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Wow! It’s hard to believe it’s been six month since I started The Art of Personal Growth Podcast. Time has flown, and we’re already at nearly 30 episodes (including the bonus tracks early on). I started this podcast for two reasons: to help hold myself accountable as I worked through a personally difficult time, and to create a community where we could all improve our health, happiness, and connections with others.
This week, instead of diving into new material, I wanted to take time to look back at how far we’ve come together – through so many Self-Help Crash Test Dummy Experiments! Think of this as the equivalent of “VH1 Where Are They Now?” for all of the techniques I’ve tried in the course of this podcast. I’ve broken them into four different categories, so check out the list below to see what worked (and what didn’t!), what I’m still doing, and what I’d like to add back into my daily life.
Self-Help Techniques I Still Do Every Day
In the course of this podcast, I’ve already tried a lot of self-help techniques. Some of them have been really effective, and I continue to do them nearly every single day!
Using a Pomodoro Timer (Episode 2 / Episode 2 Bonus Track)
If you haven’t yet tried the Pomodoro Technique, please do yourself a favor and give it a try right now!
Listening to Classical Music (Episode 18)
Not only have I been enjoying the music I listen to, but secretly feel like a ‘benefactor of the arts’ each day.
Meditation (Episode 7 / Episode 7 Bonus Track)
With the help of the Headspace app, I have been practicing mindfulness every day. It is a powerful part of becoming the person I want to be, helping me manage my anxiety and deal with my emotions in a healthy way.
Waking Up Earlier & Using that Time for Myself (Episode 14)
Since I began this practice, I have consistently used that hour almost every day to work on this podcast, Facebook, and growing our community. What I love most about this habit is that I feel “cared for,” which is one of my big goals in these self-help practices.
The Year of Yes (Episode 20)
If I can recommend you start reading one book right now, grab the Year of Yes on Amazon. Shonda Rhimes wonderful stories helped springboard me to create a motivational and accountability group, and to start my green smoothie challenge. The smoothies have also been a big part of taking care of myself.
Self-Help Techniques I Want to Revive
Unfortunately, I haven’t been successful at building habits for every technique I’ve tried in the past six months. Here are some of those I plan to recommit to starting today.
Five-Minute Journal (Episode 5)
The Five-Minute Journal is an incredibly powerful tool that I want to recommit to, in particular, choosing three things each day that I am grateful for as well as an intention for the day. The topic of gratitude has been a regular theme on this podcast, and I truly believe that a gratitude improves overall happiness.
Eating Only When Hungry (Episode 9 / Episode 16)
This is such a hard thing to do, don’t you agree? I feel like I have not been listening to my own body to tell me when it is hungry and the healthy foods it wants to consume. Given that Episodes 9 and 16 are fan favorites (we all know diets don’t work and don’t know what to do!), I want to recommit to the themes of those episodes and start trusting my own body.
Allowing Stress to be Helpful (Episode 15)
I have struggled with asking for help during stressful situations, even though we discussed in Episode 15 how to use stress to help our relationships and interactions. I’m going to try and practice asking for help more during these situations as they arise.
“But Wait, There’s More!”
These are just two of the four categories of self-help techniques I discussed in this week’s episode. If you want to hear about the techniques I’m still using in an ongoing way, as well as those that are completely off my radar, check out the link above or subscribe now to ensure you get podcast releases as they become available.
I can’t wait to share more of the lessons I’ve learned in the past six months in next week’s episode. Thank you for sharing this journey with me so far, and I look forward to another six months of learning, growing, and connecting with each and every one of you.
Thanks for Listening!
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