DO THE SCARY THING. 🚩


Hey Reader! 👋

I've been taking a bit of a summer break, then I friend reminded me that I have this awesome weekly podcast and if nothing else I should share some tidbit with you.

Today my guest, Mike Dwyer, gave two pieces of advice for transformative personal growth:

  1. Start every day by doing one thing your afraid of
  2. Actively seek feedback

Reader, we've spoken before about how growth happens when we get out of our comfort zone.

Mike takes this idea further by giving yourself the intentional permission slip to actively step into your discomfort.

​You can catch the whole conversation here​

AND as a special bonus, I'm including the episode companion self-reflection guide. Use these as your journal prompts this week and let me know what you think.

​TSITM Ep 62 Journal.pdf​

If you love the journal and want to get on the subscription list, hit reply and I'll hook you up.

What one thing that you fear are you going to do tomorrow?

Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer

My weekly emails are for you if you want a transformational SHOT OF POSITIVITY that makes you think, gets you laughing, and sparks a positive change. Start each week inspired.

Read more from Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer
Rita Ernst. Podcaster, Author, Organizational Psychologist

Hey Reader! 👋 This will floor you. We spend 90,000 lifetime hours at work. For most teams, a massive chunk of those hours is drained by one silent productivity killer: Friction. It’s the subtle workplace drama, passive-aggressive complaining, and unresolved interpersonal conflict that sucks the energy out of the room and leaves everyone exhausted. As I was reminded during my conversation with Alexia Georghiou (founder of the Knoxville Happiness Coalition) on The Story I'm Telling Myself...

Rita Ernst. Podcaster, Author, Organizational Psychologist

Hey Reader! 👋 When my daughter was in preschool, we watched "Bob the Builder," a cartoon about believing in yourself, having a "can-do" attitude, and fixing things. During my conversation today with Dimple Dhabalia, I was reminded of this show, so grounded in our Western culture of productivity. We’ve been sold a lie that productivity is the ultimate measure of worth. Since the dawn of industrialization, we’ve been conditioned to prioritize "output" over connectivity, community, and even our...

Hey Reader, you don't want to miss this one! 👋 Let’s be honest: most of us are "hungry shoppers" in the supermarket of life. We show up starving for purpose, without a list, and we grab whatever looks shiny in the moment—a new job, a bigger paycheck, a different neighborhood—only to find that our "cycles of dissatisfaction" are getting shorter and shorter. This week, my guest on The Story I'm Telling Myself Podcast, Suneet Bhatt, explains that we fail to find happiness because we treat it as...