In this solo episode of the Stan Stewart Podcast, host Stan Stewart reflects on a simple daily ritual he shares with his dog Deco—a “pup cup” of whipped‑cream‑topped treat given at a coffee‑shop drive‑through. He describes the dog’s ecstatic reaction, explains the underlying dopamine surge that both dog and human experience, and emphasizes that the meaning of the ritual—anticipation, consistency, and trust—is what creates lasting joy. Stewart uses the story to illustrate a broader principle: celebrating tiny, repeatable wins (the “pup cups” of life) builds resilience, motivation, and a sense of accomplishment. He invites listeners to identify their own small rituals, whether a coffee after a tough conversation, an evening walk, or a checklist tick, and to embed them deliberately. The episode ends with a call to action to subscribe, share, and visit his coaching site for further guidance on discovering personal pup cups.
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Hey, y'all. Welcome back to the Stan Stewart Podcast, where we dig into the habits, psychology, and everyday rituals that help us live with more purpose, more resilience, and just a lot more joy. Today's episode takes a little bit of a different turn. It starts with a dog. Well, it starts with my dog, Deco. And that's Deco, D-E-C-O, and it's short for decompression. It's a diving thing. All right. So let me tell you about this. Every few mornings, not every morning, but just on special occasions, Deiko and I have this ritual. We roll up to one of our local coffee shops, you know, the drive-through kind. Out here we've got things like Dutch Bros and Human Bean and a few others. Anyway, we roll up and I do this on very, very special occasions. I grab my usual. It's usually something like a caramel latte. I've got this weird quirk that even though that a caramel latte comes with 2 shots, I always have them do 1.5. And then depending on if I'm feeling healthy or not, I'll do almond milk or whole milk. It's got just enough sweetness in it that I feel good. But Deco goes absolutely bonkers when I pull up. You see, because it is the highlight of his day. In fact, it's probably the highlight of his whole world because Deco gets a pup cup. Now, if you don't know what a pup cup is, basically it is A small little cup, and it's got whipped cream in it, and then some type of a doggy treat. If you follow my TikTok over on The Neptune Warrior, I haven't posted one on Stan Sure yet, but I'll have to do that. You will see that he just goes absolutely crazy for these things. But. Since you're not there, let me just describe it. He starts whining. He just starts freaking out knowing that he's going to get a pup cup. And there's just a joy that's on his face. I mean, it's in its purest form. His ears are, even though he's got kind of floppy ears, but they perk up in his floppy ear kind of way. His tail becomes like a metronome of happiness. And you can see it. It's just that joy. It's that moment of pure presence. No worries, no hesitation. It's just a huge dopamine hit straight to his little doggy brain. And In his little doggy words, you can almost hear him say, oh wow, life is just so good. Now you see, here's where the science kicks in. Biologically, Deco's reaction, it's not just the cute kind of reaction that a dog would have. It's actually chemistry. The whipped cream that he's getting, that moment It, it just triggers a flood of dopamine. And for both dogs as well as humans, dopamine is our brain's natural reward signal. It's, it's the same mechanism in Deco as it is in me. But what matters more is the meaning around the ritual. And it's not just about the sugar. It's not just about the little doggy treat that's in there. It's about the routine. It's the anticipation. It's the consistency. It's the trust between him and I being built. I mean, imagine how Deacon would feel if I went through and I got my caramel latte and I didn't get him a pup cup. There'd be, there'd be a broken trust. You see, in Deco's world, that pup cup, it's not just a treat. For him, it's a sign. It's a sign that says, hey, you're loved, you're safe, you've done a good job. That's powerful. The truth is, you and I are no different than Deco. That's right. We are no different. We have this anticipation of good things. We get that dopamine rush. So let me ask you this: What is your pup cup? What's that small, simple ritual? That tells your brain, well done, you've got what it takes. And maybe for you it is, it is a hot cup of coffee after you've had a really hard conversation. Maybe it's a slow walk in the evening after a long shift. Maybe, maybe it's that little checkbox that you tick off on your to-do list, whatever it is. To you, it matters. You see, too often we are waiting for those big wins, and we think it's those big wins that are going to make us feel proud. We wait for the big promotion, we wait for the perfect relationship, we wait for the bonus, we wait for a 6-figure launch. But in doing all that, we're missing the little pup cups in life. And they're all right in front of us. Every single time that Diko and I roll through one of those drive-throughs, he reminds me that joy doesn't always come wrapped in fireworks. Sometimes it comes with whipped cream and a tail wag. So here's your reminder today. I want you to go out and I want you to— I want you to go celebrate the small wins. Build in tiny rituals that reinforce progress and find your version of a pup cup. A daily act that says, hey, you did good. You got what it takes. Because in this world that just moves so fast, and every time we turn around, there's, there's some kind of a dumpster fire going on, or there's some type of negativity in the news. The little things might be really the big things after all. Hey, that's all I've got for this episode. Your call to action is go find out what those little pup cups are in your life. For me, it's when you subscribe or when you like the podcast or when you share the podcast. If you want more information about me, go check out stansurecoaching.com. I would love to help you discover what your pup cups are.
