Self-Coaching

In this episode my daughter Lauren and I discuss selfishness. You might be surprised to find out that not all selfishness is selfish, in fact, when it comes to being more effective, empathetic, and caring, taking care of yourself and your own needs is a prerequisite for genuine compassion and relatedness. But first, from a Self-Coaching perspective, we need to stop calling it selfish and find a “healthier” description of selfishness. Join us as we explore self-care, self-love, and self-respect.

In this episode, Lauren and I discuss the many ways we inadvertently trip ourselves up psychologically in our day to day lives. Learn to become the person you want to be—not the person driven by habits of defensiveness or insecurity. Whether it’s feeling guilty, hostile, fearful, or plagued with incessant worry or self-doubt, we offer some Self-Coaching insights along with strategies to live a more happy, productive life.

In this episode Lauren and I explore a very human tendency to procrastinate in an attempt to side-step life’s difficult demands. Although procrastination is a part of everyone’s life, a habit of procrastination can have a crippling impact on your overall effectiveness. Although closely related, we also make the important distinction between procrastination and laziness?

If you’re looking to be more productive and aligned with your aims and goals, then this episode can offer Self-Coaching insights and suggestions for finding your “trigger”—the moment where you overcome procrastination’s resistance and realize your intentions.

In this episode of Self-Coaching, Lauren and I discuss a very difficult topic that eventually affects everyone of us—grief and grieving. We were joined by Julie Balay, a registered dietitian/nutritionist and board-certified sports dietitian, who specializes in eating disorders, sports nutrition, and weight management.

 

Her greatest gift has been being a mom to her two sons, Ryder, 15, and Chase, who died from a rare brain tumor almost four years ago. Chase would have been 14 this week.

 

Although we all have a tendency to side-step issues of death and dying, there is a need, in spite of our psyche’s inability to comprehend the death of a loved one, to somehow make sense of our loss. Julie tells us her story, her struggle, and most importantly her ongoing efforts to reclaim a sense of meaning, passion, and purpose to her life.

Do you grumble or cringe every time you’re faced with a need to change some aspect of your life? If so, Lauren and I discuss a Self-Coaching approach, not only on how to overcome your resistance to change, but how to foster a more resilient, adaptive attitude.

Change, after all, is an inevitable part of life. For some of us change can be the root of much stress, anxiety, and fear. Why? Basically, it’s all about the devil you know vs. the devil you don’t. We’re comfortable with what we’ve learned to handle, whereas change presents a disruption to our status quo. And for someone with a low level of self-trust, this simply feels too risky. The more secure and self-trusting a person is, the more capable they are of yielding to life’s ongoing demands to change.

In this episode Lauren and I discuss the ‘negativity bias,’ an inherited human trait that causes us to put more weight on life’s negatives than on life’s positives. A genetic predisposition, such as the negativity bias, is NOT a life sentence, it’s only “tendency toward” clinging—Velcro-like—to negatives. We discuss various, straightforward, Self-Coaching ways to neutralize the negativity bias and replace it with an empowered capacity for positivity.

 

Although the negativity bias has an evolutionary survival basis, it's important to differentiate a helpful negativity bias from neurotic negativity. The former is driven by potentially harmful life circumstances, the latter by fictions of insecurity. This episode will teach you to differentiate between the two--paving the way for more positive and empowered living.

In this episode Lauren and I explore the value of psychological maturity when dealing with life’s challenges. We define psychological maturity as a willingness to handle life directly with courageous self-confidence; whereas psychological immaturity is a reflexive, neurotic way of side-stepping life’s challenges.

But not all immaturity is destructive or neurotic. for a mature adult, there can be a “healthy” form immaturity that we call your “inner child” who is capable of allowing for an experience of joy, spontaneity, and frivolity.  Contrast this with immature adults whose inner child is used, not for adding spice to one’s life, but to manipulate, avoid, or control others.

In this episode, Lauren and I address a rather common problem—saying yes when you mean to say no. The dynamic lies in insecurity. When you sell out on yourself and yield to someone else’s wish you feel safe knowing they will be pleased with you. If, however, you say no, the outcome is less certain. They may get annoyed or angry with you.

It’s not a terrible problem, but as we discuss in this episode, your time is valuable and pleasing others at your expense is wasting your valuable time. We’ll tell you how to stand up for yourself and reframe that knee-jerk, “yes,” into a more honest, “I’d rather not.”  The simple act of creating and maintaining healthy boundaries can empower you to live a life of integrity and personal liberation.

With the close of this difficult and tragic year, it's time to change our perspective as we look toward 2021 with the prospects of reclaiming our normal lives once again.

In this episode my daughter and I discuss the perennial practice of making New Year’s resolutions. If you’d like some Self-Coaching advice on how to make--and keep--this year’s 2021 New Year’s resolutions, you need to listen to this episode.

Lauren and I would like to wish all our listeners a most happy, healthy New Year, imbued with renewed optimism and belief of better times ahead.

As we enter the holiday season this year, we are faced with many new and unique challenges brought on by this pandemic. No longer, for example, can family gatherings be the norm as we ask ourselves who may be spreading the virus. It’s especially difficult for those who have lost loved ones or jobs to even contemplate a holiday season that’s supposed to be joyous when everything seems so bleak. Although the prospects of 2021 are brighter because of the vaccines that are being rolled out, we nevertheless are still left with the question, how do we celebrate? Or, perhaps for many, do we celebrate?

In this episode, my daughter Lauren and I explore the challenges of the holidays, suggesting insights and creative options for not allowing Covid to victimize us or our holidays.