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75: Dr. Melanie Greenberg – The Stress-Proof Brain

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On this episode of Uphill Conversations, Megan and Tim discuss brain plasticity, mindfulness, thoughts and emotions and how they relate to stress – mentally and physiologically – with Melanie Greenberg.

Melanie Greenberg, PhD is a practicing psychologist, author, speaker, and life/business coach, with more than 20 years of experience as a clinician, professor, and researcher. A recognized expert on stress management, and health and relationship challenges, she draws on neuroscience, mindfulness, and positive psychology in her work, blending science with mindful wisdom and heart-based compassion practices. Melanie seeks to educate, support, heal, and inspire her clients helping them to realize their full potential. Full bio here: drmelaniegreenberg.com.

Show Notes:

  • Melanie’s journey and how she came to become so interested in the stress and the mind-body connection
  • A fixed-mindset vs. and open mindset
  • When facing new demands, it requires figuring out new ways to cope
  • Human tendency when faced with stressors to go to “fight, flight or freeze” – to focus on all the things that could go wrong
  • Anxiety, fear and anger can cause you to get stuck; people cling to stability
  • Thoughts, feelings + actions can actually change the structure of your brain, causing you to automatically become more reactive, with less ability to calm down your stress response through logical thinking
  • Techniques to be more self-compassionate and bring yourself back to the present when faced with a stressor: grounding + mindfulness
  • Mind-body connection tactics like placing both feet on the floor and just breathing + sitting with your thoughts
  • We can’t control our subconscious programming or thinking, the thoughts that come into our head, but rather than be ashamed, you an change your relationship to them: “you are not your thoughts”
  • If you have feelings of low self-worth, must understand where comes from and then fight it – focus on positive
  • Take time to ask the emotion what it needs, without judgement
  • Physiological effects of stressors on the brain
  • Consequences or mistakes that occur when someone doesn’t face their true emotions
  • Perfectionism and “conditional self-esteem” + the need to look for the grey
  • Putting our own problems in perspective and focusing on the positive
  • “Instead of just running from the tiger to smell the flower”
  • Life is a combination of appreciating and enjoy what you have, find points of peace, and you strive for more
  • Melanie’s Uphill challenge + optimism for next 12 months

Connect with Melanie:

Resources:

INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC (Used by permission):
Dreams Groove (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Straight Drive (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Uphill Conversations is an Uphill Strategies, LLC production
© 2017 Uphill Conversations

The post 75: Dr. Melanie Greenberg – The Stress-Proof Brain appeared first on Uphill Conversations.

74: Tyler Harris – Waging War on Personal Change

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In this episode, Tim and Megan have an Uphill Conversation with Tyler Harris on his journey of self-discovery, strength in vulnerability and waging war on personal change.

In the last 3 years, Tyler Harris has gone from unemployed to $700k/year by waging war on personal change.  In that same time, he got married, had his first child, and started a church.  He is the National Coordinator of a life insurance company that serves our nation’s heroes- First Responders.  A year ago, Tyler began documenting his life on social media as a way to “pay it forward” and provide value with zero expectation of anything in return.  in 12 months, he has taken his social media presence from zero to a weekly reach of 50million people.  Tyler spends 200+ nights one the road each year, but enjoys living in downtown Greenville, SC.

Show Notes:

  • Putting value out into the world via social media
  • Mentors can breathe life back into you
  • “Just an ordinary guy trying to do extraordinary things by putting in the extra work”
  • Your life can be turned upside down in an instant
  • Emotional and mental impact of finding yourself alone – no distractions, no noise
  • Taking ownership rather than playing the victim in your own life
  • What if instead of focusing on accolades + things we focused on being an exceptional human beings?
  • Why Tyler is building something with no expectation of financial gain
  • Adversity + transformation vs. transaction
  • Desire to help others experience difficult life challenges sooner
  • Difference between motivation (external) + inspiration (internal)
  • Comeback of vulnerability and recognizing it as a strength: “The rise of the real”
  • Tendency to compare ourselves and our successes and struggles to others and placing higher value on greater struggles
  • Tyler’s mentality of running from negativity
  • Need to evaluate the things + people you allow into your life
  • Ask: “Are you chasing hustle (your passion) or are you chasing your gifts?”
  • How are you going to choose to live your life today?
  • Tyler’s advice to others – have patience + stop trying to play catch up

Check Tim + Megan out on Tyler’s vlog “The Daily Bread” episode #11.

Connect with Tyler

Resources

INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC (Used by permission):
Dreams Groove (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Straight Drive (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Uphill Conversations is an Uphill Strategies, LLC production
© 2017 Uphill Conversations

The post 74: Tyler Harris – Waging War on Personal Change appeared first on Uphill Conversations.

73: Lee McDerment – Embrace Life + Discover Purpose

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In this episode Tim and Megan have an Uphill Conversation with Lee McDerment on facing and going through crisis, embracing life and discovering your purpose.

Lee has been on staff at NewSpring Church since the very beginning in 2000. As the very first hire, Lee was NewSpring’s Worship Pastor for 15 years, then in 2015 transitioned to being our Creative Arts Pastor. Now he is serving NewSpring as the Campus Pastor for Greenville. Lee’s favorite calling in life is being a husband to Ali and a dad to his two children, Gray and Lucy.

Show Notes

  • “I don’t care how much you know, unless I know how much you care.”
  • Lee’s journey from chemical engineering to music + ministry
  • Discovering purpose in crisis
  • NewSpring’s one church, many locations concept was built from a campus bible study group to 20,000 members in 15 years
  • It can be easy to make decisions that set the course of your life only to discover you are living someone else’s path
  • To discover your passion, ask yourself + seek understanding of what you don’t want and where you don’t want to go
  • Lee’s encouragement to ask God for help, dare to believe that He loves you enough, that He’s smart enough to provide ideal answers – then having the willingness to do what’s necessary
  • “Love is the rocket fuel that gets you going in the right direction” when faced with a difficult obstacle or challenge
  • Lack of love for self is prominent in our world
  • Handling change in a rapidly growing organization
  • In seasons of change, must have a deep ballast, knowing you will weather the storm
  • When you experience a loss of any kind, you must fully embrace the process of grief and go through the non-linear steps – you must feel them and all the emotions that come with it
  • Show up and do your work, but do the soul care in your off time – lean on your loved ones and allow yourself to be vulnerable
  • If you’ve gone through something difficult, you need to give yourself permission to not be OK for a while
  • “The Rise of the Real”
  • You see what’s inside of people when they get squeezed
  • Power of having others by your side to support you + need to care for yourself and your family first

Connect with Lee

INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC (Used by permission):
Dreams Groove (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Straight Drive (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Uphill Conversations is an Uphill Strategies, LLC production
© 2017 Uphill Conversations

The post 73: Lee McDerment – Embrace Life + Discover Purpose appeared first on Uphill Conversations.

72: Dr. Neeta Bhushan – Emotional GRIT

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In this episode, Tim and Megan have an Uphill Conversation with Dr. Neeta Bhushan on empathy-based solutions and emotional GRIT.

Neeta Bhushan is an Emotional Health Educator and Executive Performance Coach to global leaders and CEOs as well as thousands of women from all walks of life . She’s written a best-selling book called Emotional GRIT: 8 Steps to Master Your Emotions, Transform Your Thoughts and Change Your World and the co-author of The Book of Coaching: For Extraordinary Coaches.

Show Notes:

  • What Neeta means by “empathy-based solutions”
  • Neeta’s journey around the world to understand that leadership means leading from true human connection
  • Need for authenticity and vulnerability in order to build trust
  • We are actually taught to have a mask in business and many professions
  • Natural tendency for humans to go towards defense and use the Ego as protection
  • Would you rather be hurt or be hard?
  • What if we started with self-awareness?
  • “What you resist persists”
  • Once you accept where you are, you can begin making decisions towards where you want to be and who you want to be
  • Feeling as though we must please everyone around us to the detriment of ourselves
  • Emotional GRIT is really a process of tapping into your emotional resilience in 4 stages described by Neeta (Growing, Revealing, Innovating, Transforming)

Connect with Neeta: 

Resources:

INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC (Used by permission):
Dreams Groove (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Straight Drive (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Uphill Conversations is an Uphill Strategies, LLC production
© 2017 Uphill Conversations

The post 72: Dr. Neeta Bhushan – Emotional GRIT appeared first on Uphill Conversations.

71: Terry Ogburn – Finding Courage in Uncertainty

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On this episode, Tim and Megan have an Uphill Conversation with Terry Obgurn on hard work, determination and courage in the face of uncertainty.

Terry Ogburn is the renowned owner and Lead Business Coach of Ogburns Business Solutions. His proprietary coaching system and personal devotion to the development of others has contributed to the success of hundreds of small to large business ventures. Read his full bio here.

Show Notes: 

  • Terry’s background and how he started his own business
  • Terry’s corporate experience and consulting work
  • How Terry learned the value of hard work from an early age
  • How growing up in a military household shaped Terry’s life + understanding
  • Fear, uncertainty and doubt are enemies of success and happiness
  • The difference between being courage and cowardice is 3 seconds
  • If you’re afraid of something, get more education
  • Obstacles get smaller as you move towards them
  • The skill of being a great listener
  • Positive + negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time
  • Our mind is programmed to go to the negative rather than the positive
  • Fear means face everything and rise to the occasion
  • Terry’s 4 steps to overcome a fear or obstacle: make decisions, create disciplines, be decisive, visualization
  • Bridging the gap between dreams and reality
  • Time management means reflecting + evaluating your day then planning out your goals for the next day
  • Need for both certainty and uncertainty in our lives
  • Developing unconscious competence in positive habits
  • Terry’s optimism and how he gives back and serves others

Offer to Listeners:

Connect with Terry:

Resources: 

INTRO AND OUTRO MUSIC (Used by permission):
Dreams Groove (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Straight Drive (© 2017 Tim Pecoraro)
Uphill Conversations is an Uphill Strategies, LLC production
© 2017 Uphill Conversations

The post 71: Terry Ogburn – Finding Courage in Uncertainty appeared first on Uphill Conversations.

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