How you perceive stress.
Changes everything.
Challenge or opportunity?
Ending or new beginning?
Stumbling block or stepping stone?
Coal or diamonds?
If you can’t change the stress.
Change the way you think about it.
Week 2 at College: Short Video
Tag: Thriving
Visualization Exercise: Look for the signs
Signs pointing us in the direction of our dreams are everywhere.
Everywhere!
But we have to look UP to see it.
OPEN our minds to BELIEVE it.
Daily Visualization Exercise
The next time you see a 40 km, 50 km, or even 100 km sign — take it as an opportunity to visualize where (and who) you want to be at that age.
Additionally, use each “sign” as instant reflection time for contemplating: 1) what you need to do more of and 2) what you need to let go of to get there.
We only get one life.
Let’s imagine the best one possible!
What signs have you noticed lately?
Optimism Bootcamp – Click Here
Finding the light.
How do you start the day?
Do your morning routines lighten you up?
Or bring you down?
Early morning rituals spark the divine in me.
No matter the day. No matter the moment.
Angel cards, hot coffee, and mindfulness take me there.
Fueling my creativity. Illuminating my path. Shifting me higher.
Today’s Angel Reading — Click Here
Early morning rituals call forth the peace in me.
No matter the day. No matter the moment.
Angel cards, hot coffee, and mindfulness take me there.
In this sacred space I breathe in deep, let go, and freely release…
Early morning rituals affirm the courage in me.
For I have finally found the light in me.
Ready to share ☀️ with all that I meet.
Reflection Questions
How do you rediscover the light inside? What morning rituals shift you to a higher place?
How to stay motivated as you prepare for your TEDX Talk.
Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the new roster of TEDX Windsor speakers at Beachgrove Golf and Country Club in Windsor Ontario.
“A goal should scare you a little bit and excite you a lot.”
In the 4 min video below I advise the 2019 @TEDxWindsor Speakers how to stay motivated during the extensive and lengthy TEDX preparation process.
These tips apply to life too!
Reminding speakers HOW THEY DREAMED of becoming a TEDX SPEAKER long before they had the INCREDIBLE FORTUNE to became one.
What’s your why?
YOUR TURN
Do you want to be a TEDX Speaker one day?
What would the name of your TEDX Talk be?
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1. Purchase Tickets for the June 8 TEDX Windsor Event
2. Watch TEDX Talk THRIVING UNDER PRESSURE
✨Today’s Psychology Opportunity✨
Choose to believe in something bigger than yourself. And let your North Star light your way.
Dare to Dream!
Laughter is an instant vacation.
What’s your favourite stress reliever?
Laughter is mine.
We live in a world weighed down by disaster, debt, and divorce. So it’s no surprise that we’ve been conditioned to believe that tragedies require tragic mindsets.
That serious issues demand serious attitudes. That hardships necessitate hardened spirits.
What consumes your mind consumes your life.
Change your view.
Thankfully we also live in a world overflowing with abundance, joy, and love. Same world. But we can’t see the good when we’re overwhelmed by the bad.
From overwhelmed to OVERFLOWING.
Making the shift from stress to strength can happen in a number of ways.
Laughter = instant stress relief. Taking a long deep breath runs a close second.
Be kind to your mind.
Laughter breaks the panic spell. The not enough mindset. The woe is me attitude. The negativity downturn.
Laughter connects people in present time. Friends and strangers! Think of the last time you laughed out loud with a cashier in the grocery line. (For me, it was last night ;.)
Laughter is an instant vacation to a better place – without the travel bills!
Today’s challenge / opportunity:
Today’s challenge is to lighten up. To breathe deeply into what stresses you.
To leave room for grace. To respond with a light heart and an open mind. To dance a little dance. To laugh with friends. To nourish your soul.
Ultimately to remember who you were – before life weighed you down.
For it’s in our joy that we find our voice. It’s in our abundance that we embrace our authenticity.
It’s in our laughter that we save the day.
Lemon Soul Podcast: Thriving Under Pressure.
The Psychology of Wellness
I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed on the Lemon Soul Podcast by an engaging and bright young woman named Sierra Parr.
It was one of the most rewarding projects I have worked on and I hope you find the same value in listening to the podcast as I had co-creating it with Ms. Parr.
What is a Lemon Soul? 🍋
A lemon soul is someone who has been sweetened by the sour parts of life. Resulting in the most beautiful soul of all – “The Lemon Soul”.
The Lemon Soul Experience 🍋
Sierra’s podcast questions are timely, thought-provoking, and well-organized.
With equal parts practicality, spirituality, and science. Wrapped up in a captivating and compassionate interview style.
So much so, that I revealed parts of my life that I have never shared publicly before.
Take a listen and let me know what resonates with you!
Lemon Soul Podcast: Episode 15
Tap on Image Below and Press Play
Thriving Under Pressure: Psychology of Mental Wellness
1. Listen on SoundCloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/lemonsoulpodcast/015-dr-andrea-dinardo-thriving-under-pressure
2. Listen on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/lemon-soul/id1386504193?mt=2&i=1000432857445
SHOW NOTES FROM LEMON SOUL PODCAST 🍋
Very honoured to sit down with Dr. Andrea Dinardo this week and divulge all my lemon soul questions with her. A true testament to her work as a psychologist and now psychology professor, this episode is FULL of good advice! With a deeper insight into many of our mental health struggles and the science behind how our brain is working. Furthermore diving into Dr. Dinardo’s personal life as she uncovers her fundamental inspiration for everything she does in life, her sister.
Topics covered on the podcast:
From psychologist to psychology professor!
How to motivate students!
Why connection is important.
Compassion fatigue
The givers & the takers
Setting boundaries for others and ourselves.
Thriving Under Pressure!
Failure as Feedback!
Are we socialized to care?
How to train your brain
Challenge, Control, & Commitment
Honour your pain!
B r e a t h i n g s p a c e !
The universe box
Claiming your prize
GET MOVING!
I hope this podcast interview inspires you to take the road less traveled this week.
The one you have been waiting to take for days, months, perhaps years.
If not now, when?
Listen Here: Lemon Soul Podcast
International Women’s Day: Who Inspires You?
#internationalwomensday #rolemodel
Growing up my Mom, my mentor, and the first psychologist in our family, didn’t talk a lot about women’s empowerment.
— She just lived it.
Gracefully. Quietly. Courageously.
Today, and all days, I am grateful for a role model who began her journey from challenge to strength with incredible will and a heart of power.
A first time mother at 17 years old, the jumping off point for all that would unfold.
“How did you do it?” I ask frequently to this day.
A single mom in her twenties.
One of few women working on our street.
Criticized openly for leaving her kids during the week and going back to graduate school in her 40s.
I lean in often for her wisdom, inquiring:
“How did you rise above all the naysayers and critics?”
Her response:
When you really, really want something Andrea, you become singularly focused, no time, no energy, for anything else (4 kids keep you busy).
“Sure it hurt, she says.”
”But my mission was always greater than my misery. And this is when I knew what I was truly meant to do.”
Everything else became white noise.
A teacher, a leader, and a mother who teaches me how to live with equal parts grace, fortitude, and tenderness.
Someone who shows me how to pay my good fortune forward.
Every chance WE get. 💃❤️💃
Who inspires you today?
What’s my life purpose?
Who am I? Why was I born?
So many people in this world are struggling with what to do with their lives.
An existential struggle that did not exist 100 years ago when jobs were more clearly defined.
Which is why it is essential to explore life purpose in many different ways.
PURPOSE 🆚 JOB
We must not confuse life purpose with occupation.
My occupation = Psychology Professor.
My life purpose is to lift people up and help them feel better.
Something I can do on weekends, at work, with friends, in my community, and well into my retirement years.
Our occupation transpires 9-5. Our life purpose unfolds 24/7.
Life Purpose Discussions – Everywhere!
The topic of finding one’s life purpose was an active discussion on social media (see screen shot below) and in psychology class (link to video) this week.
Social Media: What’s my gift?
This is how I walked a fellow instagrammer through the process of (re)discovering their life purpose:
HUMAN BEING 🆚 HUMAN DOING
Life purpose is a way of being.
A way of living and giving.
It is all encompassing.
Who we are is our life purpose.
We are 1 in 7.5 billion.
What makes us different also makes us indispensable.
The world needs our unique kind of wonderful.
No more waiting. No more searching.
Our life purpose is now.
A daily mission. Big and small.
Supporting others and sharing our gift.
We have purpose because we are alive.
Breath by breath. Step by step.
We are the dominos.
I hope you enjoy this video message on life purpose too.
Reflection Questions:
- When do you feel most alive and in flow?
- How is your life purpose different or the same as your occupation?
- If you could do any one thing for the rest of your life, and not worry about money, what would that be?
- In what ways did you feel ‘odd‘ or cast out when you were younger, only to realize later in life that your ‘differences‘ were your greatest strengths and sources of happiness?
- What unique, one-of-a-kind gift will you share with the world today?
We are all worthy – not because of what we do – but because of who we are. 🌷
Keep Dreaming. Keep Believing.
What percentage of the time do you spend talking about your stress versus talking about your dreams?
Arguing for your weaknesses versus championing for your strengths?
Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.
So please accept this challenge of beginning your conversations with your dreams instead of your stress.
In doing so you energize your day and everyone around you.
Trust me. I speak from experience.
When we focus on what’s right — If only 1% of our day —
Everything changes for the better.
🔝 Video of this Blog Post 🔝
Keep Dreaming. Keep Believing.
The world needs dreamers like you.
Catch your breath.
“Self-care is giving the world the best of you, not what’s left of you.”
Pause.
Be still.
Catch your breath.
Take a rest.
Practice self-care.
As often as you can.
Pause at the end of my video ⬆️ for 30 fun self-care ideas.
Do you practice daily self-care?
Please share in the comments below.
