one way high school affects the rest of your life

what’s the story you’re telling yourself?

“I’m not good enough.” “I’m not smart enough.” “I can’t do that.” Have you ever said any of those to yourself? The stories we tell ourselves (about ourselves) are incredibly important and believe it or not for many people, a life long story you create about yourself can start during high school. In today’s pep talk, I share some common high school stories that pop up during the college process, how they affect your present, and how to change your story if you don’t love the one you’re telling yourself.

more mentoring:

confidence versus competence

mentor links:

https://maggiedipasquale.com/

1:1 sessions

the secret behind why someone is mean to you

mentor insight when someone is unkind

A year ago I took a walk with my sister and vented about a friend I felt was unkind to me. I went on and on, when she looked at me and said something that changed my mind about the situation. Have you ever had someone be mean to you? Yeah, we’ve all been there. In today’s pep talk, I share what it really means when someone is unkind to you and how this perspective can help you feel better.

how “should” stress ruins relaxing (and what to do about it)

Ever try to relax and then tell yourself all the things you should be doing instead? I should be studying. I should be doing my laundry. I should be out with friends. This definitely ruins relaxing and I’ve seen it spike during the pandemic when we don’t have clear boundaries between all of our activities. Today’s pep talk, I share a quick tip for get out of the “shoulds” when it comes to downtime.

more mentoring:

stack stress support

productivity pep talk

blursday remedy

ritualizing your routine

stack stress support

Stack stress is a term I’ve made up to describe what happens when you have a lot going on at once, put caring yourself allll the way at the bottom of your list, then one tiiiiny thing tips everything over. Sound familiar? I bet it does for many! If you’ve ever cried over feeling overwhelmed this is the episode for you. In today’s pep talk, I share 3 things you can do when you feel the pressure of stack stress.

mentioned links:

an easy exercise for shifting stress

all the stress

favorite pep talks

ICYMI: my current favs

It’s Spring here in the Northeast and if you’re getting outside more and wanted to something to listen to I’m sharing my current fav pep talks!

if you want to be yourself with friends:

if you want to understand yourself more:

if you want to relax:

**bonus** I know I said 3, but hey, this is my space and I want to include a pep talk on dating!

if you’re wondering if they like you:

a pep talk for when you’re waiting on college decisions

Are you waiting to hear back from a college? Hoping to get off a waitlist? Is the unknown stressing you out? College decisions can come with a lot of feelings! Check out this bonus episode for a pep talk on a college acceptance anxiety!

a pep talk on productivity

pandemic productivity

“I can’t get motivated.”

“I’m not being productive.”

Have you felt that lately? There are so many pandemic related reasons for burnout right now, but one hypothesis I have for a lack of drive is how we view our value. We’re used to measuring success based on productivity, but in a virtual school/work world it looks a lot different and it’s thrown us off. In this pep talk, I chat productivity, the effect of assigning output to our worth, and a mentor shift to help with motivation.

The word “productivity” popped up in my conversations lately and it stood out to me. It’s not a theme I usually hear. Normally with my students, I get a lot of, “I have so much to do, I don’t know where to start!” or “I have a lot to accomplish and not a lot of time!” It’s not typically an issue of motivation so I sat with myself to figure out what’s going on.

My hypothesis is that we’re so used to output being tied to our self worth, but in this pandemic world, we can’t measure our success based on what we got done in a day the same way we used to and it’s had consequences. We used productivity as a measurement of success and for many, that looks a lot different right now.

What I’ve mentored my students to do when a pandemic productivity problem comes up is to shift thinking about productivity to purpose. Instead of assessing your worth is based on what you can get done in a day, focus on where you find meaning.

This mindset change can be really helpful especially as girls graduate and go out into the workforce. You can evaluate who you are based on your inner world and not look to the external all the time with how many things you got crossed off a list or how late you stayed at work. Measuring success without considering your inner world, is not completely fulfilling. To sum up my biggest pandemic productivity tip: when you feel unproductive think about purpose.

a tip if every day feels the same

a blursday remedy

Each day feel the same to you? Everything starting to blur into one? This pandemic problem has come up a lot with my students (and something I feel as well). In today’s pep talk, I share a clip from a chat I gave at the College Women’s Club of Westfield. The blursday blues are real. We are on our devices and Zoom more with less human interaction. What a time! Check out this episode to learn a specific tip to help navigate the burnout of every day feeling exactly the same.

a pep talk on friendships breakups

Today’s pep talk is a clip from my ‘ask me anything’ episode chatting about friendship breakups. It can be really confusing and upsetting when a friendship ends which is why I want to share some comforting mentor insights. It’s advice I have found to be true when going through friendships changes. Sending anyone going through a friendship breakup lots of love!

Want more mentoring on this topic? Try this episode on outgrowing things.

if I could only give one piece of advice to college students this would be it

unexpected advice for college students (no matter what grade you’re in)

Today’s pep talk is a clip from my ‘ask me anything’ episode! Someone submitted: if you could only give one piece of advice to college students what would it be? What I share is something I remind my students of often and even feel it’s most important for upperclassmen to keep in mind! It can be easy to forget the bigger picture when you’re going through your day-to-day and that’s why this little mind shift can have a big impact.