Conflict is inevitable. Combat is optional. In this episode, Deborah discusses the importance of embracing disagreements and conflict as a learning opportunity and truly knowing your motives and being aware of your ego. Engage with empathy and use active listening to build relationships. Don’t let your ego take over and escalate verbal disagreements into full-blown combat that breaks down people and ruins relationships.

Ever noticed how judgmental we are of others? What they’re wearing, their body type, their physical appearance in general? When we judge everyone else, we also tend to judge ourselves more harshly and we are dealing with a global pandemic of low self-esteem. Deborah invites you to quit the judgment on others. Be kinder to everyone you see and be kinder to yourself. It’s how we change the world.

There are really only 2 kinds of people in this world - those who energize and inspire us and those who drain and deplete us. Deborah invites you to be mindful of how you feel around certain people and to start becoming more selfish with your time and protecting your energy better, by spending as little time as possible with energy vampires.

If you’re dealing with some kind of heartbreak, be kind to yourself and allow your heart time to heal. Deborah shares 3 tips for recovering from heartbreak and making sure that you don’t compromise on who you are, simply because you’re hurting right now.

Deborah shares the transformative power of flipping the script on yourself and replacing every “I have to..” statement with a more positive grateful statement, starting with “I get to..”. Change your thinking and you change your life. Focus on positivity and gratitude and you will find you have more and more positive things to be grateful for.

If you want to change your life, start by changing your mind - the thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back. If you want to change the world, start with yourself. Be clear on your purpose and your goals and focus on those, ignoring the irrational fears and self-limiting beliefs. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by other people’s drama or problems. This is your journey, so just do YOU.

How often do you question your own motives or gain clarity on your intentions before you speak up or take action in your life? Deborah shares a personal account about a friend who had to ask this very tough question of himself recently and had to confront whether or not he was perhaps being manipulative. They key to changing the world is always in changing our own behavior and it starts with self-awareness. Know yourself and know your motives.

Listen to ‘understand’ instead of just listening to ‘respond’. Active Listening is a powerful tool that will help you improve relationships and make people feel genuinely seen and heard. By focusing your attention on the speaker and being respectful and empathetic, you will be amazed at how your relationships change for the better.

Actions always speak louder than words and it is possible to identify toxic people and avoid them, if you look out for the top 5 traits that Deborah has found to be common in all toxic people she has encountered. Keep an eye out for the article for Thrive Global on this topic, later this week.

When meeting new people or assessing current relationships, Deborah reminds us that people can say all kinds of things, but the real test is found in how those people act and behave. Don’t just listen to words. Watch actions and behaviours - those will tell you exactly who someone is.