01: Harnessing Your Inner Voice for Fundraising Success with Dr. Ethan Kross

Do you hear negative, nagging, bullying voices in your head? Are they telling you you’re a bad leader or fundraiser? That you’ll never raise what you need to grow your organization? In this week’s episode, I talk to Dr. Ethan Kross, psychologist, neuroscientist, professor, and the author of Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters and How to Harness It.

There is so much chatter that inhibits action, like negative thoughts and limiting beliefs about perfectionism, scarcity or what someone will think if we ‘ask them for money’. Tune in as Dr. Kross explains a few of the tools from his book to help reduce toxic mental chatter and how we can apply them as leaders and fundraisers in the nonprofit world to move more money into our organization and the sector as a whole.

Episode highlights:

(02:28) - Dr. Ethan Kross and all the work that went into his amazing book: Chatter

(04:27)- Why turning your attention inward can help us solve problems or make us miserable. 

(06:32) - What does “chatter” refer to? The amazing things our inner voice allows us to do and the negative dark side of it.

(10:39) - One of Chatter’s tools: Distance self-talk, using your name and the second person pronoun to coach yourself through a problem.

(16:44) - Why single quick fixes don’t exist!: How to mix and match different tools to find healing.

(24:03) - Cultivating the witness: Distancing yourself and the ability to step back to approach the problem with more objectivity. 

(27:40) - Stop zooming into negativity: How the nonprofit fundraising space can benefit from changing the narrative.

(33:04) - How to find resources hidden in plain sight for your unique chatter triggers.

(40:34) - Minimize the toxic effects of chatter: Why negative emotions aren’t something we want to avoid completely. 

(47:49) - Shout out to Dr. Kross’s favorite nonprofit: Angela Duckworth’s The Character Lab.

If you’re wanting to implement ideas you heard, visit MalloryErickson.com/Podcast for the top tips and tools, full transcripts, quotes, videos, and additional resources from each episode.