Shake It Up

Six Reasons You’ll Love the Shake It Up! Journal 1. You will remember how to play and reconnect with your innovative self. Knowing how to play is an evolutionary requirement! Research shows that play keeps our brain and body young and flexible. Adults who choose to play become more lighthearted, compassionate, resilient to change, and optimistic. On the other hand, resisting or denying our natural instinct to play leads to a sense of stagnation and “stuckness.” The goal of the journal is to jump-start your playful nature, which will allow you to create a sense of renewal, innovation, and joy in many areas of your life. 2. You will develop an empowering habit of appreciating others and yourself. Mastering the art of appreciation is a lifelong adventure. This journal provides the perfect nudge for a fresh look at life through the question “What is here to appreciate?” or “What wants attention and love here now?” Genuine appreciation has been shown scientifically to raise levels of feel-good hormones. Professor John M. Gottman, known for his work in the field of relationships, established that all healthy relationships require at least five expressions of appreciation for every criticism or negative remark. The flow of appreciation, whether in giving or receiving, confirms and strengthens your ability to notice good things in life. It opens the channels for enjoyment and connection with yourself and others. 3. You will free up your sense of wonder and stimulate new perspectives. This journal is filled with wonder-activating questions. These questions stimulate and grow your internal curiosity and skill for wondering. Wondering trains your system to be open to discovery rather than settling in on a known outcome or needing to have the right answer. Genuine wonder is the space of ingenuity where new possibilities and creative solutions are born through ease. Prominent innovators in the areas of science, business, and communication all share the skill of asking powerful questions. Through pondering these wonder-activating questions and practicing wonder, you will begin to ask your own life-inspiring questions and perhaps stimulate your own innovative problem solving. 4. You will discover effective processes for facilitating change, personally and professionally. You can use the activities in this journal as a launching pad to create your own explorations and share them with your colleagues and clients for maximal positive collaborations and powerful connections. All of the practices and activities in the journal have been solo and group tested and are effective with both children and adults. 5. You will gain insight into how to create a nourishing environment for your ongoing personal growth and evolution. Real learning only happens while you are having a good time. Within this journal are pages and pages of activities that invite a foundation of appreciation, discovery, and creative expression — environments that support flourishing in your own life’s journey through creative fun. These practices are designed to assist you in creating a sacred and safe space to be in a state of real learning that is effective, efficient, and sustainable. 6. You will gather a collection of your growth explorations to review and repeat. Many of us who love discovering the world and ourselves don’t bother to create a physical space for collecting our insights and “aha” moments. We found that it’s extremely valuable to return to your self-explorations, read through them and add to them, so you can integrate them into your everyday life. The journal provides you with a physical space to create a track record of your own life laboratory experiments and new wonderful discoveries about yourself. All your discoveries are in one accessible place!