This month we’re exploring Sanguine Element #7: Simplify and today we’ll be looking at how to overcome overwhelm.

Because feeling overwhelmed doesn’t just happen at the holidays! You could be feeling overwhelmed right now because your kids are getting ready to go back to school after the summer holiday [for those of you in the northern hemisphere], or the rainy dreary days of winter [for those in the southern hemisphere] are bringing you down and making you lethargic, or maybe you have a big work deadline coming up or too many events planned on your calendar.

With the demands of work, family, friends, and even self-care placed on us every day, it's easy to fall into a state of feeling overwhelmed.

So how do we overcome overwhelm and reduce the stress, creating a more easeful and happy life?

In this Sanguine Stories podcast, I’m sharing with you 5 ways to do just that.

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In our busy modern world, why is setting boundaries even more important? For our health, wellness, relationships, finances, work / life balance?

And how can we do that?

Why do we all too often say "yes" and how can we learn to say "no"?

It's time to put some effort in learning how to stand up for yourself, create firm boundaries to free yourself and improve your life by following a few easy steps...

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This month we’re exploring personal wellness, how to be well, to live well.

For most of human history, developing long-term success in life - be it physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial, spiritual - was a product of years of sacrifice and committed dedication – similar to Aesops' fable of the ant and the grasshopper.

Despite living in relative luxury, however, more people are reporting unhappiness and dissatisfaction than ever before.

With instant gratification available to anyone with an internet connection… discipline, discernment and delayed rewards have become collateral damage.

With all the rich resources online life has to offer, have we become a world of quick fixes? Or is there room for long-term investments that pay lifelong dividends?

Over on this episode of the Sanguine Stories podcast, I’m sharing with you some of the problems of the quick fix mentality as well as long-term solutions to improve your mind, body, and spirit and sustain a sanguine life.

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It’s summertime up in the Northern Hemisphere and that’s making me think of the many vacations I would take when I lived in California.

I remember when I would be flying home to California from Costa Rica and already on my laptop, booking my next vacation. I had lots of vacation days and travel miles so it was pretty easy to start dreaming about my next tropical vacation. Especially since I knew that upon arriving home, I would once again get knocked down with severe allergies. What kept me holding on [and sane] was the thought of my next vacation and being able to breathe freely again.

I know I’m not the only who feels this way. The vacation fantasy at least, hopefully not so much the miserable illness.

Dreaming about your next vacation can be fun. If you think about your tedious work schedules, the traffic, bills, noise, and overall stress why wouldn't you want – and dream about - a vacation?

But leading a happy, healthy and harmonious life is never about vacations or getaways, it is about being content amongst the chaos – to be sanguine in your everyday life.

I believe that happiness comes first from within, so over on the podcast, I’m sharing with you five ways to help you stop counting down the days until your next vacation and start living a life you love.

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This month we’re exploring the Sanguine Element Authenticity and today, I wanted to share with you some thoughts on one of my biggest pet peeves: the fake it until you make it mentality.

I am not an advocate of people who choose to “fake it until you make it”. In their personal lives or professionally.

It really goes against everything I believe in.

I believe in:

• It’s okay to not know everything. Be everything. Do everything.
• It’s okay to have weaknesses, flaws and imperfections.
• It’s okay to be vulnerable.
• You can’t learn just by “throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing if it sticks”. Especially if the actions you’re taking will affect someone else.A child, student, family member, friend, work associate.

On the podcast, I’m sharing with you:

• Why people choose to “fake it” instead of being their authentic selves
• Questions to ask yourself, to determine if you’re putting on a false face in different areas of your life
• And how you can choose to be real instead.

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This month, we’re exploring Sanguine Element #5: Authenticity.

I often say that living in Costa Rica is like being back in high school. The cliques, the gossiping, the mean girls.  There’s the guy who thinks he’s the big man on campus and there’s the girl who won’t acknowledge you even after several meetings.  And then there’s the incessant judging that goes on. And on. And on.

I just roll my eyes at all of it.

I’ve never been one that had to fit in.

But judging happens everywhere, and doesn’t stop just because we’ve entered adulthood.

Today on the podcast, I’m sharing with you my own stories of people who judge me for the craziest of reasons but also how I’ve chosen to react to them and the lessons we can learn about ourselves and others when we take a step back and realize, we are all on different places of the path.

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You know that feeling when you've found your groove, energy flows through you and time flies by?

It’s often accompanied by a sense of deep, concentrated focus.

For many, that is not so easy to come by.

What happens when your life is turned upside down and you feel like you can't function, much less be in the flow?

Last month we talked about being more grounded and stable but sometimes, life really can go awry and if you haven’t built up your resiliency muscle, it can really feel like life is falling apart, crumbling around you [I know, I’ve experienced that firsthand].

You may feel this way one day when, just simply, nothing goes right, or you may feel this way after a major loss like losing your job or worse, losing your general sense of direction in life.

As normal as it is to become unfocused and out of flow, it still is distressing and distracting. How do you regroup, find your "flow," "get your groove back," or "get in the zone"?

However you put it, here’s 3 ways on how to get in the flow when life becomes unfocused.

Read the transcript here

Sheryl Crow said it best:

"Every day is a winding road"

So if that is the case [and for most of us, it probably is], how do we manage the never-ending twists and turns, to find contentment amongst all the chaos? How do we show up and live our ONE beautiful life, even when it feels like it's crumbling down around us?

On the podcast today, I'm sharing with you 3 ways that can help you navigate those winding roads AND help make a positive difference in your everyday life... to support you in feeling more at ease when life goes awry.

Read the full transcript here.

My friends, welcome to Chapter 36 of Sanguine Stories. This month we’ll be exploring the concept of how to be resilient, Sanguine Element #4. And how appropriate since this week marks the 6 year anniversary of moving to Costa Rica.

Long before Beyonce made it popular, I've been signing off my emails to my community with Love and Lemonade.

Because... Living in Costa Rica has NOT been easy. It is not a picture-perfect paradise to live in, by any stretch of the imagination. To vacation in, yes. To live in, not so much.

Over the years, I have had many people tell me how impressed they are that I’m so “resilient”. And while I appreciate their sentiments, it can be tiring as well. The fact that I am always having to be resilient. Always having to pick myself back up, brush myself off and continue to move forward.

And it sometimes feels like it’s ALL THE TIME. Like I just can’t get a break. A friend here in Costa Rica often says (and I agree): siempre hay algo (there is always something…).

But I have learned to make lemonade. And to be love. Even amongst all the chaos.

Listen to today's episode and/or read the transcript here.

This month we’re exploring Sanguine Element #3: How to stay grounded.

As you probably well know, life is full of uncertainties.

Whether it comes in the form of professional concerns, like the persistent questions about promotion, success at certain tasks, or conflicts with co-workers or clients, or in the form of personal challenges, like struggles with finances, or troubles with illnesses and interpersonal family or friend conflicts, achieving a calm, fulfilling life can be challenging.

Doubt and uncertainty, unfortunately, plague many of us, throughout our life.

There are a variety of coping strategies, but one of the best ways in which to navigate through the uncertainty of life is to first acknowledge that such uncertainty will always play a central factor in most aspects of life.

Acknowledgment leads to less stress because it generally means you have a strategy for combating such uncertainty.

The strategy that I’m going to recommend – you guessed it – choose to be simply sanguine.

On this week's podcast, I'm sharing 4 sanguine strategies to help you better manage everyday life and be more grounded.

Read the transcript here.