Two buzzwords have come into play over conversations around mental health and wellness lately: toxic positivity and toxic negativity. They are both traps to fall into!

There is a practice in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism called Mindfulness of Feelings, and it may not be exactly what you think it is. This isn’t talking about emotions. It’s pointing to how we take in information through our experiences in sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind.

I want to take a moment to talk a little bit about how to celebrate Pride month as an ally, what not to do, and share some resources to shed a little more light on the month as a whole.

I wanted to take a moment to address this open letter of recommendation to all of you as we enter Pride Month. As an ally and stark supporter of the LGBTQIA+ population, I want to share some helpful resources to make you a better support for diversity and inclusion in your world.

Being conscious and aware is the key to having the ability to feel what you are feeling and then being able to distinguish those feelings and experiences.

Feeling like your brain is running on fumes? Mental exhaustion, often brought on by chronic stress and busyness, can leave us feeling foggy, unmotivated, and struggling to cope…

Leaders everywhere and of all levels struggle with the concept of Imposter Syndrome. You’ve gotten to this place, in your career, your life, your goals, your art and you feel like… it was a mistake. Who trusted you with this? How could you possibly have gotten here? What happens when they find out you don’t belong, don’t deserve it, or…?

In the dynamic landscape of leadership, where uncertainty is a constant companion and challenges lurk around every corner, mental toughness emerges as a defining trait separating effective leaders from the rest.

Self-sabotage or the inner saboteur is the inner voice you have whose sole purpose is to disempower you and stop you from living your best life. It often arises as a maladaptive coping mechanism in response to stress or from lived experiences.

In a study done by Wharton’s Sigal Barsade, employees who felt they worked in a loving, caring culture reported higher levels of satisfaction and teamwork. Units with higher levels of companionate love had lower levels of absenteeism and employee burnout.

As we quickly draw closer to ending another year, the allure of changes, new goals, new habits, and more start to occur. However, that can quickly become overwhelming if you aren’t prepared to reflect on your previous year and have set strategies for setting goals for the new one.

You might think that it doesn't really matter what causes the stress, you just want relief from the stress, but that is only a short-term solution. So what is the long-term solution to help you navigate and cope with stress that is fully constructed by your own thoughts?

It is not about appreciating what the person did: a report done perfectly, a deadline hit, a sales goal surpassed.  It is about the behavior/characteristics/quality that they are that had them do the thing. It is not about what they did, it is about how they behaved that got them to the result. 

While it's tempting to try and hold onto everything in order to ensure quality and completeness, this tends to lead to a vicious cycle of stress, wasted time, and burnout. For organizations, this can be costly. For you, it can be devastating. In coaching, lack of delegation or hesitation to delegate is one of the core themes that we see holding leaders back from becoming more effective, impactful, and productive.

Self-care isn't a luxury for leaders; it's a necessity. These statistics underscore the real impact of self-care on leadership effectiveness and overall well-being.