The Thriveology Podcast For Thrive Nation

Like a broken record... or an endless audio loop.  Those thoughts that just keep turning in your mind.  Okay, in MY mind.  But I bet it happens to you, too. Let's say, hypothetically of course, that I get up to 2 emails.  One is complimentary, thanking me for resources, books, podcasts... things like that.  Then there is another email, critical and harsh, telling me how useless my info was. I read...

These days are filled with stress. The pandemic, politics, relationships, work, pay, weather. You name it, these are stressful times. But what IS stress? As much as we toss that term around, sometimes almost as a badge of honor, you may not think about what that term is REALLY about. When we talk about "stress," in everyday life, we are more talking about psychological stress.  Which is really jus...

Where does hope come from?  Does it come upon us?  Do we discover it?  Or do we build it? I believe that hope is an important ingredient in thriving.  If you have no hope, it is tough to thrive. Finding hope often helps us find thriving. Oh, and thriving is not about having an easy life, always exciting and happy.  A thriving life is built on taking on the challenges of life.  Not avoiding them, b...

Hasn't 2020 been a doozy of a year?  Pandemics, weather, policitics... asteroids???  What else can happen? A national election, of course (in the United States, anyway).  And not just any election.  It would be a doozy, too, any other year. But this year?? According to a recent poll, over 70% of those polled in the States say that the election is a significant source of stress.  And 77% saya they...

Have you noticed that story you are telling yourself (and others) that is running through your mind?  It is the one about why you did (or didn't do) what you did (or didn't do).  You are trying to explain yourself -- to yourself and others. You are Self-Splaining. And it is a story.  Not necessarily a lie.  But also not necessarily the truth. Humans are story tellers and meaning makers.  The stori...

So many of us feel despair.  It is not as much a loss of hope as loss of purpose.  There is no hope without a sense of purpose.  It is in your basic design. Humans are meaning-makers.  We find meaning in what happens (or doesn't happen) around us and to us.  We can find meaning in random numbers and events, in an attempt to make sense of the world. But meaning, alone, is not enough.  We also need...

These are some crazy times, aren't they?  The world seems upside-down.  A pandemic, politics, conspiracy theories... news just seems to be crazier and crazier every day. And that can catch up with each of us, stressing us out and leaving us afraid.  Which places your body and brain on constant alert. That is exhausting. And chaotic. Why do those news stories and social media feeds keep us so amped...

My client was telling me about lots of struggles, difficult times, and a few positive moments.  I noted, as I have many times with many clients, "It sounds like your present is perfect." She went silent.  I was silent.  But I could see her processing and struggling with my words.  I sat quietly. She finally erupted: "Perfect?!? How can you say that?  After all the stuff I told you... how can you t...

I don't know about you, but I don't much enjoy feeling fear.  I'd rather it not be a part of my life. And yet, it is. Fear is part of our wiring, deep in our DNA and deep in the circuitry of our brains. It keeps us safe -- sometimes super-safe.  Which is the problem. There is a central life coaching question:  "Where do you want to be?"  (Few people seek out coaching because everything is great, t...

Six months.  That is how far we are into the pandemic... at least in the US.  Yes, I  know.  There were cases before then.  But March marks the start of the social effects of pandemic.  Lock down.  Restrictions.  Social distance.  Six months. And many people are feeling the effects!  I would go so far as to saying most, but plenty would contact me to tell me that they are not. If you are feeling t...

I'm not an athlete, I told myself.  I was the last chosen for teams pretty much every time.  And more often than not, admittedly, I dropped the ball or didn't run fast enough.  So I lived up to the low expectations of being a teammate. That kept me believing that I was not an athlete.  And so, I never tried to be athletic. Years later, when I was recovering from being sick, I decided I needed to g...

Well, you are on to me!  Last week, I started talking about things you can do to guarantee that you DON'T thrive.  I'm sure you knew I didn't really want you to NOT thrive.  But I wanted to point out some ways people make themselves miserable... and what they might do to shift. If you missed that episode, JUST CLICK HERE TO HEAR IT. It is interesting to notice how we humans can really mess up our...

Over the years, I have tried to learn to thrive.  And I have tried to teach others how to thrive... even getting other experts to do the same. But today, just for a moment, let's assume you DON'T want to thrive.  In fact, you want to... well, do the opposite of thriving!  You want to be miserable and live a smaller life.  You want to feel stuck and frustrated. (I'm not going to even explain WHY yo...

Wow!  What a time in history, right?  A pandemic rages.  Division is pulling us apart. Sometimes, it seems easier just to crawl under a rock and hide. But hiding isn't the solution.  And you have more to offer than hiding. You are built to engage the world, to make a difference. Then why do we  "play small"?  When  there should be more to life?  More for YOU to do in life?  More your life should b...

One of my favorite authors and experts is Jack Canfield. He has my full respect.  My kids grew up with Chicken Soup For The Soul.  I "grew up" with The Success Principles, a book that gave me a plan to shift my mindset. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Jack. It was such a great interview, I wanted to share it again. If you have already heard it, listen for something new. If yo...

Sometimes, it seems that any change in life has to be a 180° turn... starting or stopping something you were not doing or doing.  And sometimes, that is important.  You might stop smoking, start exercising, or make some other major shift in life. But in reality, more of growth in life is really about continued improvement.  This matches the Japanese idea of kaizen, or "change for the better."  Thi...

Is worry robbing you of living?  Are you putting more energy into worry thoughts than you want to, leaving you less energy for where you want to spend your thoughts (and your life)? Most people do. Worry is an aimless attempt to locate threats and mitigate them.  Why aimless?  Because worry can shift from topic to topic, issue to issue, person to person, without action or direction. In the last Th...

How much do you worry?  How often do you find yourself thinking about things that could go wrong?  Things that might happen to those you love?  Things that might happen to you? Worry is a common issue for people.  And sadly, worry robs us of living.  It costs us lots of energy, and exposes us to fears over possible events -- not actual events. When we worry, we focus on the future, what could happ...

How are you sleeping?  If you are like the majority of Americans, at least one night a week, not well! And if you are like over 1/3rd of workers, you are not getting the recommended minimum of sleep.  Which is why more than 40% of people use some over-the-counter product to get to sleep (which does not include the number of people using a prescribed product for sleep). Research is pretty consisten...

Have you ever had the experience of a doctor telling you what was wrong with you, and even if you couldn't really do anything, it helped to know what it was?  Maybe it was just an ache or pain, a small illness.  Just having a name for it -- even some fancy latin term (or maybe especially some latin term) -- somehow makes it seem better.  Naming something helps us feel some control. This pandemic h...

What a chaotic time we are in!  Even without a pandemic, it was already chaotic, what with politics and changes in society. Stir in a pandemic, and there is NO way to be calm. Right? Or maybe.... Maybe calm is not about what is happening around you, outside of you. Perhaps it comes from somewhere within you. Somewhere that knows you are separate from the external chaos. Our internal response to a...

  I was at a book signing a while back, signing a book of mine that is a few years old.  This person picked it up, looked at the publication date, put it down, and said, "I was looking for something more recent." That had me pondering... how long is information valid?  Sure, I would not likely want to read a computer book about the Windows 98 operating system, or about the coming "Y2K crisis."  Bu...

When I was a kid, I hit this point when I was growing fast.  So fast that my limbs hurt, I constantly tripped, and knocked everthing over as my hand got there before I expected.  Growth was a challenge. Generally, though, it works the other way.  When we are challenged (and take it on), we grow.  A child wants to crawl, then walk, then run.  But wanting to is not the same as being able to.  Crawli...

It happens about 25,000 per day.  And for the most part, it is automatic.  But it is one of the few bodily functions that you can "take off automatic" and choose how you will do it.  And you might not be doing it optimally. What is it? Breathing.  Taking a breath.  Inhaling and exhaling. I know, it seems automatic, right?  But you can choose to take a deep breath.  Or you can hold your breath.  Yo...

It's highly contagious.  You can catch it from a single interaction with one person.  You can catch it much faster in a crowd.  You can pass it on to someone else in an instant. You can also catch it from just reading, watching, or listening to something. In 39 milliseconds, you have it... and you didn't even see it coming! Coronavirus?  Nope.  That is certainly serious, and you absolutely want to...