Change Academy
215 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago -Learn how to cultivate a more productive mindset, form sustainable habits, and create a lifestyle that supports both your goals and your wellbeing with host, Monica Reinagel. Drawing on decades of expertise and experience, Monica provides guidance on navigating the challenging process of behavior change in a fun and accessible way. Learn more and find show notes for every episode at https://changeacademypodcast.com
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Episodes
How behavior change experts work on their own difficult habits
April 16, 2024 09:00 - 30 minutes - 42.5 MBKurt Nelson and Tim Houlihan are the co-hosts of the Behavioral Grooves podcast and heavy hitters in the behavioral sciences. In this episode, the three of us trade notes on what we've learned from years of podcasting and behavioral coaching and how it impacts our ability to work with our own behavior challenges. (Yup, we still have them!) Key Takeaways Curiosity allows for both open-mindedness and critical thinking. Trusted sources are a valuable short-cut but can't completely ...
Why we can't help comparing ourselves to others -- MID 5:31
April 05, 2024 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBIt’s a very natural human tendency to compare ourselves to the people around us–and even to the people we see portrayed in the media. And like so many other behavioral tendencies, this one is a double-edged sword. Looking at what others have achieved can inspire us to greater effort. It can also make us feel like crap. And we don't want that! Today, we're delving into the psychology behind why we are driven to compare ourselves to others, the impact it can have on our mental wel...
Why behavioral economics shouldn't be the only tool in the toolbox
March 25, 2024 09:00 - 33 minutes - 46.3 MBBehavioral economics has given us a lot of insights into how we can influence our own and other’s behavior. But the approach has some serious limitations, especially when applied to promoting health behaviors. Joining me on the podcast is Michelle Segar, a frequent guest here on the Change Academy. Michelle is an NIH-funded researcher at the University of Michigan. She’s also a best-selling author and health coach whose work focuses on fostering behavior change that can survive the...
Looking for happiness in all the wrong places, with Oliver Burkeman
March 15, 2024 09:00 - 36 minutes - 50.1 MBWhat if the pursuit of happiness is NOT the path to greater life satisfaction? What if being more productive and getting more done isn’t actually the way to get ahead? In today’s episode, I’m talking to author Oliver Burkeman about some of the ways in which we might want to re-examine our relationship to goals, happiness, and the things that are most important to us. This is sometimes a bit painful. because so much of it has to do with confronting some of the hard limits that we l...
How to get back on track instead of sabotaging your progress
March 05, 2024 10:00 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBOver the years, I have worked with a lot of people on various aspects of behavior change–mostly having to do with health behaviors. I have witnessed and celebrated some amazing breakthroughs and successes. But I have also seen people stumble and struggle. Regularly. Something happens and they fall back into old habits or patterns that they’d successfully moved away from. It’s disappointing but it’s not a tragedy. Because this is just part of the change process. What I do find tr...
How to stop complaining and find the path to positive change
February 26, 2024 10:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBIs there something in your life that’s been driving you crazy for a while? Some situation at work that you find yourself venting to your spouse about every night at dinner? Or maybe a recurring conflict with your partner or your kids that never seems to be adequately resolved? Do you find yourself ruminating over a problematic situation every time you have a moment alone in the car? In this episode, Dr. Bethy Campbell and I are sharing a 4-step process that can help you exit that c...
The inner work that makes outward change more possible
February 15, 2024 10:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBIn this conversation with a recent “graduate” of the Weighless program, Lauren shares some of the key insights that helped her permanently transform her physical and mental health. Lauren is a healthcare professional herself, with a front row seat to some of the consequences of unhealthy habits and lifestyles. She had plenty of motivation to change. And yet, she still needed some support to turn that knowledge into consistent behavior change. As you’ll hear, Lauren was a little su...
Why it’s so hard to convert good intentions into action
February 05, 2024 10:00 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBThere’s clearly no shortage of good intentions in the world, and most of them actually have to do with health. People want to get into shape, they want to eat better, they want to lose weight. Unfortunately, very few of these good intentions get converted into reality. Believe it or not, there’s a technical term for this: It’s called the intention behavior gap. And in this episode, I want to share with you some research-based strategies for bridging the gap between good intentions ...
How to know when it’s time to make a big change
January 25, 2024 10:00 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MBCareers are one of the ways that we find meaning and purpose in our lives. Not the only way, of course. But what if you wake up one day and realize that your true purpose might be better fulfilled by doing something other than what you originally trained for. Now what?! Design thinking offers tools and processes that can help us both imagine and then execute big shifts in our lives. Lisa Waltuch and her business partner, Jen Sullivan, are co-founders of Encore Retreats, where ...
What if you didn’t have to be more disciplined to succeed?
January 15, 2024 10:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBI was recently exchanging emails with someone who was struggling to change some unhelpful behaviors. He wrote: “I do really well for a couple of days and then I go totally off the rails again. It’s such a vicious cycle. I just need to be be more disciplined.” And if there is something that you are struggling to change, you’ve probably thought the same thing. But I don’t think summoning up more discipline is necessarily the answer. In this episode, I’m talking with someone who ...
Making the most of a reboot (Behind the scenes)
January 05, 2024 10:00 - 19 minutes - 17.4 MBI’ve decided that my special word for 2024 is Reboot. Much of my last year was consumed by the reboot of the Weighless program–a coaching program that I launched with Brock Armstrong 7 years ago, and which has now been now relaunched in a new format that I think is its best version yet. The Change Academy is not about weight management, per se. My goal in this podcast is to give you tools that you can apply to create positive change in any aspect of your life. But in this episod...
Special Series: Mindset Reset #5
December 30, 2023 10:00 - 5 minutes - 8.07 MBThis is the last of a special 5-part Mindset Reset–a little bonus series to help us get our mindset tuned up as we head into the New Year, and into whatever new projects and objectives we’re hoping to tackle. This last mindset reset is really the key to any change you are working on: Remembering that we are all works in progress. Whether or not you're thinking about joining the Weighless Program, I hope you've found this special Mindset Reset series helpful. Our program members of...
Special Series: Mindset Reset #4
December 29, 2023 10:00 - 6 minutes - 9.07 MBWe have reached the fourth installment our special 5-day Mindset Reset series and this reset is a juicy one. Many of us have learned the unhelpful habit of moralizing our food choices. Here's a more helpful way to think about the choices we make. If you’re interested in learning more about the Weighless Program, from which this series is derived, go to https://weighless.life. We have a new group starting on January 1st and if you could use some support with weight management in t...
Special Series: Mindset Reset #3
December 28, 2023 10:00 - 6 minutes - 9.34 MBThis is the third installment our special 5-day Mindset Reset and we're talking about balancing our approach to food as a source of both nourishment and pleasure. As with most of the things we talk about here in the Change Academy (and in the Weighless Program), the real payoff is in the implementation. So, don't just listen. Make sure some rubber is meeting the road. If you’re interested in learning more about the Weighless Program, from which this series is derived, go to http...
Special Series: Mindset Reset #2
December 27, 2023 10:00 - 6 minutes - 8.53 MBThis is Part 2 of our special 5-part Mindset Reset series–a little bonus series to help us get our mindset tuned up as we head into the New Year. In this reset, we're talking about how we recover from setbacks. Because this series was originally developed to accompany the Weighless Program, the examples here focus on typical dieting behaviors and mindsets. But even if that’s not what you’re working on, I bet you can translate these insights into whatever you are working on. If ...
Special Series: Weighless Mindset Reset # 1
December 26, 2023 10:00 - 7 minutes - 10.5 MBFor this last week of the calendar year, we're departing from our usual format to bring you a special 5-day series called the Weighless Mindset Reset. The New Year is a time when many people resolve to eat healthier. Unfortunately, those resolutions have typically crashed and burned by the second week of January. By taking a little time to tune up our mindset, I think we can greatly improve our chances of converting our New Year resolutions into more lasting behavior change. Th...
Is your diet-tracking app helping or hurting?
December 15, 2023 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBThere are apps and devices that help us what we eat, weigh, spend, save, how much water we drink, how many steps we take. But what is all of this tracking doing for us? Are we using these tools and this information to improve our wellbeing or have we succumbed to the tyranny of tracking? Joining me on the podcast is registered dietitian and workplace wellness consultant Cassie Christopher. Tracking is a a topic that comes up a lot for each of us in the coaching work that we do and...
In order to succeed, you must risk failing (again)
December 05, 2023 10:00 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBIf anyone is telling you they can guarantee that you will succeed (as long as you follow their method or their strategy or whatever), they are not being upfront with you. Here’s the hard truth: If you want to succeed, you have to be willing to risk failing. In fact, if there is anything that actually does guarantee success, it’s being willing to fail–repeatedly if necessary. But let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. In this episode, I (and a bunch of former clients) tal...
How to build the circle that supports your best work
November 23, 2023 10:00 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBToday, I’m sharing a bit about my circle of support and inviting you to evaluate your own network. Who are you grateful for? Where might your support network need a little building out? Whose support network are you a part of and how do you support them? Many of us have bigger and more varied support networks than we even realize–or fully take advantage of. And for those whose networks are a little threadbare, I have some ideas on how to shore those up. Key Takeaways - A more eff...
Stages of change: what they forget to tell you
November 14, 2023 10:00 - 33 minutes - 30.2 MBIf you’ve ever taken an introductory psychology class or done some reading on human behavior and development, you’ve probably stumbled across the Transtheoretical Model, better known as the Stages of Change. It offers some insights into how behavior change happens, why it sometimes doesn’t (or seems like it doesn’t) and how we can better support behavior change efforts–both our own and those of people around us. But there are some nuances to this that I think deserve a little mo...
If it feels good, it must be bad for me…and other fairy tales
November 06, 2023 10:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBHedonic self-care involves activities that we find pleasurable. A massage or a nap or time spent with dear friends. Eudaimonic self-care includes those things we do not necessarily because they are pleasurable in the moment, but because they support our goals and objectives. Things like getting our teeth cleaned, or doing meal prep ahead of a busy week, or spending time and money on a therapist or hiring a health coach. You could easily get the impression that eudaimonic self-c...
Festive food season is approaching. What's your plan? (Extracurricular)
October 30, 2023 09:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBEarlier this month, I sat down with Kelly Howard of the Fit is Freedom podcast. You may remember Kelly from a Change Academy episode on how incorporating more fun and adventure can help you be more consistent about your fitness practice. Kelly invited me back to the Fit is Freedom podcast to share some tips with her listeners on how to enjoy the upcoming the holiday season without throwing all of our healthy habits and progress under the bus. I thought you would be interested in ...
Better together: How community and connection build healthier habits
October 26, 2023 09:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBIn the previous episode, I talked about some of the things that can go wrong when we put corporations in charge of our wellbeing. In this episode, I share an example of what it looks like when it goes right, and how corporate-sponsored wellbeing programs can actually have a very positive impact on individuals and workers as well as on the company’s bottom line. Lindsey Soroka is a registered dietitian and works as a health promotion specialist for a major national corporation, whe...
How community and connection build healthier habits
October 26, 2023 09:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBIn the previous episode, I talked about some of the things that can go wrong when we put corporations in charge of our wellbeing. In this episode, I share an example of what it looks like when it goes right, and how corporate-sponsored wellbeing programs can actually have a very positive impact on individuals and workers as well as on the company’s bottom line. Lindsey Soroka is a registered dietitian and works as a health promotion specialist for a major national corporation, whe...
Are these really the people we want in charge of our well-being?
October 16, 2023 09:00 - 18 minutes - 16.5 MBA lot of employers and health insurers are now offering wellbeing apps and portals. They're obviously hoping that giving people tools to help them manage their health conditions and nudge them toward healthy behaviors will reduce health care costs. I recently checked out the wellbeing app offered by my own health insurance company. I actually think that some of the well-meaning but poorly-conceived prompts could be doing more harm than good. To be fair, figuring out how to nudge...
Recalibrating your reward system: treating yourself better
October 05, 2023 09:00 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MBThe theme of treats and rewards is coming up in a lot of my conversations right now…with my coaching clients, with people who have reached out to talk about working together, even with my friends and colleagues. Specifically, using food as a treat or reward. This is something a lot of us have learned to do. And like any highly rewarding behavior, this habit has the potential to do harm…and can be surprisingly hard to break. In this episode, we’re going to talk about cultivating n...
Why a healthy self-image is essential to your future growth
September 25, 2023 09:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBHow we see ourselves has an enormous impact on our mental health and wellbeing, how we function in our relationships, even what sort of goals we set for ourselves. Often, we believe that achieving those goals will improve our self-image and make us feel better about ourselves. But usually, it happens the other way around. Our self-image is often very distorted. Others may barely notice “imperfections” that are all we can see when we look in the mirror. And, by the same token, we ca...
Three things you need to change in order to succeed (ft. Molly Watts)
September 14, 2023 09:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBIf you’ve been listening to the Change Academy for a while, you’ll remember Molly Watts from several previous episodes. But if you’re newer to the Academy, let me quickly tell you who she is. Molly is the host of the top-rated Alcohol Minimalist podcast and author of the book Breaking the Bottle Legacy. Molly’s work focuses on helping people create a more peaceful and sustainable relationship with alcohol. And the approach that Molly takes is very consonant with our philosophy he...
How to transform difficult emotions into powerful insights
September 05, 2023 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBAll of us occasionally struggle with negative or overwhelming emotional reactions. But few of us have been taught to handle difficult feelings effectively. In this episode, Dr. Bethy Campbell returns to the Change Academy to share techniques for working with our most challenging emotions–enabling us to handle stressful situations with greater resilience and to access healthier emotional responses. Dr. Bethy Campbell is a clinical psychologist, a marriage and family therapist, wit...
Feeling uninspired or unmotivated by your goals? This could be the missing element
August 25, 2023 09:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBLate breaking news! Kelly is giving Change Academy listeners an electronic copy of her new book for free! Scroll down for the link to that I met Kelly Howard a few months ago, when she invited me to be a guest on her podcast. I loved the concept of her podcast, which is that fitness is not just another chore that we’re supposed to do. It is a gateway to more freedom. Kelly takes that message beyond her podcast and into the real world, where she runs a company that offers hiking,...
How satisfied are you with your life? (Your health may depend on it)
August 14, 2023 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBPart of living your best life involves thinking–at least a little–about how you can set yourself up to live a good life in the future. If you’re of a certain age, you might keep track of things like your cholesterol or your blood pressure. Or, you might keep an eye on your 401K balance, with an eye toward ensuring future well-being. But there’s another lesser-known metric that can also be predictive of both your current and your future health and longevity. Just like those other...
How much can we realistically do to improve our lives?
August 04, 2023 09:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBThis podcast is based on the premise that –with the right tools, insights, and support, we can create meaningful lasting changes in our habits, improve our health, and take control of our lives. The podcast Tiny Leaps, Big Changes by Gregg Clunis is based on the same premise. But in this episode, Gregg and I explore some uncomfortable questions: What are the limits of our personal agency? What are the forces that lead us to believe that creating healthy, safe, and secure lives ...
Better habits aren’t the solution, according to this behavioral expert
July 25, 2023 09:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBHave we put habit formation on too high a pedestal? Dr. Michelle Segar is an NIH-funded researcher who has spent close to thirty years studying how to create healthy behaviors. that can survive the complexity and unpredictability of the real world. We talk about why healthy behaviors are often particularly resistant to habit formation, and what may work better. Things to Listen For 02:17 Common misconceptions about habits 06:33 Why complex behaviors defy habit formation 14:40 T...
How to succeed: What I’ve learned from my most successful clients
July 14, 2023 09:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBI'm convinced that watching Wimbledon actually improves my game. Granted, when you’re as bad as I am, it doesn’t take much. But there is definitely a lot to be learned from people who are good at something that you’re trying to get better at. Which is why I want to share with you some of what I’ve observed in my most successful clients. These are qualities and attitudes that you can adopt and emulate to enhance your own progress and success, whether you’re working with me or anothe...
How do we create the conditions that foster positive change?
July 05, 2023 09:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBChange doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Whether you are trying to create positive changes in your personal life or in your workplace or community, you are more likely to succeed if you are working in a supportive environment. You’ll often hear this referred to (especially in workplace settings) as “creating a culture of wellness.” But our efforts to instill a culture of wellness very often miss the mark. In this episode, we’ll talk about why and how to fix it. Joining me is Rebecca Jo...
Change is hard. Maintaining the status quo can be even tougher.
June 26, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBWorking toward a big goal takes a lot of grit and discipline. You may imagine that everything will be so much easier once you reach your goal. You can finally relax and enjoy your accomplishment. But that transition, from active change to maintenance, can be really tricky. And we’re often completely unprepared for that. If we’re not careful, we can let what we’ve attained slip through our fingers, simply because we don’t feel as motivated or rewarded by maintaining the status quo...
Designing your Future: How to Make a Successful Career or Life Pivot
June 15, 2023 09:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBThis is a must-listen episode for anyone contemplating a career shift, But even if you’re not necessarily looking for a new job right now, this conversation will be highly relevant to anyone trying to live a life of greater purpose and meaning. Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, better known to her clients and students as “Dr. Bethy,” is a clinical psychologist, a marriage and family therapist, with special expertise and certification in career development counseling. I know you'll appreciat...
Insight is worthless unless you're willing to do this with it
June 05, 2023 09:00 - 11 minutes - 15.6 MBIf you are an insight junkie like me, this episode is intended to be the tough love we both need. A lot of the coaching I do involves helping people better understand what is (really) driving their behaviors. These things are frequently invisible or unacknowledged–and this can result in our acting in ways that aren’t aligned with what we say we want. Without insight into why we do the things we do, change can be very difficult. But the point I want to make today is that insight a...
Pushing past discomfort: How to create behavior change that lasts
May 25, 2023 09:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBNot only is it fun to share success stories, but there’s always something valuable to learn by hearing how people navigate the process of change. In this episode, one of our clients share some reflections on how has she approached her goals– and some of the surprising benefits that happened along the way. Two things that I want you listen for: 1. Stephanie wasn’t just looking to create a certain result. She was specifically interested in making a change that would be durable. She...
Why workplace wellness is not the solution for burnout (and what is)
May 15, 2023 09:00 - 29 minutes - 39.9 MBEveryone is burned out. Employees are burned out. Business owners are burned out. Caregivers are burned out. But the solutions that are being promoted are not necessarily what we need in order to solve the problem of burnout. Cassie Christopher returns to the Change Academy to talk about workplace burnout and the impact this is having on both employees and employers (and even the self-employed)--and how each has a different role to play in creating a healthier and happier workplac...
Why your attempts to solve the problem keep failing
May 05, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutes - 17.9 MBIf there’s an issue that you can’t seem to get a handle on, a goal that you've had forever, or a problem that just won’t stay solved, this episode is for you. We’re talking about why this happens--and how to get yourself out of this frustrating cycle. Often, it's because there's a mismatch between the solutions that we are applying and the problem that actually needs to be solved in order for us to create the desired outcome. In this episode, we cover how to know whether you've ...
Change comes to the Change Academy
April 20, 2023 18:55 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MBWe’ve been on Spring Break for the last few weeks but we haven’t spent the time lounging on a beach. We’ve been doing some big thinking about the future of the Change Academy and we have some big news to share: We are redefining our respective roles at the Change Academy. Having co-created and co-hosted the show for the past 3 years, Brock is now stepping away from the mic but not going far…just a few steps away, into the production booth. In Brock's final episode as co-host, we...
Spring Rituals (Extracurricular)
March 20, 2023 09:00 - 3 minutes - 6.95 MBBrock and I (Monica) are taking our traditional Spring Break from the podcast and using that time to take a fresh look at our goals, objectives and commitments and do some tidying of our own. And we’d like to invite you to do the same–and we’ve even created a special resource to help you do just that. -- Visit ChangeAcademyPodcast.com/tuneup to join us for a system-by-system inspection and tuneup (or complete overhaul, if necessary) of your health, habits, outlook, and ambitions....
Why it’s OK if you don’t reach your goal
March 09, 2023 10:00 - 18 minutes - 25.5 MBWe’ve talked a lot about goals in this podcast: the purpose and function of goals, how to set good ones, and how to pursue them more effectively, even your goal-setting personality! But in this episode, we want to talk about NOT reaching our goals–and why that is not necessarily a problem. ★ Support this podcast ★
Separate the Thought from the Thinker
February 27, 2023 10:00 - 17 minutes - 23.5 MBDo you get stuck in your thoughts, even when (or maybe, especially when) they aren’t helpful? We all do. There is even a name for it - Cognitive Fusion. Well, in this episode, we are going to learn how to defuse ourselves from those thoughts that threaten to undo our hard work, make us feel unworthy or sad, and hold us back from reaching our goals. ★ Support this podcast ★
Countering Your Addition Bias
February 17, 2023 10:00 - 25 minutes - 35.2 MBSome new research caught recently our attention because it reinforces and expands on a concept that we introduced about 6 months ago in our episode on the Law of Subtraction. When we recorded that, we weren’t aware that our so-called “law of subtraction” had been studied by University of Virginia professor Leidy Klotz. In this episode, we explore some of that research and how we can use this insight to create better solutions to our challenges. ★ Support this podcast ★
Mind the (Motivation) Gap
February 08, 2023 19:44 - 24 minutes - 33 MBMotivation gaps are those times where you feel as if you are not motivated enough to do what it takes to get a particular result. In this episode, we talk about four things that frequently cause motivation gaps, plus what researcher, Julie Dirksen, refers to as a "special motivation gap." ★ Support this podcast ★
Not Wanting It Enough
January 26, 2023 10:09 - 36 minutes - 50.6 MBIn our last episode, we were talking about feelings of unworthiness and how that can affect our ability or willingness to work on ourselves and our lives to make them better. This episode sort of picks up where that one left off.! Monica and our guest Cassie Christopher are discussing something that we often hear people say when they are disappointed with their results or their progress: “I guess I just didn’t want it enough.” Given the time of year that this episode is coming ou...
Are You Worth This Effort?
January 16, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.6 MBIn our recent episode "Will I succeed?" we offered some questions to evaluate your chances of succeeding at whatever goal you are working toward. One of them was: Do I believe I am worth the effort – and worthy of the outcome? What if your answer to that question is No? What can you do to change that to a Yes? In this episode, we explore some possible answers to this question. ★ Support this podcast ★
Goals vs. Commitments: Why you need both
January 06, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31 MBDo you know the difference between goals and commitments? Both play an important role in creating a life that is both meaningful and purposeful. In this episode, we explore the distinctions between them, and how they can work together to guide your efforts. ★ Support this podcast ★