Good Life or Best Life

LJ Mitchell, Owner and Founder of Greenbrier Academy, SUWS and Alldredge Academy, and author of Decide Now: The Good Life or the Best Life joined us on the Woodbury Report, Tuesday, October 28, 2014.

What is the good life and what is the best life? As today's guest, LJ Mitchell on The Woodbury Report, k4hd.com explained, "Many people are looking for the 'good life'… things that give us pleasure, things that make us feel good, accomplishments, ego and pride. But the 'best life' is a step up, a life that is based on good, quality relationships, relationships that are cultivated and built on respect, compassion and love." In order to nurture these relationships, our self-concept is critically important and it is based on who you think you are. These perceptions (that you are not born with) are imbedded in us and intensely important to us. As we move through life, we develop these beliefs and often there are experiences in our lives that impact us."

"How do we change an unhealthy self-concept?" host, Lon Woodbury asked LJ. "With our core beliefs being imbedded very deep inside of us, often therapy can be extremely slow, but our relationships can change or reinforce our beliefs, therefore we need to be thoughtful as to how we want to be." Cognitive experiences can bring out from the unconscious mind, such as a relationship with nature. It creates a powerful relationship with the people in the group, a sort of 'bonding' that we perceive in a life and death experience. Religion for some is a changing experience and structured experiences: that create high adrenalin, doing things that are dangerous and hard like rappelling or mountain climbing can change our beliefs. If the experience is strong enough to affect the self-concepts, their beliefs can be reinforced or shaken up.

Tools that help in creating quality relationships are empathy and mindfulness. To feel others pain, to know what they need to feel love and to be sensitive to what they need. "Be sensitive to be empathetic- build empathy in yourself and be more sensitive to the feelings of others. In being mindful, get people into the present time. Our memories aren't exact of what we remember, rather more of a perception of the past. Our perceptions and our expectations and desires can change."

Contact:
LJ Mitchell
509-710-9905
ljaym@greenbrieracademy.com
www.greenbrieracademy.com
www.ljaymitchell.com

Listen to the full interview here: Good Life or Best Life

Woodbury Reports is an Independent Educational Consulting practice providing information and suggestions to parents of struggling children through direct consultations and the website Strugglingteens.com.