Conversations With Cinthia

What is your “Achilles Heel,” the weakness or “limp” that is always there in your life?  Do you judge yourself for it, berate yourself for having it?  Do you try to avoid it, chasing feelings that make it seem less painful for a while? Healthy self-esteem involves a balance, both for individuals and for society.  We tend instead to swing back and forth on a pendulum, clinging to inferiority, then over-valuing our own good qualities.  This is because we tend to cling to performance-oriented evaluations of ourselves and others, judging worth and value by achievements, accolades, approval, looks, accomplishments, etc.  The key to getting off the pendulum is to learn that our worth is separate from our performance, that we are valuable because God made us on purpose and for a specific purpose.  Secure in that knowledge, we then strive to be the best versions of ourselves, not to make ourselves worthwhile but to honor the One Who made us so well. Instead, we often try to meet our needs for self-value by “chasing a

How much critical thinking really takes place in our society these days?  How well does the average person think through a given issue, considering the premises involved and making decisions on the basis of sound reasoning rather than reacting simply out of emotion or unthinking loyalty to a party line?  Our collective struggle to learn, develop, and use this skill has a huge impact on our judgment, which may explain why so many of us struggle to maintain an adult mentality, manage ourselves well, and do what is best for those who depend on us.  Today Cinthia discusses the lost art of thinking critically about a subject and making decisions that actually make sense beyond the rhetoric.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

You know that feeling that happens when you arrive home and get ready to go inside?  It can be a wonderful feeling, a terrible one, or lots of things in between the two, depending on what it is like for you to live there.  You also live inside yourself, inside your own body and head.  When your distractions subside and you become more aware of your own internal environment, how do you feel about living inside of you?  Today Cinthia discusses ways you can change your own internal environment, making the inside of your own head a place you don’t have to avoid. To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

The age-old idea of sacrifice involves giving up something that is valuable to us for the sake of something we value even more.  Today Cinthia discusses the idea of looking past those things to which we cling and seeing what they actually cost us.  Based on material from one of her earlier books, Cinthia asks the question, “What has to die in order for you to truly live?”  What are you holding onto, and what is it choking out?  What do you need to let "die" in order to see new life begin?  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

We know how practice works regarding an instrument, language, sport, or job skill: the little moments and long hours add up to create change that could never have happened without all the practice.  But sometimes we forget that our other daily habits, big and small, are also practices, and those small repetitions add up to make the stuff of our lives.  What habits of heart, mind, and body are you practicing, and what do you want to practice?  Are the things you are doing today the things you want to shape your life and the lives of those around you?  Join Cinthia to discuss practicing the things you truly want to perfect.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Lots of people are pretty consistent about brushing their teeth because they know good dental hygiene is vital for improving and maintaining oral health.  But many of us don’t know how to take care of our minds and emotions, a significant concern when we consider that mental health disorders are on the rise in our society.  While lots of factors can impact mental health, good mental hygiene is something we can personally use to protect ourselves, care for ourselves, and contribute as effectively as possible to the world.  Join Cinthia to discuss what it means to take care of the minds in which we live.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Recently, we started talking about healthy competition, but there is so much more to say about it!  Competition can be fun and may challenge us to strive for excellence, but it can also become a dumping ground for perfectionism, selfishness, relational aggression, arrogance, inferiority, and a general lack of contentment and fulfillment.  Today Cinthia reviews some of the concepts she introduced last week and then moves into challenging our mindsets at a deeper level so we can compete in a healthy way and celebrate success – both our own and that of others! To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

You know that feeling that happens when you arrive home and get ready to go inside?  It can be a wonderful feeling, a terrible one, or lots of things in between the two, depending on what it is like for you to live there.  You also live inside yourself, inside your own body and head.  When your distractions subside and you become more aware of your own internal environment, how do you feel about living inside of you?  Today Cinthia discusses ways you can change your own internal environment, making the inside of your own head a place you don’t have to avoid. To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Competition is everywhere, from the football field to the freeway, from the playground to that phone call with family last week.  When does friendly competition become threatening?  Why do some people treat everything as a competition?  And how can we compete appropriately without losing our joy to our own inner comparisons with others?  Join Cinthia to discuss competing in order to improve ourselves, rather than to destroy others or fulfill an inner longing that winning cannot touch.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Whether we deny it, dwell on it daily, or turn backflips to avoid thinking about it, the past can haunt us.  What would it be like to face your past and make some decisions that help you move forward?  To do what needs to be done so you are no longer defined by it?  Today Cinthia discusses what it means to face your past in a healthy way and deal with it so it no longer deals with you.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Is there a legitimate need for vice in life?  Life is hard, and it is easy to turn to vice to numb the pain.  We may view our vices as anesthesia for our hurts and crutches for helping us get through life.  Unlike crutches and anesthesia, however, our vices tend to move us slowly away from life and health rather than helping us do what is necessary to embrace those things.   Today Cinthia explores what makes a vice, what function it serves, what it costs, and what other options exist for dealing with the pain of life. To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

How do you think about your future?  What do you dream, plan, or casually toss around in your brain?  Whether we chart it all out mentally or simply put things off until tomorrow, we all give mental space to the time ahead of us.  Today Cinthia explains that the way we think about ourselves and our future, as well as the way we interact with God about our future plans and the plans He has for us, make a huge difference.  How will you think differently about tomorrow, today?  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Anger is an emotion that is not good or bad, in and of itself, but it can be powerfully used for good or for ill.  It can energize and inspire, hurt and harm, move us toward connection or annihilate our relationships, push us to fight for justice or inflate us to believe we are superior to others.  Do you manage your anger, or does it manage you?  Are you aware of your anger, and do you know how to calm yourself and express anger simultaneously?  Join Cinthia to look at how to use this super-power emotion for good.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Most of us know the signs of physical adulthood, but we often struggle to identify, define, or deal with issues of emotional maturity in ourselves and others, despite the fact that these issues impact much of our lives and the lives of those around us.  Today Cinthia discusses characteristics of emotional maturity and immaturity and offers guidance for helping ourselves to mature in these less-obvious but oh-so-important areas, as well as dealing with people in our lives who currently lack emotional maturity despite living in adult bodies.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

How have you experienced the holidays this year?  It would be nice if we could all feel bathed in the joy and peace of Christmas and then greet a new year with excitement and fresh energy… but sometimes the holidays make us keenly aware of our loneliness and the ways we feel disconnected from others.  Some of the factors involved in this are beyond our control, but there are some pieces we can address.  For example, did you know that one of the greatest sources of loneliness and disconnection from others can be a sense of disconnection with ourselves -- a lack of self-knowledge, or even a rejection of who we are and how we are made?  And, while we may be stuck with some non-returnable Christmas gifts, we don’t have to keep our self-rejection, self-alienation, and discontentment about who we are and how we were made.  Join Cinthia to consider how changing your relationship with yourself just might impact your relationship with the world around you and help that loneliness begin to lift.  To dive deeper into th

Now that the presents of Christmas 2022 have been bought/made, wrapped, and opened, what gift do you still want to give?  What kind of gift do you want to be?  You were made by God on purpose because He wanted to make you, and He intended you to be a gift to the world unlike any of the others He made.  So New Year’s (which is coming up, by the way) doesn’t have to be about making a bunch of self-focused, perfectionistic resolutions to become what you think you should be.  It can be more.  Join Cinthia to consider the specific kind of gift you get to be to the world this year and what it might take to become that gift.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Why do we keep doing the same things again and again, expecting different results even though we continue to get the old ones?  If you’ve listened to Cinthia for long, you won’t be surprised to hear that both the problem and the solution have to do with the ways we think.  Cinthia explains that our brains tend to respond to triggers by going down neural pathways that have been created over time, reinforcing them even further every time we travel there.  She also explores ways we can challenge these own patterns and work on creating and traveling down some new neural and behavioral roads. To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

The word “vibe” can make people think of different things, some of which are hard to define or differentiate.  But we do know that our bodies have electricity, chemicals, and other physical properties that influence our “sense” of those around us.  When should we trust our intuition?  What is the difference between heeding those difficult-to-define danger signals and jumping to unfair conclusions about others?  Join Cinthia to consider what we mean by “vibes” and how to approach these vague feelings that can seem so confusing.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6

Why do human beings (who, by the way, need love desperately) fight so hard against the gift we most need?  What should we do when we wonder whether a gesture of love or kindness might have strings attached?  And, when we do try to give and receive love with another person, why do we sometimes feel as if we are speaking different languages?  Join Cinthia to explore why the love we most need is sometimes so threatening to us and to take a step toward more effectively enjoying the gift of love.  To dive deeper into the message of each podcast, we've created a study guide for each episode. Download your FREE Study Guide here!  https://www.cinthiahiett.com/services-6