Stress

The Secret to Living a Balanced Life

Anxiety, Blog, Burnout, Depression, Purpose & Meaning, Stress, Time Management / Hayden Finch, PhD

Psychological health and relieving stress, anxiety, and depression are all about balance. It’s so cliche that I roll my eyes at myself when I say it to my clients. When we’re stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious, that’s an emotional cue that something is out of balance in our lives. So we respond by shifting things around. Mental health problems arise (in part) from things being too far out of balance for too long. We’ll rebalance but we too quickly go back to the old patterns that got us out of balance in the first place. Today, I’ll tell you the piece you’re missing to help you actually get things balanced in the long term.

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18 Key Characteristics of the Conscientious but Critical Personality Type

Anxiety, Blog, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Have you heard of the enneagram? It describes nine personality types that are more based in spirituality and anecdote than science, but they’re an interesting description of how we think about the world, the choices we tend to make, our personal values, how we interact with people, and how we respond to stress.

A lot of the articles I write are geared toward folks who are enneagram type 1. In part, this is because enneagram 1s tend to think nothing is ever quite good enough so they’re always on a personal improvement quest. They love a good self-help book and are addicted to researching how to do things. In my article today, I’m sharing with you the core characteristics of type 1s — from their strengths and weaknesses to their core fears and desires. See if you relate here.

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3 Lessons About Resilience from a Nightmare Trip to Florida

Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

In today’s post, I share with you all the horrific details of a nightmare trip to see my husband and the 3 lessons I learned about myself and about psychological resilience. If you’ve ever been in tears in an airport, this is a must-read.

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How to Become the Person You Want to Be

Anxiety, Blog, Depression, Solving Recurrent Problems, Stress, Time Management / Hayden Finch, PhD

Psychological research tells us that the reason we feel anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed is the actions we’re taking. There’s a specific person you want to become…you’ve envisioned that person for a long time, you’ve tried dozens of things to become that person. You’ve meditated, you’ve gone to the gym, you’ve even gone to therapy. I’ve got a message for you in today’s article about how to actually make the changes.

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Shonda Rhimes Has the Secret to Doing It All

Anxiety, Blog, Burnout, Imposter Syndrome, Purpose & Meaning, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Did you know that I’m slightly obsessed with Scandal? Sure, it’s off the air, but I still watch it on repeat. The creator of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes, gave the graduation speech at Dartmouth a few years ago, and her speech was so epic it’s still quoted. In it, she tells you the secret to keeping it all balanced. This is a woman who has a super demanding job (she writes and produces three major television shows) and has a family. And she’s got the secret. It’s not what you’d think. I’ll share it with you here.

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The Brain Science Behind Why You Keep Repeating Behaviors That Make You Stressed

Anxiety, Solving Recurrent Problems, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Last week, we talked about how using an emotional compass that’s pointed toward misery makes us reactive instead of proactive and ultimately makes us miserable. That misery compass is part of what makes us repeat the same old patterns that make us anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed. As long as we’re not miserable, we just keep doing what we’ve always done.

But there’s another factor that makes us repeat the same old unhelfpul, unhealthy patterns we’ve always used — think: wine, snoozing, and Instagram. It’s an old factor that’s been hardwired into the human brain for thousands of years. This factor makes us keep doing things we know lead us right back where we started.

In this week’s article, I share with you the psychology behind it.

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The Compass That Guides Your Life is Pointing You Toward Misery

Burnout, Depression, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

How do you know if your life is on the right path? How do you know if you’re headed toward happiness or hardship? You use your emotional compass. And I’m betting yours is not pointing north. Instead, it’s pointing toward misery…and that’s exactly why you keep ending up miserable. Let’s dive deep into this topic and I’ll tell you what happened to your emotional compass and how to get it pointed in a healthier direction.

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Why You Feel Anxious When Someone Asks What You Did This Weekend

Anxiety, Imposter Syndrome, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

“What’d you do this weekend?”

That’s what your coworkers innocently ask you every Monday morning. They’re just making conversation, of course, but do you feel a pang of anxiety when you’re asked that question? Do you feel a need to justify your weekend? To prove that you spent it in a worthwhile way?

In today’s post, I’ll tell you exactly why you feel anxious and uncomfortable when you’re asked that question. In a nutshell: You’re not a worthwhile person. (ok actually it might be more complicated than that…) Check out the article.

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How to Break Bad Habits That Perpetuate Your Stress & Anxiety

Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Last week, I shared with you a simple strategy for building good habits. Not only will this reverse and prevent lifestyle burnout, but it’s also a powerful approach for creating that elusive work-life balance everyone’s always preaching about. And it actually can lead to happiness.

But finding happiness isn’t just about doing more of the good stuff. It’s also about doing less of the bad stuff. So I’m here today to share with you how to break bad habits. Again, credit to James Clear (and this podcast) for distilling it into four easy-to-understand criteria.

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How to Build Happiness Habits

Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, Procrastination, Self-Esteem, Stress / Hayden Finch, PhD

Technology has automated so many of our routine processes (like when was the last time you used a washboard???), but somehow we feel busier, less satisfied, and more anxious than ever. Our futures are determined by the habits we build. Most of us know the habits we need to build and the ones we need to ditch, but we just can’t figure out how to make it a reality. Today, I’m here to teach you a simple strategy for building good happiness habits. Not only will this reverse and prevent lifestyle burnout, but it’s also a powerful approach for creating that elusive work-life balance everyone’s always preaching about. Grab the downloadable PDF to work through the steps to build your own healthy happiness habits.

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The Secret to Living a Balanced Life

18 Key Characteristics of the Conscientious but Critical Personality Type

3 Lessons About Resilience from a Nightmare Trip to Florida

How to Become the Person You Want to Be

Shonda Rhimes Has the Secret to Doing It All

The Brain Science Behind Why You Keep Repeating Behaviors That Make You Stressed

The Compass That Guides Your Life is Pointing You Toward Misery

Why You Feel Anxious When Someone Asks What You Did This Weekend

How to Break Bad Habits That Perpetuate Your Stress & Anxiety

How to Build Happiness Habits

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