About Progress

How is progressing going for you? Is it all over the place, back and forth, kind of a mess? GOOD. Progress is messy. All month long we are talking about what that looks like and how to deal with it. So what if you feel stuck, and need to know how to get out of a funk? The answer is simple - it's you! And this episode contains the tools you need to show up for yourself.Natalie Norton, retired photographer turned podcaster and life coach, holds little back as she reveals the depths of her grief and struggles. From a health crisis, to the death of her son and brother, then a failed adoption, she knows life gets messy. And as a result, she shares her personal insight into how to get out of a funk.Her tips range from personal hygiene to self-awareness, and include steps to achieving both. Yes, sometimes even getting in the shower takes motivation - and that's OK. Natalie also touches on how to know when you're in more than a funk, and where to go from there. But, the center of her message is the same and it really only takes you showing up for yourself.If you're afraid of getting your hands dirty, you're not alone, so here's permission to get messy. Stretch yourself, seek growth, get out of your funk and makes mistakes along the way. Give yourself compassion (Natalie talks about that, too!) as you move forward in whatever way that looks like for you.SHOW NOTES Natalie's Podcast, Instagram, and Facebook Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Get your first month+ FREE with Libsyn using code MONICA FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for being a part of the About Progress community! I have a small favor to ask of you. Would you take this 30-second survey so that I can better understand this audience's demographics? It means so much to me that you show up here and allow me to produce this meaningful work! xo MonicaHere's something you maybe didn't expect to hear around here: failure is not an option. No, really, we will all fail! But, you shouldn't let that be the reason not to TRY. In most cases, the worst thing that can happen is that a lesson is learned and you find yourself able to grow. The thing is, progress is messy, so let's just jump on in!In this episode I'm getting personal, sharing several stinging examples of failure in my own life. I challenge you to do the same - think of your own failures, and if you're like me it's not even that hard to come up with a few! Then get to work. I will teach you how to figure out what you can learn from failure.Does this sound scary? That's normal! Fear is fear no matter what, and our brains are wired to protect us (more on that in the episode!). I'm giving you 3 ways to push pass fear, so you can dig deep and grow into who you really want to be. One of them I learned back in January, here.SHOW NOTES Take this 30-second survey to help me get to know this audience better! Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Get your first month+ FREE with Libsyn using code MONICA The design duo I was inspired by at Alt Summit FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for being a part of the About Progress community! I have a small favor to ask of you. Would you take this 30-second survey so that I can better understand this audience's demographics? It means so much to me that you show up here and allow me to produce this meaningful work! xo MonicaIt's time to hear from this community! Each month I ask for audio submissions from YOU, the listeners. I invite you to share what you learned, how you've grown, or been inspired. I am sharing something I did this month that I hadn't done in 15 years, largely in part to my #onesmallthing challenge on Instagram and a goal I had on my Do Something List. These are all ways I want to connect with you, and help you progress as well.Tune in and listen to someone who did something scary (and lived to share about it!), a listener inspired by last month's "Dear Progressor" episode to work on all aspects of their well-being, a woman who found true happiness from within by thinking outside the box, and a fresh perspective on developing happiness.If you're looking for more from this inspiring community please join us on Instagram or in the private Facebook group!SHOW NOTES Take this 30-second survey to help me get to know this audience better! Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Get your first month+ FREE with Libsyn using code MONICA FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of us dominate our to-do lists every single day and find happiness in checking off one thing after another. But most of us flounder between lists that consume all our waking thoughts and not making them at all. What if we could learn how to make a better To-Do List?Let's be clear, your desire to stay organized or maintain priorities is not wrong. But there may be room for improvement in your approach. If the act of creating and/or completing any items on your To-Do List is crippling your ability to be present in your actual life then it's time to take a step back.Anne Cropper is here to help you find the middle-ground: To-Do Lists that are focused more on the most needful things AND reflective of what TRULY matters in your life. For YEARS, Anne was obsessed with her daily list-making. (She actually opened up here about some of her struggles over two years ago!) But this past year, she discovered that this was no longer serving her--in fact, it was causing her intense anxiety. Anne learned how to reframe her To-Dos to a more abundant mindset and is sharing the effect it had on her AND how you can do this yourself, regardless of where on the list-spectrum you land on.SHOW NOTES Anne's Website, Instagram, and Facebook Take this 30-second survey to help me get to know this audience better! Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Get your first month+ FREE with Libsyn using code MONICA Here's the free 5-Day Sleep Makeover to change your sleep habits! FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for being a part of the About Progress community! I have a small favor to ask of you. Would you take this 30-second survey so that I can better understand this audience's demographics? It means so much to me that you show up here and allow me to produce this meaningful work! xo MonicaThis month has been centered on something seemingly simple, yet seriously powerful: happiness. One of the biggest takeaways has been how to fulfill this need internally, rather than relying on external factors. If you are still struggling, consider reframing how to choose more happiness as owning your choices. That's right! You can choose happiness."I don't love my life, but I can't choose otherwise."Has that thought ever crossed your mind? Maybe it's your family, your career, your personal development, or something else entirely that you blame for your unhappiness. If so, you can learn to feel empowered by your choices (even the ones you've already made!). Sacrifice after sacrifice will not lead to happiness, but proper growth and prioritizing will.Psychotherapist, Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife joins us for her sixth (!!) interview to share how you can learn to choose more happiness and why it is so important. If you're new to her, make sure to check out the past interviews here! This episode covers almost everything, from the very extreme to the very specific - she even lets us in on one of her client's recent revelations during a counseling session. Ultimately we all have the agency to make choices, as well as the ability to find happiness within them.This episode comes full circle with much of what you have already learned this month about happiness, priorities, putting yourself first, and finding joy. Tune in for one more push in the direction of finding, and choosing, what really makes you happy.SHOW NOTES Jennifer's Website, Instagram, and Facebook Take this 30-second survey to help me get to know this audience better! Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Get your first month+ FREE with Libsyn using code MONICA FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stories are an amazing way that we, as humans, are able to find connection. Have you thought much about your own story? Or maybe this is easier, how do you see your past and present self? Answering these questions about your unique story will put you in charge of your happy ending.I'm opening up about MY story in hopes that you reflect on your own. The chapters of my life are full of ups and downs, like most of us I'm sure! But in this Growth Spurt episode I share how I allowed some really low points to ghost write my story and as a result, dictate my worth.Through a very specific experience over the last month I was able to focus on my role in my story to achieve happiness in a stressful spot. You see, it's easy to let what we know of ourselves based on our past just dictate our futures. BUT, it is far more worth it to acknowledge our past story and rewrite our future.And I just have to tell you, this is something that I value so much so that I teach it to even my very young children. One of the tools I love to use is journaling. Loom Journals offers a parent and child journal that has worked so well as a way to connect with my daughter. I have even started to prepare the journals my younger sons and I will use. If you know storytelling and journaling could benefit your family you can snag a Loom Journal with my exclusive discount code, ABOUTPROGRESS, through May17th.SHOW NOTES Get your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Register for Rediscover You Workshop FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you own your time...or is time owning you? If you have fallen victim to this all-too-common scenario then you need to know there is a better way and an important why. And if this isn't you, think again. Maybe your entire day is filled with what you think are good and worthy things but consider this: should any one thing really fill your entire day?It's time to get messy and get on the other side of being busy. You CAN do this by learning to manage your priorities (maybe start just by identifying what that means!) and making the most of your precious time. Through a more purposeful mindset this type of outlook will connect you to happiness and help you find joy.After leaving her law career behind, Shunta Grant threw herself into long days as a mom and dual business owner. She describes what it was like to busily fill every moment, and then what it was like to get those minutes back into her control. This includes the day she went into her online shop and deleted almost everything.Spoiler alert - Shunta is still all those things, but handling her busy life without ever using the word. She gives you permission to say no, period, (but also reveals the 3 women she'll always say yes to) and shares exactly how you'll feel on the other side of busy. The best part is that you can get started right away. So listen in and get excited, there are no secrets here, just real stories to reach you right where you need it most. SHOW NOTES Shunta's Website, Instagram, and Facebook Check out Shunta's Spring Forward Workshop and use code 'PROGRESS' for a discount! Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 17! Register for Rediscover You Workshop - last chance! FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take a moment, just in your mind, and think of your priorities. Include all the things to which you are regularly giving all of your time. I'm sure this list includes people, maybe some places, and likely some things. So, do you have your list?What number are you on that list?I get it, you have so much going on and you are the sun in your little universe (if you don't get that reference you need to listen here!). All those things on your list of priorities are good things! But you simply cannot continue to pour from an empty cup. And when you procrastinate your happiness you are hurting yourself and, as a result, those priorities.In this bite-sized episode, known as a 'Growth Spurt' around here, I am giving you permission to change your priorities. I hope you feel inspired to figure out what's holding you back and I may even have some helpful resources for you.If you think happiness is a destination, something that you can achieve enough of to last you a lifetime, I'm not sorry to say that you're wrong. Fortunately, happiness is something to continually develop and this month you're getting allll the resources and ideas to do exactly that.SHOW NOTES Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 10! Register for Rediscover You Workshop FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you listened to last week's episode you know that the theme this month is all about how to be happy. Easier said than done? Not around here. This week you will learn three things you can change to be happy. Without even knowing it, you are probably holding on to some lies you think are making you happy. And while the specifics may be personal, they likely fall into one of three categories.New York Times bestselling author Richard Eyre delves into those three categories in this episode: control, ownership, and independence. He also explains how to shift your mindset towards what REALLY makes you happy. The Harvard business grad, now happiness guru,  teaches what to look for and how to change your thinking.Richard has even written a book on this topic, titled "The Happiness Paradox." If you are struggling to understand the how's and why's of happiness then this is an amazing resource for you. Right now, the About Progress community can purchase this book HERE and receive half off, plus free shipping, with code MONICAFRIEND.After listening in you will be sure to have actionable takeaways for what you can change to be happy. As you take them to heart and make your own happiness progress, would you consider sharing them with all of us?? Your voice is so valuable, learn how you can be on the show!SHOW NOTES Richard's Website, Instagram, and Facebook Get "The Happiness Paradox" here for half off plus free shipping with code MONICAFRIEND Snag your Loom Journal at an exclusive discount with code ABOUTPROGRESS thru May 10! Register for Rediscover You Workshop FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience + be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Apply for the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (applicants taken monthly!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the one thing that unifies alllll of humanity? The desire to be HAPPY. And maybe also the overcomplicated routes we take to find how to be happy. So let's spend some time this month figuring it out together. Remember to tune in each week to learn more on this important topic.Why are we struggling so much with happiness? Perhaps we don't know what it really looks like and we are searching for it in the wrong places. In fact, last year thousands of you tuned in to these episodes on happiness and joy. Because of that this whole month will be spent diving deeper into a topic that is nothing new, but still matters so much.This month's intro. episode shares more about April's theme and walks you through what happiness actually looks like for you. It also gets a little bit personal, sharing the two CRAZY things that happened to me one year ago. So if you're feeling like happiness is out of reach, you are not alone and we can change that for you.After you tune in, stay accountable! You can get this month's Progress Plan and other FREE printables here! These are simple worksheets you can print out or complete from your phone. And this community would love to hear how this goes for you this month. If you didn't already know, the last episode of each month consists of listener submissions (listen to last month's here!) that you can just record on your phone and send in to hello@aboutprogress.com.SHOW NOTES FREE Printables, including this month’s Progress Plan Lend your voice and experience +be featured on the show HERE Join the free and private FB group Join the Progress Program: SMALL-group GROWTH coaching for women (you can apply now to reserve your slot for May!) Join Monica on Facebook and Instagram Songs Credit: “Drive,” “Changes,” and “Golden Alley” by Nicolai Heidlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices