Erin is joined by close friend and returning guest Stephanie Cunningham to talk about the "Simple 75" — a loosened, personalized riff on 75 Hard that the two of them ran together this summer. What starts as a lighthearted comparison of checklists turns into a real conversation about failure as information (not judgment), narrowing down to "the things that always work," and why the absence of a punitive restart changes everything about whether a habit challenge is sustainable. Steph also opens up about stepping away from the challenge entirely during a family crisis, and what made it feel right to pick it back up — on her own terms — afterward. If you've ever wanted permission to do the thing at 20%, or permission to stop doing it at 100%, this one's for you.
Key line: "Hold your goals tightly enough to pursue them, but loosely enough to survive them."
What we talk about
Why Steph set out to do a traditional 75 Hard, and how it became a "Simple 75" / "75 Medium" once Erin joined in
The real rules of 75 Hard, for anyone unfamiliar (two 45-min workouts, one outdoors, a gallon of water, a nutrition plan, no alcohol, progress photos, 10 pages of nonfiction — miss one thing, restart from day one)
Tracking as information, not judgment — and why that reframe is the difference between a failure that teaches you something and a failure that just feels like shame
Steph stepping away from the challenge for three-plus weeks after a family loss, and what it took to come back to it
Narrowing a 10-12 item checklist down to the handful of things that "always work" — and what happens to your creativity and bandwidth when those few things are actually covered
Why the no-punitive-restart structure (vs. traditional 75 Hard) might be the real differentiator, more than intensity
Consistency isn't perfection — it's what you do after you miss
Permission to do the thing at 20%. Permission to stop doing the thing at 100%.
What's next for both of them: Erin's 100 Days of Gratitude and dabbling back into Morning Pages; Steph's "75 Medium" continuing alongside marathon training
Timestamps
(estimated from transcript)
0:00 — Intro & welcome
2:30 — Meet Stephanie Cunningham
4:00 — How the Simple 75 started: Steph's original plan, Erin inviting herself in
9:00 — The paradox of ambition vs. contentment in the present
11:30 — Tracking as information, not judgment
14:00 — Steph steps away: family crisis, three weeks off, and coming back
18:00 — Failure as data, not a reset button — the commencement-speech story
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Erin Vandeven. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Erin Vandeven och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
