Happy, resilient 2014!

Last December I came across the best book I'd found in all of 2013 on building resiliency. And the author herself admits her research findings direct us to do some things that are in our current culture downright "radical." After implementing the basics of resiliency-building detailed in the publications included on resiliency.com, the next step is to implement the "radical" resiliency-building suggestions detailed by researcher Dr. Brene Brown. Read on to see some of these crucial recommendations....

AND, a couple of weeks ago, the television program "60 Minutes" highlighted the best corporate resiliency-building program I have ever seen. Called "Year Up," this Fortune 500 program "trains thousands of disadvantaged youth for internships that often lead to corporate jobs -- jobs that companies have found hard to fill." More details about this amazing program are also included below.

Join us in warm, sunny Los Angeles April 7 & 8 for the Resiliency Training Program Training of Trainers, which has attracted attendees from all over the world during the past 15 years. This one-of-a-kind training provides the most comprehensive resiliency training available...and this is the last chance to attend during this school year. (Scroll down for more information or to register.)

1. "What did these folks value?"
2. "How did they create all of this resilience in their lives?"
3. "Can anyone create a Wholehearted life?" and
4. "What does it take" to create such a life?

She admits that what she found out about how these people live was so different than her life, it caused her to have a "breakdown" i.e., "Spiritual Awakening" and to go into therapy. She says she was living the life she was "supposed to live" and not the life Wholehearted People live.

The foundational key to "Wholehearted living" according to Dr. Brown "is about engaging our lives from a place of worthiness." She says we must "wake up in the morning and think, 'No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.'" And she writes in detail about how all of us grow up to some degree or another feeling "not good enough." She then offers 10 "Guideposts to Wholehearted Living" and more importantly HOW to live them. These include:

• "Letting go of what people think."
• "Cultivating self-compassion."
• "Cultivating a resilient spirit."
• "Letting go of scarcity and fear of the dark."
• "Cultivating intuition and faith."
• "Cultivating creativity" through "Letting go of comparison."
• "Cultivating play and rest" including "Letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth."
• "Letting go of self-doubt and 'supposed to.' "
• "Cultivating laughter, song, and dance."

In this recommendation and several of the others, Dr. Brown notes that "in today's culture--where our self-worth is tied to our net worth, and we base our worthiness on our level of productivity--spending time doing purposeless activities is rare." However, she cites additional social science research that shows that "the opposite of play is not work--the opposite of play is depression." And she speaks this additional important truth: "We are a nation of overstressed adults raising overscheduled children." AND: "If we want to live a Wholehearted life, we have to become intentional about cultivating sleep and play and about letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self worth." She adds these recommendations are "at best, counterculture." In other words...radical.

This is a life-changing book, and a must-read for anyone who wants to cultivate resiliency at a deeper level. The book is filled with "DIG deep; Get Deliberate" activities. For example Dr. Brown writes, "One of the best things that [our family has] has ever done is making the 'ingredients for joy and meaning' list. I encourage you to sit down and make a list of the specific conditions that are in place when everything feels good in your life. Then check that list against your to-do list and your to-accomplish list. It might surprise you."

The "60 Minutes" report highlights the "thousands of graduates [that] are now working at companies like J.P. Morgan, American Express and Facebook. The result is that many of the country's most powerful CEOs are finding that they can do well by also doing good."

HERE IS HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS ACCORDING TO THE YEAR UP WEBSITE:

For the first six months of the program, students develop technical and professional skills in the classroom. Students then apply those skills during the second six months on an internship at one of Year Up's 250+ corporate and government partners. Students earn up to 23 college credits and a weekly stipend, and are supported by staff advisors, professional mentors, dedicated social services staff, and a powerful network of community-based partners.

Since its founding in 2000, Year Up has served over 8,000 young adults.

The results:

100% placement of qualified Year Up students into internships.

Over 90% of corporate partners would recommend the Year Up program to a friend or colleague.

85% of graduates are employed or attending college full-time within four months of completing the program.

Employed Year Up graduates earn an average of $15 per hour - the equivalent of $30,000 per year.

Buy the CD, and get two disks and a booklet of materials. Here is a review from a customer who just purchased the CD set (that she posted on the Resiliency In Action Facebook Page):

"After listening to the 2 cd workshop recently, I bought another workbook! I'm going to ask if my school will assist me in paying for the weekend training. I think what makes me such a resilient facilitator (in my winter years without degrees) is that I spent most of my most productive years (40s/50s) trying to keep my oldest daughter alive (she died in 2002). She had experienced multiple traumas--and was treated with the old paradigm Nan speaks of. I've spent the past 20 years working on the new, more positive, healthy and innate. Thanks Nan for helping me to have a place to come "home" to--what Rick Hanson, neuro-psychologist calls our innate home/nature. Great job, Nan, of integrating so much good stuff--I'll pass it on til my last breath..."

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE 2 CD SET OR THE MP3 VERSION

OR.....You can attend THIS ONE-OF-A-KIND TRAINING IN SUNNY L.A. near the beach FREE ...by purchasing 50 copies of "Resiliency In Action: Practical Ideas for Overcoming Risks and Building Strengths in Youth, Families, and Communities" OR 100 copies of "The Resiliency Workbook" for your school or organization.

Organizations that have contracted me as a presenter/trainer include:

National Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Job Corps, Americorps, Vermont Dept. of Education, California Dept. of Education, Colorado Dept. of Education, Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, New Hampshire Department of Education, Maine Dept. of Education, State of Texas Safe and Drug-Free Schools Initiative, Texas Elementary Principals Association; University of Southern Maine, Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), Texas A & M University, University of Hawaii, New Zealand National Federation of Children's Health Camps, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Calgary (Canada) Regional Educational Consortium, Winnipeg (Canada) Schools, BB/ BS Swiftcurrent, Saskatchewan (Canada), Nebraska Association of Prevention Professionals, Ohio Network for Training and Assistance for Schools and Communities, State of New York Dept. of Juvenile Justice, New York City Department of Education, Los Angeles Unified Schools, National School Counselors Association, National Association of Leaders in Student Assistance Programs, National Association of School Social Workers, State of CA School Dropout Prevention Initiative, individual school districts and agencies in 45 U.S. states and Regional Educational Centers in Texas, New York, Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, Pennsylvania. In recent years, Ms. Henderson has been contracted by the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.

I hope to meet you in L.A. for the Resiliency Training Programs Training of Trainers or when I come to your school or organization!

Sincerely,