Happy & Healthy U: The Monthly Message

The S.P.I.E.S. Self-Care Strategies: Practice Loving Yourself During February, the Month of Love and Beyond Now that 2024 is well underway, let’s work on attaining total wellness and satisfaction.  My   S.P.I.E.S. model is a framework for connecting with your self-awareness and utilizing your internal intelligence related to your strengths, interests, and needs. S.P.I.E.S. (Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social)  is a multidimensional model that enables you to engage in introspection and self-care in the five dimensions as described below. Spiritual Domain Definition: Your inner guideposts, such as values; morals, intuition; principles; ethics; and sense of purpose. These guide the development of your character qualities. Spiritual Domain Self-Care: Activities and practices that engage you with your sense of purpose and or enable you to hear your inner voice. Spiritual Domain Benefits: Feeling grounded, centered, authentic and at peace with you...

Happier Holidays: Turn Down the Stress and Turn Up the Joy Is your holiday stress related to: Problems With Self-Care?  Overeating  Insufficient Sleep Excessive Alcohol  Doing Too Much Financial Management Problems Overspending  Managing gift expectations Entertaining and Social Demands Hosting guests Increased social events and activities Family Drama and Strain Grief and Loneliness Loss of loved ones Other major losses (job; relationship; decline in health) Feeling isolated The holidays are here with Thanksgiving kicking off the season through New Year's Day. You do not have to be overcome by the stress that often comes with them. Coping with holiday stress starts with your acknowledgement of its source(s); assessing the impact on you; and addressing stress related problems with effective strategies.   By reducing and managing stress you can enjoy the holidays. Stay tuned for upcoming articles that will provide holiday stress management and reduction tips...

  Elements and the Practice of  Healthy Self-Love As February comes to a close, let's reflect on the major theme, represented by Valentine's Day, that of love . Healthy love is a powerful force.  It provides us with motivation, joy, purpose, and energy.  It is important to remember that healthy love starts with our ability to love ourselves.     Healthy Self-Love Self-Acceptance and Being Authentic Like who you are Focus on and reinforce your strengths and positive qualities Embrace your individuality Self-Compassion Treat yourself well Forgive yourself for past mistakes Accept positive treatment from others Self-Esteem Recognize your value and honor it Honor the priority of your needs Assert your needs and wants Self-Awareness Be in touch with and in control of your emotions Set reasonable and Healthy Boundaries  Practice mindfulness  Positivity Recognize and celebrate your accomplishments Adopt an optimistic mindset Seek to enjoy life Pract...

  "Taking Care of Me in 2023" An Overview of the S.P.I.E.S. Self-Care Model Self-Care is the healthy exercise of your responsibility and your right to aim for wellbeing.  It starts with our attitude.  That which we can Conceive, Believe and Achieve contributes toward our feeling and being well.  This is a conscious and intentional practice. My mindfulness approach: Acknowledge; Assess and Address enables you to work through and manage your emotions.  This intentional process enables you to feel in control and resolve distress.  Practicing deliberate self-care in a comprehensive manner promotes total wellness.  My model, S.P.I.E.S. provides a framework that can be applied to guide you through self-care assessment and practices across five dimensions:  Spiritual: Your sense of purpose, mission, values, and meaning that guide you and promote fulfillment Physical: Your health, physical characteristics, physical abilities and talents; Intellectual: You...

  THE BENEFIT OF GRATITUDE  Being Grateful for 2022 Helps Usher in 2023 As 2022 comes to a close, it it helpful to reflect on how we were successful in getting through the year. It is important to note that using a positive lens through which to evaluate what has transpired and where we have landed does not require us to ignore the painful or challenging experiences.  It is healthy to acknowledge problems and negative situations.  However, it is unhealthy to give those events and situations all of the power.  That is what happens when we narrow our lens and focus only or primarily on the pain of hurtful events. A healthy attitude enables us to desire to be whole, feel well and move on. Psychological researchers have found that the practice of gratitude is helpful in switching our perspective from one of problem to solution and building the resilience to overcome the negative impact of hurtful events.  Specifically, the attitude of gratitude is the ability t...

  CAREER SATISFACTION AND SUCCESS PODCAST SERIES by Dr. Diane Kern Podcast Episode Highlights   Episode #1:   Boosting Career Confidence (Aired November 15) Guest: Mr. Ralph Rosello, Sales and Marketing Expert Having strong career confidence is important because: It enables you to showcase your best It helps you promote yourself during the application and interview phases of job search It inspires others to have confidence in your abilities In sales, it helps you have influence potential customers It strengthens the foundation for your decision making It allows you to “take control of the room” and be in command of situations when necessary It helps you communicate effectively It strengthens perseverance and resilience that help you overcome challenges   3 Tips for Boosting Career Confidence: Reflect on your previous positive experiences and achievements Focus on your strengths, talents and abilities Seek and engage in opportunities to...

  Career Confidence is Vital to Career Satisfaction and Success Career Confidence Consists of the Following: Having a strong and positive belief in one's work-related assets (i.e. skills, strengths, abilities, talents that enable achievement) Feeling comfortable demonstrating those assets Seeking and being willing to take on challenges, including learning new skills Feeling good and at ease with celebrating achievements Career Confidence is Important to Career Happiness and Sucess: When you experience a high level of confidence, it functions like a muscle that reinforces your desire and comfort with applying your work-related assets.  This is especially true when you are performing work that you enjoy and is truly a good fit for you. You are also more likely to experience success when you feel the confidence to apply and demonstrate your work-related skills, talents and abilities.   A High and Healthy Level of Self Confidence is Beneficial Because it Enables You To: ...

 Being Happy in Your Career Life Enables You to be Successful According to Positive psychology researcher, Shawn Achor (author of the Happiness Advantage), evidence shows that happiness leads to success and not the other way around.  This suggests the powerful role that seeking and cultivating happiness play in our career lives.   Most of us enjoy using our talents and skills that enable us to feel accomplished. Using our strengths promotes positive motivation to achieve and be our best.  We tend to enjoy work even more when that work satisfies a sense of meaning and purpose. It enables us to feel authentic and fulfilled. When you believe it  possible to do what you want, you are likely to find it.   Here is my mindfulness model to engage with yourself to achieve your career satisfaction and success: Acknowledge: Engage with yourself and recognize what gives you a sense of purpose and what talents and skills you enjoy using Assess: Determine what ...

Career Happiness Matters Being happy is widely recognized as a major contributor to good health.  This is especially important in your career life, especially given that most of your waking hours are occupied with work. What contributes to happiness as an employee in your career life?  The literature on career and employee happiness suggests the following characteristics as significant contributors. Work that:  has meaning, mission and purpose provides adequate salary (somewhat beyond basic needs) offers generous benefits  has conditions that enable work-life balance provides opportunity to utilize your skills and strengths treats you as valued and appreciated  provides competent and considerate leadership promotes a harmonious interpersonal environment What is the status of your career happiness?   Reflect on where you are with respect to what you want and where you wish to be.  It is possible to aim for work that fulfills your needs and prioriti...

Give Yourself Permission to be Happy and Healthy: Embrace an Attitude that Promotes Overall Self-Care Many folks struggle with granting themselves permission to do what they desire or want to do.  They either feel they do not have the permission; or feel that they are committing some offense against others by doing so.   The effect of not granting self-permission is feeling stuck, trapped and unhappy. Let's understand the concept of "permission".  According to the Mirriam-Webster Thesaurus definition: Permission is "the approval of someone in authority for the doing of something".  Two critical concepts loom large here: authority and approval    Who has authority over you?   As a fully functional, responsible adult, the healthy response is, "You" . Whose approval should you seek, as an adult?   Again, the healthy response is, "You" .  When you exercise authority in your life choices and decisions, you are assuming responsibili...

How are you doing as we continue to move beyond the Covid Pandemic?   Are you ready for re-connection and re-direction ? Become Aware and Acknowledge: The world continues to grapple with safety, especially in the wake of various vaccinations (and boosters), while still facing the occurrence of  Covid variants. As you experience increasing safety, aim for ways to connect and resume those things that are meaningful.   RE-CONNECT  with yourself, with others and with life: Worship  Work  Family, Friends and Other Relationships Healthcare and Wellness Recreational and fun activities Assess: Determine how well you are doing, in spite of the past 24 months of this major disruptive event. It is important to identify the ways you cope and continue to get through this experience.  What has enabled you to get to today? Recognize  and celebrate how you: Survived Thrived  Became More Resilient Became More Grateful and Appreciative Became More ...

  Go Forward to Work! How to Use Your SPIES to Get Your Right Fit Job During a Pandemic This is the title of my e-book, to be available very soon. If you:  need a job (recent graduate; returning to workforce after a period; seeking part-time work) are unhappy and want a new job or career lost your job due to the pandemic feel lost (your entire industry disappeared; did work that you hated) your family situation and needs require you to change jobs ready to become self-employed (your own boss) This personalized guide can help you.  Work is an important and involves much of your waking hours. Therefore, doing work that you enjoy is critical to reducing stress and enhancing your wellbeing. Here's how the S.P.I.E.S. model in this career guide can help you: S.P.I.E.S. is a model created to help you access and see clearly the different parts of yourself as they pertain to your strengths, interests and preferences related to work.  This valuable information enables you to ...

Re-Connecting with Life: Creating a New Normal Beyond the Pandemic Lockdown It's Not Over Yet! However, We Can Increase Our Calm and Coping Skills.  It is summer, many of us are vaccinated and the world is re-opening. So, it feels like the world has conquered the pandemic and we are getting back to the normal we knew.  Not just yet!  Currently, we are seeing a surge of the Delta variant of Covid-19, clearly reminding us that there is still a real threat to our health and safety.   This continued threat is wearing on our patience and making us fatigued.  It is very easy to delude ourselves; bury our heads in the sand; and simply ignore the troubling reality.  This situation also saddens and angers many of us. So, out of defiance, some of us have chosen to ignore the ongoing threat.  As re-opening is occurring, many of us are also struggling with anxiety about whether we will be safe and healthy. It is important that we recognize and manage our emot...

  Go Forward to Work: Returning to Work as the Pandemic Declines "Go Forward to Work" is the beginning of the title of my upcoming book Go Forward to Work: How to Use Your SPIES to Get Your Right Fit Job During a Pandemic.  This blog post will focus on effectively adjusting to work as the pandemic winds down. As we are in the midst of recovering from the pandemic quarantine and lockdown, returning or resuming work may not be the same as going back to work.  to "Go Forward to Work" challenges us to think about the reality of how the pandemic impacted our lives.   For many of us, work will never be the same. Even if your employment is now requiring you to shift from virtual work and return to the physical work space on a full time basis, it will not be the same.  How are you processing this experience?  How secure or comfortable do you feel being in an environment in close proximity to others? How happy are you to resume seeing and  interacting with...

Experiencing a Covid-19 Career Crisis? Are you a recent college graduate or about to graduate and your career opportunities have decreased or disappeared? Have you lost a job you have held for some time, due to the impact of Covid-19? As disappointing as this may feel, it is important to stay encouraged, focused and determined to achieve your employment and career goals.   Below are some strategies that may help you get back on track with pursuing career related happiness and succes: ACKNOWLEDGE: The negative impact of Covid-19 on your employment and your feelings about it.  Remember that this was not your fault. What happened was beyond your control. The current reality of the job market and your industry of interest, due to the impact of Covid-19. What are the projections about the recovery of your industry?  Or, is it likely that you will need to take a new direction or change your expectations? Who you are (your sense of purpose; the meaning you assign to work; w...

 From the Inside Out: Empower Yourself to Feel Happy and in Control in Your Life It is important to recognize the importance of seeing yourself  as having power in your life or within any circumstance.  While you may not be able to control a circumstance, you always have control over your feelings and decisions and responses.  Starting with yourself with place you in the driver's seat of your life. Acknowledge: Who you genuinely are What your strengths and talents are What you want and desire; what matters to you Assess: Whether you  are being your true self The degree to which you demonstrate your strengths and talents The level of your overall life happiness   Address: Ways you can increase your authenticity Be yourself Respect who you are Recognize and reinforce your value Make yourself a priority Practice self-compassion Listen to and honor your inner voice Ways you can express and explore your strengths and talents Celebrate your best self Give self pe...

  The Importance of:   Who You Know and Who Knows You  to Reducing Isolation During the Pandemic by Diane Kern, Ph.D. of Happy and Healthy U, LLC  Acknowledge: Interpersonal connection is essential to our well-being. The social isolation that many are feeling because of the pandemic related social distancing and physical restrictions is causing significant emotional distress.    It is natural to feel down due to prolonged periods of  not seeing others not being in close proximity to others not being touched by others   Assess: Determine how not being in physical contact with others has impacted your mood. Determine how social isolation has affected the well being of your loved ones, especially the elderly. Are they (or you) demonstrating signs of depression?  Is their (or your) mental and physical functioning declining? Have they (or you) lost the will to live? Address: Reach out and connect with others; Make phone calls; Do virtual visi...