Give yourself the gift of reflection and planning
Beyond Neutral
As the holiday season approaches, Paula Reid challenges listeners to step back from the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations to focus on themselves. In this special episode of Beyond Neutral, Paula introduces a simple yet impactful three-step process for ending the year with gratitude and setting the stage for personal success in the new year. Key Takeaways Celebrate Your Wins (2:45) Reflect on your accomplishments from the past year. What personal strengths or capacities helped you achieve these wins? Paula encourages listeners to take a moment to celebrate and express gratitude for...
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A Big Question To Ask Yourself & Season Two Finale!
Beyond Neutral
In this Season 2 wrap-up, Paula takes a moment to reflect on some of her favorite and most popular episodes, such as "Ep. 16: Unpacking Agency," "Ep. 19: Three Step Process to Stop Ruminating" and "Ep. 26: Do An Expectations Audit." As Paula prepares for her summer activities, a time she usually spends reflecting, reading, and planning for the future, she had a thought-provoking conversation with a friend that led to a deeper question. The question she poses to herself and her listeners is: What do you want your contribution to be? Consider this question in any given moment—how...
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Understanding Stress Signals and Self-Soothing Strategies
Beyond Neutral
Throughout season two, Paula explored various techniques for recognizing and managing emotions, from navigating feedback to weathering emotional storms. Today, she zeros in on a crucial element of mastering emotional regulation: understanding your personal stress responses and self-soothing methods. In this episode, Paula dives into how recognizing these personal tendencies is a pivotal first step towards improving your emotional reactions. She reveals her own inclination to spring into action and explains how gaining this self-awareness has empowered her to pause and maintain composure under...
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4 Ways to Cultivate Abundance
Beyond Neutral
Paula wants us to know that the abundance mindset is not about pie-eyed optimism. It is about how we approach a problem, and if we immediately go to a scarcity mindset, this can condition our thinking. We all have a tendency to jump into certain patterns of thinking, even if we consider ourselves very positive people. In this episode, Paula shares a personal story about packing her daughter's car for a move and how her daughter's reminder to adopt an abundance mindset was the catalyst to start focusing on her own patterns of thinking. Despite her optimistic nature, Paula caught herself...
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Challenging Your Inner Narratives for True Transformation
Beyond Neutral
Have you been telling yourself a certain story about who you are and what you're capable of? We all have an inner narrative that can hinder our ability to transform. This inner voice is not necessarily ever going to go away, but breaking free from its assumptions is possible. In a recent discussion, Paula and Mike Rataczak reflected on their latest episode, "#33: Trusting Your Instincts Through Transformations," and shared a powerful message. Mike urges listeners not to avoid confronting their inner voice, which can be both loud and limiting. Paula offers her insights on tackling...
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Trusting Your Instincts Through Transformations
Beyond Neutral
Join Paula and special guest Mike Rataczak in this wisdom-packed episode as they discuss Mike's journey of making a significant career shift. After dedicating over 30 years to Human Resources, Mike made the bold decision to return to school for design and pursue a career as an interior designer. Listen in to learn Mike's decision-making process and the challenges he encountered while embarking on this new path. This episode offers valuable insights into the experience of navigating major life changes, while also providing encouragement and wisdom for those who may be reflecting on their...
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The 3 Essential Steps to Receiving Feedback with Grace
Beyond Neutral
In this episode, Paula embarks on a profound exploration of receiving feedback with intention and grace, highlighting three crucial steps: ✓ Practicing neutrality: By approaching feedback with a neutral energy, we sidestep defensiveness and internalization, paving the way for genuine understanding. ✓ Expressing gratitude: Acknowledging the feedback as a gift of insight is a powerful demonstration of vulnerability that enhances our connections. ✓ Engaging in reflection: Giving ourselves permission to deeply ponder the feedback, emphasizing the importance of self-compassion in...
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The Art of an Apology
Beyond Neutral
Do you owe someone an apology? Have you ever thought about the difference between a meaningful and an ineffective apology? Apologizing can be challenging, as some of us perceive admitting wrongdoing as a sign of weakness. However, Paula emphasizes that acknowledging our mistakes is actually a display of strength. Apologies play a crucial role in maintaining healthy relationships. If you wish to move past a blunder, offering a sincere apology is essential. Paula outlines four key factors for a successful apology, sharing valuable insights on mastering this skill. She underscores...
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The Humble Leader Embracing Growth and Vulnerability
Beyond Neutral
Can you recall a moment when you crossed paths with someone in a powerful position who had genuine humility? I bet it left a lasting mark on you. There's something about humble individuals that stays with us—they possess an incredible superpower. Today, Paula is talking about humility in leadership and life. She's shedding light on the idea that when we arrogantly believe we have all the answers, there's no space for personal growth and learning. Paula is urging us to understand that without humility, we not only shy away from admitting our mistakes but, even more detrimentally, we...
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Navigating Internal Promotions
Beyond Neutral
Do you aspire to advance within your current company? Have you thought about how being an internal candidate might affect how others perceive you compared to an external candidate? Paula wants us to consider all the pieces to an internal promotion. There are many advantages, such as a deeper understanding of the organization, but it also presents challenges. One challenge is the need to reassess your relationships within the company, which some people may overlook. Paula explains that we have to be prepared to broaden our perspective and strengthen certain...
info_outlineIn today's episode, Paula takes us on a journey to unpack the concept of agency. She delves into how agency is not just a buzzword but an absolute pillar of leadership and an essential component of our everyday lives. Paula wants you to grasp the significance of agency as it revolves around ownership and recognizing that you have choices. It's all about empowering yourself and taking meaningful action to enhance your life.
Paula begins by sharing a personal anecdote from her childhood. This story serves as an illustration of how our past experiences can linger and unexpectedly influence us well into adulthood. She explains how this childhood memory silently shaped her mindset and how recognizing it brought about a significant transformation.
Agency involves recognizing that we possess the ability to make choices and take action, even when faced with challenging circumstances.
Show Notes: reidnco.com/podcast
Time Stamps:
[00:01:18] Paula: So what does it really mean? In a nutshell, agency is really about owning and recognizing that you have a sense of control over your life. Over your thoughts, over your emotions, your behaviors, and and most importantly, your actions, because agency is really in a big way about action, it is about recognizing your capacity to take action.
[00:06:17] Paula: When I loosen that story and said, well, does it really have to be, or is that just of the experiences that became so prominent in my mind, right? And I, I had to kind of sit back and say, well, what if it wasn't that? And I had to start retelling myself the story about what packing for vacation could look like and what preparing to go could look like.
[00:08:44] Paula: What are you willing to do in order to change the trajectory of that situation? And so it's very important to sit back and realize, have agency, that you are in the position, you're the driver of this car, right? You are in a position to be able to impact that. Because one of the things to think about is that the opposite of agency is resignation.
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