How to Feel Better in an Instant

Welcome.

To Your Worthy Career, a podcast with me, Melissa Lawrence. I’m a career and life coach with all the corporate credit and talent development and organizational psychology. I help women like you get extraordinary results by being more you, not less. I won’t just help you have a career experience worthy of you, but I will help you build your self worth to shift what you think is possible and take the action that will create the career you’ve always wanted. Whether it’s more meaningful work you’re passionate about, making more money, getting to your next level, or being more effective as a leader, we are shattering the glass ceiling here. The one that exists for women at work and the one we put on ourselves with our doubt and inner critic. Each week you will get practical teachings grounded in neuroscience and effective career development strategies. You’ll experience deep mindset shifts and the perfect amount of rule so you can run your career with ease rather than your career running you. You were born for more, and I’m going to help you get there with maybe a few dance parties along the way. Your up level begins now.

Hello, hello, and welcome to this week’s episode of the podcast. This week I’m going to switch gears and we’re going to get into some neuroscience that’s going to give you a new tool that you’re not using enough that you already have and that is going to help you have a positive impact on you no matter what stage of career or level of fulfillment that you have right now. Is your interest peaked. We are digging in to the power of music and the impact it has on your thoughts and emotions. And we’re going to get a little nerdy and get into some studies that have been done on how music can influence your thoughts and emotions and how it actually has a positive impact on your brain and how you can use it in your career. Music really is a superpower. Have you ever been walking through the grocery store, going through the motions, getting your avocado? Then you hear a thrill back song that you used to jam out to as a teenager, and suddenly you’ve got a little swagger in your step, you’re maybe skipping a little bit. Maybe you even start singing along like I do.

I know I’m not the only one. The truth is I have been known to break into singing and dancing randomly, the kind where you act out the words obnoxiously in the middle of a store, in the middle of the day at my house, at a family’s house, wherever the mood strikes me. And truth be told, it is prompted by a good jam, by some music. And even if you don’t break into a full performance like I can, a good song or one that reminds you of a certain time in your life can feel so good and just give you a big boost of endorphins. That song song has the ability to change your mood even if just for a minute. How incredible is that? Songs can also bring down your mood. So imagine your heart is broken and you suddenly can’t stop listening to some sad Sam Smith songs, or you’re doing some throwback air supply, you’re just wallowing in all the heartbreak and emotion, and the songs help you feel understood and maybe even have a good cry about it. You’re like, Yeah, I hear you. Again, it’s just music impacting your thoughts and emotions, good or bad.

Our favorite songs can even arouse us. They can bring physiological responses and impact our blood pressure. It can activate certain parts of your brain, and our brain even builds anticipation for our favorite parts of the song. My whole family knows all the words to Always be my baby by Mariah Carey because that is my guilty pleasure song. I’ve listened to Mariah Carey since I was 10 or 11, about 11 years old, and I have cassette tapes. So I know all of the Mariah Carey. When that song comes on, my whole family knows it. My daughter will sing with me. Everyone will. But when it gets to that chorus, it’s like that anticipation of here it comes, let’s go. And that’s when me and well, my daughter, especially, will get very theatrical. I’m sure you have a song of your own, probably that Mariah Carey, that really motivates that for you as well. And so music can also be used to help us achieve our goals. So if you think about how music has this anticipation element in our brain that’s about to gear us up for something, that’s how it can be used when you have a goal.

It’s why people that are into fitness can use music to help them get to that part that is going to push them over the edge. Or maybe you’re doing something and you hear that chorus coming, all of a sudden you’re walking faster, you’re running faster. You have a spurt of creativity or inspiration for a new idea, and that’s all being prompted by music. So when you think about music, again, from that fitness element, because I think that’s a really relatable way that we all could use or have used music is it can help you go the distance. It can help to pump us up. For me, when I lift weights, I have a certain playlist that I use. And then when I’m walking on the treadmill, it’s another playlist, and the different type of music motivates different parts of my energy and adrenaline. Now, one thing about me is that I am the queen of efficiency. I like to achieve things in the most efficient and effective way possible to not waste any time. This is partly why my clients get such great results because like them, I’m looking to get them results in the fastest and most effective way possible.

So when potential clients wonder why six months is the period I coach one on one, there is a reason for this. I have tests in it. I’m not offering quick fixes that dilute and go away after a month, like a bad diet where you gain all the weight back. This is sustainable and life changing results that are going to really change the trajectory of your career. And that doesn’t happen by me teaching you one concept or tool or going through a couple of sessions. It’s really you learning something, having that momentum, practicing it, going out, maybe failing, having some wins, coming back, we evaluate. You just keep going until it’s second nature to you. But anyway, one way that I am really efficient is when I go for walks, I will listen to podcasts, or if I’m on the treadmill, I might watch a video from my coach or something that I want to learn. And to me, that’s efficient. I’m getting some activity in and I’m also digesting or consuming some learning content that I wanted to take in. But here is what I noticed. When my brain is engaged with learning content, it moves slower.

My pace is slower. I don’t push myself on the treadmill. I’m more focused on what I’m learning. I’m consuming the content. Maybe I’m taking some notes in my phone. But when I put on a playlist with pumped up pop music and I start dancing as I’m walking, that’s a totally different vibe. I go to a different pace. I add some incline in there. Music has the ability to just alter our mood, our thoughts, our feelings, our actions. So I’m going to tell you about a study. There was a study that was published by BDS J Psych International, and it’s in the National Library of Medicine. And what it tells us is there is significant therapeutic value of music for patients with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and music can also help with mental health. It helps regulate mood, it reduces stress, it can promote calm and positivity. It is just this natural tool and remedy that we have sitting in our pocket. It’s on our desk attached to us most of the time. Our phones have the ability to deliver this incredible resource to us that is literally a form of free therapy that we can use to our benefit.

Listening to music literally increases blood flow to the brain. It’s therapeutic, it supports our mental health, it can motivate us, it can take a stressful day and make it better. It can push us to achieve things that we wouldn’t otherwise. It can remind us who we are. How powerful is that? Music literally makes life better. It literally provides more blood flow to our brain. Now, there are many ways that you can integrate music into your life. There is an app that I love that I would highly recommend. I don’t have any affiliation with them. You probably have no idea how much I recommend them. But it is called Brain. Fm. This app has 90 minute blocks of music that you can select based on your activity. So if you’re doing deep work, something creative, studying, writing, it’s proven to increase your productivity. I have found it works really well for me. I will often listen to it when I’m researching, writing podcast outlines, when I’m creating content to share with you on social media, when I’m writing something, it allows me to get into the zone and focus greater than I do without it. So I would definitely check that out.

You can also integrate meditative music when you’re journaling or taking a bath. To help your brain turn off the noise and connect with yourself at a deeper level, you can find many meditative or brain activating playlists on Spotify. I even created a playlist for my clients that is filled with a variety of songs that promote confidence, overcoming obstacles and empowerment. I listen to it when I walk for that extra pep, and my clients tell me that they love listening to it while they work or run errands. It just makes them feel good. And guess what? You can get access to my playlist too. So I created this playlist at the beginning of the year with the refresh of my brand. I did a new year, new us launch party in January, and this was the playlist we used for that party. And I shared it with everyone who registered to attend. And now I want to share it with all of you that are listeners of the podcast as a thank you to you so that you can apply what I’m talking about here and use this playlist to help you get further in your career goals, to help you maybe take an action that you are afraid to do or that you’re nervous to do, and it’s just going to maybe push you over the edge.

So I’m going to tell you exactly how to find it. If you go to Spotify and you search your worthy career, you’re going to see my podcast come up, but you should also see a playlist come up. I’ve gone ahead and I’ve made it public. So you can go ahead and follow the playlist and there you have it. I also continually add songs to it and you can use it to motivate and pump yourself up and just heart it so that it follows and you’ll see those songs that I’m going to add to it automatically populate. I think right now there’s about two or three hours of music on there. So it will get you through a tough time for sure. So if you go and you go to Spotify and you find this playlist, again, you’re looking for your worthy career, then go ahead and follow it. And if you’re not following the podcast, go ahead and follow that too while you’re there. They’re both going to come up at the same time. And when you’re stressed out, put on that playlist. If you’re feeling like you’re not productive, try a meditative or brain activating playlist, either from the app I recommended, or you can go and search on Spotify.

You can look on YouTube. Go to your music app and put on a playlist from the time that you were a teenager, the 80s, the 90s, or even the 2000s, and let your brain play in the memories and really delight you and take you to a time where things maybe weren’t as stressful as they may be in that exact moment. And if you need a hype session, put on the You’re Worthy Career playlist. Know that you have this incredible tool at your fingertips that will impact your thoughts and feelings in an instant. It is grounded in neuroscience. This is just a fact. You don’t need a huge workout, a happy hour, a bottle of wine, or to vent to a friend for two hours. And if you do any or all of those things, I am not judging you for doing them. I’m just giving you another tool that can help you in that instant where it’s not going to take a lot of time. You don’t need to change locations. You don’t need to find a friend. All you have to do is press play. Just listen to some of your favorite songs, dance it out, listen to it, and then keep going toward those goals.

Someone piss you off at work? Make a playlist for when you’re angry that’s going to bring you back up. Now, thought work, therapy, coaching, these are all resources that are extremely valuable and can create real and lasting change. But sometimes you just need a disruptor. You need one quick fix for that moment to get you through. And for that, try putting on some music and your brain will think you. That is all for this week’s episode. I will talk to you next week. The episode is over, but your next level is just beginning. If you’re ready to have the career that you really want, I invite you to schedule a coaching consultation to work with me where you will identify a career path to your next step, build your confidence to tackle any career challenge, make more money, and work in stress less with my proven process. Head over to yourworthycareer.com to get started.