Stay Bright

This week we continue reviewing James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, and learn what a habit is as well as the fundamental parts of a habit. We then explore the science of how a habit works so we can begin to improve our habits. 

“Habits reduce cognitive load and free up mental capacity, so you can allocate your attention to other tasks.” Sounds exciting, right? 

Understand the steps that establish a habit pattern - cue, craving, response, reward- the backbone of every habit, and learn a practical framework we can begin using immediately to design good habits and eliminate bad ones. 

We’ll look at what Clear calls, The Four Laws of Behavior Change, a simple set of “rules” we can adopt for developing better habits. We’ll demonstrate how habits do not restrict freedom, they create it. 

In this bonus episode, Angie reviews the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. She’ll share two concepts that will turn everything you thought you knew about personal development on its head! 

Learn why we need to worry less about big goals and more about small processes and plans. 

Take a closer look at what you really believe about yourself and how your identity affects your ability to change. Gain the confidence you need to uproot old beliefs and cast some votes for the person you really want to be. 

Get ready to celebrate tiny improvements over time to realize big results. You can do this! 

You’ve got this mama! And we’re with you! Join us this week for a special episode in which Angie shares four spiritual truths that not only encourage and empower us as mothers, but remind us that we have heavenly aid to assist us through life’s most important job. 

We’ll expand on the eternal power and influence just one mother and one child can have on generations of posterity. How can that ripple effect give us the daily strength we need to give our all where it counts?

Next, we’ll share some stories related to Joseph F. Smith’s teachings about how family and loved ones beyond the veil are ministering angels to help us through our toughest times. Be reminded that no matter what, we never mother alone. 

Take courage that even in mothering, wrongs can be righted as we invite Heavenly Father to be a second pair of arms to assist us and rely on the atonement of Jesus Christ to heal and refine us as we mother. 

Then, take a moment to ponder the divine instincts Richard G. Scott teaches about, to help us sense our children’s special talents and unique capabilities. How can this spiritual awareness hone our nurturing so that our children will grow strong?

This week, Kristy draws on her own experience and the experiences of dear friends to talk about honest motherhood. She’ll share four assets of encouragement to help us thrive through the highs and lows of being a mom. 

We’ll share simple ideas to help win the hearts of our kids through easy to do traditions and talk about how to meld and mold their memories so that even if we screw up, they’ll still look back on their lives with a smile!

Then, we’ll touch on how we can help confirm and grow our kids’ confidence through trust and stepping back. So hard to do sometimes, but so worth it! 

Wrap up our discussion with some ideas on how to nurture and give ourselves the time and maintenance we need to do our life’s most important work of mothering. Listen in and share with a mom who needs this message!

Take a leap with us this week! Sometimes faith can feel like a risk because it asks us to walk to the edge of the light and then a few steps into the dark. Most of us don’t like the feeling of the unknown! It can even feel paralyzing. 

We’ll learn how NOT knowing exactly what to do next can be an opportunity to exercise faith. How can we overcome that stuck feeling and awaken our faith into a principle of action? 

We’ll quiet our fears in the face of trials by taking a closer look at the ways our Heavenly Father has prepared us to overcome and has already prepared a way for us. Get ready to turn fear and caution into trust and confidence to move forward in faith!

This week on the podcast, Kristy shares some research based principles around risk taking that will help us understand not only our personal tolerance for risk, but also will help us better understand the people we care about. 

Learn to distinguish the difference between decision making and risk taking by assessing the severity of possible outcomes. Improve your risk management by looking at how your history, upbringing and social context may influence your ability to wisely take risks. Can this be improved on, or are we built a certain way that doesn’t easily change? How can knowing the social context of ourselves and others improve understanding and even relationships?

Could risk taking be part of protecting a valued identity? And if so, could this help explain the dare-devils and the nervous Nelly’s in our lives?

Join us and strengthen your risk taking strategies through a better understanding of yourself and others!

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. The meaning of risk taking: key concepts and dimensions

2. The impact of life experiences on risk taking

3. Determinants of risk taking: Behavioral and economic views

4. When taking risks is the best strategy

Have you ever stopped to wonder why God sent you to earth in your body? What is the purpose of experiencing mortality in these temples of flesh? In the fourth and final episode of our installment on physical health, Angie and Kristy go beyond the “how” of caring for our bodies to the spiritual “why.” We’ll share stories that teach how our bodies can be the vehicle to gain godly traits. Learn what it means to “glorify God in your body” as the scriptures teach. Come closer to reaching the full measure of your creation by coming to terms with the time and work it takes to create the health you’ll need to do it! And calm your mind and body with our simple three step philosophy for physical health. Take a deep breath, join us, and see what you’ll discover about yourself!

On the podcast this week, Kristy and Angie share two additional inspirations for improving our physical health. We discuss how physical symptoms of pains, ailments, and illnesses (digestive issues, skin problem, restless sleep, anxiety and so on) can be indicators of deficiencies in macronutrients and micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Come join in the conversation and listen to Kristy’s personal story of healing. Learn about each of our cell’s specific functions and understand how to help our bodies operate properly on a cellular level so that we can repair damage and prevent illness and disease. Make connections between proteins and amino acids and discover how to heal our bodies. 

Begin to make improvements to your physical health today!

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. What is DNA? By Stated Clearly

2. Antioxidants and Free Radicals

3. Medical Medium Cleanse to Heal by Anthony William

In this episode:

Jill touches on her three non-negotiables: balanced sleep, whole foods and movement. She teaches how even a beginner can use these foundation stones to make small changes toward better health. 

Jill offers guidance on how to add good habits to our existing routines through the stacking method and reveals her number one inspiring resource for changing our habits. 

Jill also gets personal and shares how six years ago, after struggling with extreme anxiety, she had an aha moment that prompted her to finally do the joyful work of taking care of herself. 

We’ll talk about the difference between discipline and motivation, where she sees people get hung up when trying to create a healthy lifestyle, eating in season and much more!

Join this enlightening discussion to gain new motivation to care for your body from a whole new perspective of eat to move vs. diet and exercise. You don’t want to miss this wealth of information!

Nourish by Jill

Nourish by Jill Instagram

NOTES: Final 12 minutes of episode (Nutritional Coach Jill Thompson)

There is a difference between Dieting and Exercising vs Eating and Training. When we eat and train, we think of food and movement differently. When we are training we are working toward something that we want to achieve and it becomes exciting and exhilarating, marking progress because we have a purpose, we have a why.  With eating, we will want to eat properly because we want to feel good to train. 

Have a goal! Senior olympics, a mountain we want to climb, a bike ride we'd like to do. 

We can have our sights set on longevity and living a really healthy lifestyle that allows us to do the things we want to do. Having goals that are small or big, will give us something to work towards, to train for. 

Food as fuel- what are we fueling our bodies for? What is our goal? What are we training for? 

As we age, especially as women, we lose muscle mass. Past 30 years old, we lose 3-5% muscle mass per decade. We need to move more and sit less. Jill knows women who are afraid to bulk, but we need not be afraid of building a little muscle because muscle mass is a huge determiner for: metabolic rate, ability to take in and use glucose, balance, coordination, injury prevention, aging, improving your mood, bone density, cognitive abilities, and more. 

Adults today, BASELINE, need 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week plus muscle strengthening at least 2x per week. 

Help women understand how their health and wellness journey can start and can get momentum and how they can start to thrive in their own bodies. 

Develop a sense of gratitude each and every day. Show gratitude for the food that we have, the ability to eat, commune with others. Eat MORE fruit and vegetables. Make fruits and vegetables the all stars of your meals. And move, every single day, just get up and do something, just start! Let discipline be the thing that happens, not motivation, don't wait for it. Movement is your medicine and it will help you in every single aspect of your life. 

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

2. Seasonal Food Guide

3. Atomic Habits by James Clear

This week on the Stay Bright podcast, Kristy and Angie begin a 4-week journey about physical health beginning with learning about food as fuel. Based on Michael Pollan's adage, "Eat real food, not too much of it, mostly plants" we begin to break down some essentials to have what we put into our bodies really work for us: work to heal us, work to give us energy, work to sustain our active lifestyles, and so on. We learn how to and why it's best to make choices for REAL food, how to coach ourselves to eat the right amount, and why adding more plants to our diet is imperative for successfully optimizing our physical health. Come learn and gain principles to share with your own family and friends so we can help each other understand our human body and feel better! 

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES: 

After a positive COVID test and an unusually challenging week for both hosts, Kristy and Angie break from the usual Stay Bright format with some unscripted real talk about how to get through this rapidly changing pandemic world. Kristy shares five things to help high achievers reconcile the new struggles many haven’t previously had like depression, lack of motivation and decreased productivity. Angie shares how she overcomes mom-guilt when she needs to take a break or ask for help, and Kristy gives encouragement on how to nourish our bodies, spirits and minds with good food and self care. Listen in and refuel with us!

Buckle up! This isn’t our typical Stay Bright episode! How well can we spot the snares of moral relativism? 

In this segment, we’ll reveal three warnings we need to identify in order to steer clear of worldly traps that can harm us. We’ll learn about the scriptural significance of salt and how it relates to our moral potency and effectiveness and then discover how powerful the savor of just one soul can be in effecting others. 

Then, we’ll take our own temperature to gauge our standing with the three “D’s”: Diluting, Downplaying and Denial. We’ll strengthen our faith and resolve to stand fast in turbulent modern times by having an honest assessment of where we really stand today.


RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

Stand as Witnesses of God by Dallin H. Oaks

With so many philosophies about what is right and wrong, we can find ourselves pushing the line. Things can become hazy, unclear, confusing or even scary. In this episode, Kristy approaches moral relativism through the talk Free to Act For Themselves by D. Todd Christofferson. 

We’ll start from the base that we have the principal decision-making role for our lives and talk about four ideas that help us decide what compels us to live within a moral code and what we will base those decisions on. Learn how to discover truth and obey, influence others for good and even how to love others even if their code directly opposes ours. 

Find joy and freedom through applying truth instead of resisting it. Listen in and join the conversation!


RESOURCES AND REFERENCES :

1. Free Forever to Act for Themselves by Todd Christofferson

2. Explaining Away Responsibility

“While the body may reach the peak of its maturation in a few years, the development of the spirit may never reach the limit of its capacity, because there is no end to progression.” Russel M. Nelson

This week, Angie teaches about a personal hero, Gordon B. Hinkley through the lens of Russel M. Nelson. She shares what the prophet has observed about growing our spiritual capacity from the example of President Hinkley. 

Learn how the power of personal interests and passions can enrich our souls, how curiosity can expand our experiences, the role of the Holy Ghost in our learning and a super tool to help us master our gifts and talents! 

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. Spiritual Capacity

CHAPTER MARKERS: 

1:05- Various areas where we can develop spiritual capacity  

1:35- Our focus today: How we can increase our spiritual capacity through knowledge.  

2:40- Development of spiritual maturation never ends. Age enhances (does not impair) our spiritual capacity 

5:02- “Hobbies" can aid in spiritual development 

14:28- Tool #1- Being curious

19:55- Tool #2- Learning and teaching with diligence 

25;33- Tool #3- Living close to the Holy Ghost can enrich and expedite our learning. The Holy Ghost can illuminate and magnify our learning

30:44- Tool #4- Making choices that will give us growth and joy in this life and in the life to come 

Do some days feel like you can tackle the world, but other days feel like you’re just creeping by? This week, Kristy draws on lessons from nature to show how our physical, emotional and mental resources relate to our ability to maintain or grow our capacity. We’ll talk about which major and minor life factors can affect our capacity and how they contribute to why our load is always changing. We’ll learn cues to help us know if it’s time to slow down or hit the gas and then brainstorm ways we can rest and replenish so we’re more equipped to carry our loads and stay bright!


RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. 4 Examples of Carrying Capacity

2. Carrying Capacity

CHAPTER MARKERS: 

1:00 Carrying Capacity/ Population Density

3:30- Our "Core" Capacity loads

4:55- Personal Carrying Capacity, Fringe Capacity: The space outside of our Core demands

Specific examples of carrying capacity in nature
7:23- 1st- North American Deer- as we make changes to our environment, we need to check our core/ fringe capacities and make sure not to exceed of personal carrying capacity or we can figuratively begin to starve. We need balance. 

12:59- 2nd- Grazing Cattle- once we are "overgrazed" it can take a long time for the nutrients to return to the soil. We cannot sustain anything new. We need to give ourselves time and space to heal and replenish. 

28:24- 3rd- Barnacles and Oysters- we must make space for the things that need space in our lives, and push other things out in order to support the most important things. 

This week Angie and Kristy discuss the relationship between confidence and spirituality and specifically identify three Christlike traits we can live TODAY to build more confidence. Angie looks for patterns that Christ lived by that can help us face difficult tasks and circumstances, shift our perspective from a place of insecurity to power, and develop our sense of worthiness as we build it in others. We hope you feel encouraged as we learn from His example!

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. How to Build Confidence and Self Esteem

2. Confidence and Self Worth by Glen L. Pace

3. By Divine Design by Ronald L. Rasband


CHAPTER MARKERS: 

1:21- Pattens and Characteristics that Jesus Christ lived by help us strengthen our confidence 

1:32- Trait #1- Order - God is not haphazard in the spiritual realm where the eternal destiny of souls is at stake.  

1:46- Billy Graham quote

8:40- Trait #2- Seeing the big picture 

12:25- George Q Cannon- Quote on Divine Parentage 

20:16- Trait #3- Charity Towards All Men 

20:23- Glen L. Pace quote

21:40- proverbs 18:21- Death and Life are in the power of the tongue 

Self confidence is like the water running in your house. We may not know all of the ins and outs of it, but if it’s not working, it has a painful effect on our health and lifestyle! Our self confidence is a general view of how likely we are to accomplish a goal, especially based on our past experience. Kristy and Angie discuss three practical ways we can fortify our self-confidence. Learn how to expose ourselves to new experiences, increase our tolerance for risk and discomfort and view our non-linear progress as growth instead of failure. Invest in yourself and listen in!

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

Practical Ways to Improve Your Self- Confidence and Why You Should

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Fit to Code


CHAPTER MARKERS:

1:24- Distinguish between Self- Confidence, Self- Esteem, and Self- Efficacy

3:55- Fit to Code Research

7:10- Three Tools to Increase Self- Confidence or the general view of how likely you are to accomplish a goal, based on past experience.

7:15- Tool #1- Expose and Educate

18:01- Tool #2- Take a Risk

29:37- Tool #3- Leave Room to Fail

Have you ever felt like you don’t have the words to navigate a disagreement? Do you find yourself getting hurt and angry or even out of control? Do you have arguments that seem to come up over and over? Join Angie and Kristy as they teach the words and phrases from the Gottman Repair Checklist that will de-escalate, soothe and repair those hurtful arguments in our lives. Learn exactly what to say when you’re overwhelmed, worried, sorry or are trying to bridge a gap, but don’t know quite how. This is a must listen for anyone wanting to add tools to your reconciliation tool box!

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. Gottman Repair Checklist (for purchase)

2. R is for Repair by Zach Brittle

CHAPTER MARKERS: 

This week we discover principles of reconciliation that will allow us to not only heal and restore our relationships but make them better, stronger, healthier and happier. Join us as we learn concepts that have been used to heal damaged political relationships in history and see how these relate to our own one on one relationships. Understand the connection between reconciliation, struggle and transformation and why it's important to honor the truth of what has happened in order for reconciliation to truly take place. Do you desire more beautiful relationships? Listen in and let us know how this episode helped you!



RESOURCES AND REFERENCES:

1. Reconciliation, struggle, transformation: An Introduction

2. Reconciliation: A comprehensive framework for empirical analysis

3. Patrick Doyle: Reconciliation

4. No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu

5. Genocide's Legacy: A Reconciliation Village in Rwanda

6. The Role of Women in Post- Conflict Peace-building

7. God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Journey of Transformation

8. Forgiveness and Reconciliation

9. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwanda Holocaust


CHAPTER MARKERS: 

2:35- Exploring the word reconciliation 

4:48- Angie’s existing thoughts about reconciliation. How does reconciliation differ from forgiveness?  

7:32- Kristy’s story about manifesting reconciliation and the resources she found.  

12:53- Journal of Peacemaking- Reconciliation, Struggle, and Transformation: An Introduction 

14:31- Two ideas that encompass what reconciliation in any relationship looks like 

1- If we look at the relationship now, we would never believe that what had happened.

2- Honoring and remembering what did happen is part of the ability to create something more beautiful, stronger, healthier and more loving.  

15:47- Reconciliation: Restoration of friendly relations 

17:22- Struggle 

18:05- How have you struggled with changing your beliefs, viewpoints, ways, and thoughts in a specific relationship that allowed reconciliation to take place, and in what ways was the struggle a critical part of making things whole/ better?  

20:22- Transformation: true change 

21:39- Angie’s thoughts on transformation. Does true transformation require forgiveness?  

27:26- Honoring and remembering how history happened.  

29:19- Relationships made stronger because you honored TRUTH and the things that had happened.