Podcast appearances and mentions of marie gervais

Welcome to Season 14 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! Join Andrea Samadi as she revisits past episodes to unearth profound insights from experts like Bob Proctor. As the podcast embarks on a journey of reflection, discover how to connect science with social and emotional learning for enhanced well-being, achievements, and productivity. In this episode, Andrea dives into episode 66, exploring life-altering lessons with the legendary Bob Proctor, who challenged her with the pivotal question: What do you really want to do with your life? Through the lens of practical neuroscience, learn how to craft huge goals, venture beyond our senses, and tap into the higher faculties of mind to transform those dreams into reality. Discover the essence of interconnectedness and the profound truth that we are souls, not just physical beings. This episode is a roadmap for anyone yearning to refine their goals and elevate their understanding to new heights. Don't miss this exploration of timeless wisdom that promises transformative growth. In this first part of our series, we'll explore: How to ask the right questions to uncover your real desires. Why you must go beyond your five senses and tap into your higher mental faculties—like imagination, intuition, and will—to create a life you love. The mindset shift that transforms vague wishes into powerful, crystal-clear goals. Bob's wisdom wasn't just theory—it was a challenge to think differently, act boldly, and believe in possibilities far beyond my comfort zone. And it all begins with one question: “What do you really want?” Watch our past interview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHWMCzfODU4  Watch our YouTube Short here https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_npFmt6zVE4  BE SURE TO SIGN UP TO SEE THE NEW MOVIE Bob Proctor's Legacy https://www.bobproctorlegacy.com/  On the EP 366, and PART 1 review of EP 66 we will cover: ✔ Top Lesson from Episode 66 – Refining the question: “What do you really want to do with your life?” ✔ Sage Advice #1: “We have been given the mental faculties to create our own environment.” We explored how to go beyond our five senses and tap into the six higher faculties of our mind. ✔ Sage Advice #2: “There's only one mind.” We looked at how our actions matter because we are all deeply connected. ✔ Sage Advice #3: “We are a soul—we don't have one.” We reflected on the perfection within each of us, and how it continually drives us toward bigger and better possibilities.   Welcome back to SEASON 14 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren't taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I'm Andrea Samadi, and seven years ago I started this podcast with one big question that I had never thought of in the past: If productivity and results matter to you—how exactly are you using your brain to make these results happen? Most of us were never taught how to apply neuroscience to boost our productivity, results, or well-being. That's why I set out to bring you the world's top experts—so we can learn the intersection of science, and social and emotional learning skills, putting what we learn into action every day, for predictable results. As we kick off Season 14, I've been revisiting past episodes and reflecting on the incredible insights our guests have shared since we first launched in 2019. This reflection started when a young filmmaker, Vishal Sharma[i], reached out to me and offered to create YouTube Shorts[ii] from past interviews. When I saw his first example, something clicked. As I reviewed older episodes, I realized I had only scratched the surface of the lessons inside each interview. I started re-listening—not just to refresh my memory, but to deepen my own understanding. And honestly, I was surprised at how many ideas I had missed or forgotten. So as we dive into this review of past conversations, know that this isn't just for you, the listener—it's for me as well. I've learned that slowing down helps us uncover even more wisdom, and I'm excited for us to walk this path together. For today's Episode 366[iii], we're going back to Episode 66 where my journey began, with the legendary Bob Proctor—the first person who truly challenged me to think. Back in the late 1990s, he asked me a simple but life-changing question: “What do you really want to do with your life?” I remember being completely stumped. I didn't have a clear, well-thought-out answer. But looking back, I'm grateful he asked—because that question launched me on the path to understanding the mind, the brain, psychology, and neuroscience. It's been a journey that's had plenty of twists and turns, and where everything began for me. As we revisit past episodes like this one, my hope is that together, we can create a roadmap for success—one that helps you take the lessons you hear and actually apply them in your daily life. So going back to EP 66, and our interview with Bob Proctor, I think back and remember that it was easy to book time on Bob's calendar back then, because this interview was scheduled June 2020, right at the start of the pandemic. Prior to this time, it would have been very difficult to have made this interview happen. I had written out some of the most important life lessons I had learned from Bob, prior to recording our interview, and while all the lessons are important, I am going to focus on the first one for this review. I learned how to set huge goals—goals most people might call “crazy”—when Bob asked me, “What do you really want?” When I gave him my answer, I knew I could have done better. I didn't have my life all thought out at the time. I didn't know what the faculties of my mind were, nor had I spent any time developing my intuition, or imagination. He met me where I was, and explained that there were specific steps I needed to follow. It began with writing my goals on a card he gave me, and I did what he told me to do. I actually put some of the goals into visual pictures that I drew out to go along with each goal. He told me that if I followed all his suggestions and truly believed in what I was doing, I could achieve what I wanted. I believed him—and I followed through. Looking back at the list of goals I set back then, in my early days of self-discovery, most of these goals were eventually achieved, and this “writing of goals on a card” became a yearly ritual to help me to keep moving forward. This was 26 years ago, and while that “goal-setting” activity was an important lesson to learn, as we are revisiting these episodes, and planning out the roadmap for this review, I'm personally revisiting this question now, and refining my vision for the next 1, 3, 5 and 10 years. What about you, the listener? Wherever you are tuning in from, around the world. Do you have a clear written description of what it is that YOU want? If we never think about this important question, and clearly write it all out, I'm sure you will agree with me that life will pass by, and our results will stay exactly the same. So, as we walk through each interview together, digging into the lessons we might have missed, do this with your written vision of what it is that you want, right in front of you, to refine and improve along the way. “What do you REALLY want?”[iv] Now let's visit some of the pieces of wisdom I missed in EP 66, by reviewing our YouTube Shorts and see if we can take our understanding to new heights. VIDEO 1 Watch this YouTube Short SAGE ADVICE 1 “We have been given the mental faculties to create our own environment.” What exactly does this mean? In Episode 294, we explored these mental faculties in depth, revisiting the lessons Bob taught those 12 teenagers who forever changed the course of my life. That moment was the true starting point for me, and it began with this concept where I learned that if we can learn to live beyond our 5 senses (what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch” and begin to live through our higher faculties of mind (our reason, intuition, perception, will, memory, and imagination” we will take our results to unimaginable heights. Much of creating what I truly wanted in those early days began with my imagination, one of our mental faculties. The vision I wrote down on paper back then wasn't logical by any standard—but it was the understanding of these mental faculties that shaped my future. This is a good concept to revisit, to be sure that when setting goals, that we are tapping into these “higher faculties of our mind” and reaching for places, things, experiences that stretch us beyond what we know we are capable to achieving. These higher faculties are here to take us to these NEW heights that we can only see when we open up to the potential of new possibilities that we may never have thought of before. REMEMBER: “Imagination is the most marvelous, miraculous, inconceivably powerful force the world has ever known.” Napoleon Hill SAGE ADVICE 2 “There's only one mind.” When I first encountered this idea, it was in something I was reading that included a diagram—people connected like lightbulbs, all drawing from one main source. This can be seen as universal consciousness, or the collective consciousness, a reminder that we are all connected to each other and to the single intelligence behind all existence. It's a profound concept, but to me it simply means this: what I do matters, because it affects the whole. I believe our goal is to continually expand our awareness and deepen our consciousness—a feat that National Geographic describes as “the most astonishing act our big, complex, interconnected brains pull off, and scientists are only just beginning to understand” (The Brain, Julia Sklar). SAGE ADVICE 3 “We are a soul, we don't have one.” [v] This concept suggests that “the essence of a person is their soul” rather than their physical body. We did touch on the mind/body/soul connection with Marie Gervais on EP 214[vi] and I will always work on seeing the “spirit” of a person, and look deeper, than just taking what I “see” at face value. To better understand yourself and your goals, it makes sense to understand this concept that “we are a soul, we don't have one.” There is “perfection” within each of us, and that perfection is seeking expression (with and through us). I could spend an hour talking about this one from Thomas Troward's Dore Lectures of Mental Science where he explains that “My mind is A center of Divine operation. (think of a center of a basketball where there is power with movement, or so above/so below). The Divine operation is always for expansion and fuller expression, (we are always going to want more-if we are in sales, we will want more sales, if we are a runner, we will want to run faster. We will never be satisfied unless we are growing. We will always want to do what we do-better) and this means the production of something beyond what has gone before, (we have never done this thing YET) something entirely new, not included in past experience, though proceeding out of it by an orderly sequence of growth.” (this is HOW we move towards what we want, that thing that we imagined, something that takes us BEYOND where we have ever been…into a whole NEW place that in the beginning we could only see with our imagination, until one day…we are living this thing or live we imagined). And with just diving into 3 tips of wisdom from EP 66, there is so much more still to cover. REVIEW and CONCLUSION To wrap up this week's Episode 366—where we revisited a clip from Episode 66, our interview with Bob Proctor—we explored: ✔ Top Lesson from Episode 66 – Refining the question: “What do you really want to do with your life?” ✔ Sage Advice #1: “We have been given the mental faculties to create our own environment.” We explored how to go beyond our five senses and tap into the six higher faculties of our mind. ✔ Sage Advice #2: “There's only one mind.” We looked at how our actions matter because we are all deeply connected. ✔ Sage Advice #3: “We are a soul—we don't have one.” We reflected on the perfection within each of us, and how it continually drives us toward bigger and better possibilities. With that, we will close out this episode. I hope that reviewing our past interviews helps you to refine your goals this year, and work towards whatever it is that YOU really want.   I'll see you next week with PART 2 of our review of EP 66. There's a lot still left to explore from this one. Have a good week and don't forget to sign up to watch Bob Proctor's Legacy Movie https://www.bobproctorlegacy.com/  RELEASED August 10, 2025   RESOURCES Vishal Sharma Videographer Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vishal_is_here03/ My YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@vishalsharma00991?si=Tj4CFHAy5CYrGgYU    Our Conscious Mind and 5 Senses https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-our-conscious-mind-and-the-five-senses/     NEW MOVIE BOB PROCTOR'S LEGACY RELEASED AUG 10th 2025 https://www.bobproctorlegacy.com/    REFERENCES:   [i] Vishal Sharma Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vishal_is_here03/   [ii] Andrea's YouTube Shorts-created by Vishal Sharma https://www.youtube.com/@AndreaSamadi/shorts   [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #66 with The Legendary Bob Proctor  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on/ [iv] What Do You Really Want? Bob Proctor https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Gaf1uXjuPHc   [v] Bob Proctor We Are a Soul, We Don't Have One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFyBf8GDs3Y   [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #214 with Marie Gervais on The Spirit of Work  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/  

When I started the Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast, I felt called to bring diverse voices from different industries and professionals around the world to the world so we could all benefit from their experiences and wisdom. Today as I take the microphone for the last time, I thought listeners might want to know a few of our stats and milestones. Over the past 7 years, we have published 154 episodes featuring 132 interviews, and 22 solo episodes. That's 1,540 hours of work and 133,672 words in show note blogs, at a cost of $800-$1000 per month.Most downloaded interview episodes: Ashif Mawji – Leading From Behind, Even If You Know The Answers!Lewis Cardinal – It's All About RelationshipsTeresa Spinelli – One Big Human FamilyLaurika Booysen – I Am Because You AreMost downloaded Insights solo episodes:Decoding Procrastination Anxiety is not an EmotionMost downloaded Spirit of Work solo episodes:How the Soul Relates to WorkUsing the Virtues Sequence to Solve Workplace ProblemsI have loved interviewing our podcast guests, many of whom told me their interview experience was “cathartic” and “helped them understand themselves and their work journeys more clearly” or was “a more personal and insightful experience than any other podcast interview they had experienced.”In response I will say that I am proud to have brought so many beautiful and unique stories to the internet sound waves. These interviews are a legacy and will continue to be available on our website and on all podcast directories. It was also a joy to create the solo episodes although they involved lots more soul searching and research than I expected. It made me realize how much courage it takes for solo podcast hosts to put themselves out in public and increased my admiration for my colleague's work!These 154 episodes were created by me, Mike Kurlander who was our amazing audio engineer, the wonderful Malvika Kathpal and Bea Mugure on the show notes and our outstanding Berna Guadiz who created all the images, website uploads and social media images.I would like to leave you with two recent testimonials: Kasper Christiansen wrote: The Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast is a great listen! Marie Gervais provides expert insights and actionable advice on leadership and cultural diversity, making it invaluable for fostering inclusive and effective workplaces.Michal Spiegelman said: Marie's deep perspective on various topics, especially spirituality, truly enriches the content. The way she seamlessly connects broader subjects to workplace dynamics is both enlightening and practical. This podcast has given me a new appreciation for the cultural influences that shape leadership and communication within diverse professional environments.In closing, Culture and Leadership Connections has been a labour of love, and I certainly hope the many stories and insights will bring intangible benefits to thousands of listeners for years to come. Support the show

Introduction: In this transformative episode, we explore the intricate dynamics of modern workplace culture with Marie Gervais, a visionary leadership coach and author of The Spirit of Work. Together, we uncover actionable strategies to bring joy, emotional well-being, and resilience back into professional life. Through techniques like nervous system regulation, conscious communication, and fostering self-awareness, this discussion provides tools to create thriving, productive environments in the face of volatility.     Main Takeaways: Regulate Before You React: Emotional intelligence begins with managing your nervous system. Loneliness Is a Silent Epidemic: Connection is the cornerstone of workplace joy and productivity. Joy Is Sustainable: Resilience practices replace burnout with enduring happiness and growth.     Main Topics with Timestamps: Nervous System Regulation for Emotional Intelligence (15:25) Calmness starts with self-awareness and breathing, which can shift the fight-or-flight response. Recognizing the body's signals leads to better decision-making and emotional regulation. Quote: "The only autonomic function we can control is breathing. Start there, and you calm the nervous system." Explanation: Practicing conscious breathing allows for emotional clarity, creating space to respond rather than react impulsively, even in high-stress environments. Overcoming Workplace Loneliness (32:10) Virtual and hybrid work environments have amplified isolation. Building intentional connections combats loneliness and revitalizes workplace culture. Quote: "Workplace loneliness isn't just inconvenient—it's a direct barrier to career growth and emotional well-being." Explanation: Addressing loneliness fosters creativity, collaboration, and satisfaction, making intentional check-ins and shared activities essential for maintaining a sense of belonging. Resilience and the Power of Acceptance (47:50) Resilience is built gradually by accepting current emotions and taking small, deliberate steps toward growth. Joy comes from embracing what is, rather than pushing through with force. Quote: "Resilience isn't about toughness; it's about recognizing your limits and gently expanding them." Explanation: Acceptance reduces resistance and opens doors to change. This practice nurtures sustainable joy, replacing burnout with lasting fulfillment.     Notable Quotes: "Dopamine hits from stress are fleeting; joy is sustained when resilience becomes a habit." "Acceptance is not passive—it's the gateway to meaningful action and growth." "The workplace can be a sanctuary of joy when leaders foster safety, wellness, and learning." ✅Visit Our Website ➜ https://marnibattista.com/  ✅How to Eliminate Burnout: How to use the Radical Living Blueprint to Reinvent Your Life ➜ https://burnoutsolutions.training/ ✅Follow Us On Social Media ➜ https://www.instagram.com/marnibattista_   ✅Ready To Take Control Of Your Life? Book A Call With Us  ➜ https://mbplus3-inc.appts.site/15minutescall ✅ Marie's podcast  ➜ https://shiftworkplace.com/podcast/ ✅ Marie's website ➜ https://shiftworkplace.com/ ✅ The Spirit Of Workbook ➜ https://shiftworkplace.com/the-spirit-of-work/

Ever feel like your career carries invisible scars? In this episode, Amy Lynn sits down with Dr. Marie Gervais to uncover the impact of career trauma—from subtle stress to toxic workplaces—and how leaders can turn things around. Marie introduces her SWEL model (Safety, Wellness, Encouragement, and Learning) to help leaders create safe, inclusive environments where employees can thrive. Additional Resources: Discover Your Spiritual Intelligence at Work Connect with Amy Lynn Durham Learn More About Create Magic at Work More on PeopleForward Network Follow PeopleForward Network on LinkedIn Marie's Ted Talk Marie on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook  Key Takeaways: Understanding Career Trauma: Career trauma encompasses long-term effects from negative work experiences, ranging from exclusion to abusive behavior. This unaddressed trauma often impacts employees' mental health and workplace engagement. Safety First: Creating a safe environment—starting with simple breathing and self-regulation techniques—helps people feel secure and prevents them from reacting negatively to stressful situations. Building Workplace Connections: Addressing the loneliness epidemic starts with fostering genuine communication and connection within teams. Encouraging meaningful interactions, even small acknowledgments, can reduce isolation.

Mike "C-Roc," special guest Marie Gervais, an expert in emotional success and workplace happiness, joins the conversation. Marie dives into her journey of overcoming anxiety and how it has shaped her career in helping others navigate workplace distress, emotional regulation, and personal healing. A certified Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) practitioner, Marie shares insights from her book Spirit of Work: Timeless Wisdom, Current Realities, and discusses the emotional blocks many face in their careers. From her own experiences with anxiety rooted in her upbringing to her transformative work in coaching, Marie highlights the powerful connection between emotional health and professional success. Tune in to hear Marie's personal story, practical advice for workplace happiness, and how emotional freedom can change your life. Website-https://shiftworkplace.com Social Media Links/Handles https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaderstraining/ https://www.facebook.com/ShiftWorkPlace

Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast! In episode 345, we continue our 18-week self-leadership series based on Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches. This week, we dive into Chapter 15, exploring the neuroscience of relationships and authenticity. We revisit key insights on relationship-building from past episodes and introduce the concept of authenticity, drawing on reflections from Andrea Samadi and insights from Mohamed Issa's forthcoming book. Learn what authenticity means, how it impacts our lives, and practical steps for fostering genuine connections with others. Discover the balance between the reflexive and reflective systems in our brain, and how understanding these can enhance our social interactions. Reflect on your unique gifts and talents, and find out how to nurture them to build deeper, more authentic relationships. Join us for an enlightening episode that blends neuroscience with practical advice, helping you to live a more authentic life and improve your personal and professional relationships. On today's episode #345 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick's “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant's book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. On today's EPISODE #345 “The Neuroscience of Relationships and Authenticity” we will cover: ✔ A review of one of our FIRST interviews, with Greg Wolcott EP #7, July 2019 on his book Significant 72 ✔ Ch. 15 from Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership book on “Relationships and Authenticity ✔ A review of Mo Issa's definition of Authenticity from his book, The Shift: How to Awaken to the Aliveness Within ✔ The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain ✔ 4 Steps to Building More Authentic Relationships For Today, EPISODE #345, we are moving on to Chapter 15, reviewing “The Neuroscience of Relationships and Authenticity.” We've covered relationships on this podcast, right back to the beginning, with Greg Wolcott EP #7, (July 2019) with his book Significant 72: Unleashing the Power of Relationships in Today's Classrooms. Greg Wolcott, an Assistant Superintendent from Chicago, IL, has dedicated his life to this topic through his work at Signficant72.com.[iii] It's here where you can learn more about Greg's Relationship Mindset Movement, his book, tools, and resources to improve student-teacher relationships in the classroom. Relationships are also one of the six social and emotional competencies that we built our podcast framework upon, knowing how important relationship skills are for our well-being and future success. “Social relationships—both quantity and quality—affect mental health, health behavior, physical health, and (even our) mortality risk.”[iv] If you've taken the leadership self-assessment[v], look to see if Relationships and Authenticity (in Pathway 6, our final pathway in this book study) along with biases, trust and empathy is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. I was not surprised to see this pathway is a high area of focus for me. While we have covered relationship building often on this podcast, the one topic we have NOT covered yet is authenticity. This is interesting timing for me, as I'm currently reading a book by a good friend, Mohammed Issa[vi], where he covers the topic of authenticity, in depth. It's the title of chapter 8 of his forthcoming book, The Midlife Shift[vii] (Reclaiming My Authenticity). I remember years before Mo wrote this book, I could tell he was thinking deeply about this topic. In 2021 he sent me a message, and asked me “what does living an authentic life mean to you?” I take questions from Mo seriously over the years. I know he's not messing around. I can go back to my notes from 2021 and I can see that I wrote a few pages of “what authenticity means to me.” These notes are important for today's episode, and when we meet with Mo the middle of next month. I wrote: Authenticity: is being genuine or real. What's authentic for me personally—it's living life according to my values. And this takes ongoing refinement. I know what's important and what drives me daily (health is at the top of my value chart, and I'd never compromise it—it's first, what I focus on the minute I wake up, and close my eyes at the end of each day). Living life authentically for me, is putting health as my backbone of strength, which I've found helps me to skyrocket my personal and professional life. It's been this way for me, for as long as I can remember. Living an authentic original life: means living who I am by design. After health, I prioritize what unique expressions I want in my life—growth/challenge (come next) and these things that I value make me authentic/and uniquely me. I have to fight for these values in my life—to go after them, and keep them at my forefront, because only I know what's best for me here. If I'm not putting health first, (for myself and my family) or learning, growing, researching, and then disseminating/sharing what I've learned, I'm not living my true authentic self. It will hurt my productivity if I compromise who I am, at this granular level. I took some time off from producing episodes earlier this year, and while it was great to have this extra time, I ended up using this time for things that didn't truly make me happy at the soul level, like this work does. What about you? What does authenticity mean to you? How do you know when you are living a truly authentic life? It's eye-opening once we know this about ourselves, so we can course correct, when we veer off this path of authenticity. Do you know what is special about you? What are your unique gift/talent that makes you stand out from others? A talent that you know deep inside that you must keep working and perfecting, as it's this talent that awakens your aliveness? I love how Mo Issa defines authenticity, which shows up as a theme in all his books. After years of self-reflection, Mo believes that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift). Getting back to Chapter 15 of Grant Bosnick's book; what does he have to say about being authentic? Bosnick says that before we can build authentic relationships with others, he has us consider what authenticity means to us first. He says that being authentic is: “being real, being honest and true with yourself, being vulnerable, letting go of your own ego, looking not only at what you like about yourself, but also the “darker part that can be improved or changed (I've heard this called our “shadow work”) and having the courage, humility, and discipline to take a hard look in the mirror at who you are.” (Chapter 15, Relationships, Bosnick). Bosnick covers what holds us back from being authentic and he lists: “fear of being vulnerable, fear of rejection, fear of judgment, fear of abandonment, competitiveness, insecurity, self-protection, jealousy, fear of not being good enough” well I pretty much resonated with the entire list. Some of his list more than others, but right up there, for me, would be “fear of not being good enough” which I've been working on for the past 25 years. When I let go, finally, of caring what other people think of me, it was probably the most freeing experience I've ever felt. Sure, it's nice to be liked by others, but also, to know that not everyone will connect with who I am, the authentic me, and to let go of caring about that, is freeing. Being Authentic: What does this mean to you? Do any of the items on Bosnick's list keep you from being truly authentic?  He asks us some reflection questions: What might be holding you back from being truly authentic? What can you do, even small steps, to help you feel more comfortable with being who you are? Being truly authentic? Being Fake or Superficial Bosnick goes on to describe why some people show up as fake or superficial. I always think of the character Eddie Haskel from the TV Show Leave it to Beaver when I'm thinking of a “fake” person. He was always trying to impress Mrs. Cleaver, and he came across as insincere. We can all spot people like this, and Bosnick reminds us of why people can come across this way. He says that “it's in our comfort zone, we want to be liked, it's easier, our ego gets in the way (and that change can be difficult) when we don't have the courage, humility and discipline needed to take a hard look in the mirror at who we are.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 177). What are some reasons for not being authentic? Bosnick thinks “insecurity, jealousy, inner competitiveness, fear, self-protection” can keep us from not showing others our true selves, and in turn, we can appear fake or superficial. Brene Brown writes about The Power of Vulnerability[viii] as the “birthplace of joy, belonging, authenticity and love” in her 2012 book, with suggestions for how to prevent us from appearing fake in this process. Her book teaches us “how to practice courage, and accept imperfection, to embrace vulnerability and acknowledge our fears.”[ix] She dives into exploring the power of authenticity, of being true to our feelings, thoughts, and actions as the backbone to living an authentic life. With this in mind, going back to Bosnick's book, he mentions that he struggled with being vulnerable, with letting others see his true authentic self, and felt he needed to protect himself, but when he “let people see the real me. It was so rewarding and felt so good (and) freeing (so he then) decided to have the courage to be authentic and real.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 177) He was fully aware that some people might not like him, but he knew that was ok, as he knew he would build the right relationships, with those who did. Reflection on Being Authentic He then asks the reader to reflect: What holds you back from truly being authentic? How can you become more comfortable with being authentic? I went back to Mo Issa's definition that we covered in the beginning of this episode that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift). We will go deeper into Mo Issa's work when we meet with him next month, but I think that this is what we are supposed to discover about ourselves (FIRST) through self-awareness, and only then, (once we are clear on who we are) can we build more authentic relationships with others. To close out Bosnick's chapter 15, on relationships and authenticity, he does cover being self-focused vs other-focused, valuing differences, overcoming our own egos, and putting other people first, which was the theme of Simon Sinek's famous book, Leaders Eat Last.[x] Simon Sinek penned this book when he noticed that some teams trusted each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives were offered, were doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why Sinek wondered? Well, the answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general who said "Officers eat last." Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care. Bosnick calls this “other focused” and reminds us that “in order to build truly authentic relationships, we need to overcome our own ego and put others first.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 182). Bosnick does cover the different needs of extroverts and introverts, that we have covered on EP 186[xi] as well as different behavioral styles that can help us to learn how to better interact with other people who have different “styles” than we do. The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain To close out chapter 15, Bosnick goes into the Neuroscience of Our “Social Brain” and covers the story of the famous Phineas Gage, Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient.[xii]  Without going too deep into the neuroscience, Bosnick explains that “we have two systems in our brain: the X-system and the C-system. The X-system (or reflexive system) is automatic, responsive, like/dislike, reward/threat. Since this part of our brain is non-thinking, it's not affected by our mental load. The C-system (or reflective system) is controlled, conscious, with executive function and executive control.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). Motivation and effort are required to engage this part of the brain, and it can be affected by our mental load. X-system (reflexive)=automatic C-system (reflective) =we need motivation and effort to activate The story of Phineas Gage goes like this: “in 1948 in the United States, (he) survived a blast while building a railroad, which shot a tamping iron through the front part of his brain. Remarkably, he survived. However, his behavior had changed. Where before, he was a mild-tempered, respecting person, his behavior was now to seek reward without consequences, operating only by habit, (and he turned) rude…He destroyed the C-system, (his controlled thinking) operating on X-system only. In other words, he had no control over his automatic, reflexive system, and his behavior became unbearable as a result. He treated everybody as an object for his own personal reward.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). The C-system, (that requires motivation and effort to activate) Bosnick explains, is important for self-reflection and understanding self/other relations and occurs in the front (middle) part of our brain. We know this part of our brain as the Default Mode Network[xiii], and the part of our brain where we take breaks for creativity, thinking and learning to occur. He adds to our understanding here by saying that “when the brain is at a resting state, this specific system kicks in, which is focused around social understanding (thinking about yourself, others' thoughts, others' actions etc.).” Bosnick reminds us to “stare out the window and do nothing and (says) your life will thank you, and it will help you to build more authentic relationships. This was the whole idea behind EP 48[xiv], on Using Brain Network Theory to Stay Productive During Times of Chaos. Bosnick Reminds Us to Go Slow to Go Fast I can't even tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “go slow, to go fast” this week, and here it is at the end of chapter 15. Bosnick says that “in order to build truly authentic relationships with people, we need to go slow, to go fast.” He suggests that we “slow down the conversation with people, truly listen to them empathetically and be fully present with them. This will build the relationship to be deeper…go slow with the conversation and communication in order to go fast with the depth of the relationship.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 187). Reflection Activity: Building More Authentic Relationships Bosnick suggests the following reflection activity for building more authentic relationships. Think of a person in your business, or personal life, that you would like to build a more authentic relationship with. How would you describe them? Are they introverted/extroverted? What are their behavior styles? How do they approach authenticity and relationships? Let your brain go into your Default Mode Network. Stare out of a window and think: what could you do to build a more authentic relationship with each of the people you are thinking of? How can you go slow to go fast? I will add one final step, that came from the quote from Mo Issa and suggest that once we have done the work ourselves, and know what makes us truly authentic, we know our own unique gifts and talents, and we continue to nurture and grow them, we can next look outward, and recognize the unique talents and gifts in others. We covered this practice extensively on EP 214 with Dr. Marie Gervais[xv], by learning to see the “spirit” in others. I'm confident that by practicing these steps, with each person we want to build a deeper, more authentic relationship with, (whether in our personal or professional lives) that we will notice strides of improvement, once we have identified and appreciated our own authenticity and uniqueness. Then, we can recognize it in others for the magic to occur.  REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week's episode #345 on “The Neuroscience of Relationships and Authenticity” we covered: ✔ Mo Issa's definition of authenticity from his book The Shift: How to Awaken the Aliveness from Within Mo believes that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift). ✔ Andrea's reflection from 2021 when Mo Issa asked her “what does authenticity mean to you?” What's authentic for me—it's living life according to my values. Living who I am by design. If I'm not putting health first, (for myself and my family) or learning, growing, researching, and then disseminating/sharing what I've learned, I'm not living my true authentic self. It will hurt my productivity if I compromise who I am, at this granular level. ✔ We ask the reader to consider: What makes YOU authentic? ✔ How do you know when you are living a truly authentic life? ✔ Have you identified your unique gifts or talents that make you stand out from others? ✔ Do you know what might be holding you back from being truly authentic? ✔ The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain “We have two systems in our brain: the X-system and the C-system. The X-system (or reflexive system) is automatic, responsive, like/dislike, reward/threat. The C-system (or reflective system) is controlled, conscious, with executive function and executive control.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). Motivation and effort are required to engage this part of the brain. The story of Phineas Gage who destroyed the C-system, in his brain and was operating on X-system only. In other words he had no control over his automatic, reflexive system, and his behavior became unbearable as a result. The C-system, (that requires motivation and effort to activate) we learned, is important for self-reflection and understanding self/other. We know this part of our brain as the Default Mode Network[xvi], and the part of our brain where we take breaks for creativity, thinking and learning to occur. “When the brain is at a resting state, this specific system kicks in, which is focused around social understanding (thinking about yourself, others' thoughts, others' actions etc.).” We learned to get into this resting state by “staring out of a window and do nothing (except reflecting on what else we can do to improve our relationships) and this knowledge that we uncover will help us to build more authentic relationships. We learned to slow down the conversation with people, truly listen to them empathetically and be fully present with them. This will build the relationship to be deeper…go slow with the conversation and communication in order to go fast with the depth of the relationship.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). ✔ 4 Steps to Building More Authentic Relationships Think of a person in your business, or personal life, that you would like to build a more authentic relationship with. Get to know them on a deeper level. How would you describe them? Are they introverted/extroverted? How do they approach authenticity and relationships? Let your brain go into your Default Mode Network. Stare out of a window and think: what could you do to build a more authentic relationship with each of the people you are thinking of? How can you go slow with your conversation to go fast with the depth of the relationship? And finally, we looked at the quote from Mo Issa that suggests that once we have done the work ourselves, and know what makes us truly authentic, once we know our own unique gifts and talents, and we continue to nurture and grow them, next, we can look outward, and recognize the unique talents and gifts in others. I will close out this episode with a quote from Mo Issa's second book, The Shift that says “we all have a primal need to belong—a human urge to be part of something larger than us. We fulfill that need when we connect authentically to exchange energy and feel seen, heard and valued.” (Mo Issa) Let me know what you think. Did this episode help you to improve your authenticity, and deepen your relationships? I know this episode will take time to practice and refine. It's taken me my lifetime so far to fully embrace my unique talents and gifts, where I recognize my own authenticity. Now I've got the rest of my life to take this understanding and help me to build stronger, deeper relationships with others. And with that thought, I'll see you next time where we will cover chapter 16 from Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, on biases. REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat' Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/ [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #7 with Greg Wolcott on “Building Relationships in Today's Classrooms”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/greg-wolcott-on-building-relationships-in-todays-classrooms/ [iii] www.significant72.com [iv] Social Relationships and Health:  A Flashpoint for Health Policy Published August 4, 2011, by Debra Umberson and Jennifer Karas Montez  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/ [v] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick's book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/ [vi] www.mo-issa.com   [vii] The Midlife Shift by Mo Issa https://www.mo-issa.com/book (COMING SOON). [viii] The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-Audiobook/ [ix] The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/the-power-of-vulnerability-en [x] Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek 2014, https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/1591845327 [xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 186 on “Using Neuroscience to Understand the Introverted vs Extroverted Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-using-neuroscience-to-understand-the-introverted-and-extroverted-brain/ [xii]Phineas Gage, Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/ [xiii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #48 “Brain Network Theory” https://www.achieveit360.com/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/ [xiv] IBID [xv]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #214 on “The Spirit of Work: Connecting Science and Business Practices and Sacred Texts for a Happier and Healthier Workplace”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/ [xvi] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #48 “Brain Network Theory” https://www.achieveit360.com/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/    

“Honoring our loved ones means respecting and appreciating them, learning about them, and perpetuating their stories and life lessons after they are gone.” New York Times Best Selling Author, Brendon Burchard. Happy 80th Birthday Mom and THANK YOU to ALL past guests. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/dzZZSHAyKFs On Today's MILESTONE EPISODE #300 we will cover:  ✔ 12 Life Lessons from my Mom, Hazel MacPhail for "How to Live the Good Life" Inspired by Brendon Burchard ✔ Life Lesson tips from Majid Samadi ✔ How Majid and Hazel both moved to a new country, and rose from the bottom of their field, to the top. ✔ Success and Mindset Strategies they both used. ✔ Honoring those who have influenced us to rise to greater heights in our life.     Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (that's finally being taught in our schools today) and emotional intelligence training (used in our modern workplaces) for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren't taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I'm Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to uncover the most current research that would back up how the brain learns best, taking us ALL to new, and often unimaginable heights.    For today's episode, #300, I wanted to do something special, something magical for this important milestone, and I knew what it would be a few months ago. Listeners who tune into this podcast might know that I bring guests on to help ALL of us to learn and apply the most current research to help us to improve our productivity and results, but there's a lot more to it than that. I heard author and speaker Brendon Burchard explain this concept in 2014 when I first began interviewing experts, and his thoughts changed me deeply. In his YouTube video Interview Those You Love, Before They Are Gone[i] he asks “how do you honor people who are important to you?” You know, the people who have taught you something that changed you in a positive way? Some people send gifts to these people, but not Brendon. He made a pact to do something unique to honor these change-makers and when I heard what he did, I thought “I want to do exactly the same thing as Brendon Burchard.” After all, he is the author of the book High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Became That Way[ii]. He suggested that a special way to honor someone who has made a difference in your life is to interview them, and ask for their words of wisdom, that will be recorded for you, and others to hear, forever. That's exactly what I have done with this podcast, starting with my husband, Majid Samadi, who influences me daily, and then if you look through the guests I've asked to come on the podcast, you will now know they were all intentional for me to honor the difference they made with my work, character, the direction and understanding in this thing we call life, and how to live “the good life.” Brendon suggests that instead of sending them a gift, the best way to honor these people in your life is to first of all tell them directly the difference they've made for you, how specifically they have helped you, and then carry their voice forward, in yours, with an interview. I know that each person I've interviewed has a clear picture of how they helped me specifically, and now their message helps others, all around the world. I've got to say that sometimes the messages you'll receive from other to improve yourself aren't easy to hear, but if they are delivered with love, with your growth in mind, listening to this feedback can make a profound difference in your life. I'll never forget the interview I did with best-selling author John Assaraf, from EP #39[iii] (that was actually recorded in 2015) because it was John who gave me feedback on the program I created, that was going into schools, (not in this interview) but he told me directly, face to face, that I had to redo everything, and he used the exact words that I clearly have never forgotten, “your baby (which was my membership site at the time) is ugly” and he said, you can't charge people money for this. I remember thinking “well, shoot, if I had millions of dollars in my bank like you I wouldn't have had to code the whole website on my own” but I put my defensive mind aside, and redid the site, before selling it to anyone. And then when my programs went into the schools, I had more feedback, and an uncomfortable meeting with educator Jeff Kleck[iv], who told me all the parts of my work that he recommended I change, replacing the old, with the most current brain research (that at the time, I knew nothing about). I didn't like hearing this feedback at all, and it was a lot of hard work to fix both the membership site with John's feedback and write a whole new book, with Jeff Klecks's, but I'm so grateful for everyone who gave me advice to improve personally and professionally. I'm sure you can think of those who have done this for you. Imagine if we all reached out to those who impacted us this way, let them know how they helped us, and then glean some wisdom from them to help others? Imagine a world like this? That's what I've done since 2019 with this podcast. I've been very intentional about WHO I've asked as a guest, and today's guest is someone very special in my life, who is responsible for the person I am today, literally. Today's guest is my Mom, Hazel MacPhail. My Mom will join my husband, Majid Samadi and I for a conversation that I hope will bring some insight to you, wherever you tune in around the world. My Mom was born August 10th 1943 in Haslemere,  Surrey, England and named Hazel Frances Bernhardt.  She married my Dad, Francis (Frank) Greenshields MacPhail in the sixties and emigrated to Canada with him and my two sisters Karen, and Christine in 1973. She met my Dad in The Carioca Club, that she said was a coffee bar hang out for young people on the seafront at Worthing Sussex, her Mom's home town and where she spent to first 10 years of her life before moving to Goring in Sussex, a few miles away. I was 2 when my parents emigrated to Toronto, Canada, where I grew up, before moving to the United States in early 2001. My Mom will answer the questions I've picked out for her from a unique perspective of someone who had to start her life over from scratch, in a new country, and Majid will bring his experience of moving to the United States from Iran when he was 10. I'm hoping you will find their insight and ideas from my Mom on “How to Live The Good Life” to be empowering, inspiring and useful, as they will both share their legacy stories from the point of view of someone who had to build something out of nothing. Let's meet my Mom, Hazel MacPhail and welcome Majid Samadi back for his 4th time on the podcast and I'm going to ask them some of the questions that New York Times Best-Selling Author, Brendon Burchard suggests for Interviewing Someone You Love. INTERVIEW SOMEONE YOU LOVE ABOUT LIFE Some Questions by Brendon Burchard Welcome Hazel and Majid! Thank you for coming on the podcast today. Mom, it's been a long time since I called you Hazel…maybe over 20 years ago when I was your swimming teacher.  Welcome and thanks for being here, and welcome back Majid, for your 4th time on the podcast. INTRO: Mom, you would know by now that I do these podcasts, and interview people all over the world to glean their wisdom and advice. Today, I wanted to ask you some questions so you can share your words of wisdom with our audience that spans over 190 countries, around the world. Can we start to orient our listeners with both of your backgrounds? Q1: Hazel: What comes to mind when you think about growing up in [England-The Quadrant]?   Majid: What comes to mind when you think about growing up in Iran?    Q2: Hazel and Majid: What made you decide to move to a new country? Majid: What was it like coming to the US without knowing how to speak the language?   Q3: Hazel and Majid: How did you choose your career? What did you like the most/least about it?   Q4: Hazel and Majid: What made you successful at work?   Q5: Hazel and Majid: What helped you through difficult times?   Q6: Hazel and Majid: What events most shaped your life?   Q7: Hazel and Majid: What words best describe who you tried to be in life and how you want to be remembered?   Q8: Hazel and Majid: What have you learned about other people in life?   Q9: Hazel and Majid: What are you most proud of in life?   Q10: Hazel and Majid: Final thoughts?   Mom, and Majid, I want to thank you both for coming on the podcast today, and helping me to share your message with our listeners, and leave a part of your legacy with mine. I can't tell you enough how grateful I am to have had this opportunity today. I hope your lessons help others, and specifically, I do hope that others follow Brendon Burchard's lead, and interview those who have impacted them in their lifetime. This has been an incredible experience that I'll never forget. Thank you. FINAL THOGHTS: All episodes are special and important to me, but this one, came full circle from where we began in June 2019. Some things aren't easy to see looking forward, but so clear when you connect the dots, looking backwards, like Steve Jobs is famous for saying. When I asked my Mom to come on the podcast and record an episode with my husband, I had no idea that we would record the weekend before my Mom's 80th Birthday on August 10th, so I knew I had to release this episode on her 80th Birthday, as a thank you for all that she did for me that took me to where I am today. It was my Mom, Hazel, who sat with me every morning, planning the best way for me to move to the United States, and what I would do when I arrived. She didn't foresee September 11th happening, or any of the hardships, but she told me many times that it would be hard work, but I would be very happy. I believed her, because over the years I learned to trust her instinct and magical intuition. She would spend hours every night studying for these work tests, in the insurance industry (she said they were the Lomas Tests) and after she had passed all of these tests, I noticed she was still studying at night. I wondered what she was studying, and knew in my heart it was important work. My Mom worked hard at her craft, but she worked equally as hard at developing the faculties of her mind. If you ask me, this is what gave her an edge over others in her life, helped her through difficult times raising us kids, and especially helped her when she had to overcome Uterine Cancer. I noticed the hard work she put into this study, and watching her motivated me to do the same. It's sort of contagious when you see someone else working hard, and yielding the results from this work, and this what I'm doing when I am driven to keep learning, and sharing with you here on the podcast. I want to carry my Mom's legacy forward, in my work. To close out this episode, I'll review the TOP 12 Life Lessons I picked out from her words today, and hope it helps you in some way. LESSON 1: Be Clear About the Part of Your Life That Shapes You the Most: She remembered hers, and I know mine. It's not the easy times that I know changed me, it those difficult challenging times. So if you are IN difficult, and challenging times now, know they will end, and you will be a better person because of them. LESSON 2: Say “YES” to every job to move your career forward. I talk about this in my most recent book, Level Up[v], in the chapter on Persistence, with the words of the late Art Linkletter, who had no business experience, but created a highly popular TV show back in the 1950s and 1960s called Kids Say the Darndest Things.  When I heard him speak years ago, his whole message was about persistence, saying he had to interview 27,000 children to get the ones that were really good that went on television. He also mentioned that his biggest regret in life was saying no to a business opportunity with his good friend Walt Disney, who took him to these orange groves, and tried to paint the picture of Disneyland for him, but he couldn't see his friends vision. Say “yes” to everything, just like my Mom said, so you don't miss out on a partnership like Disneyland like Art did. LESSON 3: Keep Learning New Skills. This is what I watched my Mom doing at night after long days at the office, and what motivates me to keep learning. What is it that keeps YOU coming back and learning from podcasts, or listening to us today? LESSON 4: Have a sense of humor. This one, I don't have any tips for, as this is not my strength. Majid is better at this one than me, as I'm usually the more serious one. LESSON 5: Learn how to solve difficult problems and know where to go when you get stuck with something. This is one of the reasons why I do this podcast, to share tools and resources we can all use to help move us forward. LESSON 6: Learn to be resourceful. This is something I remember John Assaraf saying in our interview together (EP #39)[vi] that made a difference in his early life. He talked about ways he would think creatively when he didn't have enough money to do things, and this creativity spilled over into his life today, helping him to see ways forward, around roadblocks. LESSON 7: ALWAYS LEARN FROM OTHERS. If you keep reading books, listening to ideas, you can learn to do some outstanding things, all from others. LESSON 8: There's more good people in the world than bad. See the good in people. We cover this on EP#214[vii] with Marie Gervais and her book “The Spirit of Work.” LESSON 9: Learn to read people. My Mom taught me Theory of Mind that we covered on EP 46[viii] when I told her I needed help with this skill. We took this a whole bunch of levels deeper with EP#163[ix] with Dan Hill, the faces guy, on his episode that taught us “How to Read the Emotions in Others in Schools, Sports and the Workplace.” This skill, when practiced, will give you information quickly about another person, as our eyes really are the mirrors to our soul. LESSON 10: Thank people who have moved your forward somehow. That was the whole point of this episode that I mention in the backstory. Find those who have helped YOU along the way, and let them know. LESSON 11: Learn from our challenging experiences.  This one doesn't need any explanation. LESSON 12: Finally, the last words of wisdom from my Mom, have no regrets in life. And with that, I'll close out our 300th episode, dedicated to Mom, Hazel on her 80th Birthday. Happy Birthday Mom. I love you, and am so grateful to have had this opportunity to record your words of wisdom, for others around the world to hear. I also want to honor the words of wisdom from ALL our past guests today, as we reach this important milestone, and I'll see you next week! RESOURCES: Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EP46 “As Close to Mind Reading as Brain Science Gets: Developing and Using Theory of Mind.” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/as-close-to-mind-reading-as-brain-science-gets-developing-and-using-theory-of-mind-in-your-daily-life/ REFERENCES: [i]Interview Those You Love, Before They Are Gone Brendon Burchard September 27, 2014  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlOAdFFOipE   [ii] High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Became That Way by Brendon Burchard Published September 19, 2017 https://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Habits-Extraordinary-People/dp/1401952852   [iii]Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #32 with John Assaraf   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/john-assaraf-on-brain-training-resourcefulness-and-the-future/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #246 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jeff-kleck-on-using-neuroscience-to-inspire-thinkers-in-schools-sport-and-the-workplace/   [v] Level Up by Andrea Samadi Published September 15th, 2014  https://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Brain-Based-Skyrocket-Achievement-ebook/dp/B078V3L7FT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NJIK1905GS7P&keywords=level+up+andrea+samadi&qid=1691593337&sprefix=level+up+andrea+samadi%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1   [vi] Neuroscience Meets SEL Episode #32 with John Assaraf   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/john-assaraf-on-brain-training-resourcefulness-and-the-future/   [vii]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EP214 with Marie Gervais on “The Spirit of Work” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/   [viii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EP46 “As Close to Mind Reading as Brain Science Gets: Developing and Using Theory of Mind.” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/as-close-to-mind-reading-as-brain-science-gets-developing-and-using-theory-of-mind-in-your-daily-life/   [ix] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EP163 with Dan Hill on “How to Read the Emotions in Others in Schools, Sports and the Workplace.” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dan-hill-phd-the-faces-guy-on-how-to-read-the-emotions-in-others-for-schools-sports-and-the-workplace/  

Welcome to Episode 94 of The Future of Work, the podcast that looks at every aspect of work in the future, featuring industry experts and thought leaders discussing how work is changing and evolving. The Future of Work is NOW.In the past 2 episodes with author and leadership coach Dr. Marie Gervais, we have looked into the world of spirituality in the workplace and discovered amongst other things that by thinking, speaking, and doing soul-enhancing actions we can create a happier, more productive, and more profitable business.In this final episode we ask Marie to tell us a bit about how her multicultural upbringing has influenced the work she has done. We also look at how we can better be preparing the youth for work.

Welcome to Episode 93 of The Future of Work, the podcast that looks at every aspect of work in the future, featuring industry experts and thought leaders discussing how work is changing and evolving. The Future of Work is NOW.In this podcast, we continue our practical conversation with leadership coach and author Dr. Marie Gervais. Asking the main question of how do you marry building a more spiritually elevated workplace with the pressures of running a for-profit business. We look at Marie's SWEL (Safety, Well-being, Encouragement, and Learning ) model and find out what the Justice Quotient is.

Welcome to Episode 92 of The Future of Work, the podcast that looks at every aspect of work in the future, featuring industry experts and thought leaders discussing how work is changing and evolving. The Future of Work is NOW.For the next three episodes we are joined by Dr. Marie Gervais, a leadership coach, author and fellow podcaster who believes that a happy workplace is a productive and profitable one. And we aim to unpack that and see exactly what Marie means when she says we should think, speak and do sole enhancing rather than sole diminishing actions.In this first episode we get back to basics and explore the changes in cultural awareness in the workplace following the pandemic.

Dr. Marie Gervais is the CEO of Shift Management Inc., specializing in helping people grow into supervisory and managerial positions build their leadership confidence and skills to support their teams in meeting business objectives effectively. Utilizing online courses and web coaching, Shift Management's methods have been successfully implemented and used by managers and career developers across populations and contexts.A Ph.D. holder in Culture and Learning in the Workplace and a sought-after speaker, writer, and curriculum developer, her work is renowned for integrating and integrating the diverse workforce. She has coached more than 500 supervisors, managers, and business owners for career and business success. One of her frameworks in workplace capacity is the S.W.E.L. model of safety, wellness, encouragement, and learning.In line with her work, she currently hosts the Culture and Leadership Connections podcast, where she interviews leaders in various professions. Her publications span industry and academic journals on topics including the future of work, workplace communication, productivity, and psychological safety in the workplace.She is also a musician, creative writer, and visual artist outside her profession. Dr. Marie lives in Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband, Roger Gervais, a neuropsychologist specializing in workplace testing.Dr. Marie's mission is to build workplace capacity characterized by authentic communications that recognize people for who they are. Her book "The Spirit of Work," which tackles the fascinating relationship between people and work using a combination of ancient wisdom, modern science, and real-world business examples, will be available for purchase this May 2022. She is looking forward to share her insights with your listeners!Rebel HR is a podcast for HR professionals and leaders of people who are ready to make some disruption in the world of work.We'll be discussing topics that are disruptive to the world of work and talk about new and different ways to approach solving those problems.Follow Rebel HR Podcast at:www.rebelhumanresources.comhttps://twitter.com/rebelhrguyhttps://www.facebook.com/rebelhrpodcastwww.kyleroed.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-roed/Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast.  I'm Andrea Samadi, and launched this podcast just over 3 years ago, with a vision to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and help all of us (whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace) to understand the most current brain research, and how to use it, for improved productivity and results. For this week's Brain Fact Friday, I want to leverage off something we've been talking about on the past few episodes, that we are all unique, and our brain makes us this way with “a pattern of connectivity as unique as our fingerprints.” (Deane Alban).   Have you ever wondered “what makes you unique from others? Or why you do things a certain way?” I certainly have wondered this, and I think back to the days I worked in the motivational speaking industry and when discussing how change occurs, we went straight to the importance of understanding our paradigms, or habitual behavior and that if we want to experience change, we would need to change these habits, that began with changing our thoughts, feelings and actions, to attain the newly desired results. But now I see that there's a simple answer to why we are unique, or do things in a certain way. I recently came across Chantel Prat's book, The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours[i] and I thought back to last week's Brain Fact Friday, and EP 244[ii] where we looked at how we are all unique, and it's our brain that makes us this way, and I wondered what we could learn from Chantel's book, that just came out last month, to help us to figure out who we are, with our brain in mind. I haven't finished reading her book yet, but the answer to “why we do what we do” stems from the fact that “my brain makes me this way.” (location 34, The Neuroscience of You, Prat). Prat tells the story of when she first realized this to be true, when she took a course that described the famous story of Phineas Gage, who was a railway worker who made an error that caused an iron spike to blast through his left cheek and out the top of his head, and this essentially changed the personality of Phineas Gage. For this week's Brain Fact Friday, I'm taking this AHA moment from Chantel Prat's The Neuroscience of You to help us to understand ourselves on a deeper level. “If you change your brain, you change the person.” I could think about this one for the next year! I'm always looking for ways that we can improve our productivity and results, (and change ourselves for the better) and it would make sense to me that if we want to change ourselves in any way, that this change must take place in the brain, which will change the person. How exactly do we change our brain? Chantel Prat tells us that we can soak our brain in cortisol by increasing our stress levels, and this in fact will change our brain. But that's not the change I'm looking for. Or we can shrink our brain with the research that Dr. Andrew Huberman[iii] provided for us on his eye-opening podcast episode on “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain and Health” which is also not the answer I was looking for. Or we can repeatedly take certain actions to strengthen the neural pathways or “roads” in our brain, and with time, these pathways strengthen, making whatever we are learning simpler, and easier to perform. This is getting closer to the change I'm hoping we all can attain. When we do something over and over again, eventually we will change our brain in the process, like the London taxi drivers, whose memory center, or the hippocampus in their brain, was significantly larger due to the mental workout they get while navigating the 25,00 streets of London. So, for this week's Brain Fact Friday, I want to stop and think for a moment about how each person we interact with, has a brain that's unique from ours.  We can go all the way back to EP #168[iv] where Dr. Bruce Perry taught us that our brains are different based on our life's experiences, or “What's happened to us” and rather than judging someone who is different than we are, to work on getting to that place of understanding with each person we interact with. Dr. Ginger told us on EP#243[v] that the biggest AHA moment of learning she's had in all the years of covering Brain Science on her podcast, was that we are all different, and perceive the world in different ways, and that if we could embrace each other's differences, the world would have less conflict and be a better place. Chantel Prat said the same thing in her book, The Neuroscience of You when she said, “As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has, or ever will have.” We are all unique and our brain makes us this way. When you look at people (your co-workers, your friends, family members) what do you see? Do you see the “spirit” in each person, like Dr. Gervais talked about on EP #214[vi] on her book, The Spirit of Work where she connected science and business for a happier, more productive workplace, by making sure we all saw the “spirit” or uniqueness of each individual? REVIEW and CONCLUSION To review and close out this week's Brain Fact Friday We are all unique and our brain makes us this way. (Prat) If we want to change ourselves in any way, whether it's to attain new results, or become a new person, it will involve change at the level of our brain. We can change our brain for the better, by repeatedly taking action towards our goals, and strengthening our “roads” or neural pathways. We can also change our brains for the worse. As human beings, our job is to help people realize how rare and valuable each of us really is. (Prat) I don't have all the answers yet and maybe I'll know more after I finish reading The Neuroscience of You, but I think it's fascinating to see how we have the ability to become an entirely different person, just from changing our brains. And we can make this change from learning and applying something new, growing our brain, and changing ourselves in the process. Like I mentioned with Ryan O'Neill, from EP #203[vii] who changed into an entirely different person in front of my eyes as he worked hard and steady, in the Paranormal Research field. What do you think? Can you see this change I'm talking about? (in yourself and others)? With that thought, I'll close out this week, and see you next week, and hope that we all keep learning, improving and changing…for the better. REFERENCES: [i] The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours by Chantel Pratt, Ph.D published August 2, 2022 https://www.amazon.com/Neuroscience-You-Every-Different-Understand/dp/1524746606 [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #244 “Using Neuroscience to Change Our Perception” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-using-neuroscience-to-change-our-perception/ [iii] Dr. Andrew Huberman's Podcast on “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain and Health” https://hubermanlab.com/what-alcohol-does-to-your-body-brain-health/  (37:39 alcohol and cortisol). [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #168 with Dr. Bruce Perry and Steve Graner on “What Happened to You”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-bruce-perry-and-steve-graner-from-the-neurosequential-network-on-what-we-should-all-know-about-what-happened-to-you/ [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #243 with Dr. Ginger Campbell, MD on “Exploring Brain Science for Career and Life Success” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-ginger-campbell-md-on-exploring-brain-science-for-career-and-life-success/ [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #214 with Dr. Marie Gervais on “The Spirit of Work”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/ [vii][vii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #203 with Paranormal Researcher Ryan O'Neill on “Making Your Vision a Reality”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/case-study-with-paranormal-researcher-ryan-o-neill-on-making-your-vision-a-reality/  

LifeBlood: We talked about leadership coaching, how to help people bring their full selves to work, creating a positive and productive workplace, and tools to get started, with Marie Gervais, transformational leadership coach.  Listen to learn how to become soul enhancing versus soul diminishing! You can learn more about Marie at ShiftWorkPlace.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Thanks, as always for listening! If you got some value and enjoyed the show, please leave us a review here: ​​https://ratethispodcast.com/lifebloodpodcast You can learn more about us at LifeBlood.Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you'd like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood.Live.  Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeblood

Original summarization of the episode. Greet the reader and/or introduce the guest. Preview the person's area of expertise, qualifications, accomplishments, or hook for being on the show. One sentence to connect relevant subject matter to the audience. Consider finishing with a list rounding out other included topics. Quick sign-off CTA. Educational, open-minded tone. Part of our core philosophy at Learning Unboxed and the PAST Foundation is how the current educational system fails to prepare students for the future of work. We spend a lot of time focused on the educational aspect of that, but we rarely get a chance to dive into the workplace. Marie Gervais is the CEO of SHIFT Management, which specializes in helping supervisors learn to lead with confidence by developing their people skills and supporting their teams in meeting business objectives effectively. We discuss the ways in which we consider how the workplace and education relate to each other and their futures. To learn more, visit: http://pastfoundation.org (pastfoundation.org) We unbox: What it means to participate in the workforce The diversity of the workplace and how to work collaboratively Giving workers a sense of purpose The importance of emotional regulation Bringing students into your passions Resources: https://shiftworkplace.com/ (shiftworkplace.com) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaderstraining (linkedin.com/in/leaderstraining) Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShiftWorkPlace (@ShiftWorkPlace) Mentioned in this episode: Learning Unboxed Audience Survey Thank you for listening to Learning Unboxed! As we work on the next 150 episodes we want to hear how we can best tailor this podcast to your needs. Please go to https://www.pastfoundation.org/survey to share your insights. https://learningunboxed.captivate.fm/luaudiencesurvey (Audience Survey)

Marie Gervais joined me on this episode to discuss optimizing the workplace.  Although not my typical health-centric podcast, this was a fascinating dive into understanding how one can be happier at work since most of us spend so much of our time at work.  Marie is an expert in helping people build leadership skills and confidence and dropped some serious gems. Remember to Subscribe

“The one who falls and gets back up is so much stronger than the one who never fell” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/BkGLDGqmfUU On the episode you will learn: ✔ How a personal story from Howard Rankin, can help all of us reach our highest levels of potential. ✔ The power of honesty and truthfulness with relationships. ✔ Why seeing the "spirit" in others is so very important. ✔ The steps we can expect to take if a "Fall" happens so we can recover quickly and gracefully. ✔ The importance of rising above our "primitive brain" when dealing with difficult situations. ✔ What happens to our physical and mental health if we hold "trauma" within. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for EPISODE #229. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. Today we are welcoming Howard Rankin back for the 4th time to the podcast, to cover his newly released book, Falling to Grace.[i] Before reading Howard's book this month, I had no idea of his story. I saw his book come out in April, on his birthday and knew we would have him back on the show to discuss it, knowing it would be full of thought-provoking lessons, but I had no idea just how personal, and deep his story would be. If you recall, Howard Rankin first appeared on the podcast this time last year for EPISODE #146[ii] where he taught us “How Not to Think” and that our thinking is full of cognitive biases. While reading this new book, I found myself asking a question, that he would answer later in the book, showing me that it's easy to jump to a conclusion but that we should all be aware of the “limitations of our thinking.” This book also brought to light that we are all “spiritual beings having a human experience” and the importance of seeing the spirit in everyone, and treating them without judgment as we never know what their internal struggles might be.  We learned from Dr. Marie Gervais on EPISODE #214[iii] on her book The Spirit of Work that there's a shift when can see someone's spiritual side, and can also connect science to everything that we do. If you have ever looked at someone and noticed their spirit, you will know exactly what I mean. I'll never forget the first time I looked at someone and saw them shining brightly, seeing their potential that they were unaware of. They were sitting in front of me, and it's a moment I'll never forget, and was probably one of the reasons why I do what I do today. We all have tremendous potential within us, and this podcast was designed to help us to become aware of it, then use it.   But sometimes things happen in our life that make us question the direction we are going, but there is always a way around life's obstacles. Howard's book shows us that we can move beyond anything and connect our internal struggles to the most current brain research, in this quest to move towards redemption and healing. I knew Howard lost his license as a psychologist and that it was important to cover, but I didn't know how…which didn't really matter to me. None of us are exempt from the story Howard will share—no one is exempt from Falling, in our personal or professional lives, but if we do, will we know how to Fall to Grace, with the lessons Howard shares for us? Howard's story of tremendous loss and pain hold lessons we can all benefit from, especially if we want to reach our highest levels of productivity and achievement in this thing we call life. And if there's something inside holding us back (like Howard will share) or anything else that might be bothering us, internally—that there is a way around it, to what he calls redemption—and it's available for anyone who wants to do the work to achieve it. “We can be redeemed only to the extent to which we see ourselves.” – Martin Buber Let's welcome back Howard Rankin for a 4th time to the podcast and see what we can learn from his lessons of Falling to Grace. Welcome Howard, it's wonderful to see you again. Thanks so much for coming back for a 4th time to the podcast. I've got to say, your story is beyond painful for anyone to read, and witness first-hand the tremendous loss that occurred. It was heartbreaking to know this happened to you (and your family) and like the note I sent to you when I began reading your book, the lessons you are sharing with us are priceless because none of us are exempt from falling, but your experience gives us a pathway to fall with grace. Thank you for sharing such a personal story to help others find their way back up in a way we can all take something of value from and apply it in our own lives. INTRO Q: You say in the beginning of the book that you use your own story “mainly as a guide to the challenges of illuminating one's conscience and what that entails” and that people can read the details about your circumstances in the appendix but the general idea is that you were a well-known psychologist with a very good reputation, had appeared on ‘The View' and was featured on 20/20 as well as in many other media outlets.  Then you crossed a line into this grey area that changed everything for you. For those who want to read your entire story, they can read your book, for today's interview I want to focus not so much on what happened, but for someone listening, who might be struggling with something internally, what can we all learn from your experience about the importance of dealing with those difficult emotions of guilt or shame? Q1: You mention in your book that “While some studies have suggested that as many as 70% of people who experience trauma come back stronger, there has been concern that this can be misleading and there are clearly large numbers of people who struggle to get back to pre-trauma baseline, or never recover at all.” I noticed during a recent interview with someone who had recently lost his license that there was tremendous pain around everything that stemmed from false accusations that were written online, to everything he went through, and he lost so much in the process. Whether someone is in the public eye, or not, your book is a guide to help people begin the healing process, (after a Fall) but can you describe the steps or stages that people should consider going through while rebuilding their life after such a significant loss? Where does someone begin? Q2: As I was reading your story, I kept thinking “How could this entire situation have been prevented in the first place” (I'm sure this thinking is flawed—first off, what cognitive bias[iv] would “how could this all have been prevented” be? What trap do I create when I'm thinking like this? Q2B: Then I wondered, for the co-author of the book Intuitive Rationality[v], was there anything that you saw or felt back then that might have alerted you to “this person could destroy my life, career and future?” Q2C: I thought about this question while hiking this morning. Why couldn't both parties rise above their primitive sides and have fallen to grace together? Is emotional intelligence not enough? At what point do we all need to be aware of personality disorders? Q3: When you talked about false accusations and that “the limited brain doesn't easily undo past associations and emotions especially to 'flashbulb' moments, critical events of high emotion. To change the association requires some effort and the fact is that few people are prepared to make the effort to go beyond the first biased, egocentric thought that comes into their minds about anything.” In a world where words spread fast online, and are permanent, how do you deal with your personal life being broadcast all over the internet for people to read and put their own spin on whatever it is they are reading, with their own cognitive biases? 3B: When someone says something about another person online, that's enough to highly consider a lawsuit, since this type of behavior can damage a person's future. I remember you mentioned there was something written online that you wanted removed (and it's not there now, or I would have been sure to find a way to help you to remove it). What did you learn about the importance of knowing our “digital imprint” and when do you know when to take legal action, or just let some things go? Q4: You mentioned that there will be people who make up their minds based on what they read online, but for the people who know you, nothing changes, like your son who said, “I know who you are.”  What did you learn from your son when he said that? 4B: How did you handle the people who you thought were your friends?  Q5: Some lessons stuck out that struck a chord for me because I know you are right, but it still burns me to think there are people like this in the world. You said, “There will always be someone wanting to profit from your misery.” Your advice: For the most part the best plan is to ignore them. Don't give them any power over you and that “your redemption really depends on you acting differently. Your redemption is about not getting drawn into useless fights and emotional spats but rising beyond that primitive mindset.” Besides meditation and long jogs, how did you get to this place of rising above where most of us would be operating at a lower level? Q5B: How have you learned to listen to other people's criticism without being defensive? Q6: How did an understanding of the brain help you here? Q7: What did you learn from Mary-Frances O'Connor and The Grieving Brain[vi] that can help someone to get through Grief with their Brain in Mind? We covered this question in the beginning. One of the first lessons I learned from Bob Proctor when I worked with him all those years ago was the importance of taking responsibility for my thoughts, feelings and actions, and never blaming anyone else for what I think, feel and especially my results. You said it loud and clear that “you cannot escape the hell without taking responsibility” and that “until you take responsibility you have no credibility.” Can you explain that? Q8: What did you learn about how trauma impacts the body? (Bessel van der Kalk and Dr. Lief). Why is forgiveness important for our physical and mental health? Q9: If I was to sum up the top lessons learned from your story, Falling to Grace, what would they be? Howard, I want to thank you very much for writing this book to help all of us to learn how to fall to grace, and reminding us that we are all human beings, hard wired with emotions (Jaak Panksepp) and we can with an understanding of our brain, learn how to control the feelings we have attached to these hard-wired emotions, helping us to rise above our primitive selves, and be our best selves, like you have shown we all can accomplish. Thank you so much for all you contribute to the world with your books, podcast and teachings. I've learned How Not to Think, and many lessons from the importance of Falling to Grace that would be a blessing if we could all master in our lifetime.  Thanks Howard. To learn more about Dr. Howard Rankin Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/HowardRankinBooks/ A website where he posts blogs: https://ithinkthereforeiamwrong.com/ LinkedIn and Instagram Email: DrHRankin@gmail.com WEBSITE FOR THIS TOPIC www.hownottothink.com NEW BOOK FALLING TO GRACE: https://www.amazon.com/F alling-Grace-Art-Science-Redemption-ebook/dp/B09KHK9ZC1 REFERENCES: [i] Falling to Grace, by Howard Rankin, Published April 2022  https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Grace-Art-Science-Redemption-ebook/dp/B09KHK9ZC1 [ii]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #146 with Howard Rankin on “How Not to Think” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expert-in-psychology-cognitive-neuroscience-and-neurotechnology-howard-rankin-phd-on-how-not-to-think/ [iii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #214 with Dr. Marie Gervais on “The Spirit of Work: Connecting Science Business Practices and Sacred Texts for a Happier and More Productive Workplace” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/ [iv] List of Cognitive Biases https://thedecisionlab.com/biases?utm_campaign=TDL+Dynamic&utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=adwords&utm_term=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ad=564666141031&hsa_src=g&hsa_cam=14567061057&hsa_kw=&hsa_grp=127713121155&hsa_tgt=dsa-19959388920&hsa_ver=3&hsa_acc=8441935193&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8amWBhCYARIsADqZJoXVRqivwle3n2OaSqUArDe26i61KSN1OC6vBlEw4rDYwHz7EaTP6QkaAlIhEALw_wcB [v] Intuality AI Website https://intualityai.com/ [vi] The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary Frances-O'Connor Feb. 2022  https://www.amazon.com/Grieving-Brain-Surprising-Science-Learn-ebook/dp/B093ZZ7HZY  

It's no secret that the pandemic was a catalyst for the shift that hit everyone's workplace plans. It ripped back the crumbling facade of a connection between people and work that was accepted for nearly two centuries. But Dr. Marie Gervais believes our “idea of work has become disconnected from what it means to be human” and that is about to change. The pandemic awakened a sleeping giant and today's workforce is demanding employers take a more holistic approach to work. Dr. Marie Gervais is our guest this week and will help us rethink destructive workplace cultural assumptions and reimagine how better and different management skills can put humanity back into work. Her new book “The Spirit of Work” was just released. Dr.Gervais holds a PhD in Culture and Learning in the Workplace. Through her work in leadership training, she has coached more than 500 supervisors, managers, and business owners for career and business success. She hosts the Culture and Leadership Connections podcast, which features interviews with diverse leaders in a variety of professions.

Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/naWMRm8tqck   On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Hilary Decesare, who made her first million at 32, got involved with giving back and ended up on the TV Show, Secret Millionaire. ✔︎ How the story of Hilary's Mom, connected with Andrea and an untold story with her and Bob Proctor. ✔︎ What Hilary learned from leaving her home, and going into a poverty struck area in Long Beach, CA. ✔︎ What is the 3HQ™ Method to help people move from their head, to their heart, to higher self. ✔︎ How anyone can reLaunch their personal or professional life. ✔︎ How John Assaraf helped Andrea and Hilary to ReLaunch their life and business. ✔︎ How to begin, and join Hilary's book launch on June 9th.  For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today's EPISODE #219, we will be speaking with an award-winning business expert, international best-selling author, host of “The reLAUNCH Podcast”[i] and “The reLAUNCH" on Voice America's Talk Show Network, Hilary DeCesare who I feel a connection to, even before we've met. This interview will be interesting for me to see how this connection unfolds during the interview, and if it becomes apparent. She's a sought-after speaker, founder of The Relaunch Co., and previously one of Oracle's top account managers worldwide, who brings fresh energy to industry leaders, CEOs, and solopreneurs. She holds a psychology degree and a range of certifications in her field, and has been featured on ABC's hit TV series Secret Millionaire. Her insights have been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and mentioned in the Huffington Post, Yahoo, Market Watch, and others. As an innovator in neuropsychology as it relates to business and life, Hilary DeCesare has cultivated her experience to illuminate a heart-driven path to conquer today's shifting landscape, re-imagining personal and professional success. When I received an email introduction to Hilary's work, I noticed that she was on the TV Show, Secret Millionaire, that I've seen and find inspiring. I love seeing people give back after they have found their way in this world, and Hilary Decesare definitely has a purpose to help others find their way which is what her new book, and podcast are all about. I had no idea just how much Hilary's work would connect with mine, with many parallels that I hope will become apparent in the interview. This is one of those interviews that I know how has the ability to completely transform someone listening. When ignoring her intuition resulted in fearing for her life at the edge of Niagara Falls, this award-winning Silicon Valley CEO and entrepreneur Hilary DeCesare was shocked into realizing she needed a deep reassessment of who she was and why. The answers surfaced where she least expected—her late mother. In RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life, Hilary immerses the reader in a world of neuroscience, to uncover a powerful secret that we all harbor: The 3HQuotient. This is the power to leverage the three H's—the Heart, the Head and the Higher Self. Stay tuned and learn some of the top lessons and personal stories from Hilary as well as from other experts like John Gray, John Assaraf  and Jim Fortin. Let's meet Hilary Decesare, and see what she can share to help all of us to see the silver lining of what's happening in the world today, and for anyone out there, thinking of a reLaunch (maybe a new career path, or considering a new direction) this is her specialty. Welcome Hilary Decesare, it's such a pleasure to meet you. Hilary, like you've said on your podcast, reLAUNCH, you mentioned how lucky you feel to get to speak to such incredible people like your last guest, Dr. John Gray, whose book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus was one of the most influential books of the last quarter century. I feel the same way, especially as I'm researching people and making many connections to what I'm learning and I wonder, just to open up and help people to quickly get to know the spirit of who you are, can you share perhaps why someone who made their first million at the age of 32 got involved in this work of helping others to see the “silver lining” in what many would consider very difficult times? Your book, that isn't due out until June 9th, but I found it and made a connection with how you saw your Mom and it related to a story of when I first moved to the US. Can I share this story that made me connect to you BEFORE I found another connection? You Mom Taking Pride in Painting Your House (that gave you inspiration) reminded me of the Bob Proctor window cleaning story. Bob took pride in cleaning windows, just like your Mom took pride in painting that house. What did you learn from your Mom in PART 1 of the book with her painting story? We just interviewed Dr. Marie Gervais on EPISODE #214[ii] on her new book “The Spirit of Work” that I think resonates with your 3HQ™ Method (before I know what it is) because her book is about getting to the “spirit of a person in the workplace, to make a true impact. It wasn't long while researching you that I was able to see beyond what we might see on the outside, and see the power and presence that you hold within with your spirit.  Maybe it was watching you go into that place in Long Beach, leaving your LA home behind (and all that you had that makes you comfortable) and watch how you could see the silver lining (or the spirit) of that situation that not many people would do. What did you learn from that experience that the show didn't cover? Maybe insights you see now, looking back? Q1: Hilary, I think anyone listening should go and watch your Secret Millionaire[iii] clip as it was eye-opening to see, especially in these difficult times we are all experiencing. You think it just can't get any worse, and then it does, but nothing was as difficult to see for me than that house you had to stay in and I'm not picky when I travel, but a place needs to be clean. As we move to your book, RELAUNCH, that comes out June 9th, What is the 3HQ™ Method and how could it help people listening who might be going through a difficult time and in need of a  reLAUNCH? (Heart, Head, Higher Self) Q2: You've got a unique approach to helping people uncover and get rid of their limiting beliefs. What is your BUGS approach, and where did you learn this? Did you have any negative beliefs and how did you get rid of yours? How do we identify our limiting beliefs? Q3: Why do you say you must be invisible to be visible if you are going to have success in your personal and professional life? Q4: How do you tap into your intuition? Can you explain the “Power of Pause” more? Q5: I noticed that you have an incredible testimonial from someone who helped me back in 2014 (when I moved in the new direction of Neuroscience with my work),  New York Times Best Selling author, John Assaraf. How did you meet John, or did he just send you a testimonial for your book (since I know him, I know you must know him to gain access to his knowledge. Q6: Hilary, is there anything important that I have missed? For those who want to join your book launch on June 9th, what's the best way?  TEXT 55444 and put Relaunch to gain access to everything on the book. Thank you, Hilary, for meeting with me today. I was impacted by your work at the first glance of the email your offices sent me. It wasn't difficult to get to the heart and spirit of your work and know that you will continue to help others reach new heights. I will put the links for your social media for people to follow you and wish you much success with this new book, and workshops and helping as many people as you can to find their way, and the silver lining. Thank you! FOLLOW HILARY DeCESARE www.instagram.com/therelaunchco/ www.facebook.com/TheReLaunchCo/ www.linkedin.com/in/hilarydecesare https://therelaunchco.com/ ABOUT THE BOOK RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life is an empowerment manifesto to yourself - it explores the 3HQTM: the intersection between the Head and the Heart and how to reach your Higher Self. It's about learning how to live your most fulfilling life and to take it to the next level... and beyond. Andrea's Final Thoughts To wrap up this interview with Hilary Decesare on her new book, Relaunch, if you are in a place where you think there could be more for you (whether in your professional or personal life), I think the strategies that Hilary outlines in her book could be a really good starting point. I do hope that you will join her launch and grab her book. In Part 1, on the heart, you'll see the story of Hilary's Mom painting the house, showing us all how to move from the heart to the soul and examine our work to see if we take pride in what we are doing.   In PART 2 we move to our head, and look at the reLaunch Flip™ where we go from being a victim with our story, to a victor and eliminate those BUGS (or automatic limiting negative thoughts) in our head that we all have. We will see how when all of the H's—the heart, head and higher self are connected, it will open up pathways that will connect us to others and new life experiences. Without a balance within our three H's, it's difficult for us to reach our highest potential. REMEMBER: When we feel stuck, we aren't really stuck, but it's our thinking that is stuck and needs to shift/change. This process will help you to find the possibilities where you might only see closed doors. PART 3 We look at our higher self and learn to use our intuition to find answers from within so we can trust the decisions that we make. If you are looking for a way to reinvent yourself in some way, this book will give you many ideas for where to begin and what to look for in the process. Re Launch is a life-long program as we will need to Relaunch many times over in our lifetime. I thought of the many times I've had to reinvent myself and was able to do so quickly as I had access to so many programs through the speaking industry I worked in for many years. Hilary's book covers everything I have even seen (from John Assaraf, to Bob Proctor, Carol Dweck, and even Dr. Amen).   This book covers them all. I'll close with a quote from John Assaraf who helped me to reLaunch when I needed to move in the direction of Neuroscience. He says “ "If you're not in touch with who you really are and know that there is way more you can do and achieve, Hilary DeCesare shows how to put yourself on the path to not just manifestation, but transformation, starting from the inside out. Read the book, apply its lessons and watch your life soar to heights you have only dreamed about." - John Assaraf, Brain expert Featured in The Secret, and two-time New York Times bestselling author See if Hilary's stories resonate with you, like they did with me.  We all have the ability to reLaunch and come out stronger on the other side. See you next week. REFERENCES: [i] reLAUNCH Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-relaunch-podcast/id1510506747 [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #214 with Dr. Marie Gervais on her book “The Spirit of Work”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/ [iii] Hilary Decesare Long Beach, CA Secret Millionaire Season 3, Episode 4 https://abc.com/shows/secret-millionaire/episode-guide/season-03/04-hilary-decesare-long-beach-ca  

Interview with Marie Gervais. Dr. Marie Gervais is the CEO of Shift Management Inc., specializing in helping people grow into supervisory and managerial positions build their leadership confidence and skills to support their teams in meeting business objectives effectively. Utilizing online courses and web coaching, Shift Management's methods have been successfully implemented and used by managers and career developers across populations and contexts. A Ph.D. holder in Culture and Learning in the Workplace and a sought-after speaker, writer, and curriculum developer, her work is renowned for integrating and integrating the diverse workforce. She has coached more than 500 supervisors, managers, and business owners for career and business success. One of her frameworks in workplace capacity is the S.W.E.L. model of safety, wellness, encouragement, and learning.In this podcast episode you will learn:✨ What does it take to develop a soul-sustaining workplace culture?✨ What are destructive workplace cultural assumptions?✨ How to identify and overcome workplace traumaEnjoy listening.With gratitude,Julia-----Shownotes:Get in touch with Marie:https://shiftworkplace.com/-----

Did you know that “the shorter we sleep, the shorter our life will be?[i]” Professor Matthew Walker, The New Science of Sleep and Dreams On this episode you will learn: ✔︎  A review of the importance of sleep on our physical and mental health. ✔︎ How lack of sleep attacks the memory centers of our brain. ✔︎ 2 science-based strategies to improve memory and never forget anything ever again. ✔︎ Tips for how to use these strategies in your life for improved results. Have you ever said, “I'll sleep when I'm dead” or pushed through your work possibly doing an all-nighter, thinking that you'll catch up over the weekend? The most current research shows that this is a really bad idea, as Matthew Walker, the author of the book, Why We Sleep, tells us that “lack of sleep attacks the hippocampus (where memory and learning take place) and increases the risk for various forms of cancer.”[ii]  We have covered the importance of sleep on this podcast in many different places, including a BONUS episode in December 2020 where we talked about sleep as one of The Top 5 Health Staples[iii] we should all pay attention to, but Professor Matthew Walker reminds us that “as we are getting older, our learning and memory abilities fade and decline...and that a physiological signature of aging is that our sleep gets worse” which contributes to cognitive or memory decline. I don't know about you, but as I'm going through the next 50+ years of my life, I'd like to have a sharp memory, in addition to a healthy body that can help me to do the things I want to do with work and family and when I find something that's NEW and INTERESTING, I will share it with you, wherever you might be listening to this podcast, so it can help you in your personal and professional life. My hope is that today's Brain Fact Friday makes us all think about how we can improve our sleep, memory and overall health as I share the most current research, and how I'm applying it for improved results and productivity. We are now nearing the end of Season 7 of the podcast on “Brain Health and Well-Being” and will begin Season 8 in June, on “Brain Health and Learning.” Having a theme for each season helps me to stay focused on the guests we bring on, as well as the questions I ask them. If there is a topic of interest to you, please send me a message[iv] and let me know. Today we are going to take a deeper look at the importance of sleep on our learning, memory and overall health, as we prepare to speak with the world's leading expert on sleep paralysis, Dr. Baland Jalal, from Harvard University, who will help us to connect the brain to some of our weirdest sleep experiences, with the hopes that this connection can help us to all learn something new, and perhaps use some new strategies to make sleep a priority that will in turn improve our memory and learning in our waking hours. While researching for our next interview with Dr. Baland Jalal[v], I've been looking at what some of the leading experts have discovered about our dreams and sleep. I did explore what I was learning on EPISODE #211 on “The Neuroscience of Dreams: Expanding Our Self-Awareness”[vi] to open up the door for this interview and always want to remind everyone of EPISODE #104 with Antonio Zadra on “When Brains Dream”[vii] but today I want to highlight how our sleep is important for learning and memory consolidation, hoping the Dr. Jalal will deepen our understanding of our dream world, take some of the mystery out of what happens to our brain during sleep, and bring some strategies to the forefront that we can use to improve our productivity in the 16 hours of our waking day. So Why is Sleep So Important and Critical to Look at For Our Health, Well-Being and Productivity? Professor and Neuroscientist Matthew Walker, from the University of California, reveals a recent study with adults who got 6 hours of sleep vs 8 hours, and they noticed that in the “6 hours of sleep group, that certain genes were turned off (the immunity genes)” that we all need to fight against disease and viruses, and the genes that were turned on were the genes that produced tumors in the body. We've all heard of how important sleep is, and how it's nonnegotiable for our health, but this study put sleep back on the map for me to keep investigating to see how else it can be improved. After our interview with Dr. Jalal, I hope to show how our dream time can benefit our wake time, and how we can use our sleep time for improved creativity, focus and productivity while we are working/awake. Since lack of sleep “attacks the hippocampus” of the brain, where our memories are first formed, and then consolidated from short-term to long-term memory, I wanted to share some strategies where our memories can be strengthened, with or without a good night of sleep. I share these 2 strategies with you, as I recently had to draw on them, and then while listening to Stanford Professor and Neuroscientist, Dr. Andrew Huberman's most recent podcast, on Understanding and Improving Memory[viii], I made some connections to the memory building techniques I've been using, while Dr. Huberman showed how science proves these strategies grounded in science. If what Matthew Walker says is true, and that as I'm getting older, my learning and memory abilities are fading and declining, it would make sense to me to find some ways to strengthen my memories to prevent this from occurring. Last week, the day before interviewing Dr. Marie Gervais, for EPISODE #214[ix] something weird happened and I lost the questions for our interview. The good thing is that it was the day before the interview, so I had time to recreate them, but what was interesting is that I relied on my memory to do this quicker than if I had to start from scratch. While I know I don't have a photographic memory, where I could remember every word by detail, after listening to Dr. Andrew Huberman's podcast on Improving Memory with Science Based Tools, I could see how science really helped me in this situation. USING SCIENCE TO STRENGTHEN OUR MEMORIES   TIP #1 Taking a Mental Snapshot in Your Mind. Until I heard Dr. Huberman talking about this as an effective, science-backed method for improving our memory, I wouldn't have believed it myself, even though I do this all the time. He drew on a research article about Photographic Memory[x] where he explained it's not in the sense of remembering every word of writing on a page (like some people can do) but a bit different—something he has been doing since he was a young kid, and something I've done since I was young as well. It's when we take either an actual or mental photograph of something we want to remember, and the research says that if it's something we choose to remember ourselves (it's volitional) then our memory of this snapshot is enhanced, and even if we delete the actual photograph, if we took one, that we should still be able to recall every detail in the image, from our mind, for years to come. HOW TO USE THIS IN YOUR DAILY LIFE I thought about this example with recreating my questions for Dr. Gervais. Because I was in an emotional state while reading her book, and creating her questions, you would think this is what helped me to remember them when I had to recreate them (because her book The Spirit of Work was all about connecting to her at the soul level). I had the research, and went through each point, and remembered where the questions came from, but the places I could remember the questions clearly, were the ones that were connected to images I had seen (whether on social media) or somewhere that I remember thinking “yes, this goes along with what I want to ask” and it was the mental image recall that helped me to remember her questions. If you want to try this, take either a mental, or an actual photograph of something you want to remember. Remember it must be volitional, not something someone else wants you to remember. While taking the photo, or imaging it, pay attention to what you are seeing. Where is the picture? What's in the background? Is there a person in the picture? What are they wearing? Is there anything about the photo that would allow you to pinpoint the month the photo was taken? Are they wearing something that stands out? Where are they standing? How are they standing? What's behind them? Is there a window in the photo? What's outside the window? Is it daytime or nighttime? Now that you've got your mental image, delete it, stop thinking about it, and wait a week, and see how much of the image you can remember. With practice, you should be able to recall details from these mental or actual snapshots, many years later. Dr. Huberman did say that the research showed that although the image could be recalled, that the auditory along with the image would be diminished, or that vision trumps our auditory senses.  TIP #2: Highly Emotional States + Adrenaline=Enhanced Memory. Dr. Huberman shared a study that was done by Cahill and McGough[xi] that showed when you are in a highly emotional state, adrenaline is released but what is interesting about this study is that “it's not the emotion that stamps the memory down, but it's the presence of adrenaline”[xii] that solidifies the memory. He said “You don't need to take anything to spike adrenaline” (Dr. Andrew Huberman) you just need to find what works for you and if it “makes your eyes go wide and breathing increase” then you've spiked your adrenaline. He did give some suggestions of ways to recreate this adrenaline boost in our brain to enhance learning and memory, without using repetition (the most popular research based strategy for learning retention) like cold ice baths or showers to increase adrenaline, or exercise that I use often. HOW TO USE THIS IN YOUR DAILY LIFE: How do you approach learning and memory? With this research in mind, did you think about stamping the memory of what you want to remember with adrenalin? Have you heard of strategies to increase adrenalin in your body (like a cold shower or cold bath) to stamp down your learning? I talked about this with Dr. John Ratey when I interviewed him on EPISODE #116 on “The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain”[xiii] when I told Dr. Ratey that in order to study neuroscience, write these episodes, and make sense of it all, I had to run up a mountain, or do some sort of rigorous cardio activity in order to be able to sit at my desk and actually understand what I'm reading. Dr. Ratey agreed that I needed to create the neural chemicals needed for learning and memory. How do you approach learning and memory? Exercise, cold baths, or some other method? I'd love to know… To review this week's Brain Fact Friday Did you know that “lack of sleep attacks the hippocampus”[xiv] the part of the brain that plays a role in learning and memory. If we want to protect this part of our brain, then paying attention to how much and how long we sleep is a responsible next step for us to all focus on, in addition to working on strategies that can strengthen this important part of our brain. We covered 2 tips for implementing how an understanding of our brain can improve productivity in our life with the mental snapshot strategy that will allow you to remember anything, even if you've deleted it, by paying attention to whatever it is that you want to remember, and then practice this, to strengthen this part of your memory center. If you are like me, and have deleted something, you'll never have to worry, because it will never be lost, when you've backed it up with a mental snapshot. The second strategy of enhancing our memories is with the idea that it's not just our emotions that make our memories stick, but the presence of adrenaline and to find ways to increase adrenaline naturally (like through exercise) to create the neural chemicals that our brain needs for learning and memory. I hope you've enjoyed this episode, and that you have taken away something to improve your brain health and well-being. I'll see you next episode with Dr. Baland Jalal where we will see what we can learn about ourselves, by diving into the dream world. REFERENCES: [i] The New Science of Sleep and Dreams, Professor Matthew Walker Published on YouTube June 28th, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j9xCC_VtQA [ii] The New Science of Sleep and Dreams, Professor Matthew Walker Published on YouTube June 28th, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j9xCC_VtQA [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE on The Top 5 Health Staples from December 11th, 2020 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/ [iv] Contact Andrea https://www.achieveit360.com/contact-us/ [v] The Neuroscience of Dreams by Dr. Baland Jalal Published on YouTube Feb.13, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WBL-51kIkc [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-the-neuroscience-of-dreams-expanding-our-self-awareness/ [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #104 with Antonio Zadra on “When Brains Dream” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/sleep-scientist-antonio-zadra-on-when-brains-dream-exploring-the-science-and-mystery-of-sleep/ [viii] Understand and Improve Memory Using Science-Based Tools by Andrew Huberman May 16, 2022 https://hubermanlab.com/understand-and-improve-memory-using-science-based-tools/ [ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #214 with Dr. Marie Gervais on “The Spirit of Work”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/ [x] Photographic Memory: The Effects of Volitional Photo Taking on Memory for Visual and Auditory Aspects of an Experience by Barasch, Diehl, Silverman and Zauberman published at Yale University January 26, 2017  https://faculty.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Barasch-Diehl-Silverman-Zauberman-Photographic-Memory-Psych-Science.pdf [xi] A Novel Demonstration of Enhanced Memory Associated with Emotional Arousal Published December 1995 by Larry Cahill and James L McGaugh https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053810085710483 [xii] Understand and Improve Memory Using Science-Based Tools by Andrew Huberman May 16, 2022 https://hubermanlab.com/understand-and-improve-memory-using-science-based-tools/ (31:49). [xiii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #116 with Dr. John Ratey on “The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/best-selling-author-john-j-ratey-md-on-the-revolutionary-new-science-of-exercise-and-the-brain/ [xiv] The New Science of Sleep and Dreams, Professor Matthew Walker Published on YouTube June 28th, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j9xCC_VtQA

“The best way to predict YOUR future is to CREATE it.” Abraham Lincoln And what better way to create our own life than to have our very own built in compass. BOOK RELEASE DATE: Memorial Day. Stay tuned.  Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/tPFhP5mg-l4 On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Assistant Principal Dan Wolfe came up with a "moral compass" using the 5 SEL Competencies to help students and teachers navigate through difficult times. ✔︎ How to use the 5 SEL Competencies to stay on track. ✔︎ How to use Dan's Self-Assessment to see where our strengths and areas of improvement are. ✔︎ How to use a "Compass Check" to monitor our progress along the way. ✔︎ Insights and AHA Moments with using the 5 SEL Competencies as your "guide." For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and workplace environments. Today, on EPISODE #216, we will be speaking with Dan Wolfe, an Assistant Principal from Pasco County, Florida, on his new book Becoming the Change[i]: Five Essential Elements That Guide Us Towards Becoming Our Best Selves-- that is coming out before Memorial Day Weekend. Dan reached out to me via Twitter to let me know he was about to release a new book that was inspired by a blog he started on Social and Emotional Learning called “Our Moral Compass” that led to him starting the Become the Change Podcast[ii] where Dan focuses on the five areas of social and emotional learning that we have been focused on with this podcast. I'm always looking for unique ways to share these important SEL skills, and I loved what Dan has created with his book that compares SEL skills to a moral compass that can used to keep us on track with our life. Before the title of the book changed, it was going to called Our Moral Compass, and evolved to Becoming the Change. What caught my attention with Dan, BEFORE I had even read this book, was the original title. I wondered how he was going to use the SEL competencies to help us navigate through difficult times in our life. We all need a moral compass, and without this, we can veer off track very quickly. How do you navigate through life when times are difficult? Do you have your own built in compass that keeps you on track? I look forward to speaking with Dan, learning how he is using the analogy of a moral compass to help his students learn, navigate their way through the complexities of life, by understanding and apply SEL in our schools today. Let's meet Dan Wolfe! Welcome Dan Wolfe, thank you for reaching out to me and sharing your new book, Becoming the Change. INTRO Q: Dan, what caught my attention with what you have created is not just the fact I can see that you have been immersed in teaching SEL for many years, which is clear from your blog and podcast, that I know is a lot of work on top of being an Assistant Principal and all that goes along with this full-time position. When I first saw your compass analogy, with the SEL competencies that we have been covering on this podcast since we launched, (we did add mindset to ours) but you've got the 5 Casel[iii] Competencies covered, it made me think of this powerful leadership activity I did many years ago involving a compass. I was dropped off in the middle of the woods with a cooler of food, (that I remember being very heavy) and a tent, (that was awkward to carry) and we had to navigate to our camp site using a compass. There had to have been at least 5 of us. This was years before I think Casel even came up with their 5 competencies, (or at least they weren't online) but they were all apparent on this trek from where we were dropped off in the woods, to where we needed to go (our campsite) where we met up with all of the other groups in one place. This activity was of course to bring to light how we “showed up” in life under a stressful, grueling, difficult task. I've thought of this activity many times over the years, as an example of all that's needed to guide us through life…but the one area that really helped, especially when at a crossroads, was navigating life, with a moral compass that came from within, choosing what I think was best for me at the time. How did you come up with this idea of the moral compass connected to these important SEL skills? Self-awareness came up as we all got to see ourselves and unique characteristics on this journey. Relationship skills seemed to be the most important as we had to come to a consensus with every decision we made. Obviously they had to be responsible decisions to allow us to get to where we were going (hopefully before dark) so we could set up our tent in the daylight. Social awareness was apparent as we had to think outside of ourselves and help others, and we of course had to manage ourselves, and make sure our emotions were regulated in this difficult task. Q1: Like my example of using a compass, we had to make sure we stayed on track as we moved from where we were, to our final destination. When we went off track, we lost (or wasted) time that was important for setting up our campsite that evening. What happens when we go off track with your compass analogy? Pick one of the competencies and explain how we can use your compass to navigate this competency through life. Q2: There's a lot behind this quote that you mention as a Compass Check. “You are the Captain of Your Own Ship. Never let society determine the direction of your moral compass.” (Page 12, Becoming the Change). I think of this for leaders who have to forge their own way, often going where no one has ever gone before them, or even like we spoke on a recent episode with Dr. Marie Gervais, with the former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, who was given a lower wage because she a woman, and a woman of color. She didn't even think of asking for more, since it was a “good” wage, but she knew she was being limited. In all the 5 competencies we usually know what to do to stay on track, but something gets in the way, takes us off course, and we don't do it. How can we use this compass check to be responsible for ourselves, and our direction, as we pursue our goals? Q3: Since anyone forging their own way will have come up against all of these statements, I wonder if you could review your Becoming the Change Self-Assessment Tool to pinpoint which one of the 5 competencies we need to focus on? I took this self-reflection tool, and while all the competencies are a work in progress, what showed up for me was self-awareness scored the highest with your score of  “I'm Headed in the Right Direction.” I know that I'm getting to know myself on a deeper level with each episode, and that my learning documented on this podcast, especially areas of growth that's apparent if we answer your questions honestly. I think there's always room for improvement and to learn more so I didn't check “I've reached my destination” EXCEPT for the same area you did on Relationship Skills and helping others grow, since this is what I'm doing with the podcast. What did you learn about yourself with this Self-Assessment? What do you see others learn with it? How can this tool be used like a compass to check our growth over time?   Q4: I couldn't help noticing the choices on your self-assessment (I'm not sure which direction to go in or where to begin) or I'm at a crossroads, because I've been there many times. There was the time I was urged to move in the direction of neuroscience, and it was a new field for me, and I was questioning whether this was the right direction for me. What advice would you offer someone who has checked “I don't know where to begin” or even when you've been working for some time and you hit a cross-road and are “somewhat stuck.” How would you help someone move past these 2 scenarios?   Q5: Chapter 2, Regulating Yourself Through Self-Management, you have a compass check about our true superpower. I heard podcaster Jay Shetty talking about superpowers and think we all have them, as we evolve, we get to know what they are. You put a quote in this chapter from Dale Carnegie about our True Superpower that I think is very important for us to all master.  “Everybody in the world is seeking happiness—and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn't depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.”― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People In a world that seems to push our buttons daily (gas prices are skyrocketing, stress in the workplace is at an all-time high) how can we ALL master this superpower and stay in control of our happiness when the outside world is trying it's best to sabotage our happiness? Q6: In Chapter 3, Social Awareness, you have a quote by Brian Tracy. “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others.”-Brian Tracy This is a big one for me, and what's crazy is that if you are not aware of your surroundings, this opportunity to lend a hand to another person can be missed. Your story about Sept 11th took me back to that time and I had only been living in the US a few months. The job I had come to do with youth had fell through, and I was at a crossroads, working out where I was going next, and to pay the bills, I found a job as a nanny at a local resort, and cleaned houses. Money was really tight. I remember standing in line at a grocery store and the guy in front of me was buying diapers (gosh after having kids, diapers were one of those necessities that you had to have, but boy where they expensive). I was NOT socially aware back then, and was thinking of myself, and in a split second I watched him not have enough money to pay for the diapers, and the check out clerk took them, and he ran out of the store. I missed an opportunity to help this guy, and I even tried to find him when I went outside of the store, but this has bothered me since that moment, over 20 years ago. Being socially aware is one thing, but being ready to act on it, when someone is in need is another. What have you noticed with social awareness and how to be prepared at all times to help others? Q7: Chapter 4 on Enhancing Your Relationship Skills, you quote that No One is Perfect “When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” -Donald Miller   This reminded me of my last interview with Dr. Marie Gervais, and her book The Spirit of Work when I noticed that when we look at each person's spirit, that's for fuller expansion, we can only see greatness in this person, not their imperfections. How have you used this idea to enhance your relationships and look at everyone in this way? Q8: Chapter 5 Responsible Decision-Making you quote Gary Vaynerchuk who says “Your legacy is being written by yourself. Make the right decisions.” I love Gary V, and liked this quote because we all do have an incredible opportunity to leave an important legacy in our lifetime, that can impact others, for years after we are gone and create what you say as “an everlasting legacy.” What advice would you have here about being mindful of our decisions today, so that we can strengthen the legacy we are working our entire lifetime on? Q9: Is there something important that I have missed? Dan, I want to thank you very much for sharing your new book with us. I absolutely love the moral compass analogy, and know this will help many others navigate through these 5 SEL competencies with a clear path. For people who want to access your book, what is the best way? Is your website the best place for people to find you? CONNECT WITH DAN WOLFE Stay tuned for Memorial Day and the release of Becoming the Change. Website https://becoming-the-change.com/ Twitter https://twitter.com/ServLeadInspire  Thank you!! BIO: Dan Wolfe has served as an educator in Pasco County, Florida for more than 20 years. During this time, he has held roles as a teacher, instructional/district coach and administrator. He is currently an Assistant Principal at Sunray Elementary. He was selected as Pasco County's District Teacher of the Year in 2011-2012 school year. He is a part of the district's Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee that recently established Pre-K through Grade 12 SEL standards. For the past two years Dan has written a blog and recorded a podcast called Becoming The Change (formerly Our Moral Compass) which focuses on a different quote each day and how we can best apply it towards becoming the change through our own moral compass and the five areas in SEL.  REFERENCES: [i] https://becoming-the-change.com/ [ii] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/becoming-the-change/id1498725281 [iii] https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/  

For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, originally from Toronto, now in Arizona, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/2GysauKi3Mc On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ The importance of Dr. Stephen Covey's 8th Habit-Finding Your Voice and Helping Others to Find Theirs. ✔︎ A look behind the scenes of The Chey and Pav Show-Where They Began and Where They are Now. ✔︎ What they have each noticed with their personal and professional growth hosting their podcast. ✔︎ Their vision for their NEW book "The Magnificent Microphone" ✔︎ What they learned from working with an artist with this book. ✔︎ How they intend this book to be used to connect with students whose voice is often left behind. ✔︎ How they use Easter Eggs (personal insights) to connect to their long-time supporters. With today's episode, my goal is to show the importance of identifying, sharing and amplifying the voices that aren't typically amplified. Dr. Stephen Covey reminds us that when he created the 8th habit, it was “not about adding one more habit to the 7, one that somehow got forgotten. It's about seeing and harnessing the power of a third dimension to the 7 Habits (taking The 7 Habits beyond where they were before) that meets the central challenge of the new Knowledge Worker Age (requiring continual growth). The 8th Habit is to Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs.”  After seeing this quote I had to ask Greg Link, who worked and partnered with the late Dr. Covey if I understood the real meaning behind this quote as I sensed it was deeper than I was grasping, and he said “He is likening finding your voice (the 8th Habit) as a next dimension fruit or outcome of mastering the 7 Habits. It's an outcome or next level, opposed to another habit” which left a profound impact on me with this episode that features 2 well-known podcast hosts from my hometown, who are on a mission to help others to amplify their voice, with their podcast and NEW book series. This means that their mission will inevitably create many NEW opportunities (or fruits as Dr. Covey put it) that will impact many people, around the world, for many years to come. Today's episode #215 is important to me (well, all the episodes are important) but this one touches the heart, mind and soul on a deep level, (as Dr. Marie Gervais reminded us to pay attention to in our last interview #214[i] on The Spirit of Work, to bring our whole selves to whatever it is we are doing) – and today's episode does just that. Today we will be speaking with Chey Cheney and Pav Wander, from The Chey and Pav Show,[ii] a weekly podcast that centers around teaching insights, reflections and growth of Chey and Pav, two middle school teachers from Toronto, Ontario.  They regularly comment on being JUST two teachers in a highly diverse community, who look to share best practices, favorite resources, mis-steps and setbacks from their teaching experiences.  I've told them often they are far from “just” teachers, but are exemplary, legendary leaders, who are paving the way forward for many who have previously not been seen, or heard and were at risk of being left behind. They did outline the highlights of becoming published authors (and all that they learned from this experience) on their most recent podcast episode #110[iii] that I encourage everyone to tune into. Today's episode we will look at their new picture book, The Magnificent Microphone[iv] that depicts a story of Chey and Pav, who in the picture book, are two keen and energetic elementary school students who often feel unseen and unheard at home and school. They always have vibrant ideas to share, but for some reason, they are always ignored! One lucky day, they find a Magnificent Microphone which helps them elevate their voices with the people that haven't been listening.  I invite everyone to join Chey and Pav as they plunge into sharing their voices, learn about storytelling, and find ways to help others amplify their voices. Let's meet these NEW published authors, keynote speakers, successful podcast hosts, and legendary middle school teachers from Toronto, Canada, Chey and Pav!!!! Welcome Chey and Pav!!!!! How much fun in this going to be??? Thank you for joining me today on the podcast. You know you've got a serious supporter of your work here, and I really do need to come back for a visit and meet up with you for coffee in the parking lot because the staffroom was never my thing.    Welcome, both of you. So, I've got to say this is really cool for me to speak with you both, being a former TDSB teacher. It's been a long time, but I was at Zion MS in North York. My department head was Jim Carson, who I had to look up and saw he's now at Fairmount PS (I think)…I'm not sure where Rexdale is from North York and how many educators you get to meet across the District.. FOR CHEY: So Chey (am I the only one who has no idea who the Hurricane Cheney is??). I've heard of a few wrestlers, (my husband is definitely a fan--he has a poster of the Iron Sheik in his office)—and I've heard of some others but I wonder why you chose The Hurricane as your Superhero name? What's so cool about this wrestler? FOR PAV: And welcome Pav (Wonder-woman Wander)…I understand this reference much better than the wrestling one.  You definitely are Wonder-woman, teaching, raising a family and running the podcast. No explanation needed unless there's more that I've missed?  Oh, expect baker as well, as I did steal one of your Christmas Cookie recipes! Q1: So, it's been over 2.5 years since you launched your podcast, (is that right??)  that's now called The Chey and Pav Show, and I know so much has happened since you put your voice out into the world in this short amount of time that's probably gone by like the blink of an eye. So many new opportunities are coming your way, and many more on the horizon, so I do want to first of all congratulate you both on the decision to do this work. Looking back now, Pav, you say this is “the most exponential growth you've experienced as a teacher.” Could you both go back to when you took your RSS feed and put it out to multiple podcast channels…what do each of you remember thinking back then and was exponential growth that would be chronicled for the world to see on your mind at all? Q2: Let's go to your 100th episode, which is a HUGE milestone (awesome!!) where you each went over your “most impactful” episodes over the years that impacted your growth. What is unique about this podcasting experience, is that the world gets to watch your growth (which I've seen with some other podcast hosts I follow-and I can see the growth in myself. I remember the first 50 interviews I did, I seriously look like I'm hyperventilating…I can't watch them without thinking “just take a breath…breathe!!”  I know you have noticed your growth as well. Aside from the knowledge you have both gained, what have you noticed about your growth personally and professionally with hosting The Chey and Pav Show and putting your voice out to the world? Q3: What I loved about your 100th episode is that you picked some episodes that were impactful, and stood the test of time. Over the years, I often draw back to past episodes for this reason, as I think they can inspire others for years to come. I know it's hard to think ahead, and easier to look back, but what is your vision when you get to EPISODE #200? What are your next podcast milestones goals? Q4: I'd like to move to your NEW picture book, The Magnificent Microphone, since this is a huge deal that you are now published authors. I actually wrote these questions BEFORE I read your book, and these questions have more meaning now, as I felt your story on a deep emotional level. Can you each share your vision for this book and eventual series? Q5: I have to mention your art work, since we also had an artist create images for our Level Up program and book. We interviewed our artist on EPISODE #13[v], Sam Roberts, as her artwork actually gained her a 4-year, all paid, prestigious leadership scholarship at the University of AR. Who knew when she was 16 years old, and sending me back ideas based on what I was asking her to draw for me, where this would lead her in her future. What did you learn from your artist, Shawnna Purkis, and I wonder what this experience uncovered for her as her voice was elevated being your artist? Q6:  What's next for you both? I know you are going to make this a book series, but I wonder if you have thought about the books having components that could be used for the ELL population? (I ask because I worked for Pearson ESL and many books to schools for Newcomer students). Have you thought about this audience as you are now working on translating this book into many different languages? Q7: I've got to mention the Easter Eggs (not chocolate-but the personal insights) that you have noticed in your episodes. I didn't notice I was doing that until I looked back when I got to EPISODE 100 and saw how intentional I was with the guests I asked to be on the podcast. The people I asked were ALL influencers in my life in some way. I quote them often, as I want to leave a legacy with what I'm creating to help others, by recording these moments of growth and it's a lot of fun knowing there's a creative side of me embedded in each episode. What have you both noticed? Q8: Congratulations on your huge keynote presentation in Saskatoon! I loved watching you both prepare for that. I know there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff that happens (let alone content prep). What stuck out to you from that weekend as memorable for you both? Q9: Is there anything important I have missed?  I want to thank you both for the years of support with our podcast. I haven't met you in person, (yet) but feel massively connected to you both. For people to learn more about your podcast, book series, and contact you, is the best place your website www.cheyandpav.com Thank you!! I can't wait to see what's next for both of you and how many young leaders your book (and series in the future) will inspire. When I make it back home, I'll be sure to let you both know! Reflections After This Episode: Some final thoughts: Today I got to come full circle as a former teacher from Toronto District School Board, who had no idea of the impact possible when you put the 8th Habit into action.  Imagine how many young leaders Chey and Pav's book series will inspire. This is only the beginning for them, but I see so much more. I do understand now why they refer to themselves as “just” teachers from Toronto (although I will always see them as legendary leaders). I can't wait to see where these two teachers with a passion of  sharing their voices, through storytelling, and find helping others to amplify their voices end up in the next 5-10 years. Dr. Stephen Covey's quote reminds us all that life is about getting to the 8th Habit—so whatever it is that you might be working on, I hope this episode has given you some insight of the importance of amplifying those often unheard voices—whether it's in the classroom, workplace, or in the sports environment. With that final thought, I'll see you next episode, with an elementary school assistance principal, Dan Wolfe, who is just about to release a NEW book that takes the 5 SEL competencies we've covered on our podcast and shows us how to navigate through life with these competencies as our “moral compass.” See you next episode. FOLLOW CHEY AND PAV Twitter https://twitter.com/Staffpodcast Podcast Twitter Chey Cheney https://twitter.com/mrccheney Twitter Pav Wander https://twitter.com/PavWander Facebook https://www.facebook.com/staffroompodcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cheyandpav/ Instagram Chey Cheney https://www.instagram.com/chey_cheney/ Instagram Pav Wander https://www.instagram.com/___pav___/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chey-and-pav-%E2%80%9Cteachers-talking-teaching%E2%80%9D-8b69081b8/ REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #214 with Dr. Marie Gervais https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/ [ii] The Chey and Pav Show https://www.cheyandpav.com/ [iii] https://www.cheyandpav.com/podcast [iv] The Magnificent Microphone by Chey Cheney and Pawan Wander Illustrated by Shawnna Purkis Published April 14, 2022  https://www.cheyandpav.com/picture-book [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #13 with Sam Roberts on “Winning a 4-Year Prestigious Leadership Scholarship at the University of AR, Fort Smith” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/our-very-own-teen-artist-sam-roberts-on-winning-a-4-year-prestigious-leadership-scholarshipat-the-university-of-arkansas-fort-smith/  

“Healthy workplaces are characterized by strong communication, mutual respect, and attention to work relationships” and “there's no denying that work and workplaces are experiencing a crisis.” (Dr. Marie Gervais, whose newly released book, The Spirit of Work) is “a path to the enhancement of the soul.” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/md088Ynx0ek   For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today's episode #214, we will be speaking with Dr. Marie Gervais[i] the CEO of Shift Management Inc and the author of The Spirit of Work[ii]," where she offers a high-level yet approachable model in rethinking how we view and structure work. Her book delves into the fascinating relationship between people and work, combining ancient wisdom, modern science, spirituality, and real-world examples to share insights into developing a soul-sustaining workplace culture. She also has a podcast herself, The Culture and Leadership Podcast[iii] where she dives deeper into this topic. After releasing three interviews this year on workplace burnout, it's been clear that workplaces around the world are indeed experiencing a crisis, as I've had many messages relating to individuals with their specific workplace struggle and Dr. Gervais highlights this new workplace problem in the beginning of her book when she shares that “statistics about workplace engagement, happiness and satisfaction have shown consistent decline and saw significant change since the event of the coronavirus pandemic.” (The Spirit of Work). If you are a leader, change-maker, or anyone looking to build a humane and sustainable system of work, and can see that something needs to change in today's workplace, this interview is for you. I hope we can all learn some new perspectives to create happier workplaces where productivity and creativity soars by looking at how to build our future managers with skills that are based on what humans need to succeed and develop in our future workplaces. In today's episode we will cover: The interconnections between science, business practices and sacred texts as they relate to work Find practical tools and workplace examples to apply to management as a soul-enhancing journey Rethink common but destructive workplace cultural assumptions To see ourselves as a spiritual being with thoughts and actions that have lasting effects This episode has already made me move from my thinking/intellectual mind, and see what we can learn together when we incorporate our spirit and soul into our daily work. Let's meet Dr. Marie Gervais! Welcome Dr. Gervais! It's wonderful to meet you. Thank you for coming on the podcast all the way from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada which I always consider my home country, because that's where I grew up. Dr. Gervais, congratulations on releasing your new book, The Spirit of Work, that I watched you unbox[iv]. I know how exciting it is to put your heart, soul and mind into something and release it to the world. I related when you said that releasing this book was like pushing a bolder up a hill. How has this journey to release this book been for you? I've got to mention the story behind your episode, because there's always so many twists and turns with creating content. While researching each guest for this podcast, I put a considerable amount of thought into what I wanted to ask, look for ways that what I want to ask is being mirrored in the world so our interview can help others for years to come, and I begin to connect with that person (I'd say on a soul level) in this research process. Something that's never happened to me in all my years of content creation. While preparing for your interview, something unexpected happened and I actually lost the 5-page script I'd written, after I had finished it and sent it to your team. I saved it and then after opening it again, it was just blank. Your team got the blank version. I'll never know what happened, (and it might not be worth the time to look into that) but the file somehow became corrupt, as you saw, and I had to stop, think about it all, and recreate your questions.   I know there are always lessons to learn with everything we do and I really do think it happened for a reason to make me think hard about The Spirit of Work that I noticed after creating your questions. When this spirit is present, it drives our work in an entirely different way. INTRO Q: What do you think about this AHA Moment connected to your book and this interview that perhaps I needed to rethink my original questions for you and recreate them from more of a soul level, than mind? Q1: What does the Spirit of Work mean to you and how did a negative experience from your job led you to continuously ask questions about workplace culture leading you to write this book? Q2: We have covered the idea that human beings live simultaneously on three planes (our spiritual/soul side, intellectual/mental side and physical side on many episodes, starting with Dr. Daniel Siegel who talked about “Mindsight[v]” as being “the basis for social and emotional intelligence,” or Dr. John Medina[vi] who mentioned Theory of Mind as a way to connect to others on a deeper level,  my mentor Bob Proctor talked about paying attention to our spiritual side all the time in the creative process and Greg Link mentioned that even when we die, our spirit still exists. Why is the mind/body/soul connection important to you and your work? Q3: I do believe that we create what we imagine and that “we build systems around the outcomes of our beliefs to prove the veracity of our beliefs” (Spirit of Work). How can we build workplaces we love where we can be with others in healthy, enjoyable interactions, that build prosperity and solve conflicts easily? Where do we even begin to make the change that you see? Q4- I saw a quote that made sense to me, and I'm sure anyone listening would agree that “true leaders don't create followers” they create more leaders, but often there's no room for new ideas in our corporate world and its rare, if not impossible to go from the bottom of an organization, to the very top, without someone leaving, proving themselves somewhere else, and coming back with a promotion. Taking this leap outside of an organization (to a new one) is a difficult one, but so often it's the ONLY way for someone to push past this block and forge their own path. What's behind this concept where managers or leaders DO NOT create other leaders, but squash them into a corner, so they have to end up quitting, and proving themselves somewhere else? Is this a fearful leader, and what needs to change for this quote to ring true in more organizations? Q5: For someone who was promoted into a position of leadership (maybe someone with a tech background who didn't have to worry about people skills in the past) and they now find they are dealing with people and all their complexity (mind/body/soul).  What keys to success would you offer this person to unlock the skills that will accelerate anyone in the workplace? Q6: What are some common mistakes that you see in the workplace that leaders can avoid with your experience? Q7: This type of training was left out of ALL the corporate training I ever went through, but was at the center of the work I did while in the motivational speaking industry. We were always looking at how our past would show up in our present-day life, and identify subconscious blocks that might be holding us back. Bob Proctor called them paradigms, or beliefs that have turned into habits over time, that either work for us, or against us. How can leaders help their team members to identify their subconscious blocks to move them forward and towards their goals? Q8: Your call to “rethink work, informed by new understandings about the greatness we are destined to achieve as a human race” is a noble cause that takes thought from all of us. Maybe it was why I lost my original questions, so I had to THINK about them again, and ask them in a way that they came from my heart (from my emotional side after crying a bit) but it made me think about how I bring my “soul” to each interview. What do you want our listeners to take away from this interview? What are your final thoughts we should all take some time to ponder for a bit? Q9: For people to learn more about your book, podcast and the work you do at Shift Management Inc, is the best place to learn more, your website? https://shiftworkplace.com/ Thank you for meeting with me today, and sharing your vision for a happier, more productive workplace with the world. You've given me a lot to think about, and strategies to shift to soul-enhancing thoughts that bring joy with my work, and ways that we can all shift away from when we are soul-diminishing. FOLLOW DR. MARIE GERVAIS Website - http://shiftworkplace.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/shiftworkplace Email - marie@shiftworkplace.com c 780-993-1062 www.shiftworkplace.com/the-spirit-of-work REFERENCES: [i] https://shiftworkplace.com/ [ii] https://shiftworkplace.com/the-spirit-of-work/ [iii] https://shiftworkplace.com/podcast [iv] https://www.instagram.com/p/CdG1iHVolJP/ [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #28 with Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight as the Basis for Social and Emotional Intelligence”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/clinical-professor-of-psychiatry-at-the-ucla-school-of-medicine-dr-daniel-siegel-on-mindsight-the-basis-for-social-and-emotional-intelligence/ [vi][vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #42 with Dr. John Medina on “Implementing Brain Rules in Our Schools and Workplaces of the Future”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-john-medina-on-implementing-brain-rules-in-the-schools-and-workplaces-of-the-future/  

“Did you know that the brains of people who are chronically burnt-out show similar damage as people who have experienced trauma”[i] and that “burnout reduces the connectivity between different parts of the brain which can lead to decreased creativity, working memory, and problem solving skills?” (Vanessa Van Edwards). It's incorrect to assume that burnout is just an emotional response to long hours or a challenging job. Instead, scientific evidence shows that burnout takes a profound physical toll that ripples well beyond our professional lives. For this week's Brain Fact Friday, I want to cover the importance of understanding how serious workplace burnout is at the brain level. After releasing our 3rd interview this season on work burnout, I realized just how important this topic is to you, the listener, with all the comments that came in to me this week on this topic. There is a serious need for us to ALL recognize when we have too much on our plate, so that we take immediate action without feeling like we are giving up on our company, ourselves, our goals or dreams. I also don't want to discourage anyone from putting in the extra work, or effort that is required to reach the top of your industry, or whatever it is that you are working on that might require a push at this time, so, my hope with this episode is that we can find the right balance to get to wherever it is we are going, in one piece, so that we can enjoy life when we get there, and have enough energy left so that we can continue moving forward and attain new goals, reaching new heights and achievement along the way. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today's EPISODE #213, “The Neuroscience Behind Work Burnout” we are going to look at what's happening in the brain when we are under considerable workplace stress, so that we can recognize this often swept under the rug concept, and put some solutions into place immediately, to prevent the effects of this epidemic called burnout, with an understanding of what's happening at the brain level.  “Using cutting-edge techniques, integrative research teams are demonstrating that burnout is not just a state of mind, but a condition that leaves its mark on the brain as well as the body. Just as the impact of burnout that stifles healthy professional growth, emerging research shows that the chronic psychosocial stress that characterizes burnout not only impairs people's personal and social functioning, it also can overwhelm their cognitive skills and neuroendocrine systems — eventually leading to distinctive changes in the anatomy and functioning of the brain.”[ii] Dr. Bessel van der Kolk[iii] (psychiatrist, author of the book The Body Keeps the Score[iv]) draws on more than thirty years at the forefront of research and clinical practice, to show the characteristics of the brain of someone who has experienced trauma and research now shows these characteristics are showing up in the brains of  employees who are chronically burnt out. What to look for: Fear-Driven Brain: People who have experienced trauma (or are under chronic stress) will have a brain with enhanced threat perception (or see danger where others see things can be manageable). (Van der Kolk) THINK ABOUT THIS… If you are under chronic stress, do you see threat or danger often? For example—do you think others are out to get you? This could be that your threat perception has been enhanced from chronic stress and a signal for you to slow down. Unusual Outbursts or Increased Moodiness: Burnout Enlarges Our Amygdala (our emotional center in the brain) and can increase moodiness. (Vanessa Van Edwards). THINK ABOUT THIS… If you notice someone around you is unusually moody, it might be their brain's reaction to their increased stress. Instead of snapping back at them, see if you can help them to find ways to decrease their stress levels. When we work with our brain in mind, we can find solutions to problems, instead of jumping to conclusions or assumptions (which is easy to do). Inability to Think: Burnout reduces the neural connections in the brain, causing decreased creativity, working memory and problem solving skills. (Vanessa Van Edwards). THINK ABOUT THIS… While under stress, do you find it difficult to think? I relate to this one the most because I cannot write these podcast episodes unless the house is quiet. In order for thinking, creativity, problem solving and memory consolidation to occur, our brain must be working optimally. I know we have said it often on this podcast—“when our brain works right, we work right” (Dr. Daniel Amen) and if you can't think, this is a red flag that something needs to change. All of this seems common sense, but just because we know something, it doesn't mean it's common practice. How many of you have noticed these stress related situations, and pushed through, ignoring all of the stressors that face us daily. Most of us… But did you know that The World Health Organization added burnout to the International Classification of Diseases Index in 2019. It defines burnout as “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”[v] and in our last interview with Dr. Sharon Grossman[vi] this week, being able to recognize when we are feeling stressed, is the first step towards being able to better manage ourselves, before it becomes chronic, impacting our brain and cognition. Christina Maslach, a professor emerita of psychology at University of California Berkeley  developed a way to measure burnout with an inventory[vii] that can predict burnout before it occurs and two of her inventory items we spoke about on our last episode. Control: Do workers have enough autonomy (like the example we used with the employee with no control over their schedule). How does control work in your organization? Do employees ever get double booked on calls, (adding stress and pressure to their day) or do they have the ability to set boundaries for what they can and cannot do in the day (making their schedule manageable)? Reward: Does the company recognize when employees go above and beyond with recognition, and rewards that motivate employees to work harder, and put in that extra effort? Do they reward hard working employees outside of their working hours? If not, employees will eventually tire of this hard work, without any reward, and engagement will decrease. Both of these situations can lead to an employee disengaging from their work. The first example, the worker becomes over-engaged and without the needed breaks, their cognition will be affected, and eventually their health, (which I watched happen to someone I know this week, while writing this episode and thinking “that person is showing the classic signs of burn out” and sure enough, they did, before the week ended and they were forced to slow down) or the second example, will lead to under-engagement, without a challenging, stimulating environment, leading the employee to check out mentally from their work which means their health will also be at risk, in addition to their productivity. What Should We All Know About Work Burnout? “It is estimated that 40% of office workers in the United States and Canada are burnt-out and this statistic is even higher in industries like medicine and athletics which have 50% and 60% burnout rates respectively.”[viii] This is exactly what we heard from Dr. Sharon Grossman who works mostly with doctors and high level CEOs, not to mention even the highly successful journalist, Arianna Huffington who learned the hard way that ignoring these red flags connected to our wellness will not allow any of to escape unscathed as she “collapsed from exhaustion, hit her head on her desk, and broke her cheekbone”[ix] when she ignored these signs. For this week's Brain Fact Friday, I didn't want to paint the picture that there is something wrong with hard work. I watch hard workers excel all the time, and they amaze me with their ability to perform at high levels, consistently, without complaining, just quietly working and hitting goal after goal, moving them forward one step at a time, with the tenacity that comes from a mix of their vision, and being dedicated to their craft. I just want to highlight that in this quest for whatever it is we are working on, if we notice something in off where we are either overly engaged, or under engaged with our work, that ignoring these signs won't get us anywhere. Putting our brain health and well-being first, which is the theme of our podcast this season, REMEMBER FOR THIS WEEK'S BRAIN FACT FRIDAY: “That the brains of people who are chronically burnt-out show similar damage as people who have experienced trauma”[x] and that “burnout reduces the connectivity between different parts of the brain which can lead to decreased creativity, working memory, and problem solving skills” (Vanessa Van Edwards) and if we want to be at our best, increase our creativity, solve problems and have a stellar memory, then it all begins with optimizing our brain by managing our levels of stress. And with that, I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, and we will see you next week with Dr. Marie Gervais[xi], who specializes in the future of work, workplace communication and productivity, as well as the well known Chey and Pav[xii], my good friends from Toronto from the @staffpodcast. Our interview with Harvard's Dr. Baland Jalal[xiii] on the bizarre lessons we can learn from our dream world will be coming at the end of the following week, as he is traveling, but this interview is one that you won't want to miss. It's going to be an exciting month. Rest up, and See you next week. REFERENCES: [i]How to Fight Burnout and Get Unstuck by Vanessa Van Edwards https://www.scienceofpeople.com/burnout/#:~:text=The%20brains%20of%20people%20who,memory%20and%20problem%20solving%20skills. [ii] Burnout and the Brain January 29, 2016 by Alexandra Michel  https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/burnout-and-the-brain [iii] https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/ [iv] The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score [v] Experiencing Job Burnout by Orlando Mayorquin May 2, 2022   https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/05/02/what-is-job-burnout-stress/7411686001/ [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #212 with Dr. Sharon Grossman https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-burnout-doc-sharon-grossman-phd-on-a-research-based-approach-to-preventing-work-burnout-from-the-inside-out/ [vii] Factor structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory: An analysis of data from large scale cross-sectional surveys of nurses from eight countries Published 2009, April 10  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2700194/ [viii] How to Fight Burnout and Get Unstuck by Vanessa Van Edwards https://www.scienceofpeople.com/burnout/#:~:text=The%20brains%20of%20people%20who,memory%20and%20problem%20solving%20skills. [ix] Arianna Huffington: What You Need to Know to Prevent Burnout By Brit Morse, INC. https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/arianna-huffington-wellbeing-stress-burnout.html [x]How to Fight Burnout and Get Unstuck by Vanessa Van Edwards https://www.scienceofpeople.com/burnout/#:~:text=The%20brains%20of%20people%20who,memory%20and%20problem%20solving%20skills. [xi] https://shiftworkplace.com/the-spirit-of-work/ [xii] www.cheyandpav.com [xiii] Dr. Baland Jalal https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/baland-jalal

Who's your ideal client and what's the biggest challenge they face?What are the common mistakes people make when trying to solve that problem?What is one valuable free action that our audience can implement that will help with that issue?What is one valuable free resource that you can direct people to that will help with that issue?What's the one question I should have asked you that would be of great value to our audience?When was the last time you experienced Goosebumps with your family and why?THE SPIRIT OF WORK VIP LISTGet in touch with Marie: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTubeLearn more about how Uwe helps in-demand professionals and their VIPs to get back their family mojo, double their financial security, and live in abundance in all areas of their life (without feeling guilty or constantly questioning themselves): Visit www.uwedockhorn.com. Or when you feel you'd be interested in working together you can Book A Chat With Uwe

Who's your ideal client and what's the biggest challenge they face?What are the common mistakes people make when trying to solve that problem?What is one valuable free action that our audience can implement that will help with that issue?What is one valuable free resource that you can direct people to that will help with that issue?What's the one question I should have asked you that would be of great value to our audience?When was the last time you experienced Goosebumps with your family and why?THE SPIRIT OF WORK VIP LISTGet in touch with Marie: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTubeLearn more about how Uwe helps in-demand professionals and their VIPs to get back their family mojo, double their financial security, and live in abundance in all areas of their life (without feeling guilty or constantly questioning themselves): Visit www.uwedockhorn.com. Or when you feel you'd be interested in working together you can Book A Chat With Uwe

BIO: Marie Gervais, PhD., CEO of Shift Management, offers targeted supervisory and middle management training, team coaching, and organizational capacity development to businesses and organizations. STORY: Marie had the fantastic idea of developing a management decision-making gaming app. She pitched the idea to a few decision-makers within her industry, and they assured her it was a great idea. Marie had no experience in tech and did zero research on app development before she started working on the app. This saw her lose over $140,000 in an idea that never materialized due to her inexperience. LEARNING: Do thorough market research, take calculated risks, and never go to market before validating your idea with a few paying customers. If a situation is not working out, walk away and carry the lessons with you.   “I discovered all the gifts that I learned from this mistake, and I started to dig my way out of the shame.”Marie Gervais  Guest profilehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leaderstraining/ (Marie Gervais), PhD., CEO of https://shiftworkplace.com/courses/quickstudy-manager-builder/ (Shift Management), offers targeted supervisory and middle management training, team coaching, and organizational capacity development to businesses and organizations. She has developed an award-winning program using online courses and live web coaching to help managers develop the confidence and skills they need to lead. For a competitive advantage, a clear focus on communication and conflict resolution skills will get you there. You can build a healthy, inclusive ‘best in industry' work culture. Dr. Gervais is your guide to success. Her upcoming book “The Spirit of Work” is scheduled for publication in November 2021. She is the host of the https://followthepodcast.com/culture&leadership (Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast). Worst investment everA couple of years ago, Marie realized that everything was going towards gamification. She got interested in games for learning. She then had an idea to create a gaming app for managers, something like a management decision-making app. At the time, Marie was a member of one of the manufacturing industry networks for C suite manufacturing decision-makers. She pitched her idea to some of the members, and they all said it was a great idea; it was something they could really use. Hitting the ground runningMarie started planning how to bring her idea to life. She had never created a game before, so she started thinking about what she would do and how to practice doing that. She figured she'd start with the management decision-making app and then move into the game. Then she'd pitch her app to decision-makers who would send her to their training and development people and finally start piloting it and see how that goes. So again, Marie pitched to the group, and they told her that's a great idea and gave her a few tips which she thought were helpful. They asked her to come back to them when she finished the app. Burying herself in the app creationMarie was heavily invested in the phone app and spent over $140,000. She faced a lot of hurdles while creating it. She went to a technology company that didn't know what they were doing with that particular type of game. She went to another company, and they didn't have the skills either. So she switched to a third one and lost more money. The whole thing was just a big money-sucking hole. Pulling the plugMarie realized that she didn't have the necessary experience to find the right people; she didn't understand the tech process or the phases of development. Her biggest mistake was going with the idea first rather than research. Marie lost business due to that single focus, and it was when she decided to pull the plug. Lessons learnedTake calculated risksAlways https://myworstinvestmentever.com/ep300-49-incredible-life-lessons-i-learned-in-2020-from-26-extraordinary-people/ (take calculated risks) and do proper market research. Once...

To achieve a productive and profitable workplace, leaders need people-decoding skills to disentangle the stress, anxiety, and workplace conflicts.    Marie Gervais believes that a happy workplace lies at the heart of this. Her mission is to build workplace capacity characterized by real communications that acknowledge people for who they are.   Using the S.W.E.L. model of safety, wellness, encouragement, and learning, Marie focuses on building confidence and intercultural communication. Through both online courses and web coaching, Marie helps two levels of managers build their people skills and see visible results. She helps:   Front and middle managers increase their confidence and skill range.  Executive Managers reduce stress, increase their sense of purpose, and manage with empathy.   Marie is also a podcaster with a podcast called ‘Culture and Leadership Connections.'  In this episode, Marie shares insights on how to understand culture, race, religion, ethnicity, and language. She also underlines the unconscious biases leaders have within decision-making.  Recognizing and adjusting these make for a happier, more productive, and more profitable workplace. What you will learn from this episode:  Learn about the self-awareness package that helps you become a more collaborative leader Find out how unconscious bias negatively impacts decision making  Discover the power of naming an emotion and its positive impact on making effective decisions “Start paying attention to the fact that you have feelings. So, notice an emotion and then name it yourself.”   - Marie Gervais Topics Covered: 01:56 - What are ‘people decoding skills'?  04:06 - Why ‘people decoding skills' are essential?  04:38 - The biggest challenge that she keeps running across with her clients  05:49 - Of emotional intelligence, emotional resiliency, emotional resets, and emotional awareness  09:08 - One actionable tip to help leaders in their decision-making: Start paying attention to the fact that you have feelings. So, notice an emotion and then name it yourself.  12:08 - What comes next after being free when naming your emotion  13:23 - Get your FREE one-month Emotional Insider Membership. Click here: https://www.shiftworkplace.co/emotionalinsider  15:25 - Why does it matter for leaders to acknowledge their own emotions?  17:18 - Why do we make decisions based on our authentic selves? Key Takeaways: “The keys to a decoding process typically have something to do with communication, understanding different personality types, and different cultural conflict styles.”  “What I find as the biggest challenge is people do not recognize the role their own emotions play in their decision making.”  “To learn to be self-aware, recognizing, and naming and understanding your emotions is really critical.”  “Being aware of your own emotions helps you to start to see other people for who they are instead of putting them into a box.”  Resources: Get your FREE one-month Emotional Insider Membership, click here: https://www.shiftworkplace.co/emotionalinsider Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone by Mark Goulston Connect with Marie Gervais: Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaderstraining/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShiftWorkPlace Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShiftWorkPlace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marie_shift_think Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/amariegervais/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKNoMIug6Bs53LoLAiBI_cg Podcast: https://shiftworkplace.com/podcast/