A both/and perspective offers a more flexible approach to living and working in complex environments. Living in the both/and means multiple truths can exist at the same time, multiple outcomes are possible, and another person’s experiences are as valid as yours.

What does it mean when you are faced with an unexpected medical diagnosis from a practical sense? It might mean that your body needs to tolerate surgery, medications, side effects, or anxiety, resulting in changes to your daily habits and abilities.

Despite best intentions, our conversations often go awry when our ideas are questioned, we feel like we are under attack, and, out of habit, we protect ourselves by rushing to resolve the conflict. However, not all conflict needs a solution and sometimes its better if it doesn't.

Does the track you are on help you to achieve your personal and professional goals? If you feel like you are off track, it may be time to realign and recommit to moving toward what is important to you.

When talking to students in distress, we are more effective when we are active listeners. It is a path of less responsibility and greater effectiveness when we use active listening rather than the more commonly used approach of attempting to fix, make better, or solve.

I am about to tell you something you probably already know: Exercise is good for your mental health. Whether you have been an avid exerciser for years, currently exercise, or have exercised in the past, your body rewarded you with the hormones that improve your sense of well-being and mood.

Being mindful gives you more control over your behavior, reduces your emotional suffering, increases your sense of well-being, helps you make important decisions, makes you more effective and productive, and increases your compassion for self and others. 

I think about my impact on others. I also remember the people who have had an impact on my life by allowing me to make mistakes and grow with dignity. The professor who let me assert myself as a 20-year-old, colleagues who have tolerated my growing pains, parents who let thoughtless words pass. With the benefit of time and experience, their kindness is revealed to me, and I feel their grace in my life.

To overcome stigma, we need to be comfortable talking about mental health. It can start with simply asking, “How are you, really?” and then listening with an open, accepting attitude.

Healthy vulnerability means you don’t have to be perfect, 100% confident, and composed all the time. We’re human, we have emotions, we have demands outside of work. It’s OK to have doubts and make mistakes. It’s OK to not have an immediate solution to every dilemma.