Let's Talk

Posts Categorized: Moving Beyond Survival

You Don’t Need a Degree to be Successful

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

I will

Did you know that some of today’s most famous entrepreneurs became successful without a college degree? People like Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg never completed college.

I am not suggesting that going to college isn’t important. But I also believe we should consider all the options available to us.

Today on my blog and podcast, I’ll show you a simple exercise to help you evaluate endeavors that didn’t succeed, and to clarify and prioritize the next steps you want to take.

5 Steps to Pick Up the Pieces and Construct a New Outcome

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Pick Up the Pieces and Construct a New Outcome

There are many stories of people who have experienced and survived one crisis after another. In each situation, their first concern was to survive.

Next it was, “Where do I go from here?”

Perhaps you can recall times in your own life when you asked yourself, “Now what do I do?”

Today on my blog and podcast, I’ll show you 5 steps that will help you begin the process of rebuilding.

No matter where you begin, you can make it. Refuse to let the magnitude of rebuilding take away your resilience and determination.

Breathing Exercise to Reduce Stress

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

We can’t think of options and alternatives when we’re under high levels of stress – in fact, we can’t think at all.

Only when some of that stress has been reduced can we put on our thinking cap, challenge our fears, and look for ways to go beyond survival.

Ruminating over your problems may be the only way you know how to cope with stress at first. You may continue to argue your point of view… “You just don’t understand. I followed instructions. I took classes to learn. All I hear from everyone, is why don’t you do this or that, as if I haven’t already tried that and more.”

What is Creating Your High Levels of Stress?

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

A student in my husband’s college class came to see him one day to tell him she would have to drop out of college. She was a great student, and he was afraid she would not return to school, limiting her chances in life.

He was always a trusted resource and support to his students, and he gently probed the reasons. He listened as she told her story, as shared in today’s post.

I also include information about how the fight/flight response affects us physically, and questions to ask yourself to help you identify what may be causing distress in your life.

What Does Survival Look Like?

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Personalized Stress: The Stress we Create | FocusWithMarlene.com

When the unexpected happens, we come face to face with the unknown.

We may have lost our job, or the marriage we thought would last a lifetime has just ended. Our spouse may have died unexpectedly, or we lost our best friend. It may be the death of a child or the shocking awareness that our teen is deeply involved in drugs or gangs. Or that our health is slowly deteriorating with aging.

There are a thousand ways our life can be turned inside out and upside down in the blink of an eye. At such times, we feel like a deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car: paralyzed, unable to move. Shock protects us for a short time, but when it wears off, the magnitude of our circumstances hits full force.

Where Do We Go From Here? Moving Beyond Survival

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

January — a time for new year’s resolutions. However, like all good intentions, they fall by the wayside. Until we think through and actually define what we want, our ambitions and aspirations will remain just dreams and desires.

What do I want and why is it important to me? What is needed to create a workable goal? What benefits will I get? Where do we go from here?

Discover how considering new approaches will expand your frame of reference so you can find new coping skills that will enable you to move beyond survival.