Podcast Summary
From personal struggles to online community: Lori DeShaine transformed her personal struggles into a resource for others by creating Tiny Buddha, an online community where people share stories and insights to help and empower each other, reaching over 3,000,000 monthly readers.
Lori DeShaine, founder of Tiny Buddha, started the online community as a way to transform her personal struggles with depression, bulimia, and shame into a resource for others. She wanted to create a space where people could share their stories and insights to help and empower each other. Over the years, she has expanded her work to include creative projects like the Tiny Buddha's Worry Journal, and she is now focusing on shifting her efforts towards more creative endeavors. Lori's personal experiences inspired her to create a platform that could help others overcome their own challenges and find meaning in their experiences. Through Tiny Buddha, she has been able to reach over 3,000,000 monthly readers and provide valuable resources for personal growth.
The value of starting personal growth practices young: Personal growth practices can lead to valuable skills and self-awareness, but it's important to remember to be kind to oneself and not strive for perfection.
Personal growth and self-help practices, when started at a young age, can lead to valuable skills and self-awareness that serve individuals well as they grow older. However, these practices can also come with challenges, such as the pressure to apply every lesson perfectly. The speaker shares her experience of struggling with this perfectionist instinct and how she tries to remind herself to be human and do her best. Ultimately, the effectiveness of personal growth practices depends on one's mindset and ability to be kind to oneself. The speaker emphasizes that it's important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and that being human is part of the journey.
Recognizing and Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety: Practicing meditation, mindfulness, and physical activity can help interrupt cycles of anxiety and worry, allowing for greater peace and presence in life.
Constantly striving for perfection and trying to meet others' expectations can lead to a cycle of anxiety and obsessive thinking. These thoughts can be difficult to recognize and interrupt, but practices like meditation, mindfulness, and physical activity can help. Anxiety and worry are related but distinct; while worry is often specific and thought-based, anxiety can have physical symptoms and may not always have an obvious cause. Recognizing the signs of anxiety and taking steps to address it can help break the cycle and bring about greater peace and presence in one's life.
Focusing on the present and past resilience for managing anxiety: To manage anxiety, focus on present control and recall past resilience. Unpredictable events can lead to growth, approach problems with calm strength, accept fear as normal, and engage in creative activities.
Anxiety can stem from unexpected sources, often rooted in past experiences. To manage anxiety, focusing on what we can control in the present moment and reminding ourselves of our past resilience can be helpful. The unknowns and unpredictable events in life can sometimes lead to the best experiences. It's essential to approach problems from a place of calm strength, accepting fear and anxiety as normal emotions and trusting in our ability to handle and grow from challenges. Additionally, engaging in creative activities can help us navigate anxiety and move towards personal growth.
Exploring creativity through journaling and coloring: Journaling and coloring provide a way to express creativity, find joy, and reduce stress through self-awareness and relaxation.
Creative activities like journaling and adult coloring books have gained popularity as effective tools for personal development and stress relief. These activities provide a sense of control and self-awareness through journaling, and a connection to childlike joy and relaxation through coloring. They offer an alternative to the constant consumption of information and content, allowing individuals to express their own creativity and fill their time with their own heart and energy. This return to childlike wonder and expression of joy can have significant mental health benefits, helping to extract individuals from the drudgery of daily life and create more moments of happiness.
Find joy in the present moment: Seeking small, temporary joys in daily life and maintaining control can boost happiness, rather than relying solely on future events
Finding joy in the present moment can have a significant impact on daily happiness, even if the sources of joy are small or temporary. It's important not to pin happiness solely on future events or changes, such as a new job, but to also seek out moments of joy in the present. These pockets of joy can be simple activities, like coloring, dancing, or taking a walk, and can be just as effective at boosting happiness as larger, long-term changes. Additionally, maintaining a sense of control and organization in one's daily life can help foster happiness and reduce stress. This can be achieved by focusing on a manageable to-do list and keeping responsibilities within a comfortable circle. Overall, the key is to find joy in the present moment and not to solely rely on future events for happiness.
Balancing Realistic Goals and Self-Care: Set realistic goals, acknowledge human needs for breaks, and understand that not completing every task is okay.
It's important to strike a balance between setting realistic goals and acknowledging the human need for breaks and self-care. The speaker shares how she used to overextend herself with an unmanageable to-do list, leading to feelings of guilt and disappointment when not completing everything. However, she learned that the problem wasn't her work ethic but rather the unrealistic expectations set by her to-do list. By reassessing her goals and creating a schedule that accounts for breaks and personal needs, she now feels more accomplished and in control of her daily tasks. This lesson can apply to many aspects of life, including work and personal projects, reminding us that it's essential to be kind to ourselves and understand that not completing every item on our list doesn't equate to failure. Instead, it's about setting realistic goals and allowing for the human experience beyond work.
Recognizing less obvious accomplishments and embracing uncertainty: Acknowledging self-care, being there for others, and embracing uncertainty can boost personal well-being and productivity.
Recognizing and acknowledging the less obvious accomplishments in our daily lives, such as taking care of ourselves and being there for others, is just as important as achieving tangible goals. These actions not only contribute to our personal well-being but also make us more productive and effective in our work. Additionally, embracing uncertainty and allowing ourselves to sit with discomfort can lead us to discover more fulfilling opportunities. As Samantha Case, the author of a recent post on the topic, puts it, "sometimes we wanna make a decision out of fear, and we don't wanna sit with the fear. But if we were able to not make that decision yet, to wait, to sit in the uncertainty and allow ourselves to feel that feeling, we're more apt to find whatever it is that might be more fulfilling for us." By practicing patience and trusting the journey, we can find clarity and growth in the unknown.
Sitting with Negative Experiences: Acknowledging and accepting negative feelings instead of pushing them away can help reduce their impact and improve self-care and relationships
Trying to force negative experiences away can sometimes make them more persistent. It's important to acknowledge and sit with these feelings instead of judging ourselves for having them. Rick's metaphor of a bucket of tears illustrates this idea well - if we don't empty the bucket day by day, it will eventually overflow. Another helpful metaphor is that the mind is like a septic tank, and we need to empty it a little at a time. In our modern world, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by information and disconnected from our needs. A piece of advice that has stuck with me is to regularly ask myself, "What do I need right now?" This practice of self-awareness can help us identify what we truly need, whether it's a break, honesty, or setting a boundary. Ultimately, being in touch with our needs can lead to better self-care and stronger relationships.
Recognizing and addressing our needs for emotional balance: Engaging with self-help content can help manage anxiety and stress, finding joy in daily life enhances overall well-being, and acknowledging and addressing our needs is vital for personal growth and happiness.
Recognizing and addressing our needs is essential for emotional balance, happiness, fulfillment, and strength. Author and founder of tinybuddha.com, Laurie Deschenes, shared her personal experiences and the inspiration behind her worry journal. Laurie discussed how engaging with self-help content has positively impacted her life, particularly in managing anxiety and stress by focusing on her circle of influence. She emphasized the importance of finding joy in daily life, even in simple moments, to enhance overall well-being. To learn more about Laurie and her worry journal, check out the episode details. Remember, acknowledging and addressing our needs is crucial for personal growth and happiness.
