Happiness Hacks

In early August my Mom and I  took a trip to visit friends in Iowa. The trip brought me so many ah-ha's about life priorities and living happier I wanted to share a few of the lessons I learned. 

This week's podcast came out a little late, listen to find out why. Sharing my own 'default patterns' and how slowly but surely we can change them.  

So often we hear that our Monger is a Mean Girl or a Bitch. On this episode, I share why calling your Monger that doesn't help. You can't fight shame with shame.

Frequently when we refer to our Monger (inner critic) coming out to play it is in response to criticism but she also gets loud when we are being praised too much! What is that about and what can you do about it?

For years I use to teach the common advice that you need to love yourself. And then I realized that the key to loving myself was to practice being kind to myself one act at a time. 

Recently I read the book First, We Make the Beast Beautiful A New Journey Through Anxiety by Sarah Wilson. And I can't say enough good things about it. Today I explore 5 of Sarah's cruel ironies when it comes to living with anxiety. If you struggle with anxiety or know someone who does, I know you will be nodding your head in understanding as you listen. 

A different look at The Happier Approach characters not just how we talk to ourselves but how we interact with others. Which character are you? How do you interact with those around you?

This week my heart was heavy after the suicides of 2 famous people and the release of the CDC report saying suicide rates are at an all-time high. I did what I always do when my heart is heavy, I wrote.  It is time for a revolution. 

It is human nature to look outside of ourselves for the way to feel more peaceful, content or happier.  But the truth is only you have the answer. Not the next promotion, guru or approach, you have to figure out what works and make it happen for you. 

Today I offer a simple question to get your mind moving in different ways. We get so caught up in the 'hamster wheel' of life that we forget to ask ourselves are we living a life we want to be living?  In this episode I explore the question...what does a good day look like?

There are a lot of things in my industry lately that have just been rubbing me the wrong way, and so they've been making me feel kind of quiet and small. So instead of continuing on that quiet and small mantra, I wanted to air them and see if you guys agreed with me or felt the same way or were equally annoyed or maybe it's just me.

I am answering listener questions...well actually only 1 question but an important one. If you are struggling with acknowledging your feelings...this one is for you. 

Yesterday I had an extreme Monger attack. In this episode, I share what I learned, why shame attacks are so hard and what our job is when we put on that warm cozy sweater of our Monger. 

In this episode, I talk about the to-do list and our love of it keeping us on task and responsible and its way of keeping us trapped in the belief that WHEN we finish the to-do list we will be happier. (That's a lie by the way.)

In this episode, I talk about 3 random observations about our inner dialogue, what causes our Monger to get fired up, why we have a love hate relationship with her and what we HAVE to do to quiet her.

A new monthly segment for the show the Happier Approach Q&A. Answering listener questions about all things Live Happier and The Happier Approach. Have a question?  Submit it here

Feelings. They get such a bad wrap. If there is one thing the psychology world has a lot of contradictory opinions on, it is feelings.  Today I look at the benefit of stepping into the deep water and riding the waves of your feelings. 

The quote “Stop comparing your insides to other people’s outside.” is a big ah-ha for people. But comparing ourselves is something we do ALL THE TIME. What can be gained from doing that? Can we engage in comparison without beating ourselves up?

Now and then someone will say to me "I don't think I have a Monger." And my answer is always, 'Yes you do. Your Monger is just sneaky."  We underestimate how much our Monger chats at us and how accepting we have become to her message.  Today I am looking at some habits/behaviors you might have that are inspired by your Monger.  

So many people have told me how brave I am for writing and publishing a book. We tend to compare our insides to other people's outsides and think they have it all together. Today I am pulling back the veil on how I successfully (and unsuccessfully) dealt with my Monger attacks the week of my book launch.