Show Notes
We spend most of adult life trying to be competent, polished, and vaguely impressive. This dare asks you to do the opposite.
In this short Dare Day episode, Michelle shares a moment at the kitchen table with her kid that sparked an uncomfortable realisation: kids don’t care if they’re bad at things they care if they’re enjoying them. Somewhere along the line, we lost that.
From sketching terrible T-shirt designs (and loving it anyway) to memories of being absolutely useless at roller skating but showing up regardless, this episode is about reconnecting with joy without turning it into a performance. Michelle breaks down why doing something you’re “bad at” feels so uncomfortable as an adult, what’s actually happening in your brain when resistance kicks in, and why separating your self-worth from outcomes might be one of the most important skills you can rebuild.
In this episode, we cover:
Why adults avoid activities with no clear “point” or payoff How kids naturally enjoy the process — and what we unlearned The brain’s resistance response and why it tells you to be “productive” instead Why purpose doesn’t need an endpoint How practising failure in small, harmless ways builds resilience for the big stuff The link between shame, performance, and self-worth
This week’s dare: The Ugly 15
Set a timer for 15 minutes and do something you used to love as a kid — something you stopped because you weren’t very good at it. Sketch. Dance. Write a poem. Roller skate like Bambi on ice. No improving. No posting for validation. No turning it into a side hustle.
Just process. Just fun. Just showing yourself that the world doesn’t end when you’re bad at something. Go be rubbish on purpose. It might be the bravest thing you do all week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from She Who Dares, Wins.
In this episode of She Who Dares Wiggles, I'm joined by Stephanie, Olympic marathon runner, one-to-one run coach and mum. She never dreamed of the Olympics, but after a marathon ballot she expected to lose, a pandemic and a run of injuries, she ended up on the start line in Tokyo. We talk about the races, the setbacks, and why starting her own business may have been the bigger dare.
This week on She Who Dares Wins, I'm joined by Squash: adventurer, speaker and high-performance coach.
For twenty years, Leesa was deeply immersed in the corporate rat race—running global sales teams, traveling the world, and earning a living in a high-stakes, money-driven career. But behind the scenes, she was pushing herself to the absolute limit. When her mother passed away suddenly from lung cancer just nine months after diagnosis, and lockdown hit, Leesa faced a severe mental breakdown, burnout, and a prescription for one hundred and fifty milligrams of antidepressants that left her feeling like a zombie. Realizing life was far too short to stay trapped in a career that didn't serve her, she walked away from corporate sales with zero safety net.
In this exclusive mini bonus episode, host Michelle Hands catches up with world-record endurance runner Christine Hobson to ask for one simple, powerful dare for women looking to take control of their health without feeling overwhelmed. Despite running marathons, Christine shares her startling discovery after wearing a continuous glucose monitor: even active athletes can experience major blood sugar spikes after regular meals. Christine reveals how experimenting with a simple 20-minute brisk walk straight after eating completely transformed her glucose levels and metabolic health. Together, Michelle and Christine unpack the power of compounding daily micro-habits, why walking around the block while listening to an audiobook beats sporadic workout intensity, and how stepping out your back gate into nature can bring you right back to basics.
In this completely raw, unscripted, and single-take solo episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on a massive internal battle I’ve been fighting over the last six months: the paralyzing trap of external noise, over-strategizing, and quietly losing your true voice in the social media scroll. After 2.5 years of hosting this show and building a career on storytelling—from construction site cabins to high-production film sets—I recently realized I had fallen into a dangerous vortex. I was buying the courses, reading the books, obsessing over "traditional business formulas," and trying to force my creative brain into boxes where it just didn't fit. In the pursuit of perfection, I forgot who I was, how I wanted to show up, and why I started this journey in the first place.