The Change Room with Rod & Lesley

In this episode, Rod and Lesley - like so many people - take another crack at trying to change their friends and family. In this case, it is about trying to convince someone to change their mind when you think they have a crazy belief.  The big topics are covered.  (yes, vaccinations. QAnon). You'll hear Rod and Lesley refer to this NY Times opinion article from Adam Grant called 'The Science of Reasoning With Unreasonable People' --> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/opinion/change-someones-mind.html?smid=url-share  

In this episode, Rod and Lesley contribute to the discussion on mental health, in honour of Bell's Let's Talk day that was earlier in the week.  Rod and Lesley share how they have seen the stigma of mental health play out and change over time.  They both take a sidebar to gush over the word segue (as in linking thoughts, not, as in hands free scooter). Some helpful links. The Bounce Back program that is available in Ontario - https://bouncebackontario.ca The 'Five Areas' model - five areas assessment model - Google Search

In this episode, Rod and Lesley pick up the conversation on happiness by diving into the concept of flow (see Episodes 7 & 8 for parts 1 & 2).  Think of 'being in the zone', or the times when you get so absorbed in what you are doing that you lose track of time.  That is flow.  According to the researcher who developed it (Mihaly Csikszentmihályi), it is in flow states that we are the most happiest.  Since much of the books/research/thinking on how to make changes to our lives to increase happiness refer to this concept, it is worthwhile to spend a little time on it. As is their modus operandi, Rod and Lesley give a realistic view on what practically people can do to build this in their day to day. As an aside, Rod reflects on Lesley pushing the bird out of the nest by sharing this podcast to her network.  Welcome listeners!  

In this episode, Rod and Lesley talk about keeping up with the Joneses.  This is discussion is somewhat an extension of Episode 02 - The challenges of perfectionism.  This time, Rod and Lesley explore the topic through the light of comparisons we make of ourselves against others. It used to be that the grass was always greener, but now it is that the social media posts are always cooler.   Lesley shares some great insights, so much so that towards the end you'll that Rod is totally stumped.  What could he say after Lesley lays down the best question of all time you could ask yourself to take the edge of feeling like on the wrong side of a comparison with a 'perfect' other.   They finish the episode with reminding listeners to know that none of us have it all figured out, and one of the worst sources of feeling less than perfect is listening to self improvement podcasts that make it seem like there are a few easy steps to getting it all right.    

In this episode, Rod and Lesley use the SCARF (by David Rock) model again to talk about why we all reacted emotionally to what we witnessed this week out of the US. The F in SCARF stands for Fairness.  When we see fairness we have a reward response, and we we see unfairness we have a threat response.  This week, the US saw a protest go right into the capitol buildings which has huge political implications.  But many people picked up on how the protestors were treated differently than Black Lives Matter protesters earlier in the year, and how unfair it was. And that riled us up as much as anything else we saw.  Why?  Listen to find out how Rod and Lesley dissect the topic.     ==show notes==  Lesley suggests listeners and Rod to check out Stacey Abrams as someone who has made change happen.  Read about Stacey Abrams in this article here --> https://www.ft.com/content/8af50180-bbab-4595-a32b-fe9af205f1ce  

In this episode, Rod and Lesley ask, should we have hope, or optimism, for 2021.  You'll hear that hope has its place, and optimism is based on realism.  Rod wonders if Star Wars could have considered 'A new optimism', but Lesley says if she was part that that pitch, it would have be 'A new hope' all the way.  Rod describes that optimism has some interesting layers that help understand when we fall into pessimism.  Lesley astutely points out that in a year of uncertainty that is certainly ahead, it is a mix of hope and optimism (realism) that will bring us through.

In this episode, Rod and Lesley talk about resolutions in honour of the New Year.  Rod is a New Years resolution kind of guy, where Lesley is resolution at her birthday. Rod shares his over the top history of trying different resolutions, and through the discussion they come to a nice simple set of suggestions.   Happy New Year listeners!  Best wishes in 2021.

In this episode, Rod and Lesley dive into self-limiting beliefs. They start by sharing some of their own and explore the nuances.  Rod shares a Nathaniel Branden quote as he still can't get him off his mind (listen to episode 18 and 19) and Lesley highlights the most important action to take.  Rod talks through a three step process to help working limiting beliefs that he read somewhere - and warns to be careful of the internet advice out there today as it can get complicated and mis-guided. Happy holidays everyone!!  

In this episode, Rod and Lesley build on the conversation last week about Nathaniel Branden's Six Pillars of Self-Esteem.  As part of his work, Nathaniel Branden pioneered a technique to get people to think in baby steps. Rod puts Lesley on the spot with questions on how she can make her life 5% better.  From 5% improvements, Rod shares another book's idea of making change through tiny steps.  BJ Fogg's book 'Tiny Habits' gets some love for the great ideas on how to Lesley out of the house and walking three times a week.

In this episode, Rod shares a story about Nathaniel Branden and his book, the Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, and keeps a surprise at the end for Lesley.  Rod and Lesley go over the six pillars and discuss how they are a good foundation for being able to make change happen.  Listen to learn about practices  that make up the six pillars.  Lesley points out that the pillars interrelate and come together as a set of good advice.  Now, where did Nathaniel Branden come from, who did he have relationships, and how did a libertarian theorist influence his thinking?  You'll have to listen to find out.