Change Academy

Not only is it fun to share success stories, but there’s always something valuable to learn by hearing how people navigate the process of change. In this episode, one of our clients share some reflections on how has she approached her goals– and some of the surprising benefits that happened along the way. Two things that I want you listen for: 1. Stephanie wasn’t just looking to create a certain result. She was specifically interested in making a change that would be durable. She didn’t just want to hit a goal, she wanted to create a new way of approaching challenges. (Spoiler alert: she succeeded!) 2. The other thing I want you to hear is the decision Stephanie made to not let discomfort be an an excuse for giving up. As you’re listening, ask yourself what discomfort you might be willing to lean into in order to achieve something meaningful to you. More things to listen for Mentioned in this episode Weighless Program Nutrition Diva podcast Nutrition GPA app 30 Day Nutrition Upgrade Ep 11: Attention Intention Action cycle Email me your definition of success (and your primary obstacle) Send me a voicemail

Everyone is burned out. Employees are burned out. Business owners are burned out. Caregivers are burned out. But the solutions that are being promoted are not necessarily what we need in order to solve the problem of burnout. Cassie Christopher returns to the Change Academy to talk about workplace burnout and the impact this is having on both employees and employers (and even the self-employed)--and how each has a different role to play in creating a healthier and happier workplace. What to Listen For Resources mentioned Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski\ Christina Maslach’s Burnout Inventory The Liberated Mind by Steven C. Hayes Workplace wellness workshops with Cassie Connect with Cassie on LinkedIn Corporate wellness programs with Monica Connect with Monica on LinkedIn

If there’s an issue that you can’t seem to get a handle on, a goal that you've had forever, or a problem that just won’t stay solved, this episode is for you. We’re talking about why this happens--and how to get yourself out of this frustrating cycle. Often, it's because there's a mismatch between the solutions that we are applying and the problem that actually needs to be solved in order for us to create the desired outcome. In this episode, we cover how to know whether you've got the right solution for the problem, and how to stop spinning your wheels and start gaining traction on whatever it is you're working on. What to Listen For Resources Mentioned Change comes to the Change Academy8 Things You Need to Create ChangeWhat, How, and Why ProblemsThe Attention, Intention, Action CycleStop Stress Eating program

We’ve been on Spring Break for the last few weeks but we haven’t spent the time lounging on a beach. We’ve been doing some big thinking about the future of the Change Academy and we have some big news to share: We are redefining our respective roles at the Change Academy. Having co-created and co-hosted the show for the past 3 years, Brock is now stepping away from the mic but not going far…just a few steps away, into the production booth. In Brock's final episode as co-host, we share more about the process of deciding to make a big change and why deciding to end a project doesn't mean it wasn't successful. We also share more about what isn't changing and what you can expect in future episodes of the Change Academy.

Brock and I (Monica) are taking our traditional Spring Break from the podcast and using that time to take a fresh look at our goals, objectives and commitments and do some tidying of our own. And we’d like to invite you to do the same–and we’ve even created a special resource to help you do just that. -- Visit ChangeAcademyPodcast.com/tuneup to join us for a system-by-system inspection and tuneup (or complete overhaul, if necessary) of your health, habits, outlook, and ambitions.

We’ve talked a lot about goals in this podcast: the purpose and function of goals, how to set good ones, and how to pursue them more effectively, even your goal-setting personality! But in this episode, we want to talk about NOT reaching our goals–and why that is not necessarily a problem.

Do you get stuck in your thoughts, even when (or maybe, especially when) they aren’t helpful? We all do. There is even a name for it - Cognitive Fusion. Well, in this episode, we are going to learn how to defuse ourselves from those thoughts that threaten to undo our hard work, make us feel unworthy or sad, and hold us back from reaching our goals.

Some new research caught recently our attention because it reinforces and expands on a concept that we introduced about 6 months ago in our episode on the Law of Subtraction. When we recorded that, we weren’t aware that our so-called “law of subtraction” had been studied by University of Virginia professor Leidy Klotz. In this episode, we explore some of that research and how we can use this insight to create better solutions to our challenges.

Motivation gaps are those times where you feel as if you are not motivated enough to do what it takes to get a particular result. In this episode, we talk about four things that frequently cause motivation gaps, plus what researcher, Julie Dirksen, refers to as a "special motivation gap."

In our last episode, we were talking about feelings of unworthiness and how that can affect our ability or willingness to work on ourselves and our lives to make them better. This episode sort of picks up where that one left off.! Monica and our guest Cassie Christopher are discussing something that we often hear people say when they are disappointed with their results or their progress: “I guess I just didn’t want it enough.” Given the time of year that this episode is coming out, we’re betting that right about now, a lot of people may be thinking similar things that in regard to their abandoned New Year’s Resolutions.

In our recent episode "Will I succeed?" we offered some questions to evaluate your chances of succeeding at whatever goal you are working toward. One of them was: Do I believe I am worth the effort – and worthy of the outcome? What if your answer to that question is No? What can you do to change that to a Yes? In this episode, we explore some possible answers to this question.

Do you know the difference between goals and commitments? Both play an important role in creating a life that is both meaningful and purposeful. In this episode, we explore the distinctions between them, and how they can work together to guide your efforts.

This free workshop will be on Tuesday, January 3rd, at 6 pm Eastern (3 pm Pacific) and you can sign up at weighless.life/action

Creating change can be difficult. It can also be great…but it is rarely easy. So it makes sense that we want some assurance that we have a reasonable chance of success before we’re willing to invest our resources–and get our hopes up. But when we ask, “Will I succeed?” we often look in the wrong places for the answer. In this episode, we talk about ways to evaluate your chances of success. More importantly, we want to offer some ideas for maximizing your chances of success.

In this encore episode, we revisit an interview with one of the excellent individuals that we coach in our Weighless.life program. Marieka has, at the time of this recording, lost 15% of her body weight. And she has done it through the types of lifestyle overhauls, habit changes, mindset shifts and all the fun stuff we talk about in this podcast, each and every episode. Find out more about Weighless (and enroll) at Weighless.life/enroll The reason we asked Marieka on this episode is that we think it’s really valuable for you, someone who is in the process of making big changes (in any area of your life) to have concrete evidence that change really is possible (even when it’s a change you’ve been trying to make for a long time!) Monica and I can give you advice like crazy and assure you that “this stuff works” but it means a lot more coming from someone who has experienced it from the other side.

Have you ever wondered why you seem to be stuck at a particular weight, or a particular level of fitness, or a particular amount of money in the bank? If you’re like a lot of the people we work with, you’ve spent a fair amount of mental energy (and other resources) trying to make a change. And yet, you find yourself seemingly stuck…unable to move out of your current reality into that vision of your future. The reason is both more surprising and simpler than you might think. In this episode, we will dig into what actually shapes our current reality (hint: it’s not your goals) and what we need to focus on in order to start making progress toward our future self.

Change can be scary. And sometimes, fears about what transformation might cost us can lead us to sabotage our own success. We may have mixed feelings about leaving certain parts of our selves (or our lives) behind–even if they are things that we don’t particularly like. These worries and fears are totally normal. But left unexamined or unchecked, they can keep us stuck. In this episode, we’re going to get all of that out in the open, so we can engage with it more intentionally…and more productively.

For some endeavors, all you need to succeed is knowledge and a good reason to follow through. As long as you have a good set of instructions, you should be able to succeed on your first try. Acquiring a skill, however, requires knowledge plus practice. If you expect to succeed at a skill without allowing yourself time to practice, you're likely to be frustrated. (And we don't want that!)

If you have ever come up with a scheme to keep yourself from succumbing to temptation, you have experimented with a thing called a commitment device. As you’ll see, you are not the first to try this. In this episode, we’re talking about different types of commitment devices and whether they might be useful in staying on track with whatever you are trying to accomplish in your life–whether that’s breaking a bad habit, establishing a new behavior, or meeting a challenge that you’ve set for yourself.

As a society, we place a very high value on optimization. Now that it’s so easy to track your nutrition, sleep, exercise, productivity, your stock gains or weather, you naturally want to optimize them. What we don't always acknowledge is that optimizing for one thing is likely to cost you gains in at least one other domain. In this episode, we talk about why it’s so important to be clear on exactly what value you are optimizing for–-and what you are willing to sacrifice in order to do that. It is a tricky balance to find but well worth the effort.