A Decided Difference: Recent Episodes
LouAnn Clark
Positive change without positive thinking with LouAnn Clark. Learn to tinker with your own thinker and get more out of life.
If you are going to live, you have to somehow deal with the whole package life delivers to you. The bad comes with the good, the sorrow with the joy. When you know you can handle whatever comes your way, you find peace. LouAnn Clark wraps up the Decided Difference podcast series with reminders of how to make that happen. The podcast episodes from January, 2018 forward will remain available online for at least one more year. You can find them at decideddifference.libsyn.com.
As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, you may find your mood falling with the leaves. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn has ideas for keeping spirits bright, even during the darkest days.
If you aren’t enjoying your life, you may be in danger of falling into depression, if you aren’t already there. And the shorter, colder days of winter are not going to help. It might be a good idea to get some light going in your life before it gets any darker. In this week’s podcast, LouAnn has suggestions for ways to light up your life.
Habits help us manage our day-to-day lives with more ease and enjoyment, but bad habits can interfere with reaching our goals. Habits have an impact on health, relationships, work, finances, and more. In this week’s podcast, LouAnn explores how to strengthen the habits that serve you, even in the face of challenges.
Does planning sound like drudgery to you? Do you resist sticking to a plan because you don’t like feeling boxed in? What if you knew planning could help reduce depression and anxiety and help you to feel more in control of your life? In this week’s podcast episode, learn how to plan to make A Decided Difference for yourself.
When the change you want isn’t coming, or isn’t happening fast enough, you can persist. Yes, you can, even through a pandemic. Find encouragement in this week’s Decided Difference podcast.
Who doesn’t want to manage stress, to feel more centered, or to find more inner peace? If If you have ever tried to practice mindfulness, but failed, this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference is for you. You know the inner Critic. Now, meet the Witness.
Your brain is not exactly like a computer, but what you put into it largely determines what you get out. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn explores the processes that turn information into emotion.
You can’t learn everything on your own, and every single one of us needs help from time to time. When you get stuck, or confused, or discouraged, it’s perfectly all right to ask for help. When DIY isn’t working, a consultation with a pro may be all you need to get back on track. More in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Your mind and your body are not disconnected; they are intertwined in a never-ending circle of wholeness. Changing one changes the other, for better or for worse. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn explores ways to lift your spirits by enlisting the help of your body.
What is making you feel sad, down, or discouraged? Do you need to adjust your mindset, or do you need to deal with a real physical or external problem? Improving your thinking skills can help you solve all kinds of problems more easily. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
How can you create the good life for yourself? Even in the midst of grief and loss, joy and beauty are all around us. It is up to us to choose to notice them and to celebrate them. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn explores little ways to make a big difference.
To solve problems, we must first face them, but that can lead to pain we would prefer to avoid. In this week's podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn has suggestions on how to stop procrastinating and face pain in the short term for better long-term outcomes.
Life can be like a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs, twists and turns. We are not always in control of what happens to us, but we can choose how we think about the events of our lives. This is how we create more happiness and success for ourselves. Learn more in this new podcast episode from A Decided Difference.
How could asking for help be a skill that helps you to be stronger? Far from being a sign of weakness, asking for help might be one of the best skills you can develop. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
You can choose to live happily! You can also learn the skills and habits to keep it up for a lifetime. This week’s Decided Difference podcast wraps up a series about change with encouragement to build the happiness you deserve for the rest of your life.
Significant change often takes more time, action, and effort than we wish. It isn’t always easy to stay the course or to decide what to do when you are not getting the results you want. This week’s Decided Difference podcast episode offers ideas for coping when the going gets tough.
The process of change begins with deciding which change you will make. Decisions can sometimes lead to feelings of being imprisoned by your own choices, but not always. Making a decision, cutting off all other options, can be the very thing that sets you free. Learn more in this week’s podcast episode.
Deciding to change begins with dreaming of change, and capturing your dreams can be the first step toward making them reality. This week’s Decided Difference podcast is all about imagining what your life could be if you open yourself to possibilities.
Change is an inevitable part of life. Whether you dread or welcome opportunities to start over, you will have to deal with them as long as you live. The way you look at your situation will determine how you feel about it and how well you cope with the change. Learn more in this week’s Decided Difference podcast.
Would you like to feel better and stronger right away? Try removing just one specific word from your vocabulary and watch the change happen. It isn't magic. It's a Decided Difference.
When you do things that make you happy, you have more energy to do all kinds of things. Building joyfulness into your schedule gives you something to look forward to and makes life worth living. This week’s podcast from A Decided Difference will help you find your own personal happiness.
The world is beginning to return to “normal,” but that doesn’t mean you have to go back to the way things used to be. You can continue to use your head to find creative solutions, as you have done throughout the pandemic, but let your heart take the lead as you decide how you want to live in a post-pandemic world. There have been positive aspects to the experiences of the past year and a half, and you can benefit from remembering them. This is the last new podcast episode for two months, as LouAnn takes a sabbatical. She will present a “best of” series through the months of June and July. If you have suggestions about which episodes to include in the “best of,” email them to louann@louannclark.com on or before June 4.
Your mind may be full of pollutants deposited there by other people, by your own interpretation of past events, or by expectations you don’t even know you have. Like polluted air and water, polluted thoughts can make you sick. Fortunately, also like polluted air and water, polluted thoughts can be filtered to remove the bad stuff. Learn how to create a healthier mental environment in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Your surroundings can help make or break your mood, so why not take control of them as much as you can? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn has thoughts about environment and how to use it to your advantage.
The stories that run in the background of your mind can have a profound impact on the choices you make and how satisfied you feel with your life. Uncovering your foundational stories can change the way you think, and that can be literally life-changing. Learn to tell yourself better stories in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
What does it mean to fail? How you view failure may determine not just how you feel, but what you do in the future. In this week's podcast, LouAnn explores the BS surrounding failure and offers some ideas for healthy thinking about an event that happens to all of us.
The times when you feel least like doing anything may be the most important times to do something. When you are feeling blue, taking any action, even a small one, can help lift your mood. Hear more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference. This is an affiliate link to the book Designing Your Life, on Amazon. By buying through this link, you help support my work at A Decided Difference at no extra cost to you. Thank you! https://amzn.to/2QmJ23g This is the link to Bill Burnett's TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SemHh0n19LA" rel="noopener" target="_blank
Not every decision will carry life-altering weight, but a few of them will. When it comes to basic decisions about who you are and how you want to live, you belong at the top of the list of priorities. After all, you are the one who has to live your life. Please, don’t let yourself down.
When I named this endeavor A Decided Difference, I believed that making big decisions and allowing them to guide your choices was very important. Now, eight years later, I believe it more than ever. In this podcast episode, I examine the power of deciding.
Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be limited to your physical space. Clearing out old thoughts and beliefs that don’t serve you can open space for growth. What do you need to clean out of your house or out of your life this spring? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn has ideas for refreshing your home and your outlook.
Dwelling on the past is not the best way to move forward, but thinking about your personal history in the right ways can help make your future better. Remembering joyful times and recognizing how far you have come can both be useful. If you do both with the attitude of gratitude, you will feel happier in the moment and more optimistic about the future. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
It’s springtime. If you want to be happier, go outside and play! In this week's podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn explores the benefits of play.
Hope can be the basis of an upward spiral that never has to top out, even when the world throws its hardest challenges at us. The skills we have practiced during the pandemic can help us thrive as we move into the future, helping us to be happier than ever before. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
The thoughts, attitudes, and actions you tend to are the ones that will flourish. The best way to build good habits may not be the way you learned from family or in school. Treating yourself with understanding and kindness can be far more effective than criticism, judgment, and condemnation. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
How can you break the monotony of pandemic life and inject a little more fun into your daily routine? How can you get things done but enjoy the doing more? Make it a game, and the sillier, the better. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
It takes courage, and grit, and daring to keep going forward with optimism. It is not easy to try and try again after disappointment or heartbreak. But it is worth the effort to consider how what looks like a setback right now could be a step forward into a happier future. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
It is so easy to lose sight of how important small things are. When we think of change, we often focus on the big leaps, the grand gestures, or the earth-shattering events. Meanwhile, it’s the small kindnesses—or the small injuries—that create our daily experiences. They are also mostly responsible for shaping us over the course of a lifetime, whether we are the receiver or the giver. It all matters. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn techniques for creating happiness through making some small changes in your thinking.
If you are feeling burned out and overwhelmed after nearly a year of the pandemic experience, you may feel better if you cultivate the joy of doing nothing. And there is no reason to feel guilty while doing nothing! Find ideas for rest and recovery in this week's podcast episode from A Decided Difference.
What would happen if you just decided to give up worrying? Is it possible to do? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn how you can stop worrying and why it won't make you into a bad person.
Do you recognize yourself in any of the five worry styles in this week’s podcast? Identifying your style of worrying can help you find ways to reduce your anxiety and increase your enjoyment of life.
Patience may be a virtue, but it is also a skill that can be developed and strengthened through practice. As we continue to slog through the pandemic and its challenges, practicing patience will help us stay the course. Find ideas for developing more patience in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Taking some time to get quiet can be refreshing in the midst of winter. It may seem like an oxymoron, but planning activities for your downtime can make it more valuable and more enjoyable. Learn more about making the most of the hush of winter in this week's podcast from A Decided Difference.
As we begin a new year, one of the best things we can do is to really and truly let go of the old one. Are there bridges you need to burn behind you? Do it! In this episode of A Decided Difference, LouAnn Clark encourages you to strike that match.
What stops you from making change? Anxiety, fear, feeling overwhelmed? In this week’s podcast, learn a way to counteract these forces and finally make the changes you want. You can create a truly happy new year.
As 2020 draws to a close, the winter season is only beginning. This is not the time to lose hope. This is the time to practice the thinking skills that will help you walk into a brighter future. Draw encouragement from this week's podcast from A Decided Difference.
LouAnn continues her conversation with writer and speaker Debbie Legg. Debbie shares ideas about taking good care of yourself in the ongoing pandemic, through the holidays, and beyond.
Reach out to Debbie or find more of her ideas at debbielegg.com.
Self-care isn’t just about getting massages or eating dark chocolate. True self-care is not treating yourself; it’s treating yourself well. In this week’s podcast, LouAnn’s guest is writer and speaker Debbie Legg. She offers ideas for self care in the ongoing pandemic, through the holidays, and beyond.
Contact Debbie at debbielegg.com.
There is one month left in 2020. How will you finish this year? Why not start making plans and taking action to start 2021 with renewed energy and greater focus? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn Clark shows you how.
To reap a bountiful harvest, you need to plan, plant, and nurture. You have to work with nature and within time. You have to keep the faith, and even then, a bounty is not guaranteed. That’s why gratitude for what we have is so important in staying mentally healthy. Hear more from LouAnn Clark in this week’s episode of A Decided Difference.
Gratitude can relieve depression and anxiety, and it is an easy technique to use. There are pitfalls to avoid when focusing on gratitude, and one of them is guilt. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
You can refresh your mind and your mood by doing something completely different from what you’ve done before, even if it is something small. The world is full of bad things we can’t control, but we can create good things and put them out there. Join LouAnn for this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Feelings are not facts. If you feel powerless, it doesn’t mean you are helpless. It may just mean you need to change your thinking. The greatest feeling of power comes from knowing what you can do and what you can’t, and then doing what you can. Hear more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference. To purchase LouAnn’s book, A Decided Difference: The Secret to Positive Change, go to https://amzn.to/32k9WLZ. (LouAnn is an Amazon associate and earns a commission and royalties from your purchase of her book.)
Even if chaos is swirling all around, you can be okay. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn shares listeners’ excellent suggestions for finding comfort in the chaos.
What happens when you engage in too much positive thinking? There is a dark side to positive thinking, and it’s made of too much sunshine. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn considers “toxic positivity.”
What does it mean to decide? A decision sets your mind into motion, instructing it on what to look for and where you want to go. In this week’s podcast episode, find more ideas for making effective decisions. This the Amazon link to Writing Through Transitions: A Guide for Transforming Life Changes by Leia Francisco. As an Amazon Associate, I do receive a small commission if you buy through this link. Writing Through Transitions: A Guide for Transforming Life Changes And this is the link to my book on Amazon! A Decided Difference: The Secret to Positive Change
How do you make good decisions in the time of Covid? How can you feel confident you are making the right choices for your future? This week’s podcast from A Decided Difference has ideas you can use, no matter what kind of decision you need to make.
Every society passes beliefs down through the generations, but those ideas can be outdated, if not downright false. In this week’s podcast episode, LouAnn challenges three sets of beliefs that may be causing you pain and shares ideas for feeling much better.
These are the links to books and websites mentioned in podcast #392 on September 21, 2020. I am an Amazon affiliate. If you buy after clicking through these links, I get a small commission, but you pay nothing extra. Thank you for supporting my work at A Decided Difference! Shameless self-promotion: If you buy only one book, make it mine. :) A Decided Difference: The Secret to Positive Change If you are dealing with depression and/or anxiety, I recommend these books by David Burns, M.D. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life If you want practical help with identifying your dreams and reaching your goals, I recommend this (or any) book by Barbara Sher. Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want If you want to change your work or your personal life, identify and develop your strengths with the ideas of Marcus Buckingham, found in these two books. Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently For developing habits that serve you, this book by Charles Duhigg. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business And this one by James Clear. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones To understand your emotional mind and your rational mind and get them to work together, this book by Chip and Dan Heath. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard And, if you are a communicator or influencer, this book by the Heath brothers. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die To discover, develop, and strengthen your inner badass, these two books by Jen Sincero. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth For clarifying what is really important to you, this book by Greg McKeown. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less And this, or any book, by Brené Brown. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone And finally, a link to the Clifton Strengths Finder test. (This is not an affiliate link.) Clifton Strengths Finder
We all need help in one form or another at various times in our lives. If you hesitate to ask for help, even when you need it, this week’s podcast episode from A Decided Difference can provide the assistance you need.
The words you choose when you talk about yourself help to shape the person you become and the emotions you experience. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn Clark offers suggestions for solving specific problems by using specific language.
I am pleased to announce that my book, A Decided Difference: the Secret to Positive Change, is now available on amazon.com. In this week’s podcast episode, I share a preview, three excerpts from the book. To purchase, click here: https://smile.amazon.com/Decided-Difference-Secret-Positive-Change-ebook/dp/B08GY695SB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=decided+difference&qid=1598837950&sr=8-1
How full is your love bucket? A simple idea can illustrate some important concepts, and the love bucket is a concrete way to visualize your feelings. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn how to fill your own love bucket and patch it when it is leaking.
How do you see yourself in coping with the pandemic? Are you helpless, with no options and no hope? Or are you a tough, creative, resilient person who will come out of this stronger than you went in? You can become stronger through the pandemic, if you decide to be. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn about five factors that will help you do that.
What do you do when things are too big to think about? Do you choose to avoid thinking through denial, paranoia, anger, or numbing? Or do you find yourself in moods that swing from one extreme to another? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, you will find strategies for managing when thinking about topics that feel overwhelming.
Building the habit of joy can protect your happiness when difficult times come—as they always do. Cultivating joy is not selfish, in fact, it is the opposite. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, hear suggestions for adding more joy to your life.
If you find yourself with more idle time during the coronavirus pandemic, why not use it to get you know your own Genius? A little personal detective work might be just the ticket to a happier future. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up. It means doing what you can within the parameters that exist in the new normal. If you keep looking back at your life pre-pandemic and focusing on all the things you miss, you will create thoughts of deprivation and loss that will make you feel bad. If you can look at what is going right in the present moment, then you can create thoughts of gratitude and feel much better. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn how acceptance can help you move forward more happily.
Are you worried about the pandemic, or money, or your children? If the words “What if…” send you into visions of disaster, this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference can help you feel better by worrying less.
It can be difficult to move forward when critics are disparaging your every move, and it’s doubly hard when the critic is yourself. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn strategies for dealing with criticism, regardless of where it comes from.
When deciding what to do, where to go, and whom to be with, consider the value of joy. Even if you feel just a small flicker of joy, it is a sign that can lead you to make better decisions. This is podcast episode #380 in the series from A Decided Difference.
Forgiveness can help you find freedom from regret, bitterness, and frustration. Forgiveness can set you free and open the door to a brighter future. In this week’s podcast, learn more about the how and why of forgiveness. Link to the Greater Good article: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/forgiveness/definition Link to Holly Dunn’s book, Sole Survivor: https://www.amazon.com/Sole-Survivor-Inspiring-Infamous-Railroad/dp/1682308146
Do you ever tell yourself that you should or should not feel a certain way? Feelings are not facts, but they do serve a purpose. How you handle your feelings can make a decided difference for you and those around you.
If you want to grow healthy thoughts that serve you, it's necessary to pull out the weeds and plant good seeds. How does your emotional garden grow? Find specific tips for getting your thoughts all in a row in this week's podcast from A Decided Difference.
Cultivating the habits of healthy thinking is a lot like cultivating a garden. When you dig out the weeds of negative thoughts and limiting beliefs, you make room for healthy thoughts to grow and flourish and bear fruit. Spring is a great time to start. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
We are all coping with circumstances that are new to us in the wake of COVID-19, and we may feel we are falling short. There may be no antidote to feelings of failure, frustration, and fear, but a touch of grace can make everything easier to bear. Learn more about giving grace to others—and yourself—in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
It’s normal to seek comfort and familiarity when you are in circumstances that are unusual or unexpected, especially if the situation is scary. But this can cause us to fall back into bad habits of thinking. In this week’s podcast, LouAnn suggests ways to keep your thoughts positive and your focus on the future.
The words you choose help create the emotions you feel, and both contribute to the results you get. If you want to be happier and more successful, watch your words. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
The pandemic has disrupted life in countless ways, and we are all having to adapt. Deciding to be flexible can help you cope, and flexibility is a great skill to have. This may be the best opportunity you will ever get to practice it. Try to be open to alternate possibilities as you make decisions in the days to come.
If your emotions are all over the place, don’t judge yourself harshly. Instead, choose to learn from your emotions and use the knowledge to help build a better future. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn will help you be more optimistic and flexible when thinking about the future.
Even in the midst of fear, anxiety, and suffering, you can find pockets of happiness, especially if you look for them. Get ideas for growing happiness, regardless of external circumstances, in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
If you aren’t living your best life during the pandemic, join the club. Remember, you are doing okay, as long as you are hanging in there. Rather than ramping up your productivity, maybe it’s time to do something besides work. How about focusing on getting caught up on your rest? LouAnn has ideas for you in this week’s episode of A Decided Difference. This is the link for Jenn Montague’s Intentional Growth Club on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IntentionalGrowthClub.
Are you coping well, or do you feel like you are going to lose it? If you alternate between these feelings, know this is normal in times of challenge. In this week's podcast from A Decided Difference, find tips to stay emotionally healthy in the face of the pandemic.
It is okay not to know exactly what to do right now. Choosing how to think about your current circumstances will help feel less anxious as you respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Gather ideas for coping successfully in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Keeping things in perspective is a challenge now. We are all suffering in some ways, but we need to try to create a balance between fear and hope. We are in a crisis, but a proverb says every crisis has an opportunity in it. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, you’ll find ideas for thriving during these unprecedented times.
As you try to navigate the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, you may wonder whether life will ever feel normal again. In this week's podcast, find advice about controlling your fears, making the best decisions you can, and finding the gifts hidden among the challenges.
Are you sleepwalking through your life, ignoring situations that need to change? Or are you failing to appreciate the good things that could make your life happier, if only you would pay more attention to them? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, LouAnn offers suggestions for waking up.
When you are considering the value of thoughts you could think or actions you could take, ask yourself this question. “What good will it do?” Every little bit of good adds more good to the world. Find encouragement to do some good for yourself and others in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
If you want to have peace of mind, try practicing the skill of letting things roll rather than always trying to control. In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, you will find ideas for letting go of thoughts and things that are not essential.
If you are feeling sad, or worried, or depressed, or anxious, asking yourself four questions about your thinking can help you feel better. In this week’s podcast episode from A Decided Difference, learn how answering these questions can help you improve your thinking and your moods.
It is not wrong, or sinful, or wicked to say kind things to yourself. In fact, it may be the best way to encourage yourself to grow into the best version of yourself. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
Are limits meant to be pushed until you break through them? Or is it possible that limits make your life better and happier? Consider the possibilities with LouAnn in this week’s episode of the podcast from A Decided Difference.
Your feelings can be useful in drawing you toward your goals, if you know how to use them. In this week’s podcast episode from A Decided Difference, learn how to create your own difference and feel more joyful in the future.
What are emotions good for? Would we be better off without them? In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn how to make better decisions by considering your feelings as important feedback.
Is it depression, or is it a case of “the morbs?” In this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference, learn how to beat the blues, in winter or at any other time of year.
If you are ready hit the reset button and be happier in 2020, LouAnn has some ideas about how you can achieve the change you want. It begins with changing how you think. Learn more in this week’s podcast from A Decided Difference.
How do you create a holiday filled with peace and miracles? if you want peace, you have to choose peace. If you want to experience miracles, you have to believe in miracles and make room for miracles in your life. In this week’s Decided Difference podcast, LouAnn has ideas about how to create your own peace and miracles by making the right decisions.
Two of the biggest barriers to happiness are feeling undeserving and feeling guilty. In this week’s podcast episode, find ways to break through those barriers and feel more joyful.
The world is full of terrible things, it’s true, but it is also full of amazing things. You get to choose which ones to look for and pay attention to, and that choice determines whether you feel worry or wonder, depression or delight. In this week’s podcast episode, LouAnn has ideas for how you can cultivate your sense of wonder.