Change Academy

It's an Extracurricular episode! We'll be back to our regular episodes soon but for now...Join Monica Reinagel (and Brock Armstrong) for the 30-Day Nutrition Upgrade on Jan 3, 2021. More info at https://nutritionovereasy.com/30-day-nutrition-upgrade/ Spoiler: if you listen to this very short episode you will get a special discount code! Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

When designing your life, you can choose to lean into your superpowers and do more of the things that you're really good at or you can choose to address your weak spots and focus on building up those things that you're not naturally good at. You'll hear people arguing both sides of this coin. Let's explore what makes the most sense and how this fits into our work in creating our ideal selves.Key Takeaways:Conquering the things we struggle with can be very rewarding but not everything is worth the time and effort.Sometimes it makes sense to outsource things that we don’t get value or fulfillment from doing ourselves.Give yourself permission to not excel at everything! There’s nothing wrong with you just because other people can do certain things better than you.Focusing on our strengths can allow us to achieve more (in a limited arena) than we can if we’re trying to be good at everything.Lab Experiment:Step 1: Identify an area of weakness...where you feel like you lack skill, talent, or affinityStep 2: Consider how/whether strengthening this weakness could move you closer to your goals or your ideal self. What’s the minimum level of competence/comfort/mastery you would need to achieve and what would it take to achieve that?Step 3: Consider the costs of addressing the weakness (opportunity costs of time not spent in strengths?) What (if anything) could you put into place to compensate for your lack of ability in this area.Step 4: Make a conscious decision whether to address this weakness or allow it. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

Sometimes, our desire to change is rooted in the belief that we are not good enough--and that we need to fix whatever’s wrong with us in order to be happy or fulfilled. But rather than being motivating, this can actually be a very limiting belief that makes it more difficult to create positive change. In this episode, we’re going to explore the idea that we are good enough… even if there are things that we want to change. Key takeaways: When we are always striving to become good enough, we live our lives from a place or not being good enough - or being broken, needing to be fixed.When we make peace with the fact that we aren’t perfect, but we are good enough, it liberates us to devote our lives to simply getting better.Making peace with our imperfections does not mean that we stop trying to better ourselves, it just means that we don’t have to delay contentment for that elusive day when we finally reach our goal. Lab Experiment: Take some time to reflect and consider how the limiting belief ‘I’m not good enough’ affects your own life. To help guide your thinking, ask yourself these questions:In what ways and what areas do you recognize this belief in your own life? How does this belief manifest in different areas of your life?How has your life been affected by believing this? What results have you achieved or missed out on?Think about the past events where you learned to believe that you were ‘not good enough’ and consider how you could re-interpret these events now?If you make the decision to choose to accept the fact that who you are as an individual is fundamentally ‘good enough’ then how might you change or modify your expectations of the future? (do you think you might start that business, plan that investment, ask that person out for coffee?) Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

The key to solving any problem is first understanding what the problem truly is. In this episode of the Change Academy podcast we define the three types of problems that crop up and teach you how to identify which one you’ve got. Then once you recognize what type of problem you’re dealing with, your chances of solving it go way up. Takeaways: If you’re not sure what needs to happen in order to solve the problem or create the result you want, you have a what problem.If you know what needs to happen but you don’t know how to make that happen, you have a how problem.If you know what needs to happen and how to make it happen but you find yourself not taking action, you have a why problem.Why problems cannot be solved with what or how solutions.Lab Experiment: Identify a place in your life where you are stuck or not making progress.Step 1: Can you write down in a sentence or two exactly what needs to happen or change in order to achieve the goal or solve this problem? If not, focus your energy on identifying the best approach. If yes, proceed to Step 2.Step 2: Can you write down the concrete actions you need to take next? If not, focus your energy on identifying what your next steps are (which might be researching, planning, or taking some small action.). If yes, proceed to Step 3Step 3: Can you write down 5 detailed and compelling reasons that you want to do this now? If not, spend some time digging for your why (or maybe your why not)? Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode of the Change Academy podcast, Mitch Harb joins us to talk about his “easy wins” approach to creating sustainable behaviour change.Mitch is a personal trainer and nutrition coach. He is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is the co-owner (with Zach Smith) of Hidef Seattle, a fitness studio and physical therapy practice that offers both in-person and virtual training and coaching. Take Aways: Small interventions can also be big wins. And those interventions don't all have to be "one hundreds" they just can't be "zeros."Often, process-oriented successes (like being consistent) can be more effective than goal-oriented successes.Figuring out how an individual goal supports or reflects your larger life priorities can be a powerful motivator.Keeping momentum is easier than starting up again and again.Lab Experiment: Choose one area of your life that you’d like to make a change in (eating habits, sleep, exercise, or any other area).Spend this week collecting some data on your current habits and patterns.  For example, keep track of what time you’re going to bed, getting up, and how rested you feel each day.Notice what happens when you break from your normal patterns. Do you feel better or worse? For example, does running after work or on a trail feel easier or harder than running around the neighbourhood before breakfast?Use the information you’ve gathered in Step 1 and 2 to identify an easy win that you can incorporate into your daily routine.  For example, adding one extra serving of vegetables into your meals every day. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

Some habits are just habits. We do them because they take us down the road of least resistance. But some habits give us pleasure, and we often think of those habits as being more like an addiction - something that is going to take willpower and determination to break. But what if we told you that you can break a highly rewarding habit without resorting to a monastic lifestyle? That is what we are going to cover in this episode. Key Takeaways: Breaking any habitual behaviour can be challenging but when that habitual behaviour is highly rewarding, it can be even more difficult.Sometimes things that were once rewarding become less rewarding (or more costly) over time--but they’ve become habitual.Replacing a rewarding (but costly) habit with a different rewarding activity can make it easier to break a habitWe can create a more rewarding life by choosing our habits (and our rewards) more intentionally.Lab Experiment: Make a list of activities that you find rewarding or that give you pleasure. Make it as comprehensive as you can.Review your list and put an X next to anything where the cost (in time, money, energy, or health) is greater than the reward you get--or even just more than you want to pay.Review your list again and put a checkmark next to those things that would make your life better if you did them more often.How can you use this information to create positive change?NB: For more detailed instructions, listen to the audio. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

Being easily distracted can be a bad habit and also a barrier to change. But we can also use distraction as a way to break bad habits or ingrained behaviours. The trick is being more intentional about when, why, and how you choose to distract yourself. Takeaways: Distraction is when we allow an unplanned intrusion or diversion to pull us off focus or task. Redirection is when we consciously choose to redirect our attention.Distraction (unintentional) can cause harm in two ways 1) keep us from doing what we need to be doing and 2) may cause us to engage in behaviors or activities that aren’t serving us.Redirection (intentional) is 1) making a conscious decision that you would benefit from refocusing you attention on something else, and 2) choosing the alternative focus/activity thoughtfullyIntentionality is the key.Lab Experiment: Next time you find yourself in the grips of an unhelpful thought or emotion (such as anxiety, worry, stage-fright) try the mental flashlight technique:Step 1 - use your other senses (not your monkey mind) to identify (or shine your mental flashlight) on something you see, hear, smell, or generally are “aware of.” Step 2 - Simply say the words (out loud or in your head) “I am aware of ____” without attachment or judgement. Just simply be aware. Step 3 - Repeat: Become aware of something else around you (not inside you). Use as many different senses as you can to list all the things you are aware of. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we explore how and why we often talk ourselves out of making the changes we want to make - and give you some tools that will allow you to push through that self-sabotage.There’s an odd but very common phenomenon where we identify a change we’d like to make in our lives, we get excited about it (we may even take a step or two toward making it) but then, we abandon the effort before we’ve really even tried long enough to succeed (or fail!). Resources mentioned: Workplace Hero podcast episode: Work Expands (or contracts) to the Time Allowed Key Takeaways: Your brain is wired to seek familiarity, comfort, and efficiency. Change is by definition unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and inefficient.Talking you out of change--by convincing you that change isn’t possible or that now is not a good time--is your lower brains’ attempt to keep you safe.Often these thoughts are operating below the surface or your conscious awareness.By tuning into these thoughts with your higher brain, you can decide whether or not they are actually serving you. Lab Experiment: How are you talking yourself out of making a change? Identify the reason or excuse your brain has come up with and write it down as an "Unhelpful Thought."Then use the following questions to assess the validity of this thought:Is there substantial evidence for or against my thought?Am I trying to interpret this situation without all the evidence?What would a friend think about this situation if I consulted them?If I talk myself out of change, how will I feel a year from now? How about five years from now?Now, see if you can rewrite your unhelpful thought in a more balanced, rational, and helpful way. With practice, this can become a very effective tool for thought management in all realms of life. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

People seem to love these short-term challenges where you give up sugar for a week, do 25 push-ups every day for a month, or give up alcohol for SoberOctober. While these can be fun, and an interesting challenge, do they ever actually result in permanent change? In this episode, we will give you a recipe to make the most of them.Resources mentioned: The 30-Day Nutrition Upgrade Key Takeaways: Habits aren’t made or broken because we did something (or avoided doing something) through willpower alone, for a set amount of time.Doing short term challenges can actually delay the process of making more meaningful changes.If you want to use a short-term challenge as a springboard for longer-term change, make sure you’re not just counting down the days, but using that time to gain a better understanding of the role that a particular behaviour plays in your life.Be sure to think past the end of the challenge: what happens at the end? What do you want to carry forward into the future?Lab Experiment: When you find yourself considering joining in the latest 7 day, 21 day, or month-long fad, take some time to ask yourself some questions:Why is this attractive to me? What do I hope to learn from this temporary challenge?What plan can I put in place to ensure I don’t just return to my previous behaviour as soon as it is done? Am I using this as a delay or distraction from the deeper changes that I know I want to make? (see episode 6: the hidden cost of unmet goals)Thinking carefully about these questions before you embark on a short-term challenge can make it about more just a temporary exercise in willpower. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

Sometimes we get excited about an idea, we follow through on a goal, and are very successful at it. But while everything should be peaches and cream, we realize that this isn't the happy reality we thought it would be. Or maybe our feelings and values have simply changed. That is when we are faced with the problem of "what do we do next?"In this episode, we ask our guest, Naomi Rotstein, why she decided to leave her successful career as a competitive body-builder and how she went about redefining her new objective and, ultimately, created a freer and more satisfying life. Key Takeaways: Keep an eye out for warning signs that what you have achieved isn’t healthy or sustainable.Using your willpower can be addictive… not in a good way.Even if you have a history of being a bit of a control freak, you can learn to relax and shake that all-or-nothing mentality.You can change the values of your goals to make them more sustainable, without abandoning them altogether.Sometimes we can’t see what’s next until we clear away what is here.Lab Experiment: Take a look at your current goals and consider whether they are truly allowing you to live your best life. If this goal is no longer what you want, stop pursuing it.Think about your perfect life or your ideal day, what would you want to be doing?What are three steps you could take that would bring you closer to your ideal life?Which one of those steps could you take this week? Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★