The Dance of Spreading Kindness in a Difficult Time with Carrie Grace McQuaid
Episode 421: Show Notes
Welcome back all of you lovely quarantined listeners! We are sending you some love and strength in these trying times! And in order to show you that we are having a chat with a special person today. Carrie Grace McQuaid is a former teacher who is now a full time motivational speaker and spends most of her time traveling around the country spreading joy and kindness! Sound great? We think so! She talks to companies, colleges, sororities, schools and more about how they can incorporate more joy and kindness into the workplace and their practices. The current crisis has put traveling on hold for a while, but Carrie is here specifically to help us unpack how you can share the love and offer help in these difficult times!
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She has literally gone viral for her work in this area and we just wanted to bring her on to open up the conversation about feelings and thoughts and how to be kind, open up your capacity for others, take care of your mental space and what to focus on business-wise as we all hunker down for an unsure future. Everything is so unclear at the moment and a lot of things are up in the air, the economy, health, income and everything else! Carrie shares some great action steps for everyone but we would like to say if you are currently feeling overwhelmed or have too much information on your plate, maybe save this for when you are feeling a bit more receptive. It is a great episode and deserves your attention, so best to make use of it in the right headspace! We really feel that what Carrie is offering can help us be the amazing community of amazing people that we can be, so let's get into it!
Carrie's Personal Background, Upbringing and Thoughts on Current Crisis
Carrie's parents raised her to look for the good in any situation and help where possible. This led to her going into education and she taught for a few years before getting into entrepreneurship and her current work in speaking. A lot of what she talks about is in the realm of culture. She focuses on bringing in more empathy and compassion and the effect these can have on a workplace. Oftentimes home life can be brought into the office and the effects can be dangerous as we do not always understand each other's context. Carrie wants to help open eyes to doing better, now more than ever! We are all in the current health crisis together and we are all affected. At other times of crisis it has been different, where a community may lend support or there could be some types of heroes, but most of us are now unable to help in most ways. Carrie reminds us of the importance of communicating our capacities at this time. Tell those around you what your limits are so we can all respect each other's needs. We have to try and find a balance while avoiding panic attacks from an overload of the news! Carrie says some relationships will strengthen during these times and some might weaken, we are all faced with the same challenges and it will take some commitment to make it through!
Being Helpful and Supportive Without Losing Ourselves
During this crisis it might be better to offer help and support through more statements than questions. Obviously some people are suffering more than others and some people are actually completely fine. Carrie also says that email might be better than texting and she encourages having some normal conversations about things outside of our immediate corona-related worries. We really do not have to, and cannot, save everyone! You have to know your own bandwidth and importantly want to be fine when this is over instead of burning yourself out to a standstill. Remember to permit yourself to say this is hard! Time has shifted as we stay at home, so the next few months will be different to any other months you have lived through, and that is okay! Carrie's first strategy for dealing with the immediate future is to write out lists and circle your priorities to get done. Getting one thing done a day would be great! She says, don't do nothing but be okay with not doing everything. We think this is such great advice!
Carrie's Approach to Reaching Out and Spreading Kindness
It is possible for something well-intentioned and helpful to actually be harmful, due to our different needs and expectations. There are so many ways to communicate and connect so find a way that works and check-in with people! Write notes to your coworkers and neighbors. Get your kids involved and have them help out in connecting the network. Remember, this will be a year we will always talk about, so how will you talk about it? Do you want to remember it as a time of loads of anxiety that you hated, or do you want to think back on it as something really different we all pulled through due to hard work and compassion? We think we know you answer! There is a reason why so much uplifting news is getting shared, we all need that boost, so go find a small thing that you can do to help and do that on repeat!
The Positive Change that Can Occur as a Result of the Outbreak
We will have differing outcomes from this period. Some will come out stronger and more resolute while some of us might struggle. Depression and anxiety are real, so look for your grief points and imagine some solutions. Short term solutions are great to deal with the current issues! Look around you, we are all grieving different things and the sooner you make that okay for yourself and others the healthier for everyone. Carrie has adjusted by doing some babysitting, something she did when she was younger, and whatever you can do to move away from feelings of failure and anxiety is a good step. If it means getting a part time job for the next few months to keep things ticking over and your head on straight, then do that! Make these changes and accept the temporary situation we are in. Once this is taken care of you will have more space for helping others around you.
Quote This
Don’t do nothing, but be okay with not doing everything.
—Carrie Grace McQuaid
Highlights
Carrie's Personal Background, Upbringing and Thoughts on Current Crisis. [0:04:49.5]
Being Helpful and Supportive Without Losing Ourselves. [0:10:55.8]
Carrie's Approach to Reaching Out and Spreading Kindness. [0:18:58.3]
The Positive Change that Can Occur as a Result of the Outbreak. [0:28:43.7]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:35:35.9]
Set one goal for the day.
Exercise self-awareness.
Focus on the short term.
Know your own boundaries.
Start the day right!
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Carrie Grace McQuaid
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | The Kindness Socks
Carrie travels the country speaking on the power of kindness and generosity. She teaches others how to build generosity into their businesses or workplaces to create better environments with lasting powerful results. Carrie also talks about building a tribe of people who become loyal to a brand or company and therefore become the best brand ambassadors. She empowers others to go out and make an impact on their families, friends, and local communities.
KEY TOPICS
Kindness, Crisis, Self-care, Motivation, Daily routine, Coronavirus, Management
