Mindfully Balancing Work & Life: Dr. Christine Carter Podcast

“Practicing daily gratitude shifts your lens on the world.”

In our recent online radio show, Christine Carter, Ph.D.,the author of RAISING HAPPINESS: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents and Samantha Ettus discussed how making small, mindful changes can lead to big shifts in happiness.

One of the biggest keys to happiness, says Dr. Carter, is acknowledging all emotions—whether yours, your partner’s, your child’s or your coworker’s, because when you numb the difficult emotions, you set yourself to numb all your emotions, including profound joy, gratitude or compassion.

Dr. Carter shared some tips to employ mindfulness to create balance and increase happiness:

Be aware of ratio of your positive to negative emotions. Either bring more positive, or eliminate more negative.
Instead of just thinking about happiness in the present, employ gratitude to review happiness in the past.
Frustrated, overwhelmed with someone at home or at work? Acknowledge what you feel, and allow others to acknowledge what they feel.
In relationships, prescribe a protocol so each person can articulate what they are feeling without judgement.

As a parent, take a moment to validate child’s emotions before you try to manage them.

“All people are capable of change,” says Dr. Carter. “It’s the motivation for change that’s really important.”

Click the link below to listen to the full 30-minute call .

About Dr. Carter: Best known for her weekly Happiness Tips, Christine Carter, Ph.D., draws on psychology, sociology, and neuroscience, and uses her own chaotic and often hilarious real-world adventures to demonstrate happiness do’s and don’ts in action. Dr. Carter is the author of RAISING HAPPINESS: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents. She has helped thousands of people find more joy in their lives through her books, online classes, coaching, and speaking engagements. She teaches happiness classes online throughout the year to a global audience on her website www.christinecarter.com.

About Samantha Ettus: Samantha is the leading lifestyle and parenting expert for working women. Ettus has coached thousands of women, from celebrities, to entrepreneurs, top CEO’s and professional athletes. Ettus is a best-selling author of four Random House books and a contributor to Forbes and Disney’s parenting site, Babble. She hosts a nationally syndicated radio show for working moms and has interviewed countless luminaries from Al Roker to Bethenny Frankel and Mary J. Blige. Ettus has made hundreds of local and national TV appearances and is a sought after speaker at corporations, conferences and colleges. Ettus earned her B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University. @SAMANTHAETTUS