Being Single, Dating and Setting Boundaries with Michelle Elman

Listen to "Being Single, Dating and Setting Boundaries with Michelle Elman".

In this episode, Hannah is joined by Michelle Elman, who is a life coach and author. Michelle discusses her new book The Joy of Being Selfish, and boundaries - setting them, communicating them and respecting them. She and Hannah talk about “empowered dating”, and the assumption that meeting someone IRL is better than through an dating app. Finally, Hannah and Michelle discuss the TV show Normal People, and how virginity is a scam.

Apologies that my audio in this episode is slightly distorted - not sure what happened to my microphone for this one! But hope you enjoy the conversation nonetheless.

Read the episode transcript here!

SHOW NOTES

What we chat about…

Michelle’s dating journey - going from boyfriends to dating toxic people to being intentionally single
Michelle’s concept of empowered dating
Challenge of scheduling in lots of dates
“Breaking up” with people you’ve been dating
Getting over the fear of ending up alone
Hierarchy of meeting in person vs meeting on dating apps
Dating someone who matches your values
Why love is not enough
How COVID has impacted dating
When do you chat about boundaries? Don’t want to scare people off but also don’t want to waste time. (20:40)
The idea that virginity is meant to define your worth
Romcoms about being single - bad media portrayals of romantic relationships, dating and being single
The poor communication in Normal People
Michelle’s new book, The Joy of Being Selfish - how we feel about the word “selfish”
Boundaries as the practical side of self love
Selflessness coming from a place of insecurity
What is a life coach?
Neuro Linguistic Programming and Pick Up Artists
Is there such a thing as too many boundaries? (42:12)
How to be there for your partner without being overwhelmed by their trauma on top of your own issues? (42:52)
What if your partner disagrees with your boundaries and doesn’t want to have that kind of chat? (43:53)
How do I start to figure out what my boundaries should be? (51:50)
Social media boundaries

USEFUL LINKS

Safer Sex and Covid-19 (Bish)
For a look into Pick Up Artists: Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

MORE ABOUT MICHELLE ELMAN

Michelle Elman is a five-board accredited Life Coach and is most known for her campaign Scarred Not Scared. She has an active social media presence with over 300k followers across her accounts. She has appeared on Sky News, Loose Women, Channel 5 News, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC sharing her expert opinion, as well as radio worldwide from Hong Kong to Los Angeles to Ireland. Her TedX talk "Have You Hated Your Body Enough Today?" has been viewed over 50,000 times and her debut book "Am I Ugly?" was released in 2018. She has also written for a number of reputable publications including Huffington Post, Grazia, Metro, MTV and Stylist. In 2020, she was named as one of The Sun's 50 most inspirational women in the UK. She recently launched her life coaching podcast "In All Honesty" and her new book "The Joy Of Being Selfish" is being published in 2021.