Pursue What Matters

A lot of different people will tell you a lot of different keys to success in life. The focus is very often on how to be successful. You may be encouraged to be disciplined, get an education, make your bed, and on and on. The how to success is no doubt very important. You and I need to work hard and do the things in our own lives that will make us successful. But this focus on how often leads you to taking on the world alone. Doing this leads to burnout and limits vision to what you alone can do in your days and weeks.  With today’s podcast, I have an equally important question for you. Who do you need to help you succeed?  This week I’m reviewing Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork, by Dan Sullivan. This excellent book makes the case for why the people around you are so vital to your success. It discusses how to share the load with others, so you can do your best work, and ultimately transcend anything you could’ve done alone. This is a fantastic book, I hope you’ll join me! Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/whonothow

For every military special operator in the field, they require six additional personnel to support their missions. These are the most highly trained individuals in the world, and yet they can’t succeed without the people around them. It’s the same for us! We cannot do our jobs, fulfill our roles, or live up to our potential without the people around us. Research has shown time and again that “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” There are specific types of people who will help drive you to success, and others who could hold you back from success. Today I’m going to share with you the five people you need in your corner in order to build success in love and work. Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/fivepeople  

This week I'm diving even deeper into the topic of stress. If you listened last week, you’ll know that I discussed how stress is not the problem. This week I’m looking into how stress shows up at work.  You've probably dealt with leaders in stressful situations before. How did they act? Maybe some got angry, upset, or blamed others. Perhaps you’ve seen other leaders get quiet or stop communicating altogether. There are a lot of different ways that we deal with stress at work, some of them effective and others less effective.  Join me on this podcast where we focus on the impact of stress on leadership and your teams. We’ll help you identify your stress signs, and talk about specific ways you can help yourself and those you work with cope with stress effectively. Show Notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/stressandleadership

Stress is a part of life, and it affects us all differently. Some people get quiet and reserved, some get loud, some get anxious, and others get angry. With a wide variety of possible reactions, it's vital that you as a leader understand how your people handle stress and how that affects their work.  Before you can understand the stress in others, it's important that you understand it in yourself. The way you handle your stressors, and your beliefs about them are key in determining whether that stress will be beneficial to you or not. In this episode, my focus is on helping you change your approach to your work so that stress is beneficial to you, and doesn't undermine your work or your happiness. This will help you, and give you the tools to help those you lead. Show Notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/nottheproblem

Are you ambitious? Or were you taught that ambition is a dirty word, something to be avoided? For a lot of us growing up, ambition has been something that was really encouraged in men, but not so much for women. Well I’m here to tell you that you need to embrace ambition, regardless of your gender.  Today’s episode is focused on embracing ambition, the messages that make that challenging, and how you can overcome beliefs that could hold you back. As you embrace ambition, you move forward on your path to purpose, and we benefit from your gifts. Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/ambition

This last year has been a firestorm of opinions. Whether it was right vs. left, mask vs. anti-mask, lockdown vs non-lockdown, or a whole host of other issues that polarized and divided us as a nation and even as a world. While this year has been especially polarized, it is not an outlier, polarization has increased dramatically over the previous decade. We are so divided on so many topics that it can feel nearly impossible to find common ground. Enter Adam Grant and his incredible new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know. If you've listened to the podcast you know that I am a HUGE Adam Grant fan. Grant's new book comes addressing the topic of thinking again, how to reassess what you "know" and see things from another's point of view. This book is exactly what we need right now. I hope you'll join me today as I review the incredible research and fun stories that Grant uses to illustrate how important it is for us to think again. Show notes and other resources available at:  www.drmelissasmith.com/thinkagain

I've been a psychologist for quite awhile, but I've never heard more about narcissism until lately. So what's the deal? Are there suddenly more narcissists? With today’s podcast I’m taking a deep dive into narcissism, because it turns out that not only is narcissism very common, but some aspects of narcissism are in all of us. Not only that, but some of those aspects of narcissism are actually very beneficial. I'll explore why narcissism is such a hot topic these days and how to channel the beneficial characteristics while avoiding the negative ones.  Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/narcissism

If you're like me, your mother always taught you to work hard and be competent. She taught you to understand how to do things, and to do them as well as you possibly could. You, like me, have probably done some good things in your life because of this competence. But did you know that being competent also has some curses?  Today I'm talking about three curses that can undermine the effectiveness of teams if not well managed. These curses are very real, and can lead to miscommunication, task failure, and ultimately burnout. By no means do I want you to become less competent, but I hope as you follow along today you'll see how to guard against these curses for the benefit of your teams.  Show notes and other resources available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/competent

This week I am excited to bring you a fantastic interview. It's been awhile since I've done one and I couldn't be more excited to bring them back. This week I'm excited to share with you a fantastic conversation I had with Sunny Lawrence, someone I’ve known and adored for a long time, and the wife of James Lawrence, the Iron Cowboy.  If you are familiar with adventure racing or endurance sports at all, you’ve no doubt heard of the Iron Cowboy and his remarkable accomplishments. Whether it’s 50 Ironman Races in 50 states in 50 consecutive days or the recent World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, James dreams big and shows up day after day.  Just as remarkable is Sunny and how she has balanced family life, her own big goals, and her partner’s dreams. We sit down to talk about what it means to have a partnership marriage--the good, the bad and the ugly. Sunny brings wit and wisdom as she discusses how they have prepared for James’ latest challenge - the Conquer 100- which they begin this week.  Learn more about Sunny and check out other great resources at: www.drmelissasmith.com/ironcowboy

We're nearly two months into 2021, but that doesn't mean that you and I aren't still feeling the effects of 2020. You may be feeling overwhelmed, filled with stress, or even completely burned out. This week I have the book that might just be what you need. This week I'm reviewing Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. This book is our answer to the stresses of the past year. This book will help you to enjoy wellness by taking action in your life. It will help you abandon myths of wellness so you can take the action necessary to move through life's challenges.  This book is more necessary than ever! Stress is a part of life, but it doesn't need to rule your life. Join me this week as I discuss how to put stress in its correct place. Show notes available at: www.drmelissasmith.com/burnout