Tag Archives: growth

Why It’s So Vital to Embrace Change!

Being based in northern Europe, it takes a bit longer for spring to reach us. Although we do start to see the signs with lighter days and hearing the birds chirping, which is reassuring that the winter will come to an end. There’s always a sense of rebirth that comes with the spring. One of my favorite sayings is:

Life is change, Change is constant. Growth is optional.

Like the seasons changing each year, there is also a consistency in that change that is also comforting. Many people say they are resistant to change but in reality it is the unknown that makes them uncomfortable. When you can change your perspective to see that all change gives us an opportunity to grow, then you can step into the unknown with excitement rather than fear.

It’s great that neuroscience can start to explain this in a way that makes sense. When we are in fear, we have cortisol and adrenaline running through our bodies, which actually cuts off our ability to think clearly and make rational decisions. When we are looking forward to something, it puts our mental state into curiosity and expectation, which actually helps to activate oxytocin to be produced in our prefrontal cortex or executive brain. This is where we are able to see with a larger perspective and activate our creative thinking.

When you become aware of the neuroscience behind our interactions—it helps to be able to relate to everyone as a human being. It helps to eliminate the divisive thinking that separate so many people. After all, we are ALL spiritual beings having a human experience on this amazing planet.

I like to compare this to water. If you have a puddle of water–after a while the water grows stagnant and starts to smell. But when water is constantly flowing like a stream, it is fresh and rejuvenating. This IS life.

So embrace the changes and know that you can be in the driver’s seat of your own growth!

What’s Your Word for 2018?

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Do you think of a theme or a word for each year? It’s a great exercise someone recently mentioned to me. I’ve decided that this year’s theme for me is evolution. It’s one of my core words anyway and it feels appropriate for this year as well.

One of my favorite sayings is “Life is change. Change is constant. Growth is optional.” I’ve lived by this for many years now. I believe that life happens FOR us not TO us. When we can make this mental shift, we drop the victim mentality and start to think that the Universe has our back, even through the challenges and tough times, which if you are breathing, you WILL have! It’s a part of the human experience.

It is often through the toughest times that we can grow and evolve the most. It somehow forces us to dig deep inside and find what we need to make it through the challenges. At least that has been my experience.

So choosing growth, choosing to evolve, and leaning into trust that things are going to work out for you in the long run, makes it possible to be strong and resilient through whatever life may throw your way. We ALL have an inner core strength of courage and those difficult times helps you to grow.

Growth of course can happen in good times as well. It seems like when you are reaching for goals, dreams, and desires that are outside of your comfort zone, you learn to expand your comfort zone to make it bigger. And guess, what? It stays there!

Two years ago when I released my personal story, 1,352 Days, I ended up all over the media in Sweden. I was on radio and TV shows, even LIVE TV, doing interviews in Swedish (holy cow!! that was a HUGE stretch for me!). For most of the interviews, I was pretty calm inside and the reason is because I was (and still am) very purpose driven. I knew that I had a message to share and get out into the world and if I could use my personal story of immense challenges to inspire others, and to share that no matter what happens, choose love over fear, then I was willing to expand my comfort zone as far as I needed. That was a year of huge evolution to me.

I believe that our world is going through a HUGE evolution right now as well. It seems like so many people I know are having to deal with their emotional baggage, issues that they might not have dealt with or wanted to deal with. But now is the time for each of us to do the internal clearing and healing. Watching what has happened with the #MeToo movement all over the world is both bringing up issues and (hopefully) healing for those who have experienced any sort of harassment.

It is time for us to embrace the changes, to consciously create the world we want to live in, and to take our power back—both individually and collectively. Together we are stronger. We have the opportunity to step into our best selves and we are evolving.

So what is your word for 2018?

3 Tips for Finding Joy in Change

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Life is change. Change is constant. Growth is optional.

This has always been one of my favorite sayings and a mantra in my life. Just as the seasons changes each year, so does our life. We have cycles and patterns and it’s good to identify what those are because therein often lies important lessons for us to learn.

My oldest daughter graduated from high school in Sweden this month. Swedes have a great way of celebrating this milestone in a young person’s life. The day is a full day of activities and events all around celebrating the end of this phase of life.

As a mom watching this, I became very aware of my own feelings as well. It’s been a mix of happiness and joy, pride in her accomplishments, and an underlying sadness that has been hard for me to find words for. But I finally figured out what it is, especially for mothers.

We are the caretakers of our children for around 18 years on average (yes, I know kids are living at home longer these days for a variety of reasons but let’s stick to the average). This has been one of my purposes in life—being a mom. It’s been one of my absolute favorite “roles.” And I see that soon, this role will be ending. I will never stop being a mom but I will no longer be the caretaker. My daughter is entering adulthood and will be taking care of herself. And I’m thrilled for that. My only hope is that I’ve equipped her well enough to manage whatever life might throw her way. And of course, I’ll be here always as her mom, as a support, and as a friend.

It’s fun to embrace life and to grow with the changes. And when you know that change is constant, it makes the ride all that more fun to be on. You can find that joy in all the constant changes. Because you never know what really might be around the corner. Science studies have shown that change is good for us. It stimulates the brain and helps keep us active.

Here are three tips that have helped me along my own journey:

Expect change and embrace it rather than being afraid of change
Trust that change is happening FOR you for a good reason. You are not a victim and there are always lessons in all challenges so look for that so that you can…
Learn to grow from changes. When you find those lessons you will naturally grow and evolve into an even better version of yourself!

So my reflections from this period in my own life are to love the moments. Seize those small moments that you love and try to fill your day with many of them. Because life keeps moving forward no matter what and it’s only up to us to make it an amazing journey!

3 Proven Actions to Having More Joy and Happiness in Your Life

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There are more than 7.4 billion people on the planet right now. The essence of what all people want comes down to four main things: love, peace, joy, and abundance.

I believe that people have an innate emotional set point—a place that a person returns to over and over on the broad scale of emotions we humans experience. So for example, I have an elderly relative has worried her entire life because she’s gone through many difficult times. Now that her life is actually better than it has been in a very long time, she still searches for things to worry about because that is where she tends to be most comfortable—and her brain is conditioned to this. Another relative from the same generation is always looking on the bright side and tends to have a very positive outlook. She’s full of energy and sometimes I can’t even keep up with her. Just comparing the levels of health with these two relatives shows me how your levels of happiness really does make a difference, especially over time.

During one of the toughest times in my life, I developed a way to become very aware or conscious of my feelings…and worked diligently to try and stay in a positive frame of mind. This tool is called the Joyometer™ and it is what I like to call a “mood management system” to help you stay aware of what you are feeling and how you can actively work to get yourself to a higher emotional state of being. (You can download the Joyometer here.)

Having had the good fortune to connect with hundreds of people through my work, and interview numerous thought leaders and change agents who are leaders in their field, I’ve found that there are three consistent strategies that people who are happier and living more joy filled lives actively work with to better their emotional state. They are the 3 G’s to Joy & Happiness:

Gratitude

Regardless of whatever is happening in your life, you can always find something to be grateful for…you are reading this right now and you are breathing! Finding things to appreciate and be thankful for in life helps you shift how you look at the world.

If you focus on what is going well, the tendency that more good will happen will generally increase. Gratitude helps your overall emotional well- being, helps you sleep better, increases your confidence and also betters your relationships. It’s a great way to lift you out of a funk.

Growth

Nature is constantly changing and our universe is continually expanding. As humans, we are happier when we are growing and learning on some level. We are meant to be pushing the boundaries and trying new things. People often say they are afraid of change but the reality is that life is constant change. Growth is optional and we can take a conscious effort to strive to be better and open our minds to new perspectives.

Just as water stagnates when it is still, so do we humans. It’s much healthier to be flowing like a river. When our basic needs are taken care of, it is natural for us to seek new relationships, new challenges, new jobs, and learning new skills. It’s a part of human nature to grow and that helps increase our levels of happiness as well.

Giving

Giving is the third strategy to increase the joy in your life. When you can help others, it will bring you a new perspective and studies show as we see others thrive, we feel better. Giving has three different levels:

Philanthropy — such as writing a check at the end of the year for a charity, there is very little interaction and not a deeper emotional connection although the act is most certainly appreciated.
Giving Back — for example, a mining company would give back to a community by planting parks and reforesting an old mine, there’s a feeling of doing something good to better a situation.
Contribution – an example is volunteering with elderly or homeless, something that is more interactive with time and energy and also having a deeper emotional connection and understanding of doing something for the greater good of all.

Random acts of kindness will increase your own level of happiness and joy in ways that you might not even expect. The deeper the emotional connection in the giving, the more positive—and lasting—impact it will have with you.

When you consistently practice these three actions of Gratitude, Growth, and Giving, you will notice how it brings more energy and vibrancy to your own life. Play around and experiment with this for a week and see how it makes a difference, not only in your life but also those around you.