Joanne has spoken on a variety of topics, and is happy to speak on a topic of your choosing. Mentioned below are a few topics she has addressed previously.

We need to take care of ourselves - really take care of ourselves, so that we are healthy and strong both emotionally and physically to carry out the important jobs we are entrusted with in our day to day lives.
It's no secret that we live in an increasingly stressful environment. We need to utilize the positive stress in our lives to enhance our personal growth and spur us on to greater achievements, and through informed choices learn to counteract the negative effects that stress can place on us. How do we go about doing that? This presentation will outline 10 strategies that can help you remain calm when life around you seems to be spinning out of control.

We are all familiar with the analogy of the adult using the oxygen mask first before helping others in the event of a crisis in an airplane. This same analogy holds true in teaching. If we do not take the time to help and care for ourselves, it will ultimately be the students who pay the price. But conversely, if we do care for our own well being the students will reap the benefits of our wellness.
This presentation focuses on the steps of finding wellness in our own lives through achieving physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and behavioral balance, and then moves into an understanding of several key factors in workplace wellness: understanding change, organizing time, and seeking ‘human moments’ at work.

Its no secret that we live in an increasingly stressful environment. Our own wellness is key in being able to be effective in our homes, our families, and our workplaces; and acknowledging, understanding and dealing with our stress is essential. We need to utilize the positive stress in our lives to enhance our personal growth and spur us on to greater achievements, and through informed choices we can learn to counteract the negative effects that stress can place on us. By achieving balance in five key areas - physical, emotional, intellectual, behavioral and spiritual – we can gain a renewed sense of happiness and well being, and an energy that comes from living a stress-enhanced rather than stress-depleted lifestyle.

Thought processes, whether positive or negative, optimistic or pessimistic, determine stress levels and ultimately your actions and reactions to what is occurring in your world. Much has been written about the power of our thoughts in recent years. Taking the time to analyze our thinking and the incredible power it has in our lives, can literally change our lives. In fact, if we do not change our thinking we cannot change our lives.
T. Harv Eker, author of tells us that ‘training and managing your own mind is the most important skill you will ever own, in terms of both happiness and success.’ Changing our negative thoughts requires exerted effort over a sustained period of time.
This presentation deals with getting rid of emotional baggage and preparing ourselves to focus on opportunities instead of obstacles, and on solutions instead of problems. We will talk about several important aspects of changing our thought processes: making paradigm shifts, utilizing gratitude in our lives, changing thought and vocabulary patterns, and choosing to make a commitment to a better life.

Sometimes our life experiences leave us feeling overwhelmed and struggling to ‘stay on top of our game’. This presentation focuses on finding ways to see us through these difficult times. Eight steps are discussed: Self Analysis – taking a look at our lives, where we are at, and how we arrived there; Finding Your Focus – prioritizing and goal setting; Getting Rid of Excess ‘Life Baggage’ – taking care of emotional baggage we may be unnecessarily dragging along with us; Managing Our Time; Having Gratitude in our Lives; Finding Time for Service to Others; Learning to Lead Resilient and Hopeful Lives; and Doing Whatever It Takes – making a commitment to a fulfilling future.

The benefits of a positive workplace environment are becoming more evident in our fast-paced society. A supportive, respectful work atmosphere creates happy, satisfied employees who are more committed to their jobs, and in turn perform at higher levels and have fewer stress-related absences. This presentation explores the topics of establishing trusting relationships in the workplace, empathetic listening, conflict resolution and ‘cancerous behaviors’ to avoid.

Need a new outlook on life? Get organized! Stephen Covey tells us that time management is really a misnomer – the challenge is not to manage time, but the learn to manage ourselves. This presentation addresses a number of behaviors that can enhance the quality and efficiency of your work and life. We will look at assessing and structuring the use of time, overcoming procrastination, improving decision making skills, expanding your comfort zone, and becoming a forward thinker. An organized life improves your efficiency and makes way in your life for new ideas and fresh perspectives.

“If nothing changes, nothing changes” – anonymous. Change is essential to progress, but can be frightening and overwhelming. Change can come slowly or quickly, and it involves being patient, consistent and persistent as a new status quo is created. It is an important process that requires a delicate balance of ingredients. Duke (2004) uses the metaphor of rainwater to capture the essence of change. In proper amounts, rainwater is beneficial and in fact essential. However, in excessive amounts it can be devastating. In ideal conditions rainwater will fall to earth, be absorbed, replenish the earth and give life to plants. However, under the wrong climatological conditions the rainwater may run off or evaporate before it can be absorbed. If it does manage to be absorbed it may travel to its destination through a variety of obstacles. And so it is with the changes in our workplaces and our lives. Under the right conditions it is internalized and flourishes, but under the wrong conditions it may be extinguished before it even reaches the implementation stage.
This presentation deals with understanding change, the need for change, resistance to change, and finally the essential components in implementing and sustaining successful change.

joanne@jostaconsulting.com     Tel (403) 345-4012     Cell (403) 330-6703