Having It A.L.L.

When was the last time you intentionally stopped and expressed some gratitude?

You've probably heard all throughout your life of the importance of "gratitude". In personal development circles it's touted as a powerful tool for happiness and success. As kids many of us are reminded constantly about the importance of being grateful.

But is it a part of your everyday routing and a strong tool in your toolbox? Do you even believe in the power of gratitude?

In this episode I'm talking all about Gratitude. I'm giving you 7 things you probably haven't heard before about gratitude.

We're talking about gratitude in your personal finances, tools for helping you form a gratitude habit, how gratitude can improve your relationships, the power of gratitude to totally flip your mood, how we feel more gratitude for experiences rather than things, and why gratitude in conflict is more powerful than forgiveness or acceptance.

If you have some tips, thoughts or stories on gratitude, I'd love to hear them. Reach me on my personal email address at [email protected] or on Instagram @matthtew_bivens. 

What patterns of unhealthy behavior did you pick up from others (perhaps the environment you grew up in), that you're continuing to do yourself?

In today's episode I'm introducing an idea and exercise to help you break the cycle of unhealthy ways of thinking, acting and being. It's called "the buck stops here!".

The phrase comes from US President Harry Truman, who used the phrase to communicate to others that he was taking responsibility for decisions that he made, accepting all the consequences of his decisions.

For this conversation, I'm asking you to think about those unhealthy or disempowering habits and tendencies you have, and to make a commitment to stop the spread down to future generations. 

What does it really mean to treat your partner like a King or Queen? 

As Sarah and I have grown in our marriage, the concept of treating one another as a King and Queen has grown as well. At first the idea brought up our own issues with self worth, love and relationship roles. But today, we both powerfully fill our roles of King and Queen respectively, and we make it priority to not only treat one another with the utmost love and respect, but the do the same for ourselves as well. 

In today's episode I'm joined by my Queen, Sarah Bivens, and we dig into the topic of "how to treat your partner like a King or Queen". This is a powerful conversation for anyone who has struggled with feeling like they deserve to be treated with kindness and respect, or anyone who feels their current relationship dynamic has room for growth. 

For questions, comments and feedback on this episode, email me directly at [email protected] or DM me on Instagram @matthew_bivens

In your relationships would you say you lean more on the side of Courage or Consideration?

We each fall somewhere in the spectrum of Courage vs Consideration. When there's an imbalance, relationships suffer and life gets challenging. 

In today's episode I'm teaching you how courage and consideration come together to create mature, synergistic relationships, and I'm giving you the tools to evaluate for yourself whether you need to amp up the courage or the consideration in your life. 

Don't forget!

Get yourself a copy of 7 Habits Of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey. And if you have any questions, comments or feedback for me, email me at [email protected] or DM me on Instagram @matthew_bivens

How do you feel about challenges in your life?

Challenge is a part of life. 

My belief is that challenge is a necessary ingredient to growth. It helps us step up to and through our comfort zones. It helps us come to know ourselves on a deeper level. 

Challenge is what makes you dig deep into parts of yourself you may not have known were there. 

But we don't always relate to challenges in that way.

For today's episode I'm sharing with you a post I first saw on Instagram about challenges, and giving you some food for thought around how you may be approaching those uncomfortable moments in your life. 

Your abundant loving life may be on the other side of your comfort zone, and my intention for you is that you see your own areas of opportunity, and boldly step into them. 

Want to get in touch?

Email me at matthew at matthewbivens dot com, or message me on Instagram at matthew_bivens

Are you doing what you love in life?

Many times a question like this make us think about turning our passions into a career. Pro athletes come to mind, the men and women who have taken a love for a childhood game and turned it into a lucrative career. 

But that’s not the only way to do what you love and live a life with passion. You can 100% live with passion, joy and excitement, EVERYDAY, without changing careers or completely shifting your life around (you can of course do that too if you want).

In this episode I’m sharing with you questions to ask yourself that can help you identify your passions and build a life where you’re practicing and living them regularly. 

Living life with passion is a key ingredient of “having it all”, and today’s conversation will help you get there!

**Check out the Running With Dave podcast here: https://runningwithdave.buzzsprout.com/

**Interested in learning more about the Having It A.L.L. Blueprint or 1-on-1 coaching? Drop me a note and let me know how I can serve you: https://www.matthewbivens.com/contact/

Are you aware of the most important piece of equipment for working out?

It's your BRAIN!

Your mental chatter and internal conversation will either elevate your workouts, or can take you out. And right now (especially if this is something you haven't been paying attention to) it's probably doing more of the latter.

I've been an athlete my entire life, and over the past 4 years I've trained hundreds of people in health & fitness. During that time I've learned and spotted patterns of effectiveness when it comes to exercising and working out.

In today's episode I'm sharing with you 6 of my top mental tricks that will help you power through your workouts, and can even help you turn your exercises into a fun and enjoyable experience! 

How do you let go when you’re feeling very attached? How do you gain closure when you felt like you’ve been wronged?

Those are some million dollar questions right there! Figure that out, and you might just be able to life a happy, drama free life for the rest of your years!

But that's the thing about letting go and closure - they are simple in concepts, but very hard to accomplish in reality.

In today's episode I'm going to take on both of these big ideas, and I'm going to help you navigate your way to letting go and gaining closure. I share a personal account from my life where letting go has been a challenge, and I give feedback on a listener email all about getting closure after years of unrest. My goal for this episode is that you walk away with not only tips on how you can let go and gain closure, but examples of what it looks like in real life that you can use as a model and inspiration.

If you're looking for help letting go and gaining closure in your life, I can help you. Email me at [email protected] to learn more.

When was the last time you wanted something so strongly, but it just wasn't happening and you had no answers as to why?

Each one of us knows what it's like to experience the vast range of emotions that come with having unmet desires.

For Sarah and I, it's no different.

In this episode we’re sharing in the spirit of vulnerability and transparency - we’ve been “open to conceive” for 6+ months now. At the time of publishing this episode we are not yet pregnant. The process over these past 6+ months has been incredibly emotional for both of us, with ups & downs of all types.

We decided to get on the mic and record our raw feelings about where we're at. No fluff. No filter. Just our honest emotions.

We wanted to do this while we were in it, rather than after we get to the other side (whatever that may look like), because we feel there's something important about visceral, "this is happening right now", sort of sharing.

Both Sarah and I feel this is important to share this conversation with you all. In the spirit of vulnerability and transparency.

We thank you so much for allowing me to share this with you, and I appreciate you listening. 

How do you deal with stress?

For many people, one big goal in life is to reduce the amount of things that stress them out. Getting the "stress inbox" to zero is a noble feat, but one that I believe is completely missing the point!

The goal should not be to eliminate stress -- because guess what, that's never going to happen! Life is stressful and that's just a fact. Instead, the goal should be to work on your RELATIONSHIP to the stress, ie how do you FEEL about the stress and what decisions do you make in the face of that stress.

These are things that can be learned, but first you must un-learn your conditioned response to stress, trigger, anxieties, worries, etc.

In today's episode I'm recommending that you stop running from stress and quit trying to get your stressors down to zero, and instead you focus on mastering your SELF in relation to the stress. Can you sit in an incredibly stressful situation, and be cool, calm and peaceful? The answer is YES, but are you able to do it right now?

As we continue our series on "back to basics" it's important to understand how we deal with stress, because you might just be feeling like you would "have it all" if only there was less stress in your life....