Kim Strobel

The Science of Happiness: Cultivating Habits for Better Work & Life

In this thought-provoking and compelling keynote, Kim Strobel shares how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive and step into our power. When our happiness and well-being are at the forefront, employees are ten times more engaged, 31% more productive, and three times more creative. 

Emotions are at the heart of what many employees do and why they do it. Educators come to teaching with dreams of changing the odds for disadvantaged children and inspiring a love for learning. Nurses come to work with aspirations of caring for and healing others. Lawyers find themselves in the courtroom because of their passion for justice and advocating for others. Unfortunately, research shows that about 52% of employees are unhappy at work. Disengagement and dissatisfaction among workers have reached unprecedented levels.

There are many professions that involve an emotional practice, and employees need support in strengthening their social and emotional skills to manage the stress that comes with their careers so they stay in the profession for the long term. “Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and how we can create fulfilling lives while also working to improve performance in life and workplace success. 

Strobel unpacks the positive psychology science and research that pivots the crowd towards optimism. She asks, “Would you press a button to increase your happiness levels by 40% and your productivity levels by 31% while also having 300% more creativity on a Monday morning? When people respond, “Yes!” she explains how to achieve this. Her inspiring stories and practical tips for well-being leave the audience feeling inspired and full of hope for creating their own happiness within their profession and their personal lives. When you reset your brain toward positive, you become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive in life—including your work life. 

Remembering Your Why: Reclaim Your Purpose & Ignite Your Passion

As someone who has experienced moments of powerlessness in her personal life, as well as in her career as an educator, Kim Strobel is all too familiar with how easy it is to feel helpless. Educators, health care workers, office workers, and many others, are struggling right now. Many employees feel they are working in a time of chaos; they are over-worked, overwhelmed, and over-stressed. Some have lost a lot of their joy. And what concerns her most is the toll these feelings are taking on them and how it’s affecting their personal lives, their professional work, and their customers, students, patients, or clients.

But Strobel believes that sometimes it’s out of chaos that solutions cry out. All employees regardless of their field of work need to be reminded of their “why” to experience professional growth — and they need tools to help them navigate the ever-changing landscape of this profession.

During this keynote, Strobel shares the story of a very special student who had a profound impact on her life. Participants are moved to tears when they hear about this student who faced challenges not just in the classroom, but also at home. This student taught her a lot about her own reasons for teaching and she shares this story to help others remember and embrace their “why” in the profession they chose to pursue whether it’s teaching, coaching, health care, civic duty, non-profit, etc. She’s determined to help team members rediscover their passion for their field of work, but more than anything, she wants them to reclaim their lives and stand proud on the path they have chosen. She wants to empower them, because they are the ones who show up every day, making meaningful contributions to organizations and society, and impacting the lives of those around them.

What they do matters greatly, and the fact that they feel called to their profession … well, this is truly a service of the heart.

Radical Wellness: The Self-Care Nobody’s Talking About

Self-care is an overused phrase that doesn’t get to the heart of what employees are facing each day. They are told to practice “self-care” when they are already drowning in a sea of mental and physical fatigue and exhaustion. It’s time to replace the phrase “self-care” with Radical Wellness.

It’s radical because it’s uncomfortable and messy, and it requires us to examine our lives from the inside out, including taking a step back and making some much-needed moves in our lives. It is not a random, long-overdue pampering with a facial or a walk in the park. It is restructuring our lives with the understanding that not only do we deserve to feel good physically and emotionally, but also that those around us – our co-workers, our families, our colleagues – need us to be the best versions of ourselves. When Kim Strobel talks about radical wellness, she’s talking about the thoughts and beliefs we act on daily – sometimes without even knowing they are operating in the background of our minds.

The Power of a Growth Mindset: Change Your Thoughts to Increase Your Success

Life is always going to be full of hardships, adversities, drama, and disruptions. Roadblocks and tough times are inevitable. How will you respond? Your mindset has everything to do with this.

When we can learn how to pivot, persist, and adapt rather than crack, crumble, and give up. We can learn to see stress as a challenge and create new opportunities within our schools, businesses, and organizations where our beliefs become the very center of what we know is possible. 

According to mindset psychology researcher Carol Dweck, “A growth mindset is the understanding that we can develop our abilities and intelligence.” Research has shown that our implicit beliefs about our abilities intelligence can greatly impact our achievement in all areas of our life. A person’s mindset (student, employee, etc.) and the mindset of those around you will have a significant impact on your life.

In this keynote, Kim Strobel discusses how a person’s intelligence has a significant impact on their motivation, effort, and approach to challenges. Those who believe their abilities are changeable are more likely to embrace challenges and persist despite failure. We all need reminding of the value of productive struggle and feeling safe taking risks to learn something new. We all want our employees, teams, clients and students to have confidence and feel like they can positively impact their community. We want them to believe they have the power to make our world a better place.