100 stories, 500 followers and so much more

This is my 100th story on Medium. That is amazing to think about. Along with that came 500 followers, a milestone I also reached this week and recently, months I topped 1,300 views and 600 reads. That is because of you. I appreciate every minute spent preusing my stories and considering the ideas presented in them. You guys rock!

Medium is a great place to learn the craft of writing. It’s also a wonderful community of positive people who want to make a difference in the world.

Two years ago, I had…

Excerpts from Win the Day: How to win your daily battles with stress, anxiety & depression

I wrote the first draft of my book Win the Day: How to win your daily battles with stress, anxiety and depression as stories on Medium. Now, I am sharing those earlier posts as collections that focus on each section of the book. This section, Your Emotions, details understanding your emotions and developing emotional intelligence.

Oftentimes, our emotions overpower us. Strong emotional feelings can be paralyzing, leading to pain that makes us feel that we have no option but to continue on the same…

Welcome to Readers Hope

Readers Hope is a new publication from Dr Mehmet Yildiz ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications that encourages readers to become writers and writers to stop procrastinating and give voice to those ideas in their minds.

This short post feature some new writers I’ve read this week. It is also a model of how to write a short story about anything that inspires you. Whether you want to get your own ideas out into the world or comment on what’s inspiring you, Readers Hope is a great way to start.

Mihin Tamu posted Descendants of the Valley this week…

What I learned from my first Facebook Live, It’s not as easy as it seems

This week in my private group focused on mental health and spreading positivity, I hosted my first Facebook Live. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement.

In this story, I’ll share tips for having a successful live video event. Whether you use Facebook, YouTube, or another channel these strategies can help you before, during, and after your event to ensure success. Not just this time, but in future events as well.

Before

Prior to my live, I organically marketed the event both in…

Excerpts from Win the Day: How to win your daily battles with stress, anxiety & depression

Mental health issues are sweeping the world, this problem has exponentially multiplied due to the adverse conditions we all face during the Coronavirus pandemic. For example, according to a recent MHA study:

• 41.5% suffer from some sort of anxiety
• 11.7% have mental healthcare needs that are not being met
• Depression symptoms are up 30%
• Suicide rates are up
• More and more people are feeling lonely and isolated

And that’s just in the US. One way to have more control of life and see brighter…

60 minutes of self-care for your weekend

I hope you had a good week and are giving yourself a bit of me-time today. I went to get a massage this week and despite the masseuse pushing and pulling, kneading and rubbing; at the end of the session the masseuse said, “mada.” This means not yet in Japanese. I was still kind of stiff from weeks of sitting in the same chair from 8am to 7pm while working every day. The realization I came to was that I don’t give myself time to just appreciate me. I used to take Sundays…

September is here. For many of us, it feels like the start of the new year. Here in Japan that means cleaning. After my clothes bar fell down twice, I finally heard my closet’s reminders that it’s time for a cleaning, and to get ready for something new to come into my life. I’ve listened to the screams and discovered five unsuspected benefits to creating a less cluttered environment.

Improved Confidence

When your environment is disorganized and messy, you may feel there is something undone. You will feel everything is in order when you take the time to clean and…