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In today's podcast, I'll share support for why we need to work at staying connected socially, whether we are introverted or extroverted. Although we might be social distancing during COVID-19, we need each other. Here are some wonderful tips!

For links to the articles I shared in this podcast, visit the following:

https://www.uchealth.com/en/media-room/covid-19/social-connectionhttp://36questionsinlove.com/http://depts.washington.edu/uwcssc/content/staying-connected-during-covid-19

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2019/08/01/are-we-losing-the-human-connection/#40501a0d5baa

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-we-are-wired-to-connect/

https://thriveglobal.com/stories/why-humans-need-connection/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/affectionado/201308/what-lack-affection-can-do-you

During the uncertain times of COVID-19, daily habits can be comforting and reassuring. Habits can provide structure throughout the day and week, as we make small changes that lead to big results over time. Join me for today's podcast about habits. You'll learn about starting a new habit and get a few ideas about different wellness-focused habits to consider.

Expecting can be wonderful when we get what we want. But how can we handle unmet expectations? Today's podcast is about managing unmet expectations and trying various options when things do not go as we had planned.

Today's podcast provides six ways to shatter stress. Let's face it... stress takes a big toll on your body and overall well-being. It can affect your sleep, lead to emotional eating, inhibit digestion, raise blood pressure and heart rate. We all need easy ways to tone it down and feel better. The six ways to reduce stress I share with you here include slow breathing, body scan, visualization, music listening, exercise, and chewing gum. The most important way to address stress in life is through mindset, to consider seeing things in new ways to find benefits over stressors. Once you can bring your stress level down, you can make big gains toward being the best version of you.

For resources mentioned in today's podcast, please visit the following links:

How does stress affect your body?

* https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/effects-of-stress-on-your-body

* https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/effects-on-body#1

Does personality affect the way we view and experience stress?

* https://psychcentral.com/lib/stress-and-personality/

How can you recognize stress more easily?

* https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/6406-warning-signs-of-emotional-stress-when-to-see-your-doctor

How can I relieve stress?

* Conscious relaxation/breath focus, body scan, and visual imagery https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/six-relaxation-techniques-to-reduce-stress

* Music listening https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019745561530006X

* 16 tips https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-ways-relieve-stress-anxiety#section6

In good times and in times of challenge and hardship, you have a choice. And I have a choice. Every human being has the availability of being able to choose.

This choice is about how we look at things and how we look at people.

So, today we are going to talk about the mindset of lack and abundance, why we should care about it, how to do it. And we’ll take it from there.

This choice is about how we look at things and how we look at people. It can really be anything.

Ourselves: maybe it’s our abilities, our personality, our body, our appearance.

It can be the other people in our lives. Maybe it’s a brother or sister, or our husband or wife. Our child. A neighbor. Someone we work with. Someone we know about and see in the news or on the Internet that we don’t actually know.

We have a choice about how we look at our circumstances. The house we live in. Our transportation or the car we drive. How much money we make or the kind of work we do every day.

The choice comes down to the way we decide to see people, and circumstances, and ourselves.

We can either see these as abundant or we can see them as lacking.

This mindset or this perception of abundance and lack is sort of what we might consider two directions, or two opposite orientations about our thinking.

What it means to be “the best version of you.”

Hello there, and thank you for joining me today.

I’m so excited to speak with you on this podcast.

We are going to talk about being the best version of yourself.

That phrase is used in awful lot. Maybe it’s kind of ambiguous. Kind of vague.

So, we’ll talk about a couple of ways we can interpret that statement and come up with some steps you can take toward that goal.

Have you ever heard of this statement Become the best version of yourself? It seems to be used more and more today.

I heard it from a leader at church.

I’ve heard it from life coaches and have heard some say that this is the purpose of life.

I probably heard it from a lot of my teachers, and I’ve heard some say this is the purpose of life. To be a better version of you, or to be better tomorrow than you were today. Better today than you were yesterday. Just be a little bit better.

You don’t need to be perfect. But, if you’re always making little progress, there you go.

My 6th grade teacher, Diane Tiessen always said, “If it is to be, it is up to me.” By saying that, I think she meant that same idea. That we must be alert and take action in our own lives, and that we are the person who will make  all the difference in bringing our thoughts to into reality, and in getting things done.

What do you think it actually means to become the best version of yourself? And, how do we become the best version of ourselves?

First, let’s begin with what it means.

The first possibility, is that it means that we each continually grow and develop, becoming better than we were in the past, in all areas of our lives. It isn’t a suggestion that we perform at 100% capacity all day, every day. Frankly, that would be exhausting, right? But we seek to generally become a little better incrementally, every day.

Every human being on earth has unique traits. You do. I do. My neighbors too. My family members do. In fact, if you ever look at your family members, it’s pretty obvious we are all totally unique. There might be one trait in common with some other extended family member, but no two family members are exactly alike. Right?

So we all have internal traits like thoughts dreams dispositions attitudes personalities some of our traits are physical like maybe we look a certain way. We have certain height, hair color, etc. We might have certain abilities and skills. We each have values that we uniquely embrace. Those concepts we care most about. We also have character strengths.

If you want to do a character strengths inventory and see what comes out for you, I have a free link on my website, Dr. B coach.com, under the “free tools” page to the VIA Character Strengths Inventory. You’re welcome to stop by and check it out. It’s wonderful. Very useful.

So, we all have character strengths. And, they come in a different combination for each of us.

We have specific communication styles.

We have ways that we perceive things and process information.

And we all learn in different ways. For example, some of us learn by seeing things, observing things, reading things. Others actually learn by doing them physically--like kinesthetic learners. Some of us learn from others’ experience, and yet other people have to learn by doing it themselves. And that’s just the only way they will learn anything.

So, we are all very different in all of these ways.

And the many different traits within your and which comprise who you are show up in us as a unique combination that make you YOU.

And who you are right now is someone amazing and complete, right as you are.

This episode is an exploration of two ways of being, often referred to as being "out of the box," or having an outward mindset, and being "in the box," or having an inward mindset, with related aspects.

Life is full of "defining moments," and you might be in one right now. Situations come and go that can shape us and allow character to become visible. In today's podcast, I share some thoughts about defining moments and three tips to help you determine how to approach situations so they can become positive jumping off points for the future.

You may have heard of Music Therapy, and it is a growing, reputable profession. But, what is Music Coaching? It's not about teaching you to play an instrument or sing. Instead, it is about intentionally choosing music to enhance your thinking or your mood. Some areas I'll introduce in this week's podcast are about tempo, lyrics, and style. Music is powerful, and it can be a tool for growth.