Archive

Is cancelling beloved holiday gatherings with family and friends weighing on your emotions? How do we reconcile the loss in ourselves and with our children? Worry Management Expert, Denise Marek, helps parents with those difficult conversations on The Morning Show. 1. Talk With Your Kids Sometimes we think we protect our children by sheltering them from what’s happening. But, kids are smart! They pick up on your stress and when left to imagine what’s wrong, it can cause them to worry. Talk with your kids. ⇒ Start the conversation now. You might not know… Read More

*Trigger Warning: Grief, Loss This may seem like an unusual Christmas message. Yet, this is a story of hope. It’s a story of help in the midst of a storm. It’s a story to ease loneliness during a time that can be lonely for so many. It was the first snowfall of the winter and the day after I returned from a holiday in Disney World with my husband and two young daughters. It is a day I will never forget! The Driver We had booked a Disney “land and sea” vacation package. Three days at a Disney… Read More

Did you know not all worry is bad? That’s right! Some worry can actually be good for you. Sometimes it’s saying, “Hey, pay attention! There are some things you need to do to protect your health, your wealth, yourself, your family, your business.” When you feel worry brewing, instead of sitting there stewing, get up and start doing! When you’re feeling worried, ask yourself, “Is this worry prompting me to take action?” If it is, act. Sounds simple enough, right? The challenge is fear and worry often stop us from taking action. Has fear ever stopped… Read More

Laughter is good for the soul! It causes your body to release endorphins – the body’s natural pain killer – and to reduce the stress hormone, cortisol. Who in your life makes you laugh the most? For me, I’d have to say it’s my kids and my sister Dede. Here’s a recent interaction I had with my daughter, Brianna, that had me laughing so hard I was crying. “Brianna,” I say during a FaceTime call. “The agent Auntie Jan knows just sent me a casting call for a ‘mom/daughter duo’ to virtually ask questions to celebrity ‘mom/daughter duos’. Are you… Read More

Mary Hemingway said, “Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.” Isn’t that good advice? If something is wrong, fix it if you can. In other words, when you’re feeling worried, act to control the controllable. It sounds easy, but have you ever noticed how worry, doubt, and fear often stop people from taking action? Has the fear of failure ever stopped you from taking action? Have you ever been afraid of… Read More

No matter how much you’ve worried in the past or are worrying right now, you can let go of worry. I know you can because I did! I was once a chronic worrier. I worried about my weight and my appearance. I worried about making mistakes. I worried about my job, about money, and about being alone. I worried about being loveable, being likeable, and being good enough. You name it and I worried about it. The strange thing is, I believed that my worry was helping me. Looking back now, I can see how it was “helping” me. Worrying… Read More

In his book For One More Day, Mitch Albom writes, “I met a man once who did a lot of mountain climbing. I asked him which was harder, ascending or descending? He said without a doubt descending, because ascending you were so focused on reaching the top, you avoided mistakes. “The backside of a mountain is a fight against human nature,” he said. “You have to care as much about yourself on the way down as you did on the way up.” This is wise advice to remember – especially now. As the restrictions ease in North America, children… Read More

Have you ever noticed the happiest and most successful people in life tend to have great attitudes? In his book, Make Today Count, John C. Maxwell tells a story about a 92-year-old woman who was moving into a nursing home: “Since she was legally blind and her husband of 70 years had passed away, the move was her only option. She waited in the lobby of the facility for a long time before finally being told that her room was ready. As she was escorted down the corridor, her attendant described the room, down to the curtains hung… Read More

Did you know your attitude is a choice? John C. Maxwell said, “Your attitude is a choice. If you desire to make your day a masterpiece, then you need to have a great attitude. If it’s not good now, you need to change it. Make the decision.” A decision is an action. The word “decide” comes from the Latin root decidere—meaning “to cut off from.” That means when you make a decision, you’re cutting off any other alternatives. For instance, when you decide to have an attitude of gratitude, it means you’re choosing to cut off—or stop looking for—all the… Read More

Are you letting what other people do determine your attitude? Are you letting things upset you that don’t have to upset you? The other morning, I was approaching a red light with my right-turn indicator blinking. Suddenly, the man in the car behind me starts honking his horn angrily. I look in my rear-view mirror and I see this guy, furiously waving his arm, motioning for me to make the turn. I hadn’t even had the time to stop at the red light yet and make sure it was safe to proceed through the busy intersection! But, there he was,… Read More

Have you ever stopped to listen to the way you talk to yourself? One day, I was dressed and ready to drive to the studio where I was the host of a TV morning show. Before driving to work I had to take the trash out to the curb for collection. At end of my driveway, I tripped and fell. I hit the pavement so hard that my hands and knees started to bleed. I went back into the house and began telling myself an entire story about how hard it was being a working mom and how tired I… Read More

Today’s world is extremely chaotic. There are new challenges to face every day. The way we do business, how we socialize, and how we live continues to change rapidly. What I’m seeing as a Worry Management Expert is that because these changes are so rapid and profound, individuals at every level of business are stressed. Changes breed uncertainty and uncertainty creates fear. That fear is keeping people stuck. Whether you’re a leader of your company, organization, team, or family, you need to help model calm in the chaos. The following 9 Habits of Worry-Free Leaders act as strategies to remain… Read More

Times are not easy. How do we develop greater resilience to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events? In a recent interview with Authority Magazine, I shared “Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient.” Here they are: #1: Choose the Right Attitude Daily Have you ever noticed the happiest and most successful people in life tend to have great attitudes? Each of us must make the decision to choose the right attitude daily. It’s not our circumstances that make us unhappy. It’s our attitude in our circumstances that makes us unhappy. Even in the middle… Read More

Have you ever taken part in an auction? It can be quite exhilarating, especially if you really want the auction item. Imagine you are at an auction and have just have discovered the item up for grabs is a live sea turtle. Participants are bidding on the chance to destroy its beautiful, massive shell. Would you be excited to participate? I wasn’t. It was our first night on Turtle Island – a beautiful island in the South Pacific. My husband and I had joined 11 other vacationing couples for dinner on the beach. Right before dinner, we were told some… Read More

What do these five things have in common: earthquakes, tornadoes, mudslides, volcanic eruptions, and in-laws? They’re all things over which we have no control. Some of the things we worry about—like natural disasters and other people—are beyond our control. Though they’re beyond our control, they’re not always beyond our influence. That which is beyond your control is not always beyond your influence. If you’re faced with an “uncontrollable” in your life right now, don’t give up. Instead, read the following three ways to influence the uncontrollable and come up with some creative actions you could take. Influence the… Read More

SANGER, Calif., November, 2022– Motherhood is stressful, but international award-winning speaker and worry management expert Denise Marek is here to tell you that you can stress less by learning to worry wisely! With her proven CALM method, a four-step process that has helped many individuals and organizations around the world connect with their inner peace, overcome their fears, and take the risks that are essential for success, mothers can tackle the stress of parenting. In this book, readers learn how to move from worry-filled to worry-free so their parenting experience will feel happier, more present, and less stressed. Whether they… Read More

“An oncology floor is a pretty stressful place, but I’d slide (the colouring sheet) onto the table, and within minutes, the parents would be colouring,” Darby said, “I remember one mother – her child was undergoing brain surgery in the next room – and she couldn’t believe how much (colouring) relaxed her” (Johnson, 2015). Colleen Darby became the “artist in residence” at the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo oncology ward after discovering first-hand the calming effects of colouring. Darby had been diagnosed with cancer while pregnant, and one day her young daughter gave her a small break from all… Read More

Perfect parents may look incredibly happy, posting carefully curated pictures of their flawless children, immaculate homes, and model holidays on social media. However, when it comes to parenting perfectionism, looks are deceiving. Perfectionism is characterized by worries about making mistakes, concerns about what others think, and a sense of incongruence between the perfect version of oneself and one’s actual self (Lin & Szcygiel, 2021). Perfectionism in parenting erodes the bond between parent and child, sets children up for psychological disorders, and robs families of happiness for generations. While striving to be a perfect mother or father may seem harmless, it… Read More

Decisions, decisions. Did you know that one of the reasons people come to counselling or therapy is to get help making decisions? That fact is one of the many things I learned in my studies last year. (Cue the marching band! I am one step closer to earning my credentials to provide Addictions and Mental Health Counselling. Being a full-time student was more time intensive than I had anticipated; however, it was a great year of learning!) In my counselling course, I learned a system for making decisions that you will find helpful. A traditional pros and cons list can… Read More

The number of young Canadians suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression is on the rise. “In one survey, about 14% of Canadian youth felt stressed on most days” (CMHA, 2014, para. 13). In addition, the Canadian Mental Health Association estimates that the total number of youth, ages 12 to 19, at risk of depression is 3.2 million (CMHA, 2023, para. 1). What are kids stressed most about? Children worry most about situations that require them to change or adapt. According to Medline Plus (2023), some of the top stressors for kids include: Negative thoughts about themselves Stress about grades or… Read More