I hope everyone had a great May! The end of a month means another roundup of lessons from The Blonde Files Podcast. This month, we talked about the science of happiness and anxiety, how to change negative behavior and how to stop obsessing over food. I also recorded a solo episode where I talk about some life updates and my Hollywood experiences (including a few blind items!) and answer general listener questions! If you missed last month’s roundup, definitely go back and check them out!
-Happiness is a multifaceted variable, specifically comprising of 5 elements: spiritual, physical, intellectual, interpersonal and emotional well-being. It’s internal vs. external (aka what the mainstream idea of happiness is).
-Struggles are important, that’s how we grow stronger. You go to the gym and you lift weights and it’s on zero (i.e., no resistance). You don’t get stronger because you need the resistance.
-When we appreciate the good in our life, the good in our life appreciates.
-Goals are so important, but it’s how we approach them that’s also important. They give us something to work towards, motivation and a sense of accomplishment – but they get problematic once we attach a ton of meaning to them, or place our happiness and sense of self worth on the outcome.
-I’ve been through enough in my health “journey” (you know I feel about that word!) to know that what other people do won’t necessarily work for me or make me feel good, and what’s recommended also might not work for me or make me feel good. I’ll cherry pick and try what I learn from experts and keep what works for me.
-I do believe that harm reduction is a good thing when it comes to addiction or alcoholism – but I’ve been sober long enough to see people drink when their main problem is a drug.
-If we can bring awareness in – in the moment we’re doing the behavior – that’s how we can change negative behavior patterns.
-Performance anxiety is a myth! Our brains are just good at making false associations and love describing causality. If A) you’re anxious and B) you performed well, your brain will associate those two together.
-People will say they came out of a diet trend unscathed, but we can’t deny what’s happening to a lot of people, which is less the diet or workout plan and more of what’s happening to them mentally (obsession, fear, scarcity, rigidity, etc.). This is because oftentimes, a diet will do 1 of 3 things: it will tell us what we can what, when we can eat and how much we can eat.
-You need to find time to not be numb; numb being the distractions that are all around us and how the noise seeps into our minds.
