• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Schlegel Consulting

Evolutionary Team Effectiveness

  • Home
  • Services
  • Success Stories
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • This Book’s For You

Blog

Climate One Podcast Host Greg Dalton Shares How His Feelings on the Climate Crisis are Evolving

June 28, 2022 by Matt Schlegel Leave a Comment

Greg Dalton, host and producer of the Climate One podcast, has been creating the podcast for nearly 15 years and is increasingly helping us connect our feelings with the climate crisis. He says he’s “dropping conversations from the head down into the heart.”

Climate One is truly a must-listen for everyone, especially now that climate change has become a central issue for society at all levels—local, national and global. It is an outstanding source of information on topics that most commercial media studiously avoid.  I appreciate Greg’s approach, the breadth of topics and guests, and how he centers human emotions in our response to the climate crisis.

Greg advises people who are having feelings about the climate crisis and wanting to do something to focus on their own social circles. Don’t try to “save the planet.” Rather, look to what you can do in your immediate environment—your home, your community, your workplace. You have more influence there, you’ll have more impact, and you’ll just feel better about the progress you can make. He says if we all do this, it will create a virtuous cycle—a social contagion—and more of us will want to act, will act, and that will encourage others to take action as well.

Find Greg Dalton here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-dalton-a6b24/

The Climate Mobilization: https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts

#Leadership #Commitment #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ #climatechange

[Video Transcript]

Matt Schlegel:                   How are you feeling about climate change, and how are those feelings influencing your actions? Thanks for joining me in conversations with leaders who are engaging with their feelings as a leadership tool for both inspiration and motivation. I’m very excited to be speaking with Greg Dalton, host of the Climate One podcast. Greg shares how the climate crisis moves him through many different emotional spaces, and how those feelings are motivating his work. Now for the conversation. Today I’m speaking with Greg Dalton, producer and host of the Climate One podcast.

He’s been creating this podcast for over 15 years now, and I’ve been learning from Greg and his guests for most of that time. His podcast is truly a must listen for everyone, especially now that climate change has become a central issue for society at all levels, local, national and global. Greg’s podcast is an outstanding source of information on topics that most commercial media studiously avoid. I appreciate Greg’s approach, the breadth of topics and the guests, and he too centers human emotions in our response to the climate crisis. Thank you for joining me today, Greg, and welcome.

Greg Dalton:                       Thank you, Matt. It’s great to be here with you.

Matt Schlegel:                   Great. Why don’t we just start off? I’d like to ask you how you are feeling now about the climate crisis.

Greg Dalton:                       Big question, right? As many of your guests say, it’s a roller coaster. I remember asking a scientist once how he feels about climate. He said, “I’m schizophrenic. I’m some days up and down.” This week, for example, I participated or watched a online session with Joanna Macy, where there was nearly 2,000 people and people crying and sharing their climate grief at what we’ve created and guilt about their complicity, and that was really heavy and really made me really sad, really down.

Then today I read about a new solar farm in Houston that’s coming online, Mayor Turner there, and they turned a former landfill into a solar farm. Wow, good things are happening. Depending on what I’m feeling, what I’m seeing, my latest conversations I have with people, it’s up and down. It’s a beautiful day here in San Francisco. I’m healthy. I got a good night’s sleep. Okay. I also try to manage my news intake. I try not to stay … I try to not spend too much time on climate Twitter, which can be a sinkhole and a depressing, and sometimes an uplifting place.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right. Right. Yeah. Couple things. One, Twitter is a really great resource for climate information. I find that, at least on the social media platforms, it’s one of the better ones and it has a lot of the climate scientists that are posting there. But you’re right, it can be quite heavy, and so you need to be careful how much you manage that. Then the other thing that you mentioned was that the situation you were in, where you actually experienced other people crying, and it almost feels like we’re going through a grieving cycle, where you’re moving through these different feelings and emotions as we’re coming to grips with the loss that we’re dealing with, and that is the grieving process. Is that how you reckon with it as well?

Greg Dalton:                       Well, I remember a few years ago, there was a psychologist or a psychiatrist, Lise Van Susteren, and I think she coined this term, pre-traumatic stress. There’s often time your people are stressed about trauma in the past in their life, and I think this first came around scientists having trauma about things that they predicted would happen, stress before the event happens rather than stress after the event happens.

I certainly have related to that because those of us working in climate are aware for a long time until 2017 or so, the first fires that they came into urban areas in Northern California. A lot of climate impacts, for me personally and other people in California, were in the future. But the wildfires in the American West have really brought it home and directly into our bodies, into our lives, and that’s when the stress has gone from the future to now. I’ve certainly gone along that path and felt anxiety about future trauma, and try not to get too far out there.

There’s this real dichotomy, right? The reason we’re in this predicament is we haven’t thought enough about the future. We’ve been very consumed today, and at the same time, trying to get centered and be present today and not get too caught up in what sometimes called future tripping, running away. Oh my gosh, way out there in the future. You can spend so much time ruminating about this terrible future that you’re not really here now. I’ve given myself permission. For example, we had a very pretty dry, sunny winter in the Bay Area, and sometimes I’d say like, “Oh, this is bad. Look, it should be raining. Oh, do I talk to people about that?” If someone says, “Oh, isn’t this weather great?” Do I say, “Well, it should be raining in February. It shouldn’t be sunny?”

Do I down, become a downer, or do I zip it and say, “Yes, I guess it is. It’s scary and it’s beautiful?” It can be both at the same time. Right? Beauty can be dangerous. Yes, it’s nice to be sunny in the winter, and it’s also scary because it should be raining and we don’t have enough water. How to hold those contradictions and acknowledge the beauty and the fear at the same time, that’s part of what I wrestle with, navigating this is where we are.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right. I think that’s so beautifully said, and I think that’s pretty much all of us now are going to have to hold both of those things at the same time, appreciating what we’re losing while still being present and enjoying what we still have. Yeah, I think you said that very well. Thank you.

Greg Dalton:                       There can be joy and beauty even in dangerous times. [inaudible 00:06:58] people, humanity [inaudible 00:06:59] I think of often of the Cajun Navy. Whenever there’s a flooding disaster in Louisiana or somewhere, there’s people who go out and help others, and you see tremendous acts of heroism. It gives me chills thinking about these people dragging elderly women out of their homes and putting them in their boat and taking them away, because there’s not enough people, first responders, to …

The Cajun Navy, I think of as, there can be great heroism and humanity in times of suffering. We want to reduce those times of suffering, we want to work on it, and good things can still happen. We have to be careful about not just being all down, it’s bad, duh, duh. There can be to find beauty, acknowledge it and perhaps even … and value it and hold it even more dearly.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right. Right. Yeah. Really humanity at its best and behaving at its best, right? That’s really what we hope to do, is as we’re going through these feelings, is respond in a constructive, positive way, channel those into constructive positive actions. That leads me to my next question for you. How are those feelings influencing your behaviors and your direction as a leader in the climate space?

Greg Dalton:                       Well, I clearly ask more personal questions, now, of people. I’ve pledged to ask people about power and privilege after George Floyd. Ask powerful guests, “How have you reflected on your power and privilege?” Also, a lot of climate conversation and professional people, it’s a very cerebral intellectual place that we have that conversation, and I’ve dropped it more from the head down into the heart to ask even personal questions of people that I don’t know and people who often don’t share personal things that much.

I go there, I think, respectfully and delicately, and give some space for them to say, “Yeah, it’s really tough.” How do you work on this all day? What kind of resilience do you build? What kind of practice do you have? What kind of self-care do you practice? Et cetera. Because I think we’ve learned, in talking about climate for decades, that facts are important. In fact, on this Joanna Macy convening the other day, they said, “We’re here to talk about feelings, not facts.”

Facts are important and they’re limited. They’re necessary and insufficient, and so we need to have a feeling level and emotional level, a human level conversation because that’s what advertisers try to do, is create love for shampoo or whatever, right? They want you to love your shampoo or people love certain companies. That’s what a lot of advertising is trying to reach people on an emotional aspirational level. Why should wouldn’t we do that when talking about climate? Why should it be just facts and energy and kilowatt-hours and parts per million and et cetera?

We have to have that human level conversation, I think that’s more meaningful, it’s more real, it’s powerful. It’s more memorable. The cognitive scientists will say, “You might forget a fact, you remember a feeling.” There’s lots of reasons why I think it’s needed and warranted and useful to get to that level with people, even if it’s a little uncomfortable for them.

Matt Schlegel:                   Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. Thank you for really starting to focus on the emotional side of it. Most of the information comes out of the scientific community, and scientists by nature often don’t prioritize emotions, and certainly the academic environment does not promote emotions. A lot of scientists, if they do display emotions, it’s somewhat discrediting for them. They have to keep a dispassionate tone just in order to maintain credibility in spite of the fact that they might be feeling like getting up on top of the rooftop and shouting as loud as they can, “This is an emergency.”

Greg Dalton:                       Yeah. Think about that. That’s reason and facts that prevail. Well, we’re not, well, as behavioral economists have shown. We’re not rational creatures that we were taught in college, the classical rational economic man optimizing personal utility. That’s not the way humans are, and behavioral economists have won Nobel Prizes pointing that out.

The idea that we should separate emotions from facts, et cetera, I think that’s part of what’s gotten us to this place actually, is that disassociation, that connection. Scientists, you’re right, they report the facts, not to be emotional. That’s dismissive, that’s feminine. They don’t want be that.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right. Exactly. Yeah. Well, what advice would you give to people who are now starting to have those feelings, and specifically, how would you suggest they act on those feelings? This is for people who want to act, want to take some kind of leadership role. They may be in a leadership role now, or they’re aspiring to be a leader. What advice would you give for them?

Greg Dalton:                       Yeah. I had a conversation with a couple of college students recently who looked at me and said, “What do we do?” I said, “Well, the first thing is get rid of this you have to save the world or save the planet.” I think that that layer of, and that phrase even, is damaging and is burdensome, and the idea that … Because if you measure that, any individual action is not going to save the world. Just let’s get over that right now.

I interview very powerful people who are running large corporations, running the US Navy, they all feel inadequate to this, right? How’s a regular person’s supposed to feel? First is get rid of that save the planet, does it matter in the grand scheme of things. Just put away with that. The hubris of that, think about it, and think about … I said to them, “Well, you can’t save the world or the planet, but you can shape your world. You can shape the world around you. Your relationships, your community, your employer, your club, your family.”

It’s the old think globally act locally thing, and think about what relationships you have and start there and make an impact. Because I think there, you’ll be able to see some tangible impacts that will keep you going, because if you try to decarbonize California or the United States, good luck with that. But we have to … We need everybody moving in directions.

I just come to this much more decentralized, look around where you are, your town council, your school board, your employer, inside your company, et cetera, and focus there because I think that’s going to be more sustainable, more measurable. You’ll get more feedback for your ability to celebrate your small wins that you achieve along the way. If we all focus on Congress, we’re all going to be depressed and not get it anywhere. Right?

I think there’s a lot of misplaced. Congress is important and a lot of time and effort has been spent over the last decades from Waxman-Markey, now to Build Back Better, it hasn’t delivered for us. A lot of local great things are happening. As I mentioned, the solar farm in Houston. Cities decarbonizing, et cetera. This global issue, I think it’s got us focused globally and I think we need to focus a little more closer to home with ourselves inward, the inward journey and what’s around us.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right, right. That is such great advice. We have so much more influence in our immediate circles than we do over the president of the United States, right? We can start to decarbonize our lifestyles and then help our friends and family decarbonize theirs, and then help our community decarbonize theirs, right?

Greg Dalton:                       Yeah. Right.

Matt Schlegel:                   It’s measurable and you get the feedback just like you said, and you can make an impact. If everybody started doing that, imagine what we could accomplish and-

Greg Dalton:                       There’s a social contagion, right?

Matt Schlegel:                   Right.

Greg Dalton:                       People see solar panels, they see electric cars. There’s a real spreading effect, and that leads to movements, and that does trickle up. Yeah.

Matt Schlegel:                   Yeah. Exactly. Because politicians aren’t leaders, really. They’re followers. They’re following their constituents, what their constituents want. If we all start decarbonizing our lives, the politicians will follow and say, “Hey, you know what? We should start to decarbonize everything.” Great. Yeah, that is such great advice. Thank you so much, Greg, and thank you for all of the work and contributions you’ve been making to this space.

I am so appreciative of everything you’re doing and your journey. I feel like just listening to you. I’ve been riding along with you on this journey. It’s just such a delight to speak with you, and thank you so much for everything and thanks for being on the show today.

Greg Dalton:                       That’s been a pleasure, and thanks for what you’re doing and it takes all of us. I really appreciate in this conversation, Matt. Thank you.

Matt Schlegel:                   Thank you. Thanks for watching. Having listened to Greg on the Climate One podcast over the years, I’ve noticed how his tone has changed. As he puts it, he’s dropped his conversations from the head down into the heart. I love how Greg is teaching us to connect our feelings with the climate crisis. Also, he says that people who are having feelings and wanting to do something, should focus on their own social circles. Don’t try to save the planet. Rather, look to what you can do in your immediate environment, your home, your community, your workplace.

You have more influence there, you’ll have more impact there, you’ll be able to see the progress that you’re making. He says, if we all do that, it creates a virtuous cycle, a social contagion, and as more of us want to act, we will act and that will cause and encourage others to do so as well. If you found this conversation helpful, please click on the thumbs up button and subscribe to the channel to get notifications of future episodes. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section and I’ll respond as soon as I can. Thanks again.

 

Filed Under: Climate Crisis, Leadership

Enneagram Type 7 Mariyah Jahangiri Shares How Feelings Inform Her Leadership

June 21, 2022 by Matt Schlegel Leave a Comment

Enneagram Type 7 leaders are challenged when having to deal with negative situations and emotions.  Mariyah Jahangiri is a Type 7 leader who works with teams in trauma-informed spaces.  She has learned that to be effective in her leadership role, she must make space for conversations about feelings. She says, “society doesn’t curate a safe environment for emotions and feelings.”  Mariyah has overcome both her own Type 7 instincts and society’s emotional avoidance to tap into feelings that she uses to bond the team and motivate them to get to action and get things done.

Mariyah is Network Organizer for Climate Mobilization, an organization that provides policy toolkits and trainings to catalyze nationwide climate justice campaigns fighting for zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and for a livable future for everyone. She also works with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network to build a presence in the Los Angeles area. This organization supports outreach to low-income Asian immigrant communities adversely impacted by fossil fuel operations.

Mariyah works to strike the right balance between engaging with emotions in her community while keeping focused on goals and taking action to meet those goals. We have a lot to learn from Mariyah and her insightful leadership.

 

Find Mariyah Jahangiri here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariyah-jahangiri-2313ba156/

The Climate Mobilization: https://www.theclimatemobilization.org/

 

#Leadership #Commitment #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ #climatechange

 

[Video Transcript]

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for joining me in conversations with leaders who are using the Enneagram as a leadership tool and a tool for her personal growth and development. Joining me today is Mariyah Jahangiri, a community organizer focused on issues related to the climate crisis. She’s an Enneagram Type Seven and shares how she uses the engram as a tool for self-awareness. And now for the conversation.

Matt Schlegel:

Today, I’m speaking with Mariyah Jahangiri, network organizer for Climate Mobilization, an organization that provides policy toolkits and trainings to catalyze nationwide climate justice campaigns, fighting for zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and for a livable future for everyone. She’s also working with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network to build a presence in the Los Angeles Area. This organization supports outreach to low income Asian immigrant communities adversely impacted by fossil fuel operations. Mariyah, thank you so much for joining me today and thank you for all the terrific work you’re doing.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah, thank you for having me, Matt.

Matt Schlegel:

Great. Well, thank you. So let’s start off and I’d just like to check in with you, how are you feeling now about climate change?

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah, I think my feelings around climate change can be very much tied to my relationship to my feelings generally. Just like anyone else, I think like the world, society doesn’t create necessarily safe environment for emotions and feelings and everyone [inaudible 00:01:40] different degrees with their lived experience has relationship to like trauma and emotions. And so like for me personally growing up in a kind of not so safe environment I was kind of used to turning off my emotions generally, and so I kind of pin that as kind of an origin of being on the autism spectrum. Where my relationship to my emotions is a little bit detached and I’m not really sure exactly what my emotions are. And I’ve honestly always used that to my advantage, to lean into my Enneagram seven kind of vibe of like always being able to look on the positive side, being very scared of negative emotions and that kind of barrier to emotions has helped me like be detached in spaces, especially like organizing where there’s a lot of trauma informed work happening.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

So it’s definitely helped in terms of deescalating triggers and just like working in a space like climate organizing, which is so heavy and yeah, it’s just really sad. And so I feel like it’s been really helpful, my kind of detached to my emotions, my ability to kind of put away negative emotions. But I’m definitely recently working to challenge that because I’m realizing just like people say the Enneagram Seven that your healing can only happen if you kind of work through what’s actually real in front of you. I definitely feel that way about climate too, it’s very sad reality that we’re living in, but it’s worth processing and being aware of, and also being aware of how it affects everyone else, mental health too.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. Right.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah. As I’m kind of working through my own relationship to my emotions I feel like my emotional relationship to climate organizing is also evolving, and even though it’s becoming challenging in some ways there’s a lot more awareness of just the sadness that exists. There’s also a level of healing that happens when you’re more connected to your emotions. And so being in spaces where people care about the same issues as me, are very politically aligned, and even if it’s not structurally possible in the way that we want and create like small openings of like community and social justice and care for each other, it’s definitely been also very healing to be part of those communities too.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. Wow. That so beautifully said. It has always occurred to me that having more Enneagram Type Sevens in the climate movement would be so helpful because you bring an energy that just brings people together and networks and that’s exactly what you’re doing. But Type Sevens also tend to shun negative emotions. And the climate movement is inherently fraught with a lot of processing negative emotions. I think it pushes a lot of Sevens away in general, unfortunately because we need more of them. And yet your gift is that have this ability to compartmentalize and still engage with everyone as that Type Seven and bringing that Type Seven energy without letting those negative emotions turn you away from what we need to do. So you are the perfect person for this, thank you. You have found your perfect role in the world.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah.

Matt Schlegel:

So, tell me those feelings that you are having now, how are they informing your behaviors and your direction as a leader?

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah. Well kind of, I guess, following up to what you were saying as in terms of that Type Seven leadership. I think also not just like being kind of averse to processing negative emotions, but also being very problem solve-y in a very quick way is definitely one skill that I think I have, which I bring to my leadership. I think that’s really helped me be a leader. Like for example, as a network organizer constantly just being able to problem solve and be very quick on my feet. So I think that has helped, but I think it’s also been, I think, a pitfall also, if that is kind of expecting others to be on the same rate of putting aside their emotions to do work. I think in my earlier organizing as a leader, I don’t think I was as effective because I wasn’t able to see past that as much and kind of was expecting people to be on the same da, da, da, like get it done, problem solve. Let’s just move along constantly and also not making as much space for emotions, honestly, in my organizing and not really understanding why other people wanted to.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

That was kind of a few years ago, since I’ve been organizing for like six years now. So now recently I think the most kind of healing spaces that I’ve been in have been once that recognize the importance of healing in organizing spaces. And so I’m definitely trying to bring more of that into my leadership. And just like any spaces that I’m facilitating, be more aware of the feeling that others are having, make space for that and connect those feelings to why people are drawn to organizing. Because I honestly think like the core of why people organize is a desire to be in community and desire to heal. And so if you can tap into that, then I think you can be like really [inaudible 00:08:06]-

Matt Schlegel:

Right. And all of that is really feeling based, right? So, that is some great advice and it’s just remarkable your journey of self discovery. And self-awareness brought you to that point of recognizing how important feelings play. It’s like the glue that brings us all together around a common cause. Yeah, that’s great. That is great. You found that as you engage with people’s emotions, they do tend to engage with more enthusiasm, is that what you’re finding?

Mariyah Jahangiri:

I think so. I think there’s a balance that I’m trying to kind of tread around engaging people’s emotions, but then also like moving along processes. Just given that the critical decade of organizing that we’re in, at the same time they’re working on a slow timeline, we’re also working on a very intense timeline. So I think that’s the biggest thing around if we do slow down, I think sometimes I find myself kind of questioning like the slowing down itself and like how much to slow down. Especially in leadership, how much do you facilitate that. Especially with my own relationship with emotions and being a seven and trying to move past that, how much do I lean into each of those sides? Or how much do I like say no, like let’s put this processing aside and let’s do some other work. Right, right. So I don’t know. Yeah. I think it’s just a balance that I’m trying to figure out.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, now what advice would you give to leaders and aspiring leaders who are starting to have their own feelings about climate? From your perspective, from the perspective of a Seven or just in general?

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah. I would say I think the one thing I’m really noticing is that I actually meet a lot of people who have feelings about climate change. Like, most people that I meet, especially my age, I think it’s like one of the most, I don’t know, significant things affecting the whole like generation Z. So it’s kind of hard to be a young person and not have emotions around climate change, which makes sense. But I do think like most of those people aren’t organizers or aren’t necessarily taking action on those feelings. So I definitely get confused between the gap between having such strong feelings around it, sadness around it, but then not being tapped into like community spaces that can like help with processing that and healing that and being with people who are very aligned. Instead of kind of like suppressing it, or just like kind of being apathetic because there’s no way to solve climate change.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

That definitely makes sense to me, that apathy makes sense. I think it’s like a defining characteristic of Gen Z, honestly, to be a little bit apathetic because of just not believing that things are going to change, which is honestly super valid. But I do think that kind of stunts your emotional growth as a person. So even if you don’t think something is going to change, like kind of putting that aside and suppressing it or being like, yeah, I don’t care, or I don’t want to be in community people, it’s not going to help you kind of heal or process or grow from those emotions.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

So I guess my advice would be even if you don’t believe in the power of organizing or like structural wins around climate change, still making sure you set aside time for that processing to be in community with people who are aligned with you and to make those like small pockets of change that you can locally. I think it just brings a certain amount of joy and healing that I think would be really good for most people.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Yeah. That’s so well said. It’s carrying around the climate reality while you’re living a lifestyle with people around you that don’t seem to care, it kind of creates this cognitive dissonance that starts to weigh on you. And I think you rightly point out that the best way to overcome that is start to move into communities that are aligned with your values and are starting to take actions so that it satisfies both of those outlets. Not only are you now aligned with people with your values, you’re doing something about it. And it’s, like you said, very healing, very healing.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Exactly.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Well, thank you so much. And I just so appreciate all the work you’re doing and all your organizing and leadership and your remarkable insights and self-awareness as a leader is just such a delight to talk to you. I hope that we can continue the conversation in the future as you progress and you learn more about what’s working well, and what’s not in your organizing efforts. So thanks again.

Mariyah Jahangiri:

Yeah. Thank you so much.

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for watching. Wow. I really loved how Mariyah explains so well, her ability to engage in the emotionally fraught climate movement. While Type Sevens tend to steer clear of emotionally challenging work, Mariyah has a gift that allows her to compartmentalize those emotions and bring her wonderful Type Seven energy to developing active caring communities. She also strikes a balance of making space for emotions while still actively problem solving, getting to action and getting stuff done.

Matt Schlegel:

If you found this conversation helpful, please click on the thumbs up button and subscribe to the channel to get notifications of future episodes. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section and I’ll respond as soon as I can. Thanks again.

Filed Under: Climate Crisis, Leadership

Bioforcetech Corporation CEO Dario Presezzi Powers His Team on Climate Feelings

June 14, 2022 by Matt Schlegel Leave a Comment

Dario Presezzi, co-founder and CEO of Biotechforce Corporation, started having very strong feelings about climate change about 5 years after starting his firm.  Realizing the importance of his company’s role in helping solve the carbon sequestration problem impassioned him just that much more to make his firm successful.  He shares with us his desperation-to-joy emotional rollercoaster journey.

Find Dario Presezzi here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariopresezzi/

The Bioforcetech Corporation: https://www.bioforcetech.com/

#Leadership #Commitment #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ #climatechange

[Video Transcript]

Matt Schlegel:                   How are you feeling about climate change and how are those feelings influencing your actions? Thanks for joining me in conversations with leaders who are engaging with their feelings as a leadership tool for both inspiration and motivation. Today I’m speaking with Dario Presezzi, founder of Bioforcetech Corporation. Dario started the company with sustainability in mind and realized along the way what a valuable contribution he could make to solving the climate crisis. You will love his story, and now for the conversation.

Today I’m speaking with Dario Presezzi, CEO of Bioforcetech corporation. Dario’s mission is to reduce carbon emissions in the human waste cycle. Yes, we’re talking about lowering emissions and sequestering carbon from city sewage. Dario has been on this mission for nearly 10 years now and has made remarkable progress leading to a number of fascinating, innovative products. I’m eager to hear his story about how he came to pursue this important piece of the climate puzzle. Dario, thank you so much for joining me today, welcome.

Dario Presezzi:                  Hi, Matt, yeah, thank you for having me here.

Matt Schlegel:                   Yeah, I’m just delighted to be talking to you about this. I want to just start off and touch base and find out how you’re feeling about climate change now. You’ve been in this space for 10 years, but how are you feeling now?

Dario Presezzi:                  I have, but I also have just happened to be in it. One way it’s because like when we started, we were more like a sustainability problem. How do we deal with waste and why are we throwing away when there’s a lot of resources in it. Then during the process, because that was 10 years ago and the climate problem was definitely there but not as much as now, so I ended up in it. That was about halfway through the journey when we found out that when we created this process to be sustainable waste management, we were also sequestering carbon and then the climate change situation got more and more intense. Started to feeling a lot of feelings about climate change because of that, because we were into the world, and then found out that our mission is more towards helping the climate crisis rather than just a waste management issue.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right. It was just kind of serendipitous that you happened to be in that space, so you actually had those feelings start to come in even after you were already kind of working on it.

Dario Presezzi:                  Yes.

Matt Schlegel:                   If I may, I know a lot of people cycle through a number of different emotions and feelings as they’re going through this, what are some of the experiences, like specific feelings, that you’ve had and how you’ve managed to process those?

Dario Presezzi:                  Yeah. Definitely rollercoaster of emotions is 100% accurate on this type of feelings for climate change. It goes from little like almost desperation and want to give up because you’re working so much on problems, only if there is a lot of people that don’t care. That’s what I see, when there’s a lot of people that don’t care, but you’re working so hard towards it, especially trying to educate them, but then you have doors slam in your face because they don’t feel the same thing. Even though you know it’s very real, it’s very happening and the work that we are doing is very important, that’s where you feel bad.

Then when there’s a lot of people around you or people you work with that want to take real action, they know what the solutions are and they’re very passionate about it, then you feel much better. It goes from complete opposites, where we can really do it because human beings are so resilient, we’re geniuses. We used it in a wrong way, let’s use it in the right way now. Yeah, it’s a rollercoaster that goes everywhere, but it depends on the night, let’s say. In the last period, especially the last few months, it’s been so much better, because of [inaudible 00:04:20] and everybody working on it.

Matt Schlegel:                   Yeah. It sounds like it goes, I like the words you use, from desperation to joy, depending on the day almost. That’s almost sounds like a startup, any startup.

Dario Presezzi:                  It does look like any startup, it just adds, other than the financial problem where usually a CEO it’s like, oh my responsibility is only to make money. It changed quite a bit, because I have the responsibilities to make money obviously to make my service successful, but if we don’t have a great impact in solving this problem, then we’re also failing. There’s like two standards that we need to meet.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right, oh, that is brilliant. It really is, it’s almost like an emotion amplifier on top of already hyper charged environment of being in a startup. How are your feelings about climate, then, influencing your direction as a leader now?

Dario Presezzi:                  Likely, in my company, there’s everybody that is working at Bioforcetech has passion for solving the climate crisis. It’s much easier for me, because as soon as you keep this vision on, then everybody in the company keep it on with you and help us to bring it forward. For everybody else, what I’ve seen is, since there’s the financial situation and the climate situation, as long as we keep working towards our goal without compromises, I think that’s the leading lights that we can give. My team always work with that vision and we never, again, get compromises even if it can give us more money to grow. That’s something that I think is an important lesson for everybody else.

It’s like there’s easy way to make money and then creating issues, we’re trying to solving issues by also making money. Point is, keep resilient and keep going towards our goals of sustainability without looking at what’s happening around. That’s what we’ve seen being, we don’t really go out and try to make speeches about climate change. But we know what our problem is and we said we are going to solve it 100%, with all these goals and sustainability goals and no matter what. I think that inspired so many other in our industry to then do the same, because they see it’s kind of working it’s, leading to real change.

Matt Schlegel:                   Just a couple questions there. I think that’s great that your team is so passionate about solving the climate crisis. Now, when you are recruiting team members, are you specifically looking for that or is it the opposite, people passionate about solving the climate crisis are just coming to you?

Dario Presezzi:                  They’re usually coming to us, at the same time there’s a lot of people also that want to apply for job positions that don’t really care about it and it’s kind of a priority for us. If you don’t have that passion, you’re going to have such a hard time working at our company. Because it’s harder to raise a startup, and again, because it’s hard because there’s multiple goals. We have a lot of, like every startup, you have so many doors slam in your face, if you can’t take all those punches, there’s no way you can get through it if you don’t really have the cause in your heart.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right, the greater purpose and the greater mission to kind of get you through.

Dario Presezzi:                  Yeah, it needs to be there.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right, right, yeah, that’s great. The other thing is, you were just well positioned to essentially become a company focused on solving the climate crisis, even though that wasn’t necessarily how you started. Do you see that maybe happening with other companies as well, that they will end up realizing that, we can be a part of the solution and we can kind of shift our mission and our purpose and our focus towards solving that, as seamlessly as you’ve seemed to have done?

Dario Presezzi:                  I think other than a few example that might be a little bit impossible for them to do it, but I would say 99% of the companies today that’s, yeah, it’s true.

Matt Schlegel:                   They could do that, right?

Dario Presezzi:                  I could make shoes in a way like the least expensive, their more cool, and to sell them it’s the highest price, that’s what it was before. If I’m making shoes now and I’m like, wait, but if I use a rubber that it’s made from a sustainable source and I do that and I combine all this together, actually my shoes could be a solution for. That’s one and then tables and then building houses and so on and so on, so every company needs to be part of the solution. It’s not really a question of if they should do it, they need to do it, but also they all have the opportunity to become a company to do that. Specifically, maybe drew down carbons, but other company could save 90% of carbon or energy there or using sustainable practices.

Matt Schlegel:                   And then use their influence to help others also do that, both their clients, their supply chain, and pure companies in their industry group.

Dario Presezzi:                  Yeah, I have another quick example, I open a pizza company in Palo Alto, completely separated it. Concept is when we’re making packaging we went in supermarkets, and every single supermarket have every single packaging we could find, it was 100% plastic. We were very confused, because I want to make a sustainable package for pizza, it was a journey of about eight months just to find a way to make it available for the market that can be placed in a supermarket safely, but be sustainable, it was hard. Now we have a compostable tray that can be put in the oven with compostable film on top of it so it keeps fresh and everything, but it is completely compostable. It’s something that if we do it as the little pizza company, then the other company around will be like, wait, so there is a solution for that we can actually do.

Matt Schlegel:                   Please tell me, what’s the name of your pizza, because I want to go out and get some.

Dario Presezzi:                  It’s called Pizzone.

Matt Schlegel:                   Pizzone, okay, all right. I love that, sustainable pizza.

Dario Presezzi:                  Yeah, exactly. It’s just one example, like who would think that a pizza company could make a difference.

Matt Schlegel:                   Right, because it’s mind boggling how much plastic goes through the food system, and I am so glad you’re thinking about that and thinking about setting an example for sustainable packaging as well, thank you so much for doing that. I want to ask you what advice would you give to leaders and aspiring leaders who are, themselves, starting to have feelings about the climate?

Dario Presezzi:                  One thing that I’ve seen when you talk about climate with people is even if they want to do something and they understand the problem, and we’re still talking about maybe a small percentage, but even if you’re there, it’s hard to know what to do. Because they say, if I recycle I’m fine, that kind of stuff. I would say, just look at all the nice projects that are out there, pick what is closer to you, maybe in the field that you work with or a new job that you’re inspiring to, and just follow those leaders as much as possible, like give as much support that you can to that. Then once you’re in the sustainable world, then you can understand if you have some other inputs that you can give and stuff like that.

But it is a battle, it is a challenge, and humans love challenges, so we should take it on. Once you realize that it’s very real and we need to do it, and I think more and more people realize that, then there’s just so many things you can do about it, it’s just unlimited. Pick whatever you are most passionate about, like it was before and that you make money out of it, here you can make money and also solve the problem. That’s what I would say, just pick some somebody or some cause that’s the most passionate to you and there’s for sure sustainability issues in there.

Matt Schlegel:                   Yeah, essentially follow your heart.

Dario Presezzi:                  Follow your heart.

Matt Schlegel:                   Follow your heart. That is such great advice, Dario. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experiences and your feelings about climate and your stories. Of course I wish you the best success with your company, and I hope that you can come back in the future and share more about your journey through this climate space, navigating it both the financial side, but also that emotional side.

Dario Presezzi:                  Yeah, it would be my pleasure.

Matt Schlegel:                   Okay, thank you so much. Thanks for watching, I found it fascinating how Dario started to have stronger feelings about the climate crisis five years after he started his company and how his feelings just impassioned him all that much more to make his company successful. For aspiring leaders, Dario suggests that you can pick a company focusing on solving the climate crisis, and as you go through that emotional roller coaster of the climate change, you will be in a great position to channel those emotions into healthy action that will move us forward to a more sustainable world. If you found this conversation helpful, please click on the thumbs up button and subscribe to the channel to get notifications on future episodes. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section and I’ll respond as soon as I can. Thanks again.

 

Filed Under: Climate Crisis, Leadership

Podcast Host Josh Elledge Shares Insights as an Enneagram Type 7 Leader

June 7, 2022 by Matt Schlegel Leave a Comment

Josh Elledge is CEO of Up My Image and host of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur podcast. Josh is an Enneagram Type 7 leader and his enthusiasm and excitement shine through in this conversation.  I am so impressed with Josh’s journey of self-awareness that allows him to surround himself with teammates who complement his style. He has done the work to understand at which activities he excels and which activities he needs to delegate and has built a team that ensures all aspects of his business are well served.

Josh is founder of UpMyInfluence.com and Chief Executive Angel at SavingsAngel.com.

Check out all Josh’s podcasts:

The SavingsAngel Show

Authority Confidential

Thoughtful Entrepreneur

#Team #Leader #Leadership #Enneagram #Entrepreneurship  #Podcast #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ

[Video Transcript]

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for joining me in conversations with leaders who are using the Enneagram as a leadership tool, and a tool for personal growth and development. Today, I’m speaking with Josh Elledge, host of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Podcast and founder of UpMyInfluence. Josh is a Type 7 leader, and he shares how the Enneagram is helping him and his team grow his business. And now for the conversation.

Matt Schlegel:

I’m excited to be speaking with Josh Elledge, host of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur podcast and founder of his firm UpMyInfluence, where he applies a novel approach to solving the problem of B2B sales, providing an endless stream of high ticket qualified customers using the go-giver approach to building relationships. During our recent conversation on his podcast, I discovered that he uses the Enneagram as a leadership tool at his firm. So, I’m grateful that he can share his experiences with us here today in his using the Enneagram. Thank you so much for joining me, Josh.

Josh Elledge:

Matt, thank you so much for having me.

Matt Schlegel:

Great. Well, we were having such a great conversation and when you said, “Oh yeah, I’m an Enneagram Type 7 and I use Enneagram all the time”, I was just delighted about that. We had a great conversation on your podcast. So, let’s just jump in here and I’d love to know how and when you discovered the Enneagram.

Josh Elledge:

Yeah, gosh, I had a client who was pretty proficient, talked about it quite a bit. I made some guesses about who I am and he said, “Oh no, now you do not filter the world the same way that I do”, because that was his and he said, “You, my friend, I’m just going to guess you strike me as a seven, but go ahead and take a…” he recommended a test. Went through it, sure enough, I’m a seven, I’m married to a six. My director of operations is, and you’ll have to forgive me here you have to let me know, very perfectionist, what’s that?

Matt Schlegel:

Type One. Type Ones frequently work together and work very well together. So that’s awesome.

Josh Elledge:

We are a great combo. My Six wife and I… I feel like she loves what I bring to the relationship. I love what she brings to the relationship. So I’ve got to tell you, I feel very lucky.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah, very complimentary relationships in your life.

Josh Elledge:

Yeah. Listen, I think that this ain’t my first rodeo, I’ve been in business for myself for decades, and so this is my second seven-figure company. One thing that I’ve learned in terms of building a team is I absolutely recruit for my deficiencies. As a leadership team too, we’re very conscious about how people show up and we really think hard about, “Okay, this person’s coming across in this personality style, but I’m not sure that’s what we really want for that role.” and so we very… I mean, we hire for personality, that’s really important for us. I think that’s one thing that wisdom and experience will teach you as well, that if you aren’t cognizant of what people bring to the table in terms of their soft skills and just how they’re wired and how they filter, you’ll learn it eventually, hopefully. Otherwise, it’s going to be a big costly, expensive mistake, time and time and time and time again.

Matt Schlegel:

Right, absolutely. Well, that’s so great that you are using the Enneagram in that very powerful way to build a complementary team and then lining up the right style and dynamic for the roles that you’re recruiting for. That is a great application to the Enneagram. As you were first learning the Enneagram, what did you discover about yourself that you hadn’t appreciated before?

Josh Elledge:

I also feel like because I’ve been highly, highly focused on personal development, personal growth, recognizing my weaknesses, and if I go through and I’m really kind of reading articles and books we talk about what are the fail points. Fail points, this isn’t a good, a good term. But where does Sevens need to be very conscious about their own shortcomings and maybe how they might show up in a relationship in a way that you need to be aware on this. I feel like I’ve worked on those quite a bit. But, I also, when someone says, “well, aren’t you going to work on that?”, I said, “No, no I don’t really enjoy accounting for example, or the details, or dealing with customer service issues or whatever”. I very intentionally delegate and promote to solve those issues. Because here’s what I know is that if I get stuck doing roles that I know that just it’s not fun and in cases makes me feel bad about myself, or it demotivates me or something like that. I could evolve to like that stuff, but I kind of don’t want to and I’m okay with…

Matt Schlegel:

There’s other stuff to do.

Josh Elledge:

Yeah. Like asparagus, I’m sure some people love it. I just don’t and I’m okay giving other people the asparagus. I cook it, I’ll make it, I just don’t want to eat it. Right. And so, all other people eat my asparagus.

Matt Schlegel:

So what I’m hearing is that you really appreciated that your style is much more big picture. It’s much more looking at novel things and not necessarily diving into detailed work, grinding, detailed work that you’re just fine demotivating. And rather than just force yourself to do that, “Hey, let’s find somebody who likes doing that work because there’s plenty of people who like doing that work,” have them do that. Then you can focus on the work that motivates you and encourages you and just makes you feel better. That….

Josh Elledge:

Yeah, I feel like I have a moral obligation on behalf of my team. I have a moral obligation on behalf of my family if I want to grow this company and I want to provide for my family. I have a moral obligation to being conscious about my strengths and weaknesses and certainly, I have a moral obligation to serve my audiences and my customers in the way that I do best. In fact, one thing that I’m very clear on with them, as I said, listen when you get in I’m going to give you to better hands in terms of deployment ,and build out, and that sort of thing. You wouldn’t want me doing that work. It would end up being… Because a lot of times, and here’s the thing. I want to talk to like business founders and CEOs and stuff right now, if you are working in account-based services like if you’re an agency owner, you’re a consultant, you’re a coach but you’re at the point now where you have a team.

Josh Elledge:

A lot of times your clients will make investments because they really like you, they believe in you. They really resonate with you and your philosophy. We have to let our clients know coming in. I know it sounds like it would be a lot of fun if we were to be on all these calls together, but I just have to tell you I’ve tried that. It ends up being really frustrating because I’m just not the… I love being on a call. I love coming up with lots of other ideas, but I love having somebody else on the call with us so that they can make sure to execute on everything and they don’t let anything fall through the cracks. If you’re relying on me, it’s going to strain our relationship. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to bring some key team members that they are the best in the world at this very nichey, nerdy, specific thing. You cool with that? Yes. Great.

Matt Schlegel:

So, and that again, allows you to be kind of freewheeling and talking and sharing ideas, and then you have somebody else just following up and making sure that everything is being tracked and monitored and taken note of so that you can have great follow up later.

Josh Elledge:

That’s it. Listen, I am just so grateful. To the person who’s listening to our conversation right now, you know this stuff and I got to tell you there are major weaknesses and threats as you’re doing your… that you will be able to better overcome as a result of your awareness of how these personalities, the dynamics of these personalities, how they mesh together, work together, recognizing your own weaknesses, and being okay with working around that. Again, it would be the same thing. There’s certain aspects of taking care of my car I’m good at, I can do, and other aspects, I just trust the hands of other people that are much more, better equipped to do that stuff.

Josh Elledge:

Don’t let your ego get in the way of a greater impact in the world, because I only do, let’s say maybe overall within my company at this point, maybe three to 5% of the total work that gets done week to week to week. I want to be the best in the world at that three to 5% and that’s why I talk about this moral obligation. Again, particularly I’m talking to my leader friends out there. Don’t get in your way. Don’t get in your own way because of your arrogance or ego. Let it go.

Matt Schlegel:

Well, you’ve brought up already a couple of really great applications of how you use the Enneagram One in recruiting and then also just in your working day to day, just figuring out which style is going to be the best in a certain situation. That’s just two excellent ways to use the Enneagram. Just as we wrap up and feel free to jump in, if you want to ask something else, but I do want you to give advice for other leaders of Enneagram Type Seven. Specifically, what advice would you give to them as they’re on this journey of self-realization and self-awareness?

Josh Elledge:

Yeah. This is important for me as a Seven. So Sevens love their variety. They can get bored. What I want you to do is I want you to treat your work almost like a game or a challenge. What we know, and I’m a big fan of like atomic habits, James Clear kind of, where the difference between a champion and an amateur is that a champion just does it longer. They just do it more. Well, you might listen to that and say, “Ooh, I don’t know how a Seven’s going to do that”. So, we want to look at what is the thing that we can do that gives us… For me, again, I like variety. So what do I do professionally? Well, as a CEO or a founder, listen, we go back to Michael Gerber, E-Myth, I have one job.

Josh Elledge:

I got to grow this company. I am responsible for growth so how can I do growth in a way that meshes with my personality? What do I do? Here’s what I chose. I am a very avid podcaster and while I do use the same mechanism, day in, day out, I have about seven to 12 interviews with seven to 12 different people every single week. I am constantly learning from new people and I get to ask them any question that I want to ask and I have made that a part of how we grow our company. For me, podcasting is the ultimate networking tool, so I have a business justification to do the thing that me, as a Type Seven, can excel at. I’m generally pretty good at connecting with people in rapport and I love it. I love people.

Josh Elledge:

Sometimes it’s going to take a little bit of mind mapping. You’re going to need to work with someone who can really help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, and “okay, well, how could we do this in a way that works well with your personality type?”. I got to tell you, Matt, I am very grateful, very grateful. I mean, I’m the founder, so I mean I had some say in this, right. But I’m very grateful that I found a way to make it work. For those leaders out there that you know that your current role is just not meshing with your personality type, again, I would find a coach who understands this, and you’re going to have to do some serious mind mapping exercise where you can think about “what are some ways that I can tailor my responsibilities, or I can accomplish the things I need to accomplish that are absolutely going to be in alignment with my ability to show up day in, day out”.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. Oh, that is such great advice, Josh. Just a couple of things. One, just as you point out, you have built into your week lots and lots of variety meeting new people, which is just right in the sweet spot of the Seven, something they love to do. I noticed that you keep using that word, “learn”, “learn from,” and what I found is that people who are growing in their careers will tend to move along their path of integration towards that integration point. For the Seven, it’s the Five which is the epitome of learning all the time. You are actually building in that growth right into your daily or weekly activities by just learning from other people all the time. You really have wrapped up a lot of healthy dynamics in what you’ve situated yourself in and I applaud you for that. Just really sounds like a super fit and I could just tell it from your enthusiasm that you love it.

Josh Elledge:

Yeah. Matt, thank you so much and thank you for the work that you’re doing. Again, leaders like me really appreciate being able to just make those big discoveries about ourselves and, most importantly, to take action on those discoveries. Again, it’s one thing, “Oh, I know the Enneagram. Oh, I know my personality”. Okay, great. So day to day, what are you doing to go along with that? It’s like knowledge without action. I feel it’s like if I give you a big sack of cash and you go bury it in the backyard, it’s worth nothing. Matt, the work you do, you’re handing out big sacks of cash. Okay folks, go spend that money on stuff that really is meaningful to you.

Matt Schlegel:

There you go and you just handed our audience a huge sack of cash too. So thank you.

Josh Elledge:

There you go. Cash everywhere.

Matt Schlegel:

Thank you for sharing your stories and your wisdom and your experiences. Best of luck to you growing your business. Sounds like you’re just on a perfect track for you. I do look forward to having a conversation in the future. Let’s check in and just see how it’s playing out and how the Enneagram is playing in that.

Josh Elledge:

Matt, you’re awesome. Thank you so much for having me.

Matt Schlegel:

All right. Thank you, Josh.

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for watching. Wow, I love Josh’s energy. You can feel that Type Seven enthusiasm shine through. Clearly, Josh is very thoughtful and he’s well named his podcast The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. I very much appreciate his insights. That Type Sevens can frustrate themselves by doing things that aren’t a fit for their style and recognize that they can partner with people who complement them and can fill those roles, leaving the Seven to excel at connecting and learning. Things that the Seven are masterful at. He also identifies two types that are very complimentary for the Type Seven, the Type Six and the Type One who are masters at the details, planning, organizing, and follow-up. Things that the Type Seven would rather not do. If you like this, please click on the thumbs up and subscribe to the channel to get notifications of upcoming episodes. If you have any comments, please leave them in the Comments Section and I’ll respond as soon as I can. Thanks again.

 

Filed Under: Enneagram, Leadership

Taking Care of your Mental Health in the Roaring 2020s

May 30, 2022 by Matt Schlegel Leave a Comment

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I am joined by fellow authors and coaches Kimberly Layne and Twiana Armstrong as we discuss stresses in our Roaring 2020s and how we are coping with them. We provide examples of what we are doing to maintain our mental health.

Kimberly Layne: https://www.kimberly-layne.com/

Twiana Armstrong: https://linkedin.com/in/twianaarmstrong

#Roaring20s #Roaring2020s #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

[Video Transcript]

[Twiana Armstrong]

We’re acknowledging in May, Mental Health Awareness Month, emphasizing the need to take care of ourselves, as well as one another in today’s society. The world has experienced a tremendous amount of change in the past two years, multiple pandemics – Covid and the social/racial reckonings, all intertwined with horrific mass shootings and natural disasters. How do these incidents contribute to our mental wellbeing?

As early as the 1920s, psychiatric epidemiologists began to document how social environments contributed to the development of mental disorders and in the 1980s, epidemiologists shifted their policy focus to the early identification and prevention of mental illness in individuals. History recalls the 1920s introducing a lot of change, cultural revolutions – social and racial, the rise of a consumer-oriented economy and big business.

As we take a look at 2022, we must take seriously how we promote and engage in positive mental health strategies for ourselves and our employees. Within the 8 hour or more workday and 40 hours or more workweek, business leaders should strategically plan how to help employees navigate and cope within their social environments to be well and be safe. Access to and navigation of employee assistance programs, EAPs, speaks volumes to your focus on quality of life.  Creating environments of open communication, creative work shifts, and employee driven engagements allow employees to attend to their mental health needs.  It’s called belongingness.

Kimberly, what insights are you sharing about Mental Health Awareness?

[Kimberly Layne|

How serious do you take your mental and emotional wellbeing?  Are you tuned in?  Are you periodically taking a deep emotional inventory?

I recently became engaged to a wonderful man and my life will positively blossom. I will be moving to Northern Ca from so Cal, And, in addition to becoming a wife, I will become a mother to his two wonderful boys while managing a family and household. Yes, this is an extremely positive time in my life, and I am elated.

Coincidentally 4 months ago when I began spending 90% of my time with my fiancé and family, I also began experiencing sinus issues which have progressively manifested to debilitating sinus headaches, physical exhaustion, and nausea. After visiting an ENT Specialist, I have been diagnosed for sinus surgery.

At the same time, I decided to leverage other resources; I sought the help of a professional.   I come to realize that my past experience of abusive, non-trusting and unprotective relationships are triggering a “fear factor” for THIS healthy loving relationship. my burying and not truly feeling all all of my programmed innate fear and triggered emotions they have chosen manifested as this sinus disease.  What we emotionally refuse to feel our bodies will reveal!

That evening I decided to take an Epsom salt bubble bath and to sit with my thoughts, I mean I truly sit in silence, and feel my emotions. In no time I had tears streaming down my face from the fear and pain of my past. Miraculously, the next day I was feeling 90% of myself with my energy back, and my head nearly clear. I did not realize how much I was burying my underlying feelings. And how powerful that fear truly was.

Those 30 minutes of allowing my true emotions to surface was monumentally healing.

What are you not feeling? What are you burying or running away from? Again, What we do not express emotionally our bodies will express (reveal) physically. When was the last time you took a deep emotional inventory?

Matt, what are your thoughts.

[Matt Schlegel]

Thanks, Kimberly, for sharing your powerful story.

I’m so glad were talking about this.

From a mental health point of view, this month has been very tough for me.  We experienced a mass shooting in Buffalo that has impacted me very deeply.  I am horrified.   The shooter was inspired by ideologies of Replacement Theory and Eco-fascism.  It seems that some who are having an anger-based emotional reaction to the climate crisis will be targeting those who are not like them. And here we are in our Roaring 2020s, one hundred year after the rise of fascism in the 1920s led by Mussolini in Italy.  This is a truly horrifying echo from the past.

So how do I process my feelings about the horrors of mass shootings and of climate change?  Firstly, I talk about it with sympathetic friends, which is one of the reasons I am so grateful for both of you and our ability to have these important conversations. I also will take long, mountainous hikes with friends to work out these feelings, getting both the conversation and a great workout.

Also, I have joined a rock band! I find that immersing myself in learning and playing music helps me process my feelings. When I am playing with others, I become so focused on the music that it gives my mind a healthy escape from my anxieties.

We all need to acknowledge that we live in a time of extraordinary stress and these stresses are impacting our emotional health. Please take time to be aware of how these stresses are affecting you.  Learn some techniques that help you identify your triggers, like we discussed last month.  Take measures to manage your mental health. We’ve mentioned a few: conversations with sympathetic friends, exercise, playing music, and taking a nice bubble bath.  Seek professional help if you start feeling overwhelmed. Importantly, be kind to yourself and be kind to those around you.

Thanks for listening.

Filed Under: Mental Health, Roaring 2020s

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 37
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Your Number Makes a Difference™

Make your life even better, personally and professionally, by knowing your Enneagram type.
Reveal Your Number with a Free Enneagram Questionnaire »

Follow Matt

  • rss
  • twitter

Get Posts Direct to Your Inbox!

Solve Your Teamwork Dilemmas With Matt’s New Book

View Book Reviews

Latest Posts

  • Climate Journalist Betsy Rosenberg Shares the Feelings that Impassioned Her to Found GreenTV.com
  • Five Generations in the Workforce! How Are They Getting Along?
  • Enneagram and Feeling on the Grief Gratitude Podcast
  • Charged with Feelings, Climate Leader David Ligouy on his Solar-Powered Bike Trek from Argentina to California
  • How is Gen Z responding to stress in the Roaring 2020s workplace?

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Matt Schlegel on I am 2% Neanderthal
  • Jill on I am 2% Neanderthal
  • Matt Schlegel on FAQ: Enneagram — Team Effectiveness
  • Matt Schlegel on How to Lead a Board of Directors Change Management Task Force
  • LBF on How to Lead a Board of Directors Change Management Task Force

Footer

Tweets by EvoTeamMatt

Matt Schlegel

Send Matt a Message »
+1 (650) 924-8923

  • Home
  • Services
  • Success Stories
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • This Book’s For You
Solve Your Teamwork Dilemmas
With Matt’s New Book

© 2022 Schlegel Consulting · Evolutionary Team Effectiveness · +1 (650) 924-8923 · Email Matt
Creative Consulting by JMF · Web Design by Sarah Ruediger · Sitemap

Your Number Makes a Difference.™ Reveal Your Number with a Free Enneagram Questionnaire »