Not too long ago, I decided to break up with achievement addiction. In the second episode of The Wholeheartedly Podcast, I take a deeper dive into achievement addiction. I talk about how toxic positivity and other factors contributed to my plummeting self-worth and other negative factors. I define achievement addiction and discuss ways that help me move past negativity in order to harbor contentment.
Read MoreWith Thanksgiving being this week, we wanted to take time and reflect on all that we are thankful for.
Read MoreI will be the first to admit that acceptance is something that doesn’t come naturally to me. My entire life has been a kaleidoscope of dwelling on aspects of life I cannot change, wondering why experiences/people/places/things just can’t be different, and an entire host of other expectations. In short, I believe that most of my anxiety and depression lie in my relationship with acceptance. How can you learn to rewrite your own story and accept yourself more fully?
Read MoreHourglass Media’s Integrated Communications Assistant Isabella Mershon believes that too often, mental illnesses are romanticized. She wanted to share her and her peer’s stories — unfiltered. Please note: This blog post contains information and insight about mental health disorders and experiences that could be triggering for some. Please be advised.
Read MoreDuring the week of May 24-May 28, Hourglass Media observed its inaugural Mental Health Week. This week’s intention was to take a much-needed hiatus from client work and everyday work life #behindthehourglass. While we love what we do, we wanted to practice what we preach and make our mental health a priority during this week. Both of us wanted to give our takes on the week and what we learned about ourselves -- and our mental health -- during our Mental Health Week.
Read MoreMay is National Mental Health Awareness Month. As anyone who knows even a small glimmer about our work knows, mental health is one of our main passions and causes. In addition to introducing mental-health habits in the workplace, we also want to give you some tools to use both personally and professionally. Here are five ways you can bring your mental health to the forefront this month.
Read MoreOne of the most challenging lessons I have learned is how important it is to love and value oneself. I have experienced times in my life where I was my biggest bully. I didn’t love who I was and my actions reinforced this internal struggle. I did not take care of my body, my mind, and my overall well-being.
Read MoreOver a year ago, our lives collectively changed when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world as we knew it. Since then, mental health issues have skyrocketed. Individuals may have new diagnoses or fall into the same issues they have known about and lived with for a while. No matter the onset, mental health has been at the forefront of many casual conversations to clinical studies.
Read MoreLike most people who have Netflix and love a good true-crime story, I watched “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at The Cecil Hotel.” I’m going to go ahead and spare you if you haven’t seen it already: just sit this one out. With all of my commentary aside, there is one thing that really stuck with me after watching this series. Mental health is still very misunderstood and exploited. When you don’t have control of your own narrative, it can be misconstrued to the masses.
Read MoreI am able to toggle back and forth between feeding my son and then hopping on a Webex meeting. Recently, I appeared live on one of our local news stations. When I returned home, he puked all over the front of my red dress. Not the most glamorous moment, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. No one could prepare for the challenge of being a mom AND Hourglass Media CEO. I aim to bring you along my mental health journey, so welcome to my Mom/CEO life. See what works for me as I embark on completely new territory.
Read MoreI learned so much about myself in 2020, and I am still unpacking that internal wisdom as I craft my internal annual report’s year-in-review letter and writing in my journal. One thing is certain, though: I will never be the same person I was when the new year began. So much has shaped me individually, professionally, and collectively with everyone else on Earth. I already shared five lessons I learned in 2020 in a previous blog post. Here are a few elements of 2020 that I plan to carry with me in 2021.
Read MoreA couple of years ago, I discovered Hilary Rushford. Ever the devoted, always-learning entrepreneur, I was instantly drawn to Hilary’s business and style tips. In 2020, I’ve been using the Elegant Excellence Journal to help me streamline my goals and objectives while giving myself the grace to adjust my aspirations if needed.
Read MoreIn last week’s blog post about self-publishing, I mentioned in the last point to not let fear stop you. I wish I could bottle even just a drop of that little-girl fearlessness. There are times I really need it and have to still push myself past the corners of a suppressed envelope in order to reach my writer’s potential. I’ve written millions upon millions of words at this point personally and professionally, but I still struggle with a lack of confidence in certain writing realms. Here are three ways you can work on overcoming your fear of sharing your work.
Read MoreAs a recovering perfectionist, I still have many moments of unhelpful thoughts. In this Mental Health Moments blog post, I will outline three of my most unhelpful thought processes to give you an inside look at my brain. I write these posts to help others struggling with perfectionism, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues reach at least a small form of clarity. Unhelpful thoughts are old friends who rear their heads at the most inconvenient times. They are part of the confines of my comfort zone, and I have to be diligent in thwarting them before they wreak havoc on my productivity and general way I feel about myself.
Read MoreThis week, I wanted to talk about my own foray into curated imperfection in this blog post in order to shed light on how I was duped into believing in these tactics. Here are some ways curated imperfection can cause more harm than good to our mental health.
Read MoreI spent all of 2020 to this point with a little human growing inside me, and now, he’s here. My husband and I are over the moon in love with our son. Anyone who knows us knows that fact. Before we grew our family, we made a decision not many millennial parents in the digital age make: we decided to keep our future children off social media.
Here are four reasons you may want to keep your children off social media.
Read MoreIn the hustle and bustle of everyday life, managing overwhelm can feel like the most daunting task in the known world. Trust me when I say this: I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed. There are times in which I manage it like a pro, knocking down negative thoughts as they arise while plugging away at my growing to-do list. Other times, I feel as though I want to crawl into the fetal position underneath the covers and sleep away the problems. I can’t eradicate the negative thought processes growing exponentially in my brain. Here are three ways I tackle overwhelm.
Read MoreAs a public relations practitioner -- or a communicator in general -- you are initiated with the expectation that you MUST deliver everything on a silver platter to everyone at all times. That makes total sense most of the time. After all, as PR pros, we want our clients’ and organizations’ messages to be heard and seen exactly how we released them to our target audiences. We don’t care to go that extra mile to ensure that a newspaper has a photo to run with the story or if a reporter from a news station calls us at the last minute for a soundbite for the 6 p.m. broadcast. But, when are you being TOO accessible?
Read MoreMost individuals find themselves on a journey toward happiness for the majority of their lives. Some find it with open arms, but others never seem to push past fear, expectations, and other factors to cultivate their own forms of happiness or contentment. Here are a few ways you can depend on yourself for happiness.
Read MoreAugust is my birth month, so that natural year-older thing always puts me in this mode. I think about lessons learned and successes I’ve had from each August to the next, and this time around, I’ve been ruminating about what I would tell my younger self. Here are four mantras I would tell the younger version of myself earlier in my career.
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