Love, Happiness and Success with Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Oh yes. In fact, long-distance relationships can have strengths over in-person relationships, and be a wonderful experience for everyone involved. However, to have a successful long-distance relationship, you need to be mindful of a few key factors in order to help you both feel loved, secure and connected although the miles keep you apart.

To talk all about how to make long distance relationships work, I've enlisted the support of long-distance relationship expert Brogan Crosby, M.S., LMFTC.

We're talking about:

• Why long-distance couples can actually have strengths and advantages over other couples, especially when one or both partners are ambitious and career-focused.
• Some of the unique challenges that long-distance couples face and how to overcome them.
• What the most important factors in making long distance relationships work are, and how you can mindfully incorporate certain strategies to keep your connection strong.
• Strategies to use during the transitional period when you shift from a long-distance relationship to living together (or nearby).

Listen to this episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast, and learn how to make your long-distance relationship thrive.

All the best, 

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

There are false myths about men that are unhelpful to everyone; themselves, the people who love them, and their relationships. So on this episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast, our mission is to understand men and "the male experience," especially when it comes to self-development. To this end, I've enlisted the support of my fellow couples counselors, therapists and life coaches, Zachary Gaiter, and Seth Bender

• Why can it be so hard to get men to open up?
• Is it true that men are less likely to get involved in personal growth work, or want to pursue couples counseling?
• How can women help the men in their lives get help if they're worried about them?
• What are some things that men need to figure out, that women never even think about?
• What are some of the things that men really need their partners to know, but might not know how to say?
• What is the difference between a "guy" and a "man," in terms of male identity development?
• And what are some of the unique situations that men may be struggling with, but that never even get discussed?

All here for you, on today's episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast.

xoxo, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com 

If you've been on the modern dating scene for any time at all, you've probably become aware that the way people connect with each other is changing. Old "rules of dating" that we could once take for granted are no longer the norm. In fact, dating advice from just a few years ago might now steer you in the wrong direction if you're looking for love.

On this edition of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast I'm joined by Match.com's lead researcher and scientific advisor Dr. Helen Fisher, as well as Denver dating coach Markie Keelan, to talk about their latest dating advice and how you can make it work for you.

Here are just some of the dating questions we're discussing:

• What does it mean when someone you like disappears, only to show up again weeks or months later?
• How do a significant percentage of long-term relationships start these days? (Hint: Not  with a first date!)
• How can you tell if you're in a "situationship" that's going to turn into a real relationship? (Or not).
• Why does keeping your options open sometimes reduce the chance of finding authentic intimacy?
• How is the evolving political landscape impacting the way people behave when they're dating?
• Why are some parts of the country notorious for "Ghosts, Zombies and Breadcrumbs" - and what you can do to avoid this trap?

All for you, on this edition of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast.

xoxo,  Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

I know it sounds hard to believe, but you can heal after infidelity, and stay together. You may not ever "get over" an affair, but you can certainly heal your relationship. It is also possible to rebuild the trust after infidelity.

However.... getting past infidelity is an active process, for both partners. Time alone does not heal an affair. You cannot just "get over" infidelity. After you've been betrayed, you can't just flip a switch and put the past in the past, and trust your partner again. But you can heal, and you can trust again... when you're both doing the work of recovery, together.

On this episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast, I'm sharing the ten crucial steps that every couple must take in order to repair their relationship after infidelity. I hope that this discussion creates a road-map for you to follow, as you work to reclaim your relationship, your trust, and your sense of security after an affair.

With love and respect,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

Ever had your heart smashed into a million pieces... and then had zero clue what you were supposed to do next? If you're dealing with heartache and feel like you're barely keeping it together, I’m sure you have a million questions on how to move through the pain. 

On this episode of the Love, Happiness & Success podcast, I did something a little different. I opened my inbox — and my heart — to you. To your questions about breakups. Your stories. Your confusion, longing, grief, and pain so I could help you through the heartache and so you can start feeling like yourself again.

Timestamps: 00:00 – Why this episode matters 02:35 – My Own Story of Heartbreak 08:37 – Answering Your Breakup Questions 16:31 – Should You Seek Closure or Let It Go? 28:26 – How to Deal When Your Ex Moves On 38:49 – Why Do I Feel Ashamed I’m Still Not Over It? 42:34 – I See My Ex All the Time — What Can I Do? 48:09 – Why Do I Feel Like My Ex ‘Won’ The Breakup 1:00:55 – Real-Life Breakup Stories You’ll Relate To 1:08:19 – How to Heal From Heartbreak

If this episode resonated with you, here’s the most important thing you need to know: You are not stuck. There is a way forward from this pain. And it starts with understanding where you are in the healing process—and what you need next.

👉 Take My Free Heartbreak Recovery Quiz: How Over Your Ex Are You?It’s more than just a quiz. It’s a mirror held up with compassion. This quick, insightful tool helps you identify exactly what stage of healing you’re in and offers clear guidance on what your next step needs to be.

Sometimes what we really need most is a real conversation. A place to say the unsayable. To unpack the confusion, the longing, the guilt, or even the hope that maybe it’s not really over. If that's where you are...

👉 You can schedule a free consultation with a compassionate, expert member of our Growing Self team—someone who specializes in breakup recovery. Whether you’re barely holding it together or starting to imagine life on the other side of this, talking to someone who understands can make all the difference. 

You don’t have to keep navigating this alone. You can get the support you deserve, right now. And we’re here to walk with you every step of the way.

Xoxo Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby www.growingself.com

P.S. If someone you care about is going through a heartbreak right now, send them this article. Sometimes, hearing they’re not alone is the best gift you can give.

How to Stop Self-Sabotage From Derailing Your Goals.

Do you ever feel like your own worst enemy? Or feel frustrated that, despite having the best of intentions, you can't seem to actualize your goals? 

What I've learned from many years as a life coach and therapist is that when people fail it is NOT because of lack of motivation, or determination, or willpower. Most of the time it is because people are unintentionally sabotaging their own success... from day one.The worst part is that they usually have no idea that they're even doing it.

The antidote is having awareness about the subtle forces that will pull you off track every time, and the practices that will help you stay on course. 

Using the six strategies I'll be teaching you about on this episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast will help you stop unintentionally sabotaging your success, and set you up to achieve your most important goals in 2018.

xoxo, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

This is a sacred time of year, no matter what your beliefs. Spiritual traditions of every flavor honor this special season. Even if you have no spiritual belief system it's still a time for reflection, generosity and new resolutions. It's a time of year for gratitude, showing others how much you love them, and thinking about who you want to grow into as the next year spins into focus -- for everyone.

It's also the perfect time to cultivate the practice of unconditional love.

In the near future, you will likely have fork-in-the-road moments with friends, family, your kids, siblings, and your partner, in all their disappointing, annoying, frustrating, and hurtful humanity. At these moments you can choose judgment or empathy; contempt or compassion; anger or acceptance; grudge-holding or forgiveness.

Its easy to love when your ego is stroked, when you feel gratified, and when you're awash in pleasurable "loving" feelings. But the heart of every religion teaches us that our purpose here is something else: To love when it’s hard.

It can be challenging to stay compassionate and understanding with people who behave badly. The grand, beautiful paradox of this time of year is that -- with all it's unique stressors -- you will have many opportunities to practice staying soft and loving in the face of challenging relational moments.

Choosing love even when it's hard feels selfless, but truthfully, you're the one who wins. Choosing love expands your soul, softens your spirit, and makes you a happier person. In giving love, you receive it -- whether or not anyone else participates.

Learning how to do this will not only help others, make you feel good, improve your relationships, and contribute to world peace... it will help you grow into the self-actualized, "best self" that you were meant to be.

With love to you, 

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

Music Credits: The Kronos Quartet, Black Angels: "Spem in Alium"

P.S. Are you on the Love, Happiness and Success Express? Sign up on my website and I'll send you a monthly roundup with the latest from the blog. 

In the months leading up to the holidays, and in the months after, many people struggle with "dark emotions" such as depression, grief, and sadness. There are many reasons for this, including the reality of Seasonal Affective Disorder, changes to many people's health and nutrition habits in the wintertime, and the fact that for many people the holiday season often brings with it unique stressors and emotional triggers. Many people dealing with hard life transitions like a breakup or divorce struggle during their first holiday alone. For others, bittersweet memories of years past and lost loved ones infuse the season with feelings of grief and loss.

All these experiences are normal, and natural. Many, many people are dealing with these feelings privately as they go through the motions of making merry. However, because these extremely common feelings are not often discussed publicly, many people experiencing them can feel isolated as a result.

On this episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast, we're breaking the silence and talking openly about this common experience, and how to move past it. We'll be discussing how to deal with dark emotions in a healthy way: when to lean into painful feelings, and how to work through them productively. We'll talk about the difference between situational depression and the symptoms of major depressive disorder, how to get a handle on seasonal affective disorder, how to work through the stages of grief, and the natural remedies for depression that can help you feel healthier and happier.

Wishing you all the best on your journey of growth and healing, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

As a life coach who specializes in helping people grow and make positive changes in their lives, I'm well aware that every new year brings with it a wonderful opportunity to take stock of your life, get connected with your core values, get re-focused on your goals, and craft a plan to achieve them. Most people have a renewed sense of hope and motivation around their New Year's resolutions, which — when given the right tools — increases their chances of being successful in achieving big, positive changes.

But it can be hard to set (much less achieve) your New Year's goals. Many times people make New Year's resolution lists that are not tied to their deepest values, meaning they list the things they think they should want — or that other people want them to do. These are never successful, because they're not tied to your authentic wants and needs. Other times, people do have clarity about what they want to achieve, but their "grand plans" fall apart because their aspirations are not tied to a concrete, doable action plan.

But neither of those sad fates will happen to you.

Because today's episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast is all about supporting you in your New Year's resolutions success. I'll be walking you through my "Start Your New Year Strong" free mini life coaching session so that YOU can get clarity about what you want for yourself over this next year, and also make a concrete plan for how to create it.

Note: This is an "active" podcast meaning that I'll be walking you through some exercises to gain self awareness and make specific plans. Before you start listening, please click on this link to download the free pdf worksheet so that you can do these exercises with me today. 

I'm excited to share this activity with you. My hope is that you'll leave our time together feeling inspired, energized, and with some tools and concrete new strategies to help you make great things happen for yourself in 2018.

With love and respect,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

Ahoy there! As I'm sure you're well aware, the holidays are fast approaching. If you're like many (most?) of our life coaching, therapy, and marriage counseling clients, over the past few weeks you've probably had lots of questions on your mind about how to handle this time of year - especially when it comes to managing your most important family relationships.

While family holidays have the potential to be fun and meaningful opportunities for connection, they can also be fraught with delicate and/or infuriating interpersonal dilemmas for many people. You want to have close relationships with your family or in-laws, and at the same time, it can feel very challenging to navigate the high-intensity holiday season without your family pushing your buttons, and firing off your emotional triggers.

Because of having had bad experiences in holidays past, many people can spend weeks, if not months, leading up to the holidays in a state of "holiday anxiety." We have had a number of thoughtful and heartfelt questions come in recently from our listeners, readers, and clients about how to handle various relationship situations over the holidays.

As a little holiday "care package" for them and for you, I'll be putting on my family therapist hat and addressing them on today's episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast.

Here are some of the questions our listeners (and clients) have been asking lately. I chose these questions in particular because I think that so many people can relate to them...

"Dr. Lisa, I love my husband's family. They are so kind, and generous with us. At the same time, I feel that they do not respect our (especially my) authority as parents. In our home we have expectations for our kid's behavior, and also set limits around things like junk food. I feel that my husband's parents disregard these completely, even when we directly ask them to. The grandparents are overstepping boundaries. In particular, my mother in law is controlling and overbearing. It doesn't matter what I say or how I feel. My husband tells me that it's just the way she is and to go along with it. But I am so frustrated when I'm around her. I need him to set boundaries with his family and he won't. I need to be setting boundaries for grandparents. We are going to be staying with them for a week. Help!"

"How do I deal with nosy questions? Even if they are well-meaning, I feel like my family does not get me at all, and like they're always judging me and my choices."

"This is my first holiday after my divorce, and I feel really sad. All I can think about are holidays I had with my Ex. My friends are busy with their families. I feel lonely. I think I am starting to get "holiday depression" over it. What do I do?"

"I want to have a good relationship with my family, but over the years I have become aware that I have toxic parents. I believe they may even be narcissistic parents. Both of my parents are critical and judgmental of me. My mother can literally be abusive towards me. She is also completely codependent. I have dealt with it in the past by avoiding family gatherings, and avoiding my family during the holidays. My friends have told me I should cut off family entirely, and honestly I have considered cutting family out of my life. I don't want to do that, but I don't know what else to do to protect myself from my toxic family."

"My parents are the nicest people ever but they drive me crazy. My mom is constantly complaining about her health, and then I watch her sit on her butt all day and eat junk food. She is seriously overweight, has high blood pressure, is pre-diabetic, and will not do anything about it. My father constantly interrupts people. He drinks too much. He talks with his mouth full. My parents are not in a great place financially, and spend way too much money on our kids during the holidays and they make bad financial choices in general. I am literally embarassed by my parents. I want to help them but when I say anything they shut me down. All my "holiday stress" is tied to my frustrating family. How do I deal with this?"

I answer all these questions on today's podcast. Listen, and get some advice for how to manage all of these challenging family situations with love, compassion, tolerance and strength. Do you have follow up questions for me? Or comments? Please share them on the blog!

All the best, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

www.growingself.com

P.S. Here's a link if you want to check out one of the resources discussed on today's show. Crucial Conversations; Tools For Talking When the Stakes Are High, by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler