We are gonna look at some of the basic chemical processes in the brain designed to create the sensation we call “pleasure.”

We have touched on this lightly in the past but we are going to take a deeper dive today as we are in the midst of the summer season.

Your body, more particularly, your brain has a set of natural processes designed to make you feel good under certain stimuli.

Certain intersections of behaviors will literally tell your brain to activate your pleasure centers and release dopamine.

Dopamine is our brain’s natural “happy” chemical and it is vital for our continued health and happiness.

There are known ways to trigger your brain to release these chemicals and improve your state of well-being.

This episode starts a mini-series on the three circles of overall wellness.

Today’s focus is the circle of our physical health and how our brain assists in those processes.

As I always say, Give Yourself Grace and Know Your Limits.

We have been talking about how our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by and connected to the brain.

And along the way, I have shared some tidbits about my journey. But today, I am going to get very vulnerable and share with you my beginning into this journey.

Now I am not talking about where I learned about the brain. Let’s be honest, you don’t want to hear about college and it will make for very boring podcasting.

No, what I am talking about is the beginning of how I knew that an aspect of my brain was out of alignment.

That realization led me on a journey of emotional health and fulfillment.

Along the way, I realized I wanted to help other people who might not understand these same feelings and thoughts I was having.

So today is a bit of a year in review and the story of why I started this podcast.

Last week’s conversation with Alyssa Hall was so powerful I knew I wanted it to continue.

This time around, we are going to dive into another oft misunderstood topic that is very prevalent in the media.

And that word is Privilege.

Privilege is a word that get’s thrown around frequently and generates a lot of intense emotions.

With Alyssa’s help, we are going to de-construct some of those thoughts and hopefully help you to better understand what it is and what it isn’t.

We jump into a number of important questions to really further your awareness and comprehension of things like…

Why acknowledging your privilege is not an insult or saying your life hasn’t had challenges.

Seeing privilege as an opportunity to include others rather than divide us.

Understanding types of privilege that we may not know exist.

Reviewing some real-life examples where small but impactful moments of privilege have come into play in the lives of Alyssa and Julie.

Learning how we can help society move forward on this issue in ways that are non-confrontational and comfortable.

Once again, I am grateful to my friend Alyssa Hall for joining me for another impactful conversation.

It’s another longer session and I invite you to reflect and introspect.

If you need to break it up into smaller listens, I totally understand.

As I always say, Give Yourself Grace and Know Your Limits.

Today I have an epic episode for you.

I am beyond excited to host my friend, Alyssa Hall, a Corporate Anti-Racism Consultant and Leadership Coach, to the podcast.

We are going to cover a wide breadth of extremely important topics today. Bias- this word has become very charged in our culture and it is often very misunderstood.

What does it mean?

What is it and more importantly, what ISN’T it?

Where do these biases come from?

Is it inherently negative to have a bias?

Is it ok to even talk about bias?

Today we are going to try to cover the gauntlet on this topic and many of the types of bias including:

Unconscious Bias. Confirmation Bias. Affinity Bias. Beauty Bias and more.

We are working through these tough topics and beyond.

And let me be honest…. we are going to get vulnerable and share where even we fail.

Honestly, recognizing where even we, as trained and trusted experts, is part of the way we help the world at large better discuss these topics.

We talk about the guilt and shame that can occur when we try to recognize these faults in ourselves or society.

We talk about setting the boundaries and personal limits on these topics so that you can have productive conversations.

I do want to acknowledge upfront; this conversation might bring out some strong emotions in yourself as you self-reflect.

And this is a longer episode. So, I absolutely give you permission to take this conversation in pieces.

Give yourself grace and know your limits.

But PLEASE do listen to it. Even it takes multiple sessions, it’s a conversation worth having.

Overthinking…When it manifests, often our brain can freeze and be unable to make a decision.

Or it might chronically procrastinate making the choice because of the rampant overthinking.

There are so many ways that it can manifest.

If you feel you are suffering from this or that you have this tendency, first I just want to say that I am here for you.

We will dive into this topic today and I will share a few high-level strategies that I have employed with myself and used to help my clients use to confront this runaway overthinking.

Today we cover:

• How overthinking frequently manifests in our lives.

• The brain’s role in these chronic runaway thoughts.

• Several strategies my clients have used to confront and control this overthinking tendency.

Today we cover:

• Common Thought Errors that create our conditioned beliefs over time.

• My own history with some of these very same thoughts.

• The simple 3 step tool we can use to start challenging and changing our thought errors.

• Review the symptoms and causes of burnout & extreme stress.

• Discuss some short-term techniques you can employ to help start managing and healing.

• Learn about longer term solutions that you may need to consider including your diet, healthcare, employment situation and one-on-one coaching.

Today we are starting my two-part series on burnout with understanding those symptoms and identifying where they are coming from.

Come and learn about:

• Learning the simple reality and universality of burnout

• Understanding where burnout comes from physiologically in our brains and hormonal systems

• Recognizing the symptoms of burnout and identifying internal and external causes

If you have a teenager, today’s show is for you.

If you have a child who will be a teenager one day, today’s show is for you.

We talk about all of these topics and more on today’s extended episode of the show today.

Come join me and Jennifer Delliquadri on today’s extended episode.

Come and learn about:

• Why teenagers aren’t totally rational yet and how that should impact your parenting

• Why your teens need to know that their parent’s are always a “Safe Space”

• The importance of teaching the balance of respecting others and personal confidence in your teens

If you feel like your business or career is out of control and taking over your life, then today’s episode is for you.

Come and learn about:

• The ways we forget to respect our boundaries

• Why respecting boundaries in your business is so important for your long-term success

• How to start establishing boundaries with existing relationships

• Recognizing when a relationship is accepting or rejecting your new boundaries.

But at the end of the day, you need the right mindset for YOU and the right strategy for YOUR business.

And that friends, is something I am an expert at helping people discover about themselves and their business.

I have done this in numerous unrelated industries with people in positions from part-time solopreneur all the way up to CFOs for billion-dollar corporations.

So come join me today as we talk about some of the basics of finding your business strategy.

This episode we explore:

• Reviewing how our mindset trains our brains to grow

• The dangers of following too many other “expert voices” rather than developing a strategy unique to your business

• Managing the 4 roles you need to implement effective strategy in your business whether big or small.

Today’s episode we explore:

• Reviewing how our brain creates a mindset and why

• The difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset

• How we can start to shape our thoughts to fuel greater productivity in our business.