Do you ever feel like you are getting in your own way? Or at a stand still? This episode Sara teams up with life & achievement coach Craig Cassey to respond to a listener in need of strategies for overcoming self paralysis and progressing toward their goal in the face of fear. Sara and Craig share the five (plus) steps to take as soon we notice that we have gotten stuck!

Today’s episode is part of Sara’s “Things I’ve Come to Believe” segment. In this short show Sara shares a truth that has revealed itself in her own life that helps her attune to the miraculousness IRL. Today she shares her realization that there is no prize we can work toward that is more grand than the prize of life itself. Thus, we are already experiencing the grand prize!! Tune in to apply this radical truth to your own reality.

Today’s episode marks the start of Sara’s new segment on This Miraculous Life called “Things I’ve Come to Believe.” In this short show Sara will share some fundamental truth that has revealed itself in her own life that allows her to attune to the miraculousness of life IRL. Today she shares why we must all remember that we are not victims of life. We have agency.

Perseverance for deeply meaningful, long term goals is an essential life skill and essential component of thriving. We call it Grit. Today Sara is joined by Grit Expert: Caroline Adams Miller, author of Getting Grit and Goal Setting Professor at Wharton. Caroline helps Sara respond to a parent whose child is struggling with a disappointing setback. Caroline teaches how we can help our loved ones and ourselves become more gritty. Caroline clarifies that there is good grit and bad grit, and how we can know the difference! This episode helps us understand how to pursue our most meaningful goals with pure persistence and how to see when our motivation may be harmful.

There are no “right” words to discuss suicide, self harm, and mental illness/ struggle. But, not talking about it is not the answer. Rather, not talking about it is dangerous, damaging, and perpetuates a culture that stigmatizes mental struggle and therefore accidentally increases shame, while decreasing access to support and help for everyone who is struggling. Struggling with thoughts of self harm is neither rare nor is it shameful and wrong. In today’s episode Sara and her guest Louis Alloro: change-agent social entrepreneur and doctoral student in Positive Psychology, strive to start the conversation that we must all practice challenging ourselves to have.

How do you deal with a bully at school or work? How will you help your child who is facing a bully? How can you fully recover from a childhood experience of receiving or even initiating cruel behavior? In today’s episode a group at all life stages, including Sara’s nephews age 8 and 13, help respond to a teenager who is being badly bullied. Listen to learn how you can deal with a bully you can’t get rid of, how to extricate yourself from a toxic situation, and how to avoid becoming mean, bitter, or unhappy amidst poor treatment.

We spend a tremendous amount of time and resources trying to minimize and eliminate our anxiety - but is that even possible? What if living a life of bravery and growth naturally produces anxiousness? What then? While Sara believes in treating anxiety and examining its origins, she has also learned to celebrate and congratulate her own anxieties. Listen to find out why and how.

Sure, saying YES is sexier and more “positive” than saying NO. But mastering the skill of saying no is absolutely essential to living our best life. If we are not capable of giving clear and timely “no’s” then we will end up drained, overextended, and resentful. In this episode you will learn not only the benefit of saying no, but also 3 fail-proof ways to make sure that you never regret saying yes again!

Body weight is a focal point of our society to an extreme extent. So how can we continue to thrive when body weight is something that we are struggling with? In this episode Sara responds to a listener grappling with just that: “I am overweight, how to I keep from feeling worthless?” Joined by Andy Carton, who is a doctoral student in clinical psychology and has lost 103lbs himself, Sara unpacks this question. Tune in to learn their tips for how to thrive at any weight while still prioritizing health.

We all have negative thoughts and emotions - they are part of the human experience. This episode, Sara hears from someone who is dealing with a breakup and seeking release from rumination and negative emotions like regret and jealousy. Sara takes this opportunity to teach us a little known truth: that negative emotion is not the absence of positive emotion and that the two actually live on completely separate spectrums! This episode will change the way you perceive your most difficult thoughts and emotions and give you a framework for integrating them into a full, fulfilling life. It may even change the way you define happiness.