to help people find their
superpower.
Being an entrepreneur and doingmy own thing is the way to go.
I just have to create it, it'snot a job, but I can make it
into my business.
I guess the hard thing, becausethat's where I am too, right?
(18:26):
I'm a creative person so I'mdoing this, but when you're then
creating your own businessaround it, that has this other
whole set of skills.
That is not my skill set all thebusiness part of it.
So, sometimes when you aretrying to honor maybe your
superpower, your passions, thethings, you're good at, you also
are having to learn all of theseother things or spend your time
(18:51):
doing these things that feel thecontrary to your ability.
Yes.
And this is like the bestquestion is this such a good
question because it's somethingthat a lot of people, they
really struggle with.
Like, how is this going to work?
Because, especially for you wekeep teasing people, but we'll
(19:14):
get it.
I know it's here.
My list is here to yoursuperpower.
And we'll talk about it withyour business.
Okay But, what happens is thatinstead of doing what we're
great at.
We get just enmeshed in all thebusiness stuff, and six months
(19:34):
later, we're like, I'm nothappy.
I'm not at all inspired.
What even am I doing?
And this isn't going to work.
And that's only because we getaway from our superpower.
We are copying how somebody elsedoes it.
The key is and I'm just thinkingabout this a little bit,
Elizabeth, I'm just tuning inthe key is to give yourself
(20:00):
enough time there's a criticalamount of time or effort or
experience you want to keep thatamount in your life every day
for you you really like thatquiet time where you're like,
The juices are flowing, all thecreative juices and so you are
(20:21):
going to need some quiet timeduring the day, you're going to
need some rest and you are notgoing to do well with something
that you've got to pound out allthe time keeping yourself super
busy.
That is not going to work foryou.
Does that make sense?
100 percent correct.
And that's not uncommon.
(20:41):
I find with people who are supercreative And really your genius
happens when you're in the flow,So there may be some things that
you have to do every day, keepthat to a minimum, get really
good at it.
I know a job once that I waslike, all right.
There are 4 things I've got todo every day and man, I got good
(21:03):
at doing those 4 things.
And then, after that, I'm like,okay, now I can do some other
things For you, I feel likethose old horror shows where
like the creepy things arecoming, like that's your to do
list.
And they're multiplying asthey're getting closer.
And you can do all that stuffbecause you're capable and
you're smart, but design yourbusiness much more from that
(21:29):
aspect of, I want to say lettinggo rather than producing, like
setting the stage for yourcreativity, for some people
that's sitting down at the pianofor other people, it is
journaling, for me, it'sconversations.
Magic happens in conversations.
With my family, friends,strangers, clients, everyone.
(21:52):
For me to have a conversationthat's where the art happens.
So set the stage for yourcreativity and let that flow.
And build the rest of your dayaround that, because you're torn
apart internally.
This is for you, this is not foreverybody, you're torn apart.
(22:13):
I've got to be responsible andI've got to do this and is there
a part of you that is superconcerned?
I've got to look responsible.
I've got to have my ducks in arow.
Yeah.
it's just really amazing and funto hear this because I feel very
seen right now.
I feel like I've been secretlyspeaking to some therapist who
then channeled to you.
(22:36):
There's just my whole life thatis yeah, very responsible.
I have 2 teenage kids and ahusband and a dog and there's
just a lot of balls kept in theair all the time that I'm
responsible for as well as thepodcast.
But then on the podcast inparticular, it has been feeling
torn apart at certain times.
And people who listen a lot knowthat I used to put this podcast
out on a weekly cadence and nowI'm on an every other week
(22:59):
because the weekly I was workingevery minute of every day when I
wasn't doing family stuff.
Weekends, everything, because Ijust felt like this
responsibility.
I have to do it.
I have to do it.
And then I thought I'm dyingbecause it's just so much work
and I'm the one setting thispace.
I don't have to keep this up.
And I'm losing sleep.
(23:20):
it's just.
Yeah.
Too much.
And I need more balance in mylife.
And I've talked about this onthe podcast before too, I've had
all this pressure that I've puton myself about growing the
podcast, that it should begrowing quicker and the whole
business side of it that I'm notgood at.
I'm good at the creative stuff.
And so that's also being tornapart internally that I somehow
(23:43):
feel that I should be spendingall this time on things that
aren't my wheelhouse.
And so I just naturally keepwanting to go back to the stuff
that I love and that I do feelin flow at, which is,
researching the guests, doingthe interviews, doing the
editing, And then this otherstuff is pulling me like, Oh,
you should be figuring out howto market this podcast better
(24:05):
and grow it better.
And then I always feel like afailure because it's not growing
as fast as it quote unquote,should be whatever should is.
And so it's competing voicesthen I just want to be quiet and
just work on the creative stuff.
Exactly.
And so what I would say to youI'm just, this is what it looks
like when I tune in.
(24:26):
My eyes are going to do whateverthey do.
Okay, All right, we'll get toyour reading in a second, but
you love those times in flow youlove like those magical times
when stuff comes together.
You love it.
So there are 2 things.
Give yourself more of that.
But however it is that you growyour business, make it magical
(24:51):
as well.
Oh.
Because you love that deep,feeling of flow and creativity
and when someone says to marketyourself or your podcast, you
automatically, without eventhinking anything differently,
you're like, but that's moretime away from what I really
(25:14):
want to do.
And then you're in 2 halves thatare fighting each other and
that's super stressful and itwill tire you out faster than
anything else.
Your question to ask all thetime is how do I work on having
my podcast have more viewers ina way that is magical and
(25:35):
wonderful for me, because thenit's sustainable and you may be
surprised at your answer.
It may be very different thanwhat anyone else is doing.
There are all these bestpractices of the ways to market
podcasts.
And of course they don't allwork for everyone.
Otherwise everyone would bedoing them and everyone would
have, a million followers andall of that.
(25:57):
But one of them that often comesup is get on other people's
podcasts.
And so I've been doing that Andfirst I thought, oh, could this
be overwhelming?
It turns out, I absolutely lovedoing it.
because I love talking to peopleI didn't realize, but I don't
love just interviewing people.
I love being interviewed or justbeing in conversation with
people.
It's one of my favorite thingsin life.
It might be one of mysuperpowers is just being in
(26:19):
conversation.
I love being at a dinner andtalking to me.
My husband says this all thetime.
I want to always have you at adinner party because you always
will talk to people.
Cause he's more of an introvert.
So I just absolutely love beingon people's podcasts.
Like I wish I could do it a fewtimes a week.
Not just to market my podcast,but just because it's so fun.
I was on one about a month ago,and it was in the evening and I
(26:39):
came out and my husband's like,how was that?
And I was like.
That was one of the most funthings I've done all year.
It was these 3 chefs and theywere so entertaining and fun.
So I just feel like sometimesthere are these things you don't
expect are going to be a reallygood thing, but end up being.
Like, it really lights me up.
I enjoy it so much.
(26:59):
Yeah.
And you know what?
Here's what's great about thatas a fellow conversationalist.
Amazing things happen inconversation they're just
organic.
Just like the conversation we'rehaving, we didn't plan this,
it's just happening.
So for you having conversationswith people that really works.
And so your marketing shouldsomehow be like a conversational
(27:23):
thing.
I have 4 people in my life who Italk to you in a very consistent
way.
And we have these amazingconversations.
My friend Rebecca and I wentshopping the other day and it
was an all day excursion and weliterally talked from 6 30 a.
m.
to 7 30 p.
m.
And it was all amazing.
(27:44):
Putting that into your day andhaving it be part of your
marketing, like on Twitterhaving a conversation with
somebody it could be somebodywho has commented say, hey, do
you want to have a quickconversation?
We're going to talk for 4minutes and I'm going to take a
little snippets of it.
I'm going to edit it becauseyou're good at that.
And I could even do a littlegraphic, but we're going to put
(28:07):
that on TikTok.
We're going to put it on YouTubeand we're going to put it on
Twitter.
Yeah, it's a great idea.
And for you, I would changethings around.
So that what you're doing isreally an expression of your
creativity.
You have room to experiencethat.
I mean, You love the magic inlife, like those moments of,
connection and understandingthat you get in a conversation
(28:32):
with someone.
I think I called you adiscoverer, you want to discover
things, your Yeah, maybe weshould finally get to the
initial write up.
Right.
Since we've been teasing thatall along.
Right.
Exactly.
So you wrote this to me, as Imentioned, just shortly after we
set up the interview This wasjust your intuition.
You said (28:51):
Dear Elizabeth, Here's your superpower writeup.
This is just a good beginning.
There's always more and more,but this is a good start.
I do most of my workintuitively.
I tune into your energy and Ican understand your essence.
I don't, however, read your mindor know things about you that
are personal and private.
You are a discoverer.
You're fascinated by things inthe world and at a deeper level,
(29:11):
you're driven to assimilate thatknowledge and experience into an
understanding of how to live alife of wonder and magic.
When I say magic, I don't meanwitchcraft.
I mean that there's a spark oflife that we experience, and
it's so wonderful and powerfulthat it gives us a sense of a
magical world that we live in,but don't often perceive.
You were a dreamer when you wereyoung.
You see things that other peopledon't.
(29:32):
You understand the undercurrentsof life and how incredible they
are, and that's the world youwant to live in.
You've faced your fair share ofpeople telling you to be
practical and live in the realworld.
This insistence from others canbe soul crushing.
But you know you're right thatthe world is incredible and you
can live in that world.
Yes, be practical just enough tohelp you express the wonder you
(29:52):
see and to gain stories andexperiences of others who have
truly lived.
Let me know if this resonatesfor you.
that's the end of the email.
I just was, I was really touchedby it because it just took me
back to my youth, little girl,little Elizabeth, and it really
is spot on.
It's not, of course, thecomplete me.
Like you say, there's more, buteverything in there is true.
(30:16):
Yeah.
And there are other parts of youand those are all great.
But I wanted to remind you ofyou really, you love those
amazing flow moments one ofthose moments where it's almost
like time stands still.
And you're like, oh, life isamazing.
I was at a friend's house andshe lives up in the mountains.
(30:37):
And it started to kind of rain,but it was still sunny out.
And three of us looked up intothese beautiful, huge pines, and
we could see the raindropsfalling because it was sunny and
it was just this magical moment,we just sat there in silence and
watched these drops fall.
You really love that.
(30:59):
That's who you are.
That's who you've always beenYou're like a flower.
I always knew I wanted to havekids and part of it is because I
just, loved my childhood.
I have amazing parents and wehad a really wonderful childhood
and I wanted to get to, not redochildhood, but could get to see
life through a child's eyesagain.
And to see my kids, one of mydaughters specifically, who's
(31:21):
very much like this also how shelooks at flowers and we'll go
out and look at the moon and shegoes out and just stands in the
rain and just soaks it in andit's just really special to able
to do that with your own kids tobe that kid again, because I
think when you grow up, oftenthe responsibilities pile on and
there's so much you have to doin life.
(31:42):
And so it's really great to bereminded, like you say, of who
you really are.
But I think this is also on aprofessional level.
This is, why I did want tobecome a writer and a
journalist, because I have somuch curiosity and you said
you're a discoverer, you'refascinated by things in the
world, yes, I was just alwaysasking why and, why do things
happen?
But it's hard you also wrote,you faced your fair share of
(32:05):
people telling you to bepractical and live in the real
world.
I had a lot of freelance jobsalong the way and people saying
you need a job with benefits anddon't do this artist kind of
world.
And, it's hard.
I was a dreamer, a little bit ofa dreamer, and it's hard to
reconcile those things with apractical life.
Yeah.
And you know what I would sayfor you specifically too, is
(32:27):
your pace of life.
Now, with two kids in highschool, that's a lot.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
I can barely keep up with one.
also especially with people whoare super creative very much so
with you that calming down, thatslowing down practice is really
important for you.
(32:47):
I'm going to write down thecouple of things that I have to
do today, and then I'm going togive myself, you can start out
at 5 minutes or 10 minutes, orif you're pretty good at it
already.
I'm going to take this hour andthis hour, I'm going to have
something that I can be creativeat and I'm just going to enjoy
it.
And then more ideas come andmore ideas come.
(33:08):
But when you carve out time forthat.
It will grow into what it'ssupposed to be.
So we're always wanting theanswer, like, how is this going
to work?
I would say that what there isto do is not ask how and look
for the answer.
Not that you're doing that, butthat's just a human thing that
(33:28):
we do.
Yeah, I do that.
Me too.
the thing is, you're so creativethat you will get the answer.
You'll get it when you're like,oh, of course.
That's been coming to me forseveral days.
I didn't really understand it.
And boy, here it is.
That makes sense.
But it's more of asking thequestion, living in the question
(33:51):
of, what's something just reallywonderful.
Allow yourself that place thatyou give, especially to one of
your daughters, who's like,let's go look at the moon.
You don't say, that's stupid.
Yeah.
No, just be like, I'll come outwith you or, you'll just watch
her and enjoy that she's doingthat.
(34:11):
And same thing with yourselfThere may be days you're like, I
just want to sit and read.
Okay, great.
Do that, but say, how can I bemore me?
How can I give myself roomcreate?
What does that look like today?
And give yourself some time,slow down a little, because with
really creative people who needto have a kind of a slower pace
(34:35):
it's easy to get on thetreadmill, but the treadmill
starts just speeding up and wejust keep going and going.
And then we're like, What am Ieven doing?
More to do begets more to do.
Stop and say, okay, what'sreally important today.
And what's important for you isto set that stage for creative
living.
(34:56):
Whatever that is, give it timeto thrive because it will grow
and take up more of the spaceand the to do's will calm down
the more we pay attention to ourto do's, the bigger they get.
I am convinced.
I what I'm hearing from you toojust to globalize it for people
listening, so it's not justabout me is when you find your
(35:16):
superpower.
And so I don't know if we'resaying mine is just creativity
or conversation or whatever itis, but to live in that and have
that be the driving force thatthen is making your other
decisions, or you're living outfrom that.
Rather than having other thingsimpose upon your life, I should
be doing it this way.
(35:37):
Is that right?
you know, your superpower, thenhave that be your priority about
how you're structuring yourdecisions and your day.
Yeah, because if not, then ourmad drive to make up for how
inadequate we feel will takeover.
(36:00):
Like a monster, it will takeover our attention, So, a
powerful thing to do is justask, how can I use my superpower
today to help myself and others?
Just ask the question.
And don't even worry about theanswer.
That question alone askedseveral times a day, somehow
(36:21):
changes our brain.
So that that's how we start tothink and it's pretty amazing.
I thought it was asking thequestion and getting the answer,
but in my experience, it's justasking the question.
You're making space for theanswer to come when the answer
is ready to come.
Exactly and then we actuallystart living like how can I use
(36:44):
my superpower to help myself andothers.
It's like, oh, I'm going to chewon that instead of look at how
much I haven't gotten done.
I should have done this monthsago.
But instead of that, it can say,oh, how am I going to make a
difference?
And your day will be drasticallydifferent.
Just asking those questions andfor you, You are a discoverer.
(37:06):
You're always like, I want tolearn.
I want to see what I can do.
I have a feeling when you'recreative, when you're writing,
when you're speaking, whenyou're designing, there are many
moments when you're like, Ididn't see that coming, flow of
genius moving through me and youreally like the flow of genius.
(37:28):
You really like it and when youdon't get it, you can get cranky
and angry it's okay.
It's okay because you're like,all I want is the flow.
Can't I have the flow?
You can.
You can, but you can't have theflow and the, I should have done
(37:48):
this.
I should have done this at thesame time.
Because your kids and yourhusband and your friends, all
they want for you is to behappy.
That's true.
That's true.
They want you to be happy.
So not cranky.
And I don't mean that as mean,it's no, I know he gets so
frustrated imagine a pipe getsbacked up that pressure is
(38:11):
always trying to like, keep thatflow going.
And when we stop it.
that's a backup of pressure andwe get overwhelmed, and cranky
and angry and whatever.
But they just want you to behappy, which means keep that
flow going, keep that flowgoing.
So other people can find theirsuperpowers by contacting you
and by tapping into what it isthat they have always felt good
(38:37):
at doing and what kind of comeseasy to them.
Yes, and also, I would askpeople in your life who you
trust, because some people aregoing to say stupid things.
Well, you're really cute, okay,thanks.
That's super helpful.
But I would ask people in yourlife that you trust and say,
what's something that'snaturally special about me that
(38:59):
I may not know.
Just ask, what do you think I'mreally naturally good at?
This has just been a reallyincredible hour for me.
Thank you.
Like I said I feel really seenand validated and I didn't
expect this to feel so deep, butthank you.
And really helpful.
(39:21):
Good.
Good.
I feel like I have a path tomove forward and I just so
appreciate and I really admirewhat you've done with your
superpower.
Like you said, you find what itis to help yourself and to help
others and you're definitelyhelping others.
So I greatly appreciate it.
Oh, Thank you.
It's a pleasure, Elizabeth.
You are super fun to work with.
Elizabeth (39:44):
I was a little skeptical at first, but as you
could probably tell, I reallywas moved by what Mary Beth was
able to intuit about me.
What she described wasn't thecomplete picture of me, but she
definitely touched on somereally valid feelings and
experiences.
Here are some of my takeawaysfrom our conversation.
Number one.
Everyone has a superpower.
(40:04):
It may be something that comesso easily to you that you don't
even know it's super.
Two.
If you want to know what yoursis, ask people you trust.
What's something special aboutme that I may not know?
Three.
You can work hard at somethingthat is not your superpower and
you can get pretty good at it.
But, there's no joy in that.
There's just a lot of hard work.
(40:26):
Four.
When you're using yoursuperpower, you're in flow.
You're happier and moreproductive.
Five.
For many of us, it's importantto slow down a little.
Take a break from the fast paceof life and do something like
look at the moon.
Literally, or figuratively.
And finally, number six.
Keep asking yourself, how can Iuse my superpower today to help
(40:47):
myself and help others?
My huge thanks to Mary BethRobinson for giving me so much
to think about.
If you'd like to learn moreabout her and her work and find
out how she can help youdiscover your own superpower,
check out the show notes forthis episode.
If you like listening to peoplewho have followed their passions
into interesting careers, youmight want to listen to episode
51 with Laura Penn Gallerstein,who's a sound healer, and
(41:10):
episode 48 with Julia Vitalityon geo arbitrage.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed to this podcast,
please do, and please tell a fewfriends about it too.
And if you prefer watching aswell as listening to podcasts,
we're on YouTube now also.
at WhatIt'sLikeTo 2023 onYouTube.
I'm Elizabeth Pearson Garr.
(41:30):
Thanks for being curious aboutwhat it's like.
When we know our superpower, ourgenius comes out and there is no
end to our creativity and ideasand motivation, when we are
really working in harmony withwho we are.
We're amazing
Elizabeth (00:27):
Hello, and welcome to "What It's Like To..." The
podcast that lets you walk insomeone else's shoes and live
vicariously through their uniqueexperiences I'm your host,
former journalist, ElizabethPearson Garr.
And each episode, I'll be askinga new interviewee all the what,
why, when, and wheres of howthey do what they do.
(00:47):
If they can do it, so can you.
If you were Asked the question,what superpower would you like
to have?
I think many people would answerstrength, super speed, flight,
invisibility, the ability totime travel, things like that.
But there are different kinds ofsuperpowers, ones that we all
(01:09):
have, but may not know about.
My guest today, Mary BethRobinson specializes in finding
people's superpowers.
Mary Beth, welcome to thepodcast.
Thanks so much Elizabeth forhaving me.
I'm really excited to have youhere.
And as I just mentioned, theseare not superhero movie kind of
(01:30):
superpowers.
These are personal superpowersthat we have.
So let's start right there.
Can you talk about thesesuperpowers that most of us
have?
Yes, in fact, all of us havethem which is great.
They don't discriminate.
So a superpower is somethingthat just naturally great at.
You don't really have to work atit.
(01:50):
People, may say to some people,gosh, you're like the best
teacher.
Everything you say, Iunderstand, so it's something
that you're naturally good atthat you love to do that you'd
want to do every single day.
And that makes a positivedifference for yourself and
others.
That's what a superpower is, andmost of the time it's hard to
find what your superpower isbecause we've had it since we
(02:14):
were born and we do it sonaturally, we think it's not
that big of a deal.
I just do this and they come soeasy to me that it's nothing
right that we don't even thinkabout it.
I mean, more obvious when peoplewho are really good at music
somebody who just sits down tothe piano and they're Amazing,
(02:34):
or if somebody is great atdrawing, those are more obvious
things.
I wouldn't necessarily call thata superpower.
There's always a purpose behinda superpower, but, those are
just things that people arelike.
Yeah, you just draw it out.
It's no big deal.
But to someone like me, I'mlike, how?
I cannot imagine knowing how tojust draw things.
(02:56):
Until somebody says, wow, you'reso good at this, or you always
make me feel special or.
I notice how you always figurethings out.
We often don't see what our ownsuperpower is.
So you have this incredibleability.
You're a superpower queen andyou're intuitive, right?
(03:17):
You can.
sense this in people.
In fact, you did this for me.
We set up this interview andthen you wrote me an email.
You didn't do any research onme, right?
No.
So my superpower is that I amsuper intuitive, but I couldn't
work with police on solvingcrimes and I don't know the
(03:40):
future and whatever, but I cantune in with people and know,
like, how special they are andhow they are special.
That's what I do.
And I did that at a young age,even though it took me decades
to figure out what I was doing,the culmination of all that I
(04:00):
would just tune in with peopleand, when I was really young, I
would just search around withinthem and be like, am I safe?
Is this a safe person?
Because, like, as a kid, whenyour parents are leaving you
with somebody, you're like,yeah, safe or should I be
worried?
So that's how it started.
But I noticed that through theyears, I always wanted to tune
(04:22):
in with people.
And so there was a long andwinding road to figuring out how
to use my gift.
And over many years of workingwith people and doing readings
for friends and family, Ifinally was like, okay, now I
get it.
So can you explain to us what itis you do?
(04:42):
Because I think it sounds alittle woo woo, to someone who
can't do it.
Like, how in the world can youtune into someone?
Because I will say we have neverseen each other face to face
until 5 minutes ago when westarted this interview.
The fact that you could intuitme and figure me out just
through email or through sensingme is incredible.
(05:06):
Yeah.
You know what?
For me, it's not though, Peoplewould say, how do you tune in?
And this is a flippant responseand I don't mean it to be, but
how do you not, how do you nottune in?
Yeah.
Okay.
How do you draw a tattoo and putit on someone's arm and color
it?
And the people who are good atthat, they're like, I just do it
(05:26):
so that's the, that's theexample of something that comes
naturally to someone.
I guess it's when somebody writea song I'm a writer.
I can understand how someonewrites lyrics, but I cannot
understand how someone writesmelodies.
That just seems incredible tome.
So those are the examples, butpeople can do it.
I cannot do that.
(05:46):
So this is yet another exampleof something you can do and I
cannot do.
Right.
And you know what if I were totry to do your superpower, I
could really work on it and Icould get better and stuff, but
there's no joy.
There's just a lot of hard workif I want to go do something
(06:08):
that is counter to what I'mreally great at.
So, my purpose is to help peoplefind their superpowers and
explain them in a way that theycan use it.
And to have it be practical.
If it didn't make a differencefor people, I wouldn't do it.
Because I want to make adifference.
I want the world to be a betterplace when I leave.
I want people to appreciate whatthey have and who they are and
(06:31):
their own process.
That's all involved in what Ido.
So here's what it looks like.
I knew I was going to be on yourpodcast.
We figured out the date and thetime and I'm like, okay, it's
time for me to, do a write upfor you.
And so I would tune in and I'dbe like okay, okay.
Got it.
And then I would write it alldown.
And as I went, I would get moreinformation.
(06:53):
So for those who are listening,you just sat for that amount of
time, that 15, 20 seconds, andyou just looked into space, but
you're just feeling it you'regetting the intuition, you're
getting the feeling about theperson.
Exactly.
And the reason that I like lookand, my eyes move around, I'm
(07:15):
just shifting how my brainworks.
If in the middle of a forest,you're on a really hard trail
and all of a sudden the personyou're with says, stop and
listen, it's like your brainchanges from, let's make sure
that my footing is good to letme listen.
That's how it is.
(07:35):
I'm focusing Exactly.
I just focus on, what isElizabeth?
Like an energetic dish, like asatellite dish and I get it
tuned in and I'm all ah.
There we go.
Kind of like tuning in a radioand then I know.
And in that short of an amountof time, it's not like a few
hours or something.
It's so funny because people arelike, did you do research on me?
(07:57):
I'm all, oh, that's a lot ofwork.
Who has the time?
Why would I do that?
Because no amount of research Iwould do, Elizabeth, is going to
tell me that about you, anyway.
It's so deep within us I couldguess and everything, but why
(08:18):
would I, when it takes me, 5 to10 seconds at the most to really
get a sense of somebody.
Why would I want to look them upand do any research?
That's why I like to do my firstimpression with people without
seeing them, without knowinganything about them, because
then I am not distracted, but myown expectations are.
(08:41):
Do you know how many people likeyou there are?
This can't be that common of a,phenomenon.
I don't know anybody that doesnot to say that there aren't
people.
I have heard of one person whowas like a seer he would see
people and mine is just a littlebit different.
I think the aura around him waslike, Oh, he's so in tune.
(09:03):
And I am a funny, kind, nicefriend.
And I am just more down toearth.
So my flavor of that is a littlebit different, but no, I
haven't.
never heard of anyone doing thatin such a direct way.
So can you go back a little bit?
You said as a kid, kind of knewthat you were reading people.
(09:26):
Are they safe or not?
Was there a time that thispower, this ability overwhelmed
you at all.
Oh my whole life until I waslike, in my early 30s.
So I'm 53 right now.
And the problem with beingreally intuitive, and really
empathic, because I feel thingsas well, the problem with that
(09:46):
is that if you're not careful,you pick everything up.
And so I had no boundaries.
It was like I was tuned into allstations at once.
And that was horrible.
It was really horrible andsometimes I couldn't tune it out
I'm a regular person with aregular degree in college and,
that kind of stuff, but itdidn't occur to me to ask
(10:08):
somebody, hey, by the way I'msure picking up a lot of
emotions and energy fromeveryone.
How do I stop that fromhappening?
and who would I ask?
I guess again, because it justwas normal to you.
That was just your experience.
And when we are young, we thinkwe are just like everyone else.
So, If we have something that isdifferent about us, we think
(10:31):
everybody is different in thatway.
And you don't really want tocall yourself out as different.
Everyone wants to be kind ofpart of the norm when you're
young, but now you've maturedand can use these powers for
good in the world.
Exactly.
And now that I know how to usethem, I was always really
careful to not overstep and notto do something that was
(10:51):
inappropriate or say somethingand, and I don't know private
things about people.
That's not my gift.
But you've got to be careful.
You need to ask permission and,be responsible and also not say.
I have all the answers becausethat's certainly not true
either.
I've been doing this for 20years, but I haven't been doing
(11:12):
it full time, full out until, mykiddo went off to school last
year because I was a single mom.
I had things that I needed to doand an everyday job.
So the thing that I want peopleto know is, you have amazing
things within you, and you justprobably don't see them.
There's so much more to discoverabout what you can do and
(11:36):
everyone has a great superpowerand no matter what your
superpower is, they're allamazing.
It's how aligned you are withyour superpower that makes it
powerful.
It's not what your superpoweris.
If you are using your superpowerand living it, then you're in
your flow state more often.
(11:57):
And then you tend to be happierand more productive.
You're actually fitting withyour purpose more.
Absolutely.
And when I say aligned, what I'mnot saying is trash your life as
it is and create the new one.
Most of us do not have thewherewithal to do that.
Plus we're learning about oursuperpowers as we go.
(12:17):
I would say it's knowing whatyour superpower is.
And every day keeping it infront of you oh, wow.
Even though I'm super intuitiveand my job may be like, a
cashier, am I positive withpeople?
Do I see them?
Or am I just yep.
Whatever.
Have a great day.
Do I stop?
(12:37):
And I'm like, I'm aware of you.
I see you.
So we can do that in our livesright now.
There is no waiting period.
People are like when I do thisand when I have the perfect job,
that'll happen.
Nope.
No, no, no.
That's not how it goes.
You can use your superpowerbecause you're always wanting to
do it anyway.
You're always trying to do it nomatter what.
(12:57):
No matter what your job is, nomatter what your situation is,
it's just your makeup.
It's how you are put togetherthat you want to do your
superpower.
So, let's say you're a greatlistener and you work in a store
and when people come in and yousay, are you looking for
something?
Blah, blah, blah.
You may find that they justreally talk to you.
(13:17):
And that you listen, and thenall of a sudden, they're like,
really, what I want is this.
And then they're surprised thatthey say it because you're such
a good listener.
That what they really needreally comes out.
Start using your superpower,whatever it is, and it is going
to feel like, I'm just a littleold me, that doesn't make a
difference, but it does And canit change throughout your life,
(13:40):
or do you tend to have it?
And that is your stringthroughout I, you I would say
your purpose and your superpowerstays the same, but your
expression of it absolutelyevolves.
Let's say you're somebody whois, amazing at having people
feel safe and you work at ashelter for years and years and
(14:02):
so people are like, oh my gosh,I feel safe.
That's a perfect place for youmatch.
Yeah.
Uhhuh.
Exactly.
But then when you're 55, youretire.
And that person is going to thenseek out some other way, and it
could be I'm going to fosteranimals.
Whatever it is, or I'm going togo read to kids, whatever
(14:24):
they'll be just expressing thatdifferent, but the superpower
and the purpose is still thesame.
It's a really great exercise,especially for teenagers,
college students, peoplethinking about what they want to
do with their lives to reallyget to know who they are and
what their superpower is orsuperpowers-- I don't know if
(14:45):
someone can have more than one,I think oftentimes people are
trying to fit into what theworld expects them to be.
And by the world, I guess I meantheir little mini culture, or
their family, or their collegeroommates, or whatever they
think they're supposed to be.
I was just at a dinner the othernight and sitting next to a guy
and he said, his daughter is a2nd grade teacher and she just
(15:08):
loves it.
But she started out working intech because that's what
everyone was doing.
And she hated it.
And finally she said, I'vealways wanted to be a teacher
and it fits but it took a lotbecause she took a huge pay cut,
lifestyle's different and allthat.
But, I just think often there'sjust this push of what you're
supposed to do.
Is there a way that people couldfind their superpowers, even if
(15:31):
they don't know you?
Yes, absolutely.
And I have got a program that Iam working on.
Anyone can go to my website andon the front, there is what is
my superpower and I take time todo quick write ups for people
every day that are free and sothey could always do that.
As long as I'm able to do that,that button will be on my
(15:53):
website because I don't thinkthat you need to be in the upper
echelon of making money in orderto know what your superpower is,
that doesn't make any sense.
Everybody should know what thatis.
and also my content on Twitter,which is now X.
I'm at superpower queen and Ihave so much material there.
(16:13):
Yes, you do.
It's like daily doses ofinspiration.
thank you for that.
But I would love to have someprograms specifically for high
school and college students andpeople in trades, whatever,
people around that age, becauseyou're absolutely right.
So many people, my kiddo is agreat example, because they
(16:36):
wanted to be an astrophysicistor they said they did.
You know why?
Because they're smart, and theyfigured I should do that.
They're gonna be an Englishteacher.
Wonderful profession, but verydifferent from astrophysics They
could do astrophysics, but theydon't really want to.
(16:58):
When they were young they usedto set up all their stuffed
animals and teach them.
They had a little pointer, andthey would teach class.
And at the age of 5, I got thema teacher planner.
I knew what this kid is going todo, but even that and having a
mom who is an expert insuperpowers they still thought I
(17:22):
should go be an astrophysicistbecause that's what the world
wants me to do.
And the world is not served whenwe do something that we really
don't want to do because when weknow our superpower, our genius
comes out and there is no end toour creativity and ideas and
motivation.
(17:43):
When we are really working inharmony with who we are.
We're amazing.
Each of us.
Yeah.
Think of just how much happierand more fulfilled people are
when they're doing jobs thatthey want to do.
Exactly.
Or just work.
It doesn't have to be jobs.
It's just the work of life.
Exactly..
Because one of the things thatpeople think is what job does
(18:04):
that fit in with?
And whatever your superpower is.
It's not your job.
It is what you bring to yourjob.
And some people find like me Iwant to help people find their
superpower.
Being an entrepreneur and doingmy own thing is the way to go.
I just have to create it, it'snot a job, but I can make it
into my business.
I guess the hard thing, becausethat's where I am too, right?
(18:26):
I'm a creative person so I'mdoing this, but when you're then
creating your own businessaround it, that has this other
whole set of skills.
That is not my skill set all thebusiness part of it.
So, sometimes when you aretrying to honor maybe your
superpower, your passions, thethings, you're good at, you also
are having to learn all of theseother things or spend your time
(18:51):
doing these things that feel thecontrary to your ability.
Yes.
And this is like the bestquestion is this such a good
question because it's somethingthat a lot of people, they
really struggle with.
Like, how is this going to work?
Because, especially for you wekeep teasing people, but we'll
(19:14):
get it.
I know it's here.
My list is here to yoursuperpower.
And we'll talk about it withyour business.
Okay But, what happens is thatinstead of doing what we're
great at.
We get just enmeshed in all thebusiness stuff, and six months
(19:34):
later, we're like, I'm nothappy.
I'm not at all inspired.
What even am I doing?
And this isn't going to work.
And that's only because we getaway from our superpower.
We are copying how somebody elsedoes it.
The key is and I'm just thinkingabout this a little bit,
Elizabeth, I'm just tuning inthe key is to give yourself
(20:00):
enough time there's a criticalamount of time or effort or
experience you want to keep thatamount in your life every day
for you you really like thatquiet time where you're like,
The juices are flowing, all thecreative juices and so you are
(20:21):
going to need some quiet timeduring the day, you're going to
need some rest and you are notgoing to do well with something
that you've got to pound out allthe time keeping yourself super
busy.
That is not going to work foryou.
Does that make sense?
100 percent correct.
And that's not uncommon.
(20:41):
I find with people who are supercreative And really your genius
happens when you're in the flow,So there may be some things that
you have to do every day, keepthat to a minimum, get really
good at it.
I know a job once that I waslike, all right.
There are 4 things I've got todo every day and man, I got good
(21:03):
at doing those 4 things.
And then, after that, I'm like,okay, now I can do some other
things For you, I feel likethose old horror shows where
like the creepy things arecoming, like that's your to do
list.
And they're multiplying asthey're getting closer.
And you can do all that stuffbecause you're capable and
you're smart, but design yourbusiness much more from that
(21:29):
aspect of, I want to say lettinggo rather than producing, like
setting the stage for yourcreativity, for some people
that's sitting down at the pianofor other people, it is
journaling, for me, it'sconversations.
Magic happens in conversations.
With my family, friends,strangers, clients, everyone.
(21:52):
For me to have a conversationthat's where the art happens.
So set the stage for yourcreativity and let that flow.
And build the rest of your dayaround that, because you're torn
apart internally.
This is for you, this is not foreverybody, you're torn apart.
(22:13):
I've got to be responsible andI've got to do this and is there
a part of you that is superconcerned?
I've got to look responsible.
I've got to have my ducks in arow.
Yeah.
it's just really amazing and funto hear this because I feel very
seen right now.
I feel like I've been secretlyspeaking to some therapist who
then channeled to you.
(22:36):
There's just my whole life thatis yeah, very responsible.
I have 2 teenage kids and ahusband and a dog and there's
just a lot of balls kept in theair all the time that I'm
responsible for as well as thepodcast.
But then on the podcast inparticular, it has been feeling
torn apart at certain times.
And people who listen a lot knowthat I used to put this podcast
out on a weekly cadence and nowI'm on an every other week
(22:59):
because the weekly I was workingevery minute of every day when I
wasn't doing family stuff.
Weekends, everything, because Ijust felt like this
responsibility.
I have to do it.
I have to do it.
And then I thought I'm dyingbecause it's just so much work
and I'm the one setting thispace.
I don't have to keep this up.
And I'm losing sleep.
(23:20):
it's just.
Yeah.
Too much.
And I need more balance in mylife.
And I've talked about this onthe podcast before too, I've had
all this pressure that I've puton myself about growing the
podcast, that it should begrowing quicker and the whole
business side of it that I'm notgood at.
I'm good at the creative stuff.
And so that's also being tornapart internally that I somehow
(23:43):
feel that I should be spendingall this time on things that
aren't my wheelhouse.
And so I just naturally keepwanting to go back to the stuff
that I love and that I do feelin flow at, which is,
researching the guests, doingthe interviews, doing the
editing, And then this otherstuff is pulling me like, Oh,
you should be figuring out howto market this podcast better
(24:05):
and grow it better.
And then I always feel like afailure because it's not growing
as fast as it quote unquote,should be whatever should is.
And so it's competing voicesthen I just want to be quiet and
just work on the creative stuff.
Exactly.
And so what I would say to youI'm just, this is what it looks
like when I tune in.
(24:26):
My eyes are going to do whateverthey do.
Okay, All right, we'll get toyour reading in a second, but
you love those times in flow youlove like those magical times
when stuff comes together.
You love it.
So there are 2 things.
Give yourself more of that.
But however it is that you growyour business, make it magical
(24:51):
as well.
Oh.
Because you love that deep,feeling of flow and creativity
and when someone says to marketyourself or your podcast, you
automatically, without eventhinking anything differently,
you're like, but that's moretime away from what I really
(25:14):
want to do.
And then you're in 2 halves thatare fighting each other and
that's super stressful and itwill tire you out faster than
anything else.
Your question to ask all thetime is how do I work on having
my podcast have more viewers ina way that is magical and
(25:35):
wonderful for me, because thenit's sustainable and you may be
surprised at your answer.
It may be very different thanwhat anyone else is doing.
There are all these bestpractices of the ways to market
podcasts.
And of course they don't allwork for everyone.
Otherwise everyone would bedoing them and everyone would
have, a million followers andall of that.
(25:57):
But one of them that often comesup is get on other people's
podcasts.
And so I've been doing that Andfirst I thought, oh, could this
be overwhelming?
It turns out, I absolutely lovedoing it.
because I love talking to peopleI didn't realize, but I don't
love just interviewing people.
I love being interviewed or justbeing in conversation with
people.
It's one of my favorite thingsin life.
It might be one of mysuperpowers is just being in
(26:19):
conversation.
I love being at a dinner andtalking to me.
My husband says this all thetime.
I want to always have you at adinner party because you always
will talk to people.
Cause he's more of an introvert.
So I just absolutely love beingon people's podcasts.
Like I wish I could do it a fewtimes a week.
Not just to market my podcast,but just because it's so fun.
I was on one about a month ago,and it was in the evening and I
(26:39):
came out and my husband's like,how was that?
And I was like.
That was one of the most funthings I've done all year.
It was these 3 chefs and theywere so entertaining and fun.
So I just feel like sometimesthere are these things you don't
expect are going to be a reallygood thing, but end up being.
Like, it really lights me up.
I enjoy it so much.
(26:59):
Yeah.
And you know what?
Here's what's great about thatas a fellow conversationalist.
Amazing things happen inconversation they're just
organic.
Just like the conversation we'rehaving, we didn't plan this,
it's just happening.
So for you having conversationswith people that really works.
And so your marketing shouldsomehow be like a conversational
(27:23):
thing.
I have 4 people in my life who Italk to you in a very consistent
way.
And we have these amazingconversations.
My friend Rebecca and I wentshopping the other day and it
was an all day excursion and weliterally talked from 6 30 a.
m.
to 7 30 p.
m.
And it was all amazing.
(27:44):
Putting that into your day andhaving it be part of your
marketing, like on Twitterhaving a conversation with
somebody it could be somebodywho has commented say, hey, do
you want to have a quickconversation?
We're going to talk for 4minutes and I'm going to take a
little snippets of it.
I'm going to edit it becauseyou're good at that.
And I could even do a littlegraphic, but we're going to put
(28:07):
that on TikTok.
We're going to put it on YouTubeand we're going to put it on
Twitter.
Yeah, it's a great idea.
And for you, I would changethings around.
So that what you're doing isreally an expression of your
creativity.
You have room to experiencethat.
I mean, You love the magic inlife, like those moments of,
connection and understandingthat you get in a conversation
(28:32):
with someone.
I think I called you adiscoverer, you want to discover
things, your Yeah, maybe weshould finally get to the
initial write up.
Right.
Since we've been teasing thatall along.
Right.
Exactly.
So you wrote this to me, as Imentioned, just shortly after we
set up the interview This wasjust your intuition.
You said (28:51):
Dear Elizabeth, Here's your superpower writeup.
This is just a good beginning.
There's always more and more,but this is a good start.
I do most of my workintuitively.
I tune into your energy and Ican understand your essence.
I don't, however, read your mindor know things about you that
are personal and private.
You are a discoverer.
You're fascinated by things inthe world and at a deeper level,
(29:11):
you're driven to assimilate thatknowledge and experience into an
understanding of how to live alife of wonder and magic.
When I say magic, I don't meanwitchcraft.
I mean that there's a spark oflife that we experience, and
it's so wonderful and powerfulthat it gives us a sense of a
magical world that we live in,but don't often perceive.
You were a dreamer when you wereyoung.
You see things that other peopledon't.
(29:32):
You understand the undercurrentsof life and how incredible they
are, and that's the world youwant to live in.
You've faced your fair share ofpeople telling you to be
practical and live in the realworld.
This insistence from others canbe soul crushing.
But you know you're right thatthe world is incredible and you
can live in that world.
Yes, be practical just enough tohelp you express the wonder you
(29:52):
see and to gain stories andexperiences of others who have
truly lived.
Let me know if this resonatesfor you.
that's the end of the email.
I just was, I was really touchedby it because it just took me
back to my youth, little girl,little Elizabeth, and it really
is spot on.
It's not, of course, thecomplete me.
Like you say, there's more, buteverything in there is true.
(30:16):
Yeah.
And there are other parts of youand those are all great.
But I wanted to remind you ofyou really, you love those
amazing flow moments one ofthose moments where it's almost
like time stands still.
And you're like, oh, life isamazing.
I was at a friend's house andshe lives up in the mountains.
(30:37):
And it started to kind of rain,but it was still sunny out.
And three of us looked up intothese beautiful, huge pines, and
we could see the raindropsfalling because it was sunny and
it was just this magical moment,we just sat there in silence and
watched these drops fall.
You really love that.
(30:59):
That's who you are.
That's who you've always beenYou're like a flower.
I always knew I wanted to havekids and part of it is because I
just, loved my childhood.
I have amazing parents and wehad a really wonderful childhood
and I wanted to get to, not redochildhood, but could get to see
life through a child's eyesagain.
And to see my kids, one of mydaughters specifically, who's
(31:21):
very much like this also how shelooks at flowers and we'll go
out and look at the moon and shegoes out and just stands in the
rain and just soaks it in andit's just really special to able
to do that with your own kids tobe that kid again, because I
think when you grow up, oftenthe responsibilities pile on and
there's so much you have to doin life.
(31:42):
And so it's really great to bereminded, like you say, of who
you really are.
But I think this is also on aprofessional level.
This is, why I did want tobecome a writer and a
journalist, because I have somuch curiosity and you said
you're a discoverer, you'refascinated by things in the
world, yes, I was just alwaysasking why and, why do things
happen?
But it's hard you also wrote,you faced your fair share of
(32:05):
people telling you to bepractical and live in the real
world.
I had a lot of freelance jobsalong the way and people saying
you need a job with benefits anddon't do this artist kind of
world.
And, it's hard.
I was a dreamer, a little bit ofa dreamer, and it's hard to
reconcile those things with apractical life.
Yeah.
And you know what I would sayfor you specifically too, is
(32:27):
your pace of life.
Now, with two kids in highschool, that's a lot.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
I can barely keep up with one.
also especially with people whoare super creative very much so
with you that calming down, thatslowing down practice is really
important for you.
(32:47):
I'm going to write down thecouple of things that I have to
do today, and then I'm going togive myself, you can start out
at 5 minutes or 10 minutes, orif you're pretty good at it
already.
I'm going to take this hour andthis hour, I'm going to have
something that I can be creativeat and I'm just going to enjoy
it.
And then more ideas come andmore ideas come.
(33:08):
But when you carve out time forthat.
It will grow into what it'ssupposed to be.
So we're always wanting theanswer, like, how is this going
to work?
I would say that what there isto do is not ask how and look
for the answer.
Not that you're doing that, butthat's just a human thing that
(33:28):
we do.
Yeah, I do that.
Me too.
the thing is, you're so creativethat you will get the answer.
You'll get it when you're like,oh, of course.
That's been coming to me forseveral days.
I didn't really understand it.
And boy, here it is.
That makes sense.
But it's more of asking thequestion, living in the question
(33:51):
of, what's something just reallywonderful.
Allow yourself that place thatyou give, especially to one of
your daughters, who's like,let's go look at the moon.
You don't say, that's stupid.
Yeah.
No, just be like, I'll come outwith you or, you'll just watch
her and enjoy that she's doingthat.
(34:11):
And same thing with yourselfThere may be days you're like, I
just want to sit and read.
Okay, great.
Do that, but say, how can I bemore me?
How can I give myself roomcreate?
What does that look like today?
And give yourself some time,slow down a little, because with
really creative people who needto have a kind of a slower pace
(34:35):
it's easy to get on thetreadmill, but the treadmill
starts just speeding up and wejust keep going and going.
And then we're like, What am Ieven doing?
More to do begets more to do.
Stop and say, okay, what'sreally important today.
And what's important for you isto set that stage for creative
living.
(34:56):
Whatever that is, give it timeto thrive because it will grow
and take up more of the spaceand the to do's will calm down
the more we pay attention to ourto do's, the bigger they get.
I am convinced.
I what I'm hearing from you toojust to globalize it for people
listening, so it's not justabout me is when you find your
(35:16):
superpower.
And so I don't know if we'resaying mine is just creativity
or conversation or whatever itis, but to live in that and have
that be the driving force thatthen is making your other
decisions, or you're living outfrom that.
Rather than having other thingsimpose upon your life, I should
be doing it this way.
(35:37):
Is that right?
you know, your superpower, thenhave that be your priority about
how you're structuring yourdecisions and your day.
Yeah, because if not, then ourmad drive to make up for how
inadequate we feel will takeover.
(36:00):
Like a monster, it will takeover our attention, So, a
powerful thing to do is justask, how can I use my superpower
today to help myself and others?
Just ask the question.
And don't even worry about theanswer.
That question alone askedseveral times a day, somehow
(36:21):
changes our brain.
So that that's how we start tothink and it's pretty amazing.
I thought it was asking thequestion and getting the answer,
but in my experience, it's justasking the question.
You're making space for theanswer to come when the answer
is ready to come.
Exactly and then we actuallystart living like how can I use
(36:44):
my superpower to help myself andothers.
It's like, oh, I'm going to chewon that instead of look at how
much I haven't gotten done.
I should have done this monthsago.
But instead of that, it can say,oh, how am I going to make a
difference?
And your day will be drasticallydifferent.
Just asking those questions andfor you, You are a discoverer.
(37:06):
You're always like, I want tolearn.
I want to see what I can do.
I have a feeling when you'recreative, when you're writing,
when you're speaking, whenyou're designing, there are many
moments when you're like, Ididn't see that coming, flow of
genius moving through me and youreally like the flow of genius.
(37:28):
You really like it and when youdon't get it, you can get cranky
and angry it's okay.
It's okay because you're like,all I want is the flow.
Can't I have the flow?
You can.
You can, but you can't have theflow and the, I should have done
(37:48):
this.
I should have done this at thesame time.
Because your kids and yourhusband and your friends, all
they want for you is to behappy.
That's true.
That's true.
They want you to be happy.
So not cranky.
And I don't mean that as mean,it's no, I know he gets so
frustrated imagine a pipe getsbacked up that pressure is
(38:11):
always trying to like, keep thatflow going.
And when we stop it.
that's a backup of pressure andwe get overwhelmed, and cranky
and angry and whatever.
But they just want you to behappy, which means keep that
flow going, keep that flowgoing.
So other people can find theirsuperpowers by contacting you
and by tapping into what it isthat they have always felt good
(38:37):
at doing and what kind of comeseasy to them.
Yes, and also, I would askpeople in your life who you
trust, because some people aregoing to say stupid things.
Well, you're really cute, okay,thanks.
That's super helpful.
But I would ask people in yourlife that you trust and say,
what's something that'snaturally special about me that
(38:59):
I may not know.
Just ask, what do you think I'mreally naturally good at?
This has just been a reallyincredible hour for me.
Thank you.
Like I said I feel really seenand validated and I didn't
expect this to feel so deep, butthank you.
And really helpful.
(39:21):
Good.
Good.
I feel like I have a path tomove forward and I just so
appreciate and I really admirewhat you've done with your
superpower.
Like you said, you find what itis to help yourself and to help
others and you're definitelyhelping others.
So I greatly appreciate it.
Oh, Thank you.
It's a pleasure, Elizabeth.
You are super fun to work with.
Elizabeth (39:44):
I was a little skeptical at first, but as you
could probably tell, I reallywas moved by what Mary Beth was
able to intuit about me.
What she described wasn't thecomplete picture of me, but she
definitely touched on somereally valid feelings and
experiences.
Here are some of my takeawaysfrom our conversation.
Number one.
Everyone has a superpower.
(40:04):
It may be something that comesso easily to you that you don't
even know it's super.
Two.
If you want to know what yoursis, ask people you trust.
What's something special aboutme that I may not know?
Three.
You can work hard at somethingthat is not your superpower and
you can get pretty good at it.
But, there's no joy in that.
There's just a lot of hard work.
(40:26):
Four.
When you're using yoursuperpower, you're in flow.
You're happier and moreproductive.
Five.
For many of us, it's importantto slow down a little.
Take a break from the fast paceof life and do something like
look at the moon.
Literally, or figuratively.
And finally, number six.
Keep asking yourself, how can Iuse my superpower today to help
(40:47):
myself and help others?
My huge thanks to Mary BethRobinson for giving me so much
to think about.
If you'd like to learn moreabout her and her work and find
out how she can help youdiscover your own superpower,
check out the show notes forthis episode.
If you like listening to peoplewho have followed their passions
into interesting careers, youmight want to listen to episode
51 with Laura Penn Gallerstein,who's a sound healer, and
(41:10):
episode 48 with Julia Vitalityon geo arbitrage.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed to this podcast,
please do, and please tell a fewfriends about it too.
And if you prefer watching aswell as listening to podcasts,
we're on YouTube now also.
at WhatIt'sLikeTo 2023 onYouTube.
I'm Elizabeth Pearson Garr.
(41:30):
Thanks for being curious aboutwhat it's like.
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