Welcome to Amplify with Jess Ekstrom, a show designed to help women get out of their head and into their zone of influence. Happy Monday, everyone! Here’s some food for thought to start your week.

I want to share an experience from my first flight with Ellie last summer. We survived only two meltdowns—one from Ellie and one from me. Before the flight, I basically got my PhD on the internet about traveling with babies. I could write an entire dissertation about it with the amount of articles and TikToks I consumed.

But the best piece of advice I got was this:

**”No matter how long the flight is and how terrible it goes, the flight will end, and you will never see these people again.”**

I repeated this line to myself at 35,000 feet while Ellie was wailing, and I was patting her back, trying to soothe her. Some people looked at me with sympathy, while others thought, “This needs to stop.”

This advice is much more than just about being on an airplane with your child. No matter how challenging the moment is, it will pass. Most of the time, no one is thinking about it as much as you are. People move on. People forget. They aren’t writing down your every move or passing or failing you.

**”No one is thinking about you and your every move as much as you are.”**

I’m going to repeat that. No one is thinking as much about you and your every move as you are. Babies cry on planes. We trip in public places, stumble over our words, and do things we wish we would have done differently. But we can do hard things. Thank you, Glennon Doyle, for that one.

No one is watching you fail; only you define if you fail.

My free time doesn’t mean it’s available time.

We often forget that free time is free for us to design, not for others to fill. We don’t have to justify why it’s empty. Having empty time isn’t bad or selfish. We’ve been trained to think we must fill all the slots or do more for others.

Thanks for listening to Amplify. If you are a fan of the show, show us some podcast love by giving us a rating and review. Follow us at @micdropworkshop and @JessEkstrom.

Remember, you deserve the biggest stage. Let’s find out how to get you there. I’ll see you again soon.

This episode was edited and produced by Ear Fluence. I’m Jess Ekstrom, your host.