The Working Mom's Balance Podcast with Tracy Kulwicki

On the day this episode releases I will go for a run to celebrate 2,500 days of running every single day. Building a habit that lasts for 2,500 days doesn't just happen on autopilot. It takes a lot of hard work, intentionality, and planning. In this episode, I breakdown a process you can go through that will help you in identifying and creating a habit that has the ability to change your life. My run streak has made a huge impact on my own life and it has inspired others to improve their own lives. It is incredible what we can accomplish when we focus, act with intentionality, and encourage one another along the way. Links and Resources from this Episode: Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything by BJ Fogg - the process explained in this episode comes from this book Support the free content available on this show by making a donation here. More ideas to help you move from languishing to flourishing at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

In this episode, we talk about the science behind our moods and why it is beneficial to have a better mood more often. We also learn practical strategies to help us improve our mood. The goal is not to try to experience happiness all the time, no matter our circumstances. Rather, the approach we want to take is to not let small, everyday annoyances derail our mood and ruin our day. Having a more positive mood can improve our health, our life satisfaction, and our success. Increased positive affect is an important part of flourishing in life. Links and Resources from this Episode: The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology - this article talks more about the Broaden and Build Theory 22 Ways to Lighten Your Mood - more ideas to help you reset a bad mood What is Positive and Negative Affect in Psychology? Support the free content available on this show by making a donation here. More ideas to help you move from languishing to flourishing at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

A long, dark, and cold winter has left many of us feeling like we're in a funk. On the heels of a two year struggle through the pandemic, we're feeling exhausted, stuck, and unmotivated. This 8 step process can help you reset your mental, spiritual, and physical health, refresh your work life, home life, and relationships, and create a fresh outlook for your values and goals. After completing these steps you will feel less overwhelm and more clarity about how to move forward in this next season of life. We can't think or feel our way out of an unmotivated and apathetic place, we have to take action. The steps in this process are purposely ordered to help us build momentum, motivation, and inspiration. We will start small with the simple step of spending time in nature. Our final step will involve reassessing our values and goals to envision a new path forward. The simple act of getting started on the first small step will help us develop a sense of progress and accomplishment to keep us going through the remainder of the process. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 30: You Were Made for Greatness, Not Comfort Episode 29: The Pursuit of Peak Flow Instead of Junk Flow Episode 28: Learning How to Move from Languishing to Flourishing This episode for the BEMA discipleship podcast talks more about the eternal 7th day and God's invitation for us to join in the enjoyment of creation. Quarterly Goal Planning Workbook More ideas to help you move from languishing to flourishing at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Pope Benedict XVI is quoted as saying, "The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness." The pandemic has increased our options for comfort these days. And many of us are doing all we can to seek comfort and avoid pain and discomfort. The circumstances in our current lives are ever-changing, overwhelming, and hard. It is so tempting to just move into survival mode, doing the bare minimum we can and then spending any free time we can find passively escaping all the hard. But a life in survival mode, filled with comforts and passively checking out of our reality leaves us feeling empty and unfulfilled. Rest is good and vital for a meaningful, productive life. But it's also important to go out and contribute to the world in a meaningful way. This episode will help you develop new rhythms and patterns of rest, productivity, and fun. You'll learn how to reflect and discover if you need more rest or if what you really need is more meaningful action toward your goals and dreams. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 29: The Pursuit of Peak Flow Instead of Junk Flow How to tell the difference between laziness and resting More ideas to help you move from languishing to flourishing at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Flow is an experience of total absorption in the task at hand, where you completely lose track of time and space. Researchers, like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, have discovered that flow is the best predictor of well-being. The more often you are in a flow state, the more enjoyable your life experience will be. But all flow is not created equally. Sometimes our experience of flow doesn't lead to more meaning and satisfaction. Sometimes when we come out of a flow state we still feel stuck and empty. This type of flow is known as junk flow. Junk flow happens when the superficial experience of initial flow becomes an addiction instead of a source of growth. Adam Grant has developed a theory of peak flow. In this theory, he explains the three things required to experience healthy, peak flow instead of junk flow. The three things we need for peak flow are mastery, mindfulness, and mattering. This episode talks about these three things and provides examples to help us discover how to identify junk flow versus peak flow. We'll learn how to adjust our activities to bring in more mastery, mindfulness, and mattering so that we can experience peak flow more often. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 28 - Learning how to move from languishing to flourishing Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Adam Grant's TED Talk: How to Stop Languishing and Start Finding Flow More ideas to help you move from languishing to flourishing at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

In early 2021, Adam Grant published an article in the New York Times that said, "There's a name for the blah you're feeling: It's called languishing." The article quickly went viral. Adam spoke to an experience that we had all been experiencing. Over the past couple of years, we have moved from grief and sadness to an overwhelming sense of languishing due to the pandemic and ongoing challenges of life. We just feel meh. Empty, stuck, stagnate, joyless. It's not mental illness, but we're definitely not experiencing mental well-being either. We're stuck between sickness and true health. And I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get unstuck. I'm ready to start living again. I'm ready to show up to my life joyful, hopeful, and expectant. I want to get back to living an active, engaged life of meaning, no matter what the pandemic or the political, or social, or economical world around me has to say about it.  In this episode, we get clear on what languishing is and discuss what it takes to move beyond it. We learn that many of the things we've turned to in order to cope with the challenges of life in recent years are temporary fixes that often leave us feeling more empty. Instead, we have the option to find the cure to languishing. And the cure for languishing is an active engagement with our actual lives in the real world. Links and Resources from this Episode: "2022 = 2020 too" meme Adam Grant article - "There's a Name for the Blah You're Feeling: It's Called Languishing" Episode 27: How to Flourish by Creating a Balanced and Fulfilling Life The original concept of languishing came from this research by Corey Keyes The idea of "Live the life you are living" and other concepts about living in our present moment came from the "Morning Prayer" in this Daily Prayer book by Padraig O Tuama More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

This episode will help you understand what it means to flourish in life. We talk about three aspects that are necessary to help us flourish. These aspects are fulfillment, balance, and presence. We'll learn what it looks like and how it feels to live our lives fully alive, flowing smoothly, and with mindful awareness and appreciation for the present moment. After going through a global pandemic, many of us are struggling to find our new normal and reengage in a fulfilling and meaningful life. We want to move forward with intention, to build practices and strategies that help us enjoy our lives more, not overwhelm ourselves with busy, frustrating schedules again. Listen to this episode to reflect on where you may already be flourishing and where you have opportunities for improvement. Then learn ways in which you can bring more fulfillment and balance to your life while also making sure you stay present and enjoy the journey. Links and Resources from this Episode: The Flourishing Scale by Ed Diener and colleagues Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2009). New measures of well-being: Flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 39, 247-266. Episode 20: Using your values to guide your actions More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Good emotional health is the ability to cope with both the highs and the lows in life. It involves being able to accept and manage any and all emotions we face with vulnerability and authenticity. You build strong emotional health by becoming aware of your emotions, learning to self-regulate in the midst of intense emotions, and developing healthy coping strategies to support you in hard times. In this episode, we learn healthy ways to accept and manage both the good and the bad so we can live a better, more meaningful life. Links and Resources from this Episode Tucker, L. A., & Earl, A. B. (2010). Emotional health and weight gain: A prospective study of midlife women. American Journal of Health Promotion, 25(1), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.090122-QUAN-22 Psalm 130 NLT Psalm 13 NLT Psalm 22 NLT More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

A healthy approach to exercise is flexible, adaptable, pleasurable, and compatible with your daily life. It supports the healthy functioning of your body and is done from a place of positive motivations and beliefs. Exercising our bodies is extremely important, not just for our physical health but for our mental health and cognition as well. Many people approach exercise with an unhealthy focus on weight loss, disordered eating, and dysfunctional exercise practices that stem from self-criticism, self-loathing, and frustration over perceived flaws of the body. This attitude toward exercise may lead to some short-term physical results but often leads to worsening mental health and greater physical challenges in the future. A healthier approach to exercise begins from a place of self-love, acceptance, and compassion where a person works to support their body rather than loathe it. A framework for remembering how to approach exercise in a healthy manner is provided. The framework can be remembered by the acronym EASY. E - Enjoyable A - Adaptable to your current life and abilities S - Supportive of the healthy functioning of your body Y - Yields true physical, spiritual, and mental well-being Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 24: Developing a More Positive Body Image More details on my run streak (from year one of my streak) Learn more about my journey as a runner in the video More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Improving your body image is one of the most important things we can do to support our overall health, wellness, and well-being. When we have a negative body image, our very motivation for pursuing health usually leads us down a dangerous road that often makes us even more unhealthy than when we began. This episode helps us better understand what body image is and provides practical strategies and inspiration that we can use to help us improve our body image. In this episode, you'll learn how a body gratitude journal can help improve your thoughts and feelings about your body and you'll find new ways to create physical health goals that have nothing to do with the size, shape, or appearance of your body. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 23: Rest, Relaxation, Sleep, and Sabbath Four Dimensions of Health Gratitude Journals and Other Gratitude Practices Podcast episode on gratitude More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

In this episode we talk about the what, why, and how of rest, relaxation, sleep, and sabbath. These four things can have an effect on every aspect of our health and wellness. When we don't get sufficient rest it can impact our physical, mental, spiritual, and relational health. Learn some practical strategies to help you begin to make small changes to focus on getting more rest and relaxation in your life. Links and Resources from this Episode: Four Dimensions of Health Sleep is your Superpower TED Talk by Matt Walker 6 Tips for Better Sleep from Matt Walker Other TED Talks on Sleep from Matt Walker Annie F Downs on Preparing for Sabbath Sabbath Q&A with Annie F Downs More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

A lot of research has been done to help us better understand wellbeing. What makes up wellbeing? Does everyone have access to it? How can we increase our experience of wellbeing and what factors might hinder our it? In this episode, we talk about 9 building blocks of wellbeing that we can examine and adjust to help us experience more wellbeing and flourish. The 9 building blocks or pillars include the original 5 facets of the PERMA theory as well as an additional 4 areas that recent research has identified as important factors for wellbeing as well. These 9 pillars of wellbeing include - Positive emotions and experiences, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, Physical Health, Mindset, Environment, and Economic safety and stability. Links and Resources from this Episode Research study discussing PERMA and the 4 additional building blocks for wellbeing. Episode 13: Managing Thoughts to Improve Mental Health Episode 14: Why and How to Be More Optimistic Episode 15: How to Build Resilience to Overcome Hard Times More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

If you want to reach the goals that you have set for yourself, the answer is not more motivation, more confidence, or more self-discipline. Confidence is trusting and relying on yourself to do the things you said you would do. You can't build that trust and reliance until you start taking action, no matter how you feel. In this episode, we talk about how we choose our actions to live the life we truly want to live. We discuss what it takes to start making progress toward our goals. If you're ready to get serious about taking mindful, committed action in your life, based on what is most important to you, then listen in. This episode is a part of a mini-series on the concepts behind ACT training. Be sure to listen to episodes 18-21 to learn all the steps in the process. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 18: How to Get Yourself to Do What You Want to Do Episode 19: Taking Action, Even When You Don’t Feel Like It Episode 20: Using Your Values to Guide Your Actions For more guidance on how to implement the strategies discussed in this series, check out the book The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris. More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

We are continuing our series in which we are working to learn how to get ourselves to do the things we want to do, even when we don't feel like doing them. In episode 19 we learned how to accept our thoughts and feelings. In this episode we discuss the next step in the process, to choose a value-based direction and next step. We decide the person we want to be, we consider what is important to us, and then we choose our next right step based on these values, not on how we feel in the moment. This is a practice that we will need to work to improve over time. However, when we choose to live by our values and determine our success in life based on how well our actions align with our values we can feel more successful and fulfilled in our lives. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 18: How to Get Yourself to Do What You Want to Do Episode 19: Taking Action, Even When You Don't Feel Like It List of Values to help you narrow down your unique list of values. For more guidance on how to implement the strategies discussed in this series, check out the book The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris. More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Humans have around 6,200 thoughts per day. Some thoughts are helpful and some thoughts hold us back from doing the things we want to do. Our emotions also play a role in giving us the desire to do or not do the things we want. We have the ability to change our thoughts and feelings to help us do more of the things that matter to us. But we will still have some unhelpful thoughts or feelings that hold us back from living the life we want to live. This episode talks about how we can become more aware of our thoughts and feelings. This will help us recognize our power over our thoughts and emotions. We can accept our thoughts and feelings, we can change our thoughts and feelings, and we can also ignore our thoughts and feelings and still do the things we want to do, no matter how we feel. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 18: How to Get Yourself to Do What You Want to Do How to Use Your Mind to Calm Your Anxious Thoughts You Are What You Think: How You Can Direct Your Thoughts to Change Your Life For more guidance on how to implement the strategies discussed in this series, check out the book The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris. More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

There's a popular passage of scripture in Romans where Paul says something along the lines of "I don't understand myself. I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate...I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." I think we can all relate to this passage in some way. We know what we should do, we know what we want to do, but how do we get ourselves to actually do it. We long for the day when we will find some motivation, we search for the formula that will teach us how to develop self-discipline, we wish we could just develop the confidence we need to do all the amazing things we dream about. What does it take to actually get ourselves to consistently do what we want to do in our daily lives? This episode talks about Paul's answer found in Romans 7-8 and also looks at what the research says. We learn about ACT, or acceptance and commitment training, a strategy that we can use to help us accept our thoughts and emotions, choose a value-based next step, and then take mindful action to do what we want to do.  This episode is part one of a four-part series that breaks down the concepts of ACT and how we can use it to get ourselves to do all the things we desire and need to do. Links and Resources from this Episode This excellent TED Talk by Steven Hayes, the creator of ACT training/therapy provides some insightful background information. For more guidance on how to implement the strategies discussed in this series, check out the book The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris. More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

People with a fixed mindset believe that their personal character, skills, intelligence, and abilities are fixed traits that cannot be changed. They believe you’re either born with it or you’re not. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their abilities can be developed through hard work and effort. A fixed mindset keeps us stuck and afraid of failure and mistakes, but people with a growth mindset are constantly improving and growing. They seek out challenges and recognize the power of learning from mistakes. Having a growth mindset can help you be more successful and happy in every area of life. Links and Resources from this Episode 10 Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset The Mindset You Need to Do Things to Blow Your Own Mind (the article on Growth Mindset that I wrote on my 1,000th day of running every day) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success book by Carol Dweck More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Psychological Capital, better known as PsyCap in the world of positive psychology, is the psychological resources of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism that can help employees perform better at work and increase overall well-being outside of the workplace. We can use the acronym HERO to help us remember these important resources. This episode talks about what each of these resources means and how we can develop them in our own lives. Links and resources from this episode Episode 6: The Practice of Gratitude Episode 15: How to Build Resilience to Overcome Hard Times Episode 14: Why and How to Be More Optimistic Episode 13: Managing Thoughts to Improve Mental Health More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after adversity. We will all face hard times and suffering in life. Instead of resisting the hard, resilient people learn to face challenges and stressors, accept mistakes, and grow from failures. This episode will teach you practical ways to increase your resilience and come out of hardship stronger. Links and Resources from this Episode Episode 3: The Why and How of Better Relationships Episode 13: Managing Thoughts to Improve Mental Health Episode 14: Why and How to Be More Optimistic More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki

Optimism can help us achieve more success at work, home, school, in sports, and every other area of life. An optimistic explanatory style also helps us live longer, healthier lives. This episode discusses the power of optimism and provides practical instructions for how to increase optimistic thinking to improve your life. Side note - starting next week, The Working Mom's Balance podcast will release new episodes on Mondays (instead of Fridays). Be sure to subscribe and come back on Monday for a new episode. There will also be a new blog post or video at WorkingMomsBalance.com each Wednesday. These posts will be related to the podcast for the week, but not the same content. A weekly summary and additional links and thoughts will go out by email on Fridays. Be sure to subscribe to the email list here. Links and Resources from this Episode Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E. Seligman, PhD Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth Good to Great by Jim Collins Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl More ideas to help you thrive at www.WorkingMomsBalance.com Find me on Instagram at @TracyKulwicki