Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes

Anxiety is just energy. The problem is when your body keeps liberating that energy for threats that aren't there, or at levels the situation doesn't actually call for. This episode gets into the biology behind that: the types of anxiety disorders and what actually distinguishes them, the role of catecholamines and cortisol, how genetics and early environment both shape the system, and why things l...

Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in adults, and also one of the most misunderstood. Most people can recognize it when they feel it but would struggle to define it, distinguish it from fear or panic or worry, or explain exactly when it crosses from a normal human response into something worth addressing. Anxiety shows up in your body, your thoughts, and your behavior in ways that a...

Most goals fail before the first obstacle because the reason behind them was never honest to begin with. The same principles that drive motivation work across every area of life, and this episode puts them to work on the ones people struggle with most: fitness, nutrition, money, career, and relationships. The domains are different. The psychology is not. There are also a few things worth hearing t...

Motivation is not the thing that gets hard stuff done. A good system is. And there is a real difference between those two things. The goal needs to start with a why that actually holds up under pressure. Not a vague image of who you want to be, but something tied closely enough to your values that it can carry you through the parts where it stops feeling good. Most goals stall not because people a...

Feeling stuck is not the same as being unmotivated. Sometimes something specific is in the way, and until you name it, no mindset shift or productivity hack is going to move you. Anxiety keeps you from starting. Depression drains the energy the whole system runs on. ADHD scrambles the planning and self-supervision that getting hard things done actually requires. Burnout is different from all of th...

Feeling stuck is not a character flaw. It is usually a sign that something between your goal and your nervous system is not speaking the same language yet. Most people treat motivation, willpower, energy, and grit as the same thing. They are not, and mixing them up is one of the most common ways people undermine themselves without realizing it. There is also the vision board problem, which turns o...

A little insomnia some nights is normal. So is oversleeping after a hard week. The real question is whether your daytime life is falling apart because of it. Most people are using words like insomnia and hypersomnia without knowing what they actually mean clinically, and the gap between the internet's definition and the real one might surprise you. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorder a...

You might just be a night owl and not a lazy person. You might be waking up at 3am because of what you drank or ate, not because anything is wrong with you.  Knowing the difference changes everything. Sleep chronotype is real, it's neurological, and most people have been fighting theirs their whole lives without knowing it. Night owls get a bad reputation for something that's written into their ne...

The gold standard treatment for insomnia has nothing to do with supplements, sleep trackers, or white noise machines. It's cognitive behavioral therapy, and the basics of it are more accessible than most people realize. Sleep drive, circadian rhythm, stimulus control, sleep consolidation: these aren't buzzwords. They're the actual levers. And most people suffering through bad sleep have never been...

Poor sleep doesn't just make you tired. It quietly degrades your communication, your relationships, your physical health, your decision-making, and your emotional regulation. Most people don't notice until something breaks. Sleep is the place to start. Sleep is the thing that underlies everything else, and this episode builds the foundation for understanding why. Deep sleep handles the physical re...

Most people think of self-care as something you either do or skip. Let's reframe self-care as something you budget for today and invest in for later. Self-care has a return on investment, and it's worth doing the math. This episode builds out a framework for thinking about the energy you have, what you spend it on, and whether what you're getting back justifies the cost. That includes a real conve...

Not enough time for self-care is usually not the real problem. In this episode, we break down specific ideas across 30 seconds, five minutes, 20 minutes, and 60 minutes so you can actually use what you have. Self-care doesn't have to be a ritual you build up to. A 20-second hug has oxytocin science behind it. A gratitude practice done consistently rivals antidepressants in research. Getting one re...

Most self-care efforts fail for the same reason: we skip the inner work first. In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis continue the self-care series by going beneath the surface to two things that have to come before any practice can last: self-awareness and self-compassion. Topics include how to identify your own values and needs rather than borrowing someone else's versio...

Self-care is everywhere, but most of what passes for it online is surface-level at best. Today, let's go deeper on what self-care actually is, why it has to be personal, and how to know if yours is working. In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis open a new series on self-care, wealth, and investing in yourself. They challenge the popular shorthand around self-care and offe...

Feeling overwhelmed, scattered, or behind? In this executive functioning Q&A, we answer real questions about focus, flexibility, time, and follow through.  In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis respond to listener questions about executive functioning in everyday life. Topics include chronic overwhelm, difficulty talking on the phone, struggling with paperwork, being...

Worried about retirement, job loss, or getting stuck in your career? In this work-focused Q&A, we answer real questions about growth, purpose, and navigating change. In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis respond to listener questions about work and career transitions. Topics include preparing for retirement without losing purpose, coping with job loss, rebuilding conf...

How do you give difficult feedback without sounding harsh? What do you do when someone interrupts, shuts down, or refuses to change? In this listener Q&A episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis answer practical questions about communication in real life. Topics include delivering underperformance feedback at work, dealing with someone who refuses to change, balancing assertiven...

You asked, and we answered. In this episode, we respond to real questions about sex, desire, intimacy, and communication. In this listener Q&A episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis respond to questions that often come up in therapy offices but are rarely talked about openly. Topics include sex after 60, changes in desire across the lifespan, communicating sexual needs, feelin...

Why do planning, time management, and productivity feel so hard even when you know what needs to be done? In this episode, we break down practical executive functioning skills that support follow through. In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis explore advanced executive functioning skills related to prioritizing, planning, organization, time management, and monitoring prog...

Why is it so hard to get started, stay regulated, or slow yourself down in the moment? In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis focus on three executive functioning skills that shape everyday behavior: activation, emotional regulation, and behavioral self control. Together, they explore why starting tasks can feel so difficult, how emotions can take up more space than we exp...

Episode 2 of our four part series on executive functioning. Why is it so hard to remember things, stay focused, or follow through even when you care? In this episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis take a closer look at three core executive functioning skills: memory, focus, and mental effort. Together, they explore how working memory actually functions, why multitasking strains th...

What if the reason you struggle with focus, follow-through, or motivation isn’t laziness or lack of willpower? In this foundational episode, Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis break down what executive functioning actually is: the mental skills that help you plan, focus, regulate emotions, and follow through in daily life. You’ll learn why shame, grit, and “just try harder” don’t work,...

We're wrapping up our series on Work Wealth by focusing in on how you can develop (and maintain!) resilience in the workplace. Welcome to Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes. A mostly-serious podcast where Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis coach you on the path to mental wealth by helping you find security, freedom, and luxury in every area of your life. Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes, is brought to...

It's a classic podcast team-up episode! And by that we mean: "go back and make sure you've listened to the communication series, because it's the perfect pairing for this laser focused lesson on communicating at work". Let's talk about boundaries, listening, self-awareness, and so much more. Welcome to Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes. A mostly-serious podcast where Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephan...

Overwhelm and burnout. We all know them, we've all experienced them. But how do they happen? And, just as important, how do we address them? Let's dig into not just what change would look like, but what SUSTAINABLE change could look like in our lives. Welcome to Rich Thoughts, Poor Jokes. A mostly-serious podcast where Dr. Roxy Riefkohl-Cook and Dr. Stephanie Ellis coach you on the path to mental...