The Working Mom's Balance Podcast with Tracy Kulwicki

We are all experiencing a number of challenging circumstances these days which are taking their toll on our mental health and well-being. In this episode, I discuss the differences between optimism and pessimism and how we can learn optimism to decrease our risk of depression. Negative and destructive thoughts can have a powerful impact on our experience in life. Learn some strategies to replace your negative thoughts with thoughts that will help you live a happier, more successful life.

Links and Resources from this episode:

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E. Seligman, PhD

Philippians 4:8 

More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Well, we are one week into 2021 and it has already been quite a year. In this episode, I share some personal thoughts and stories on the importance of my faith and how it brings meaning and purpose to my life. I also describe how the events at the U.S. Capitol building this week have fueled me to take a more active stand in living out my purpose. To thrive in our lives, it won't be easy, but research tells us the discomfort will be worth it. Listen in to learn how you can use the anger, fear, and frustration you feel during these difficult times to fuel you into taking action to make the world a better place.

Links and resources from this episode:

Episode 11: Goal Setting When the Future is Uncertain

To learn more about the Enneagram, this book is a great resource.

Images from the January 6th Capitol Riot

More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Happy New Year, friends!

If 2020 taught us anything it was that change is inevitable and we need to hold our plans loosely because we never know what might be around the corner. This can make goal setting particularly difficult. There are still a lot of challenges and uncertainties as we enter 2021 and it can be hard to plan goals for the year when there is so much that we just don’t know about what 2021 will look like. In this episode, I share a process that can help us make progress toward our goals for living our dream life even in the midst of a pandemic and all the instability that our current reality has left us with.

Links and Resources from this Episode: 

Quarterly Goal Setting Workbook on WorkingMomsBalance.com

More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

This year has had both light and darkness. We hold the tension of experiencing good right along with the bad that has happened. In the story of Christmas, Jesus comes to bring light in the midst of the world's darkness. This episode provides some thoughts and reflections to remind us of God's goodness and hope that is available to us no matter the circumstances we are facing. Merry Christmas!

Links and Resources from this Episode:

Isaiah 9: 1-7 NLT

Join the Working Mom’s Balance Email Club to get a free Life Clarity workbook and stay up to date on the latest content.

More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

This episode begins with the reading of Psalm 42, a Psalm where the writer expresses his grief and disappointment about not being able to walk among the crowds of worshipers. Maybe we can relate. In the year 2020, crowds of worshipers are a bad idea. There are disappointments, we feel weary and discouraged this Christmas. Many of our traditions have been canceled or changed. We long for how it used to be. There is hope that the pandemic will eventually end and we will be able to return to normal, but right now, we wait. This is the story of Advent. The people knew the Messiah would come, but they anxiously waited and hoped and longed for what could be. As we find ourselves waiting, let us remember that God is with us. God continues to pour out unfailing love upon us and give us life, even in a pandemic. 

Links and resources from this episode: 

Psalm 42 NLT

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by David Brown, Andrew Robert Fausset, and Robert Jamieson

Summarized Bible: Complete of the Old Testament by Keith Brooks

Join the Working Mom’s Balance Email Club to get a free Life Clarity workbook and stay up to date on the latest content.

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

For the next few weeks, I will be sharing some thoughts and reflections on the Christmas story to help prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. Christmas feels strange this year. Things won't be like we are used to and I'm struggling to get into the Christmas spirit. In this episode, I reflect on how God partners with God's created people to do the work of restoring God's Kingdom on Earth. We are invited to speed God's return by working with God to repair our broken and hurting world. As we move closer to Christmas, may we notice the opportunities to express and expand the Kingdom, right where we are.

Links and Resources from this episode:

Matthew 2 (the story of Jesus' family's escape to Egypt)

BEMA Podcast Episode 192: Telling a Story

2 Peter 3:11

Join the Working Mom’s Balance Email Club to get a free Life Clarity workbook and stay up to date on the latest content.

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Working moms are busy people with full schedules. We are always on the lookout for ways to develop systems and routines to help us become more efficient, figure out how to increase our focus and motivation while decreasing our distractions and tendency to procrastinate, and learn new time management strategies. Before we work on these solutions it is important to address a couple of important aspects related to our time first. You have the power to fill your time with whatever you desire. The purpose is not just to be busy for the sake of being busy or even for the sake of experiencing and accomplishing more and more. Life isn't about experience, it is about meaning. The question we must ask ourselves is how can we use the time we have to make our lives more meaningful. 

Links and resources from this episode:

Laura Vanderkam's book - 168 Hours: You have more time than you think

More details on my experience running every day can be found in Episode 5 of this Podcast and in this YouTube video where I share my running story.

Join the Working Mom’s Balance Email Club to get a free Life Clarity workbook and stay up to date on the latest content.

More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Next week may be Thanksgiving in the United States, but gratitude is something that we should practice on a regular basis to increase our happiness, decrease our risk of depression, and improve our overall well-being. Gratitude is one of the most effective practices for enhancing life satisfaction. In this episode, learn more about the benefits of gratitude, what gratitude actually is, and a few practices that you can do to help deepen your experience of gratitude in your life.

Links and resources from this episode:

Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert Emmons

2 Corinthians 9:8-13 NLT

In episode 1 I talked about how a gratitude journal rewires your brain to notice the good.

In episode 2 we talked about pillars of meaning and how the stories we tell about ourselves can affect our meaning in life.

This sermon talks more about the Practices Not Performances Mantra.

Join the Working Mom’s Balance Email Club to get a free Life Clarity workbook and stay up to date on the latest content.

More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

On the day this episode airs, I will go out for a run for the 2,000 consecutive day. My run streak has helped me learn a lot about how to find motivation and become more self-disciplined. In this episode, I talk about how I made it to 2,000 days and what I do to set myself up for success. I share the 3 things that scientists who study motivation tell us we need to develop intrinsic motivation to do the things we need to do. 

Links and resources from this episode:

Streak Runners International List of all Active Run Streaks

In this video, I share the full story of how I became a runner and offer tips on how to increase your well-being through a thing called PERMA

This blog post shares all kinds of details from my first year of streak running.

Enacting Rituals to Improve Self-Control (Research Study)

The Puzzle of Motivation (TED Talk by Dan Pink)

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Take my free 7 day Goal Crushing Challenge

Emotions are a part of life. Some people avoid and bury their emotions while others get stuck and ruminate on their emotions. Neither approach is healthy and productive. In this episode, we learn what emotions actually are, the importance of allowing ourselves to experience all emotions, and we discover how to manage our emotional experience in order to be resilient and thrive.

Links and Resources from this episode: 

Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David

How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett

More ideas to help you flourish can be found at WorkingMomsBalance.com

Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki