Building Psychological Strength

There hasn't been a day that's gone by during the pandemic when I haven't heard a parent question the impact the pandemic has had on their kids. What's at the heart of that concern is the desire to raise kids who are resilient. Kids who can stand up to life's challenges, pandemic or otherwise.

Today, we're talking to renown educational psychologist, Dr. Michele Borba, author of the book THRIVERS: The Surprising Reasons of Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine.

In this interview, we cover what thriving is and the 7 sets of TEACHABLE skills kids need in order to be THRIVERS. You won't want to miss it.

Michele Borba, Ed.D. is an educational psychologist, former teacher, and mom recognized for offering research-driven advice culled from a career of working with over one million parents and educators. A frequent Today show contributor and recipient of the National Educator Award, she is the author of 25 books including UnSelfie, and her latest, THRIVERS: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine. She also appears on Dr. Phil, The View, CNN, The Doctors, Dr. Oz, as well as  U.S. News & World Report, The Chicago Tribune, TIME, and The NYTimes.  

Learn more about Dr. Borba's book Thrivers here: https://www.amazon.com/Thrivers-Surprising-Reasons-Struggle-Others/dp/0593085272

The relationship we. have with ourselves is perhaps the most important relationship we'll ever cultivate. Think about how you cultivate other important, intimate relationships. We express love. We show our love. And in turn, that love grows. Consider doing the same thing for yourself.

Question for you - how's your calendar looking these days? Are you feeling aligned, spacious, intentional? Or, does it look like total time confetti? If you're feeling overwhelmed or consumed by the hustle and bustle and reactivity of your calendar, this episode is for you.

Today, we're taking a life design approach to designing our calendars. Specifically, I'm offering 6 hacks to help steer your calendar into alignment. These 6 hacks will help you become less reactive, in more control, and more intentional about how you spend your time. It'll help you create a calendar by design, rather than one that sways and bends reactively to the chaos around you.

Sign up at www.aprilseifert.com to be the first to know about a new resource I'm putting out there to truly help steer your calendar into alignment. Coming in the next couple of months.

How many times have you experienced a strong, negative emotion and acted in a way that you later regret? How many times have you experienced intense fear, anger, or anxiety, seemingly out of the blue? These experiences are what's called disruptive emotional patterns, and they can be changed.

Today's guest is Cedric Bertelli, the founder of the Emotional Health Institute. Through is work, he helps people recognize and overcome disruptive emotional patterns that interfere with their lives. Through a process called Emotional Resolution or EmRes, he helps people retrain their mind to more accurately respond to day-to-day life and move past disruptive emotional patterns.

I personally found incredible value in this episode, particularly as we spoke about our ability to use our bodily sensations as a guide in this process. I know you'll get incredible insight from this conversation.

Learn more about the Emotional Health Institute: https://www.emotionalhealthinstitute.org/

During this episode I mentioned last week's episode with Dr. Richard Nisbett. You can check that episode out here: www.peakmindpsychology.com/blog/0281

We have a tendency to look to the future as though it's the source of our happiness. But, what if, in doing so, we miss out on the opportunities to cultivate happiness in the here and now?

On today's professional edition of the podcast, we're using Life Design to help us move forward when we're feeling stuck. The Life Design process has so many valuable tools and techniques to help us creatively solve some of life's most difficult problems, and today, we're focusing on 2 of the stickiest problems. Something called anchor problems and gravity problems.

We cover what they are, and I give a process you can use to reframe these sticky problems into something that can actually be solved.

If you're unhappy in your job or another aspect of your life, you won't want to miss this episode.

I also mentioned a few books and resources to dive even deeper. Here are some helpful links:

1. Designing Your Work Life (book) https://amzn.to/3jyPsrX

2. Designing Your Life (book) https://amzn.to/3wkJvlv

3. Designing Your Life (workbook) https://amzn.to/3Am7S5a

In today's episode of the podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Richard Nisbett, one of the most well-known, well-cited, and influential Psychologists of all time. To say I am thrilled is an understatement!

During our conversation, we dive deep into the meaningful contribution he has made to the field of Psychology. In particular, we touch on the difference between the unconscious and conscious mind and how we can use our unconscious mind more fully. We talk about errors and biases in our judgement and decision-making. And, he gives us a glimpse into the powerful factors that shape our behavior and the ways in which we experience life day-to-day.

Find Dr. Nisbett's newest book "Thinking: A Memoir" here: https://amzn.to/3ziTVVb

Find Dr. Nisbett's book "Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking" here: https://amzn.to/3wglNax

We've talked quite a bit on this podcast about the notion that each of us has a limited store of energy each day. Even at our best, we only have so much capacity. However, we have a tendency to add, add, add to our list without keeping that limited capacity in mind. This week's challenge will help you better manage your limited energy capacity.

Visit https://www.peakmindpsychology.com/organizations for more information on our newest offerings for companies and organizations of ANY size!

Do you have a bias toward ACTION or a bias toward ANALYSIS when you're making meaningful decisions? Today we're talking about these tendencies, their implications for the outcome success of your decisions, and how to be more unbiased and effective.

Research estimates that we make about 35,000 decisions each day. Hopefully this episode helps you make some of the most important ones more effectively.

If you liked this episode, you may also like this blog post on decision-making: https://www.peakmindpsychology.com/blog/How-to-Overcome-Indecisiveness

Be honest, how often do you find yourself working hard to keep up appearances, be nice, and manage other people's perceptions of you? Do you do it to the point that you're not behaving authentically anymore? Is it beginning to create resentment or friction in your relationships? If so, realize that it's so common, and we're digging into it on today's episode.

Today we're speaking with Dr. Aziz Gazipura. Dr. Aziz is a clinical psychologist and one of the world’s leading confidence experts. He teaches people how to rapidly learn confidence so they can eliminate social anxiety and self-doubt, master conversations, accelerate in their careers, and create deeply fulfilling relationships.

After struggling with crippling shyness and social anxiety personally for over a decade, Dr. Aziz became determined to find a way to freedom. Through thousands of hours of his own training, counseling, reading, group work, and coaching, he has truly mastered what it takes to transform fear and self-doubt into permanent self-worth and confidence.Dr. Aziz completed his doctoral training at Stanford and Palo Alto Universities and is the founder of the Center For Social Confidence. He is known for his dynamic speaking, humor, disarming vulnerability, and inspiring storytelling.

Learn more about Dr. Aziz at: www.draziz.com

During this episode, we mentioned a number of past episodes of the Building Psych Strength podcast. Below are links if you're interested in learning more:

Dr. Steven Hayes, founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: https://www.peakmindpsychology.com/blog/0143

Healthy Selfishness: https://www.peakmindpsychology.com/blog/0204