UNLEASHED (at work & home) with Colleen Pelar

Approximations - Ryan Cartlidge

Ryan Cartlidge, the founder of Animal Training Academy joined me to talk about celebrating approximations, those tiny forward movements that add up to significant change.

How to Help Others Feel More Resilient

The top question pet pros have been asking me lately is, "How can I help other people feel more resilient?"

This is not surprising. Pet pros are caretakers. They watch others carefully and do what they can to help.

So here's my best advice for how you can help others.

https://colleenpelar.com

Courage - Jessica Dolce, MS, CCFE

The past few weeks have been like none other. You may be having trouble finding your sense of peace, calm, and equanimity.

If that's true of you, good news, you're normal!

Right now, your brain is hypervigilant, always scanning for the next bit of news, the next sign of danger.

That's what your brain is designed to do. It's trying to keep you safe. But your brain can't comprehend a pandemic situation in which you feel fine, but are being asked to flatten the curve for the greater good. It doesn't known how to say, "Hey, I'm just going to hang out at home and wait this out. No big deal."

Instead your nervous system is a flutter and needs some active support to calm down.

Jessica Dolce, MS, CCFE, and I have both been helping pet professionals fight burnout and compassion fatigue for years.

I invited her to talk with me about how "courage" and set a date long before either of us knew how timely this episode would be.

Listen in to learn ways you can give yourself and others support and compassion during this difficult time. https://colleenpelar.com

Four Steps for Managing Uncertainty

Your thoughts, feelings, and actions are likely completely different today than they were just a week ago. Life is changing at a rapid pace, and it can feel overwhelming.

Your brain craves certainty, and currently nothing is certain. And the information that feels most certain is ominous. This is a recipe for anxiety and rumination.

This episode shares four strategies designed to help you calm your nervous system, refocus your mind, and choose actions that will support you in this moment and in the stressful days ahead.

Prioritizing your physical and mental health has never been more important than it is right now.

Perspective - Rachel Finney, CAWA

Forty percent of the factors that affect your happiness are within your control. Forty percent!

In this interview with Rachel Finney, CEO of Columbus Humane, you'll learn strategies for managing your thoughts, feelings, and actions to produce better results and greater peace of mind. https://colleenpelar.com

Resilience - M. Leanne Lilly, DVM, DACVB

You don't have to feel resilient to be resilient. That quote from Leanne Lilly, DVM, DACVB, is worth embroidering on a pillow so you don't forget it.

It’s true, but somehow it doesn’t sound right.

Surely resilience is about being strong, purposeful, and able to leap tall building in a single bound. 🦸🏻‍♀️

But what if it’s not?

What if being resilient is having the courage to keep showing up for yourself, in big ways and in small?

What if it’s creating the internal and external support structure you need to live life on your own terms?

What if being resilient is about intention? Making a commitment to examine your thoughts, feelings, and actions so you can make wise choices about what comes next?

And what if it’s okay that it’s hard sometimes?

What impact would it have if you were certain that you are good enough, worthy, and more than capable of facing whatever comes your way?

You ARE resilient. Right now. Just as you are. And you can become more resilient. 

Listen to learn Dr. Lilly's suggestions for becoming more resilient and prioritizing what matters most to you. https://colleenpelar.com/67

Love is micro-moments of warmth & connection

Love, according to Barbara Frederickson, PhD, a leading researcher of emotions, is "micro-moments of warmth and connection."

She says love occurs anytime two or more people (even strangers) connect over a shared positive emotion (large or small).

These moments create changes in your brain and body that broaden your perspective, help you become more attuned to others, and allow you greater creativity and emotional regulation. Over time, little by little, these changes reshape your life for the better.

Learn how to get started creating micro-moments of warmth and connection with the people you encounter each day. https://colleenpelar.com/66

Why someone you love rained on your parade, and how you can avoid doing it to others

When something wonderful happens, who do you call? How do they respond?

Does that person celebrate with you and increase your joyful experience? Or do they dampen your spirits and leave you wishing you hadn’t called?

Research has shown that how people respond to each other’s good news is a better indicator of the quality of the relationship than how they respond to each other’s disappointments.

Even people who mean well can suck the air out of your sails by sharing their own experience with something similar, pointing out potential pitfalls of your awesome news, or being distracted or disengaged.

But not you. No, you won’t do that.

You can avoid that trap with a simple technique called active constructive responding. Learn about it here. https://colleenpelar.com

Aging - Lori Stevens

Each of us wants to be happy and healthy. Most people don’t see how closely the two are tied.

Yes, you can be unhappy and healthy. And you can be happy and unhealthy. But did you know that improving one of these states almost always has a beneficial effect on the other? They’re closely interconnected.

Lori Stevens is an expert in helping dogs age well, and I invited her to explore ideas of how pet professionals can age well also.

She says that health, mobility, and engagement are three areas she focuses on for her canine clients. She wants the dogs to feel, to borrow Kathy Sdao’s phrase, the “spark of joy” in their lives.

You deserve a spark of joy too.

You deserve to feel a deep sense of connection with others and the world at large.

You deserve to be excited and enthused by learning more about the topics that interest you and sharing what you’ve learned with others.

You deserve a body that feels good and works well. You deserve to sleep comfortably and deeply and to wake up refreshed. You deserve to eat food that is delicious and nourishing.

You deserve to spend time in beautiful surroundings, exercising and exploring, and also resting and relaxing.

You deserve all that and more.

Are you getting it? If not, what’s getting in your way? What choices—big and small—can you make right now that your future self will thank you for?

Creating small, sustainable habits is a powerful way of making large, lasting improvements in your quality of life.

It’s the best investment you can possibly make for aging well, happily and healthily. Lori shares lots of great ideas in this episode. I have no doubt you’ll be inspired to make a few changes that will support you.

You may also be interested in the list of short (15 minutes or less), medium (about an hour), and long (2 hours or more) activities that the members of UNLEASHED Resilience came up with in a learning lab session. Perhaps these will spark some new ideas for you. https://colleenpelar.com/68

Consultation - Alison Leslie

Advocacy can be challenging, exhausting work.

This week on UNLEASHED (at work & home), Allison Leslie, LCSW, talked with me about "consultation" and its many benefits:

• Less burnout
• More engagement
• Greater creativity
• Less sense of isolation
• Increased joy and ability to see meaning in your work
• More FUN

That’s a win by any measure!

Consultation can be one-on-one (like in coaching calls) or done as part of a small group. The key is that it be a safe place to share your truth, knowing that the participants have your back and want what’s best for you.

You’ll be amazed at how having this support will allow you to ease the burden of your work and find ways to develop stronger and more effective skills so you can continue making a difference without burning yourself out.