022: Rethinking Happiness & Well-Being with Dana Fulwiler Volk

In this episode, Dana Fulwiler Volk joins me to talk about positive psychology, well-being, and transforming the narrative in our minds and lives. Dana and I connected in a community for female entrepreneurs and I am so grateful that our paths have crossed. In our conversation, I appreciated Dana’s openness in sharing her own personal well-being journey and her “Ah-ha” moments along the way. She has a wealth of knowledge and strategies that you will be able to easily implement into your day-to-day without having it be something extra that you need to check off before you head to sleep at night. This episode will inspire you to be more curious, both inwardly and outwardly, and will get you thinking about purpose, hope-mongering, positive disruption and how these ideas fit into your own life and journey.  Dana is dedicated to helping people and communities thrive. Dana is the founder of Well Ed, an initiative supporting well-being in education, and co-founder/host of the Teacher Fan Club, a well-being hub and podcast. Dana holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied with global leaders in well-being science, and a Master of Education from the University of Saskatchewan where she conducted award-nominated research on sustainable whole-school well-being. She has served as an Assistant Instructor in the MAPP program at UPenn, and is an Instructor in the first mandatory school well-being course in a Canadian Bachelor of Education program at the University of Calgary. Dana has also co-authored book chapters on well-being and anti-racism in education and served as an expert consultant with the government. Dana applies her expertise in well-being science across different industries, including as an advisor for a tech start-up and consultant for local and global clients, like the International Coaching Federation's Thought Leadership Institute. Dana’s previous career seasons include classroom teacher, international student coordinator, and mental health specialist.   Listen in as we talk about: Finding comfort in change and transformation. Dana shares how we can approach big life changes with a different perspective, as well as some tools to help during that transition. The power of language when it comes to well-being. We discuss the buzzwords used nowadays, and what well-being means in real life terms. The curation of happiness. Dana talks about the curation of your ‘best life’ and challenging the focus of what happiness should really look like. Finding freedom and humanity in self-compassion. We talk about what self-compassion means, and how to find freedom and acceptance in our challenges. How to shift from negativity. Dana gives us her best tips to avoid getting sucked into the negativity that may surround us.   Connect with Dana: Websites: https://teacherfanclub.com https://well-ed.com https://lifeaboveneutral.com Instagram: @danafulwilervolk  @teacherfanclub_  @lifeaboveneutral Facebook: @teacherfanclub  Podcast: Teacher Fan Club    Shared by Dana: Via Institute on Character: https://viacharacter.org Purpose Mindset: https://purpose-mindset.org Book: Emotional Agility by Susan David   Connect with Tiana: Website: https://tianafech.com LinkedIn: Tiana Fech Instagram: @tianafech  Facebook: @tianafech  Book: Online Course Creation 101: A step-by-step guide to creating your first online course    FINDING COMFORT IN CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION Dana explains that her decision to leave teaching was not due to unhappiness, but rather a desire for change and adventure. She emphasizes her love for learning and how it led her to explore positive psychology. She clarifies that positive psychology is not about constant positivity or minimizing suffering but focuses on building what goes right and proactively fostering well-being. Dana believes these principles are applicable in various fields, including education and organizations,