When you become a parent, it’s easy to hold yourself back. You take on a huge responsibility, and you make less risky decisions since you have more than yourself to take care of. And while stewarding your family well is important, it’s also important to continue to chase your own dreams.
Jonathan Fields is an author, producer, and business innovator who is on a quest to discover what makes people come fully alive. Today’s talk reminds us how crucial it is to move past fears of failure, or even simply sitting stagnant in life, in order to find fullness and fulfillment—not just for ourselves, but for our kids, who are learning how to live by watching our every move.
Let’s talk about your brain. It processes 70,000 thoughts every day using 100 billion neurons. All of this forms the basis for every memory, thought, and feeling—in other words, your entire life experience. But did you know that most of these thoughts are both negative and repetitive? No wonder we sometimes feel stuck.
The good news is that you have the power to rewire and adapt your brain to have a new outlook. Jenny Allen, author, Christian teacher, and founder of IF:Gathering, explains the three lies we easily believe and how to reclaim the power to change your life.
As parents, we all aspire to model the best qualities and behaviors we can for our kids—integrity, positivity, and simply being present—but it can sometimes feel daunting and complicated in the midst of our overly busy lives.
Today, leadership expert Robin Sharma explains the simple steps on how to be a good human, and how to bring humanity back into everyday living. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but we simply need to slow down enough to remember the basics.
I know you know the feeling of not getting enough sleep—you wake up groggy, frustrated that morning came so early, and overall impatient with your kiddo and with life. But lack of sleep takes much more toll on our body and mind than you might realize.
Sleep diplomat and professor Matt Walker explains that sleep is non-negotiable, because the less sleep you get, the shorter you life is likely to be.
The secret is out we don’t really know what we’re doing - “Parents are only people that had kids!”
Truly, I think teenagers have it rough because they’re going through massive developmental changes, which is similar to parents navigating their kiddo as well as their own personal changes throughout the parenting journey.
Bottom line, we all need MORE SUPPORT + MORE GRACE because it’s pretty stressful at times.
We also have limitations and blind spots - or crazy spots as @lisa.damour calls them - which makes it easy to get wrapped up in our own heads, leaving us feeling stuck or alone.
As adults, we need people to both call us out on our craziness and be our biggest fan—and our teenagers are no different. They also need to be seen, understood, and accepted.
Dr. Lisa Damour shares why it’s important to recognize and talk about our “crazy spots,” and how to actually help our kiddos mature, rather than simply age into adolescence and adulthood.
Maybe it’s because you’re not always in situations where you automatically meet people in the same life stage as you. But also, maybe it’s because you close yourself off, quick to judge others and afraid of being judged yourself, and unwilling to take a chance.
Building community takes time, not to mention vulnerability.
Today, motivational speaker Lisa Nichols reminds us that kindness matters, and being receptive to new friendships could actually change your view of yourself and of the world. You just have to be open to it.
Sometimes you need to be reminded that YOU matter, and that the way you choose to face each day matters. You want to teach your kiddo how to filter through the noise of life and put themselves in circles that inspire and encourage them to grow—but the only way to do that is to model it through your own attitude. Motivational speaker Keith Harrell will fire you up as he explains that it’s up to you to create your own environments that fill you and foster positivity. How will you choose to approach each day?
What things in your life feel unfair and cause you to get worked up? We all have those triggers—and in those moments, it’s easy to feel powerless. But what if we shifted the narrative by changing our own reaction, instead of being angry at what can’t be changed? Author and speaker Hal Elrod explains that while we can’t always change our circumstances, we always have the power to choose how we respond, and that can change our entire experience of life. It is in those moments that we create space for more beautiful things to grow in us and in our kids.
As I reflect on this journey, I remember all the time spent to scheme, dream, curate, pivot, launch, fail, and keep going. I started this podcast after huge changes in my family life, and I knew I needed to challenge myself to find (and share) resources to grow myself as a person and a mama. I believe reflection is important to remember how far you’ve come, and how much more is still to come—and it’s the little victories that keep you going and need to be celebrated. So today I’m here to share that taking risks is worth it, celebrating small wins is important, and pursuing life and love whole-heartedly is what fills you and me.
Do you ever lose sight of the end game? Sometimes as parents, we focus on the short game—grades, extracurricular activities, and how to fix things immediately for our kids. But does that actually serve them well as they grow into adulthood?
Dr. Madeline Levine, a psychologist with 40 years experience, explains that kids don’t need us to fix everything. They actually need adaptability, mental agility, curiosity, collaboration, tolerance for failure, resilience and optimism. And how do they learn those skills? By watching how we handle life and how we trust them to handle it well too.
Do you ever feel like you manage life well…until the small people in your life don't want to go along with your plans? That’s when the heat turns on, when they find the most inopportune moments to lose it. But the truth is that their cries and outbursts are a way to be seen and heard.
Parenting educator Lael Stone nudges you back to your kids’ side, reminding you that your level of compassion and nurturing and how you regulate your emotions in these early years has an impact on who they become. You have the power in how you show up to teach either anxiety and depression, or kindness and compassion.
Transitions aren’t always easy, even when we’re looking forward to them. There’s fear and doubt about the unknown, and anxiety about making the right decision. And transitions always force us to find new ways of making life work.
Today I’m simply sharing some thoughts on my new season of life as a working single mom of kids at two separate schools, and both the frustrations I’ve faced in making this new schedule work, as well as the belief and hope that I can create a life worth living in the midst of it. I believe that sometimes we need to talk about the things that are wrong in order to create change—or at least find our way through it together. Join me as I share six ways to reclaim some of your space and joy during this transitional season.
If it’s tough to answer this, you’re not alone. We get overwhelmed with all the things of life—work, home, kids—that it’s easy to miss the small moments that would bring us joy.
Catherine Price is a science journalist and author who is passionate about helping people make positive changes in their lives. Surprisingly, her solution to stress, life, better parenting, and all the problems we face, is simple:
Have more fun.
Catherine explains why this matters, how it affects our health, and how it’s a choice we make rather than an experience. If you need more happiness in your life, you won’t want to miss this.
Our instinct as parents can be to hold our kids tightly in order to protect and guide them into the life we want for them. Sadly, such a tight rein can squash their unique traits—pieces of them that should be celebrated and allowed space to learn and grow in their own way.
In a society that likes to point out weaknesses and conform you to fit a specific mold, Marcus Buckingham wants to turn this thinking upside down by helping you (and your kiddos) to define strengths, innate tendencies, and personal loves.
In this clip, Buckingham shares the extremes of his own experiences, from his ex-wife and son’s involvement in a college admissions scandal, to his own childhood filled with space to become his own person.
Do you find yourself sometimes blaming your current unhappiness and dissatisfaction on past choices? While that’s a common sentiment, regret can actually have a positive effect on your life. The trick is to find the gift in your regret, and learn from it as you move forward. Author Dan Pink has collected over 16,000 regrets from people around the globe, and today he shares the four core regrets we all face, and explains how to transform your regrets into a life you enjoy more.
Why is it so hard to create good habits? We think that if we can find enough motivation and discipline, we should be able to accomplish our goals. The problem? We think we have to go big or go home—and so we set ourselves up for failure.
B.J. Fogg, a behavior scientist at Stanford, explains why tiny habits are the key to changing your life. It comes down to creating triggers based on existing behaviors. We have the power to reprogram our brains one small positive step at a time—whether it’s doing daily push ups, or finding our calm in the midst of difficult parenting.
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As July wraps up, let’s take a moment to honor Social Wellness Month. Your personal well-being and connection network is important for not only your health, but the health of your family. Scientists are finding that the strength of your community can have powerful effects not only on your health, but can also influence your biology, lengthen your life, and improve your overall well-being.
Dr. Chelsea Shields, a biosocial anthropologist, will explain social wellness in detail, and why it’s crucial that you take daily steps toward community and relationships. She shares three simple tips to move toward healthy social wellness.
Even with a 4-month baby in her arms during our interview, K. Domiana Ndour emanates an authentic and grounding presence. She’s not only a wife and mom of three, but also a retired pro basketball player, two-time best-selling author, somatic healer, coach, international speaker, certified yoga instructor and educator. She’s on a mission to equip busy moms like you and me with the tools to self-heal and regulate emotions, all while breaking the cycle of burnout and overwhelm. This is definitely an episode you won’t want to miss!
Most parenting advice is all about how to get your kid to follow your rules and your schedule. But the real secret to parenting that most people won’t tell you? Work on yourself. Of course, that’s much easier said than done, because introspection is tough to fit on your to-do list amid parenting, working, cooking, cleaning, and all the things that life requires.
Renowned motivational speaker Les Brown shares that you have greatness inside of you, and taking the time to understand what you really want and the impact you want to make is of first importance. Listen as he gives a few tips on how to upgrade your life in big ways.
When the weight of the world is too much, too heavy, too chaotic, you can make some simple changes to be the calm in the storm—and exercise is one of those tools.
Dr. Wendy Suzuki, a professor of neuroscience and psychology and dean at NYU, breaks down how exercise has both immediate and long-term effects on your mood and body, and how these effects alter and protect your brain. And the best part?? Getting this exercise might be simpler than you think.
