Just Rock It Podcast

Courageous Leadership - Why We Need It More Than Ever by Sonia McDonald

What Makes A Great Leader by Sonia McDonald

How To Be A Great Leader by Sonia McDonald

12 Rules Of Kindness by Sonia McDonald

How To Survive A Toxic Culture by Sonia McDonald

Change The Frame And You Change The Game by Sonia McDonald

Courage To Have A Voice by Sonia McDonald

Do We Need More Courage And Kindness Today by Sonia McDonald

How To Stay True To Yourself And Courageous During This Time by Sonia McDonald

My Leadership Love Letter by Sonia McDonald

Hi everyone. Its Sonia McDonald and welcome to my daily courage podcast, where I may be talking about everything, leadership, courage, kindness, being inclusive, and just rocking it, getting out there and rocking it and being the best you can be. And what does that mean? Oh my gosh. Where do I start? What does that mean? Well, it definitely means embracing yourself. It definitely means owning who you are and knowing who you are as well. And can I tell you that takes a journey now? I am turning 50 this year. I know, I know I'm turning 50 this year and it's pretty scary actually. Like I never ever thought, gosh, I'd be turning 50. It just seemed to creep up on me. I started to think about how quickly time has gone and wow. What I would say to my younger self. And I would definitely say to her, please start loving and embracing yourself. That takes real courage to know who you are and what you stand for. And, and you know what I think about, I think about my life and the different experiences and my career and my journey. And, and I think about reflect on all those elements and of time and all those experiences of courage that, that I demonstrated that at the time, I didn't realize which really courageous. And I think we've all been there. I think that if you reflect on your life or kind of look, do a bit of a, like a life map or, you know, journal around your achievements and where you've been and where you are today, and you think about everything that shaped you. I think sometimes we're surprised at being times in our lives where we are truly courageous, but if you're listening to this and you kind of go hang on, maybe I'm too young to have experienced, you know, true courage it'll come. And when it does come, you know what embrace it. Because as I always say, courage is fear. It's not the absence of fear. It's just the mastery of fear. And there were so many things that I really feared when I was younger. One was feeler, fear of failing, and now I really embrace spelling right now. Today I go, wow, I wish I'd, I wish I kind of had the courage to fail a lot more because maybe I would have done and gone for a lot more things and I didn't do it because I feared failing. And now I kind of go bring it on, like bring on the failing. Cause I know that it's going to help me be even better and greater. And I think, you know, that's, that's what we need to do is just embrace the fear, you know, and move through the fear and go, you know, what if the worst thing that happens if I fear failing or the worst thing that happens is I fail. You know, I'm not going to die, I'm going to fail. And you know what, if I fell, I'm gonna learn something from it. I'm going to learn. I'm going to learn a great lesson. I'm going to learn something about myself. It's probably even going to help me be better next time and just embrace it. I am actually learned more from my stuff ups and my failings and I have anything else. And so just go for it. Just kind of embrace the fear and just go for it. And it does, it does take the time to also be who you are and, and what you stand for as well. Reach out to the team at Leadership HQ, McDonald, Inc, or via my website, soniamcdonald.com.au. And let's start, let's start being more courageous. Cause I think we need people. I think we all need to see more courage and kindness within ourselves and around the world. And it does start with us. So go out there and be that wonderful daily courageous leader in person and embrace courage and embrace that fear and be who you are. That is most important. So thank you for listening and go out there. And rock it, thank you.

Hi everyone. Its Sonia McDonald and welcome to Daily Courage, the podcast, which will help you be more, learn more and do more and give you the courage to be the best you can be. Now, these amazing short people call them the Sonia serum. I love to call them Sonia's Daily Courage, I am really here to inspire and help you to be courageous and to lead a life with courage and kindness. And I know at the moment we are hearing and we are seeing some very interesting behaviors and actions from a lot of our leaders, particularly around Australia and the world, that, that isn't very inclusive and it's pretty poor leadership and behavior, to be honest I want to change that and w and I want to help instil courage in you so we can change this. Now, whoever is listening to these podcasts, I want you to think about what you can do to impact and change the world by being courageous and shining a light on, and also not walking past this bad behavior or poor behavior and leadership. We all play a part and play a part in this, particularly around, I believe in pairing everyone to be the best they can be. And also, I think we need to listen more. I think we need to shut up, be quiet and listen more. I think we need to be more curious. I think curiosity is something missing today, and I think we need to be more curious than I think as well, we need to be asking lots more questions and getting to really understand, you know, what are some challenges for others and what they might be going through and how we can help as well. And remember courage. Isn't, isn't the absence of fear. It's just the mastery of fear. So how can we be more careers? And interestingly enough, you know, and I posted this story on LinkedIn. It was probably about a month ago around. I went to catch the bus and it was raining and I was sitting at the bus stop and there was this lovely man, elderly man sitting next to me. And I kind of got a feeling that the bus wasn't going to show up because it was running late. And this man says to me, do you know what time the bus is supposed to be here? And I went and double checked and I said, look, the bus should have been here by now. And he was like, are you sure? And we got into this conversation anyway, the bus never did show up. I sat there for 30 minutes talking to him and he was sharing his story with me. And there were parts and parts of his story that actually made me cry. And anyway, I knew that I was going to be late, but I ended up ordering an Uber, but it was such a lovely conversation. And he thanked me for the conversation about being curious. Cause he said today, I think people did. We just don't know how to be curious with each other. And I think, well thinking about particularly that time is I have to, there's been lots of times where I just sit at the bus stop and I look at my phone or I'm distracted. And I don't really think about who, who is sitting next to me or what's going on around me. And it's, you know, it's not until we actually are curious and present that we start to really see what might be going on around the world and how we can connect to me more curious with people around us and, but also around I think, well around how we can support and help other people as well, I think is really important. So I really want to encourage and inspire you to be more courageous and more careers. Remember to reach out to the team at soniamcdonald.com.au. If we can help you anyway, maybe we'll be more courageous and kind and curious. Thank you.

You can be kind as a leader and still be strong. Join me as I inspire you to embrace your inner kindness to get to courage.... I have also launched a FREE Read-along course for First Comes Courage - sign up here at https://sonia-mcdonald.mykajabi.com/first-comes-courage-course Thank you for listening and stay kind and courageous. Sonia x

It's already February and where have you set your courageous attention? Join me for my daily courage to inspire you to bring out your inner courage...! I have also launched a FREE Read-along course for First Comes Courage - sign up here at https://sonia-mcdonald.mykajabi.com/first-comes-courage-course Thank you for listening and stay kind and courageous. Sonia x

Happy 2021! It's here and I wanted to announce my NEW Daily Courage Live and Podcasts. It might not be daily however I want to inspire you to be courageous, confident and the best version of you everyday! Listen here at https://podcasts.apple.com/.../daily-courage/id1253193063

‘The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be unpopular, to be disliked. When you have gained that courage, your interpersonal relationships will all at once change into things of lightness.’ ICHIRO KISHIMI, JAPANESE PHILOSOPHER Find out more here at https://www.soniamcdonald.com.au/ or https://soniamcdonald.com.au/books/first-comes-courage/

A few weeks ago I spoke at a Women in Leadership Conference in front of 100 Women about First Comes Courage and I literally spoke in millions miles an hour as I only had 25 minutes to get across my key messages. It was the first time I had spoken about my book and in front of an audience in a room for a long time. I cried at the end. I don't know why however I did. The emotions got the better of me. I have unpacked this over the last few weeks and think it could be because I know what it is like to feel uncourageous and not very brave in my career, leadership and life. I didn't want them to feel like this however I thought to myself it is okay to be uncourageous because it can get you to courage. Today I share why I want you to take time out to be uncourageous and embrace it - then think about how you can move into courage in 2021. Find out more here at https://www.soniamcdonald.com.au/ or https://soniamcdonald.com.au/books/first-comes-courage/

Welcome to Sonia's Just Rock It Podcast! She shares in her latest podcast Don't Give a Crap. Have I got your attention? Yes? Good. If 90 perc ent of everything is crap, then let’s focus on the other 10 per cent, or basically, the things you actually give a crap about. As you may already know, I have published a book entitled Leadership Attitude. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had and also one of the most challenging. As a leadership expert, you might think that writing a book about leadership would have been a snap for me. Well, it could have been— except that I got inside my own head and made it way tougher than it should have been. After I published my book, can you guess the one question I was invariably asked? All. The. Time? I decided not to give a crap what people thought and it changed my world. Thank you for listening and find out more about Sonia McDonald, her book JUST ROCK IT!, coaching, programs and keynote speaking at soniamcdonald.com.au/

Welcome to Sonia's Just Rock It Podcast! She shares in her latest podcast why your Tribe Matters. “Don’t waste your time being what someone wants you to become, in order to feed their list of rules, boundaries and insecurities. Find your tribe. They will allow you to be you, while you dance in the rain.” — Shannon L. Alder Seth Godin’s book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, is a great reminder that we all need a tribe. Human beings have gathered in tribes for millions of years—so this is nothing new, is it? We were born to connect with others. In fact, all of us are social connection machines. What is crucial—absolutely crucial—for all of us to know is that who we choose to spend time with really matters. It really does. Thank you for listening and find out more about Sonia McDonald, her book JUST ROCK IT!, coaching, programs and keynote speaking at https://soniamcdonald.com.au/

Join me today when I share with you my thoughts on perception and reality. Not everything you see or read is real. Remember YOU Rock!

CONFIDENCE ROCKS (IF YOU AREN’T CONFIDENT, FAKE IT. YOU WILL BECOME IT.) When I was younger, I spent all of my time studying—to the degree that I’d tell friends I couldn’t hang out with them and chose studying over other social activities. Looking back on my school years, I now realise that I consistently confused competence with confidence. I thought that if I spent all my time studying, my knowledge would automatically create a new, confident me. Unfortunately, I was probably the hardest-working student in the school, yet still didn’t feel confident. How unfair, right? Have you ever envisioned going back in time and having a discussion with your younger self? In addition to telling my seventeen-year-old self, “You really, really should rethink that terrible haircut,” do you know what other advice I’d give? I’d say, “Sonia, just fake it. Fake confidence.” It took me a long, long time to discover this, but faking confidence works, and believe it or not, numerous studies have proven this very fact. For example, standing taller makes you appear more self-assured. Dressing professionally for a promotion helps you get the job. Simply smiling makes you happier. Harvard business professor Amy Cuddy studies that exact phenomena. She investigates how people judge and influence others and themselves, and also why certain people have the confidence to take more risks, thereby landing them more business deals and job offers. Cuddy was a university student when she suffered severe head trauma as a result of a bad traffic accident. Her IQ temporarily fell two standard deviations and she had to relearn skills she’d lost. One of her professors knew she struggled after returning to school (a year later than her cohort of classmates) and urged her to fake feeling confident until she actually felt like she was. And it worked. Now she’s a bestselling author, Harvard University professor, and is considered a leading authority on business management and social psychology. Now, I want you to take a second to envision one person you know who exudes confidence. It could be a co-worker, a political figure, even a teacher in your child’s school. Guess what? The charismatic person you may be envisioning right now most definitely wasn’t born knowing how to charm a crowd. I’d venture to say that he or she had to hone and cultivate that component of his or her character, just like Amy Cuddy had to do. Just like I did. Just like you are going to do. Remember, confidence is a choice. Unfortunately, it’s something rarely taught in school—but think of the impact a simple class called “Fake it Till You’re a Success” could have benefited you in your career! I’d venture to say it would have paid dividends for your future. (By the way, have you ever noticed that some of those really import- ant life lessons are never taught in school? I sure would have been more than okay with less calculus and more leadership training!) Anyway, here are your first steps toward building your self-confidence: 1. Look in the mirror every day and tell yourself, “I am confident. I am smart. I am a success.” 2. Then just rock it! You are capable of so much more than you really know, so start believing in yourself. Make a list of things you can do or say to yourself to build your ownconfidence:

Welcome to Just Rock It Podcast! Podcast No 5 talks about Celebrate the Small Successes. Based on my latest book Just Rock It; it is important to stop and reflect on your successes no matter how small or big.

This is a MUST listen to Podcast around Success and what it means to you? Let's talk about Success, look at your Values and set some Goals! Will you do this with me and let me know what your goals are? I would love to know what success means to you and what you are going to do about it! Email me at sonia@soniamcdonald.com.au or go to www.soniamcdonald.com.au

I have made plenty of mistakes and have also truly stuffed up a number of times. They can knock you! We all make mistakes. We always have a choice what to do next. The key to success is picking yourself up and learning something from it. There are always lessons. Great lessons. Remember to reflect on why you made the mistake, what you would do differently next time and be compassionate to yourself - and others. Everything always passes. Don't let the fear of failure or stuffing up stop you; keep going. Believe me if I can do it; you can! Bring on more stuff ups I say! LOVE stuff ups!

Your thoughts have power!(most of the time, you are the director) ‘What we think we become’ — Buddha Thanks Buddha; I love this quote. It is pivotal that you are telling yourself the right story. It is true; our minds are an amazing tool. We each process approximately 80,000 thoughts a day, and those thoughts really do have power. I like to use this weird analogy, which really works. Your mind is like a stage and you are the director of the events on that stage. Think about the play you want to create on that stage. The story you want to share with the audience. You will want the best actors (or thoughts) on that stage, because if you have bad actors, no one will want to buy tickets to see the play. You are the director of your mind, so you determine which actors appear. Get rid of the bad ones – accept only Oscar-winning quality. The more you focus on something, the more power it has. And the mind loves to tell itself stories. We all love to ruminate. Think about that time your boss gave you dozens of pieces of positive feedback and one piece of ‘developmental’ feedback – and you focussed for days (maybe years) on that one piece. Why? Because it’s easier for the brain to focus on threats or negatives: it is part of our DNA. Guess what – we are each our own thought director. The more you tell yourself great stories, focus your mind on empowering thoughts and think about what makes you rock, the more confident and empowered you will be. Where attention goes, energy flows. Say to yourself; ‘I am strong, I am confident, I am amazing, I am talented at this, I can do this’ and watch yourself ROCK it! It is amazing how having positive, useful and empowering thoughts can change your life. The story really matters. The more you tell yourself something, the more your brain will push those thoughts back into your limbic and hippocampus, the emotional centre of the brain which also stores long-term memory and our unconscious behaviour. Have you ever meet someone who says ‘I am not confident’ or ‘I am never on time’? And sure enough, they are not confident and never on time. That has become their story, and in turn it has become their behaviour. By saying regularly ‘I am confident’ and ‘I am on time’, they would begin to see it in their behaviour. (By the way, I am working on the ‘on time’ thing too.) I am focsued on the director of my mind and everytime I am about to speak on stage; I only put amazing and powerful actors on that stage. I tell myself – I have got this, I am going to rock the house, I will be inspirational and empowering and I will be the best version of me. And I do it. I can do it. If you think you can’t; you can’t. I know absolutely you can. If I can do it, you can!

Welcome to the Just Rock It Podcast. A Podcast Series to help you truly rock it in your leadership, career and life! This episode is about why Focusing on What Makes You Rock is the most important first step in rocking it. I will help you understand why you rock and how to find out what makes you rock. Contact me at www.soniamcdonald.com.au and sonia@soniamcdonald.com.au