Free Self-Improvement Topics in Chicago

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  • The Power of Networking

    Bette Lawrence-Water, Founder and Principal Consultant, Spectrum Strategic Solutions

    According to Merriam Webster networking is “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business”. These and other events can become more easily managed with this great workshop. During this lively, and interactive Power of Networking (Outside the organization) discussion, participants will begin to see how important it is to develop a core set of networking skills to get things done. By managing and looking at the way people interact and seeing things in a new light, participants can improve on almost every aspect of their networking strategy.
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  • Discover What’s Really Wrong In Your Life And How To Fix It!

    Diane Moca, Television Reporter / Motivational Speaker / Entrepreneur / Working Mother, Working Mom Warrior

    For years, my vision for my life was to HAVE IT ALL -- manage kids, spouse and work successfully. But the harder I tried to accomplish that, the less fulfilled, happy and healthy I felt. I was unaware that I was neglecting a critical component in life that didn't seem important but was eating away at my sanity. By sharing my story and what I did to turn my life around, your group will learn the four main categories and six key areas in life that we must all nurture, and audience members will engage in an interactive session to help each person discover which component they need to fix and the steps to bring their life into balance. MORE >

    My presentation begins with the emotional journey that allowed me to develop my Goal Awareness and Achievement Formula. I explain how drastically life changed when there were so many demands on my time that I felt out of control and in a constant state of frenzy. After having two kids, working as a journalist and developing my own real estate business, I began to feel frustrated and overwhelmed every day. I was having chest pains and yelling at my kids and husband all the time. I realized I had to change my way of thinking or risk continued erosion of my physical and mental health. I began listening to dozens of audiobooks on productivity, passion and joy. I followed the guidance and insights of these authors. Through overcoming denial, becoming aware of what was really wrong, ending the cycle of blaming others, taking on personal accountability for my situation, putting in the hard work of changing my attitudes and habits, and maintaining patience throughout the process, I drastically improved my life.

    I'm now accomplishing more than ever in pursuits that are meaningful, and I have control over my schedule to be able to spend quality time with my family. I am on a mission to help others do the same.

    Many professionals feel we are pulled in too many directions and don't know how to meet the high standards of our bosses, our family, our friends and ourselves. I have discovered some of the secrets for making it all work through books, courses, coaches and interviews with successful professionals. I’ve spent more than a decade of my life studying how to do it all – taking in hundreds of articles about raising happy and healthy kids, about striving for career aspirations and running a successful business, about keeping a marriage fresh and lively yet deeply meaningful and long-lasting. At this point in life I have turned my study to the real-life heroes living their dreams and discovered what they went through to manage everything -- career, kids, spouse, home, health, fitness, style, finances, spirituality, growth, and purpose.

    As a result of interviewing working moms for my Working Mom Warrior YouTube channel, I now have a greater understanding of the motivation that can enrich women’s lives every day. I am creating a community of working moms who share and prop each other up, instead of competing. I am offering their insights and the lessons of my own transformation to groups who would benefit by hearing specific details showcasing how anyone can mold their life to feel invigorated and successful on a daily basis.

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  • The New American Dream

    Marcus Carter, Marcus Carter, Carter Property Solutions LLC

    This presentation spans the fabric of our most polarizing attitudes on health, family, wealth, career and romance. Learn to identify, compartmentalize and execute personal goals through a hands-on examination of the process of self-fulfillment.

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  • Where Are You Growing? Cultivating a Growth Mindset

    Susan Neustrom, Ed.D., Leadership Coach, Author, Speaker, Educator, Leading to Action

    Do you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset? Your mindset determines your behavior and thoughts leading to your success, your performance and your impact on staff, co-workers, family, and friends. There are two mindsets, fixed and growth. If you have a fixed mindset you believe abilities and intelligence are determined early in life. Therefore, challenges and failure only serve to support your belief. In contrast, if you have a growth mindset you view challenges and obstacles as opportunities to develop skills and continue growing and learning. Most individuals exhibit a combination of a fixed and growth mindset but intentionally cultivating a growth mindset results in enhanced resilience, increased accomplishments and expanded potential. In an organization, a growth mindset leader creates a culture of innovation, risk-taking, teamwork, and trust enabling others to adopt a growth mindset. MORE >

    In this interactive session, Dr. Susan Neustrom explores how mindsets are formed and the dynamics and strategies involved in shifting mindset to optimize positive impact both personally and professionally. Using the theoretical framework of mindset, grit, and mental contrasting this session will engage participants in a new approach to decision-making, problem solving, teaching, and learning.
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  • What’s the one thing you can’t buy? Time.

    Kimberly Kolb, Author & Speaker

    168. That’s how many hours are in a week. Do you use them wisely? Kimberly wrote a novel in a year while working and raising three kids in travel sports. She will show you how to find that kind of time for you. MORE >

    Kimberly is proud to be a part of Free Speakers since 2015, but will only present to not-for-profit groups.
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  • Accelerate Your Mojo: 7 Simple Steps to Ignite Intuition, Shake the Fear, and Unleash the Real You

    Allison Sutter, Founder, Living 360, LLC

    Do you put decisions such as sharing your authentic Self with others, your health, forgiveness, loving yourself fully, or living the way you'd prefer because of fear or doubt? Does it feel too hard to change the way you're living so instead you just settle for an uncomfortable status quo, hoping that ache in your gut, or low-grade stress or anxiety, will just disappear somehow? MORE >

    Do you hide who you really are from the world or worry what others think of you and your choices because rejection is too painful?

    If so, this talk is for you, or your group. Hello. My name is Allison Sutter. I'm the creator of the Accelerate Your Mojo (AYM) formula.

    Accelerate Your Mojo is a simple 7 step formula proven to ignite your intuition so you always know what your next best step is and feel confident making it. It's a unique and sustainable way to swap fear, doubt, and anxiety for ease, clarity, and excitement in life.

    The seven AYM steps are:

    1. Ask ... (for what you want and get it).
    2. Desire ... (is a potent fuel. The force is in you).
    3. Beliefs ... (must be analyzed. They are the fabric of your reality).
    4. Allow ... (in the good stuff you asked for in step one, got all excited about in step two, and went to the trouble of changing your beliefs for in step three).
    5. Focus of Attention ... (is the power that creates your world).
    6. Inspired Action ... (is different from struggle and trying really hard. This action starts within, not without).
    7. Detached Optimism ... (is the paradox of increasing positive manifestations. Focus with intense excitement. Then, let go of what you think needs to happen).

    AYM is a process that dispels the myth that the spiritual you and the physical you are separate, and that only those who have 'spiritual practices', or look, act, and talk a certain way, are allowed to call themselves 'spiritual beings'.

    Being a talk specifically designed to unleash the real you, the 20-30 minute talk highlights on how you can use this idea of being a spiritual being to help to solve everyday problems, repair relationships, increase abundance (in all forms), as well as helping eliminate the mental and emotional discomfort that comes from thinking you are 'less than' or need to have more (time, money, health, happiness, success) in order to be worthy, or feel safe.

    This talk has nothing to do with religion It has everything to do with using the idea of who you are and the resources and knowledge you have at your disposal today (intuition and love) to live a more awakened, empowered, happy life.

    The self-assessment questions below are a prerequisite to booking this talk. Please ask potential audience members for this talk to answer yes or no to the following questions. If you answer yes to any of the follow statements, the AYM talk can help provide sustainable solutions and jumpstart your desired AYM transformations (listed below).

    1. I want to get to the root cause of my emotional discomfort.
    2. I struggle to make decisions because I worry I'm not making the right choice.
    3. It feels as if fear and doubt are stopping me from having the awesome experiences I want in life.
    4. Sometimes I say, "I feel stuck," or "It feels like something keeps getting in the way of success."
    5. I experience strong thoughts of self-doubt, anxiety, or unworthiness.
    6. I can't seem to figure out why what I asked for in life isn't showing up.
    7. I often think, "Why does that keep happening to me? I'm a kind, positive person."
    8. I keep some aspect of myself hidden from others because I worry I won't be accepted as I truly am.
    9. The unknown aspect of new experiences, and even my future success, makes my uncomfortable.
    10. I experience skepticism or emotional discomfort even when things are going great in life.
    11. I desire a more in-depth conversation about how I create my own reality as both a physically and non-physically (spiritual) being.
    12. I want to uncover why problems and challenges (which Allison refers to as contrast) are a necessary aspect of life and foster appreciation for them.
    13. I want to learn how to use both positive and negative feelings as a diagnostic tool for empowered, happy living.
    14. I tend to put the needs of others before my own and experience resentment, disappointment, frustration, or anger because of it.
    15. I want to be a good person and help others, but sometimes I feel depleted in the process.

    The transformations from implementing the AYM process are:

    1. Clearly understand the root cause of your emotional discomfort and free yourself from its burden.
    2. Always know what your next best step is in any situation and confidently take inspired action.
    3. Use fear, doubt, and anxiety, as well as positive emotions, as the guidance they're designed to be. You'll uncover restricting beliefs and definitions of yourself and life, and rescript them ensuring more ease and appreciation.
    4. Experience daily thrill bumps of self-love, self-appreciation, and witness how life is always working out for you.
    5. Be comfortable in your skin and enjoy the good things in life, fully and unapologetically.
    6. Practice your way back to centered stability; uncork your natural vim and vigor for life.
    7. Clarify your true spiritual nature, embracing this aspect of yourself as your most cherished, trusted, and dependable relationship.
    8. Fully understand why contrast (problems and challenges) are a necessary part of life and how to use contrast as a diagnostic tool for positive transformations, instead of a reason to feel victimized, depressed, angry, or jealous.
    9. Learn to be selfish in a healthy way, benefitting both yourself and those you connect with daily. Own and honor the idea that wen you're depleted mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, you can't truly help others anyway.

    Please note: My speaking events are online only.

    Please note: I'm not a motivational speaker; I'm an educator who teaches her students to be more in alignment with who they really are and to transform fear and anxiety into something better, every time they show up. This talk is designed for individuals who are already up to speed with the idea that we are spiritual creatures having a physical experience. It works best when the audience has a preexisting belief in infinite intelligence and that we are Source connected beings.

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  • The Comfort Zone Illusion-Solving the Mystery

    Susan Neustrom, Ed.D., Leadership Coach, Author, Speaker, Educator, Leading to Action

    Are you ready for change? Are you a leader embarking on change within your organization? Whether change is planned or unplanned, more than likely you and your team need to step outside your comfort zone and do something different. However, leaving your comfort zone is frightening and fear can stifle growth, halt progress, and negatively impact behavior making you feel as if you lost control, stuck, and not moving forward. When implementing transformational change in an organization leaders are challenged with getting everyone excited and motivated about new ways of working. Often times, leaders are met with resistance, complaints, and frustration because people are being asked to step outside their comfort zone. Change upsets routine and structure and opens the door allowing fear to enter and demonstrated in thoughts and action. Of course, it doesn’t need to be this way because the comfort zone is really an illusion. MORE >

    This presentation unravels the mystery of the comfort zone to expose the stark reality of the discomfort of change. Therefore, enabling leaders to discover why leaving your comfort zone is so difficult, what creates fear during times of change, and how to develop strategies for engagement and empowerment that eliminate the fear of leaving your comfort zone and to view change through a new lens.
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  • The Case for Kindness

    Marie Genevieve Pawlak, Managing Principal , Prime Alchemy a division of Planning101 Group

    What would happen if Kindness was put on trial? Does it really pay to be kind In Leadership? How does kindness really help us in today's fast-paced world? This talk will provide insight and humor into what it really means to be kind and how being kind is the secret ingredient to success.

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  • Chapters – The Forty Year Rehearsal

    Roger Renik, Support Group Facilitator for "Chapters"

    Decades before the formal diagnosis of Depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Roger came to understand that something in his life was "different" from what he viewed as "normal" in others. Although he carried on daily living as best possible, unexplained sadness tied in with repeating habits and emotional breakdowns brought him to seek professional assistance. He now offers an interactive and non-medical discussion focusing on life experiences up to and following the diagnosis. MORE >

    This presentation is an honest dialogue on how everyday living can be reshaped and life can continue regardless of your own personal challenges.
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  • Chapters – Caring for Caregivers

    Roger Renik, Support Group Facilitator for "Chapters"

    Whether for an aging parent, neighbor or friend, most people will be a caregiver at some point in life if they're not already. This can sometimes be a challenging role when combined with everyday living and one's own daily responsibilities. MORE >

    Sharing experiences, especially in the care giving capacity, creates an informative and overall helpful environment in which you can realize that you are not alone in your role. Roger, a caregiver for over 15 years provides a supportive and interactive seminar with a distinct awareness of Senior Care. Even after the caregiving role may have ended, the emotional and mental part may live on for years to come. We can talk about this and know being the role of caregiver has a direct effect on all persons involved.
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