New Years “Resolutions” - Do They Align with You?
Today, I discuss why I personally skip New Years “resolutions.” When we think about what's happening outside of the formal institutions where we learn, work, and play, treating the winter like a period of starting anew seems out of alignment with the natural environment and hibernation cycles, perhaps even ourselves. And if New Year's resolutions work for you, go for it! However, for many members of our Apply Yourself community, their goals didn’t just start in January. They've spent weeks, months, or even years working on their advancement and applications to their dream programs or jobs.

3 Strategies to Reframe Resolutions
Rather than setting new goals at the start of the year, I propose 3 strategies to remain productive and committed to ourselves while making incremental, thoughtful steps towards our advancement and our goals at any time of the year: 

1. Re-centering and re-aligning ourselves to what feels right for us - This means to come back to what’s most in alignment with your goals and the kind of life you want to build for yourself.
2. Committing to what’s in alignment with ourselves  - Once you identify what feels in alignment with you, commit. At any point in time, you need to set your goals with thoughtfulness and intentionality behind them in order for them to pan out as planned. We have to remain accountable to ourselves, take ourselves seriously, identify the tools we’re using that serve our productivity, and seek out support when needed. 
3. Remain consistent to build up the skills of focus and discipline  - Discipline is not a prison, but rather a tool that helps us to create, come back to where we left off, and show up for ourselves. Consistency helps you to build up these skills and work towards your goals.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
Ep 22: How To Achieve A Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
Ep 43: Reward, Punishment, And Productivity
Ep 44: “I’m No Quitter”: 5 Strategies To Reframe “Quitting”

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

The Journey
What do we mean when we talk about “the journey”? When we think about our own personal journeys, we often start at the place we want to end up - I want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, a dentist, a teacher, an engineer, you name it. But what happens when we reach that goal, the top of the mountain, and what’s on the other side? We don’t stop progressing or advancing. We have to go through our journeys presently, thoughtfully, and intentionally, while celebrating the steps we take along the way. 

Reconceptualizing the Journey
When you reach the top of one mountain, you’re at the bottom of another. In the journey, advancement never stops. We're always asking questions, growing, and thinking intentionally about our choices and next best steps. 

Here are some key takeaways from this episode:

• When you see someone else’s journey and think “Wow, they have it all figured out,” remember that the journey is never easy. 
• You have to ask yourself really important questions about the kind of life you want.
• The milestones, like walking across the stage at graduation or getting that promotion, only take up 1% of the journey. The other 99% of the time is spent working towards those goals. That 99%, what I call “The Slog,” is something we all experience.
• At any stage in life, realizing that you don’t have all the answers means you’ve given yourself more opportunity for growth. 
• Visualize yourself at the top of the mountain, at those moments of achievement and celebration, to help you determine your next best steps.
• Here at Apply Yourself, we celebrate your journey, accomplishments, and the moves and hard work that brought you there with you. 

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
Episode 2: Adrienne’s Professional Path
Episode 22:  How To Achieve A Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
Episode 36: Interview Stories: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly with Jonathan Mackenzie

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

“I’m No Quitter”
You may have said or heard someone say this before when in a really challenging situation: “I’m no quitter.” 

But what if I told you that the choice to stay may actually hinder or prevent your growth and advancement? Now, I don’t believe we shouldn't deal with challenges or hard situations. However, sometimes we have to make the conscious decision to stop doing something for our own benefit and wellbeing.

5 Strategies to Reframe Quitting 
You may have heard about my own journey in Episode 2.  Based on my own experience, sometimes the decision to stop doing something helps us to advance.  Instead of “quitting,” when we make the choice to stop participating in something with thought and intention, we’re doing a critical analysis of our lives, our decisions, and our next best steps.

• Ask yourself, “What kind of life do I want? Are my choices, big and small, bringing me closer to - or further away - from that life?” and make intentional choices that will lead you toward that life beyond your wildest dreams.
• Think about yourself and your life separately from what other people expect of you. Intentionality comes from within and your choices have to align with you.
• Think about whether your decision to stay is because what you’re doing is actually something you can experience growth in, rather than staying because of being afraid of the unknown
• Remember that you're always advancing and making  moves, big and small, so reflect on where you are right now and your next best step, and
• Know that your goals and trajectory change over time. We have to engage in continuous, intentional, critical thinking about the kind of life that we want. 

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
Episode 2: Adrienne’s Professional Path
Episode 3: 5 Struggles That Applicants Face And Strategies To Overcome Them (Pt 1)
Episode 4: 5 Struggles That Applicants Face And Strategies To Overcome Them (Pt 2) 

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

Productivity and the Principle of Doing Things We Enjoy
Today, I delve into the idea of reward and its impact on our productivity. You may have heard this before: I’m going to work an X amount of hours, then I’m going to do something I enjoy or a hobby of mine for X amount of hours as a reward.

I believe that we have to do things we enjoy simply because we enjoy them, not as a reward. This is actually a helpful tool for our own advancement and productivity. 

5 Strategies to Reframe Reward and Productivity
Here are 5 strategies to help reframe reward as a tool to enhance your productivity, informed by the philosophies I live by in both my personal and professional life: 

1. We shouldn't consider the things we enjoy to be a reward. At Apply Yourself, we’re all about healthy, sustainable, thoughtful, productive, and intentional advancement.
2. The amount of time we spend on a task can’t reliably measure productivity. (And neither can the number of pages you read per hour!) What if something takes longer than expected or something comes up? We may start to feel insecurity, discouraged, or disappointed in ourselves. Instead, let’s think constructively and intentionally about the time and energy we spend doing something. 
3. Reframe productivity as a process. Processes don’t always go smoothly, so let’s focus on making progress intentionally, thoughtfully, and so we don’t have to go back and redo the work. 
4. Reframe "reward" as “something you’re looking forward to.”  A reward is something that you will deny yourself if you don’t achieve X, while something you look forward to is something you’re going to do for yourself anyway. 
5. Reframe your mindset to one of “looking forward” rather than thinking about the things we enjoy as rewards for some quantifiable goal. Do things you enjoy regardless, thinking: “Because it’s good for me, and it will help me to be more productive, present, and have a positive mindset and energy while I’m working.”

Links:
Episode 39: Strategies To Boost Your Productivity In High-Stress Times

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

Meet Our Guest and Apply Yourself Community Member, Gabe Fezza
This week, we’re joined by our guest and Apply Yourself Community Member, Gabe Fezza! Gabe is completing his second undergraduate degree, Honours BSc in Global Health with a specialization in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. He is also a Research Assistant at the Cardiac E-Health Unit at the Toronto General Hospital and at the Global Strategy Lab at York University. Gabe is making amazing strides in his own work and as a member of our Community. 

Showcasing Yourself in Your Applications
Gabe shares his experience working together on his applications in our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission, and our VIP 1:1 program. Through our work together, Gabe learned to showcase himself in his medical and graduate school applications, and learned and implemented the structure and answers he needed for each of his applications.

Listen to this episode to learn more about:

• Our 5-Year Vision exercise and the ways it helped Gabe to solidify his narrative and showcase his repertoire of research, volunteer, and professional experience, 
• What it’s like to work on your CV, Resume, Autobiographical Sketch, Personal Statement, and other written materials in our signature program, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission,
• The importance of your written application materials - It’s not just about the scores - real people are reading your work, and your materials have to showcase you and the value of your experiences and growth that you contribute,  
• Our 100% non-competition policy and the strategies that helped Gabe to focus on himself and produce written materials he’s proud of, 
• Gabe’s experience as part of the Apply Yourself Community, including our weekly group coaching calls in both MAA and The Success Society, our advanced coaching membership. The Community aspect of our work is so important because our members learn from each other, support one another, and celebrate each other’s growth and advancement. 

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

Only One Program...Are You Sure?​

"I’m only applying to one school or one program." So many of our members proclaim this when we start working together. Today, I want to unpack that - why we are often so committed to only one school or one program? 

Why Do So Many Applicants Want to Apply to Only One Program or School?

There tend to be 3 main reasons that students and clients decide to apply to only one school or program, based on my work and experience since founding Apply Yourself in 2015: 

• We may feel a significant connection to one place. Maybe our friends or family went to that school, or we genuinely love a program and what it has to offer, or maybe it’s in the city that we want to be in. 
• It’s what a sibling or friend did. Many clients initially choose to apply to a school or program based on other people’s decision-making based on what was right for them (hint: it may not be right for you!).  
• There may be financial considerations that prevent us from thinking about more than one school or program. We may have to fund our applications ourselves, or we may have support from our parents, spouses, partners, or other loved ones during these processes. 

3 Reasons to Apply to More than One Program or School​

• To give yourself the choice and options in order to succeed in a given application cycle. Sometimes that involves some business strategy and doing a cost-benefit analysis.
• More than one program or school speaks to you, and is in alignment with your goals and values while leaving space for curiosity. It's so important to identify what your goals and values are to proceed with your next best steps in the application.
• Because it’s not just about the application, it’s about your life. The application is often the first step to the kind of life you want, the kind of job you want, the kind of professional you want to be, and how you want to provide for yourself and the people around you.

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

We are joined by Jessica (Lane) Bassmahon on this episode! Jessica is an internationally-renowned, award-winning operatic soprano with 15 years of instructional experience, and is currently pursuing her second Master's degree in Counselling Psychology. Full disclosure: I have also been a voice student of Jessica’s for over 10 years! 

Shifting Identities and Goals

In this episode, we explore how our winding journeys led us to where we are today. We draw parallels between the voice and identity, that our identities shift over time, our goals shift over time, and the importance of taking care of ourselves throughout our journeys (similar to a singer or performer taking care of their voice). Jessica describes her professional interest in person-centred therapy, which focuses on becoming self-actualized through exploring what you want in life, how to navigate through the world and space you’re in, what is meaningful behind these realizations, and much more.  

Jessica and I also explore how we support clients and students in the operatic industry and Apply Yourself, respectively, by helping people strategize their next best choices and/or steps that are fully in alignment with them. So much of Jessica's work and our work at Apply Yourself are in alignment, so join us in this episode to learn more! This episode is for you if you’re thinking about your goals, changes in your professional and personal identities, going through academic and professional transitions, and getting to know yourself in your advancement and self-actualization journeys.
 
Listen to learn: 

• Jessica's personal, academic, and professional journeys, and how voice shapes identity and shifts it over time, 
• That our voice encompasses who we are - in order for the voice to be in optimal shape, we need to take care of ourselves, our bodies, and our mental and physical well-being, 
• The identity shift Jessica experienced going from performer to psychotherapist,
• That it’s perfectly okay to love more than one thing and to do more than one thing - your experiences inform one another, 

Links:

Ep 13: Professional Applications with Peter Bass

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

It’s that time of year to focus on final exams, final assignments, applications, and finishing the semester.  I hear from students and colleagues, and have felt personally, periods of intense and unwavering stress. It's important to explore strategies to decompress and create some space for calm, unwinding, and the ability to centre ourselves during these intense times of stress. And remember:

• You are exactly where you need to be.
• Productivity takes focus, discipline, and assessing our changing circumstances and schedules. 
• Zoning out or detaching from reality can actually be detrimental to our mental health and productivity, so we have to be intentional about how we handle stress in the moment and over time. 

Strategies for Success During High-Stress Times 

Here are some strategies about how we can maintain our productivity and thrive in high-stress times healthily and intentionally - listen to the episode to learn more!

1. Intentionally engage in an activity that uses a different part of your brain. By intentionally using a different part of your brain, you are allowing your brain to rest, subconsciously process your learnings, and recharge for productivity. 
2. Become aware of the effects of e-notifications in our daily lives. Notifications from our technology disrupt and distract us from our work and priorities, and prevent us from focusing on ourselves. Be intentional about when and how you're using social media - taking a break and scrolling is not taking a break, but a form of distraction.  
3. Be conscious about the people you’re spending your time with. Be aware of who you allow, and who has the privilege, to be in your life, and whether they are good for you, support you, encourage you to grow, and vice versa.  

Links:

Ep 2: Adrienne’s Professional Path

Ep 8: Mastering Exam TIme with 4 Foundational Strategies

Ep 10: Unpacking Self-Care

Ep 26: Reflecting on “Vacation”

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

With Winter application deadlines fast approaching, my clients often ask me: “How do I showcase myself in my applications? 

In this week’s episode, I talk about what I’ve learned so far from holding our foundational Masterclass: “Showcasing Yourself  in Your Graduate & Professional School Applications.” Over the past few months, we had the privilege to connect with students from pre-med, pre-law, pre-vet, health, and so many more university student groups and organizations stretching from British Columbia to New Brunswick! (And if you're a student who attended one of our Masterclasses, shout out to you! It was such a joy to connect with you.)
 
Why Do We Hold Our Signature Masterclasses? 

In our Masterclasses, we provide foundational strategy to students showing them how to write compelling applications that showcase you. Students learn our Core Concepts, as well as a little more about my story and how it has informed the Apply Yourself non-competitive methodology. Students also have the opportunity to book a free 30-minute Strategy Call with me so they can get strategy, clarity, and confidence on their applications or other next best steps.

Want Support with Your Applications and Beyond? 

Listen to this episode if you want to learn more about our programs, including:

• The Student Advancement Spo
• Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission
• The Success Society

Want to Host a Masterclass with Dr. Adrienne Shnier?

Book a complimentary Masterclass for your student organization and connect with us at [email protected].

Links:

Episode 9: Applying to Graduate Schools with Anshikha

Episode 20: Mastering Academic Applications With Casey B. In Our Founder’s Cohort!

Episode 25: Applying to Grad School with Lavinia L.

Episode 33: The Relation

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫

This week’s episode is a replay! Here we cover some really important realizations as we go through our advancement journeys. I want to talk about 3 things: outgrowing, doing what makes you happy, and making the hard choices. In my life, in my experience, and in the work that I do with my clients and the people around me, these three factors often lead to the most growth and advancement when we exercise our abilities to identify and act on them. In our own advancement journeys, it is important to keep these three things in mind as we navigate through applications, programs, employment, professional development, and transition periods. 

Here are some key takeaways from this episode:

• First, the idea of outgrowing something often signifies that you are ready to grow, to build on your experience, and to try something new.
• Second, doing what makes you happy helps you to feel growth, like you are thriving, like you have hope and faith in what it is that you are doing, that you believe there is a reason that you are doing what you’re doing, and that your growth is not taken for granted by the people around you and even yourself. 
• Third, making the hard choices is often hard because we might be going against the grain, or going against somebody else’s expectations. We might be afraid of what someone else around us will think, someone who we care about and whose opinion we care about, and who may have placed certain expectations on us. 

Links:

Episode 4: 5 Struggles That Applicants Face And Strategies To Overcome Them (Part 2) —> https://applyyourselfglobal.com/ep-4/
Episode 6: Advancement And Your Growth Vs. Scarcity Mindset —> https://applyyourselfglobal.com/ep-6/

Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission is now open for you to complete your applications in 12-weeks! With live coaching, you develop your applications & gain insights into your applications processes like never before. Join us now using this link to enroll!

Connect with Adrienne!

Looking for support with your graduate or professional school applications? Connect with us at Apply Yourself Global™! Email me personally at [email protected]. You can also DM me on Instagram @applyyourselfglobal.

Ask the Expert

Have any questions on applications, success, test prep, and more? Send your questions us, or you can submit an audio file via Instagram DM and we can feature you on the podcast!

Work with Adrienne

💫 Calling all applicants! Learn more about our signature course, Mastering Academic Applications: From Scratch to Submission and how you can complete your applications — with clarity, support, structure, and strategy with Dr. Adrienne Shnier, an Admissions Committee Member. Book your Strategy Call HERE to learn more about how AYG can help you Get In.💫