Dr. UnStuck Podcast — Get Out of Your Head. Get Into Your Life.

As we move along the path to greater positivity, we can forget that the goal is to remain relaxed and focused on the present moment. The last thing we want to do is create "mindfulness pressure" for ourselves, as this would obviously be counter-productive. The idea is certainly not to do these strategies perfectly, as perfection is self-abusive, but rather to set the bar at "do your best." And, se...

Overseriousness has become a large scale problem, as those locked into this mentality are perpetually residing in a "State of Emergency." Here's the thing; life is NOT an emergency , thankfully. In fact, the high majority of the time, life is not even an emergency . Yet many of us sit there ready to push that flashing red button over someone not responding to our text or being left out of the offi...

Our concept for success is often skewed which therefore makes it appear unattainable. The very idea of success can feel simple yet complicated at the same time. First, we need to understand that success follows happiness and not the reverse, as only once we are truly happy can we be successful. Next, we need to realize success requires two things, patience and persistence. Persistence is the sweat...

When we allow for purposeful idle thinking, we free our minds up from the busy-ness of our lives. In a sense, we give our brain a break. For a brief time we are not pulled into the need to know, think, or act. We are idling like a car engine, turned on, though not moving forward. Once we become able to do this through practice, we actually enter back into the world as we know it stronger, more foc...

We are the creators of our own reality, the captains of our ships. So often when we are thrown one of life's curveballs, we can forget that life does not happen TO us. Life happens FOR us. Life presents us with one quiz after another, and they keep coming until we pass them. Limitless people reside in a place of gratitude and alignment, understanding that each one of these quizzes brings with it a...

People respect strength. Bottom line. When we come from a place of weakness such as reacting with emotion, victimizing ourselves, or attempting to persuade people how to treat us with words, it doesn't work. The reason it doesn't work is because people to not respect weakness. The most effective way to teach people how to treat us is with our behavior. This is where the strength is. #codependency...

Habits shape who we are. The first step is to get a visual for the type of person you would like to become. It is not so much about what change you want to make or how to go about it, but who you want the resulting individual to look like. When you envision the type of person you would like to be, how would you describe yourself? First draw the portrait, then ask. #habits #atomichabits #positivech...

So often when we are trying to lean into a new healthy habit we set goals that we hope will be earth-shattering, and then when we don't see results fast enough we throw in the towel. We didn't reach the set goal for weight loss, money in the bank, days at the gym, etc. What we don't realize is that it is the small changes that build into the noticeable change, so we give up before these changes be...

Politics are everywhere, no matter how positive the working environment. The variety of personalities we are surrounded by, as well as power differentials with those in charge, can sometimes lead us into what feels like an emotional and situational trap.  When we allow ourselves to get caught up in these dynamics, we often underestimate the drain on our well-being and overall life satisfactio...

Often we focus on goals when trying to make the shift into better, healthier habits. We want to lose 20 pounds, save a certain amount of money each month, go to the gym 4 days each week, learn a new language, etc. Then, we do well for a while until the will power fades and all those post-NYE-resolution treadmills land themselves on Craig's list for a much reduced price. A much more effective and l...

We walk around making decisions all day long, some active and some passive. Active and purposeful decision-making contributes to our journey along the authentic path, whereas passive-decision-making can lead us into the sand trap. Just like anything else in life, becoming our best authentic selves takes effort and grit. What we prioritize will be successful. Listen to the heart, and then decide wi...

Much like parenting, being a leader in the professional workplace is not a "one size fits all" situation. We would not parent a teenager the same way we would a 5-year-old, or a young adult the same way we would parent a teenager. Each developmental stage of life brings with it different needs and this is also true in the professional workplace. To manage an employee fresh out of college (or a mil...

We wish for and ask for good things to happen in our lives. We want a job, a better job, a promotion, a new location, more money, a new partner, a new apartment or house, yet there is often no space in our lives for anything new and exciting to enter.  #abundance #abundancementality #authenticity

Creativity is something we all have in us, all of us. Many of us block our creative energy because the thought of trying something new and putting ourselves out there feels risky. We tell ourselves we are not creative like other people. We say that we don't have the time. We get stuck in the limited thinking that being creative means solely to paint, write, or sculpt. These are excuses blocking wh...

We often hang on to a grudge because we think this gives us power. Sometimes we want to secretly (or not so much) punish the wrong-doer for the pain they caused us. Ironically, when we hang on to a grudge, we are actually handing over our power to the offender . . . and on a silver platter. We give them another piece of us even after all they had taken when they hurt us. Hanging on to grudges ther...

According to Dr. Lisa Miller, author of the "Awakened Brain," there are two modes of awareness. She and her research team have found that the spiritual brain is a healthier brain, and the neurological ingredients of the awakened brain can now be seen on a brain scan. This means that spiritual awakening is a choice which we have the agency to make throughout the day at any moment. We can choose how...

As it turns out, when we do good things for other people it causes structural changes in the brain that can protect us against depression. This concept of "relational spirituality" is based on the two universal phenotypes of altruism and loving your neighbor as yourself. Brain scans have actually shown that those reporting "strong spiritual importance" have a thicker cortical lining than those who...

We have certainly known about the detriments of depression for a very long time, physically and mentally. Now, we are becoming increasingly aware of how spirituality affects the brain and how these structural changes may serve as a protective buffer against the black hole of depression. #Spirituality #theawakenedbrain #depression

Benjamin Hoff explains to us that, "A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly." On some level we all know this, though we continue to force round pegs into square holes out of our own stubborn will to do so. On some level we know this, though we allow ourselves to be seduced by external messages that steer us away from our authentic compass. #authenticcompass #meaning #purpose

For some of us, our family of origin just didn't work out. There may have been addiction, dysfunction, neglect, and/or blatant abuse. We may have tolerated being mistreated for years, because as children we did not have a choice. Now we do.  Though we obviously could not control the family we were born into, we can absolutely control who we allow into our lives as adults. We can choose to cre...

So often we let our fear drive us. We fear failure, becoming unhealthy, dying, being alone, embarrassed, humiliated, or being found out such as with "imposter's syndrome." There is lots of fear out there and it tends to lure us off track by throwing us into self-preservation mode. Once we learn how to change our relationship with fear, we can use fear to tap into the best parts of ourselves. #fear...

The ego is the evil twin of the authentic self. Much like the emperor seduces young Anakin Skywalker with something to the effect of, "There is no good or evil; there is  only power, " we are pulled in by the false self as it can be enormously rewarding in the moment. Then, there is a half life, as each and every time we cave into the needs of the ego we strengthen it. The strengthened ego th...

Many of us can relate to the feeling of unwanted and intrusive thoughts flying across our minds like howler monkeys swinging from vine to vine in the rain forest. As it turns out, we have approximately seventy thousand separate thoughts each day. In addition, our minds are only present in this moment for about 3 seconds before we wander off either forward or backward, filling our precious present...

Many times we try to run someone else's race. We see them being successful doing whatever and decide that we want what they have, or we want to do something similar to what they are doing. Often we'll read self-help books on how to improve this or that, or how to start your own business. The thing is that we can achieve what we set our minds to, but only to a degree. Authentic fulfillment can only...

Negativity is more contagious than rabies and there is no vaccine, unfortunately. In order to develop immunity to the "Negative Nellies" out there we must be hypervigilant of the types of negativity which exist, as this will help us to manage these interactions. It has been said that "Misery loves company," and this is a myth. "Misery loves miserable company." Breathing in negativity is as bad as...