Taking Charge with Dr. Ann Vertel

Networking at a conference or convention can be either fun or stressful. Either way, this conference advice will show you the best way to network. Learn how to set yourself up for success, prep the right questions, follow up with new contacts, and network well.

What does authentic living mean? To be more authentic? If you really want to learn how to show up in your own life and work as the real you, this episode can help you be more authentic. I unpack how we form deeper relationships by being genuine and authentic and why we often hide behind a persona.

Learned helplessness is real. So is learned optimism. Some people have learned to be helpless but there's a big difference between how you feel and how you respond to how you feel. Here are the tools you need to separate what you can and can't control.

Feel like you're falling apart right now? So how do the high performers handle crisis management? They do these 3 things very intentionally and it makes a world of difference. Learn how to handle a crisis, keep things under control, even if it feels like you're falling apart.

Can you worry "enough" to keep bad things from happening? Expecting the worst can make you feel overwhelmed and out of control.  If you want to learn how to stop worrying so much, learn 3 strategies that will help you overcome the habit of worry, and focus your thoughts forward toward success.

Managing change and all the unwanted work-from-home changes brought about by the virus have disrupted our regular routine. Human behavior says there are at least five universal or common reactions to change. Learn what they are and how to manage their power over you and your family. 

With a daily crisis in the news, anxiety and depression can cause us to worry and ruminate. Personal crisis management doesn't have to be complicated. No matter what is happening around us, we can always control these three things in any situation. 

Feeling stuck or paralyzed? Learn how to get unstuck in life and work, and how to let go of the right things so you can build momentum.

Learn the 5 things I'm doing this month to be happier no matter what. Happiness is a choice and if you've found yourself saying, "I just want to be happy" these 5 very specific actions will help you be more happy in no time at all. Join me and my special guest, Jennifer Dunham, so you can feel happier this month too! 

Haters gonna hate. We all want other people to like us - but sometimes doing the exact opposite of what feels normal is even more effective in being successful. In this episode, I share a simple and easy way to court your critics so even though haters are going to hate, you can stop worrying about what other people think and stand out from the crowd.

Stay at home mom jobs are becoming more popular as many women are tired of working for someone else. If you'd like to quit your job, start your own business online, work from home or work from anywhere, have more freedom and make more money, this episode is for you. Discover 8 ways to create a legitimate "work from home job" and get paid for your knowledge, not just your time.

Julian Rotter's Locus of Control assessment in psychology measures our level of conformity and our achievement motivation. This episode describes the definition, difference, and meaning between an internal locus of control and an external locus of control. It can help you determine if you are in control of your life, along with several ways to help you take control of your life.

Have you surrounded yourself with givers or takers? Do you like, trust, and respect your friends, or do they suck the life out of you? Have you set boundaries that work for you or for them? Learn how to set personal boundaries and why that is important for your success.

Books to become an entrepreneur are available everywhere. When I first started my business, these 3 entrepreneur books were pivotal in shaping my mindset as an entrepreneur and helping me learn how to become an entrepreneur. They helped me learn how to turn my talents into income so I could build a work-from-home business. Knowledge, skill, and an entrepreneurial mindset will help you discover ways to work from home.

We don't just have to survive, endure, muscle through, or cope with bad circumstances. These 3 techniques will help you change your mindset and think differently so you can turn tough circumstances into past events, not feel sad or depressed, take control of your life, and feel better again.

If you've found yourself deep down the rabbit hole of social media, or experiencing FOMO (the "Fear of Missing Out") or constantly checking your email inbox and not getting things done, this episode is for you. You'll learn the reason why we tend to submerge ourselves in tasks that take up the whole day but just aren't productive. I'll also share 6 strategies to become more mindful and be more productive so you can focus better, have better concentration, and overcome distractions that seem to take up so much of your day so you can get the important things done. 

If you've ever had one of those days where you just can't seem to concentrate and everything seems like a distraction, this episode on how to focus is for you. You'll learn how a weightlifting concept called "time under tension" can be applied to the practice of concentrated focus, letting you focus your mind and be more productive.

This episode explains the true nature of authenticity, the "meaning of genuine" and how being fearlessly authentic can help make you more successful. Discover how your success is related to vulnerability and why learning to truly connect can make you a better leader. 

A decision-making model that helps your boss make better and faster decisions? Absolutely. Have you ever worked for a boss who couldn't make a decision? This episode will explain how to successfully brief or pitch your boss, a committee, a professor, and anyone in authority in a way that helps them make better business decisions faster, instead of a request for more information.

How would you define imposter syndrome and imposter syndrome meaning? Also known as the imposter phenomenon, it kicks in every time we try to disrupt the status quo. Overcoming imposter syndrome matters, because each time we give in to the lies, we lose our ability to be a leader.

If you've ever wondered, "what is my passion?" or "how do I find my passion?" or maybe you just feel stuck, this is the episode for you. I'll challenge you, encourage you, and help you dig deep into patterns and behaviors that will help you stop feeling stuck in life and open up to what you have been designed to do! You have a distinct set of gifts, talents, skills, experiences, training, expertise, and interests. And I'll give you three very specific exercises that will show you how to find your passion.

Do you know the best way to network, especially if you're an introvert? It's easier than you think when you pivot your definition of networking. It's natural, as human beings, to want to belong.  When walking into a group of strangers, it's easy to get wrapped up in our own fears, anxiety, thoughts, and imagination. Which is exactly the wrong way to network. This episode will show you the easy way to work a room and make networking for introverts both fun and productive.

Building resilience and becoming anti-fragile isn't just our capacity to stand there and take the slings and arrows of life, it's the power and agility in which we respond that helps up be more resilient. We don't have a limited amount of resilience and that's good news. Because when bad things happen, our resilience doesn't have to tap out. Building resilience in adults, as well as kids, can be like a revolving door of gratitude, growth mindset, locus of control, explanatory style, compartmentalization, and reframing.

To be more empathetic and get their clients to open up and talk about issues that are painful, scary, or deeply personal, counselors use a powerful tool called a "reflection of feeling." This episode explains how to use this tool in seeking first to understand so you can better understand other people.

Questions, particularly the wrong questions, can put people on the defensive. We ask questions because we want information, which means the other person is in a vulnerable spot. One of the most effective types of questions is actually a statement used by counselors called "descriptive feedback" - using this technique with success to get people to talk to you is what this episode is all about!  

Most leadership development programs miss the foundational step. Leadership training that focuses on personal leadership or self-leadership first helps managers avoid drama, chaos, indecision, poor communication, and micro-managing. Learn how to fix or develop an emerging leaders program or transformational leadership training program that builds influential and authentic leadership skills.

How often have you been told to "enjoy the journey?" That happiness and fulfillment are not about the destination? But what if true fulfillment isn't about the journey OR the destination? This episode opens a third possibility that will change the way you see all your goals, processes, accomplishments, and achievements, especially if you're a "serial achiever" who accomplishes a lot, enjoys the journey, but still feels that nagging, "something is missing," unfulfilled feeling.

This one is for women in leadership (and men who work with women leaders!) No one really taught us how to lead like a woman, right? Women in leadership courses teach lots of general skills about team building and managing change. But the skills necessary to walk that fine line between acting like a man or playing girlish games? Not so much. Sometimes we learn the best leadership lessons from people who aren't very good leaders at all. I share three important distinctions about how to lead like a woman while working for other women.

What is happiness? Is there really a secret for how to be happy? A key that can help us reduce the overwhelm and focus on what matters? Jennifer Dunham thinks so. In fact, she believes we can actually structure happiness, using it as a tool to create more freedom. 

Do you know how to get unstuck and make a quantum leap? The truth is, high achievers don't really make quantum leaps, they just appear to do so. And they do it using these 2 key success strategies. 

When we are working to master a skill, most of us eventually get stuck or hit a plateau. But not all of us. Those people we'd consider experts or masters at something work on their craft a different way. Whether you're working to get better at a business skill or a personal hobby, you'll want to understand this difference if you want to get unstuck and get better. Learn how experts practice differently so you too can achieve mastery.

It took me five and a half decades but I finally discovered the fountain of youth. In this episode, I share my personal struggle with energy, aging, and feeling downright awful as well as the journey I've taken to find the answer to healthy living, wellness, and finally feeling better. It's a more personal episode than most but an important one – maybe even the most important one for you, your health, your energy level, and a healthy lifestyle.

Being rejected, especially when it comes to business and sales, is never fun. But fearing rejection doesn't prevent it. It just prevents YOU from getting what you want. In this episode, you'll discover 3 strategies for learning how to not only handle or manage rejection but for learning how to embrace it and make it work for you.

Positive thinking and positive self-talk can literally make us more productive - a great reason to think positively! So how do we overcome negative thoughts and negative self-talk? In this episode, I share 4 strategies for changing the way you think so your positive thinking and positive self-talk can support you and your goals. You'll learn how to think positively, improve your perspective, focus forward, give up the drama, and deliberately choose new thoughts by forming a new thinking habit.

What happens when something you've worked your whole life is taken away or is no longer a possibility? How do you let go of a life-long dream and move on? In this episode, I share a few stories that may inspire you, the reasons why letting go is so hard, and 5 steps to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose and hope. 

Ever struggle with clarity and focus?  In this episode, I share exactly what I do to create the mental space that lets me focus on the things I really want and need to accomplish. Some are a little unusual, but they work for me, and maybe they'll work for you too. If you're an "idea junkie" and struggle to gain clarity, this is the episode for you. Learn the five strategies I use to "clear the decks" so you can move ahead with more confidence!

We all struggle with procrastination. In this episode, I tell you exactly what I do to make sure I get the big things done in a way that works for me. If you're a "big thinker" too, always looking at things from a 30,000-foot level, and the details make you procrastinate, this is the episode for you!

What happens to our confidence when one of the five main areas of our life takes a hit? Grief, loss of a pet, tragedy, business goes under, health issues - much like the legs of a chair when one or more of them get knocked out, you can feel out of balance, out of control, and certainly less than confident. This episode can help.

Confident women leaders behave in a very specific way. In this episode, discover how you are one of them, and perhaps a few things you could do to make an improvement in how you lead. 

Resistance shows up in many forms and one of the hardest ones to deal with is procrastination. This episode gives you three specific steps you can take to learn how to stop procrastinating so you can be the confident woman you were meant to be and go after your dreams with gusto!

Lee Cockerell is the former Executive V.P. of Operations for Walt Disney World. Lee was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, attended Oklahoma State University and served in the US Army. He's authored three best-selling books, The Customer Rules, Creating Magic, and Time Management Magic. 

Diane Cunningham is the Founder and CEO of the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs. She's also a speaker, a published author, and a plane crash survivor. You'll enjoy her mission, her perspective on life, and her fascinating journey into entrepreneurship. 

It took a broken camera at a critical moment to launch Courtney Slazinik of Click it Up a Notch into a thriving business teaching others how to take photographs of a lifetime. Courtney both mentions and embodies Farrah Gray's sentiment: "Build your own dreams or someone will hire you to build theirs." 

A few years ago I was exhausted, stressed, and felt like I was just fading away. I'm pretty sure my adrenal glands were shot and no matter how much I slept or exercised, I just couldn't seem to get my energy back. Then in walked Casey Sollock and her life-saving green smoothies. 

Executive presence is the "it" factor for those that developing strong leadership skills. It's that confidence and gravitas that helps you achieve results, influence others, and get to the top. And it's considered one of the top requirements for promotion to senior-level positions. This episode gives you 3 instant improvements you can make to your executive presence.

Ready to leave your 9 to 5 job and start a business from home? Tammy Helfrich left her steady corporate job at a Fortune 500 company to follow her passion. By encouraging, empowering, and connecting people with their passion and hosting her wildly successful podcast, "Right Where You Are," Tammy shows us all how to work from home and live a bigger story. 

LeeAnne Ruff's approach to life, business, faith, and family is to always be reaching higher. You'll be inspired by her passion for helping others live their bigger story through leadership, self-respect, trust, determination, and an unflinching belief in service to others. 

Optimism is more important than self-esteem or self-confidence in sustaining resilience and the entrepreneurial mindset. There are 3 distinct ways our attitude develops over time. This episode breaks them down so you can replace your exposure, habits, and interpretation of negative events with a more optimistic attitude. 

Once we make a big life decision, it seems everything settles out and we can think clearer again. But like all successful women in business, before we make an important decision there can be frustration and worry. Today's episode gives women leaders a 4-question framework to help you make the right personal leadership decisions for you.

Do you know how to be more creative or how to innovate? What if you loved what you do so much you never wanted to quit or retire? How much of your day is spent solving problems? Problem-solving, even creative problem solving, can be frustrating. It's time to create something – time to stop solving problems and bring something into existence that just wasn't there before.