Better Than Fine

Jennifer Beatty is a social psychology Ph.D. student at Washington University in St. Louis. She tests interventions to reduce stigma, prejudice, and bias. She is also a certified Dare to Lead facilitator with Dr. Brené Brown and works on their Belonging Co-Creation team to operationalize diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jenn also holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree from The University of Pennsylvania. Before beginning her Ph.D., she worked as a research coordinator at Wharton People Analytics with Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth, Cade Massey, and Matthew Bidwell in culture, careers, and character in work contexts. Jenn also has a bachelor’s degree with honors in Psychology and Theatre from The George Washington University. Upon graduation, she joined Teach for America and taught 8th grade English in Philadelphia where she won multiple awards. She also holds a Master of Science in Education from The University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education.

In this episode Jenn shares about her experience of calling and how it has lead her path of growth.  We talk about her current research in cognitive bias, the essential nature of courage, vulnerability in relationships, and how prioritizing a full life allows each of us to contribute that which we are called to do.

Books mentioned in this episode: 

My Grandmother's Hands

The Body Keeps the Score

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In her first ever podcast interview retired Brigadier General Dr. Rhonda Cornum shares her story of meeting challenge, learning about resilience, and how her own journey lead her to starting what has become the largest resilience training programs in the world - the US Army's Comprehensive Solder Fitness program.  We dive into the deeper skills of resilience and how optimism, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and self-awareness all contribute to growing from challenge.

The Science of Well-being on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being

Resilience Skills on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/positive-psychology-resilience

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Nic Marks is a statistician, policy advisor, speaker, and author known for his work on the Happy Planet Index - the first global measure of sustainable well-being which envisions a future where good lives don't have to cost the earth.  He's also the founder and CEO of Happiness Works, an organization focusing on changing the world of work.  

In this episode we explore meaningful work, happiness in the pandemic, working for a better world at multiple levels of influence and intervention, why measuring happiness helps us make meaningful interventions, and Nic shares much of his own journey through a career working in the economy, government, planet level happiness, climate impact, and now affecting happiness at work.  

Friday One: https://fridaypulse.com/the-happiness-test/ 

Friday Pulse: https://fridaypulse.com/

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Views on sleep have been changing from the old belief that sleep as "a lazy habit" to the prioritization of high quality sleep in a high functioning, healthy, actualized life.  

By listener request as a follow-up to last week's episode, this week we dive into the science of how sleep works, how to get quality sleep, and hacks you can use to upgrade yours - so you can get a solid one tonight!

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In Oct 2020 the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a position paper against daylight savings time saying it "incurs significant public health and safety risks, including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, and motor vehicle crashes".    

What's underneath this position paper? How does daylight savings affect our bodies and our societies? Why am I so adamant that it's bad for us?And how can you make choices to mitigate DST's effects?

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In this episode of the Better Than Fine podcast the microphone gets turned around and Darlene is in the hot seat!   Friend of the show David Van Daff comes on to celebrate this milestone episode and ask Darlene some burning questions about her personal journey, career, and where she thinks the fitness industry is headed.  She's also got a special thank you & announcement at the end of the episode so check it out!

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With everything that's happened in the last year many more people are struggling with anxiety - and those who have had it in the past are feeling it more acutely.  But what is anxiety, really?  And what strategies have been shown to help?

In this mini episode I share my own experiences and tactics to help with anxiety, some things my clients us, and what clinical research shows can help when anxiety strikes.

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Research has shown that modern humans aren't great at gauging what will make us happy ~ why is that?  In this episode we'll explore what "happiness" is, why we struggle to identify the things that build happiness long term, and what research shows actually contributes to lasting happiness (and what disrupts it).

This episode is part of a series of short episodes on foundational concepts that are common in interviews on the show.  If there are topics you'd like to hear an episode on you can email [email protected] and let us know.

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You know that thing that happens when you feel really good and then things start clicking into place?  Where good stuff rolls into more good stuff and your normal problems bother you less?  You feel cuter.  Smarter.  Things are going your way.  That's called an Upward Spiral and there's research into what it is, how it works, and some of the elements in how to get one rolling - and that's what this episode is all about.

https://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/194/

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Jonathan Wolf is the co-founder of the health technology company ZOE. ZOE teaches you how your own body responds to food, based on personalized tests, AI and the largest in-depth nutritional study in the world carried out with Mass General Hospital, Stanford Medicine and King's College London.  He has a fascinating journey in which he dovetails being a tech entrepreneur into the world of health and nutrition.

In this episode we dive deep into the gut microbiome, our unique physiology (like why even identical twins respond differently to food), and how machine learning and data analysis are evolving our ability to truly customize our nutrition, health, and beyond.  

ZOE also has extended a gift to our listeners.  If you enjoy this episode and are curious to try ZOE yourself we can jump you to the front of the cue (right now the waitlist is in the thousands) - visit joinzoe.com/darlene 

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