Jo & JJ Go Mental
Jo and J.J. welcome the inspirational Reb, Transformational Life Coach who is the driving force behind the Rise With Reb programs and community. Reb shares how she went from a wheelchair to walking, despite what the doctors said. She, Jo, and J.J. discuss why it’s so hard to let go of old habits, the responsibility we have of sharing our story on social media, the importance of advocating for yourself and doing your own research, and how not to live in a pity fest.
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Today Jo and J.J. focus on grief, both from the perspective of the griever and from the person trying to comfort others through their grief. They explore the right approach to carrying ourselves and others through grief. Jo also shares an experience about willfulness and effectiveness in DBT and why people really need to learn to let go of the need to be right and just accept what is. They talk about defining values, setting boundaries, and, on a lighter note, why #begrannymolly is Jo’s new life goal.
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They’re baaack! Jo and J.J. kick off Season 2 the only way they know how - by spelling out that sometimes we can get this emotional intelligence piece wrong. Many well intentioned leaders approach emotional intelligence as a tick box exercise, merely going through the motions, rather than really understanding the objective. That faux emotional intelligence in corporate societies will likely try to cover up a more self serving agenda.
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What a season! As Jo and J.J. wrap up Season 1, they identify a few of the themes that came up with the fantastic array of guests. Between fear, shame, embracing your weirdness and much more, Season 1 was chock full of learning from each other and calling in new perspectives. This week, they highlight a few stand-out moments and give us a sneak peek of what we can look forward to in Season 2.
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This week, Jo and J.J. welcome Faith Clarke, Organizational Health and Inclusion Specialist who works with value-driven and diverse teams so they can deliver on business and social impact promises at the highest level. Faith is extremely passionate about inclusion for BIPOC and neuro-distinct individuals and advocating for those who “don’t belong”. She discusses the importance of mental health and how her children taught her to focus more on wisdom than having control.
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Jo and J.J. welcome Reverend Erika Allison, Queer interfaith minister, speaker, author, and spiritual counselor. Rev. Erika talks about her own experience with conversion therapy, and how harmful it can be, causing long-term effects and even high cases of suicide.
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This week, Jo and J.J. are joined by Marie Louise Ashworth, President of The Network, a network of female entrepreneurs and professionals in Luxembourg. The Network is devoted to developing a supportive community of women and helping them build resilience, avoid burnout, and thrive as they meet their personal and professional goals.
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Jo is on her own this week and shares her reflections on how the attitude around burnout has shifted throughout the generations, especially since the pandemic. Jo discusses three perceptions of burnout that she has seen a shift: that if you burnout that means you are broken or weak; that burnout and exhaustion is just a side effect of being busy which is a good thing, and that life is just tough and you should just get on with it and not complain.
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They discuss why doing the deep work of anger is like wading through that infamous tunnel scene in The Shawshank Redemption, how anger signals that our boundaries are being crossed, and how letting go of anger needs to be a conscious choice. They also talk about how to process anger if you can’t really act on it right then and there, and why women have such a tougher time showing anger in public.
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This week, Jo and J.J. are joined by June Burgess, Equine Coach, Business Director, and Entrepreneur. She talks about how she began her Equine Assistance Workshops and why working with horses can be so powerful for our mental health. Jo shares her own experience in learning to relax around the horses and how that mirrored so much about business and the need for perfectionism.
info_outlineMacy Matarazzo is a Relationship Expert for Single Women, and creator and founder of The SuperLOVED System. Macy talks with us about the essential element of accepting yourself in order to find someone that accepts you too, and shares how one post about loving soup on a dating app changed her life forever. We talk with Macy about dissolving the fear and limiting beliefs about finding love as a career-focused woman, how to stop “winging it” when looking for love, and that it’s okay to not have everything in life topped off with a big red bow.
Takeaway:
[2:16] Macy is a relationship expert and creator of the SuperLoved system. She put off finding love as she climbed the corporate ladder, thinking she didn’t need a man and that it wasn’t possible to have both love and a successful career. She found herself in her 40s alone, convinced that she may just be unlovable and that it wasn’t in the cards for her.
[3:55] Macy decided to put her preconceived notions away and just be vulnerable on a dating app about who she really was and what she did and did not like. Soon enough, Larry came along the rest is history from just one “you had me at soup” comment.
[4:38] When we share who we really are, we find people that are more truly aligned to our essence, instead of people just around because of who we are pretending to be. Macy was sharing aspects of herself that she thought were unattractive and that would repel men away, but really it was her authenticity that brought in the perfect match.
[8:32] What we consider to be our flaws are most often the things people dig about us and find to be endearing quirks. However, in order to not get kicked off the island of love, society brainwashes us that we need to be a certain way.
[11:20] As human beings, we show different elements of ourselves with others. Our friends may get the “real” us, while we often put on a social mask for the outside world and especially when we are trying to attract a partner or in the beginning stages of dating. J.J. talks about the feeling of playing a role at a former job, where the suit and pantyhose she put on felt inauthentic to her true character. When we don’t take a step back and evaluate what we are actually doing, it’s easy to get swept away in the real or perceived expectations of others.
[13:21] J.J. spent last year closed off to the idea of a relationship because she thought it wasn’t possible to have a relationship that didn’t detract from work, but now she is totally open to something new and the possibility that two people could be greater than the sum of their parts. Macy gives an example where two professional singles got together, and their business flourished even more so because they had the energy and support of each other.
[19:15] Every passing moment is a new opportunity to use our imagination to create what we want out of life.
[21:41] We can create new neural pathways and grooves by first observing our patterns and making a conscious choice to change them. A big part of DBT is the one way we usually respond and having the courage to take a different way that produces a new outcome. It can feel hard to go down the new path, but there is also wisdom in realizing it can also be light and easy.
[27:46] To quote the RuPaul Drag Show, “If you don’t love yourself, how can you love anyone else?” For Macy, appreciation is a gateway drug for self-love. It is a work in progress, and some days are easier than others to give yourself total acceptance and internal validation.
[33:27] Shame is a signal that we are outside of our values, and it’s a discipline to act in ways that are aligned with your core values.
[35:01] We must be ourselves what we are asking for others to be in relationships.
[39:23] Macy helps people be resilient in dating and realize that one rejection doesn’t mean they are completely unlovable or doomed for eternal loneliness.
[43:36] We don’t need to put a red bow on every situation, it’s okay to let go of our imagined expectation and fully see what is happening in reality, even if it’s not the way we pictured it.
Connect With Us:
Joanna Denton | Dr. J.J. Kelly
Macy