After much anticipation, Chantel’s insights are now live in Employee Benefit News’s new article, “3 Ways Leaders Can Strengthen Their Emotional Intelligence,” by Lee Hafner. This piece is a timely and comprehensive look into strategies leaders can use to enhance emotional intelligence in their work, an increasingly prioritized skill in today’s evolving workplace.
The article brings together leaders in mental health and workplace culture, including Chantel alongside other industry experts, to discuss the importance of emotional intelligence as it impacts job performance. This broader conversation highlights recent research, including findings from CareerBuilder that identify emotional intelligence (EI) as a stronger predictor of job success than IQ.
Chantel is featured throughout the piece, offering powerful perspective, emphasizing the role of “authentic communication and empathy as foundational skills in building trust.” Her approach focuses on helping leaders cultivate a healthier balance between personal and professional life, which she describes as essential to successful leadership: “We bring our stuff wherever we go.”
Depression has many faces many symptoms. Some bold and others subtle. If you or someone you know may be dealing with depression, it’s important to recognize and understands the signs. Listed below are a few common signs of depression and how to handle it as a loved one, and as the person experiencing it.
Persistent Sadness
Feeling sad sometimes, but happy at other times is a part of life, but overwhelming and persistent sadness is common in people with depression. Once the overwhelming, persistent sadness takes over, a sense of hopelessness sets in, making it difficult to see the good in any situation. These feelings can make even the simplest task seem like a giant obstacle that can’t be overcome.
Loss of Interest
Depression can take the enjoyment out of many things you once had an interest in. A person may no longer have the desire to participate in hobbies, sports, going out with friends, and even having sex. Even when you do participate in these activities, they don’t feel as pleasurable, fulfilling as before.
Isolation
Right after the loss of interest, isolation follows. The isolation can urge you to pull away and shut down, resulting in feeling lonely and distant. Isolation isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, taking a break and distancing yourself for a while to recuperate is needed to be the best version of yourself. Isolation can increase productivity, allow us to recharge, and even assist us in learning more about ourselves. However, lacking social connections and constantly feeling lonely are signs of too much alone time.
Irritability
The mood swings sometimes present themselves as irritability, frustration, crying, and outbursts…over matters that didn’t seem to be much of a bother before.
Difficulty Concentrating
Depression can make it difficult for individuals to focus, remember, and even make decisions. People suffering from depression are sometimes less productive at work and school.
Suicidal Tendencies
Many people experience suicidal thoughts when depressed. Suicidal tendencies can include an increased use of alcohol, a noticeable increase or decrease of food intake, making comments about dying, abusing drugs, driving recklessly, randomly having a gun, knives, or pills around.
Low Energy
Depression can make the simplest tasks and activities take much more effort than before. People with depression may sleep a lot or rarely. Sometimes, even after a good night’s rest, they may still feel tired.
What Loved Ones Can Do
Watching your loved one deal with depression is hard. Remember that no matter how distant your loved one becomes, keep including them and keep checking on them. The topic of depression should not immediately be brought up, but over some time of listening and asking questions, the option of seeking professional help should be mentioned.
Help should always be carefully suggested and not aggressively forced, or else the depressed loved one could pull away even more. It’s important for family and friends to assure their loved one that regardless of what they do, and even if they don’t seek help now, they will still be loved and have a community.
What People Suffering From Depression Can Do
With depression, the desire to do anything is difficult, but being socially, mentally, and physically active can combat depression. It’s important for people suffering from depression to attend social events, welcome calls, visits, and check-ups from loved ones. The more isolated a person is, the more depressed they could become.
Set A Routine: Setting daily goals to work towards can give you something to look forward to, and help you feel more of a sense of purpose. You could also make a mental list of things that you are grateful for everyday, sorting out a stack of mail, talking a walk in the park, going to the gym, or watching a comedy can help you to forget you’re depressed
Know it’s only temporary: Despite what thoughts and feelings you have, understand that everything your mind may be telling you isn’t completely accurate. You may feel hopeless and lonely, but that may not be the reality.
If you or someone you know may be experiencing depression, it may be time to consider a therapist. Therapy provides a safe, non-judgmental space where you can release. Therapy can also help identify the cause of one’s depression and offer ways to enjoy life again.
At CWC Coaching, our team consists of licensed therapists, life coaches, and counselors. We assist clients with self-improvement, career development, negative self-talk, psychological pain, self-sabotaging behavior, past hurts and finding your purpose. If you are ready to increase your self-awareness and happiness, breakthrough limiting behavior and understand your purpose in life, we’d love to help guide you on this journey.
Laughing feels great, but did you know that it can actually improve your health? Below listed are a few powerful benefits of laughter.
Social benefits
Laughter brings people together. We’ve seen that happen time and time again in movies and even in our personal lives. Laughter can strengthen relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. Laughter is also a good way to diffuse a conflict because once someone starts laughing, it’s very difficult to stay mad. Be mindful, however, that making a joke during a serious time can be quite tricky, so be sure to use your best judgment and never laugh at someone else’s expense.
Physical Health Benefits
In an article written by mayoclinic.org titled “Stress Management”, laughter can actually induce physical changes in your body. According to the article, laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. It also states that laughter can stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation… both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress. Laughter can even protect your heart by improving the function of blood vessels and increasing blood flow. This can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
Mental Health Benefits
Laughter releases endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s natural feel-good chemicals that promote a sense of well-being and relieve stress. Also, when we laugh, our cortisol level decreases (Cortisol is known as the stress hormone). Laughing can also change your perspective by helping you to see things in a new, less scary way and by helping you to take things less seriously.
Laughter isn’t just a quick pick-me-up thing. There are many long-term effects of laughter such as an improvement in your immune system. Choosing to think positively can release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more-serious illnesses.
Laughter is amazing and the best part is that it’s free! Laughter makes you a better person. So the next time you’re feeling down, turn on a sitcom or some stand-up comedy. If you’re constantly experiencing sadness, check out some joke books or find a few funny signs and decorations to put around your house or office desk to make you chuckle. Find a way to laugh about your own situations and very shortly, you’ll feel the worry begin to fade.
At CWC Coaching, our team consists of licensed therapists, life coaches, and counselors. We assist clients with self-improvement, career development, negative self-talk, psychological pain, self-sabotaging behavior, past hurts and finding your purpose. If you are ready to increase your self-awareness and happiness, breakthrough limiting behavior and understand your purpose in life, we’d love to help guide you on this journey.
Do affirmations really work? Many people ask this is the question. It may seem unrealistic to constantly speak as though something has already happened, but that’s what makes affirmations so great!
Positive affirmations encourage us to envision the reality we want for ourselves. It helps to attract our desires in life. When we think and speak positively, we feel better.
Affirmations should always be formed in positive statements. Rather than saying I don’t desire to eat fast foods and drink soda, you can say, “I eat a healthy diet that makes me feel good.”
When saying your affirmations, start them off with “I” to make them identity statements, which motivate you to make that change. We’ve all heard ‘you are what you eat,’ but you’re also what you speak. Affirmations like, “I am confident,” “I am beautiful,” and “I enjoy exercise,” help to condition your mind and attitude into believing your positive statements, despite what anyone else has to say.
Write your affirmations as if they are in the present, rather than the past or future. Instead of saying, “I will be healthy and happy when I start eating better,” rephrase it to say, “I am healthy and happy.” The first statement could actually enable you to delay your healthy eating plan. It may feel silly to say something that you don’t believe is true, but remember, these affirmations work as fuel for your action.
In order for your affirmations to work, they must be done at least once a day. With the hustle and bustle of work, traffic and children, it can be hard to forget about your positive phrases. Work it into your daily routine by saying them in the morning while you’re getting ready for work and at night when you’re preparing for bed. You can also leave notes in visible areas like your mirror, computer or fridge.
Remember, affirmations work when you do.
At CWC Coaching, our team consists of licensed therapists, life coaches, and counselors. We assist clients with self-improvement, career development, negative self-talk, psychological pain, self-sabotaging behavior, past hurts and finding your purpose. If you are ready to increase your self-awareness and happiness, breakthrough limiting behavior and understand your purpose in life, we’d love to help guide you on this journey.
Last week, we discussed love as an action word, rather than something you say when you’re walking out the door. The L-word can be thrown around quite often at the beginning of a relationship when two individuals start feeling butterflies. But the true test of love isn’t when you both can’t keep your hands off one another; it’s during the trying times when you don’t even want to look at one another.
Despite what’s going on in your relationship there are clear lines that shouldn’t be crossed and certain things you naturally do for someone when you love them. If your partner finds it hard to part with any of these habits, they may not love you as much as they say they do.
They are not committed to the relationship. This doesn’t only include cheating. I believe that people who are in love can still find themselves in a cheating situation. But if your partner runs every time the relationship get’s hard, they are not committed to you or your relationship. They habitually shut down, run to a relative/friend, or into the arms of another man/woman; they are not showing you love. Relationships are hard and apart of loving someone is continuously choosing them.
They don’t incorporate you into their lives. If you have been dating for over six months to a year and he/she refuses to introduce you to friends, this is a red flag in your relationship. If you both are in a relationship bubble and he/she doesn’t include you in family gathering or outings with friends, there is a reason why and it should be addressed. If he/she refuses to talk about things outside of your relationship or marriage, this is also another red flag that shouldn’t be ignored.
Your partner is not vulnerable with you. If they refuse to share their personal life, or feelings with you, this could mean that your partner doesn’t trust you with their emotions. There’s a reason they’re holding back from you, whether they are uncomfortable or feel the need to hide certain things. There is a certain level of vulnerability in love, but it can be more beautiful and thrilling than scary. Opening up to someone is choosing to trust them. And without trust, you don’t have love.
You’re not included in their plans. Building a future is a given when you’re in a loving, romantic relationship. We’re not really talking about early dating stages or people who come to an understanding that, ‘they aren’t looking for anything serious.” This is about couples that decide or at least verbalize that they are serious about one another. A partner who is serious about you is going to want to build a future with you and have that conversation. This means when they talk about the future, you are included in those plans and discussing major decisions as a couple. If this is not happening and you often feel left out of those plans, unfortunately, your partner may not see a future with you. This could indicate that he/she doesn’t love you the way they say they do.
At CWC Coaching, our team consists of licensed therapists, life coaches, and counselors. We assist clients with self-improvement, career development, negative self-talk, psychological pain, self-sabotaging behavior, past hurts and finding your purpose.
If you are ready to increase your self-awareness and happiness, breakthrough limiting behavior and understand your purpose in life, we’d love to help guide you on this journey.
In case you haven’t had a chance to catch up with my latest blog posts, we’re on a cleaning spree. Ever since Spring hit we’ve been on a mission to clear out the clutter in certain areas of our lives. The first week we talked about setting up check-in dates in your relationship to make sure you and your partner are both happy. The following week, we talked about cleaning up your personal life and reuniting with your passion.
Now we’ve hit the final leg of our spring-cleaning tour—your career. I’m sure we can all agree that work can occasionally get overwhelming and hectic. But when occasionally turns into weeks and months, it’s time to take a step back and regain control over your career. Whether you feel like you’re not where you want to be or you feel you don’t have time for life outside of work, or you don’t know ‘what’s next,’ a little seasonal career maintenance can be helpful.
1. Clear Out Your Work Space
A clean environment can work wonders on stress levels and productivity. Working at a cluttered desk filled with paperwork, old beverages, and a pile of intertwined chargers and wires at your feet can be a major distraction. Organize your documents and do a quick clean up of your desk to feel a little more at ease. A swipe or two of surface wipes won’t hurt either. This can help you concentrate more on your tasks and spend less time scrimmaging through paperwork and clutter to find what you need.
2. Commit to Leaving Work at Work # Days of Week
An ideal number would be 0, but I know we don’t live in an ideal world and work can pile up. But try to avoid working after hours at least 3-4 days out of the week—this includes staying late. Balancing work and personal life is all about priorities. Think of it this way: you are going to work to enjoy your life. How can you do that when you’re working around the clock? Leaving your computer at work and turning off email alerts on your phone is a great way to shut work out of your personal life.
3. Use Your Vacation Days
Even if you love going to work every day, everyone still need a break. It benefits your work life and home life. Taking a step back helps your recharge and refresh your mind, which can help you with innovation, new ideas, and give you a fresh perspective in your career. Now you have more time to travel, spend quality time with your friends and family, and do what makes you happy (outside of work.)
4. Think Next Steps
This doesn’t have to mean that you’re changing jobs or careers, but it’s important to evaluate where you are and think about where you want to be. If you’re not sure, write down a list of goals you have for your career—even if you don’t feel they are realistic. Then map out an action plan and take your first step. It could be anything from learning a new skill to getting promoted to even opening your own business. Once you see this on paper, it’s in the first stage of coming to life. This way, you have something to look forward to and work towards.
At CWC Coaching, our team consists of licensed therapists, life coaches, and counselors. We assist clients with self-improvement, career development, negative self-talk, psychological pain, self-sabotaging behavior, past hurts and finding your purpose.
If you are ready to increase your self-awareness and happiness, breakthrough limiting behavior and understand your purpose in life, we’d love to help guide you on this journey.
We now offer online counseling sessions. Our team consists of licensed therapists, life coaches, and counselors. We assist clients with self-improvement, career development, negative self-talk, psychological pain, self-sabotaging behavior, past hurts and finding your purpose. Schedule a FREE call with us.
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