nicole bensen

the Tea Time blog

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Last week I led The Manifesting Catapult, a live, 5-day program where we did one activity per day to support creating your best life. Today I want to share one of those activities with you—called As If Journaling. “As If” Journaling The activity is called “As If” Journaling. No, not talking about Alicia Silverstone à la Clueless, […]

Since we just moved from California to Washington, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with new people. I’ve found myself replaying my words over and over in my head, overthinking and wondering why I decided to share some of the things that came out of my mouth. 😆 Luckily, I’ve got a simple tool to […]

My kids started school last week, and Starbucks released all the pumpkin spice goodies—summer is officially coming to a close (unless you’re reading this in Australia). September to December is my favorite time of year, so a couple years ago I created a “Fall Joy List” to savor the season. (“Savoring life’s joys” is 1 […]

“Dopamine, which your brain makes when you’re happy, has one important side effect: It makes you smarter. A positive brain is 31% more productive.” This is a quote from this article titled, “Harvard psychologist explains how to achieve happiness—and it’s actually simple.” Earlier this year I attended the California Conference for Women… …and one of the […]

Are you happy? According to the 2023 United Nations World Happiness Report, “The millions of happiness survey respondents from around the globe have illuminated the key factors affecting happiness that show up consistently in the countries where people rate themselves as happiest. They are: Some of these require more than just you alone and will take […]

Do you feel successful? What’s your definition of success? Has that definition changed as you’ve grown? In a recent survey, small business owners defined success to mean “comfort, happiness, and freedom,” with 74% of respondents saying their perception of the American dream had changed. When I was a kid, I thought success looked like wearing a […]

Do you hide your joy to make others more comfortable? Let’s commit to supporting AND celebrating ourselves (and friends)?

Since moving, I’ve been looking to make local friends, and I (randomly) grabbed this book and opened to a page about friendship. Woah.

Last week I shared that we went from Californians to Washingtonians, and how grateful I am to now see this beautiful greenery outside my office window. (If you missed last week’s note, catch up here to see who visited our backyard). if you were to look out your dream window, what would you see? Tall high-rises in […]

Hello from The Evergreen State! Last week I relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to the greater Seattle area, and I’m calling it a great experiment. (Not to be confused with Queen Charlotte and King Edward’s great experiment. Anyone else a Bridgerton fan?) It’s no secret that I intentionally seek awe to boost my happiness—I […]