Everyday Happiness - Finding Harmony and Bliss

570-Podcast Takeover With Angela Germano Day 5

Hey there, I’m Angela Germano and today I am sharing my big thing -- my big thing that is bringing me happiness right now, and I hope it inspires you.  

 

Transcript

 

Hey there. You're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm Angela Germano taking over.

 

Katie asked me, what do you do now that brings happiness? What is your big thing? Come on now. It's doing the show. It's doing Everyday Happiness to chat with you. I mean, you've all been so fabulous to me and I love it. So very grateful to be here this week.

 

So, to answer Katie's questions, what brings me happiness? I think the biggest thing I do now that brings me happiness is well, it sounds a bit different, but I'm just being honest. It's my thing.

 

I do whatever I want to do at the moment. Yeah, that's my thing. That's what I'm going with. I wrote about this in my first collaborative book called Women Who Illuminate. My story is called Rooted. Doing my thing makes me happy. It gets my juices flowing. It's a mindset and empowering way of being that's rooted in self care and feels really incredible to the core.

 

If it's great driving weather, well, then I'm taking a drive. Music blasting, windows down, carefree joyride while singing my heart out and car dancing. Sometimes my thing is getting routine massages on customer appreciation day at the spa so I can spin wheels, talk about holistic health, play games and win prizes like oils and stretches.

 

I mean, I get my happiness on by going to the doctors for checkups because I can. You know, I'm fortunate enough to have good healthcare as a teacher, and I'm going to use it.

 

I chat with friends on the phone. I chat with strangers, I bike ride, I rollerblade, I explore in all the ways that I want. I push my limits. I dream, I fantasize, and then I manifest what I want. I believe in myself to the point where my mind just says it's okay and I just do my thing.

 

Following my intuition, having trust in myself to feel the right way to go and be. That's my thing. That's how I get my happiness. Thanks for listening to me all week. Catch another episode of Everyday Happiness tomorrow.

 

About Angela: 

 

Angela Germano is currently an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, Mrs. Germano coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.  She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.

 

Mrs. Germano has served on the Monmouth University Board of Directors and Chair of the Nominating Committee. She is involved with multiple charities such as Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, and UNICEF.  She is noted as having a true teaching talent; putting students at ease, increasing their confidence and allowing them to learn for the long term.  She focuses on embracing teaching as an opportunity to inspire leadership, giving voice and choice to students through knowledge, exemplars, and opportunity.

 

As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership, Mrs. Germano also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.

 

Mrs. Germano earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Mrs. Germano’s long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Mrs. Germano intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.

 

Mrs. Germano’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.

 

You can connect with Angela at @AngelaGermanoPositivity and @Angela Germano on social media. 

 

 *   *   *   

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

569-Podcast Takeover With Angela Germano Day 4

Hey there, I’m Angela Germano and today I am sharing how I bring happiness into my daily life.

 

Transcript

 

Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today, I'm Angela Germano taking over.

 

Katie asked me, how do I bring happiness into my life? And I can't help but to giggle. I mean, seriously. I just picture the all too familiar scene that you might be able to relate to. I don't know, maybe your kids are screaming over something stupid like, he's on my part of the couch. Or the TV is blasting YouTube way over the agreed upon level. Your husband is talking loud enough on the phone that they can hear him across state lines. Why do men talk that loud? I don't know. Coats, shoes, socks, sweatshirts, you name it, all over the living room you just straightened up. An endless pile of mail just mounting up. Your sweet little daughter is dripping from blood from yet another too close encounter with a family pet. Seriously, Callie, why do you have to give butterfly kisses to the cat?

 

How do I bring happiness into that life? Well, I try because happiness is everywhere. You just have to open your eyes and see it. With all the crazy, uncontrollable chaos that happens in our lives, we need to celebrate.

 

Celebrate every step of the way. And that is how I'm answering this one, Katie. Celebrate. Let's all sing some Madonna. Celebrate. This is how I bring happiness into our family.

 

Yes - when we get into an argument, I'm like, nope, you gotta sing it. You gotta sing it. We're not allowed to have that tone. So we got to sing. We celebrate every chance we get. We try to infuse laughter. We do this in all sorts of ways.

 

Sometimes I sound like we're so not the Brady Bunch, but I'm envisioning like the Brady Bunch here. Sometimes we do have a little talent show. My daughter's like, wait, I'm going to sing. My son is like, wait, I'm going to do a magic show. That's how we celebrate.

 

Like a good grade. Sometimes we make homemade food together. We take a walk on the boardwalk to celebrate. A bike ride, a hike. We go out for treats. It doesn't have to be costly. We just need to note the good that happened and then we're celebrating it.

 

So I'm going to tell you a little story. I have wonderful neighbors. I really do. I'm very grateful. And one of them, Sue, she follows all of my social posts. She's always in amazement of what we have going on. Like, “oh, you're always doing something with your kids, Angela”. She's very complimentary. And one day Sue says, I get it now, Ang, “you make a big deal out of everything and then you post it”.

 

It doesn't even have to be for a big reason. And you know what? She said it exactly right. It doesn't have to be for a big reason. We share the good. We celebrate. We commemorate memories, like a family movie, reminding us of good times. Those celebrations and memories of celebrations also help us to refocus when we lose our way and help us continue the good.

 

It's positive reinforcement, really. And I want my children to be conditioned that way. We celebrate all the good. We celebrate a beautiful day. We celebrate a compliment. We celebrate  recognition of effort. We celebrate trying something new. All of it. And with anyone who wants to join.

 

So how do I bring happiness into my life? Well, by recognizing the good. And all of us celebrating it. We celebrate it all because we're grateful. And as we know, with gratitude comes happiness.

 

See you tomorrow for another episode. Because I am here all week.

 

About Angela: 

 

Angela Germano is currently an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, Mrs. Germano coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.  She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.

 

Mrs. Germano has served on the Monmouth University Board of Directors and Chair of the Nominating Committee. She is involved with multiple charities such as Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, and UNICEF.  She is noted as having a true teaching talent; putting students at ease, increasing their confidence and allowing them to learn for the long term.  She focuses on embracing teaching as an opportunity to inspire leadership, giving voice and choice to students through knowledge, exemplars, and opportunity.

 

As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership, Mrs. Germano also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.

 

Mrs. Germano earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Mrs. Germano’s long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Mrs. Germano intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.

 

Mrs. Germano’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.

 

You can connect with Angela at @AngelaGermanoPositivity and @Angela Germano on social media. 

 

 *   *   *   

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

568-Podcast Takeover With Angela Germano Day 3

Hey there, I’m Angela Germano and today I am sharing what advice I would give my younger self, and friends, I’ve got tons!  Tune in to see if anything resonates with you.  And jump over to @everydayhappinesswithkatie on social and let’s have a conversation!

 

Transcript

 

Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm Angela Germano, and I'm taking over. So Katie asked me, what advice would you give your younger self? And I would have a lot to tell my younger self, like, tons. 

 

For starters, always take the adventure. Don't pass up an opportunity just because of money. You know what? Honestly, my younger self is pretty smart, incredibly strong, and resilient. You know, maybe I need to shift my perspective here and have my younger self give me some advice for the me of today.

 

I give my youth a lot of credit. As a matter of fact, I give today's youth a huge shout out.

There are so many incredibly smart young people paired with energy, philanthropy, and the entrepreneur spirit and the savviness of a global marketplace, and I'm just so impressed.

 

And I wish I could go back in time and be that confident. Sashaying onto cameras, jet setting on multiple airlines to work and then play in other countries, eloquently imposing deserved commands. I mean, the youth of today are seriously amazing. I want to be one.

 

So what would I tell my younger self? Well, be fearless. Explore all the parts. Be confident being you, because you're enough, all of you. The parts you're still figuring out, the parts you know, but may be afraid to show, all of it.

 

I would tell my younger self to just do it if you want. Don't be afraid of what society will think, what society may say. Just be the crazy, in love with life you, and it will all fall into place.

 

This all reminds me of my second published piece in Women Who Rise. That pretty much sums this lesson up. And I wrote it in 2020. But I wish I could go back and tell my 20 year old self. It was called Fear, Catapult, or Contain.

 

The choice is yours. Nobody else's. See you tomorrow for another episode. I'm here all week.

 

About Angela: 

 

Angela Germano is currently an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, Mrs. Germano coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.  She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.

 

Mrs. Germano has served on the Monmouth University Board of Directors and Chair of the Nominating Committee. She is involved with multiple charities such as Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, and UNICEF.  She is noted as having a true teaching talent; putting students at ease, increasing their confidence and allowing them to learn for the long term.  She focuses on embracing teaching as an opportunity to inspire leadership, giving voice and choice to students through knowledge, exemplars, and opportunity.

 

As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership, Mrs. Germano also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.

 

Mrs. Germano earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Mrs. Germano’s long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Mrs. Germano intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.

 

Mrs. Germano’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.

 

You can connect with Angela at @AngelaGermanoPositivity and @Angela Germano on social media. 

 

 *   *   *   

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

567-Podcast Takeover With Angela Germano Day 2

Hey there, I’m Angela Germano and today I am sharing one piece of advice I wish I had known on my happiness journey.  Tune in to find out. 

 

Transcript

 

Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today I'm Angela Germano and I'm taking over. Katie asked me what is one piece of advice I wish I had known on my happiness journey?

 

Oh, that is a good question. An important question. A vital one, actually. So I am really happy that Katie asked me this, and I'm really honored to chat and share about it.

 

I actually wrote about it in a book. True story. Nineteen amazing women and myself had a book come out a month ago. A month or so ago, and it was called Leading with Legacy. We all had different interpretations of how to lead with legacy, even different definitions of legacy. That's kind of like the question Katie is asking, right?

 

First we have to define, what is happiness? Everyone has a different definition, a different understanding of happiness. I mean, happiness could look like a love affair, a family, a home, a bustling career, good health, a simple smile. So first we have to figure out what makes us happy.

 

So for me, happiness is being alive. I had a pretty tragic childhood with a lot of hardship and disease, abuse, loss and abandonment. It took being asked to be a part of Leading with Legacy for me to really formulate the key advice that I'm about to share.

 

Life threw a lot at me in my younger years, however, I somehow managed to be a straight A student, a big part of my school in sports, from class president to international thespian to forensics and debate champion, homecoming queen, so much in between. And I put myself through Monmouth University. I studied in London and I interned in Washington DC.

 

I graduated magna cum laude, I earned my masters, and now I'm on my way to earning my PhD so my two children can see that anything is possible with our superpower strength of choice. So what is the advice that I wish I had known sooner on my happiness journey? Well, I want to have a little fun here. I'm going to cite a part of my story in Leading with Legacy. Are you ready?

 

“Heart and throat, palms pulsing, eye twitching.

Taste your dry mouth. See nothing.

Do it, do it. The voice whispers, tongue the upper lip.

Take a moment. Bite the lower lips softly.

That was unexpected.focus.

Come on now, let's go.

Let us fall in love.

But people are tricky.

Lots of moving parts, unexplainable mind shifts, ever changing hearts.

I want to fall in love. I want to love.

I want a love. Comfort, security, confident love.

Feel the smile from the inside kind of love.

Laughter that calms.

A few breaths and the world is more at peace, reliable, always there.

Reassuring love. Wait.

What's that I see?

Let me readjust my lens.

Oh, the perspective shifts.

Drum roll, please.Say it.

I am in love.”

 

Yes, there it is. Fall in love with life. That's the big advice I wish I'd known earlier. See you tomorrow for another episode. I'm here all week.

 

About Angela: 

 

Angela Germano is currently an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, Mrs. Germano coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.  She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.

 

Mrs. Germano has served on the Monmouth University Board of Directors and Chair of the Nominating Committee. She is involved with multiple charities such as Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, and UNICEF.  She is noted as having a true teaching talent; putting students at ease, increasing their confidence and allowing them to learn for the long term.  She focuses on embracing teaching as an opportunity to inspire leadership, giving voice and choice to students through knowledge, exemplars, and opportunity.

 

As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership, Mrs. Germano also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.

 

Mrs. Germano earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Mrs. Germano’s long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Mrs. Germano intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.

 

Mrs. Germano’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.

 

You can connect with Angela at @AngelaGermanoPositivity and @Angela Germano on social media. 

 

 *   *   *   

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

566-Podcast Takeover With Angela Germano Day 1

Hey there, I’m Angela Germano and today I am sharing the one episode of Everyday Happiness that has inspired me the most and how I used it in my classroom. I am a 6th grade Language Arts teacher after all.  Don’t miss today’s episode. 

 

Transcript:

 

Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But today, well, I'm Angela Germano and I'm taking over. Katie asked me if there were any episodes of Everyday Happiness that inspired me.

 

And wow, there have been many, like Intentional Margins®, her signature concept of making space for life so you don't get caught up and miss it all. That was totally inspirational to me and it drew me in. Then there's the one on making mindfulness work for you. Oh, I love that one. It's all about being present in the moment. I see a bit of a trend here. 

 

But if I had to pick just one, well, you know, I think I'm going to go with gratitude glitter. Yes. Did you hear that one? Most inspirational episode of Everyday Happiness is the one on gratitude glitter. Yes. Gratitude glitter. 100%. That totally inspired me, and let me tell you how.

 

So, gratitude glitter is this concept of Katie's where she shares that gratitude can feel like little specks of glitter, but when you pile all those specs up, you have lots to be grateful for in your life. I loved this metaphor and really envisioned all that sparkle. I'm a very grateful person.

 

So, yeah, I was picturing huge mountainous regions sparkling of all of my appreciation. But this is why I'm shouting out gratitude glitter and making it rain glitter.

 

I teach 6th grade students and I used this concept in class the other day. We were taking our meditation moments like we do every day. And as we were about to embark on our writing assignment, I asked them to say positive affirmations in their mind. I shared with the students that their brain is listening to their voice. It's legit science. We are literally programming our minds for what we desire.

 

We're always saying what we want in this world. I said picture each bit of your positivity like glitter. You can barely see it. And then once you do, it sparkles. You know how glitter is. It's addictive. And yes, if you've ever been in a child's classroom, you know what I'm talking about.

 

Kids love glitter. Dash a little bit of glitter. You can't stop. Yes!  Kids love glitter and it gets everywhere. They love positivity, too. So that sparkle, those positive words about yourself. You just keep pouring it on and it cannot be missed. And you know glitter, even after you clean it up, you still find more, it's everywhere. Even better, you can't get rid of it.

 

That glitter. Those positive, encouraging words are everywhere. Seeping into your mind, programming it to be what you want. So turn to your neighbor and share your positive words. Sparkle that glitter and get it everywhere. 

 

They are my love bugs, so they positively made it rain glitter. And I'm so grateful for Katie's episode about gratitude glitter. Very inspirational. See you tomorrow for another episode. I'm here all week.

 

About Angela: 

 

Angela Germano is currently an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, Mrs. Germano coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.  She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.

 

Mrs. Germano has served on the Monmouth University Board of Directors and Chair of the Nominating Committee. She is involved with multiple charities such as Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, and UNICEF.  She is noted as having a true teaching talent; putting students at ease, increasing their confidence and allowing them to learn for the long term.  She focuses on embracing teaching as an opportunity to inspire leadership, giving voice and choice to students through knowledge, exemplars, and opportunity.

 

As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership, Mrs. Germano also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.

 

Mrs. Germano earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Mrs. Germano’s long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Mrs. Germano intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.

 

Mrs. Germano’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.

 

You can connect with Angela at @AngelaGermanoPositivity and @Angela Germano on social media. 

 

 *   *   *   

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

565-Happiness Interview With Wendy Reed

Wendy is a certified professional coach who works with individuals who are ready for a positive change, at home or at work.  Wendy is my walking buddy and I am so grateful for her steady advice and friendship and I can’t wait for you to hear a little from one of my dearest friends.  Today, I asked Wendy what her thoughts were on happiness. Tune in to find out. 

 

Transcript

 

Katie: Welcome to Everyday Happiness, where we create lasting happiness in two-ish minutes a day through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host, Katie Jefcoat, and I'm here with my dearest greatest friend, Wendy Reed. She's a life and work coach. She specializes in mental fitness and helping people through those stuck places. And today I'm asking Wendy what her thoughts are on happiness. Welcome, Wendy.

 

Wendy: I am so happy to be with you.

 

Katie: Well, we are happy to have you. So we only have a couple of minutes.Let's dive right in. What are your thoughts on happiness?

 

Wendy: So, Katie, when I first heard you ask me that question in preparation for today, my first thought was, happiness is fleeting. I thought, oh, that's the saddest thing.

 

I can't believe that's the first thing I thought. And in reality, the more I thought about that concept, the more empowering it became. What I realized is that happiness is in every moment. Because it is fleeting it is indeed an opportunity to capture in any given space, any given time. It gives us a lot of power over how we feel at any moment, right?

 

So what is happiness?

 

Well, for me, I define it differently from anyone else, but at this given moment. Happiness is connection with a friend. Happiness is being able to look past my video screen right now at a tree outside. Happiness is the light behind me. Happiness is in this moment, what I decide fills me up in this moment.

 

But when it comes right down to it, a choice at any given moment. As long as we can turn the lights on for ourselves and we know what creates happiness for us.

 

So I would say it's an empowered choice in a given moment. And because it is so fleeting, when we do feel it, it is a moment to be savored and reveled in.

 

Katie: I love that I was just going to mention savoring because it's exactly what you're talking about -- really taking in that moment. I could talk to you forever about all of these things. If you know us in real life, you know that we do talk forever all the time. But today we have to close it out so we can keep this short.

 

If you want to connect with Wendy and talk more about these issues or anything else, you'll be able to find all of the ways to connect with her on the show notes. And we'll look forward to another episode of Everyday Happiness.

 

Remember, kindness is contagious. Go out there and spread some kindness in the world today.

 

About Wendy: 

 

Wendy is a certified professional coach who works with individuals who are ready for a positive change -- at home or work -- and are feeling stuck.  Using the Positive Intelligence model, she helps you to identify patterns that hold you back and get into motion on what matters most to you.  Wendy offers a free consultation to help you determine if coaching is a good option for you.   

 

Connect with Wendy on Linked in at https://www.linkedin.com/in/enviroreed/ and check out her resources over on her website at  https://www.wendyreedcoaching.com/

 

*   *   *   

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

BONUS Podcast Takeover With Angela Germano

Transcript

Katie: Welcome to Everyday Happiness, where we create lasting happiness in about 2 minutes a day through my signature method of Intentional Margins®, (creating harmony between your to dos and your priorities),  happiness, science, and musings about life.

I am kind of dying today on the inside because I get to chat with one of my friends, Angela Germano. She is a 6th grade teacher. She teaches English. I mean, can we just bless her for a moment?

Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine 6th grade English. I just feel like smelly boys and girls passing notes. But anyway, she loves it and she does a really good job at it. She's also an author. And really, she just reminds me that when you show up, just show up big and live life to the fullest.

And it's just so amazing when you get to surround yourself with the most incredible people. I'm so excited that you get a chance to get to know my friend Angela. Welcome to the show.

Angela: Well, thank you so much for having me. This is super cool. Thank you.

Katie: I am literally crawling out of my skin. I'm so excited to chat with you. So first off, why don't you start by telling the listeners if you remember how we met because it's kind of an interesting story.

Angela: Oh my gosh, yes. Lots of dreams were coming true when I met you. Oh my goodness. It all started when I went to an event, precovid, right? So this was, I guess about three years ago now, and the event was called Dare to Dream. It was a beautiful, beautiful event put on by the amazing Kate Butler. And she had this event for all of her authors in her book series.

New authors and authors that had been in a few books came together to celebrate ourselves and celebrate all of these new dreams. Hence the title Dare to Dream. And it was there that I met the beautiful Katie Jefcoat. Sparkled when you came in. That laugh. It's awesome. I fell in love. 

Katie: It was really magical. And I can't remember exactly how your nickname happened, but it had something to do with thinking of the first thing that comes to mind, maybe, do you remember how it happened? Because I remember your nickname, I just don't remember how it happened.  Okay, tell me how it happened, because this was the most funny story.

Angela:  Yeah, it was like, what word can best describe you? And everyone's going around the room, and I mean, the room is large. I would say we have what, like over 100 people there. Well over 100 or 200 people, probably. So you're going around and it's like, okay, what word best describes you? And of course, after you get through the first ten people, you get a lot of repeats and I didn't want to be repeated, competitive. And I'm a very unique person.

I'm like, what could I possibly say that describes me? And it's getting closer and closer, and I had my word. I feel like it stuck because it works. And the word was can I say the word?

Katie: Yes, please.

Angela:  We say my nickname is not even my nickname, but it's so cool that everybody from that event refers to me, and it's beautiful. So, anyway, popcorn. Popcorn. That's what I think of with me, because not only do I have a very, like, popping kind of personality, but I really do live my life in the sense that, you know, I lost my mom when I was really young, and I know she wanted to live a lot longer.

She was only in her thirties, and she always talked about getting to live longer, and unfortunately, she lost her battle, and we lost her early on. So I said, you know what? I'm living for my mom. That's what I'm doing.

I want to give her a really good show while she's up there in heaven. I want to live out all those dreams that she had, maybe she told me about, but I want to do it all. So grab the popcorn and have a good time as you watch me go through life because I'm popping.

Katie:  You know, I think about that analogy a lot, and I think about popcorn, as in, this is the show, indulge. Just be in it, just enjoy all of it. And then I think of popcorn as, like, kernels popping, and I think both kinds of analogies are very similar because you're like, oh, that's a great project. That's a great idea. That's a great charity, that's a great kid. Oh, let's make a sign for this. Let's do this and let's do that. And you're always popping all these ideas, all of this brilliance, all of this magic all the time, and so it's such an interesting way that word came to you, and it was absolutely perfect, and it completely sums you up 100%.

Angela: Oh, my gosh, I love that. I'm so happy this is recorded because I'm going to listen to it whenever I'm having a down moment. That was just so beautiful. Thank you.

Katie:  Oh, my gosh, so good. So tell us all the things that you're doing.  All the kernels that you're popping, because we already talked about you being an educator and an author and showing up for life. But you have a lot of interests and you have a lot of things that make you happy and you're really intentional about leaning in to the things that bring you the most happiness.

So even today, you are doing something that was really fun and exciting and you have all of these things. Tell the listeners, all of the fun things so they can live vicariously through you and just get a sense of what this feels like to live fully.

Angela: Oh my gosh, thanks. Well, much like popcorn, right? There's so much developing. When I was in college, I went for communication. And I love to chat, I love to meet people, I love to study people. I love the art of people, right? So I had this awesome opportunity to be an intern in Washington, DC. And I was able to not only intern in public relations, which was my background, but also I got to take some law classes. I was really into constitutional law and very passionate about social injustices.

I loved learning about that. Fast forward now into the world that we're in. I'm constantly, always trying to help people, no matter who they are, where they're from. I just love helping people just to help them. And I think that's why I love being an educator. And sometimes people say, oh, you're a teacher, you're in the classroom.

But my life does not stop there. That is just where it begins. Some really great news that just happened yesterday. And then of course, I was doing more fun stuff today, but yesterday I found out that three of the grants that I had written were approved. So I put in these multigrand grants so that my middle school students could have extra supplies to go after different passions. So there are three different projects.

One is a selfie celebration, which it's all about celebrating these beautiful 6th graders. They come after school with their families. We have desserts, we roll out the red carpet, we make vision boards, we're doing yoga, we're doing meditation. We have gratitude journals and exercises that we do. It is phenomenal for the students and then the parents. You know, I teach 6th grade, so it's a transitional year in our school.

It's their first year of middle school. These parents need support. So a beautiful thing happens not only for the children, but the parents are all gathered there as well celebrating their children, but also start to bond with this new support system of their parents.

It's fantastic. And I did it before. It was always a success, but every year you wonder, am I going to get that grant money again? And I did. So I'm completely stoked and very, very grateful that the Toms River, which is the town where we live, the Toms River Education Association, which is part of New Jersey Education Association, approved that grant. So now we get to have a selfie celebration. The kids love it. 

And then the second grant that was approved is called Language Arts for a Cause. And this again, celebrating ourselves. This is all about English class. Sometimes teachers tell you what to read. That's not how I roll in my class. I'm very big on student voice and student choice. And in Language Arts for a Cause, the students can research anything they want to and then they take the power that's within them.

So whatever skills, strategies, whatever craft they want to make in order to promote the cause, perhaps they're really good artists and they want to make some art and then sell the art and then the money can go towards that cause. So language arts for a cause. It's amazing.

The parents come in and they learn all about these different causes that are near and dear to the students, which is a big deal because sometimes parents, we're doing our own thing and sometimes we forget to make time for our children and listen to what is really important to them. So a beautiful thing that happens during this event is the parents can actually see what's important to their child and also to their friend group, and they start to see things through their eyes, the shared perspective. So it's beautiful all around.

And so I was really happy, really happy that Language Arts for a Cause got approved. That's a big one for me because it's kind of like our little entrepreneurs, they're building their nonprofit businesses and combining their smarts with their heart and getting the word out there, back to communication again. So I love that.

And then the third one, this is a family book club. And that's kind of what we were just chatting about before we came on live, a family book club. It's for social, emotional needs. So the students select books that they want to read that are important to them. Usually they're nonfiction and we get enough copies for them and their family to read together and have some really important conversations that are eye opening, that are supportive, that their family needs.

Sometimes the students are looking out for themselves. Sometimes they're looking out for their family and trying to find books that they want mom and dad or their grandma to read with them for a reason. So we kind of gave them an outlet to bond with their family. So I was really excited that those three grants got approved.

And it brings it all together, what I do in the classroom and what I did when I was in college. And as a communication expert, it brings it all together. So very, very fortunate that some of my things were popping yesterday. And then today we were reading to the YMCA program at our local elementary school. I took my book club of middle schoolers and we went to the elementary school children and they had a blast.

Katie:  Oh, my gosh, I bet they had so much fun. love it so much. And I can't wait for you to dive in all week long and talk with the listeners about all of your goodness. Because let me just tell you, friends, it is just getting started. Angela is coming in hot, hot, hot. And there's so much goodness for you to learn.

So all of her links and all of the fun stuff she does will, of course, be in the show notes and you'll be able to follow her and really see what's happening.  But until next time, remember, kindness is contagious. And Angela is taking over!
     
About Angela: 

Angela Germano is currently an award-winning middle school Language Arts teacher, Communication professor, multi-faceted professional writer in the global medical and self-care sectors and produces inspirational documentaries. In these roles, Mrs. Germano coaches people through their academic, career and life challenges and is devoted to positively impacting people’s lives so they can achieve their dreams.  She is a #1 International Best-Selling and Award-Winning Author in the Inspired Impact Book Series including Women Who Rise, Women Who Illuminate and Leading with Legacy. Mrs. Germano has been featured in The Jersey Storytellers Project, part of The USA Today Network. She has also been a guest on educational, lifestyle and mental health programming such as Everybody with Angela Williamson on PBS, Aggressive Optimism with Jenna Edwards, LaDolce Vita with Virginia Rose and others.

Mrs. Germano has served on the Monmouth University Board of Directors and Chair of the Nominating Committee. She is involved with multiple charities such as Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, and UNICEF.  She is noted as having a true teaching talent; putting students at ease, increasing their confidence and allowing them to learn for the long term.  She focuses on embracing teaching as an opportunity to inspire leadership, giving voice and choice to students through knowledge, exemplars, and opportunity.

As an Inspirational Speaker highlighting the specific topics of overcoming adversity, building confidence and leadership, Mrs. Germano also coordinates Selfie Celebrations where children practice positive self-worth activities such as yoga, meditation, positive affirmations, goal setting and vision boards.

Mrs. Germano earned a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Monmouth University, Magna Cum Laude and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology: Integrating Technology, Learning, and Psychology. Mrs. Germano’s long-term research interests include studying the learning of students in middle school as a consequence to a specific way of goal setting, where they have buy-in and more ownership of setting their own goals, monitoring and readjusting them, and then understanding how self-produced goals impact learners’ engagement, focus, scores, comfortability, confidence and control levels. To further these research interests Mrs. Germano intends to use quantitative methods to understand perspectives and experiences of learners to increase long-term learning, success and happiness.

Mrs. Germano’s long-term professional interests include consulting and developing programs to help learners of all ages, backgrounds and communities reach goals with less stress, continue to write books to inspire self-growth, as well as create university courses teaching the self-produced goal setting methodology and design.

You can connect with Angela at @AngelaGermanoPositivity and @Angela Germano on social media. 

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Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/ 

564-Kindness Elves

Have you ever heard of a kindness elf? In this episode of Everyday Happiness, we talk about the story of kindness elves and how you can utilize them to teach children valuable lessons on kindness at an early age. 

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat, and today, I want to talk to you about kindness elves. As we inch closer to the holiday season, those little elves on the shelves will start coming out to play. The original story of Elf on a Shelf was that these clever little friends would act as scouts for Santa, reporting back each night to the North Pole to tell Santa whether the boys and girls of their house have been naughty or nice. Each morning, the elf is perched in a new spot, and the kids love to search for them.

Just recently, I discovered something called a Kindness Elf. I have no affiliation nor am trying to make a sale; I just think the idea is so stinking cute!

Apparently, kindness elves lived in the clouds and spent their days making special kindness potions. That was, until they came across a critical mission, to work with children to spread kindness around the world.

Much like the elf on the shelf, these kindness elves reside in the home, but they are present all year long. They are so invested in their mission that they even have a tiny house! Throughout the day, the elves will move through the home and leave little notes for children to find. Sometimes, the letter tells them something sweet or funny. Other times, the message recognizes when someone in the house performed a kind act.

The kids can even get in on the note-writing. They can write, with the help of parents if needed, notes to the elves to chronicle their own interactions with kindness, whether it is an idea, a nice thing to share, or witnessing a kind act. Then they can fold up the note and slide it into the elves’ mailbox at their tiny house. Isn’t that just precious?

I simply adore the idea of teaching kindness at such a young age, and what a way to make it fun. If you think this is something you or someone you know would benefit from, I added some non-affiliated links in the comments for you.

Friends, let’s all embrace our inner kindness elf today and do something kind for someone else, whether someone is watching or not! Remember, kindness is contagious. 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

 

Inspired by:

• Elf on a Shelf Story: https://elfontheshelf.com/christmas-tradition/

• Kindness Elf Story Book: https://theimaginationtree.store/products/the-story-of-the-kindness-elves-book
• Kindness Elf Toy Set: https://www.etsy.com/listing/737488658/the-kindness-elves-set-classic-original?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=The+Kindness+Elves%E2%84%A2+Set%3A+Classic+Original+%28light+wood+and+dark+wood+tone%29&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1

563-Podcast Takeover With Jenna Edwards Day 5

Hey there, I’m Jenna Edwards and today I am sharing about the concept of “being busy”.  I hope you don’t miss this episode because I’m sharing about being busy and how I plan my day. 

 

Transcript:

 

Hey there, you're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But, as you know, I'm taking over. My name is Jenna Edwards, and today I've been asked by Katie to talk about the concept of we're all busy.

 

We have work, we have friends, we have family, we have side hustles, we have all the things. And so how do I personally bring happiness into my life with my family and specifically with my husband? (Because I don't have children.)

 

And I have to say…my husband's name is Craig, and we've been together for 23 years…When we first started to cohabitate, we realized we had totally different schedules. My zone of genius time, I can't remember how Katie refers to it, but she talks about it all the time. When are you the most productive, when are you the most creative?

 

And my time is really early in the morning. I used to be such a night owl, if my friends called me before 10:00 am, I would literally answer like, “is it a double digit? No? Okay, call me back after ten.”

 

And I was so upset about it, and now I'm such a morning person. 5:00 am is my jam. I love it. I love getting up before everybody else and getting a whole bunch of things done. It's just so fun.

 

But Craig is the exact opposite. He loves that winddown time. He goes online and learns how to build all these crazy things, and it's just his jam to be up til 2:00 am. 

 

So we were like, ships passing in the night and getting really kind of upset with each other because we had different schedules until we realized, how can we spend Intentional Margins® quality time together and make sure that that time that we do have is really specific?

 

So honestly, he tucks me in every night. I get ready for bed at 9:30, he tucks me in and I go to sleep at 10:00. Then in the morning, I wake him up and we have coffee together. And those are our specific times where we're dedicated to each other so we don't feel bad that we have different schedules.

 

I mean, I talked about it all week. Find what works for you. That is what works for us. It is how we are the happiest that we can be. I've had a blast this week!

If you can believe it, this is the last day that you will have to hear from me. Thanks for listening all week, and don't forget to catch another episode of Everyday Happiness tomorrow when Katie is back. And don't forget, I hope your day is as happy as it possibly can be. Bye.

 

About Jenna: 

 

Jenna is a small town girl (like Katie) living big dreams in Los Angeles.  Founder of Aggressive Optimism®, she’s excited to talk this week about all things good vibes.  She likes to hang out over on the ‘gram at https://www.instagram.com/jennaedwardslife/.

 

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Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

 

562-Podcast Takeover With Jenna Edwards Day 4

Hey there, I’m Jenna Edwards and today I am sharing what I do that brings me happiness.  I hope you don’t miss this episode.   

 

Transcript:

 

Hey there. You're listening to Everyday Happiness with Katie Jefcoat. But as you all know now by now, I've taken over this week. My name is Jenna Edwards, and today I've been asked by Katie to talk to you about what I do that brings me happiness.

 

What's my big thing? And if you listen to the episode yesterday, I talked about finding what works for you and the biggest thing that works for me is going to sound so silly to some of you, but that's okay because it works for me and… it is surrounding myself with the color yellow.

 

It's so funny because I got a new job a couple of years ago and I was determined to not be known for wearing the color yellow every day because sometimes it can be really limiting. But, all of a sudden my coworkers were like, one day I didn't wear yellow and they're like, where's the yellow?

 

And I was like, oh gosh, I do have other colors in my wardrobe. But then I realized like, it's something that not only makes me happy, but the people around me.

 

So I always wear yellow. If you see me and I'm not in yellow, don't worry, but it's probably not a great day, potentially. Anyway, I discovered that years ago,  when I went through a really dark phase. As you all heard during my intro interview with Katie.

 

I went through something really traumatic, really dark, and I started to intentionally surround myself with things that made me happy. And the color yellow just started to be the beacon of light that I needed to break through that darkness in my head. And, it stuck.

 

And so now I literally, I mean, if you saw me right now, my curtains are yellow, I'm wearing a yellow sweater, there's yellow on my glass, like it's yellow. That is how I bring happiness into my life. 

 

And I would love it if you went to Instagram and posted on any one of Katie's posts and tagged me (@jennaedwardslife)  about what makes you happy. Like what do you do on a daily basis that brings happiness into your life? It would be so much fun to have that conversation because I want to hear what works for you.

 

You've been listening to Everyday Happiness where I've taken over for Katie. I'm Jenna Edwards and I'll talk to you tomorrow since I'm here all week. I hope your day is as happy as it can be.

 

About Jenna: 

 

Jenna is a small town girl (like Katie) living big dreams in Los Angeles.  Founder of Aggressive Optimism®, she’s excited to talk this week about all things good vibes.  She likes to hang out over on the ‘gram at https://www.instagram.com/jennaedwardslife/.

 

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Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/