Choose Happiness With Rachel Cole

Join Rachel Cole, author of Choose Happiness, as she delves into the concepts of how we can make the choice to invite happiness into our lives, regardless of what challenges may come our way or what is going on in the world around us.

Choose Happiness Interview with Erin Guard 06/17/2025

Choose Happiness Interview with Erin Guard Join me for a fascinating conversation in my Powerful Women series with CEO and all-around extraordinary person Erin Guard. She shares how in her role as decades-long business owner she has built her extremely successful company on the bedrock of staying true to herself and her own core values and integrity. She embraces an "abundance over scarcity" mindset, which encourages her employees and clients to stop worrying about what might NOT be there, and instead to make what is supposed to be there, be there. Erin also offers stellar advice for anyone who wants to start their own business or make their current business more effective. I learned so much from this dynamic business leader and humanity-focused woman and I know you will too. Enjoy! /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/37047520

Never Underestimate the Power of a Smile or Kind Word 05/21/2025

Never Underestimate the Power of a Smile or Kind Word We're so into checking our phones all the time now that we rarely have the inclination to look up and smile at one another. I recently had an experience of sharing a smile that was very profound and meaningful and it made me realize just how easy it is to turn a bad day around with something as simple as a smile. A smile makes us all feel accepted and seen, and it releases chemicals in the brain that reduce stress and instantly make us feel happier. So I encourage you to share a smile today, as it will improve your own day, as well as the day of the person who is lucky enough to receive a bright and happy smile from you. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/36661740

Choose Happiness Interview with Amy Rollins 04/22/2025

Choose Happiness Interview with Amy Rollins Get ready to find your calm. Join me for an enlightening and beautifully informative interview with the amazing yoga and mindfulness instructor Amy Rollins. She shares some truly life-changing tips for relaxation, how to mindfully begin each day, how to easily fall asleep, and how to go about our life with less self-judgment and more serenity overall. She explains how important our breath can be to quell anxiety and reduce stress, and shows us simple breathing practices that we can use in difficult or overwhelming situations. Amy is a gift to the world and I am so excited for you to learn from her knowledge, wisdom, and tried-and-true mindfulness techniques. Find Amy and her wonderful content here: /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/36265025

Self-Loathing is Not a Requirement for Achievement 03/30/2025

Self-Loathing is Not a Requirement for Achievement If self-loathing was a requirement for achievement, we all would have accomplished everything we wanted to do in life and more. It seems that we tend to put ourselves down in the hopes that our own criticism and self-deprecation will spur us into action. I have found the opposite to be true - and the only thing that berating myself does is make me feel badly about myself and curbs my enthusiasm for getting things done. Imagine what our lives would be like if we spoke to ourselves lovingly, the way we talk to our friends, our loved ones, and even our pets! Making the choice to give ourselves positive encouragement when trying to achieve our goals is choosing both success and happiness. Guaranteed. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/35926765

For When You Think You're Not Doing Enough 02/14/2025

For When You Think You're Not Doing Enough We tend to put a lot of value on things like awards and accolades in our society. But while it's wonderful to be acknowledged for our work, prizes and trophies are fleeting, and we can sometimes feel like if we are not highly recognized for what we do that it's not worthwhile. I believe that what is most important in life is who we are and not simply what we do, and always seeking outside approval is no way to live a happy life. Join me for this podcast episode, For When You Think You're Not Doing Enough. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/35290990

Choose Happiness Interview With Sarah Dubow 01/13/2025

Choose Happiness Interview With Sarah Dubow Join me for a fun and fantastic interview with health coach, women's health advocate, meditation specialist, and recent MBA grad Sarah Dubow. She shares how she helps her clients to live life according to their own terms, her specialty meditations that encourage play and imagination, and to be gentle with ourselves, no matter what we're going through. Learn about her "Well-Being Non-Negotiables" like always incorporating nature and creativity into her day, and the important gifts we can give ourselves through prioritizing our mental and physical health. Find Sarah's wonderful and insightful content here: /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/34842560

Turning Old Ideals Upside Down To Embrace New Perspectives 11/20/2024

Turning Old Ideals Upside Down To Embrace New Perspectives I have been learning a lot as I've been traveling around recently, and I've found that the more places I go and the more people I meet, the more of what I thought were my core beliefs have been turned on their heads and I've realized they aren't actually true. I encourage you to open yourself up to new perspectives and different points of view to recognize what old ideals may no longer align with your own belief system now. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/34024947

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone! 10/24/2024

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone! Our comfort zones are comfy, and can bring us a certain amount of joy, but I believe that staying for too long in one's comfort zone is not a good practice for choosing happiness. Trying new things and having new and different experiences are what bring color and sparkle and excitement to our lives. And if that seems scary, it's important to remember that every single thing that we are comfortable doing now was once new to us (think: driving, riding a bike, typing) so there's no excuse for putting ourselves out there to see what new things there are to try and get excited about. Remember the old saying, "Everything you've always wanted is just outside of your comfort zone." /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/33600612

Our Minds are SO Powerful 10/05/2024

Our Minds are SO Powerful I talk about the power of thoughts very often and how if we're able to change our inner narrative, we can change our whole outlook on a situation. One reason why this is so important is because our brains can't tell the difference between real and imagined scenarios, so whatever event we are playing or replaying in our mind, the brain is actually living it as if it were really happening. So it is vitally important to stay in the present moment and recognize the reality of our current circumstances, rather than potentially spiraling out of control or focusing on the negative aspects over the positive ones. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/33340762

Choose Happiness Interview with Nicole Trincia 09/22/2024

Choose Happiness Interview with Nicole Trincia Join me for an illuminating and extraordinarily inspiring conversation with ICF Professional Certified Coach Nicole Trincia. Through her work she inspires high-achieving, independent women to slay self-doubt, confidently claim their true calling, and thrive in their purpose. In our time together she shares the importance of aligning our decisions with our core values, to exercise our own freedom and power through intentional choice, and the vital step of saying “no” to others’ expectations in order to say “yes” to ourselves and our own passions. Nicole is currently enrolling participants in her 12 week Discover Your True Calling program, beginning on October 1, 2024, which will enable you to start off the new year with clarity, confidence, authenticity, and happiness. Sign up here: DYTC Program: www.nicoletrincia.com IG: @nicole.trincia FB: LinkedIn: /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/33156312

Protecting Ourselves From Toxic People - Bubbles, Allies, and Armor. 08/30/2024

Protecting Ourselves From Toxic People - Bubbles, Allies, and Armor. We all have people in our lives that we'd rather not deal with. And yet, we can't banish them from our lives for a variety of reasons. So here are a few tools for our Choose Happiness Toolbox to protect our psyches when the tough people try to infiltrate our defenses and steal our joy away. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/32803517

Choose Happiness Powerful Woman Interview with Courtney Spikes - Part One 07/18/2024

Choose Happiness Powerful Woman Interview with Courtney Spikes - Part One Join me for a captivating and thought-provoking interview with Professor, Lecturer, and Film Historian Courtney Spikes. She provides a fascinating look at how we can successfully teach kids discernment between all of the information they are bombarded with on a daily basis, and provides insights on how we can use history to create a more positive and caring present-day and future society. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/32208042

Things to Do When We've Been Hurt by Others 10/11/2023

Things to Do When We've Been Hurt by Others Unfortunately most of us will not go through life unscathed by hurtful experiences from the words and actions of other people. Things like betrayals, break-ups, and the loss of relationships that we thought were safe and "for forever," happen, and can leave us feeling deep, seemingly insurmountable emotional pain and grief. Having been there myself, here are some concrete things to do to help pull ourselves out from the mire of sorrow, and help us to become stronger, more resilient, and ready to trust again when the time is right. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/28288184

Success vs. Failure 09/09/2023

Success vs. Failure When we look at what determines "success" or "failure" in our lives, it's so important to realize that these judgments are usually being measured by someone else's criteria. What success looks like to us professionally as well as personally, depends on where we are in our lives and changes throughout our journey. No one ever has the right to call us a failure for any reason, regardless of what we look like, how much money we make, or how many possessions we own. Success or failure is always subjective, and it always depends on how we choose to evaluate either one. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/27987552

Choose Happiness Interview with Carole Miller 08/23/2023

Choose Happiness Interview with Carole Miller Join me as we kick off Season 3 of The Choose Happiness Podcast! We are starting off with a dynamic interview with Carole Miller, the founder of Miller Happy and Healthy, LLC. Carole shares her inspiring journey of self-discovery, as she made the choice to take control of all aspects of her life: her mental health, physical health, financial health, and spiritual health; and created an existence of joy, fulfillment, strength, and true power that she practices every day. Carole is seeing clients in person in the Philadelphia area, as well as remotely all over the world. To contact Carole at Miller Happy and Healthy, LLC: On Facebook: Carole May Miller Website to come: /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/27833574

Change Your Thoughts - It Really Works! 04/11/2023

Change Your Thoughts - It Really Works! As the Buddhist saying goes, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." It's very easy to get mired down in negative thoughts and have those thoughts take control and make our difficult situation worse. When we make the choice to change our thoughts, we consciously take control of our emotions and our attitude, resulting in a fresh perspective and a happier outlook overall. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/26513031

The Freeing Realization That It's Not All About Me 03/25/2023

The Freeing Realization That It's Not All About Me We all exist in the center of our own universe and our world view is determined by how things outside of ourselves affect us. Oftentimes we tend to live in our own heads and apply our own viewpoints and baggage to situations, making them personal, when they actually have nothing to do with us at all! Making the choice to question the authenticity of a perceived offense or insult can help us to live a happier and healthier life, as we take the focus off of ourselves and place it back into reality where it belongs. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/26336385

What Is Worth It? 03/02/2023

What Is Worth It? Sometimes we can get stuck in an endless loop of unhealthy mental behaviors - like worrying about what someone else might say to us, assuming the worst is going to happen, putting ourselves down for making a mistake, the list goes on and on. When we've started down that all-too-familiar road of misery, there are 4 words that can immediately snap ourselves out of the spiral and get our minds focused on the positive instead. These words are: Is it worth it? What is worth our time, our energy, and our brain space? I have found that most of the things that regularly go through my mind are actually NOT worth any of the time and effort that I assign to them. Asking yourself if the things we are thinking about or doing are actually worth it is a real game changer when choosing happiness. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/26118885

Taking Action Against Regrets 02/16/2023

Taking Action Against Regrets Hopefully we don't have many regrets in our lives, but if we do, we can find ways to turn those regrets into gifts; encouraging us to pursue what we've always wanted, nurture lost relationships, and change our futures to avoid further remorse. It may require some creative effort, but a life free from regret is a happy life indeed. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25956216

Beware of the Fallacy of the Brass Ring 02/08/2023

Beware of the Fallacy of the Brass Ring While grabbing for "The Brass Ring" is a great metaphor for going after our biggest dreams in life, it's important to remember that when we focus solely on the prize, we can miss the beauty and magic of the carousel ride along the way. We also need to realize that there is no "One Brass Ring" that makes everything fall into place as promised - the real brass ring is a balance of everything that brings us fulfillment and joy. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25872879

Using Envy as a Teacher 01/18/2023

Using Envy as a Teacher We all know that envy can be a destructive and dangerous emotion. However, what if we took the chance to use envy as a springboard for making our dreams come true? Or if we recognized when we feel jealous of someone, it's because we were programmed to automatically covet what they have, even if it's something that we don't actually want. Join me as I describe how I recently learned to use a tiny spark of envy as a tool for choosing happiness. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25649469

2022 - Looking Ahead and Looking Back 12/31/2022

2022 - Looking Ahead and Looking Back 2022 was a challenging year for me and for so many other people. While I'm not usually a fan of looking back, I think it can be important and helpful to acknowledge the difficult things we've been through and celebrate our triumpant victories over them. Disappointment, grief, and pain are all a part of life, and how we navigate the traumatic events in our lives (that are usually out of our control), can play a big part in how we choose happiness, or whatever comes closest to it. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25471467

Happy Holidays 2022 From Choose Happiness 12/02/2022

Happy Holidays 2022 From Choose Happiness The holidays can be a super stressful time of year, so here are some ideas for putting aside the worry and choosing instead to fully enjoy the special moments that the holidays can bring. Now's the time to try some new activities that could turn into fun traditions, to embrace letting go of obligations, and to focus on real connection instead of outward trappings. The holidays can be a magical time, so give yourself permission to choose your own happiness first, and then spread that joy to others. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25195233

Always Remember That Fame Does Not Equal Success 11/29/2022

Always Remember That Fame Does Not Equal Success In our current culture of TikTok and trying to attract followers and social media likes, there is an alarming trend toward kids wanting to be famous as their only career goal. Celebrity and fame are held up as important things to aspire to, but we have to remember that a person's fame is entirely dependent upon what other people think of them. Fame itself has no substance, and just because someone is an "influencer" today, does not mean that they will have any kind of a meaningful lasting legacy in the future. Fame does not equal quality, fame does not equal success, and fame most definitely does not equal happiness. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25169811

The Importance of Connection 11/15/2022

The Importance of Connection Before the pandemic, I think we underestimated the importance of connecting with our fellow human beings. And I mean really connecting - more than just rudimentary small talk or on social media or through texting. Humans are a tribal people and a social species by nature, and the massive disconnect among us is causing both mental and physical problems on a large scale throughout every demographic worldwide. Here are some thoughts on how to connect with one another and why it is vitally important to do so. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/25028199

The Positive Action of Bucket Lists, Goals Books, and Vision Boards 10/24/2022

The Positive Action of Bucket Lists, Goals Books, and Vision Boards I am a big fan of making tangible representations of our goals and dreams. These seem to be out of fashion these days, but I believe that the act of creating something tactile can be a powerful first step in making our dreams a reality. While positive thinking is great, it's no substitute for positive action. When we can visualize our goals as specifically as possible, it shows us they are achievable and honors our desires in an encouraging and inspiring way. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/24790935

Never Take Anything Personally 09/28/2022

Never Take Anything Personally When someone says something unkind to us, we have to remember that it has nothing to do with us, even though the person spewing the vitriol may intend for it to be hurtful. We always have a choice as to whether or not we allow someone else's rudeness, shame, or anger to become our own. We do not have to give unhappy people the satisfaction of being brought down to their level of misery by taking what they say as a personal attack. Ever. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/24521145

Where Your Eyes Go, Your Mind Will Follow 09/14/2022

Where Your Eyes Go, Your Mind Will Follow To stay safe when driving, walking or riding a bike, we have to keep our eyes looking forward, toward where we are going. The same goes for our thoughts: if we keep our eyes fixed on our difficult past, or all of the reasons why something won't work, or on all of the negatives of a situation, it is impossible to move ahead with any kind of optimism or momentum. When we consciously focus on what brings us joy, our minds will inevitably follow, and that is a vital decision we can make to choose happiness for ourselves, both now and in the future. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/24378450

What is Your Work? 09/09/2022

What is Your Work? So many people have specific qualifications when it comes to the definition of "work." For some it means it must be compensated, for some it means going into an office or somewhere outside of the home to do a job for an established company, and for some it means something negative that we have to do to earn a living. I would challenge those definitions and replace them with "Our work is what we do to add value to the world." Whatever that looks like, and whatever that means to us. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/24326208

Embrace The Shades of Gray 08/31/2022

Embrace The Shades of Gray I strongly believe that in order to choose true happiness in life we need to live within the shades of gray. So often we categorize things into polarized, "black and white" thinking, which can lead to spoiled dreams, unsuccessful communication and broken relationships. The gray spaces hold life's nuances, its exciting possibilities, and opportunities for us to grow and change, rather than remaining stubbornly stuck where we've always been. /episode/index/show/choosehappiness/id/24230292

Choose Happiness With Rachel Cole

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