Wake Up Eager Workforce 
Episode 106 Transcript

Suzie Price: [00:00:00] 

Today's episode is with a diverse group of people who are each sharing their top mind, body, spirit, products and ideas for this coming year. We've got a brand strategist, retired professor of constitutional history. We've got a director of human resources for a construction company. We've got a former police chief who's now a consultant. We've got a global support advisor, and myself all sharing what we're going to focus on in 2024. You can get lots of insight into different products and different ideas, and I can't wait to share it with you. Michael. Hit it.

Intro/Outro: [00:00:36] 

Welcome to the Wake Up Eager Workforce Podcast, a show designed for leaders, trainers and consultants who are responsible for employee selection and professional development. Each episode is packed full with insider tips, best practices, expert interviews and inspiration. Please welcome the host who is helping leaders, trainers and consultants everywhere Suzie Price.

Suzie Price: [00:01:07] 

Hi there. My name is Suzie Price and you're listening to the Wake Up Eager Workforce Podcast, where we cover everything related to helping senior leaders and internal and external consultants create a high commitment, low drama, wake up, eager workforce. It is so much fun to create this podcast. I love sharing it because we get to have interesting people on and we get to share interesting information. Our bottom line and our focus in our business and on the podcast is we want to help people make good decisions about the people they work with, good decisions about themselves and overall just create a wake up eager workforce, create wake up eager lives where everybody is saying, hey, I'm happy with my life. I'm focused and committed with what I'm doing and how I'm working and how I'm living, and it's a good life. So that's our focus here. And this is a little bit more of a personal focus, but we always carry ourselves with us to work. So while I always hesitate to say it's a personal focus because it all melds together in life, we are the vehicle through which the work gets done. The title for today's episode is Top Mind, Body and Spirit Ideas and Products for a Wake Up Eager 2024. The show notes and transcript and all the links for all the things that everybody is going to talk about are at pricelessprofessional.com/mindbodyspirit2024. That's pricelessprofessional.com/mindbodyspirit2024. It's all one word, all lowercase. We have a transcript, so you can get all the details. And we'll have all the links to everything everybody says. So before we jump into the first three people who are going to share in part one of this focused area, I want to talk a little bit about the Wake Up Eager Way. What is that? It is waking up as a commitment. It's a commitment to make daily choices that provide a sense of ease and well-being, so that we bring our best self to whatever we're doing. So bottom line, what that has turned into for me is I want to feel the best I can as often as I can, and I have a pretty high expectation of that, and I feel like I'm the one in charge of that. Nobody else can give me that. So it's related to how I choose to spend my time. It's related to decisions that I make for myself. And when I make a decision that leads me to not feeling my best self, then I try to learn from that and it just keeps getting better and better. So understanding that I'm in charge of my happiness. No one else is responsible and it's up to me to make good choices.

Suzie Price: [00:03:42] 

And if I make poor decisions in my day, I'll learn from those decisions and then I'm more in charge, not a victim. And I get to learn and I get to grow. And it becomes this wake up eager life. But it does require a commitment, and it is very doable, and it's a great habit to make. We're talking about mind, body, spirit. There's the triad. We all know what those areas are, but to really be healthy, to really be happy, to really feel our best self, we have to find balance in how we think and what we do and how we feel. And we see that in Axiology. When people score really high on the dimensional balance page graph in the three dimensions on each side, if you're not familiar with this, it's measuring essentially mind, body, spirit in the assessment, in how we work in the world and how we see ourselves. The higher people are in those areas and clarity, and the more balanced they are, the stronger their performance is and the more capacity they have. So it all kind of goes full circle here. So we have to pay attention to all three areas. It's a balancing act. It's never something that is like a college degree. And you tack it up on the wall and you say, ta da! I have my mind, body, spirit all figured out.

Suzie Price: [00:04:54] 

It's a continually moving target because that is life. And that's what makes it so interesting. So that is a little bit about mind, body, spirit. And my thought  is the best way to figure out what's next is we have to look at what has been and spend a little time there, reflect on it, and then let that be the bouncing off place to which we think of what's coming next. So every year I got this process from Alan Weiss, who is an amazing consultant who has amazing books that help a lot of consultants. Alan Weiss is a wonderful speaker and certainly very bright and has beautiful processes. So here is a process for reflecting, and this is what I do every year. I did it again this year and it didn't take very long, maybe an hour. I get out my calendar and I make two lists. Because I'm on my calendar. I can remind myself of all the work projects that I did. I might look through folders and stuff and look at my account files and things like that. Just look for all the work stuff and I'll just make a list.

Suzie Price: [00:06:01] 

What are the projects? Where did I spend my time? A calendar is a good representation of what you spent your time on, and then I also keep the second list, which is personal. What did I do personally? Who did I go do things with? Who did I have dinner with? Where did I go on trips? And as I'm going through the list, I notice myself thinking about, wow, I forgot I did that. It has me reliving moments. Oh, that was a good program. I was really happy I did that. It was good to pull that back out. I tend to compartmentalize. I tend to just focus on what I'm currently doing, and I don't always reflect on, or spend a lot of time thinking about, what was done in the past. So it's super helpful for me to go back and reflect like this. And maybe it'll be helpful for you. I also look at the business and I end up doing that when I do my taxes and everything too. I look at finances, I look at new clients, I look at work, relationships, and personal. I'm always seeing how in balance or out of balance I am. I've been working on this for a while now.

Suzie Price: [00:07:01] 

In the past, I've had a lot more going on in my professional life than my personal life. And about ten years ago, I decided I needed to correct that. And so it's been a process, but it is very balanced now, and I was pleased to see a lot of personal trips and a lot of different people that I'm connecting with, and making myself open to connection, inviting connection personally as well as professionally. So I gave myself a good little pat on the back for that and associated my listing of that to how good I felt. Sometimes if I don't do the reflection, I kind of skip over the fact that, wow, I really had a great year. I feel good about the year, and that's been a long time coming. I mean, there's been good things, but I've definitely been working on it. So you're making your list, but you're assessing how you feel as you reflect and you're thinking about where you spent your time. Would you do this again? What would you not do again? And another good question, that comes from a book called Essentialism is, 

Suzie Price: [00:08:08] 

"Is this a good use of my time, energy, focus and resources?" Is this what I want to continue to do? So when I talked earlier about making the commitment to make choices, this is part of that. If you're going to make a change, it could be a subtle change. It happens a little bit at a time, but if we don't start the change, we're going to do more of what we did in the past. Unless we make some decisions or we want to make sure we continue to do the things that really worked well. So some guidelines for doing this, it's a private thing. I'm telling you all this, but generally don't share it. My husband usually gets an earful of, look, I'm happy about this. I'm concerned about that. He gets a little bit of that, but mostly it's private. It's a self-diagnosis so that you're totally honest about what you liked and what you didn't like. It's not something you're going to report to others unless you choose to. I use my own metrics. What's going to make somebody else happy? Whatever they're chasing or whatever they think is important does not matter. It's taken me a long time to come to that point, but I'm very clear about what matters to me.

Suzie Price: [00:09:10] 

I'm not trying to outperform others. I'm not trying to compete with others. I don't need their lifestyle. I want my lifestyle. And I'm tuning in to what feels good to me. It's, again, going back to tuning in to what's easy for me, what's satisfaction for me and taking stock of how the year went. And so what I find is I always feel really good looking back, even when it wasn't the best year, I forget about great things that happened. And maybe that happens to you too. So what went well? What could go better? How satisfied do you feel? And what I'd like you to do, if you end up doing this process, you do a reflection back and you have some thoughts on it. Share it with us and I'll share it on the podcast in future episodes. There's a link to the show notes to SpeakPipe, which is speakpipe.com/wakeupeagerworkforce. This is an audio audio tool and you just hit play and you can record for five minutes. If you don't like it, you delete it and start again. But speakpipe.com/wakeupeagerworkforce. Life is short.

Suzie Price: [00:10:16] 

Take stock of where you are. Evaluate your progress candidly. If you don't do it now, when are you going to do it? And then if you had an aha or some insight you want to share, it'd be fun to reshare this or share it with others so that people can learn from you. Anytime you can leave us a message at speakpipe.com/wakeupeagerworkforce that will come directly to me and we'll use it, and I'll get in touch with you and let you know that we will use it and get back to you if you have a question. Okay. Let's listen to our first contributor, and we want to thank each of the contributors for taking time to do this. This is Catherine Foster. She is a brand strategy and design consultant on a lifelong quest to create designs, environments, and strategies that speak to the human experience, resolve a need, and inspire the soul. She is the founder and creative director of Treadaway Company, a multidisciplinary creative consultancy building unforgettable brands using design thinking, a keen understanding of brand experiences and a little bit of humor. She has a BA in Communication and a Master's degree in Strategic Communication, and considers herself a lifelong student of experimentation. She's amazing. You're going to enjoy what she has to share. Let's listen to her now.

Catherine Foster: [00:11:33] 

Hey, I'm Catherine Foster, I'm a brand strategist and designer based out of Chicago, right in the downtown area. I'm the owner and creative director of a small branding agency called Treadaway, and I've been doing that for about the last eight years. I work with amazing clients, amazing companies all over the country, and I absolutely love my work. I'm actually really excited to be back on the Wake Up Eager Workforce Podcast. A few years ago, I did an episode with Suzie on Essentialism, which is an incredible book. I would probably call it the mind's tip for managing your mind as you move through 2024. So if you're interested in that book called Essentialism, that podcast is from two years ago, but I'm really glad to be back and sharing my own mind, body, and spirit plans for 2024. Suzie, thank you so much for having me back. This is a really interesting prompt this year because I didn't realize how much the goals I had set for 2024 actually really neatly fit into these mind, body, spirit categories. So some of these have overlap. Some of them are products, some of them are just sort of tools and plans that I have for the new year. And hopefully they're helpful for you as you're making plans for your year and figuring out how to manage your mind, body and spirit. So for me, managing my mind category is like the first one that I always think of because I'm really interested in goal setting. I'm quite type A, I like to move things forward like that.

Catherine Foster: [00:12:51] 

This year I actually purchased the Five Minute Journal, which I'm really, really impressed with as sort of a simple exercise. I'm not actually huge on long form journaling. I've never been able to kind of narrate in that way. But I've loved the Five Minute Journal because it has this distinct focus on gratitude, your intentions for the day. Also this reflection, I like the fact that it sort of parallels your morning and your evening and the different sort of frame of mind that you're in, in both of those states. So that's my top mind practice for this year. So it's the Five Minute Journal. You've probably seen it around, but I could not recommend it more for a sort of a brief but important practice for your day. The other thing I'm doing this year is I renewed a subscription to a service called Masterclass. I noticed last year, especially during the writer's strike where we didn't have as much television content to consume, that I wanted to be a little bit more thoughtful with the content that I was consuming. And Masterclass is a really interesting, really cool way to broaden my knowledge on different things. Last year I watched one from Jocko Willink on leadership. I've watched one on wine appreciation, I've watched one on photography. I watched one on math. I mean, who knew I'd be interested in math as a designer, but just these incredible master classes and videos that really help sort of sharpen and expand my mind at the same time.

Catherine Foster: [00:14:14] 

So that's a mind practice that I'm going to be bringing into 2024 to just sort of keep me creative and keep me sort of open minded about all the different industries and things that go on around me and where I can pull insight from those. For my body, this is actually a big focus of mine in 2024, because I think our health and our mobility was so much the height of the focus during the  Covid pandemic time and falling back into good and bad routines is something I want to be just more intentional about. So this year, I'm going to be working out with a personal trainer twice per week to focus on building strength and mobility, especially in ankles and hips, and just making sure that those things are being nurtured in the way that we care for other parts of our life. And then my other body practice is one that I'm actually really happy about because it feeds my spirit practice as well, which is I'm keeping a consistent Vinyasa Yoga practice, which, if you're familiar with Vinyasa, it's kind of like all strength building and kind of dynamic yoga poses that build on sort of a flow. So why this also feeds my spirit practice is not because I'm some meditative Yogi, but actually it's because it's a practice I do with my husband. We go to a few classes a week.

Catherine Foster: [00:15:31] 

We have an incredible community there. We have a great instructor, shout out to Todd. And we love this Vinyasa Yoga practice because it feeds sort of our quality time together and also feeds the physical body based practice that really helps us again, work on that mobility, that flexibility and the things that kind of really matter as you're moving through your day to day life. From a spirit perspective, when I really think about what this encapsulates, for me, it's not necessarily something spiritual so much as it's just how I feel when I feel really good and having balance outside of work and what I'm doing. So my goal this year is kind of crazy, but I'm already doing pretty well, is to read 100 different books. Not just business books, but a lot of fiction as well. I find fiction helps my creativity and it forces time for real rest. Whereas sometimes watching a television show or a movie, I can still be kind of thinking about work. But I find reading to be sort of like the whole experience, and it really forces time for rest. And so I'm really looking forward to those 100 books. I'm three books in and it's the fifth, so I will count the fact that I didn't do much the first and the second. But I'm really excited for that goal and how it all sort of just feeds that creativity and also feeds that accomplishment mindset. The other spirit element, this one I love because it can both be sort of group based with friends or family or people who come to visit us here in Chicago, or just sort of with me and my husband or just me by myself.

Catherine Foster: [00:17:00] 

And we are members of the Art Institute, which is this incredible art museum here in Chicago, having been around for a very, very long time. And my goal as a member is to visit 24 times this year, which is about two visits per month. If we broke it down like that. And I find this feeds a variety of different elements right when we go to the art museum and we spend this time looking at this art, I find it feeds that creativity element. It's social, you can chat with people as you're moving through the galleries. It's also just a great way to sort of get out and do something that, again, broadens the mind, expands the mind. And for me, it really just feeds my soul. Those are my mind, body, spirit tips. They're really just my goals for the year, which you kind of just worked out that sharing those goals actually align into these wonderful, wonderful buckets. But I'll report back and see how these fed my mind, body and spirit in 2024. But I'm really looking forward to hearing everybody else's tips. And thank you again so much for having me on the podcast. I am just absolutely delighted to be here.

Suzie Price: [00:18:02] 

Catherine is so focused and super talented and I can't wait to continue to see her career and her trajectory. I first met her at the Robert S. Hartman Institute Board, where we were working together on the board. She's been helping me for the past few years with all of my brand, marketing and social media, and she's just a joy to work with. I hope you enjoy what she shared. Did you notice her focus on learning and advancing forward? 100 books for the year? Wow. I can't wait to check in and see how that's going with her. And if you've been following our Wake Up Eager Strength segment in all of our recent podcast episodes, we are asking guests to share a little bit about their Talent Insights results. What are their top Motivators? What's their communication style? So two of Catherine's top drivers, things that make her want to take action that she's most interested in. She likes spending time doing these things: Individualistic and Theoretical, and it's a drive for advancing and learning. And couldn't you feel and see that in her charisma, in her voice and her actions and her excitement of learning everything was about gaining more knowledge and insight and just was fun to hear. Once you know what the Motivators are, you can pick them up and they're everywhere.

Suzie Price: [00:19:33] 

You can see what people speak about, what they get energized by, what they care about, what makes them talented and focused and what their greatest strengths are. It's wonderful. So if you want to learn more about Workplace Motivators, you can go to motivatorsppd.com And you'll see some information about a Motivators Assessment that you can take that really outlines it. I also have a talk that I give on this that's very popular. With what Catherine talked about, the Masterclass. I think I've seen that, but had not decided to do anything with that. But I did sign up based on her recommendation. I tend to watch a lot of mysteries and I thought recently it's like, you know, I like sometimes you just need downtime. I feel like I'm always learning and thinking, but I thought sometimes in my free time, I could do something a little more developmental. So I'm going to do some Masterclass programs. So that's something I thank her for sharing. And she also mentioned the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. We'll have a link to that in the show notes, and a link to the episode that Catherine and I did together on Essentialism.

Suzie Price: [00:20:44] 

And so it is a powerful book. It's one of those that you want on your bookshelf. It's right there with Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and a couple other books that I'm going to mention when I share that you could revisit again and again and again and get these life nuggets. It really has helped me focus. What is an essentialist? An essentialist focuses on the relentless pursuit of less but better. So this idea of doing less, but what you're doing is really well done. And the questions from that book that have been a game changer for me is if I could do one thing in my life right now, what would I do? That was a question I was asking myself as I was first listening to that book in 2018. It's helped me streamline my focus and my business and help me get comfortable with that. And as a daily habit, I ask myself, is this what I want to do with my time and resources right now? Is this the right thing? Am I spending my time well? And so that's going back to the Wake Up Eager Way, paying attention to how I feel and making decisions that are going to help me bring the best part of myself to what I do. So check out the episode that Catherine and I did together on Essentialism.

Suzie Price: [00:21:52] 

Check out that book. You'll find it at the show notes to this podcast, which you can go to pricelessprofessional.com/mindbodyspirit2024. Look for Catherine's section and you'll see the link to the podcast episode that we did together. Now let's go listen to what Dr. Stephen Middleton has to say about his top focus areas for this year. But first, let me tell you a little bit about him. Dr. Middleton grew up in a rural community in South Carolina. I'm also from South Carolina, so we have a lot of things that we connect on. His father was a general laborer, and along with his wife and their eight children, were sharecroppers. Stephen, their sixth child, spent his formative years picking cotton and plowing with a mule. He gained a burst of insight with a plow and a mule when he was 15 years old. An internal consciousness told him he could do better with his life. He heeded the admonition and enrolled in college, where he graduated with honors. And not only did he graduate with honors, he also went on to get a master's degree and a Ph.D., and he taught as a full time professor on constitutional history. He was the inaugural director of African American Studies. He's lectured all across our country and in Europe. He's presented and lectured all over all kinds of legal societies and all kinds of countries, historical societies, African American life and history organizations, different universities.

Suzie Price: [00:23:19] 

He's been in three African countries. He's quite interesting and so humble. He's a very humble man. He's edited five books. He's currently working on a biography. He's now retired from his academic work, and he's a founder of the Possibility Action Network, and he's the host of a podcast called the Possibility Action Network. He's now a speaker, a coach, and a social entrepreneur. Let's listen to him. And this is a clip from a beautiful discussion I had with him. I actually have a full podcast episode with him, but I pulled out the mind, body, spirit tips that he shared. His episode is going to be episodes 108 and 109, which is coming up at the end of this month, and we talk about personal transformation. A beautiful, beautiful man. Here's what he shared about his mind, body, and spirit focus for 2024. We've talked a little bit about what you do for mind, body and spirit, but talk a little bit about some of the products or ideas that you're going to be using in 2024. If you can pick up three for each, that's okay. But whatever, three for the mind, three for the body and three for the spirit, what are you going to be using and doing?

Dr. Stephen Middleton: [00:24:30] 

Okay. Three for the body. Well, I'm going to continue plant-based given my experience. I have a weight goal that I want to achieve, and I'm going to hit that goal by just eating the right kinds of foods that are fuel for my cells. That's one. The second thing for the body. And I'm sure you'll agree with this. And that is movement. Everyone can move. Now everyone may not be able to walk, but granted, if you can't walk, you can ride a bike. If you can't ride a bike, sit in your chair and do Tai Chi or sit in your chair and do yoga. Everyone can do some type of movement. If you can't do that, maybe you can move your head from left to right. Movement is important. Drink clean water. I had an over the counter filter in my home, but earlier this year I invested in an under the sink filter. It's beautiful, it looks like a work of art to me. But I see it as stainless steel, and Suzie, I drink some of the cleanest water ever in my house. I went out to eat recently. I was somewhere, I don't remember where I tasted the water. I didn't drink it because the water just didn't taste good. So movement, good foods, clean water is a recipe that I would suggest.

Suzie Price: [00:25:53] 

Do you know the name of that filter?

Dr. Stephen Middleton: [00:25:55] 

Oh, gosh, I don't know the name of it. It's not expensive. I got it on this e-commerce platform. I tell you, you can see my smile, people this will go out on audio if you leave it in there. It makes me smile because I put it in myself. I thought I would need a plumber. It was so easy. Uh, the water just tastes so good.

Suzie Price: [00:26:18] 

So they could reach out to you to get the name of it.

Dr. Stephen Middleton: [00:26:20] 

Exactly. For the mind, I'm really thinking about mental hygiene. That's how I have to refer to it, because I'm not a professional in that arena. One of the things that I'm passionate about is seeing people see that they're thinking about depression doesn't have to be permanent. So I want to do more of that, to be more transparent about that, to let people know that they can actually heal, or perhaps not even the healing is discovering the health that they are, but it's clouded by a phrase that we all use, but it's true, stinking thinking. It's those thoughts that are not healthy are the things that bring us down. It's not what we've done 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 50 years ago, 60 years ago for some people. It's not because those things are gone, but it's what we think about that. I want to talk more about that. The other thing is I want to roll out the Possibility Action Hour free inviting people to come. Come with their challenges, come with what they think are their challenges, what they think are their problems. Put some light on it. Let's find a way to bust them up together. You will discover that what you think is the problem is not a problem, but you've been thinking about it. The thing that I've noticed is that people assume that they want to tell someone my problem. But I've rarely seen a situation where people haven't convinced someone that they have a problem. So I want to deal with that.

Suzie Price: [00:28:14] 

Awesome, okay.

Dr. Stephen Middleton: [00:28:15] 

Spirit. I mean, gosh, and this is one, as I said, that I work on every day to discover I'm going to use the word God, but to discover that God in you, I mean, that's the opportunity that we have. If God is too big for you to embrace the God that's in you, discover that you are a partner with the creator. Make that discovery and live in that discovery. And the last thing that I say that it's important to me, is that I just don't want to be one who talks about it. I said this many decades ago, I don't just be a talker of stuff, I want to be a liver of stuff to realize this in my own life. So that's what my 2024 looks like.

Suzie Price: [00:29:06] 

Hopefully you felt and heard his humility. You can learn more from his episode. Check it out. If you go to wakeupeagerworkforce.com, you'll be able to see the directory and the focus of what we talk about there. I was first introduced to him when he was interviewing one of my nutritional heroes on his podcast, Dr. Joel Fuhrman. So we are also in sync around eating a whole food plant-based diet. I love how happy he was when he talked about his water filter and how good it tastes. It's the joy of things, simple things that are life. Water is life. We can't live without water. I just love that he's so full of life and love. And he's definitely the moniker of his podcast, which is the Possibility Man. So be sure to be looking for that episode. Check our show notes at pricelessprofessional.com/mindbodyspirit2024 to connect with Dr. Middleton and all of our guests will have the way you can connect to them and all the links of what they shared. So our last person to share in this part one of Top Mind, Body, Spirit Ideas and Products for a Wake Up Eager 2024, we have Shaunna Adinolfi. She is a Global Support Advisor at TTI Success Insights, which is an international assessment company located in Scottsdale, Arizona. They are my business partner and Shaunna works for the global division of that. So she works internationally with all of the distributors or consultants who are like me, but live all across the world outside of the US.

Suzie Price: [00:30:38] 

She's a certified DISC and Driving Forces and Motivators. She's also certified in Emotional Quotient and TriMetrix HD. She loves working with people and helping them understand themselves while appreciating others and respecting differences. She also believes that it starts with self awareness and it starts with us. We each have that responsibility. She's a real powerhouse. I'm so excited. She's another young person. She's not young but younger than me. A lot of people are younger than me these days, but I'm excited about seeing her trajectory. She and I worked together for quite a few years and are just so excited for what she's doing. She talks about in her bio that she has a love for life. And yes, she does. She tries to find the good and beauty in all things. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. Very athletic. She likes hiking, playing sports, and having family game nights. She's a first degree purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She teaches a women's class in her gym. She's focused on empowering women through the art of self-defense teaching. That is not about strength. It is about technique. And she's really good at the technique and a really good teacher. She's really good about teaching the right way to do things. So let's go listen to Shaunna and what she's focused on for 2024.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:31:55] 

Happy 2024 everyone. My name is Shaunna Adinolfi and I am the Global Support Advisor at TTI Success Insights, which is an assessment company that is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Suzie for over seven and a half years and have done work and listened to the Wake Up, Eager Workforce Podcast for years. It has always left me energized and thinking about how I should look at things a little bit differently. So it's an absolute pleasure to be invited on the podcast, especially to share my top mind, body and spirit tips, tricks, ideas or products for the new year. I spent a lot of time reflecting on last year and using the assessment that many of you are familiar with due to your work with Suzie. I realized that while my outgoing behavioral style was rewarded, my steady side felt a little overwhelmed last year. So I'm really trying to focus on being more organized, more disciplined, and less chaotic. When it comes to the mind, one of the things that I really like to do is a breathing exercise. And it's a five finger exercise. I actually learned it from my seven year old, and a lot of us are familiar with taking a deep breath in, holding it for three seconds, and then releasing. With the five finger exercise technique what I want you to do is I want you to take your left hand, and I want you to take the pointer finger of your right hand.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:33:39] 

And what you're going to do is you're going to start at the bottom of your thumb. Now, remember when we were really little and we were making turkeys out of our hands? It's just like tracing your hand. So while you're tracing your finger all the way up to the top of the finger, I want you to breathe in. When you hit the top, I want you to breathe out. And you go breathe in, breathe out all through the five fingers. Now you get the benefits of breathing in and out. But one of the things that I find very relaxing is you're also getting that touch, and it's very soothing for some reason. So when I'm feeling stressed, when I need to just kind of go and take a breath reset I do the five finger exercise. Another thing that I have been doing is I'm trying to stay organized. I know that I do not thrive well in chaos, so one thing that I've started doing is planning out my week. It's really helpful to me, but I'm one of those people that I constantly am putting sticky notes everywhere. I lose them, I have them all over my desk. It's very chaotic for me. So one of the things that I purchased this year is a Light Pad, and every Monday morning I go and I write out the top priorities for the week. I do this with the Light Pad because I also have a very high Aesthetic or harmonious driver.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:35:24] 

So instead of just having a plain piece of paper, this is pretty to me. It lights up. The markers that come with the board itself are very bright and cheery, and it's fun. It's a nice way to remember my top priorities for the week. Suzie, you're right there, podcast at the top of the list. So again, it just helps me stay organized. It's right there. It's lit up, it's in my face. And it's not just a boring piece of paper. So if you're looking for something that's a little bit different to put on your desk, light it up a little bit. This Light Pad is really awesome and very helpful to me. I love just crossing things off as they come along. Another thing that I've been doing is cold plunging. Now there are a lot of benefits to cold plunging. It decreases inflammation. It can improve your immunity. It increases circulation. It can boost your mood. So why is this in the mind if I'm talking about the body? Well, because this is tough. It is tough to cold plunge. I live in Arizona and so my pool is a perfect 45 degrees to go and cold plunge. It takes a lot for me mentally to get in my pool. I can do it for about 2.5 minutes and it really is tough. I have to pump myself up to do it, but when I'm done, I get out. Warming up is amazing and I feel great.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:37:08] 

I do it in the mornings, and it's better than any cup of coffee that you could ever have. You're ready to go and tackle the day, so if you haven't tried cold plunging, go give it a try. The next topic is body and one of my tips is the Oura Ring. I have my Oura Ring right here, and the Oura Ring is actually one of the few sleep trackers that measures both your body temperature and your heart rate variability, which is a good indicator of sleep quality. I really try and focus on my readiness score, so it gives you a score on how your body is for the day. So is your readiness optimal? Is it good? If it's not, if it's fair, why? So today my score was fair because my body temperature was higher than usual and my recovery index was low. Well, last night my daughter got a new bed for her birthday and didn't sleep well in it. New things tend to cause you to not sleep as well. So she woke us up several times and then when it came to my body temperature, I started late in the day. So my body temperature didn't regulate the way that it should have. Some of the other indicators that I have had and it has asked me, did you eat late last night because my heart rate didn't lower until later in the night, so it's just something to be reflective on.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:38:51] 

I ask myself questions because we all know how important our sleep is. The next  product for the body is actually a standing desk. And if you didn't know, I'm actually standing right now. I've always wanted a standing desk, and I finally pulled the trigger, and I absolutely love it. Sitting all day at a desk has not been good for my body, especially my posture. And I find that when I stand, especially for things like this, I have more energy. I have found that it has really helped me. I did a three hour training today to keep my energy up and keep me going, but I tend to sway back and forth when I am in my meeting, so just be conscientious about that if you do get a standing desk. My next body tip and gentlemen, this is a tip for you, I promise, but ladies, I purchased a Dyson blow dryer and it has changed my hair. It's the best. I got one for Christmas. I had two girlfriends recommend the blow dryer for me, and it's worth the money, I promise. My hair has never looked healthier and it takes less time to get ready. I like to curl my hair, and so I would have to blow dry my hair, then wait for the curling iron to to warm up, and then we all know that a hot curling iron isn't very healthy for your hair, so I purchased the Dyson Airwrap.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:40:33] 

It's an all in one so I can blow dry my hair. I don't have to wait for the curling iron to warm up. It's just an attachment. And my curls, I have to say, have never looked better and have never lasted longer either. So I'm tossing my old blow dryer and curling iron into the garbage. Ladies, if you are interested in a Dyson blow dryer, you've heard about them. It's amazing. And if you love curling your hair, try the Airwrap. It's wonderful. Gentleman, it's a great gift for your spouse if you're looking for one. My first spirit tip, again I mentioned I am a high Aesthetic or high Harmonious, so my first tip is to connect with nature every single day. I make sure that I go for a walk, or if I know that I'm going to have a really busy day, I'm going to go and stand out in the sun for a couple of minutes and just let that sunlight hit my face first thing in the morning. It helps keep me energized. When it comes to the walks, I don't bring my phone. I really just try to focus on what's around me, listening to things, enjoying the quiet. So it's just me and the pavement. So if you aren't going out and connecting with nature on a daily basis, whether it's just a walk or going and standing outside for a little bit, it really does help center you.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:42:10] 

The next thing that I do is, again, I talk about that chaos or that clutter. I cleaned my house out the day after Christmas, but every January 1st I go into my closet, we always have a lot of clothes, so what I do is I take my hangers and I turn them the opposite direction. It can be a pain and it is time consuming. But January 1st I go in there, I turn all my hangers around by the end of the year, so the last week of the year or even the first week of the following year, I go into my closet and I look to see how many of the hangers are still in the opposite direction. If they're in the opposite direction, it goes in the donation bin. If I haven't worn something for over a year, do I really want it? So I know that some of this stuff you save for special occasions. So it really does just allow you the opportunity to maybe try something on, see if it still fits, if you still like it, if you don't, get rid of it. My last spirit tip is I've started journaling. I have never journaled before and this year I was given four, yes, four journals. So my first journal that I was given is called the Daily Stoic Journal. And there's also a Daily Stoic book that goes along with it, and it just gives you different weekly topics to write about and reflect on.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:43:48] 

So this week is about the sphere of choice, and it helps you discern what you are in control of and what you are not in control of, and when you are tuned in and well directed, the sphere of choice is an invincible fortress that can withstand any trial or circumstances. So I have been getting up early. This is how I start my day with the Daily Stoic. It allows you to reflect in the morning and then in the evening as well, to think about how you've applied everything. The next journal, and this was actually gifted by my work, is Start With Gratitude. Research shows that people who regularly take time to notice things that they are grateful for enjoy better sleep, better relationships, and greater success in achieving their goals. They show more compassion and kindness and are overall just happier people. So this book gives you different prompts about what was good today. For example, moments that make you laugh. It's more of an end of the day journal, so think about that one. Maybe you want to start your day with gratitude. This one I have found that I tend to use towards the end of the day. The next journal that I received is the Mindful Journal, so this is a daily journal. It's the same for every single day. It gives you three prompts to start your day. I can experience joy by... Three things that I am grateful for... Three intentions for today.

Shaunna Adinolfi: [00:45:33] 

It asks you how your sleep was, your peace level, your confidence, your water intake. Then it allows for reflection at the end of the day. Was there something that you wanted to remember about your day? Was there something that you were really proud of? And then maybe there's something that you need to let go of. I really focus on the Daily Stoic Journal and the Mindful Journal. Again, I'm trying to get up early in the morning, have some reflection time, really go through everything, and then also at night as well. The next one is a little much. It's called F*cks To Give, and its reasons to care. It's a gratitude journal for when life hands you lemons. The title gets your attention, doesn't it? It's another gratitude journal, and this one's a lot of fun, because it's a good reminder that through different questions and quotes, that there are a lot of reasons to care even when life tears you down and gives you lemons. So on a day that I'm just having a bad day, or I'm really salty on something, I will pick up this Fs to Give book. That's it. Those are my tips, tricks, products, ideas that can help in 2024. I hope that there was something in there that caught your attention and wished you a bright and successful New Year. Take care.

Suzie Price: [00:47:23] 

Shaunna shared a bunch of interesting insights and tools and things that she's excited about. You have to look at the LED light board. That is very beautiful. I had never seen that before. There's a link to that in the show notes. And then I liked the Dyson Airwrap, the hair tool that could make your hair look pretty. So I'm going to try that. I've already looked that up. Did you notice how Shaunna's products are things that bring beauty and harmony and balance in her life? Well, guess what, if we're talking about Workplace Motivators again, her strongest interest is in balance and harmony. It's her number one on the Workplace Motivators Assessment. It is called Aesthetic, and it is this idea of it's a person who has good intuition. It's the feel of the room, is able to see the big picture, self-actualization, creativity into experiences, experience of life balance and harmony. So a lot of what she shared, you could see how she thinks of those things and how they bring beauty and harmony and how she brings that with her everywhere she goes. And it doesn't surprise me that she's teaching the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to other women, because it's a structure of self-defense and the right and the wrong, and Traditional Regulatory is her second Motivator.

Suzie Price: [00:48:42] 

And again, if you want to know more about Motivators, go to motivatorsppd.com and there's a ton of information there you can learn about. But I just appreciate what Shaunna shared. I appreciate all three of our guests on part one of this, there's going to be part two. Don't miss that. That is going to be right behind this one. In part two, we've got the former police chief who's now an organizational development consultant sharing. We've got the director of human resources for a construction company sharing their favorite things for 2024. And then I'll be sharing some of my ideas and thoughts. So if you enjoyed today's episode, leave us a review. We recently received this review from HR Pro. It was a five star review! Yay! Thank you so much! The headline said HR fan! I am an HR professional. If you don't know what HR is, you're probably most of you do. But I'll say it as a human resource professional. And I instantly fell in love with this podcast. Every episode I learn something new that I can actually apply. Thank you for continuing to educate me. So thank you HR Fan.

Suzie Price: [00:49:46] 

Gosh, it really just thrills me that somebody listened and they took time and they shared a review and it just tells us so much. That we're having an impact and it also helps other people find us. So please leave us a review. I've updated the review page at pricelessprofessional.com/review. If you leave us a review, let me know and we will send you a complimentary Workplace Motivators Assessment and give you access to those tools. And I just would appreciate it so much. So if you've thought about it, it's easy to do. Go to pricelessprofessional.com/review. If you're not sure how to leave us a review. If you have any questions for me, reach out at suzie@pricelessprofessional.com. And thank you again to all our guests. Links to everything that they shared and to them can be found at pricelessprofessional.com/mindbodyspirit2024. And remember what the Wake Up Eager Way is and what is it? It's that idea of making decisions every day. We're going to make choices that promote a sense of ease and well-being, so that we bring our best self to whatever we're doing. I see you focusing in this way every day and creating a life you love. Thank you.

Intro/Outro: [00:51:10] 

This episode of the Wake Up Eager Workforce Podcast was brought to you by Priceless Professional Development. Thank you for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's show, head over to pricelessprofessional.com to gain access to more professional development resources.