Mastering Much More than Study Skills with Heather Bonham
Amazing and fun, and full of wealth in many areas, this is my very first Interview with my friend Heather Bonham, Author of Study Skills Survival Guide – College Edition.
Some background: Heather is currently an awesome Mom, Wife, and a full-time Teacher in NY. She holds a Masters in Family Therapy, Practiced in many areas but specifically fell in love with Disability Services enjoying most the work she did with kids that have special needs.
This idea began for Heather while juggling life – after having kids, in her 30’s Heather went back to school to get her teaching Degree. While obtaining this education degree, Heather learned online and needed to share how to manage time and study skills forward to her students. She realized they would be lacking the guidance after they left. This book is her way of Gifting to her students so they could take the skills with them and would continue to be successful. Online learning is extremely difficult as Heather has learned. Online has become more of a norm. However, time Management is the same for learning in classroom and online. If you don’t have the right skills she concludes, then you will struggle with the even just some of the basics. We highlight just how significant this is for adults no matter what it is we are learning.
Study Skills Survival Guide: (College Edition) by Heather Bonham
Link: http://a.co/cK8m6sP
studyskillssurvival (facebook)
Our Interview goes deeper- picked up a copy of her book. I discover all the hidden gems that this Grown-up (Me!?!) needs in order to survive! I was pleasantly surprised just how relative this book became for me and my own studies to this day!
There are so many aspects as Heather highlights in her book, it is not a long read, and is very to the point. I highly encourage this book for parents, teachers, students of all ages in any area as the skills span across the spectrum.
My favorite and first interview of course since we’ve been living in NY and met on a trip to Tennessee. My passion for health and mastering good habits crossover with all she points out. I need to take note – we all do.
TAKE NOTE: Table of Contents will entice you because you get way more than you expect!
Of course we discuss everything from attention deficit disorder, to non-hovering parenting, healthy body & mind, Sleep, and listening to the right music.
I am getting more than just study survival skills. I hope you share it forward.
Links to find this Awesome survival guide:
Study Skills Survival Guide: (College Edition)
by Heather Bonham
Link: http://a.co/cK8m6sP
studyskillssurvival (facebook)
I am so grateful to Heather! We’re definitely doing this again. What a wealth of knowledge and good skills you have, and you are sharing it forward. Way to go! I can’t wait for the sequel. We talk about so much, I could write on and on and on! Until next time….
Teach it FORWARD
The value of a “coach” approach to business and relationships.
Teaching, Coaching & Mentoring are habits we can cultivate inside and outside of our job titles. In business, sharing insights and skills are what help teams and organizations grow. Likewise, in families, communities, and personal relationships, teaching encourages growth and trust. Studies show that managers and teammates have better relationships when they use bilateral coaching methods (they coach you, and you coach them.) This approach shows interest and trust. It boils down to sharing and develops selfless relationships. Does your organization or do you have a skill that could be approached in this manner? Thankful for a skill you have learned? Send a thank you note, and pay it forward. Gratitude is an incredibly contagious habit to teach forward.
Benefits of Teaching, Coaching & Mentoring:
- Help someone improve their skills
- Refine your own skills
- Develop positive relationships
- Encourage someone to teach it forward
When the teacher is ready, the student appears…
Perception. Choose Your Truth Wisely.
Perception is real science; good, bad or indifferent what we believe to be truth creates a most certain outcome in our lives and manifests in our physical well-being. If we are truly honest with ourselves to take a closer look the journey to here we can almost certainly realize which path was followed. When we came to the fork in the road did we choose a perception meant to yield a positive return? Did we even realize we came to a fork in the road? Becoming hypnotized by habit is what can happen and maybe we perceived the whole thing all wrong. Possible? Absolutely. Now we have to undo that autopilot in order to notice the fork is even there. Then make the wise choice on what you will perceive as true. Why go down a road that leads to nowhere?
Perception can affect:
- Relationships
- Health & Well Being
- Finances
- (Everything)
You make a choice. You face a fork in the road at all times. Choice. What you perceive as true has a direct connection to where you will land. If you desire positive results (who would not?) then I ask, are you choosing the right perception? Since we are the captains of our own ships – where we steer our vessel is where it will certainly go.
This does not mean we choose to have the wool over our eyes or romanticize tragedy – quite the contrary. If you choose your perception to be on the Opportunistic path (for example, “What am I to learn from this.” vs. woe is me) then you are sharpening your tools, you have chosen well this time. Your body, your life, and those around you will reap all the benefits of your choices. It is all relative, and yes, it is all in your mind.
You already know that perception and opportunity are your most powerful tools – perhaps you just needed a reminder. You never learn though without taking Action: Practice. Choose a path that serves you, not one that disturbs you and can see where it takes you. Teach it forward.
Always ask yourself: What does this mean? Workout Your Choice-Muscle.
Focus in Front of You (Podcast Notes 001)
This is my first podcast episode with an intro, an outro and some major hours put into editing! It really is the same Lora, but with some fun music and the topic I seem to always love to talk about – Nature and Focus. What we choose to focus on plays a role in our minds all day and all our lives. If we take time to be intentional with what is in front of us, as well as taking the time to be aware of that, opens up new areas of our most beautiful muscle we should be exercising the most- our brain.
It only takes a few minutes to stop and concentrate on something. All over the world people travel to have a few minutes somewhere to just have the time and inspiration to be intentional. I do too. I hope this message inspires you to look at what is in front of you in a light and inspirational way – and encourages you to take time to practice whatever you feel you need to take time for. I am excited to break out of my comfort zone and share with you. with love, loraxplora.com
Today is a gift. Seize the day!
Today is a gift, so seize the day! What are you going to do today? How are you going to make the best of it? We get stuck on autopilot at times and this for me is a BIG reminder. Seize the day!
Thank you anonymous angel of “u can do it”
There it was at mile 2 of 3 outside when my legs felt like they were 100lb weights – uh oh there’s me again not focusing on the good but listening to my body like it knew better or something. We should listen, we shouldn’t listen… oh you know the drama! Some awesome soul took the time to write in super strong pink chalk along the path I was running “u can do it.” It was meant I’m sure for someone else but perhaps it was meant to be for me to see this right now. That person, whoever you are – I love that you did that. You knew without any cost to you how to serve others (many!) with your lovely and simple statement. You were just being you. That is what the world needs more of. No gain, other than the knowledge that you are helping others with a simple phrase (while it was raining and the chalk stayed by the way…) to inspire others. Well, I made it through the hump reminding myself that for every crazy story, person, or situation out there – there’s an incredible angel doing so much good with just a phrase and some chalk.
Age old poetic-prophetic condition: the opposite of my aim occurs. Rumi knew.
After a night of binge-watching movies, a cure to the common over thinker… I found myself in the midst of a hangover from a mood which I did not expect any profoundness – when it hit me on the forehead like a nerf dart. (In comes Rumi ) Who makes these changes?
Who makes these changes?
I shoot an arrow right. It lands left.
I ride after a deer and find myself chased by a hog.
I plot to get what I want and end up in prison.
I dig pits to trap others and fall in.
I should be suspicious of what I want.
-Jalal al-Din Rumi
What it all boils down to? Sometimes even our best intentions can bring us in the opposing direction. This is part of the big experience of our life’s adventures. We can invest money, time, and focus on strategies and personal development, business development, and relationships – and it can go (maybe in an epic way) completely wrong. Perspective is the key, right? Yes, look at what we can learn: maybe what we want is in the wrong wheelhouse? Or maybe an egg is just an egg!
Tone that mind, Tone that body. WAIT…..Rest Day?
Are you like me? Always interested in ways to be a better version of ourselves? Reading, absorbing, listening, researching, running here, running there… body and mind? Always learning the latest and greatest, right? Well, are you resting? (Someone recently asked me and it really hit me.) Train your mind to be just as wise as that body. So are you resting them both? And what is rest? Are you ‘ok’ with taking a rest day? There are a few of us (ahem) that struggle to not be actively doing something towards a goal and it takes practice to take a rest (a lot of practice = habit.) It’s one of my big challenges. Tell me how smart it is, go on. Tell me that tomorrow I will be even stronger because of my rest today. Tell me something I don’t know! Just like learning a new fitness regime, so must you (I) WE learn to be one with the rest day. I laugh….at the gym, we say we are doing an ‘Active’ rest day. Show me some research on the number of times we have to remind ourselves that rest is rest is rest. How are you spending your rest days?
Mentally Drained? 6 steps to Rehab & Re-Energize Willpower and Direction
Ever feel so tired, that you might have said “I’ve lost my will to….” for something? Or, “how did I let this happen?” Are you seeing the signs? You haven’t lost it – you are just tired and in need of a big Energy Boost in the will department. I believe we all do need a reset from time to time. We all need to strength train our willpower when it’s tired and used up. The battery can get low without us even knowing it. I admit, I originally created this post as “begin again” love letter….etc. It had a lot of private exposed vulnerable sentiments, and some deep issues to work out personally for me that I shared. But now that I have had sleep and hopeful gain, I have to keep you in mind and keeping it positive for us to learn together. It became clearer to me that I was struggling with just this – frustration at a wrong turn and where I felt my willpower was weak. It certainly is not weak, but it needs a little more love in the strength department today. Here’s my “begin again” post that hopefully inspires you to recognize the beauty in an err of ways. May it be a turning point so that you become so grateful to have the luxury of focusing on more upsides than down- in fact very big gains for us in our futures when it does happen. Yes, of course, deal with the hard stuff but lead with the positives. I know this in my heart fully now that strong love prevails even through tough times. Perfect example: Positive: I chose the right person to fall with, and get back up with. I am also so lucky and inspired by this one incredible person who makes me want to write and share and learn more about us and why we are who we are…and then some. It makes us stronger. Now talking about prevailing let’s highlight a few ways to wake up that strong will you do have and gift it a boost of energy right this minute:
Rehabilitation: To heal properly if talking about the will that has an injury or exhaustion, you must build more strength back into it gradually. It’s not forever – it’s just for a concentrated period of time until it is strong again. You need to re-program or reboot and see what directory needs to have a new pathway. To hit all brains here I’ll call it:
Strength Training the Will from “system error” or “not responding”
1. Look at the positives FIRST before anything and start listing them out. (This “first always gratitude” method helps put you in a positive state to then be more receptive to handling the next difficult & not so easy steps) Don’t worry – you’ll get to the hard stuff shortly.
2. Identify a set of signals and use them as your “reset” to neutral – an alarm that you are heading in the wrong direction to help alert you to turn. Like a “code blue.”Responding is what you eventually want versus reacting. This is a tough one, I know first hand.
3. Write a set of do’s and don’ts and then come to grips with it. Then write out the ifs. Read them often until they are set in so they are part of your mantra again. At a minimum, speak them to yourself often even if you do not write them.
4. Ask for help (or accept help) Often a trusted other may relate and it helps us too to realize that we are not alone. But remember to ask the right person – someone who will help to build you up not bring you down.
5. Focus on one thing at a time. As time passes that one area is so strong, then you move on to the next. Will is so strong, it catches momentum the more love and positive attention you give it.
6. Letting Go. All the above is great – but if you do not know what your goals and dreams are, and are not willing to ask yourself “is this the best for my dreams and goals?” We want the best, and saying no is hard when we feel “no” as a loss. No is not a loss, it is a choice and a key to unlock your true will forward! It is letting go – for me the hardest skill to learn (and relearn.) Why? We deserve the best and if we don’t get the best we suffer, and all those around us will suffer too.
Even just the little adjustments can result in bigger change and stronger gains. Simply being aware is even a huge beginning to the process. Believe in rebuilding and getting stronger. We wonder what it feels like to be normal when we physically or emotionally get hurt or sick. We get anxious about the time it takes to heal. We do have to let go of the demons and start working on building strength – now is a great time. Remember you have to start somewhere. I’m right here with you so Let’s do this.
