Ep.100 Coping Skills To Transform Your Shoulds in Midlife To Increase Calm When Others Get Mad

Creating Midlife Calm: Coping Skills for Stress & Anxiety in Family, Work & Relationships

In this episode, you'll discover what to do when others aren't happy about you transforming your "shoulds."

When you're shifting priorities, people may resist or push back, creating a unique tension. I'll walk you through a helpful mindset shift to stay true to your decisions and maintain connections with those affected by your choices.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. The SOS tool—a three-step process of Spirit, Options, Select to evaluate "shoulds" and choose actions that align with your values.

2. The balance of the "Capital I" and "Italicized i"—how to stand firm in your identity while staying connecting and flexible in relationships with others.

3. Strategies for effective communication—how to deliver your decisions compassionately and handle any negative reactions without sacrificing your well-being.

Thank you for listening to this milestone 100th episode! If you’re new, start from Ep. 1, What is Mental Wellness?, and join our journey to achieve calm and balance in midlife. Tune in on Monday for another episode of Creating Midlife Calm.

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About the Host:
MJ Murray Vachon LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 48,000 hours of therapy sessions and 31 years of experience teaching her Mental Wellness curriculum, Inner Challenge. Four years ago she overcame her fear of technology to create a podcast that integrated her vast clinical experience and practical wisdom of cultivating mental wellness using the latest information from neuroscience. MJ was Social Worker of the Year in 2011 for Region 2/IN.
Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.