This week on Happiness in Progress, I had the privilege of sitting down with Jordan Pickell to dive into a topic that resonates deeply during the holiday season—boundaries. Jordan is a trauma and relationship therapist. She helps people use self-exploration and boundaries to disrupt generaitonal patterns. She also hosts a holiday boundaries workshop, which you can access here.

• Why family gatherings can feel so triggering: From reverting to old roles to managing relational power dynamics.
• Preparation before stepping into challenging environments: Tools for grounding yourself, setting intentions, and pre-emptively managing boundaries.
• Effective communication strategies: From handling uncomfortable questions to addressing triggering behaviors with grace and assertiveness.
• Redefining traditions: Breaking free from guilt-driven participation and creating new rituals that resonate with you and your family.
• The importance of self-worth and boundaries: Why prioritizing your needs is not only okay but necessary for your well-being.
• Handling the aftermath of setting boundaries: Managing others’ emotions without taking responsibility for their feelings.
• Finding humor and compassion: Viewing family dynamics through a lens of grace and lightheartedness.

Jordan also shared about her Holiday Boundaries Workshop, a valuable resource for anyone wanting to feel more empowered this season.

This conversation is filled with practical tools, empathetic insights, and relatable anecdotes that will leave you feeling both seen and equipped for the holidays. To hear all the gems Jordan shared, be sure to tune in to the full episode of Happiness in Progress.

Mentioned in this episode Holiday Boundaries Workshop

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In this episode, I sat down with Rachel Marie Martin, author of Get Your Spark Back, to explore her personal journey of rediscovering joy and authenticity. Rachel shared powerful insights on overcoming life's unexpected challenges and embracing your unique story. 

Rachel is the writer behind the site FindingJoy.net and author of both Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood and a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages. 

Her content has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Today Show, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand, John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly and many more. 

In this episode you'll hear:

• Breaking Free from Linear Thinking: A discussion on how societal expectations often push us toward rigid paths, while reclaiming wonder and intuition can lead to more fulfilling lives.
• Rediscovering Your Identity: Rachel shared how asking simple questions like “Who am I?” and “What do I love to do?” helped her reconnect with activities that brought her joy, like playing the piano.
• Owning Your Spark: Rachel talked about the importance of taking ownership of your journey and story, making it uniquely yours.
• Small Steps, Big Changes: Advice for those starting their "spark journey"—focus on small, daily acts of self-care, like enjoying a good cup of coffee or taking a walk.

Links mentioned Get Your Spark Back Mom Enough The Brave Art of Motherhood

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This week on the Happiness in Progress podcast, Danielle Craig sits down with Brooke DeBoer—author of Living the Free Life and life coach—to discuss her transformative journey of healing from bullying and traumatic relationships. Brooke opens up about the challenges she faced and the steps she took to reconnect with her inner voice and find freedom.

• How bullying shaped her self-image and relationships.
• The impact of traumatic relationships on her sense of self-worth.
• Her process of healing through boundaries, reflection, and reconnecting with her inner voice.
• Practical steps to define core values and create a life of freedom. “Freedom is being the person I was created to be, not the person everyone else tried to define me as,” Brooke says.

Listen to the full conversation for actionable insights on healing from past pain and creating an authentic, joyful life.

Show notes

HIP Episode #109 Brooke DeBoer 

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In this episode of Happiness in Progress, I’m joined by the incredible Alea Lovely, host of the Spiritual Sh*t podcast and author of The Meaningful Manifestation Method.

Alea is a spiritual teacher and intuitive empath who has helped countless people reconnect with their authentic desires and heal the limiting beliefs holding them back.

Together, we dive into redefining manifestation—not as a tool for acquiring things but as a way to cultivate meaningful, fulfilling lives.

• The root of meaningful manifestation: Understanding how aligning with your true desires transforms your life.
• Unpacking limiting beliefs: Identifying and healing the "rot messages" that hold you back.
• Manifestation vs. acquisition: Why meaningful manifestation goes beyond material goals.
• Rewriting old narratives: Alea’s personal journey of shifting societal and cultural narratives to uncover her authentic self.
• Authentic desires vs. societal expectations: How to discern between what you want and what you’ve been told to want.
• Practical tools for transformation: Simple steps to reconnect with your inner self and manifest meaningfully.

Enjoy this healing conversation with Alea. 

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In this episode, Danielle Craig sits down with manifestation expert Tammy Mastroberte to discuss the power of “higher help” in manifesting your desires and the importance of slowing down to recognize signs that guide you along the way.

Tammy explains how connecting with a higher source—whether it’s the universe, God, or your inner wisdom—can amplify your ability to manifest.

Discover practical tips for asking for guidance, slowing down, and becoming more aware of the signs around you.

Listen to the full episode for insights on how to deepen your manifestation journey with spiritual guidance and presence.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How asking for spiritual guidance can help you feel supported and aligned with your goals.

• Why taking time for mindfulness and presence is essential to notice signs from the universe.

• Actionable tips to enhance your manifestation practice with daily requests for guidance, intentions to receive signs, and creating moments of calm to remain open.

• Stories illustrating how unseen guidance and subtle signs have helped others along their manifestation journey.

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Breaking a habit is hard. If you haven't added a habit yet, go check out adding habits in the last HIP Habit mini-episode.

If you're ready for a challenge, let's dig in. Several authors, including Charles Duhigg and James Clear, teach us about the habit loop. In this episode, learn how the habit loop is impacting your daily choices. Once you understand that, you can engineer how you want your choices to look.

In this bonus episode, learn how to hack your habits by taking control of 

HIP Habit mini-episodes are brought to you by the HIP Habit workbook. For the next six months we will be working through the habits in the HIP Habit workbook. Get your copy or follow along.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer

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Amazon links are affiliate links which means I make a tiny comission when I share and you click. 

"Living life without my eyesight, every day that I wake up I'm tapping into a certain level of trust in myself. I have to trust that I'm going in the right direction. I have to trust that as I put one foot in front of the other, I am in fact getting to where I need to go." - Lex Gillette

Lex Gillette is a globally recognized Paralympian who competes primarily in the long jump. He's a fivetime Paralympic medalist and four-time world champion.

As a keynote speaker, Lex's message is There is no need for sight when you have a vision®

I loved having Lex back on the podcast to talk about his new book No Need for Sight When You have a Vision: What Blindness can teach us about risk and leadership

In this episode we talk about what happened right after our long conversation - ahem - the pandemic. He had been training for the 2020 paralympics, that were delayed. We talk about how he took that delay and the mindset tricks he used to manage the disappointment.

You'll also hear:

• The importance of trust. How he trusts himself and how he trusts others.
• The role vulnerability plays in trust.
• How risk helped him know what he was capable of
• And much more!

Listen to Episode #30 with Lex Gillette

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Often, when we want to change our health or behaviors the first thing we do is determine which habits to take out of our lives.

I propose going with adding a habit instead. 

In this bonus episode, learn why adding a habit might be a better fit than trying to exclude habits from your life.

HIP Habit mini-episodes are brought to you by the HIP Habit workbook. For the next six months we will be working through the habits in the HIP Habit workbook. Get your copy or follow along.

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"It gives you permission that you don’t need the validation of other people. If you say you’re special, if you say you’re awesome - believe it." - Amy Kaufman

Calling all of you who've been told you're "too much" or feel like there's something wrong with your personality.

I aboslutely loved this episode with Amy. 

We met during an event where we both spoke. During that event, she got up and said, "I know I am a gift. It's really stupid I had to almost lose my life to realize I'm special because I say I am. I am loveable because I'm worth loving." 

Amy Kaufman is a bookstagramer, ahem for all things spicy and booky meet at @bookstackbrat. She is a cancer fighter and survivor, sober mom, makeup artist and realtor.

In this episode, we talk about so much including:- Learning how to forgive and love ourselves. - Overcoming our old stories and traumas. - Self worth. - What she learned about herself during her cancer fight. - Allowing ourselves to leave others opinions behind to write and believe in our own stories.

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"If you try to become just the same blob of people, it doesn't work. If you're trying to control the other person and you think they're trying to control you it really doesn't change people's behavior. Instead it makes people push those behaviors under ground, they become secretive, they get better at pretending like something isn't a problem. It really leads to a lot of dysfunction." - Amy Morin

Amy Morin is a psychotherapist and a bestselling author. She has released several books. Today we're talking about the latest book, 13 Things Mentally Strong Couples Don't Do. 

This is such a great book that offers practical advice for issues you might be coming up against in your relationship.

In this conversation we talked about:

• Not using your emotions as a weapon.
• Setting emotional rules. Is it okay to slam the door? Is it okay to throw stuff when we fight?
• What to do instead of trying to fix your partner.
• How to go back to how you fell in love in the first place.

This is by far a favorite episode of mine. Let me know what you think by visiting me on Instagram or Facebook.

You can buy the book here.

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