Why did this show just change its name? In this launch episode of Intentional Living, Mari Peck explains the real reason she spent 18 episodes hiding behind a show title — and 4 separate brands — even while telling deeply personal, vulnerable stories under those titles.

Drawing on Larson and Chastain's foundational research on self-concealment (and a meta-analysis spanning 137 studies and over 40,000 people), Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer's decades of research on mindfulness versus mindlessness, and a callback to Episode 18's work on the imposter voice, Mari makes the case that intentional living isn't a slow-morning buzzword — it's the deliberate choice to notice instead of default, applied to everything, including the name on your own work.

Walk away with three tools for catching autopilot decisions, naming what you're protecting and why, and defining your own real standard for what "intentional" means.

REFERENCES

• Larson, D. G., & Chastain, R. L. (1990). Self-concealment: Conceptualization, measurement, and health implications. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9(4), 439-455.
• Kelly, A. E., & Yip, J. J. (2006). Overall and specific measures of self-concealment. Integrative review and working model, meta-analysis across 137 studies (n > 40,000).
• Langer, E. J. (1989/2014). Mindfulness. Da Capo Press.
• Langer, E. J., Rodin, J., et al. (1979). The "counterclockwise" study on aging and mindset, described in Langer's Counterclockwise (2009), Ballantine Books.
• Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The impostor phenomenon in high achieving women. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice. (See also Episode 18.)

Imposter Syndrome isn't humility. It's a lie that survives by ignoring your own evidence.

In this episode of Intentional Living, Mari tells the real story of the voice that has followed her through every major accomplishment of her career — a self-published book, an unlikely career, and this very podcast — and finally breaks down what silenced it.

Drawing on Clance and Imes's original 1978 research on the impostor phenomenon in high-achieving women, a 2025 meta-analysis finding 62% of health professionals experience imposter syndrome, and current research from Psychology Today showing that success itself can retrigger imposter feelings.

Walk away with two tools: how to build a real evidence file, and how to track your own predictions against reality until the gap becomes impossible to ignore.

• Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The impostor phenomenon in high achieving women. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice.
• Salari, N., et al. (2025). Global prevalence of imposter syndrome in health service providers. BMC Psychology.
• Psychology Today. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: 6 Evidence-Based Strategies.

Relevant Prior Episodes

• Episode 4 — referenced for lack of close female friendships
• Episode 8 — referenced for the tech job/cancer treatment job offer story

How do you know what to believe anymore? In this episode of Intentional Living, Mari breaks down why dramatic, false information spreads faster and farther than accurate information online — and it's not your imagination, it's documented research.

Drawing on a landmark MIT study published in Science analyzing over 4.5 million tweets, current data from Pew Research and the Knight Foundation on how much misinformation people encounter and even knowingly share, Stanford researcher Sam Wineburg's research on "lateral reading" (the specific habit that separates professional fact-checkers from everyone else), and Cambridge psychologist Sander van der Linden's research proving misinformation resistance is a trainable skill, Mari makes the case that overwhelm, reflexive cynicism, and confusion about AI-generated content are really the same missing skill wearing three different outfits.

Walk away with three tools: how to verify a claim in under two minutes, how to check whether a claimed credential (or even a claimed human) is real, and how to use your own emotional reaction as an early warning system before you share.

• Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science.
• Wineburg, S., & McGrew, S. (2019). Lateral reading and the nature of expertise. Teachers College Record.
• van der Linden, S., et al. (2017). Inoculating against misinformation. Science.
• Pew Research Center (2023) and Knight Foundation (2022) misinformation survey data.

Relevant Prior Episodes

• Episode 11 — social media and comparison research, a different angle on the same general subject

Is your age stopping you — or is it just an old, unwritten rule you never bothered to question? In this episode of Intentional Living, Mari breaks down the internalized "social clock" that quietly decides, without anyone saying a word, what's appropriate to wear, try, or attempt at a given age. Drawing on Yale psychologist Becca Levy's landmark research showing people with positive self-perceptions of aging live an average of 7.5 years longer than those with negative ones, sociologist Bernice Neugarten's foundational concept of the social clock, and real, documented examples of women who achieved major things later in life — including a marathon runner who set a Guinness World Record at 86, and an author who published her first book at 65 — Mari makes the case that most of the rules about age-appropriate behavior were never actually real rules at all. Walk away with three tools for tracing the actual source of an "I'm too old for that" thought, building your own evidence file of counter-examples, and testing the rule with a small, reversible action instead of accepting it at face value.

• Levy, B. R., et al. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Neugarten, B. L., et al. (1965). Age norms, age constraints, and adult socialization. American Journal of Sociology.
• Guinness World Records — Gladys Burrill, oldest female marathon finisher.

Relevant Prior Episodes

• Episode 11 — "whose standard is this" — the social clock is the same mechanism
• Episode 13 — "stop waiting for the right time" — "I'm too old" as a specific flavor of that trap

Is your perfectionism stopping you? Not slowing you down a little — actually stopping you, from launching the business, sending the email, starting the hobby, finishing the book. In this episode of Really, Universe?, Mari breaks down why perfectionism rarely announces itself as a problem — it shows up dressed as high standards and dedication, while quietly running the show like an unpaid, judgmental intern. Drawing on Hewitt and Flett's foundational research distinguishing self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism, recent research linking procrastination specifically to the socially prescribed type, and the distinction between adaptive perfectionistic strivings and fear-driven perfectionistic concerns, Mari makes the case that high standards were never the actual problem. Fear wearing a standard's clothing is. Walk away with three tools: how to name the specific audience you're actually performing for, how to build a "minimum viable version" of anything (borrowed straight from

Almost everyone believes they're self-aware. Research suggests almost nobody actually is — and that gap is what quietly derails people, not lack of talent or bad luck. In this episode of Really, Universe?, Mari shares two real stories: transforming from a shy, lisping kid into someone repeatedly told she reads as intimidating — and the specific, deliberate compensations she built once she saw the cost, without shrinking herself in the process; and a pattern she only recently recognized — great ideas and real tenacity, as long as she can see evidence of progress, and how she's building a structural workaround for it in real time, including the actual 52-episode commitment behind this very podcast. Drawing on Tasha Eurich's landmark research on the self-awareness gap, the rumination-versus-reflection research behind the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, research on 360-degree feedback reliability, and Peter Gollwitzer's research on implementation intentions, Mari draws a hard line between self-awareness and self-criticism — and gives you three tools: how to ask the people closest to you (not just coworkers) for honest feedback, how to build a real self-rating on the qualities that actually matter to you and validate it against how others actually see you, and how to turn what you learn into an actual if-then plan instead of a vague intention.

• Eurich, T. (2017). Insight. Crown Business.
• Grant, A. M., Franklin, J., & Langford, P. (2002). The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale. Social Behavior and Personality.
• Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.
• Amundsen, S., & Martinsen, Ø. L. (2014). Self-other agreement in leadership.

Relevant Prior Episodes

• Episode 2, 9, 12 — brief reference to the dream home/finishing school story

Episode 3 — the lisp, shyness, and constant moving referenced in the opening story

• Episode 7 — self-criticism/inner critic research this episode builds on

"The right time" is often just code for "I don't feel ready" — and there's real evidence you may never feel ready at all.

In this episode of Really, Universe?, Mari breaks down why waiting for the right moment is usually fear dressed up as patience. Drawing on economist Steven Levitt's 20,000-person coin-flip study on major life decisions, Albert Bandura's foundational research on self-efficacy and mastery experiences, John Kotter's research on organizational change and "false urgency," and a callback to Episode 9's regret research, Mari makes the case that confidence follows action, not the other way around. This episode speaks directly to two different versions of the trap — waiting for a milestone you're free to skip, and waiting for a stability that won't arrive without you building it yourself. Walk away with three tools for acting before you feel ready, auditing your own busyness for false urgency, and asking the one question that usually reveals the honest answer.

• Levitt, S. D. (2021). Heads or tails. The Review of Economic Studies.
• Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W.H. Freeman.
• Kotter, J. P. (1995, 1996/2012). Leading Change. Harvard Business Review / HBR Press.
• Gilovich, T., & Medvec, V. H. (1994). The temporal pattern to the experience of regret. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Relevant Prior Episodes

• Episode 9 — How to Make Hard Decisions (regret research callback)
• Episode 12 — When to Quit (and When to Push Through) (false urgency / "building my pipeline" callback)

SOCIALS

Youtube:

www.youtube.com/@maripeck

Website

https://www.reallyuniverse.com/

How do you actually know the difference between giving up too soon and refusing to admit something isn't working?

In this episode of Really, Universe?, Mari tells the full story behind her phone book years — a string of reactive decisions after her divorce, a failed coffee shop, a startup job with payroll problems, and three years spent refusing to apply for anything below her previous professional level while running a solopreneur consulting business that looked like it was working just often enough to keep her hoping. It took hitting a genuine financial and physical rock bottom, and one sentence from her teenage son, to finally break the standoff.

Drawing on Seth Godin's Dip-versus-Dead-End framework, B.F. Skinner's research on intermittent reinforcement, Angela Duckworth's work on the hierarchy of goals, peer-reviewed research on goal disengagement, and Gianpiero Petriglieri's work on identity threat, Mari breaks down how to tell persistence from stubbornness before it costs you years instead of months. Walk away with three tools for telling a Dip from a Dead End, weighing a decision honestly, and quitting a path without quitting your actual goal.

REFERENCES

• Godin, S. (2007). The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick). Portfolio.
• Ferster, C. B., & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of Reinforcement. Appleton-Century-Crofts. (Variable ratio reinforcement research.)
• Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner. (Light reference here — a full episode on Duckworth's research is planned for later in the series.)
• Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., Miller, G. E., Schulz, R., & Carver, C. S. (2003). Adaptive self-regulation of unattainable goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(12), 1494-1508.
• Petriglieri, G. (2011). Under threat: Responses to and the consequences of threats to individuals' identities. Academy of Management Review, 36(4), 641-662.
• (2021). An exploration of obstacles to identity play during unemployment. Career Development International, 26(5).
• Arkes, H. R., & Blumer, C. (1985). The psychology of sunk cost. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35(1), 124-140. (Brief namecheck only — not the episode's primary frame.)

SOCIALS

Youtube:

www.youtube.com/@maripeck

Website

https://www.reallyuniverse.com/