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JOY Unfiltered: Joy is the strategy
Joy Unfiltered is the podcast where joy gets real, grounded, and useful.
Hosted by Rachel Bents, author of Joy Is the Strategy, this show explores joy not as a reward you earn, but as a practical strategy for living, leading, and feeling better in real life.
Each week, you’ll hear honest conversations, solo reflections, and guest episodes that unpack how joy impacts leadership, wellbeing, resilience, mindset, and connection without bypassing hard things or pretending life is perfect.
This podcast is also the heartbeat of two growing movements:
📘 Joy Is the Strategy (the book)
A deeper exploration of how joy works, why it matters, and how choosing it can change your life and leadership.
✨ The Joy Project
A global, joy-first community built on connection, conversation, and collective momentum.
If you’re tired of hustle culture, burned out on forced positivity, or curious what changes when joy becomes the way forward, you’re in the right place.
Joy isn’t the reward.
It’s the strategy.
JOY Unfiltered: Joy is the strategy
Rewire Your Brain for Joy Every Morning
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode of Joy Unfiltered, Rachel explores the neuroscience behind morning mindset and identity change.
Key Topics Covered:
- Why the brain is in a theta-dominant state upon waking
- Neuroplasticity and identity formation
- The Reticular Activating System (RAS) and attentional bias
- The Broaden-and-Build Theory (Barbara Fredrickson)
- How positive emotion increases resilience and cognitive flexibility
- The impact of movement on dopamine, serotonin, and BDNF
- Growth mindset vs perfectionism and cortisol regulation
- Vagal tone and emotional resilience
Five Daily Rewiring Phrases:
- Today, I lead myself.
- Joy is available to me.
- I move my body because I love it.
- I choose progress over perfection.
- Joy is my strategy.
This episode explores how intentional morning language shapes perception, behavior, and long-term identity.
Because joy isn’t the reward at the end.
Joy is the operating system.
🔗 Connect with Rachel
If this episode resonated, let’s stay connected.
📘 Grab the book: Joy Is the Strategy
Discover how choosing joy on purpose can reshape your mindset, relationships, leadership, and everyday life.
🎥 YouTube
🌐 Website
💛 Join The JOY Project Community
A space to practice joy daily, connect with others, and sprinkle joy like glitter in the world.
Connect with Rachel
