How to Train Your Mind for a Happier, More Resilient Life, with Monique Rhodes

You may know what you want to change. You may even understand the habits and beliefs holding you back. But what happens when your mind continues pulling you back towards the same reactions?

In this episode of The Resilient Life, I speak with happiness strategist Monique Rhodes about why happiness is not something reserved for the lucky, successful or wealthy. It is a skill, and like any skill, it can be trained.

Monique shares how a traumatic childhood and a suicide attempt at 19 began a lifelong search to understand why some people cope emotionally while others struggle. That search led to more than 30 years of meditation and work helping people manage stress, anxiety, overwhelm and depression.

We explore why changing a belief is often not enough, how unconscious habits and hidden rewards shape our behaviour, and why getting to the root of the problem means developing a better relationship with your own mind. Monique also explains the difference between doing something that feels meditative and having a formal meditation practice.

We also discuss resilience, Monique's recovery from a serious autoimmune illness and cancer diagnosis, and the psychological risks of entering retirement without replacing the identity, structure, relationships and purpose that work once provided.

This is a thoughtful and practical conversation about becoming less reactive, more conscious and better able to handle whatever life brings.

Content note: This conversation includes discussion of childhood trauma, suicide and serious illness.

Find out more about Monique and take her happiness quiz at IIntendToBeHappy.com.