Wellness Wednesday Issue #118

💰 If this is the year you’ve committed to paying off debts, this checklist makes the process feel much less daunting.

🎭 A comedy show that explores motherhood, midlife crises, marriage, and online dating with a side of unfiltered humor.

🧠 Try a dopamine menu to give your ADHD brain the stimulation it actually needs.

🙄 Dealing with difficult coworkers? This survival guide can help you keep your cool.

Ever been in a relationship where you needed constant reassurance, overanalyzed every text, or felt like you were too much? Or maybe you’re the opposite—you keep people at arm’s length, struggle with emotional intimacy, or feel suffocated when someone wants to get too close.

These patterns aren’t just quirks—they’re often rooted in attachment theory, which explains how we connect with others based on early childhood experiences. Your attachment style affects how you love, handle conflict, and even how you react to emotional stress.

Maybe you’ve found yourself in a cycle of choosing emotionally unavailable partners, always wondering if you’re the problem. Or you’re someone who completely shuts down in the face of conflict, avoiding difficult conversations like the plague. You might feel like you have to prove your worth in relationships, or maybe you just don’t understand why people need so much emotional closeness to begin with.

These behaviors don’t come out of nowhere. They’re deeply influenced by your attachment style, which falls into one of five categories: Secure, Anxious, Dismissive-Avoidant, Fearful-Avoidant, and Disorganized.

1. Secure Attachment—“I trust myself and my relationships.”

You’re emotionally stable, comfortable with closeness and independence, and don’t play mind games. People with secure attachment had consistent, supportive caregivers growing up, which taught them that relationships are safe.

🔹 In relationships, you:

• Feel confident expressing emotions
• Can be vulnerable without fear of rejection
• Handle conflict without spiraling

How to build this: If you didn’t grow up with secure attachment, the good news is—you can develop it. Therapy, self-awareness, and learning to communicate your needs in a healthy way can help.

2. Anxious Attachment—“Do you really love me?”

If you overthink every text, feel like you care more than your partner, or need constant validation, you might have anxious attachment. This often comes from inconsistent caregiving—sometimes love was available, sometimes it wasn’t.

🔹 In relationships, you:

• Fear abandonment and overanalyze small things
• Need frequent reassurance from your partner
• Struggle with setting boundaries

How to work through it: Therapy, self-soothing techniques, and learning to validate yourself instead of relying solely on a partner’s reassurance.

3. Dismissive-Avoidant Attachment—“I don’t need anyone.”

If intimacy makes you uncomfortable and you’d rather bail than talk about feelings, you might be dismissive-avoidant. This often develops when caregivers were emotionally unavailable, leading you to rely only on yourself.

🔹 In relationships, you:

• Struggle with emotional vulnerability
• Pull away when things get too close
• Prefer independence over deep emotional connection

How to work through it: Recognizing that connection is not weakness and practicing small acts of emotional openness.

4. Fearful-Avoidant Attachment—“I want love, but I’m scared of it.”

This is a mix of anxious and avoidant behaviors—you crave intimacy but fear it at the same time. You might push people away, even when you really want connection. This often develops from childhood trauma, neglect, or unpredictable caregiving.

🔹 In relationships, you:

• Feel torn between wanting closeness and fearing rejection
• Have intense emotional ups and downs
• Struggle with trust and emotional regulation

How to work through it: Healing through therapy, self-reflection, and emotional regulation practices can help you feel safe in relationships.

5. Disorganized Attachment—“I have no idea what I want.”

This is the most unpredictable attachment style—sometimes you act anxious, sometimes avoidant. You may deeply want love but sabotage relationships out of fear. This often stems from severe trauma, neglect, or abuse.

🔹 In relationships, you:

• Alternate between needing closeness and pushing people away
• Experience intense mood swings in relationships
• Struggle with self-sabotage and trust issues

How to work through it: Trauma-informed therapy is key for healing deep-rooted fears and building healthier connections.

Can Your Attachment Style Change?

Yes! Attachment styles aren’t set in stone. With self-awareness, therapy, and healthy relationships, you can move toward a more secure attachment style over time.

Curious about your own attachment style? Take out attachment quiz and start understanding your patterns today. The more you know, the better you can build relationships that actually fulfill you.

Knowledge management = organizing your company’s info, tools, and answers so no one’s digging through Slack threads or inboxes ever again. When done right, it saves time, reduces repeat questions, and makes onboarding (and basically everything else) way smoother.Here’s how to build a system that actually helps:

1. Centralize Everything

Stop the scavenger hunts. House your docs, templates, FAQs, and SOPs in one clear, easy-to-navigate place.

2. Keep It Fresh

Outdated info = wasted time. Set a schedule to review and refresh content so your team always has the right answers.

3. Crowdsource It

Encourage your team to contribute. The more people add to it, the more useful and relevant it becomes.

4. Automate the Repetitive Stuff

Tired of answering the same questions? You can automate responses to FAQs so your brainpower goes to higher-impact work.

✨ Want to skip the build-from-scratch chaos? Zendesk’s Knowledge Base tool helps you create a sleek, centralized, searchable hub for your team. It’s easy to update, easy to scale, and actually gets used.

Perimenopause is often talked about in terms of hot flashes and irregular periods, but what’s rarely discussed is the impact of low testosterone and how much it can affect our daily lives.

While most people associate testosterone with men, testosterone actually supports so many aspects of our feminine health like:

• Bone density
• Mood/emotional regulation
• Libido
• Sleep quality
• Energy/motivation
• Mental clarity

My Diagnosis

I expected some changes in my 40s, but I wasn’t at all prepared for the debilitating fatigue, frustrating brain fog, and total loss of motivation—not to mention the soul-crushing 35 pounds that seemed to show up overnight that I could NOT lose.

After months of being told by multiple medical professionals (including my adorable 20-something OBGYN) that my symptoms were “just part of aging,” I finally requested that my hormone levels be checked (note—no one offered this option to me).

The results?

My estrogen was within the healthy range, but my testosterone level—which should have been 150-200 (according to her scale)—was a mere 17!

FINALLY, an answer!

But, now what?

My Solution

Most of us have heard horror stories of FDA-approved estrogen replacement therapies and the reproductive system cancers they’re connected to, but not so much about testosterone replacement 🤔.

Not-so-fun fact: “More than 30 different testosterone products are approved for men by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but the agency has never approved testosterone for women.”

After a ton of research, I found a medical professional in my area who administers bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). It was a very simple in-office procedure—she implanted a couple of testosterone pellets (each about the size of a grain of rice and carefully calculated per my level) into a small incision in my upper buttocks. No stitches, no restrictions, just a few butterflies.

My treatment was unfortunately not covered by health insurance, so the out-of-pocket cost was $375 and it lasts approximately 3-4 months.

But it was an absolute game-changer.

Within a week or so, I could feel my energy returning and the brain fog lifting. I could get through entire days without crying, dropped that pesky 35 pounds, and was finally feeling more like myself again.

My Advice

If you’re struggling, don’t settle for “this is just part of aging.” Advocate for yourself, get your levels checked, and explore the options that can help you feel your best.

Carri (TA Copywriter)

Let’s talk hormones—because they run the show. From energy and mood to metabolism and sleep, our hormones impact just about everything. But as women, our hormones fluctuate through different stages of life, and optimizing them can make a world of difference in how we feel day-to-day.

Effective Ways to Optimize Your Hormones:

1. Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is crucial for hormone balance. Aim for 7-9 hours a night to keep cortisol in check and support healthy estrogen and progesterone levels.

2. Eat Hormone-Supporting Foods

Focus on whole foods rich in healthy fats, fiber, and lean protein. Cruciferous veggies balance estrogen, while omega-3s support hormone production. Hydration is key too!

3. Move Your Body

Regular exercise keeps hormones like estrogen and testosterone balanced. Mix strength training, cardio, and flexibility to maintain hormonal health.

4. Manage Stress

Chronic stress messes with your hormones. Find stress-reducing activities like yoga or meditation to help restore balance.

👉 How Lifeforce Can Help

Hormone optimization is essential for feeling your best. Lifeforce provides personalized testing and customized recommendations to help you achieve balanced hormones and enhanced well-being.

Ready to dive deeper? Download Lifeforce’s eBook on Hormone Optimization now and start your journey to better health.

🕵️‍♀️ The internet knows too much. Time to clean up your digital trail.

🪶 Keep your space dry and stylish with this fast-drying stone tray.

✨ Kristel swears by this Nuxe oil for its lightweight texture, amazing scent and its versatility for both hair and skin.

🌞 Bring modern convenience to your home with these smart blinds.

• Athens Services is hiring for a Director of Training and Talent Development (City of Industry, CA).
• Retirement Capital is hiring for a Marketing Manager (West Palm Beach, FL).
• Skybound Entertainment is hiring for a Brand Manager (Los Angeles, CA).
• Humanscale is hiring for a Search Engine Optimization Manager (New York, NY).
• Cellebrite is hiring for a Director of Finance Corporate (Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ).

⭐ View more jobs here >

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