Late breaking news! Kelly is giving Change Academy listeners an electronic copy of her new book for free! Scroll down for the link to that I met Kelly Howard a few months ago, when she invited me to be a guest on her podcast. I loved the concept of her podcast, which is that fitness is not just another chore that we’re supposed to do. It is a gateway to more freedom. Kelly takes that message beyond her podcast and into the real world, where she runs a company that offers hiking, biking, backpack...
Aug 25, 2023•32 min•Ep. 114
Part of living your best life involves thinking–at least a little–about how you can set yourself up to live a good life in the future. If you’re of a certain age, you might keep track of things like your cholesterol or your blood pressure. Or, you might keep an eye on your 401K balance, with an eye toward ensuring future well-being. But there’s another lesser-known metric that can also be predictive of both your current and your future health and longevity. Just like those other markers, it’s a ...
Aug 14, 2023•16 min•Ep. 113
This podcast is based on the premise that –with the right tools, insights, and support, we can create meaningful lasting changes in our habits, improve our health, and take control of our lives. The podcast Tiny Leaps, Big Changes by Gregg Clunis is based on the same premise. But in this episode, Gregg and I explore some uncomfortable questions: What are the limits of our personal agency? What are the forces that lead us to believe that creating healthy, safe, and secure lives and environments i...
Aug 04, 2023•32 min•Ep. 112
Have we put habit formation on too high a pedestal? Dr. Michelle Segar is an NIH-funded researcher who has spent close to thirty years studying how to create healthy behaviors. that can survive the complexity and unpredictability of the real world. We talk about why healthy behaviors are often particularly resistant to habit formation, and what may work better. Things to Listen For 02:17 Common misconceptions about habits 06:33 Why complex behaviors defy habit formation 14:40 The unrecognized in...
Jul 25, 2023•32 min•Ep. 111
I'm convinced that watching Wimbledon actually improves my game. Granted, when you’re as bad as I am, it doesn’t take much. But there is definitely a lot to be learned from people who are good at something that you’re trying to get better at. Which is why I want to share with you some of what I’ve observed in my most successful clients. These are qualities and attitudes that you can adopt and emulate to enhance your own progress and success, whether you’re working with me or another coach, or on...
Jul 14, 2023•25 min•Ep. 110
Change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Whether you are trying to create positive changes in your personal life or in your workplace or community, you are more likely to succeed if you are working in a supportive environment. You’ll often hear this referred to (especially in workplace settings) as “creating a culture of wellness.” But our efforts to instill a culture of wellness very often miss the mark. In this episode, we’ll talk about why and how to fix it. Joining me is Rebecca Johnson, co-founde...
Jul 05, 2023•29 min•Ep. 109
Working toward a big goal takes a lot of grit and discipline. You may imagine that everything will be so much easier once you reach your goal. You can finally relax and enjoy your accomplishment. But that transition, from active change to maintenance, can be really tricky. And we’re often completely unprepared for that. If we’re not careful, we can let what we’ve attained slip through our fingers, simply because we don’t feel as motivated or rewarded by maintaining the status quo as we did by ma...
Jun 26, 2023•14 min•Ep. 108
This is a must-listen episode for anyone contemplating a career shift, But even if you’re not necessarily looking for a new job right now, this conversation will be highly relevant to anyone trying to live a life of greater purpose and meaning. Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, better known to her clients and students as “Dr. Bethy,” is a clinical psychologist, a marriage and family therapist, with special expertise and certification in career development counseling. I know you'll appreciate the resonance...
Jun 15, 2023•32 min•Ep. 107
If you are an insight junkie like me, this episode is intended to be the tough love we both need. A lot of the coaching I do involves helping people better understand what is (really) driving their behaviors. These things are frequently invisible or unacknowledged–and this can result in our acting in ways that aren’t aligned with what we say we want. Without insight into why we do the things we do, change can be very difficult. But the point I want to make today is that insight alone isn’t enoug...
Jun 05, 2023•11 min•Ep. 106
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 wan...
May 25, 2023•23 min•Ep. 105
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 List...
May 15, 2023•29 min•Ep. 104
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 sol...
May 05, 2023•13 min•Ep. 103
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...
Apr 20, 2023•30 min•Ep. 102
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. Interested in h...
Mar 20, 2023•3 min•Ep. 101
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. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★...
Mar 09, 2023•19 min•Ep. 101
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. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★...
Feb 27, 2023•17 min•Ep. 100
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. Interested in having Monica present at your next li...
Feb 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 99
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." Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★...
Feb 08, 2023•24 min•Ep. 98
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...
Jan 26, 2023•37 min•Ep. 97
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. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★...
Jan 16, 2023•22 min•Ep. 96
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. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★...
Jan 06, 2023•23 min•Ep. 95
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 Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★
Dec 30, 2022•4 min•Ep. 94
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. Interested in having ...
Dec 27, 2022•21 min•Ep. 94
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 thin...
Dec 20, 2022•31 min•Ep. 93
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 w...
Dec 15, 2022•24 min•Ep. 93
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 productiv...
Dec 05, 2022•20 min•Ep. 92
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!) Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event? Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★...
Nov 25, 2022•23 min•Ep. 91
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 yoursel...
Nov 14, 2022•27 min•Ep. 90
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 i...
Nov 04, 2022•20 min•Ep. 89
Our evaluation of a certain experience can be heavily influenced by things that actually have nothing to do with it. For example, if we happen to be very thirsty when we sample a new beverage, we may later remember it as being far better than it actually was. It’s called attribution bias. And if left unexamined, it can lead us to make choices or decisions that are not based on our actual goals and values. As with so many other things, correcting for attribution bias starts with becoming aware of...
Oct 24, 2022•25 min•Ep. 88
