Uniquely Brilliant Podcast

On this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Diana Bader and Becky Berry discuss putting ourselves first and equal to the needs of others.   When we forget to treat our needs as equal to the needs of others in our lives, we become stressed and frustrated. We prioritize their needs over our own and shortchange things like rest and relaxation. We also neglect enforcing our boundaries which puts on the highway to exhaustion.   Becky and Diana discuss the tricky areas of honoring our time and our money.   Diana reminds us that money is an exchange of energy. And it’s easy to find ourselves in debt, overspending, or giving our money to others. When we’re not mindful about money matters, we feel drained.   Becky shares her struggles with managing her calendar (aka her time). She forgets to do things like schedule enough times between clients and allow time for rest. When we overcommit by doing too many things or by not taking breaks, we can feel frustrated and overwhelmed.   Becky brings up a favorite Uniquely Brilliant

On today’s episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Diana Bader and Becky Berry discuss the March Slump.    Diana begins this episode by reminding us that two years ago at this time the whole world was shut down because of COVID, and our feeling that we’re in a slump could be a trauma response.   The pandemic and the response to it are different now, but not completely different. Masks, boosters, quarantines - change constantly. Becky and Diana point out that everyone has a different comfort level with how to approach the world today. While Covid is still a big threat, Diana points out that there are equal threats to those who are immunocompromised that are rarely mentioned.    Becky points out that because of the strangeness of our last two Marchs plus  now, it’s easy to lose our sense of agency. We can forget that we can impact our own lives by the choices that we make.    The unpredictability of the weather in March adds to the slump. The temperatures and weather are all over the place: it can be 80 degrees one day

In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Becky Berry and Diana Bader discuss ways to approach the smorgasbord that is life.   Diana starts by discussing her recent experience on a cruise where she learned cruises no longer put out smorgasbords of food like they did before COVID. She draws a parallel between choosing from a smorgasbord and choosing priorities and goals that allow us to enjoy the smorgasbord of life.    Becky brings this back to essentialism, since essentialism is about focusing on solely the things that are essential to our lives.    Additional episodes where Becky and Diana discuss Essentialism: Episode 88: Essentialism Episode 130: Essentialism and Coronavirus.    They also discuss the importance of delegating tasks so we aren’t taking on everything that’s thrown at us. Diana points out that in order to delegate, we must be able to relinquish control of the task. This also requires asking someone we trust to follow through with the task.   Becky shares her struggles with wanting to provide i

Diana Bader and Becky Berry discuss examining our assumptions about rules. Their conversation is based on an article Becky read that reminded her to question the rules. In the article a therapist told a client who was struggling with depression and being able to do the things she wanted to get done on a daily basis that she could put her crusty, dirty dishes in the dishwasher and…wait for it…run it twice! Sometimes we assume things are hard and fast rules when they’re not. Running the dishwasher twice is both energy and water efficient, while rinsing and scrubbing them by hand is not. Becky and Diana also discuss Diana’s progress on tapping into her creativity again creative (you can hear the original discussion in Episode 157).  As a first step, Diana turned to cooking. Cooking grounds her because she uses all of her senses and creativity. She observes that cooking is creative and it gives her the means to prepare and freeze nutritious food for times when she might not have time to cook. They remind us that

In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Diana Bader and Becky Berry talk about the importance of resting, resetting, and recovering.    They begin this episode by discussing how many people experienced the beginning of 2022 as a rough start. They talk about their feelings about Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant, and emphasize the importance of staying in the present moment.   One of the ways to cope with our problems and the world at large is to find humor everywhere we can. We can find sistraction in television show or movie that we enjoy. We can also hang out with a friend who makes us laugh.    Diana doubles down on our need to be in the moment.  We experience huge amounts of stress from not forgetting to live in the moment.    She suggests that we keep a list of things we enjoy doing so we can pull it out when we are feeling down. When we do something on the list, it helps us stay in the moment so we can enjoy it.   We can also think about our values (one of Diana’s is creativity) and do activities that

In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Becky Berry and Diana Bader talk about the value of being our uniquely brilliant selves.    When we embrace who we really are and how we really think, we embrace our unique brilliance!   In their conversation, Diana and Becky recap some of the character differences between extroverts and introverts - including how they process information. Extroverts like Becky frequently process out loud, while introverts like Diana process within their own minds.    Becky talks about the importance of working out her thoughts verbally while Diana discloses that she’s been working on building her ability to process out loud over many years.   They also discuss the difference between introverts and extroverts in terms of where they draw their energy. Generally speaking, extroverts are energized by people and flourish in groups. Introverts (again, generally speaking) prefer solitude and quiet.   Becky discusses one of her most frequently quoted phrases: “This is going to work out better t

Diana Bader and Becky Berry talk about their words of the year in this podcast episode! They choose words of the year as a means to focus their thoughts around their intentions for the coming year. In past years, Diana has selected bliss, blessed, and extraordinary, to name a few. She’s been doing this for ten years - she even had a word for the decade: impact. The idea for the word of the year came from the book, Lifeword: Discover Your One Word to Leave a Legacy by Jon Gordon. Below is a link to the book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N79M0D7?ref=KC_GS_GB_US Becky's been doing the word of the year exercise for three years. Her first word of the year was unleashed; her second was steady. This year Becky has chosen Knowing and Diana has chosen Release. Becky explains why she chose an affirmational word instead of an aspirational one. She also writes about this on her blog: https://beckyberrycoach.com/your-word-of-the-year/ Essentialism episodes: Episode 88: Essentialism -  https://open.spotify.com/episode/4G6

In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Becky Berry and Diana Bader talk about the value of blowing things up.   There is still so much uncertainty in the world during this pandemic. It makes it hard to feel settled. Diana talks about her criteria for an event mask being mask worthy.  Becky and Diana talk about how this pandemic differs from the 1920 pandemic. Becky points out that the main difference comes down to 3 words: international air travel.  Diana discusses the results of neglecting one of her core values: creativity and shares tips for bringing it back.  They also discuss resilience, its importance, and how we can only be resilient if we have a sense of agency in our lives. Agency is understanding we have the ability to impact our own lives. We exercise agency when we trust our gut instincts and continue to do the things we know will keep moving forward. Episode 114: Agency v Control talks about the importance of exercising agency in our lives. It’s necessary, not scary to blow things up when it’s t

Episode 153: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Becky Berry and Diana Bader discuss the importance of getting out of our comfort zones. We don’t always realize that we’re coasting in our comfort zone, so it can become uncomfortable when we do.  For example, it can be our default to stay in a job because it has health benefits even when we don’t like that job. We end up stuck there because we think we can do the job for one more day, then another, and another - and, all of the sudden we’ve been there for years! Luckily, we do not have to leap out of our comfort zones. We can tip toe out, instead. Once we’ve identified what we are struggling with, we can then evaluate what we are doing now compared to what we would like to do. Diana talks about tip-toeing out of our stuckness requires us to assess our quality of life factors. We can start by listing what we do not want to do and why we don’t want to do them as a means of evaluating why we choose to stay. Sometimes we stay in our

The Missing Step? Savoring Our Work   On this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Diana Bader and Becky Berry talk about the missing step in our work and personal lives.   Diana begins the episode by talking about a conversation she had with her son about how he was improving his life. She shared his experience of playing a video game where he and a friend  came to the conclusion that to get tasks done in life, we must break each part down into little pieces.    We should also remember to look at where we came from, and the work we did to get where we are. When we forget to look back to where we came from and the steps we took to get to our end result, we are being dismissive of the work it took to get there.    Becky summed up this process by naming it “chunk and reflect.”   When we review the work that brought us to our current place, we are supercharged going forward. It gives us a focused momentum because we understand where we came from and acknowledge what it took to get here.    Also, when we take what we l

In today’s episode, Becky Berry and Diana Bader talk about the difference between presence and focus.   Being present is being fully engaged in the moment. It's taking the time to listen fully.    Since energy flows to where our  thoughts go, when our thoughts are scattered, our energy is also scattered. Being present mentally and physically keeps us aligned.    When our energy is aligned, our thoughts are calmer. The act of being present allows us to focus.    We have to engage our bodies before our minds. When we align our bodies, and ground ourselves physically in the present, we think more clearly.    Focus is a brain activity. When we bring our energy into the moment we can bring our minds into it, too.   Diana has Becky do the 5 Senses Exercise to demonstrate how to be present (aka grounded). Here’s how it works:  We look around and name 5 things we see.  We close our eyes, listen closely, then name 4 things we hear. We reach out and touch 3 things and notice how they feel.  We sniff and identify 2 thi

In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Becky Berry and Diana Bader talk about thinking, the third component of productivity from the book, Essentialism by Greg McKeown.    Becky shares how she gets blocked when she does not think before she makes a big move.   The precepts of Essentialism consist of narrowing things down to the essentials. The process is virtually impossible to accomplish if we don’t invest time in figuring out what is essential to us.    Sleeping, thinking, and playing are the three pillars of being productive. And, the most successful, productive people schedule thinking time on their calendar!   It’s when we invest our time in stopping and thinking about what we want, that we can create purposeful movement forward. By gifting ourselves with time to think, we create room to identify what is truly important.   Diana reminds us to view the big shifts that happen as a result of our thinking as adventures.    Sometimes we have to get lost in our thoughts to figure out what we’re really thinking

  In this episode of Uniquely Brilliant, Diana Bader and Becky Berry discuss our absolute need for adequate sleep, how to get it, and the results of inadequate sleep.   Good sleep is critical to our bodies performing to the best of their abilities.    Sleep protects both our physical and mental assets.   Even when we miss sleep and feel like we are doing ok, the lack of sleep will eventually catch up to us.   Our brains store what they learned during the day while they sleep. And, while we’re sleeping our brains also get some well-needed rest!   When we’re not sleeping enough, it’s impossible to be as productive as we could be.    Yoga Nidra is a yoga practice that simulates what the brain does during sleep. It has said to be as refreshing as 8 hours of sleep. Here’s a 20-minute practice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0FKzeuVVs   Becky and Diana share how they feel after a night of no sleep. Diana says it's much harder to work out, and Becky says she feels heavy.   They discuss how we all function d

On this episode of Uniquely Brilliant Diana Bader and Becky Berry talk about the importance of play. Lila is Diana’s word of the year. Lila, which means playful manifestation in Sanskrit. She shares how she is enacting its spirit. They talk about the way spending 5 minutes in a day can change our outlook. Becky shares three things you need to be productive: sleep, play, and then planning and guarding those things with your life. What constitutes play? We may hear the word play and think, oh that sounds frustrating. Perhaps we’re thinking of  childhood games that everyone but you loved. Tag, anyone? Play can be anything that you enjoy doing! As Becky says, if you like cooking, then that is playing. If your favorite thing to do is run then that is play for you! If you find joy in it, it’s play. They talk about strategies to find your joy when you need a lift. Diana suggests making a playlists of songs you like to dance to and playing one of the songs to access that lift. We need play to be more productive. With

How do we know how to get to the next place when we don’t know what the next place is?  Becky Berry and Diana Bader cover this question in this episode of Uniquely Brilliant. Diana points out one way is to focus on the short term because we must get out of crisis mode and make a plan for the near future.  Becky reminds us that we have to remember things are different and we must just get through things now, while Diana reminds us to let go of how things were before the pandemic.  By letting go of the past we are able to move forwards, which leads to growth. Going backwards keeps us stuck and improves nothing.  Fear and panic will not help us to move forward either. Becky admits that going with the flow is not her natural mode, but she tells a story about her 85 year old mom going with the flow when the eye doctor told her she couldn't drive anymore.  If you allow change to become an adventure and look at the opportunities presented in the moment, you can do things differently.  Diana hints at a secret project

In this episode, Becky and Diana discuss what it's like to be living in today’s world, including questions like: How do we deal with the new reality of not knowing if you should hug people or fist bump? Diana Bader talks about how everything is just a little disjointed.  They discuss the importance of knowing how to ground yourself. Diana shares this sensory exercise for grounding: Identify five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can smell, two things you can touch, and one thing you can taste. Becky tries it on for size. This exercise helps to bring you back to your senses. Plus breathing - always remember to breathe.  Becky Berry mentions walking in the grass with bare feet to ground herself.  They share their experiences around mental grounding and meditation. They observe that not everyone can visualize, so it's a great idea to use guided meditations or other meditations that work better for you.   Shamanic Drumming and Humming on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/ivCOrc1HWxI Today’s

Diana Bader and Becky Berry talk about a favorite topic: adventure! Diana refers to everything as an adventure. As a matter of fact, originally, each episode of Uniquely Brilliant was called “The Adventure of ....”.  As Diana says, “Life is an adventure because you never know what is coming.” She talks about her experience moving back up north to Ohio from Atlanta. She felt the full force of the good and the bad and how it’s critical to not set expectations. Becky talks about her experience with her coworking space and the trials of letting it evolve in a pandemic.  Diana shares the losses she has experienced in her life and the reason she continues to see possibilities everywhere. They identify the 3 things that help turn things from ordeals to adventures: Curiosity, Wonder, and Risk Tolerance.  Diana reminds us to live in the moment because the only way you make memories is when you’re in the present moment!  What is an adventure if not the ultimate good memory? Today's Tidbits: Attitude is the difference

Becky and Diana talk about all the ways people feel about talking. Becky shares her experience in opening a second business (her coworking space for women, MAD! Workspace) and all of the feelings that go along with starting it up and keeping it going in a pandemic.  She also talks about how she processes things through talking. She needs to hear the words coming out of her mouth to figure out what’s going on. On the other hand, Diana is an introvert, so she doesn’t need to talk things out to process them. She likes to mull things over, then figure some of it out herself a little before she shares. And, when she does share, there are only a few people she wants to share her thoughts with - like  Becky and this entire audience.  Diana points out that the difference between fear and excitement is breathing! Both emotions tap into the same place in the brain. They also talk about the importance of making deep connections with people and how rare it is to make deep connections with new people. The problem in makin

Today Diana and Becky talk about how they get to do it (everything) differently! It’s hard to remember to rephrase the idea from “having to do it differently” to “getting to do it differently” but it makes a big difference in our mindset. “I get to do it differently” indicates agency and choice. They talk about VISION BOARDS! Diana shares her new workout with The Exercise Coach and how it meets her goals and desires.. They both cover how we can all do things differently, and how feedback can be important for growth. When we do it differently, we release any need to apologize or justify our actions. The critical takeaway is that everyone’s different is - wait for it - different! Choosing to do anything differently also means figuring out our unique differences. When we focus on strengthening our strengths instead of our weaknesses we own the power and value of our own experiences! Pause a minute and reflect on how today was a success!

In this episode, Diana and Becky talk about the Art of Maintaining. This is a great episode for people who are struggling lately or drowning in the shoulda, woulda, couldas. Becky and Diana bring it back to the present and ask hard questions about what is really important and how we NEED to take care of ourselves. And Becky advocates for getting rid of the words “strive” and “working hard.” Sometimes in life we find ourselves needing to maintain rather than excel, and that's okay. Diana talks about appreciating the moment instead of settling by pushing through it. She also discusses the system she created to help her get through her days when she needs to just maintain. Diana also discusses how hard it was to maintain when she had a young child and how people in her life continuously pressured her to get more done. Becky reminds us that maintaining is a big part of Essentialism because when we choose to maintain instead of striving for more, we are claiming our own priorities and owning that it’s ok to be in