The Brain It On! Podcast
Your brain is the powerhouse behind your life, your relationships, and your ability to overcome challenges. On The Brain It On! Podcast, we explore practical ways to nurture your brain for optimal health and happiness. We delve into strategies to strengthen your connections with loved ones, build resilience, and navigate life's ups and downs with a focus on brain health. This podcast offers actionable tips, emotional regulation techniques, and a trauma-informed approach to help you thrive in all areas of life. Discover how understanding and caring for your brain can transform your relationships and empower you to face any challenge with confidence.
The Brain It On! Podcast
One Step at a Time: Celebrating Small Wins
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Watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our new YouTube channel for visuals from our journey, behind-the-scenes photos, and extra content! 🎥
Episode Summary
In Episode 8 of The Brain It On! Podcast, Lindsey and Thomas explore the power of celebrating small wins and taking things one step at a time, especially when navigating life's biggest challenges. This episode offers a deeply personal look at Thomas's journey, sharing how these principles have helped him and Lindsey navigate the complexities of his experience.
We feature a moving conversation with Thomas's oncology nurse, Daniel, who provides invaluable insights into the importance of acknowledging every step forward, no matter how small. Daniel's wisdom highlights how celebrating these seemingly minor milestones can significantly impact morale and overall well-being.
Learn how acknowledging progress, even in small increments, can trigger the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation, effectively reinforcing positive behavior and fueling resilience. We discuss how breaking down overwhelming goals into smaller, more manageable steps can reduce anxiety and increase motivation, making even the most daunting tasks feel achievable.
Key Takeaways:
- Celebrating small wins: Why acknowledging progress, no matter how small, is crucial for maintaining motivation and fostering resilience.
- Taking things one step at a time: Practical strategies for breaking down overwhelming goals into manageable steps.
- Strengthening your support system: The importance of social connection and how to build a strong network of support.
- Looking back and celebrating progress: How to reflect on your journey and acknowledge how far you've come.
- Navigating the rollercoaster of challenges: How to embrace the ups and downs and find stability amidst change.
Additional Resources:
Your brain is the powerhouse behind your life. On this podcast, we explore strategies to strengthen your connections, build resilience and navigate life's ups and downs, with a focus on brain health.
Speaker 2Discover how understanding and caring for your brain can transform your relationships and empower you to face any challenge with confidence.
Speaker 1Get ready to brain it on. Today, we're diving into the power of taking things one step at a time, celebrating tiny wins and how this seemingly simple concept can be a game changer, especially when facing monumental challenges. This episode also includes a powerful conversation with Thomas's amazing oncology nurse, Daniel, who helped Thomas during his bone marrow transplant. Let's get started. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 3Before, we get started.
Speaker 1We have some exciting news. Yes, we do. We started a YouTube channel. That's right. So if you would like to see the video version of this episode, complete with all kinds of visuals from our journey, you can check out the link in the description in the show notes for our podcast listeners.
Speaker 2My mother always said I had the face for radio, but we're going to give the video a chance here. See how that goes.
Speaker 1In all seriousness, you do look great, Thomas.
Speaker 2Oh, thanks. Well, that's that post-radiation glow probably.
Speaker 1That could be it.
Speaker 2During the day. It's great because it looks like I just got back from a tropical vacation. I got freckles and all tan.
Speaker 1I love your freckles, by the way.
Speaker 2But then at night it makes it a little harder to sleep when you glow in the dark, so it's not as advantageous.
Speaker 1It has become an issue. I have to put a blanket over Thomas' face and then suffocates and all that.
Speaker 2It's a safety thing. We're figuring it out.
Speaker 1We're working on it. Pray for us. The radiation is also impacting his voice because, as a result of radiation, he had to start steroids to decrease the inflammation around his brain and this has really helped his headaches, which has been huge. But now he kind of sounds like the godfather.
Speaker 2So you come to my first video recording on our YouTube channel and you insult my voice.
Speaker 1That was a great impression. If only you had our cat, you could be petting her.
Speaker 2Be perfect.
Speaker 1Well, should we jump into our health highlights now?
Speaker 2Yeah, let's do it. Health highlights.
Speaker 1So, first off, the bone marrow biopsy came back from his bone marrow. So this is not his cerebral spinal fluid like we've talked about in the past, but from his bone marrow. It came back and it says there are no leukemia cells. We celebrated that. It was such a blessing, oh my gosh. We celebrated with hamburgers.
Speaker 2As we should.
Speaker 1And you had a root beer float.
Speaker 2Oh, so good.
Speaker 1What's the name of the restaurant?
Speaker 2Little Big Burger.
Speaker 1Little Big Burger. Going back to the bone marrow results, we celebrated that and then we got the more specific test later, and that is the one that tells us what percentage of the bone marrow is host versus how much is donor. And in a perfect world it would be all donor, all Olga, that's our donor's made up name. So 100% lady bones that was the target.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's what we're shooting for, but it seems my stem cells and Olga's have reached some sort of agreement where they're cohabitating now, because when the test came back there were 93% donor and- 7% of your cells 7%. My cells, the host cells, 7% my cells, the host cells. Yeah, so they're still squatting in there. It's like you move into a house that the previous tenants have left, but one sticks behind and is able to charm their way into living in your basement or something We'll address the basement dweller squatter cells.
Speaker 1Oh, olga, she was charmed and wooed. I, olga, she was charmed and wooed.
Speaker 2I know she was charmed and wooed by my stem cells.
Speaker 1Well, this is probably because of radiation, so I was very concerned as I saw that 93%. I suspended judgment, though, and we prayed and we said let's wait till tomorrow, we'll let the doctor tell us what this means, and my chart strikes again, giving us bad news at like 10 o'clock at night wasn't.
Speaker 2It was it on a holiday this time too.
Speaker 1It was the day after president's day, so christmas was the cancer in the brain, cerebral spinal fluid and then, president's day gave us some more fun news or the day after, so we're going to oh no, when's Easter? Oh gosh, we don't-. One step at a time. That's the topic today.
Speaker 2There are going to be good surprises going forward.
Speaker 1Yes, yes, we're going to give it more time for the engraftment to happen. Let Olga get stronger and then they'll reassess later to see how your transplant's doing. So now I would love to transition. We are going to share a conversation that we had that was incredibly meaningful to us with Thomas's oncology nurse, daniel. He shared some really powerful insights about the importance of celebrating even the smallest of steps during a long and challenging journey like a transplant. Let's transition to that interview now.
Speaker 2Let's do it Without further ado. The legend himself, daniel the nurse. I've always wanted to use that button. That's good. That's enough of that.
Speaker 1Here. It is All right, we have here Daniel at OHSU.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1An amazing nurse on 14K. Thanks for being on the show and being our very first guest to be interviewed.
Speaker 3It is an honor to be on the Brain it On podcast. Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1Of course, and you have been so helpful for Thomas and I. You were here on Halloween. You were here the day that Thomas had his head shaved yes, a very monumental day and you and the nursing student who is shadowing you following you really were just awesome for us. So really appreciate you, guys.
Speaker 3Thank you. You make it easy, though, nice.
Speaker 1Well, thank you. So today off air, we were talking about the power of taking things one day at a time. Today off air, we were talking about the power of taking things one day at a time. So could you say a little bit more about that, as it pertains to both patients and then also family members? How can that help them through this process?
Speaker 3Sure. So the transplant process is very intense and you can be as prepared as you could possibly be and you're still not ready for it. And so there's so much that can happen during the immediate post-transplant period like day plus one to day plus 14, that it can be totally overwhelming for people, patients and family.
Speaker 1You saw some overwhelm for me several times, that's totally normal and that's okay.
Speaker 3Yes, and so I always encourage patients and family to just take it one day at a time, and I know that is very cliche, but it is the best advice that I feel like I can give to patients, because they're thinking about all these things that can happen in the future and they're already overwhelmed with what's happening in the next 10 minutes sometimes, and so taking it one day at a time is sometimes the most important thing that you can do to help stay sane through a really, really intense process like this.
Speaker 1That's huge, and we talked about that earlier this morning as we were exploring what we could talk about on the show, and you mentioned that. I'm like, wow, that's really good. And then a little bit later I'm saying the same thing. There's some kind of issue. And you're like remember one day at a time.
Speaker 3One day at a time, one hour at a time, so that was really helpful.
Speaker 1I mean, you mentioned that it's kind of cliche, but I think there's such a difference, something that's being common knowledge versus common practice. So even though taking it one day at a time can seem like it's common knowledge, when it comes down to it it's not necessarily common practice, or a lot of folks maybe struggle with that, as they're hearing different things from doctors Awesome. Do you have any other thoughts that come to mind? Maybe for other folks? Either you know caregivers or the patient either side of things anything else that is helpful?
Speaker 3Well, another cliche, but bring it on I love it, they're useful. It turns out kind of in the same vein as taking it one day at a time is like celebrating, like those little victories as they come along, no matter how small they might be. Like, you know, eating real food for the first time in a couple of weeks like that's a really big deal. You know, coming off of some heavy duty pain medication also a really big deal, you know. And taking those opportunities to like recognize how far you've come.
Speaker 1Yeah, thank you. That's awesome, and today he had some mashed potatoes and we were celebrating that. So that's a very recent example that you were very happy and cheering him on for, so thanks for doing that.
Speaker 3Of course.
Speaker 1Well, thanks so much for being on the show. I really appreciate the time and we'll see you in a few minutes for this next set of meds probably All right, sounds good. Thanks, man. Daniel's words really resonated with us.
Speaker 2Yeah, so true. During the bone marrow transplant, some days were like just super, super tough and the mucositis which is a mucositis, if you don't know is basically the cells sloughing off the side of your mucous membrane, like in your mouth.
Speaker 1That was brutal. It's very painful, even just eating is hard Some of our earlier episodes in the show and the podcast. We talk about some of those day-to-day challenges. So, if you listen from the beginning or if you go back and listen now, you can hear what it was like. Definitely a struggle.
Speaker 2There were little wins along the way, though, like when I was able to eat mashed potatoes. We were so stoked, or I was able to figure out some way to take my like 30 pills that morning with some thickened water.
Speaker 1It might sound simple or small, but it was really.
Speaker 2It was like that was quite the project.
Speaker 1It was a victory yeah. You know we treated it like a victory and that's where the brain science comes in. So when we acknowledge and celebrate the small victories, our brain releases dopamine, which is a good thing. It's that neurotransmitter that's associated with pleasure and motivation and this reinforces that positive behavior and encourage us to keep going even when things are difficult. So this little reward system is built into our brains and we saw this in action all the time in the hospital and remember how the nurses would celebrate Got to get that dopamine?
Speaker 1Remember how they would celebrate?
Speaker 2Yeah, they'd write my neutrophil numbers on the whiteboard and neutrophils. We probably know by now what neutrophils are, but for anyone that doesn't, they're a type of white blood cell that fights infection. They're some of the first responders, so to speak. They're there to neutralize the situation. Neutrophils Helps me remember it. But they'd get excited that my nurses would get excited about any small bump in my neutrophils and put it up on the board. One nurse would even draw smiley faces next to the numbers.
Speaker 1And exclamation marks.
Speaker 2Yeah right.
Speaker 1The whiteboard was my love language, Whenever a nurse would like you know, change the date or write an update on the types of, you know treatments we were doing. I got very excited.
Speaker 2Yeah, that was a big deal Having, yeah, my donor cells, you know, starting to produce blood cells like that and the small signs of progress were huge for morale overall.
Speaker 1Completely, and it's just. It serves as a great example of how you can celebrate small wins. Even seemingly insignificant ones can make a big difference. So, even if it's like you went up by 0.0003. You know, it's not just about that positive thinking. It's about leveraging how our brains work. It's not just about that positive thinking. It's about leveraging how our brains work to our advantage in providing that positive feedback.
Speaker 1So, thomas, what are some other things that have helped you get through tougher moments and kind of helped you take those small steps when it was hard?
Speaker 2I mean being able to celebrate the small wins with you every day. Being able to celebrate the small wins with you every day definitely a huge cornerstone of my recovery and my being able to process it in a healthy way and also keep it real. Also, having a strong support system has been crucial, though. You and your family have been amazing. Our nurses and doctors were constantly providing guidance and reassurance that we were on the road to recovery, you know, reminding us to just take it a step at a time, and our faith has been a huge source of our strength, and so our relationship with God has been, you know, another huge cornerstone of just being able to process and move through and hold room for big feelings, while also celebrating the small wins and then creating a positive environment. From day one, lindsay has been awesome about decorating our hotel not our hotel room. It looked like a hotel room. It felt like a hotel room because it was so nice.
Speaker 1A classy hotel.
Speaker 2Yeah, very classy, but our hospital rooms you decorate it for whatever season it happened to be, whether you know it was Pumpkins, we had pumpkins, we had pumpkins and little fake fall leaves and stuff like that.
Speaker 1And then it got controversial. I brought in Christmas decorations, I think November 1st. I knew you were getting discharged mid-November so. I only had a couple weeks of Christmas decor. One of the best compliments that I got in the hospital was that I turned our room into the Hobby Lobby room. So to this day, I think that's pretty special.
Speaker 2That is, that is.
Speaker 1Something to shoot for yeah, really.
Speaker 1We had a few things on the walls as well, in addition to the decorative throw pillows and pumpkins, and these things on the wall were so important, and one of the biggest was a poster that said A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. And one of the biggest was a poster that said a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step, and that was huge. For us, it was a constant reminder not to get overwhelmed by the big picture but to just focus on the present moment.
Speaker 2Right, yeah, definitely, and those were really cool posters. They're kind of like the motivational posters you would see at a school computer lab or something like that.
Speaker 1But more sophisticated.
Speaker 2But more sophisticated. Yeah, totally so. Those were great to have on the walls.
Speaker 1We'll link that in the show notes or the description. We'll put a link to that Amazon poster pack.
Speaker 2Oh, yeah, Wow, nice. So additional things you did. Every day you'd write a new scripture on our little whiteboard in the hospital, usually verses about how God is with us in the valley and we don't need to be afraid, and Psalm 23 type of stuff. The one that really stuck with us too, is Isaiah 41.10. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. And just accepting and sitting in that, knowing that the verse is about God's presence and strength in times of trouble, made it even more powerful. And I think in the darkest times is when the light really shines the brightest.
Speaker 1Oh my gosh, I love that, and that reminds me of a quote that's going to be coming in a future episode from Lord of the Rings. I can't quote it to you, but in my show notes that I have future planning, there's something to that effect.
Speaker 2I'm already impressed.
Speaker 1Thank you.
Speaker 2A Lord of the Rings reference for like 500 points to Gryffindor for you.
Speaker 1I will take it those visual reminders and those mantras and scriptures really made a difference.
Speaker 2Yeah, and they really helped shift my focus and feel supported. Speaking of visuals, your dad gave you a helpful visual and analogy as you go through this cancer journey as my support person. His own father had cancer. His name was also Thomas. He went by Tom.
Speaker 1Grandpa Tom.
Speaker 2Yeah, the man is a legend. I've heard about him ever since I started even dating you, and he unfortunately passed away you know, very devastating loss because he was such a great guy. Your dad talked about him and his colon cancer and so your dad was able to relate and that he has a unique understanding of what a caregiver goes through.
Speaker 1He was with my grandpa Tom every step of the way. I feel a little emotional. It's really true. It's been amazing and helpful to have my dad talk to to be able to call him.
Speaker 1And there were times where you know, as you mentioned, not being able to hardly drink water and being at the point where you're using that pain pump. I know we kind of glossed over it, but seeing someone in that much discomfort is really challenging as a support person and as a caregiver. And so one of the things that my dad taught me is that this journey as a caregiver and also as a patient, I'm sure is kind of like a roller coaster. There's ups and downs, and my dad encouraged me that kind of. The sooner that you understand this, the sooner that you embrace this, the sooner you can learn to kind of go with the flow and be more mindful as you navigate this journey. And it doesn't make the bad times any easier, but it kind of helps you to not feel quite as surprised or, as you know, devastatingly shocked when those downs inevitably come. You know you have good numbers, bad numbers.
Speaker 1Treatment worked, treatment didn't work. Your bone marrow was fully engrafted. Now it's 93%. Your engraftment failed. There's just a lot of ups and downs there. But what he told me is, if you tell yourself that this is all part of it, it can help you move through the cognitive dissonance and the disappointment.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's about accepting the reality of the situation, and if you expect a roller coaster when you get on a roller coaster, you're not going to be quite so surprised. So that totally makes sense to me.
Speaker 1But if you get on a roller coaster, expecting it to be, it's a small world, both of our favorite rides on the East and West Coast.
Speaker 2Yes, not our favorite.
Speaker 1My favorites If you think it's a small world. We're going to hop on this nice water ride that's going to. You know, have some interesting views along the side, and then we'll all sing a song that's going to stick in your mind. And then, all of a sudden, you reach this crazy drop. It's a shock, but if you're like, nope, I am on. What's a roller coaster? What's the one in California Adventure? I think it's called the Incredicoaster now.
Speaker 2Yeah, it is the Incredicoaster, but if you know, at some point you're going to be going upside down. It's helpful right, yeah, for sure, you see the loop-de-loop. You understand there will be a loop-de-loop.
Speaker 2This is going to happen there are ups and downs and in an overall war which is what we're fighting against my cancer there are battles that we win and lose, and you know it's. That's what makes it a war, that's what makes it a fight. You know, when we say we're fighting cancer, it's not just this cut and dry uh thing where they just, you know, hopefully like a treatment could just be curative right away and then help out, but like um, you know expecting that I'm going to be fighting this for a while and like accepting that I've been it for the long haul.
Speaker 2It really helps.
Speaker 1The thing that's so beautiful about both you and my grandpa Tom is that I think for a lot of people going into this cancer battle, the focus could just be on how overwhelming and how daunting the treatments are. And yet both of you have, as you've gone through this, found ways to have fun and to find laughter and to make other people laugh. My dad has told me stories about how my grandpa Tom, you know, was friends with all the, and people were just enamored by how much joy and kindness and presence that he had even wanting to make other people laugh and being concerned about their comfort.
Speaker 1And that's exactly what you do.
Speaker 2Making me blush over here.
Speaker 1And your mom. Of course we're going to have an interview with her later, but as she goes on her cancer battle and her journey, she's certainly paved the way. I mean, we were with her throughout her appointments, the steps that she had to take before we ever knew that you had cancer. So, she's consistently been a person that we can look up to and we can cheer on.
Speaker 2Yeah, and she's been someone who's really modeled. This for me is that you don't have to be happy about your circumstance, but you can be happy In your circumstance. That's good, you don't have to be overjoyed about it, but I can have joy within my circumstance.
Speaker 1Oh, I got to say that this quote's supposed to be at the end of the show notes, but I'm doing it now, okay.
Speaker 2Renee.
Speaker 1Brown says it's not joy that makes us grateful, it's gratitude that makes us joyful. That makes us joyful. And I think this gratitude that we intentionally practice it allows you and your mom and me to find joyful moments. During hard times we can laugh and you know last week you did that Mickey Mouse impersonation on our episode which, like, brought me so much joy and I think we were in the middle of talking about your cancer or something really yucky and hard. So when you embrace that gratitude, that's where you can find your joy.
Speaker 2Yeah for sure, independent of circumstances. Yeah, always finding something to be grateful for, like I mean this Ronald McDonald House and check out that view. I mean, I don't know how many more podcasts we're going to record within this room, but we have this awesome city view behind us For our YouTube watchers. Yeah, yeah, very grateful to be here Just being grateful for that, yeah, every day just opening it up and just being so amazed that some family, whose last name was Rude, decided to invest and build this place.
Speaker 1Collaborate with Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 2Yeah, and here we are, so beautiful yeah.
Speaker 1Should we put the ideas together?
Speaker 2Let's do it.
Speaker 1Putting these ideas together into practice is really important, and it can be helpful to find kind of a tangible way to acknowledge progress. Which brings me to something that Thomas and I did last week as we were preparing for this episode, about celebrating small wins, both in the current moment and looking back. So I think you know we can talk about celebrating the fact that you went on a walk today, Like we always try to go on one walk or celebrate an even bigger win that your leukemia came back as being negative in your bone marrow transplant, or your bone marrow biopsy rather.
Speaker 1But we can also look backward and we were inspired to create our own little Ebenezer, can you describe what that is?
Speaker 2So if you're thinking Scrooge, yes.
Speaker 1Christmas Carol. No, it is a name, that's what we're talking about.
Speaker 2We're not talking about the grumpy yeah, scrooge guy. So the word Ebenezer is actually like a Hebrew word and it's meant to describe they make like a pile of rocks to commemorate where God brought them to.
Speaker 1So if you're going through a park and you see a pile of rocks, don't knock it over.
Speaker 2And it makes so much sense to me now because I've always gone on hikes and seen these little piles and stacks of rocks and towers and maybe some of them are just for funsies, but surely some of those could have been Ebenezers though it's a little monument to remind you of God's faithfulness. So in the Old Testament it was kind of more of a practice at that point, but it's just a way to acknowledge and celebrate the good things even amongst challenges.
Speaker 1So they would build these piles of rocks and did each rock represent, you know, basically a small win or something that had gone right in their lives and, like each rock represented that.
Speaker 2Yes, we're going to go with.
Speaker 1Yes, I'm going to go with yes, we were really excited about this whole Ebenezer thing. So I was like, oh my gosh, we should go down to the river. We have which river? Like, oh my gosh, we should go down to the river.
Speaker 2We have which river McKenzie.
Speaker 1All right, let's go with it, mckenzie.
Speaker 2River.
Speaker 1If that's not correct, we'll put it in the show notes no, willamette, I bet it's Willamette. Okay, but let me check. You are correct, willamette Ah.
Speaker 2Yeah, I had a 50-50 shot there.
Speaker 1So we went down to the river. We were going to find some rocks. It's right down the street from the Rood family where we're staying. And we saw a sign saying do not pass or something and I don't always abide by the signs that I see as I'm walking places. But this sign was different. It said caution, hazardous materials underground, no moving rocks. So we just started laughing and we're like okay, so much for our rock tower.
Speaker 2We were so stoked to make this little rock monument and to go down there and see I've never seen a sign that said that and I appreciate their honesty at least it's a sign toxic chemical waste. Do not touch or move the rocks because they're contaminated contaminated toxic rocks.
Speaker 1That's a sign I've never seen before, so it's like oh well all right.
Speaker 2Yes, we're not going to do that like one. I don't need another type of cancer. You know, I don't think you missed out with radioactive rocks or something down there.
Speaker 1So since we didn't have it could have given you power, though, can you imagine?
Speaker 2Like the.
Speaker 1Hulk, opposite effect, anyway. So since we didn't have actual rocks, we just decided to sit by the river, although a good distance away, because who knows how far that contamination could travel. But we were near the river and we reminisced kind of about all the events that had gone well to get us to this point, like even beginning with discovering your cancer.
Speaker 2Yeah, that was an early catch, and so that was just, you know, one thing on the pile there, one rock, another one.
Speaker 1We found a donor and we, as our medical team, found a donor who was a match Olga, yes, yes, queen Fraulein, olga, we love our doctor, all the nurses like Daniel. So so many rocks in our tower and you're already on day 123 123. Day 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. You finished radiation, so we have a lot of things to celebrate.
Speaker 2Yeah for sure. Maybe we'll collect some non-hazardous rocks when we get back home to Bend down at the river trail or something and make our own little Ebenezer, like we wanted to.
Speaker 1I like it. I like it and because you said rocks, it's time for our recap of the episode. Oh, the quote I was going to use about gratitude we said earlier, so we might end up cutting that. So, before we wrap up, let's recap some of the key strategies that we discussed today that can help anyone facing a journey, whether it's a medical diagnosis, cancer, it could be a relational situation, anything in your life that is a challenge, a journey that is difficult, that you need to overcome. Let's give a recap, along with a little bit of brain science. Let's give a recap, along with a little bit of brain science.
Speaker 2Let's do a recap Shimmer Number one Nice. So celebrate the small wins, acknowledge and appreciate even the small, seemingly insignificant victories. They trigger the release of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation, reinforcing positive behavior and encouraging us to keep going. It's like giving your brain a little reward. It just stimulates the reward system of your mind.
Speaker 3A little sticker.
Speaker 2It's a way to get your brain to work for you. Yeah, like a sticker chart.
Speaker 1Exactly. Number two focus on the present moment. Don't get overwhelmed by the big picture. It's tempting to look 10 steps ahead and worry about that, but instead focus where you're at. Take things one step at a time, sometimes even one hour at a time. Do the next right thing. Focus on what you can control now. This helps to reduce anxiety by preventing your brain from catastrophizing about the future, and it allows you to stay grounded and manage the present moment effectively. Brene Brown talks about dress rehearsing tragedy, and that's something that we do. That we think is going to be a protective factor of. If I just think about all the things that could go wrong, then when they do, it won't be as hard. But that steals your joy, it causes more anxiety and it takes you away from the present the moments that you'll never get back.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah. Next was build a strong support system, so surround yourself with encouraging people who believe in you. Lean on them for support and let them remind you of your strength. Social connection is a fundamental human need. As introverted as you feel like you might be wired to be, you're still wired to have those social connections.
Speaker 1They call that neurobiologically wired for connection.
Speaker 2Ah, you're so smart and nice use of the word catastrophizing, by the way. I was impressed by that. Thank you, thank you. Anyways, back to social supports.
Speaker 1I was impressed by that. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2Anyways, back to social supports.
Speaker 1It's a fundamental human need.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, feeling that support releases oxytocin, which is a hormone that provides bonding and reduces anxiety, and finally, cultivate emotional agility.
Speaker 1Allow yourself to feel the full spectrum of emotions, both positive and negative. Allow yourself to feel the full spectrum of emotions, both positive and negative, Accept them, learn from them and move forward in a way that aligns with your values. Emotional agility, as described by Susan David, is about recognizing and accepting your emotions without judgment.
Speaker 1This allows you to process them effectively and make conscious choices about how to respond, rather than being controlled by them. It's about really developing that self-awareness and understanding the link between thoughts, feelings and actions, and because we know that we're on a roller coaster ride unfortunately we're not on a nice little smooth ride although that's not my favorite ride it's a small world however, your roller coaster works Well.
Speaker 1Thank you so much for joining us on the Brain it On podcast. We hope this episode has inspired you to embrace the power of small steps and celebrate your own victories, no matter how small they may seem. We'd love to hear your own stories of small wins so you can share them with us on social media. If you'd like to. We live on Instagram at the Braindon Podcast.
Speaker 2And don't forget to check out the video version of this episode on our new YouTube channel.
Speaker 1Thank you so much again, for listening Time is valuable and you invested yours in us. Thanks so much. We'll be back next week with another episode.
Speaker 2Take care.
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