Terri Cole's Blog, page 17

674 How Childhood Neglect Shapes Your Relationships + Identity in Adulthood

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“Abuse does not have to be physical. Neglect is a silent killer of joy. It’s the one that’s talked about the least in articles and online, you don’t hear that much about it, but it can be devastating.” – Terri Cole

 

Intro

Physical and verbal abuse are not the only kinds of childhood trauma that can impact us in our adult lives. Though often overlooked, childhood emotional neglect from parents who were overbearing, overly lax, absent, or dismissive can lead to adult difficulties with self-esteem, emotional literacy, and boundaries. Today I am helping you determine whether you might have experienced childhood neglect and guiding you through some steps you can take to heal now that you are grown up.

Highlights:02:14 Neglect is an impactful form of abuse03:14 Recognizing neglectful scenarios05:39 Impacts of childhood neglect on adult behavior: hyper independence06:08 Disordered boundaries07:20 Amplified fear of abandonment08:19 Being highly self-critical09:15 Emotional illiteracy11:28 Low self-esteem12:26 Excessive shame, blame, and guilt13:50 There are steps you can take to recover from childhood neglect14:53 Be gentle with yourself16:16 Become more emotionally literate17:16 Dial in to your needs and desiresLinks Mentioned:

Download the healing guide I made to accompany this episode here.

Take the boundary quiz and learn more about your Boundary Style

Here are some ways I can support you:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits and bringing more satisfaction, joy and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. There are super JUICY bonuses when you pre-order, so what are you waiting for?

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day ?

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea ?

673 The Autoimmune Cure with Dr. Sara Gottfried

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“It makes sense that when you have this chronic, toxic stress response, that it’s affecting more than just your psychology– It’s also affecting your physiology. Your hormones, your immune system, and your nervous system as well as your psyche.” – Dr. Sara Gottfried

Intro

On today’s episode, I’m so stoked to talk to Dr. Sara Gottfried, a medical doctor and hormone expert whose work I really connect with. We talk about one of my favorite subjects: The gender gap in healthcare and how we can help women navigate big hormonal changes like menopause. She also shares a more holistic and effective perspective on treatment for autoimmune disease, and tells us about her own personal boundary struggles!

Highlights:3:30 How the things Sara witnessed in her practice inspired her most recent book6:20 The connection between trauma and hormones9:00 Sara’s origin story12:00 Why we need to rebrand menopause and close the gender gap24:20 How trauma lives in the body31:30 A holistic treatment of autoimmune disease35:40 Sara’s most challenging boundary struggleConnect with Sara Gottfried

Sara Szal Gottfried MD is a physician, researcher, educator, mother, and seeker. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and MIT, and is more likely to prescribe a continuous glucose monitor and microbiome restoration than the latest pharmaceutical. Dr. Gottfried is a global keynote speaker and the author of four New York Times bestselling books about trauma, hormones, and health. Her latest book is THE AUTOIMMUNE CURE. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Dept. of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at Thomas Jefferson University, and Director of Precision Medicine at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health. Her focus is at the interface of mental and physical health, personalized molecular profiling, the use of wearables, and how to leverage these tools to improve your health.

Website: saraszalmd.com

 

Here are some ways we can connect and grow together:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits, and bringing more satisfaction, joy, and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. There are super JUICY bonuses when you pre-order, so what are you waiting for?

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day.

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea?

672 Helpful or Codependent? The Patterns in Your Relationships to Watch For

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“When we are codependent, we’re acting out our discomfort with someone else’s negative emotion by taking it on. We try to fix it ourselves, even though it is not our side of the street.” – Terri Cole

 

Intro

Is the way you care for people in your life more like codependency than real, authentic love? It’s scary to think about, I know. But if you are codependent, recognizing that fact is the first step toward expressing the healthy, reciprocated care you really want to share with the people in your life.

In this episode I will guide you through the signs and symptoms that might indicate codependency in all different types of relationships: romantic, work, parent-child, and friendship. I also share what it looks like to be in recovery from codependency, so you know what to look forward to if you do think you might be codependent and you want that to change.

Highlights:02:30 Codependency is an unhealthy investment in the decisions, feelings, and circumstances of the people in your life to the detriment of your own wellbeing.03:30 How much urgency do you feel to fix other people’s problems?04:50 Do you relate to people as projects?07:10 What do you feel when someone in your life is in a tough situation?08:55 Misconceptions and the importance of recognizing high-functioning codependency11:25 Codependency in romantic relationships: Can you find satisfaction in your own life?12:00 Do you recognize your relationship is unhealthy but stay anyway?12:20 Do you prioritize your partner at the expense of your own wellbeing?13:10 Are you always aware of your partner’s mood and what they’re doing?14:10 Codependency at work: Gossiping about people who aren’t there14:35 Do you do work that isn’t yours and then feel resentful because of it?14:50 Codependency with your child: Do you do more for your child than is age appropriate and healthy?16:10 Are you too afraid of your child’s rejection to discipline them effectively?17:10 Codependency in friendships: Is there an imbalance between giving and taking?18:25 Signs of recovery from codependencyLinks Mentioned:

Find the downloadable guide I made to guide you through the symptoms of codependency here.

Take the boundary quiz and learn more about your Boundary Style

Here are some ways I can support you:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits and bringing more satisfaction, joy and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. There are super JUICY bonuses when you pre-order, so what are you waiting for?

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day ?

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea ?

671 Getting Unstuck with Britt Frank

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“Show me a person who doesn’t know what it’s like to be stuck, and I will show you someone who’s not very honest. We all get stuck.” – Britt Frank

Intro

Today, I’m sharing a chat with my new-old friend Britt Frank– We met so recently, but it feels like we’ve known each other forever!

We talk about getting unstuck, the importance of mind-body connection in personal growth, and how anxiety can act as a map for navigating stuckness.

Plus, Britt shares some tips and tools for overcoming fear and doubt from her new Getting Unstuck Workbook.

Highlights:2:55 Britt’s origin story6:10 Using anxiety as a map to get out of stuck11:50 Are you stuck because you have no choices, or because you don’t like the choices you have?13:30 A more holistic perspective on addiction20:50 Seeing your own bad habits through the lens of a cost-benefit analysis23:40 Choosing easy moves first instead of worrying about the hard moves27:00 Changing your routine to break autopilot and make space for wins31:20 Britt’s most challenging boundary struggleConnect with Britt Frank

BRITT FRANK, MSW, LSCSW, SEP, is a clinician, speaker, and trauma specialist, and the author of The Science of Stuck. She received her BA from Duke University and her MSW from the University of Kansas, where she is an award-winning adjunct professor. Frank speaks and writes widely about emotional wellness and healing. Her work has been featured by NPR, The New York Times, Forbes, Esquire, New York Magazine, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Website: https://scienceofstuck.com
IG: https://instagram.com/brittfrank

 

 

Here are some ways we can connect and grow together:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits, and bringing more satisfaction, joy, and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. There are super JUICY bonuses when you pre-order, so what are you waiting for?

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day.

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea?

670 Are You Self-Soothing or Self-Numbing? (How to Tell + Why It’s Important!)

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“Self-soothing is using things that create a sense of calm for you, with all of your senses, to get back to a centered place when your equilibrium has been disrupted.” – Terri Cole

Intro

When you have a rough interaction with someone, a disappointing outcome, or you get bad news, what do you do to help yourself feel better?

Do you have a couple of drinks? Maybe smoke a little weed? Or eat a tub of ice cream? No judgment here, but I want to invite you to think about it because many of us confuse self-numbing with self-soothing. 

In this episode, you’ll learn my favorite self-soothing tips, healthy ways to support your nervous system and emotional wellbeing, plus how to create your own self-soothing and stress relief toolkit. 

Learning how to effectively self-soothe can be life-changing!

Highlights:02:25 What is self-soothing?03:50 Self-soothing with all your sensesMore self-soothing methods09:40 Movement10:00 Energy work11:15 Bathing12:20 Guided meditation13:25 Why you should talk about your soothing language with your partner before you are stressedLinks Mentioned:

Visit  hfcbook.com to order my brand new book about breaking the cycle of high functioning codependency, Too Much!

Find the downloadable guide I made to go along with today’s episode here.

Take the boundary quiz and learn more about your Boundary Style

Here are some ways I can support you:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits, and bringing more satisfaction, joy, and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. Purchase your copy now!

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day.

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea ?

669 More Prosperity + Ease with Cathy Heller

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“We didn’t come to the world for a pile of things. We have much, much bigger dreams than that.” – Cathy Heller

Intro

I am thrilled to welcome my pal, author, podcaster, and teacher, Cathy Heller, to the show to talk about her new book, Abundant Ever After: Tools for Creating a Life of Prosperity and Ease, because who doesn’t want that?!

We talk about creating what you want and the resistance we feel toward that, abundance, being afraid and putting things out in the world anyway, our inherent oneness, and feeling unworthy of ease and prosperity. 

Cathy breaks all of this down in an accessible and practical way, and I know many of you will resonate with what she shares here.

Highlights:2:20 Why now was the right time to write Abundant Ever After: Tools for Creating a Life of Prosperity and Ease6:15 How to push through self-sabotage and create prosperity18:00 Moving from imposter syndrome to one-ness26:50 Navigating abundance without falling into materialismConnect with Cathy Heller

Cathy is a renowned teacher, podcaster and author. She hosts one of the top spiritual podcasts, Abundant Ever After, which has been downloaded 45 million times. She’s a practitioner of the law of reception, and has a deep understanding of the universal principles of manifestation. Cathy guides individuals on a transformative journey towards unlocking their highest potential.

Drawing from the wisdom of Jewish mysticism and ancient teachings, Cathy illuminates the path to spiritual growth and abundance. Through her unique approach, Cathy empowers students to embrace their innate ability to receive and manifest their desires effortlessly with a focus on meditation and mindfulness practices.

Book: https://cathyheller.com/book

 

 

Here are some ways we can connect and grow together:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits, and bringing more satisfaction, joy, and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. There are super JUICY bonuses when you pre-order, so what are you waiting for?

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day.

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea?

668 Feeling Anxious? Small Changes That Can Make a Big Impact

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“Change is often temporary. Transformation is many small, steady changes that lead to a foundational shift in your life. A transformation requires your attention and your intention.” – Terri Cole

Intro

How much anxiety and fear are you walking around with on a daily basis?

If you struggle with worry, fear, or anxiety consistently thrumming in the backdrop of your mind, it is worth it for you to take a look at where the roots of these thought patterns lie.

In this episode, you’ll learn simple shifts you can make to better manage anxiety so you can have less stress and more joy in your life!

Highlights:03:20 Understand what provokes your anxiety06:00 Consider whether substances like caffeine and alcohol might be making your anxiety more overwhelming09:30 How other habits, like not eating or sleeping enough, can contribute to anxiety12:15 Talk to your doctor about supplements13:55 Even small steps, like exercising a little bit more, can help you feel less anxiousLinks Mentioned:

Visit  hfcbook.com to order my brand new book about breaking the cycle of high functioning codependency, Too Much!

Find the downloadable guide I made to go along with today’s episode here.

Take the boundary quiz and learn more about your Boundary Style

Here are some ways I can support you:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits, and bringing more satisfaction, joy, and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. Purchase your copy now!

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day.

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea ?

667 Sex, Lies and Mental Health with Cheryl Burke

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“I’m starting to see that my new drug, since I stopped drinking, has been productivity. This is a socially acceptable drug, but I’m aware of it, and I’m not going to say that I’ve recovered.” – Cheryl Burke

Intro

I am so excited to have my new pal, Cheryl Burke, on the show to talk all about why she’s passionate about mental health and what got her here.

You might be familiar with Cheryl if you’re a Dancing With the Stars fan, as she appeared on 26 seasons of the show and retired two years ago.

In this conversation, she shares beautifully and candidly about the difficulties of her career, the freedom she’s found in being single, and what she has learned in her six years of sobriety.

This was such a heartfelt (new) girlfriend jam and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

*TW: sexual abuse and abuse in relationships is mentioned throughout the conversation. Please skip if these are sensitive topics for you!*

Highlights:9:30 About Cheryl’s new podcast, “Sex Lives and Spray Tans”12:40 How a lifelong dancing career affected Cheryl19:30 Cheryl’s emotional response to retiring from “Dancing with the Stars”21:00 The story behind Cheryl’s sobriety26:00 How workaholism has become Cheryl’s new drug45:00 Recapturing childhood after parentificationConnect with Cheryl Burke

With over thirty years of dancing experience and several championship titles under her belt, twice Emmy nominated professional dancer Cheryl Burke first fell in love with dance at the age of four, taking ballet lessons and performing throughout her hometown of San Francisco, California. At

age eleven, she discovered what would be her winning talent, Ballroom Dancing, and decided to hang up her ballet shoes to begin training and competing all over the world in both the International Standard and International Latin Ballroom Dance genres.

At age twenty-one Cheryl rocketed to stardom as the star of ABC’s surprise hit television show, Dancing with the Stars, becoming not only the first female professional dancer to win the show but also the first person in the history of the franchise to become a two-time, back-to-back, Mirrorball champion, winning her first two consecutive seasons, with NFL superstar and Hall of Famer, Emmitt Smith and 98 Degrees boy bander, Drew Lachey. 

Cheryl continues to expand her brand platform and launched Body Language in January 2024. Body Language focuses on the therapeutic benefits of healing through movement, which Burke has experienced, first-hand. As an avid mental health advocate, her passion in life is to share her story publicly and courageously and in turn help others find their path to overall wellness. 

Website: https://cheryl-burke.com

IG: https://instagram.com/cherylburke

 

Here are some ways we can connect and grow together:

I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT BOUNDARIES! Boundary Boss is THE essential guidebook for authentically expressing your desires, setting healthy limits, and bringing more satisfaction, joy, and peace into all of your personal and professional relationships. There are super JUICY bonuses when you pre-order, so what are you waiting for?

TAKE THE BOUNDARY STYLE QUIZ I always say, ya can’t change anything until you become aware of it, so take the quiz and discover your unique boundary style!

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL Instagram is my jam and one of my favorite ways to connect with you. I put out new content there every, single day.

JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP Become a part of our powerful community of real love revolutionaries!

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER Want love notes from me delivered straight to your inbox? I share things to inspire and empower you each week, plus what I’m reading, watching, cooking…you get the idea?

4 Simple Gratitude Practices to Find Joy Even When Life Feels Heavy

Do you find yourself doomscrolling more than ever?

Does the news of what’s happening in the world negatively impact your mental state?

Do you focus more on what’s wrong, making you feel like nothing is right?

Whether you’re looking at the whole world or your corner of it, if the answer is yes, this episode is for you.

I’m talking all about the transformative power of gratitude, how it can impact what happens in your life, and giving you strategies for how to create more of it. 

Prefer the audio? Listen here.

What Is Gratitude?

Gratitude is a feeling. 

It’s being grateful for what’s right, even if everything isn’t right. 

It’s being grateful for what you have, even if you don’t have everything you want.

Gratitude is the ability to be thankful for all the blessings in your life, every single day. 

Thanks to gratitude, I’ve generally had a good attitude toward life. This has been true for decades. 

Maybe this was because my mother modeled practicing gratitude for my sisters and me early on, or because I tended to find the silver lining in situations (hello high-functioning codependency). 

Either way, I believe gratitude is a muscle, and the more we flex it, the easier it becomes to feel and cultivate.

The Transformative Power of Gratitude

There are physiological, mental, and emotional reasons to flex your gratitude muscle.

Studies show that people who are consciously and actively grateful feel better about their lives, get sick less often, experience greater happiness and less stress, and are more successful and determined.¹

This reminds me of a Wayne Dyer quote: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” 

This is so incredibly true.

Thinking and complaining about what’s wrong is stressful for our bodies. That’s why I’m inviting you to look for what’s right. 

However, I’m not advocating that you bypass what’s wrong. I’m also not talking about hyper-positivity or being in denial about things. 

But we have a choice: we can focus exclusively on what’s wrong, or find what’s right and deal with what’s wrong.

Here’s another way to think about it: humans are energetic beings. Our thoughts and feelings have vibrations. 

When you make gratitude your default position, you change and raise your vibration, allowing you to ‘hook’ similar things, because like attracts like. 

I believe that the more you are grateful for, the more the universe will send you things to be grateful for. 

The same is true for negative thoughts because we often find what we’re looking for.

We can change our vibration by using gratitude as the lens through which we see the world. It’s a powerful energetic shift.

Your Downloaded Gratitude Blueprint

Not all of us are naturally grateful or positive. Nature versus nurture means we’re all different because we have had different life experiences. 

To deepen your relationship with gratitude, think about what you may have learned about being grateful or hopeful from your family of origin.

My mother taught my sisters and me about gratitude. From an early age, she trained us to appreciate. If we passed something beautiful, she would slow the car down and say, “Look at that view,” or, “Hello, God.” 

My mother grew up in the country and has a deep appreciation for nature. She passed this love down to all of us. We all have bird feeders in our yards. I even have a bird book next to where I sit at night. 

My mother also taught us that having hot water on tap, food, heat, and clean water was a privilege. She didn’t make us feel bad or guilty about it, but we understood we were lucky to have access to these things.

We also had Fresh Air kids stay at our house in the summer, and friends who had abusive parents were welcome to live with us when needed. 

I learned to feel gratitude for what we had and to share it with others, which is a big part of my dharma and why I do what I do. 

Years ago, my husband, Vic, held different views on gratitude. He’s a first-generation American and “recovering” Catholic. 

Whenever I vocalized my gratitude, he used to say, “Shhh, don’t say it too loudly,” as if what I was grateful for would get taken away. 

He’s now much more comfortable being actively, vocally, and consciously grateful. (He’s influenced me so much, and I like to think I’ve influenced him positively, too.) 

If you can relate, know that it’s possible to change your relationship with gratitude, and it doesn’t cost you anything.

There’s No ‘Wrong’ Time For Gratitude

Given the current state of the world, it might seem like a weird time to practice gratitude.

Globally, we’ve had a rough bunch of years, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be grateful or find something to be grateful for in our lives.

Gratitude uplifts me, even when I am wringing my hands about the state of the world.

I’m grateful for beautiful days, amazing views, sunsets, the wildlife around our home, my career, my birds, my dog, my family, my friends, and Vic. 

I make it a point to practice gratitude daily because the more I flex this muscle, the easier it is to find things to be grateful for. 

We can still be grateful, even with major things happening in the world.

I’m not saying to bypass, avoid, or deny the difficult challenges present. I’m suggesting we shift our focus. We can practice gratitude and honor difficult experiences. 

4 Powerful Ways to Cultivate Gratitude

Every time we practice gratitude, we build new neural pathways, almost like building a gratitude highway in your mind. This paves the way for more gratitude-related thoughts, becoming more natural and common over time. 

It’s the same with complaining. It’s just a habituated behavior we might choose to repeatedly engage in. 

If complaining is part of your nature, no shame. You don’t need to feel bad about it. You just need to commit to changing the habit.

How? Give one of these four strategies to cultivate more gratitude a try. 

Write a letter of gratitude. As my friend davidji says, who were your champions? The people in your front row, cheering you on and wanting you to win? Who has made a huge difference in your life? 

If they’re still alive, write them a letter. If they’ve passed, you can still write a letter, burn it (safely), and send it to them in the ether. 

Writing them a letter expressing your thanks can help you create gratitude within your heart, too.

I recently sent a letter of gratitude to a guidance counselor who helped me apply to college in my senior year of high school. He wasn’t even my guidance counselor, but no one else had approached me to help me through the process. I didn’t know if he realized what he did for me, and it felt good to let him know. 

Meditate. Guided meditations can help slow you down enough to consciously, mindfully, and regularly become more grateful. One of my favorite apps is Insight Timer, where I have over 15 free guided meditations.  Journal. Inside the guide, you’ll find a few gratitude journal prompts you can use daily. A simple practice many folks like is naming three things they feel grateful for at the end of the day. It doesn’t need to be complicated.  Ritualize gratitude. Every day, I’m grateful for an amazing cup of coffee. It’s a ritual: grinding the beans, enjoying the smell of it brewing, and sitting down with Vic. 

We also have a nightly ritual where we share three things we’re grateful for. Nothing is too big or small to share.

And if you live with kids, try incorporating a gratitude practice into your family’s routine! Teach your children to be grateful for their blessings and to verbalize their gratitude. Again, focus on building the habit, just as my mother did for me and my sisters. 

No matter what’s going on in your life, there are still things to be grateful for. Regardless of whether gratitude comes naturally to you, the steps in the guide will empower you to invite more of it in. 

I’m Grateful For You

I can’t talk about gratitude without mentioning the overwhelming gratitude I feel for you and everyone who reads, watches, or listens to my content. 

If you are here, you’re interested in elevating your joy and lessening your suffering. You want to have better mental health, improve your communication skills, or lessen your codependency. 

You are seeking something and willing to do the work to get it. I see all the work you’re doing, and I’m cheering you on because you’re so worth doing the work for.

Something else I’m grateful for is the community of like-minded, like-hearted, compassionate women in my membership. If you want to dive deeper into this work, I invite you to join us. You’ll get access to four calls with me each month and four of my courses (Understand and Transform Your Mother Wound, Understand and Transform Your Father Wound, Boundary Boss Bootcamp, and Real Love Revolution)! Get all the details and sign up here. I’d love to have you.

Let me know your thoughts about gratitude in the comments or on Instagram (@terricole). Does it come easily to you? Do you need to work on cultivating more of it? Which gratitude practice would you like to try? 

Have an amazing week and as always, take care of you.

¹https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier

666 4 Simple Gratitude Practices to Find Joy Even When Life Feels Heavy

Listen & Subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts
Listen & Spotify
Listen & Stitcher.
Listen & Google.
Listen & PlayerFM.

“Whatever we do repeatedly impacts what happens in our lives. Grateful thoughts are just thoughts, but the more you have them, the more things you will have to be grateful for– And the more natural it will be.” – Terri Cole

Intro

Do you find yourself doomscrolling more than ever?

Does the news of what’s happening in the world negatively impact your mental state?

Do you focus more on what’s wrong, making you feel like nothing is right?

Whether you’re looking at the whole world or your corner of it, if the answer is yes, this episode is for you.

I’m talking all about the transformative power of gratitude, how it can impact what happens in your life, and giving you strategies for how to create more of it.

Highlights:03:10 Recognizing gratitude04:30 The transformative power of gratitude07:30 Where to start if you want to be more grateful11:30 How upbringing can affect your relationship with gratitude14:30 An exercise to increase your gratitudeLinks Mentioned:

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Find the downloadable guide I made to go along with today’s episode here.

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