Keywords:

leadership, emotional intelligence, Persephone, Mayan calendar, artificial intelligence, timing, systems thinking, personal growth, mythology, productivity

Summary:

In this episode of Emotional Organization, Dr. Denaige McDonnell explores the concept of timing through three distinct systems: the myth of Persephone, the Mayan calendar, and artificial intelligence. Each system offers unique insights into leadership and personal growth, emphasizing the importance of understanding and honoring our natural rhythms. The conversation highlights how mythology provides emotional depth, science offers structure, and AI reflects our patterns, ultimately guiding us to lead with intention and awareness.

 Takeaways:

Sound Bites

Chapters

00:00   Introduction to Emotional Organization

02:12   Exploring the Myth of Persephone

07:53   The Wisdom of the Mayan Calendar

13:30   AI and Context-Aware Computing

18:19   Comparing Three Systems of Timing

23:07   Five Leadership Lessons from Timing

31:08   Conclusion and Call to Action

Find more at www.emotionalorganization.com

When you hear the word risk, do you immediately think danger, loss, or threat?

In this episode, we flip the script and take a deep dive into the real meaning of risk—and how your perception of it is silently influencing your decisions, leadership, energy, and opportunities. Using a systems thinking lens, Dr. Denaige McDonnell walks you through a powerful reframe of risk as neutral data, not emotional drama—and explains why understanding your personal risk lens is one of the most strategic moves you can make.

Whether you're managing a business, a family, a big decision, or your own mental bandwidth—this episode will give you the tools to stop spinning and start leading.

What risk actually is (and what it isn’t)

Why upside risk matters just as much as downside risk

The 5 truths about risk no one teaches you

How personal context and bias shape your risk tolerance

A guided 5-step risk mapping exercise across 9 life domains

How to use risk awareness to make more aligned decisions

Why confidence and clarity start with perception, not planning

Personal Risk Assessment Worksheet
→ emotionalorganization.com

→ https://www.equistry.com/store

9 Life Domains: Health, Wealth, Relationships, Emotions, Mindset, Purpose, Passion, Contribution, Spirituality

The difference between hazards and risks

How to evaluate Likelihood x Impact using the Personal Risk Matrix

The Risk Acceptability Scale: Acceptable, Tolerable, Undesirable, Intolerable

Share it with a friend, colleague, or client who’s feeling stuck in decision fatigue or leadership doubt.

And if you want deeper support with risk, systems, or clarity—reach out any time. This is the work I do.

In this deeply practical and perspective-shifting episode, we explore a powerful truth: freedom doesn’t come from avoiding structure — it comes from understanding and designing your systems.

From decision fatigue to emotional burnout, so many of our struggles stem not from personal flaws, but from unexamined systems. In this episode, Dr. Denaige McDonnell introduces the concept of scales and systems as tools to help us make better decisions, recover from setbacks, and move through life with more clarity, confidence, and emotional regulation.

🔍 In this episode, we explore:

Why scale isn't static — and how your emotional range is shaped by your experiences

How confidence and decision-making are emotional systems, not personality traits

The role of meaning-making in self-perception and resilience

Why decision quality depends more on process than outcome

The PEAR Framework for values-based personal risk assessment

Three core emotional systems you must identify and improve

📌 Key Takeaways:

Your confidence is a system. Your decision-making is a system. Your recovery is a system.

Freedom doesn’t come from endless options — it comes from intentional design.

Strong emotional systems don’t eliminate struggle — they carry you through it with grace, clarity, and self-trust.

🧭 Featured Frameworks & Concepts:

🏔️ The Hiking Metaphor (Perspective through experience)

📊 Likert Scales (Emotional range + perception)

🔁 Feedback Loops (Reinforcement in emotional systems)

🧠 Decision Quality (Process > Outcome)

🔍 PEAR: People, Environment, Assets, Relationships

🧩 The Confidence-Decision Loop

🛠️ Try This: → Ask yourself: Where in your life do you feel most free?
→ Then ask: What system — seen or unseen — is supporting that freedom?

📝 Journal Prompt:
“Where in my life do I feel most free — and what emotional system makes that possible?”

🧭 Referenced in this episode:

Pain scale stories (ostomy & lived experience)

Organizational risk logic, translated for personal use

Emotional vocabulary expansion as a path to personal power

Decision hygiene as emotional self-respect

🎧 Next Time on Emotional Organization:
We’ll take everything you’ve learned today and go one step deeper — into the world of risk. How do your experiences shape what you’re willing to risk, and why? How can you use systems thinking to strengthen your ability to assess risk and recover from it without losing yourself in the process?

🌀 The Emotional Organization is a podcast about bridging business logic with emotional intelligence — because self-leadership is the foundation of all great leadership.

Welcome to The Emotional Organization, where strategy meets soul—and today, we’re blending project management with personal transformation.

In this episode, host Dr. Denaige McDonnell reframes the five traditional phases of project management (Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing) as a powerful, emotionally intelligent framework for managing not just your business—but your life.

This one’s for the solopreneurs, system-seekers, and soulful leaders building something meaningful from the inside out.

🔍 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
How to treat your life like the million-dollar project it is

Why so many great ideas stall out (and how to get yours off the ground)

The emotional and operational role of each project phase

How to build strategy that actually reflects your energy and goals

What to monitor when you're your own CEO, PM, and team

Why closure is more than finishing—it’s about integration

📌 Highlights by Phase:
Initiation — Make the case for change (even to yourself)

Planning — Define what success actually looks like

Execution — Take aligned action, not frantic movement

Monitoring & Controlling — Create feedback loops that don’t burn you out

Closing — Celebrate, integrate, and evolve before jumping to the next thing

💡 Practical Prompts Inside:
What am I really initiating here?

What’s in scope—and what needs to wait?

What’s one system I could lovingly improve this month?

Where am I more clear now than when I began?

📥 Free Resource:
Want to know what's up with the I AM jar?? Head over to emotionalorganization.com and grab it in the Downloads section. It’s the simplest strategy I've found for actually getting in touch with your own qualities and strengths. So... a gateway to confidence, really.

✨ Coming Next Week:
The Myth of Freedom: Why Systems Are the Secret to Feeling Free If you’ve ever thought, “Wait… did I just build myself another job?”—this one’s for you. Seriously though, I haven't recorded it yet. This title is subject to change. I'm stewing on a new approach... would be good to hear what the regulars like about the show. 

💬 Let’s Grow the Movement
If this episode sparked something for you:

Share it with a friend

Post it to your stories and tag @denaigemcdonnell

Or leave a rating and review—yes, they matter, and yes, she reads every one (really, I do. Chat just thinks that's a big deal. But it is hard to find them because you have to seek out each individual platform).

Because this podcast isn’t just content—it’s a movement. And movements grow one brave listener at a time. That's you. You are the brave listener. The inquisitor. 

Remember: You are the master project.
So manage it with intention, close with care,
and keep those emotions working for you. ❤️

Now you know that last part was all me.

If your marketing feels flat, your message feels forced, or your ideal clients keep ghosting you—it might not be your funnel. It might be your frequency.

In this episode, we dismantle the myth that market research and client avatars are the starting point for great marketing. Instead, we dive deep into the real foundation of magnetic messaging: self-discovery.

Through a blend of emotional intelligence, business strategy, and universal law, Dr. Denaige McDonnell explores how identity, energy, and alignment shape not only your brand—but the clients you attract. You’ll hear raw stories, powerful metaphors, and a new way to look at marketing that starts with the question:

Who am I really building this for?

We’ll explore:

Whether you're pivoting from corporate, launching a new brand, or trying to rediscover your voice—this episode will reconnect you to the real reason your work matters.

Episode Highlights:

 Free Resource:

5 Ways to Clarify Your Identity Before You Market Your Offer

Start building a brand that feels like home—and attracts the clients who belong there.
👉 Get it at equistry.com

Connect & Learn More:

Ready to Stop Performing and Start Resonating?

This episode is your permission slip to stop chasing and start attracting.
Because the clients you’re meant to serve?
They’re already looking for someone like you.
Your job is to show up as yourself—clearly, confidently, and aligned.

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Dr. Denaige McDonnell confronts one of the most painful realities in modern work life—what it means to lead inside a toxic workplace. From politics and power dynamics to the silencing of dissent and the betrayal of values, she shares not only her lived experience of being fired for standing up but also the hidden emotional labor behind everyday leadership in dysfunctional systems.

Whether you’re the one speaking up, the one staying silent, or the one holding power—this episode challenges you to reflect, act, and lead with integrity.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✅ What toxic workplaces really look like—beyond the buzzwords
✅ Why power, not personality, is the root of sustained dysfunction
✅ The emotional toll of being a courageous advocate
✅ Strategic steps for speaking up without burning out
✅ How allies and leaders can stop playing it safe and start disrupting the cycle
✅ The long-term cost of silence—and how to build micro-cultures of trust

Key Moments & Takeaways:

Segment 1: Defining Toxicity in the Workplace
Segment 2: The Hard Truths About Power and Merit
Segment 3: What It Really Means to Speak Up—and What It Costs
Segment 4: How to Be a Visible, Strategic Ally
Segment 5: The Leadership Shift—Disrupting the Status Quo
Final Reflection: Courage Isn’t Comfortable—It’s Contagious

Power Quote from Dr. McDonnell:

"Leadership in toxicity demands action—strategic, courageous, and often uncomfortable action. It’s not about managing the optics; it’s about changing the system.”

Resources Mentioned:

Equistry Inc. – Learn how we help courageous professionals lead from their values

Loved this episode?
💌 Subscribe to The Emotional Organization
💬 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
📲 Share it with someone who needs this truth today

In the final installment of our 4-part entrepreneurial mindset series, Dr. Denaige McDonnell dives into the five most common (and most disruptive) mindset challenges that business builders face—not in theory, but in the emotional trenches of real-life transition.

This is the episode where we pull the curtain all the way back. If you're feeling stuck, burned out, or unsure whether you're cut out for entrepreneurship—this one's for you.

Here's what we cover:

Seeking Permission – Why you keep waiting for someone to say “you’re allowed to lead” (and how to stop).

Fear-Based Decision-Making – How scarcity hijacks your strategy and what to do when fear is driving the car.

The High-Performer Identity Trap – Why being great at doing doesn’t automatically make you a great leader.

Hiding from Visibility – The role of shame in shrinking your goals and avoiding growth.

Rebuilding the Systems That Once Broke You – How unhealed trauma can silently shape your business model.

✨ You’ll walk away with:

A roadmap to start trusting yourself again (even if confidence feels shaky).

Real, practical strategies to make decisions from strategy—not survival.

A deeper understanding of how emotional patterns show up in business.

The mindset tools to stop repeating the past and start building something better.

🧩 Academic Insights Inside:

Learned Helplessness (Seligman, 1972)

Cognitive Load & Scarcity Mindset (Mani et al., 2013)

Identity Theory (Stryker & Burke, 2000)

Social Identity & Shame (Tajfel & Turner, 1986)

Trauma Reenactment in Leadership (Van der Kolk, 2014)

🛠 Resources & Next Steps:

👉 Ready to go deeper? Explore coaching + self-guided programs at emotionalorganization.com
👉 Follow me on Instagram @denaigemcdonnell for more bold, emotional strategy.

💬 If this hit home:

Leave a rating or review to help others find the podcast.

Share this episode with a friend who’s stuck between career comfort and business courage.

💡 Quote of the Episode:

“Sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is stop working on the wrong thing—even if it’s half-finished. That’s not quitting. That’s agility. That’s leadership.”

(Part 3 of 4 in the Mindset of Entrepreneurship Series)

Episode Summary:

Leaving behind a 28-year corporate career in oil and gas isn’t easy, but for Stacey Kelley (find here here), it was the right move. After decades in a structured corporate environment, she made the leap from chemical engineering technology to the highly dynamic world of real estate.

In this episode, we dive into:
✅ The defining moment that led Stacey to switch careers.
✅ How she identified transferable skills that set her up for success.
✅ The unexpected challenges of going from corporate to self-employed.
✅ What she wishes she had known before making the transition.
✅ The mental and emotional shifts required to thrive as an entrepreneur.

If you’ve ever considered leaving corporate life, this conversation is a must-listen.

Key Takeaways:

💡 Career reinvention isn’t about starting over—it’s about applying your skills in a new way.
💡 You’ll face imposter syndrome—but confidence comes with experience.
💡 The highs are higher, the lows are lower—entrepreneurship is all about mindset.

This is part three of our four-part series on the Mindset of Entrepreneurship.

In the next episode, we’ll dive into developing your entrepreneurial mindset!

🚀 Don’t miss it!

🎧 Listen now: Emotional Organization

📱 Follow me on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

Episode Summary:

Building a business isn’t just about strategy—it’s about mindset, confidence, and personal growth. In this episode, I sit down with my sister, Lola Shanks, a certified counselor and founder of Beyond the Break, to explore the mental and emotional challenges of entrepreneurship.

Lola brings a unique perspective—blending her experience in corporate leadership, multiple business ventures, and professional counseling—to help us understand how to navigate self-doubt, leadership, and resilience when stepping into business ownership.

What We Cover in This Episode:

✅ How Lola’s entrepreneurial journey started at age 12 with a business idea that never took off.
✅ The mental challenges of business-building—self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and resilience.
✅ Why the relationship with yourself is the key to navigating uncertainty.
✅ The importance of values-based decision-making when building a business.
✅ The role of emotional intelligence in leadership, conflict resolution, and success.

Key Takeaways:

💡 Entrepreneurship is as much about self-awareness as it is about business strategy.
💡 Confidence isn’t about knowing everything—it’s about trusting that you can figure things out.
💡 Your values should drive your business decisions—without them, you risk building something that doesn’t truly fulfill you.

What’s Next?

This is the second episode in our four-part series on the Mindset of Entrepreneurship.

Up next, I’m speaking with Stacey Kelley of Royal LePage, who transitioned from a 28-year corporate career in oil and gas into real estate entrepreneurship. We’ll dive into:
🔹 What made her take the leap.
🔹 The mindset shifts that helped her navigate the transition.
🔹 What she wishes she had known before making the switch.

If you’ve ever wondered, Can I actually do this?—stick with me.
Because the answer is yes.

🎧 Listen now: Emotional Organization

📩 Let’s Connect:
💬 Share your thoughts on this episode! Have you made the leap? What challenges are you facing? Let’s talk in the comments or on social media!
📱 Follow me on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

Leaving corporate life isn’t just a career move—it’s a complete mental and emotional transformation. The decision to step into entrepreneurship brings a wave of self-doubt, fear, excitement, and uncertainty. In this episode, we’re breaking down the psychological shifts that happen before, during, and after leaving to help you understand what to expect and how to navigate the transition.

What We Cover in This Episode:
✔️ Why people leave corporate life—Push vs. Pull factors and what drives the shift.
✔️ The mental obstacles before leaving—Fear, identity shifts, and analysis paralysis.
✔️ The emotional rollercoaster of leaving—Why doubt creeps in, even when you’re sure.
✔️ The challenges after leaving—The ‘free fall’ feeling, imposter syndrome, and social isolation.
✔️ How to stay grounded—Reframing fear, building a mindset strategy, and finding support.

Key Takeaways:
💡 Doubt doesn’t mean you made the wrong decision—it means you’re stepping into something new.
💡 Leaving a job is not just about quitting—it’s about becoming a new version of yourself.
💡 Your biggest challenge won’t be business—it’ll be managing your mindset, identity, and confidence.

What’s Coming Next?
This is just the beginning of our 4-part series on the Mindset of Entrepreneurship. In the next two episodes, I’ll be speaking with two professionals who left corporate life to build their own businesses. They’ll share:
🔹 The biggest struggles they faced during their transition.
🔹 The mindset shifts that helped them stay on track.
🔹 What they wish they had known before making the leap.

If you’ve ever wondered, Can I actually do this?—stick with me.
Because the answer is yes.

🎧 Listen now: Emotional Organization

📩 Let’s Connect:
💬 Share your thoughts on this episode! Have you made the leap? What challenges are you facing? Let’s talk in the comments or on social media!
📱 Follow me on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn