Live Happy Now

If you’ve been feeling a bit more stressed or anxious lately, you aren’t alone. A new study by the American Psychological Association finds that this election is a “significant source of stress” for some 70% of Americans. The term Election Stress Disorder was coined in 2016 by psychologist and author Steven Stosny to describe the anxiety and distress people were feeling. Now, the intensity of the current election has led to even greater levels of stress, which are amplified by social media and concerns about the pandemic. This week’s guest is Erin Wiley, a clinical psychotherapist and executive director of The Willow Center in Toledo, Ohio. Erin’s here to explain how Election Stress Disorder affects us and how we can avoid it. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why regulating exposure to the news and social media is so important. How mindfulness can help during this time. Tips for preparing your mind for Election Day — and the days that follow.

In today’s busy world, it is often easy to overlook the value of those friendships. After a cancer diagnosis, lawyer-turned-life coach Shari Leid realized that she wanted her friends to know how much they meant to her. So she made a list of 50 women and sat down with each one, face to face, to tell them what they had done for her. Not only did it change her life and the lives of her friends, but it led to the book The 50/50 Friendship Flow: Life Lessons From and For My Girlfriends. This week, Shari joins us to talk about how this mission changed her life and how you can use the same process to deepen your own friendships and discover greater gratitude in your life. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why everyone in your life is either a student or a teacher. How deepening your friendships improves your happiness. Why creating your own Friendship Challenge is even more important during a time of COVID-19.

We make decisions every day, but how often do you really think about the process that goes into making those choices? This episode’s guest has built her life on making the right decisions: As a former professional poker player, Annie Duke who won more than $4 million in tournament poker before retiring in 2012. But she also studied cognitive psychology, is a bestselling author and a consultant on decision-making. Her new book, How to Decide, picks up where her last book, Thinking in Bets, left off. This week, Annie’s here to talk about how to find better outcomes by changing the way we make our decisions. In this episode, you’ll learn: What the Happiness Test is and how it can change the way you make decisions. How embracing uncertainty can make us more decisive. When to decide fast, when to decide slow and when to decide in advance.

We’ve all told little white lies, but have you thought about how honest you really are in your day to day life? When Judi Ketteler started thinking about it, she realized that maybe she wasn’t as honest as she thought. So she delved into the research on honesty and began looking at her own habits. The result of that work is her new book, Would I Lie to You? The Amazing Power of Being Honest in a World That Lies. This week, Judi’s here to talk about why we lie, how it affects our happiness and how we can all live our lives with more honesty. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why honesty affects our happiness. How consciously becoming more honest changes our lives. The importance of being honest in a dishonest world.

There’s no question that our world needs more kindness right now, which is why this week, we are talking to Houston Kraft, author of the new book Deep Kindness: A Revolutionary Guide for the Way We Think, Talk, and Act in Kindness. He’s here to talk about the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it. He’ll also tell us what new skills we need to acquire to better practice kindness and what we can do to turn our intentions into actions. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to practice “deep kindness”. 3 things that prevent us from practicing kindness. How to implement kindness as a daily practice.

Whether you’re an educator or a parent, the concept of positive education is something that can change your life … as well as the life of your student or child. In these times, it’s more important than ever to understand the role that well-being plays in the lives of students, teachers, administrators and parents. This week, Live Happy CEO and co-founder Deborah K. Heisz joins us to talk about the upcoming International Positive Education Network’s 2020 Well-being in Education Virtual Conference. This event is being offered entirely online for the first time and it’s also free for anyone who wants to attend. Tune in to learn more! In this episode, you’ll learn: What positive education is and why it matters. How to attend this free virtual event. What you can expect to learn.

Mindfulness is something that pretty much all of us have heard of and many of us want to practice it. But sometimes just the idea of learning how to be more mindful seems daunting. This episode’s guests are experts in mindfulness and they’re also good friends. That friendship and shared passion for mindfulness has resulted in the book, A Mindful Year: 365 Ways to Find Connection and the Sacred in Everyday Life. Join us as Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh and Dr. Seth Gillihan tell how this book came about – and how you can use it daily to start or reinforce your mindfulness practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: What practicing mindfulness can do for you. How to implement mindfulness every day. Why mindfulness is more important right now than ever.

All of us feel guilty from time to time, but if you’re having trouble letting go of guilt – well, you’re not alone. Guilt is a difficult emotion which is why Valorie Burton, founder of the Coaching and Positive Psychology Institute, is tackling it in her latest book, Let Go of the Guilt. This week, she  talks about why it’s so tough to manage and gives us new tools for getting rid of that pesky thing called guilt. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to identify real guilt vs. false guilt. How to let go of guilt and live a more fulfilling life. Why guilt seemingly affects more women than men and what to do about it.

A lot of us would like to learn how to calm the chaos around us right now, and it just so happens that this week’s guest literally wrote the book on that. Nicola Ries Taggart is a life strategist, author and speaker who helps people discover a more centered, conscious approach to everyday life. Two years ago, she wrote the book Calm the Chaos, a journal designed to help users align their outer presence with inner peace. She talks about how you can learn to calm the chaos … even in these rather chaotic times. In this episode, you’ll learn: What practices you can use to calm the chaos. How she discovered these practices and why they have been so important in the past year. Why journaling every day — even for just a few minutes — can change your life.

Sarah Blondin, an acclaimed author and podcast host known for her wellness work in various programs, dives into the concept of being heart-minded. She explains how to shift from living in your head to embracing your heart, aiding self-discovery and emotional connection. Topics like transforming anger into compassion in parenting showcase practical mindfulness techniques. Blondin also shares insights on the healing power of solitude and self-reflection, encouraging listeners to cultivate quiet moments for personal growth and resilience.