RealPositiveGirl - Weekly Encouragement & Mental Health

We can choose when we want to be happy. We don't have to leave it up to someone else to decide. We are the only ones in charge of making this decision. But if you are having trouble making that decision, I have some ideas for you on how to get happy really quickly!

Show Notes:

• Life can be really hard, right? It can be tough, but despite what you’re going through, it’s important to recognize that there are so many things to be grateful for & blessings that abound in our lives. But something else to remember is that our happiness is in our control. We get to decide if we are happy or not. It’s just that plain & simple.
• A lot of times we will blame our lack of happiness on someone else because it’s easier & we don’t understand that we need to own our emotions. I mean, we can decide to not own of emotions, but it doesn’t make them any less ours or our responsibility.
• But I think it’s so great that we are in charge of how we feel because it means we are in control. We get to decide how we feel & how we go about our life. We don’t have to deal with getting that directive from anyone else or even believe someone when they try to convince us we need them to be happy or content or fulfilled. That’s just a bunch of lies.
• So today I wanted to share with you some quick ways you can achieve happiness all on your own, if you’re feeling down & need ideas on a pick-me-up:
• 1. Give Someone Else A Compliment. Showing kindness to others can really help us show kindness to ourselves & product happiness.
• 2. Call A Friend & Chat. You know, talk on the telephone. Haha!
• 3. Listen to an Encouraging or Funny Podcast.
• 4. Find Some Really Good Music to Listen to. Even if it's 90's Pop or the soundtrack to Hamilton!
• 5. Clean Up A Space Around You. They say the spaces around you are a representation of your mind.
• 6. Pet an Animal or Look at Pictures of Cute Animals. This tip will never let you down.
• 7. Put Together a Puzzle/Build With Legos/Color in a Coloring Book.
• 8. Live More In the Moment. Stop worrying so much about what happened in the past & what's going to happen in the future. It's not worth the greif.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

We spend so much time obsessing over the negative experiences in our lives, which leads us to forget to celebrate our wins & how well we are growing & learning to become our best selves. Let's chat about some things in our lives that mean we are growing & becoming even more awesome!

Show Notes:

• We go through so many things in life & tend to focus really hard on the negative things that have happened because it’s so easy to nitpick what isn’t going well. But I believe that we need to really boost up & celebrate what is going good & the improvements we are making in our life.
• This is a mindset that I have started practicing more & more because only thinking about the hard things has really brought my mood down most of the time. It’s great to spend time thinking about what difficult experiences we have been through & figure out what we can learn from those things, but it can be overwhelming to do this all the time, without balancing out celebrating & being happy about the good things & the habits & situations that are getting better in our lives. We need to have that balance.
• And sometimes we get all caught up in thinking we can’t celebrate ourselves because it’s not right or it could be seen as bragging or we weren’t taught that we could be proud of ourselves, but we need to. I’m here to tell you that we can’t wait for someone else to celebrate us or until we get permission from someone else. We need to just do it when we need to do it. We need to stop focusing on all these made-up rules & thinking we need other people to ok our decisions. Especially when it comes to how we feel about ourselves.
• So let’s chat about some things in our lives that can show us our lives are getting better & we are becoming our best selves:
• 1. You’re less critical of yourself & others.
• 2. You ask for what you want.
• 3. You’ve improved your listening skills. Listen to understand, not respond.
• 4. You don’t get caught up in drama as easily.
• 5. You don’t hold grudges & forgive easier.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

I have 4 helpful tips to improve the relationships in your life.  And this is for romantic ones, friendships, family, work people, all the different relationships.  These tips will help minimize confusion & improve communication!

Show Notes:

• I thought it would be fun to throw in some relationship advice because I love talking about relationships. Relationships are such a good thing to talk about because these involve a ton of communication. And we tend to value the relationships in our life more than most things, so doing what we can to take care of them is super important.
• Today I want to talk about 4 quick tips that will help with some confusion that can come along in relationships. And these don’t just have to be romantic relationships, it can be family, friends, work peeps, whomever.
• 1. Don’t Make Assumptions, But Instead Ask Questions.
• Assumptions are bad news because just making stuff up because of random information you pull together does not make truth. And there also is no way you can know everything about every situation, no matter how close you are. It’s important to ask questions, be patient & kind when asking for more details & lean on trust, if that exists in the relationship.
• 2. Don’t Jump to Conclusions.
• Again, you need to take a step back & not assume you know what’s going on based on the little amount of information you know. Jumping to conclusions isn’t going to help anything. You are going to come across real aggressive & not at all helpful or understanding. You need to take a moment to compose your thoughts, then give the other person a chance to explain, answer questions, whatever needs to be done for you to understand the situation before you respond.
• 3. Don’t Criticize, but Instead Offer Constructive Criticism.
• This just doesn’t help anything, at all. If you need to tell someone something that would benefit them, do it in a constructive way. Do it in a way that will help them understand your concern. And before you try to impose your opinion on them, ask if they would like to hear it as a suggestion, not the ultimate solution.
• 4. Keep Communication Open, No Matter What.
• Even if you’re in a fight, even if you have differing opinions, even if you don’t quite understand how to get your feelings across, be open with communication. Allow yourself to still talk to the other person & keep communication available & open to get through hard & difficult to discuss situations. Don’t let yourself be all closed-up just because you’re hurt or offended. Communication is the key to a healthy relationship.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

It can be so easy to take on more responsibilities than you should because you lack boundaries to say 'no' or you want to be seen as that person that can do it all. But that's the mindset that will hurt you in the long run & cause burnout & resentment.

Show Notes:

• I used to be that person that would stay busy on purpose because I needed the distraction in my life. I needed to not think about what I was feeling about this & that negative experience & any family drama that was going on, some disappointments I was dealing with & the lack of fulfillment I was having in my current jobs.
• And even in that state of putting so much on myself on purpose, I still did it anyway because it was a coping mechanism.
• Is having a busy schedule & taking a lot on your plate a coping mechanism for you, too?
• It’s a common strategy because you literally leave yourself no time to deal with whatever else is happening in your life. But eventually, you will have to deal with it. My suggestion would be to deal with it sooner than later.
• But back on point talking about taking on too much. Are you taking on too much just for the sake of needing to be there for everyone else besides yourself? Are you saying ‘yes’ to everything because you want to please others or feel bad because you know no one else is going to step up like you would? Or do you suffer from being too proud to ask for help or really see how overbooked you are?
• When you take on too much, you can easily fall down the road of burning yourself out really quickly & even building up resentment for people around you that don’t at least offer to help with whatever you’re doing, even if you don’t want it. It’s this catch-22 kind of thing where you wanna look good doing all these things and want people to offer their help, but not actually take it.
• And I know you want to have that pride that you can do it all & be the best. I know because I’ve been there, but it’s not worth it. And it’s not necessary to put your entire worth on whether or not you can multitask like a boss. Or the need to identify as a super mom or dad or person. Your self-worth should come inside of who you know & believe you are, not the output you receive from the world.
• And today I wanted to chat about some ways for you to realize you are probably taking on too much & need to take a step back to reevaluate your overwhelming responsibilities:
• You aren’t doing everything as well as you used to.
• More people are coming out of the woodwork with things for you to do.
• You end up backing out of things or canceling commitments.
• You’re not making time to take care of yourself.
• You start to resent what you’ve committed to.
• Other people are telling you you’re taking on too much.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

I have been full of stress lately, dealing with work & a ton of other life things. But I decided I wanted to hear from YOU all online on what you think would be best for handling stress. Let's talk about YOUR suggestions!

Show Notes:

• I have been super duper stressed lately with my day job. If you didn’t know, I work at our family business, an ecommerce agency. And I specifically manage ads for brands that sell on Amazon. And it has been so super busy & overwhelming lately.
• And when stress comes along in my life, I typically have trouble not allowing it to affect everything else in my life. So this work stress isn’t just staying at work, it is slithering into my personal life & causing me to think about more than I should.
• But I thought I would share with you some real life, in the moment stuff that I have been going through, in case you are experiencing something similar. And I wanted to give my real time reactions, because I honestly have never experienced this much stress in a work environment that didn’t have anything to do with drama. Past jobs had stressed me out because of the people I was working with or the management style. Right now it’s just the workload & desire to do our best for our clients in this moment that is contributing to my stress.
• I also think it has something to do with me not knowing the best way for me, personally, to handle my stress. I have done previous episodes on how to handle stress, which was helpful for many of you & me, too, but I wanted more options.
• So I decided to ask for some opinions on social media & I’m going to share those suggestions with you today! I am also going to share some ideas I have tested out over the past week that I believe are working really well for me, personally.
• Here are the suggestions I got from social media friends:
• Journaling.
• Meditation.
• Walking.
• Listening to fun dance music.
• Here are some of the things that have worked for me lately:
• Playing video games.
• Taking a bath.
• Napping.
• Shopping.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

Communicating assertively, rather than being aggressive & not taking other's opinions & needs into consideration, is the best way to honor your needs, be respectful of others & have good experiences communicating with others without being selfish.

Show Notes:

• I recently had a discussion with my therapist about how my view of aggressive communication isn’t as aggressive as I thought. And I think the reason I thought it was aggressive is because people made me believe it was. And this could of been for many reasons, like intimidation, jealousy or just desiring to put you down, it doesn’t really matter why, but just the fact that it happened.
• So it was nice for me to realize I was just being the assertive person I had always wanted to be. But then I wanted to understand more about how I can be the best assertive communicator I could be and not drift into aggressiveness too much or at all, if I could help it. This means I would need to understand the differences between both.
• But let’s start with assertive communication first. Being assertive is about being up front with what you want, while also still considering what the other people want. I see it as being respectful to everyone all the way around.
• But it’s important to know that your needs & feelings & wants are just as important as anyone else’s & that’s a fact! You can’t let someone that might be upset with you deciding to be assertive make you feel responsible for them being upset about that, either. There are going to be people that aren’t going to be happy with you honoring yourself & being assertive because it means they can’t take advantage of you or make you look bad by pushing you to be aggressive about your needs.
• But it’s so important to be assertive, to ask for what you want & to expect it. There is no reason you shouldn’t have the ability to have or ask for something someone else has. You may not get it, but this shouldn’t stop you from asking & believing.
• Now, about aggressive communication. Aggressive communication is expressing your emotions & opinion & needs in a way that violates other people’s needs. This will include domineering, condescending & sarcastic behavior. Aggressive communication can be exhausting & overwhelming to others experiencing it from a receivers side. And this type of communication can be seen as a leadership or commanding quality, but it’s not ideal. 
• So let’s chat about how to be assertive, rather than aggressive in our communication to others.
• Choose to compromise rather than make a decision that only benefits you.
• Take turns listening & speaking with others rather than speaking over them.
• Try to make things as fair as possible between you & others, rather than only looking out for yourself.
• Express your opinion clearly & confidently, as opposed to yelling, aggression, threats or violence.
•  Be up front about your needs rather than expect others to guess or know what you need.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
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Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
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Not all mental abuse is just yelling & name-calling. It can be much more manipulative than that to obtain the control the abuser needs to meet their needs & desires. Let's chat about some examples of mental abuse, in case you or someone you know is going through this without even realizing it.

Show Notes:

• Mental & emotional abuse is the one of the easiest ways for someone to abuse you without you even really knowing. It’s the easy manipulation & coercion & mindset shifts that can be done while under the guise of doing what is best for you. Which is all crap, but it’s what happens.
• This is a lot of what I grew up dealing with in regards to my father. He was the master manipulator, which meant I also became a good manipulator. Monkey see, monkey do. But his treatment of me was the source of a ton of my pain.
• But my main point in today’s episode is to put out a ton of examples of what mental & emotional abuse can look like, within & outside of relationships, but this is a whole lot easier for the abuser when it’s a seemingly good relationship. And the importance of knowing what mental abuse can look like is having the ability to identify it when it’s happening to you or someone else. Because it’s more than just screaming & yelling at someone & trying to put them down with insults. It can look so helpful & acceptable to someone that is experiencing it when it’s really not.
• Let’s start with a brief idea of what mental abuse is: abuse that involves wanting to control how the other person thinks & acts with behaviors that deliberately scares, isolates, shames, or shifts you into the mindset that is desired by the abuser.
• On a basic level, abusers want to tell you who you are & how they know what is best for you. And in this mindset, they want to make sure to destroy any self-worth you have because you can't have any feelings of worth for them to mold you into who they want you to be. They also don’t want you to be happy with who you are because being content is not the ideal outcome.
• Let’s run through several different examples to be aware & knowledgeable of:
• Invalidating your emotions. Making it seem like how you feel doesn’t matter.
• Making you feel responsible for their emotions.
• Using you to benefit them only.
• Blame you for things that aren’t your fault.
• Extreme dismissiveness. Both in tone & body language such as eye-rolling, sighing & smirking to demean. 
• Gas lighting. Making you believe something that isn’t true or that makes you think you’re crazy.
• Forcefully breaking down your boundaries & making you do things you don’t want to do.
• Withhold love & affection to control your behavior.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

When we start to put ourselves first, we need to also do that with our mental health. We need to take the time to be honest & vulnerable with ourselves, by being truthful with how we are doing & what we need to change to become our best selves.

Show Notes:

• You need to put yourself first & take care of yourself, which includes being on top of your mental health.
• But I think a lot of the time we put our mental health on the back burner because other things seem more important. Or other people seem more important. Or we just can’t fathom taking the time to really assess how we are because we know it’s not good.
• And it’s the toughest when you know you are doing well & you need to check yourself & be real. Being real, even with yourself isn’t an easy task. Because no one will know whether you are or not. And you can fake many emotions. Or put on a mask & just pretend you are fine. Super easy. But this behavior isn’t going to help you become your best self. You won’t even really know who you are if you continue with this type of behavior.
• So taking the time to evaluate how you are doing by asking yourself some in-depth questions can really help you get an idea of what you should work on. As long as you are truthful with yourself. And doing this weekly is a really good start to checking in with yourself. 
• Here are some questions to ask yourself to check in on your mental health:
• 1. What’s taking up most of your headspace right now?
• 2. Have you been having trouble with sleep?
• 3. What are you grateful for right now?
• 4. What is something you can do in the next 2 days that would be good for you?
• 5. Do you have anything to forgive yourself for?
• 6. Are you spending time with people that are good for you?

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]

Body positivity was never a platform I stood very firm on, but it's something I have decided to adopt this year because I want to grow my self-esteem & be a good role model for my kiddo.

Show Notes:

• I’ve never been that person that was all about body positivity. I have never been that person to flaunt what I got & be proud of what I look like, especially when I had gained weight or when I initially went through discovering I had an autoimmune disease. And for sure wasn’t that person on social media talking about it in the least, until this year.
• This year, 2021, is the year I decided I need to jump on this train because I have FINALLY come to peace with my body. I decided to love it.
• And I’m sure I’m not alone in having took forever to come to this realization. There are tons of people out there that struggle with accepting their bodies & loving the skin they are in, so I know I’m not alone. 
• But it is an important mindset to have because it’s only you that can love your body enough & in the right way. You can have all the love, care, appreciation & worship of your body from some many other people, but that’s not going to matter as much as your love & your appreciation & your true acceptance of what you look & feel like.
• And some of the reasons why I decided to adopt this mentality will also be a few of the reasons I share with you today of why you should love your body. But one that isn’t in that list that has caused me to make this decision is because I want to be a good role model for my daughter. I want my daughter to look at her body & love it & know it’s acceptable, no matter what size it is. And we have balanced this by talking about making sure we are doing what is best for us to be healthy, but also knowing our bodies will change over time & we need to flex & grow with those changes, as well.
• There are no perfect bodies. Even the ones with the least amount of body fat & million pack abs. Because even those bodies still cost you something else. The more you focus on trying to shape your body into the most perfect thing, the things you are giving up to hyper focus on that.
• Let’s chat about some reasons we should love our bodies more:
• 1. It’s yours & it’s unique.
• 2. Your life won’t change that much if your body is different.
• 3. Someone else would kill for your body.
• 4. Life is short & you should live in the moment.
• 5. It keeps you alive.
• 6. Your body shouldn’t limit your mind.

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Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
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Being defensive is something I know we have all experienced, but some of us struggle with it more than we realize. Defensiveness will cause issues in relationships & stunt your personal growth, so we should do our best to overcome. Let's chat about it today!

Show Notes:

• We all have had those moments where we are real defensive & want to push back on what someone is trying to project onto us or claiming that we are or did & it’s never fun.
• And if you aren’t sure what defensive behavior would be, it can look like you quickly getting upset & offended by something someone said to you or about it, if it’s second hand, or you quickly denied what was being said without giving it any thought or different perspective or even trying to deflect & want to throw that person’s problems back in their face, you are defensive.
• Being defensive is likely a symptom of being insecure & not believing you are good enough. And this doesn’t mean you are a bad person, but it does mean you will get in your own way a lot & cause friction with some of your relationships. 
• If you are unable to receive criticism, even if it’s constructive, without feeling like you’re being attacked, how are you going to be able to grow & evaluate your actions from a different perspective to see if it was wrong or not the best it could be? It’s not going to happen very often if you at least listen. And if you aren’t able to take responsibility for your actions because you often try to blame someone else because you’re defensive & don’t want to be cast in a negative light, it’s going to get old real quick.
• And having more open communication within relationships is the best way to keep those healthy & stable. But you can’t do that by not even entertaining the idea that you could be in the wrong.
• Something else to consider is that you could be defensive if you are already highly critical of yourself & aren’t allowing yourself to fail & make mistakes gracefully. There is no such thing as perfection. You are going to have missteps & you need to accept that truth. I say it all the time, mistakes & failures are some of the best learning opportunities. So shifting the blame to someone else isn’t going to serve you well or make you look good.
• Let’s chat about how we can work on being less defensive:
• 1. Recognize you being defensive.
• 2. See criticism as feedback you can use to better yourself or see yourself from someone else’s perspective.
• 3. Don’t interrupt when being told something unsavory & practice active listening.
• 4. Don’t criticize the other person instead.
• 5. Take a break from the situation.

Thank you again for listening & I hope this episode was helpful.

Come visit me on my Instagram page @sabrinajoyperozzo to say hi or on Clubhouse @sabrinajperozzo to chat!

Visit www.sabrinajoy.com for more content & blog posts!

Have any questions, comments or feedback?  Send me an email at [email protected]!

See you for the next episode!

Support the show

Watch the Video Version of RPG: https://www.youtube.com/@realpositivegirl/podcasts
Buy the Planner on AMAZON!: https://amzn.to/3WwthT2
Visit me on Instagram or TikTok: @sabrinajoyperozzo
Email Me: [email protected]