self help podcast

7 Ways to Worry Less

June 29, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

Is worry robbing you of living? Are you putting more energy into worry thoughts than you want to, leaving you less energy for where you want to spend your thoughts (and your life)?

Most people do. Worry is an aimless attempt to locate threats and mitigate them. Why aimless? Because worry can shift from topic to topic, issue to issue, person to person, without action or direction.

In the last Thriveology Podcast episode, I noted 6 truths about worrying. This was to provide a background understanding for taking action. Action to reduce your worry. Which, as promised, is the topic of this episode.

I cover 7 strategies that will help you reduce your worry (and wasted worry energy) and let you make a mental shift to more helpful thoughts.

If you worry, this episode is for you. If you worry that you worry too much, this episode is definitely for you! Tune in to learn how to reduce your worries — and deal with worries as they pop up.

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5 Strategies for Better Sleep

June 15, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

How are you sleeping? If you are like the majority of Americans, at least one night a week, not well! And if you are like over 1/3rd of workers, you are not getting the recommended minimum of sleep. Which is why more than 40% of people use some over-the-counter product to get to sleep (which does not include the number of people using a prescribed product for sleep).

Research is pretty consistent: adults need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours of nightly sleep in order to be healthy. More than 9 can indicate a problem. And less than 7 can lead to health problems like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and even diabetes. It also has a psychological toll.

But if you are struggling with getting sleep, none of what I just wrote comes as a surprise… which is why you are trying to get the rest you need.

In this week’s Thriveology Podcast, I discuss 5 strategies for betting better sleep. Most are simple, but all are important, if you struggle to get the rest you need. Listen below.

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Finding Moments of Calm in Times of Chaos

May 11, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

What a chaotic time we are in! Even without a pandemic, it was already chaotic, what with politics and changes in society. Stir in a pandemic, and there is NO way to be calm.

Right?

Or maybe….

Maybe calm is not about what is happening around you, outside of you. Perhaps it comes from somewhere within you. Somewhere that knows you are separate from the external chaos.

Our internal response to a chaotic world can be chaos… or we might be able to find calm. Especially if we can separate our thoughts from the events and emotions. If we can find a space between what is happening and how we respond. A space that is rooted in peace.

On this episode of the Thriveology Podcast, I have a chance to speak with David Dachinger and Tamara Green. David is a firefighter and a Grammy nominated music composer (quite the contrast there!). And Tamara is an author and licensed therapist.

When David was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer (there IS no stage 5), his world shifted chaos from fighting fires to fighting cancer. He and Tamara realized that they needed to rally their resources to help in David’s health and healing. That included meditation and mindfulness. The resources they developed are now helping others to find calm in the midst of chaos.

Not a bad goal in today’s world, is it?

Listen below to hear their story and their method of bringing calm to the world through an app.

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Thinking Through The Pandemic

May 4, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

I was at a book signing a while back, signing a book of mine that is a few years old. This person picked it up, looked at the publication date, put it down, and said, “I was looking for something more recent.”

That had me pondering… how long is information valid? Sure, I would not likely want to read a computer book about the Windows 98 operating system, or about the coming “Y2K crisis.” But what about transformational information? When does that lose value?

Human brains have not changed in structure for millenia. Which is why we still garner insight and understanding from books written millenia ago. Ancient thoughts and texts still illuminate us these days.

Which brings me to my guest this week on the Thriveology Podcast. I asked Donald Robertson to talk with me about some pretty old thoughts. No, Donald is not millenia old. But the philosophy he espouses and teaches is. Donald is a modern Stoic philosopher, drawing on ancient Stoicism and what it offers to us in our current world.

And in our current pandemic situation, Stoic thought has LOTS to teach us. In fact, Stoic thought is the underlying philosophy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the cornerstone of modern mental health counseling.

Donald discusses the relevance of Stoic philosophy in today’s world, and how we can apply it to the pandemic in which we find ourselves. Listen in as Donald Robertson gives some powerful help in dealing with our thoughts and our emotions in the midst of today’s (and future) struggles.

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Challenge Makes Us Grow

April 27, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

When I was a kid, I hit this point when I was growing fast. So fast that my limbs hurt, I constantly tripped, and knocked everthing over as my hand got there before I expected. Growth was a challenge.

Generally, though, it works the other way. When we are challenged (and take it on), we grow. A child wants to crawl, then walk, then run. But wanting to is not the same as being able to. Crawling ends up being a bellyflop. Walking leads to teetering bottom-bumps. And running… well, that just leads to face-plants. But so far, I have never seen a child give up and say, “Well, I just can’t do that. I guess I’m not meant to crawl/walk/run.” The child just tries again.

Challenge is something we can rise to, expand into. And when we do, challenge is the impetus for growth.

In this episode of the Thriveology Podcast, I talk with Steve Sims. At the age of 15, Steve finished his schooling in England, and stepped right into what seemed to be his destiny: masonry. Just like his father, his grandfather, his uncles, and his cousins. In an instant of inspiration, Steve looked at his family and realized this was not his destiny. As he told me, it was not that he was better than his family, but that he thought there was something better for him.

That set him on a search for his own destiny, a way to see the world and meet people with different viewpoints and lifestyles. This twisted path has led to now. Through taking on challenges and growing through them.

Listen in as Steve and I discuss his life, his challenges, and the success of taking on those challenges.

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The Fear/Anxiety Contagion

April 6, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

It’s highly contagious. You can catch it from a single interaction with one person. You can catch it much faster in a crowd. You can pass it on to someone else in an instant.

You can also catch it from just reading, watching, or listening to something.

In 39 milliseconds, you have it… and you didn’t even see it coming!

Coronavirus? Nope. That is certainly serious, and you absolutely want to do everything you can to avoid catching or spreading it. I do not want to minimize the risks of this pandemic.

But that is not the contagion I am focusing on here.

This contagion is fear and anxiety. Yes, you can catch fear. Yes, you can catch anxiety. And you can also spread them.

Humans have a natural wiring (we share it with the animals at the watering hole… and all the others) to pick up on fear and anxiety.

Many times, people have said, “Should I panic over this?” The “this” has been lots of different things. And my answer is always, “Panic is never a better option. Should you respond? Should you choose an action? Yes. Panic? No.”

That is easier said than done. But on this episode of the Thriveology Podcast, I share why fear/anxiety is contagious, along with how to limit the infection. Listen below.

RELATED RESOURCES
Dealing with Fear
Attacking Anxiety
Self-Care
Order, Disorder, Reorder
Lee’s Thrive Books

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Thriving in an Age of Panic

March 16, 2020 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

When I recorded this episode of the Thriveology Podcast, it was almost another world. Many people were still minimizing the novel coronavirus. Even politicians were downplaying the severity and impact.

So much has changed. Many, if not most, schools are closed to face-to-face instruction. Many workers are working from home, where possible. Lots of restaurants are only serving by delivery or take-out. New guidelines suggest not being around more than 10 people… and that number may go down.

The world has changed, almost overnight.

It affects us all… making this episode just as important, if not more so.

We are going to have to define what it means to thrive. That is what happens when it feels like every day is an attempt to survive.

Here is the good news: humanity will prevail. We can thrive. Life WILL go on. But it will never be the same. Things will change. How we used to do things will disappear, but new ways will appear.

I know these are scary times. But we will get through this. Together.

That’s what we do.

Lisen to the episode below.

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Comfort and Joy: Deepening the Holidays

December 23, 2019 by Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Leave a Comment

In the hustle and bustle, people lose sight of the Holidays. Sure, we go through the motions, show up to the events, and try to put on our holiday joy. But many times, internally, its a flat-line. Nothing. Nada.

Or worse… stressful.

Over the years, I have given a number of presentations about this, with title, “Merry Stress-ness and Happy Blue Year.” Stressed out and depressed.

That’s not a great way to spend the Holidays!

It misses something… deeper. More significant. Something that nurtures the soul and feeds the heart.

How do you deepen the Holidays for yourself (and for those close to you)? We discuss it in this episode of the Thriveology Podcast.

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