The Next Level: Recent Episodes
Life and Business coach Jeff Agostinelli sits down with experts Cameron Sha
Each week we’ll bring you a new episode with an EXCEPTIONAL entrepreneur, author, thought leader, speaker or leader in their field. The goal of The Next Level Podcast is to inspire and educate by extracting key lessons from those who have already been there. My special guest will lay out their story or what brought them do what they do in the world and give you the strategy they use to keep them going to the next level along with a quote they guide their life by.
Have you ever felt like you've tried it all but just can't seem to grow in one particular area of your life or business? If you’re into growth but you find yourself still stuck in the same situation or just not growing in the way that you want to in any area of life or business this is for you. In this episode you'll learn why you feel like you're going through the motions, how to break the cycle and start to see results, why you're falling prey to distraction and saying yes to everything, what it takes to switch from the short game to the long game mentality, how to effectively choose the right activities for a specific outcome, and more...
Do you value learning and growth, but sense that it could actually be getting in your way more than it's helping you? While learning and growth are two values that absolutely make you the amazing coach and entrepreneur that you are, they can also have their down side. In this episode you'll learn how we have different levels of doing and learning, What is decision fatigue and how to make sure we're not using all your bandwidth in learning, Learning and growth and why it can be your greatest weakness and your greatest strength, How assuming 100% responsibility can manifest as taking on too much and saying yes to everything, and more...
Coaches and Entrepreneurs, Have you ever felt like everything you do should have some kind of return? This episode talks about what happens when we think from the mindset of instant gratification, where it comes from, and what to do about it.
One really bad habit of most coaches and creative entrepreneurs I know is the tendency to multitask which usually leads to dropping the ball somewhere AND making mistakes. You definitely want to be able to really look under the hood and see why you’re spreading yourself too thin, but here’s what you can do to start creating the right structures so things get done more effectively. Look at these 3 things... Where am I spending my time? What activities are related to my craft and what is related to generating business? How can I adjust to create more of what I want? In this episode, I’ll dive into these in-depth and show you some ways to unpack each of them so you can start owning your time and create more structure in your life.
With the state of the world right now it's more important than ever to understand how to be with heightened emotions, how to truly understand them, and what to do with them. In this episode you'll learn how there are 2 different ways people respond to anxiety and how they show up in people, why kids are often trying to operate against their natural type, how to effectively communicate what you're feeling and what to do with it, how to tell the difference between panic and anxiety, the practice of burning contracts to become aware of where you've agreed to do things in a certain way that no longer serves you and resolve it, how to understand what's your emotional response and what you're taking on from others, effectively dealing with anger and pain and injustice, what role shame plays in anxiety, and more...
Today I sit down with Dr. Benjamin Hardy to talk about his new book Personality Isn't Permanent. Today you'll learn why Ben got deeper into writing about and getting into the conversation around trauma, what he found most surprising about personality, how people describe themselves and why that's blocking change, why we have come into more of a test and assessment culture when it comes to personality, how overly defining your personality is a synonym for your comfort zone, and so much more.
There is one thing that keeps coming to the top of my list of what keeps coaches from fully leading themselves and their clients. It's actually a mix of a few things, but they have one thing in common. Our inability to when needed take our own medicine and continue growing. Too may of us think that we need to have it all figured out before we can help people at the level we want. But the truth is that we are constantly learning the thing we need to learn most and the thing we typically work with our clients on. Today I unpack the The #1 Thing That Keeps Coaches From Leading and why we get to consistently take our own medicine.
In today's episode I unpack why we tend to make things harder than they have to be and what you can do to bring more ease into your life and work. This episode is for you if you are realizing or starting to see that you put too much effort into work. That you have to put in a lot of effort in order to get a very small return. My hope with this is that it gives you an insight into how you can change that pace and start to invite more ease into the way that you operate so that things don't have to be as hard and that you can use a different metric and use a different modality for how approach life and business so you can not work off having to always trade time for money or race against the clock and you can start to operate on some different principles.
All emotions serve a purpose. I know it’s hard to see that at times. Believe me, I still get taken out by intense emotions too. But when I can receive the message and surrender to the action (or inaction) that get’s to happen, that emotion moves. In today's show I talk about why anger is showing up a lot right now in the current pandemic and what to do about it.
Dr. Brian currently owns and operates Nourish and Flourish which provides an integrated environment for you to discover and experience a wealth of modalities, wisdom, and products to live your most outstanding life possible. From the highest level of Network Care to enlivening workshops and programs, organic juice and tea, to a carefully curated selection of books and hand crafted body products here in Asheville, NC. Brian dives into topics like How the fight and flight energy dissipates through movement and breathe, Literal and figurative stress, The response of our nervous system to fear, How the muscles around our spine are reptilian brain based, The whole spinal chord as a global phenomenon, If we don't honor the lower brain levels we don't get to the higher levels...
Today I felt really compelled to talk about the conversation around pain and how we protect ourselves based on past experiences that caused some level of trauma. In The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer talks about something he calls "removing your inner thorn." He talks about how we build up the conditions in our life to protect the thorn from being brushed up against and how we in essence protect our pain and insecurities when we could just remove the thorn and experience life in a totally different way. Today I expand on what Singer talks about here and how this relates to what we're experiencing in the world right now and what we can do to remove those inner thorns to experience more of the life we actually want to experience.
Today I want to go beyond the physical and talk about faith. I'll dive into one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Joseph Murphy... “Every thought is the cause. Every Condition is the effect.” And how this is showing up right now in the coronavirus pandemic.
We've entered a funny time in history where we have more solutions to grow your business than ever before. The challenge that comes along with that is falling into the trap of believing we need something that's too many steps ahead of where we're at. As soon as I realized where I actually was and what I needed to do, things started moving much quicker and it was 10 times easier to tune out distractions and get to the work I know I needed to do to grow my business. Why focusing on scale is killing your business, your drive, and your confidence, Why we’re being sold this idea, How many companies don’t even start this way, Why you need to focus on building and then consider scale when you actually have something to scale, There are specific things that need to happen before you can scale and if you don’t do them, then you’re going to be building up complicated systems and then tearing them all down and starting all over again for a long time… if you make it that far.
The more we dive into self-isolation and social distancing the more I've had the opportunity to examine what comes up in response to the conditions. In this episode I walk through 4 steps you can take to make peace with what's coming up. Take 100 % responsibility for your actions and emotions, Examine past events that left a mark - In a safe container, Set goals based on the future version of yourself, Know what you value and realize it all get’s to fit together. This time can be a proving ground for your limitations OR an opportunity to move through blocks and create an entirely new story for you and your family.
In today’s show, I wanted to offer a few ways to see the current situation and what you can do to make it through to whatever's next. I outline 9 ways I'm looking at this to stay safe, sane, and forward moving.
If you've been in business for any length of time, you know that there are always competing forces for your attention. From marketing your business, to dropping into your creativity, to producing the assets you need for your business, the list seems to grow more and more by the minute. In this episode you'll learn: How to follow your own internal compass and stay true to that, Some common sources of distraction and how to fortify yourself against it, How your why can be one of your greatest assets to harness your attention, How you can see distraction in a new way, What to do first in your day so you stay focused on the most important things first, Where you may still be watering your attention down with multi-tasking and how to remedy it, and so much more...
At this point in my coaching journey, I'm pretty convinced that the majority of tension we experience comes from conflicting stories and emotions. For example, if we have the story that... Doing what I want to do will end in failure. And the stories and feelings associated with that belief go largely unexamined, then that belief is calling the shots. But when we can learn to acknowledge, validate, honor, and work with the emotions, they no longer control us and create drag. We need to tend to and clean up our emotional home because what we don’t acknowledge controls us. Today I'll talk about what happens when we can free up that stuck energy, and what that journey looked like for different clients.
Today we unpack Erin's story, what it takes to be successful in being heard in outbound marketing and the digital area, and the nitty-gritty of Digital Persuasion. In this episode you'll learn How to translate your offline persona into the online space What the online disinhibition effect tells us about why we behave the way we do online, How to make better decisions before we post, What persuasion is, The way other people perceive us online and being more of a server or a friend, The goal of ethical persuasion and moving people to action, How to whittle down your message and what skill to focus on...
Mark England is the co-founder and lead presenter of Procabulary. He loves to travel, exchange empowering ideas and strategies and practice martial arts. Mark holds a Masters Degree in International Education and was an elementary sports teacher before developing Procabulary. Today we'll do a deep dive and unpack the Procabulary framework and show you how to make powerful language shifts. We dive into topics like Mark's story that got him into language and consciousness, The power of rewriting your story, How your language and thought process directly affect your breathing and body tension, Breaking down the Procabulary system, Conflict language and the antidote, Architect language...
Charles Eisenstein is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, most recently Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible. His background includes a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale, a decade in Taiwan as a translator, and stints as a college instructor, a yoga teacher, and a construction worker. He currently writes and speaks full-time. If you like what Charles has to share, all of his books are available "in the gift" on-line: http://charleseisenstein.net/books/ Also, you can read essays, watch videos, listen to some of the other podcasts he's done, all from the same site. We dives into topics like The old story of who we are, how to be a man, how to be a woman, how to be human, how to live a life, Different forms of rebellion, Charles interest in "the origin of the wrongness", Why he wrote Sacred Economics first, What is our true fundamental motivation and so much more...
Have you ever heard yourself say that you would never do something but then you ended up doing it and loved it? I was in a client session last week when I heard myself say this it took on a totally different meaning. High resistance equals high return. In today's episode I unpack resistance, why we feel it, and how to use it to our advantage. In this episode you'll learn Why resistance causes unnecessary pressure and procrastination, How the things we resistance most end up being exactly what we need to do, How to identify resistance and move through it, What the benefits are to confronting resistance and gathering the facts through action...
Clarity comes from taking action and sticking with what's working. Clarity does not come from thinking about what to do forever before you actually take the first step. Today I explore what this looks like and how to overcome the doubt and fear that inaction breeds. In this episode you'll learn How there is always a place where you can start, Where clarity actually comes from, Why we pretend to not know and what's actually at stake, Why it's actually easier to stay where we are, but why that's also the most destructive, How momentum and traction are your greatest assets, Where we tend to get tripped up in the process and take it too far. What can happen when you get into TOO much action, How to make getting into action and establishing clarity this a repeatable process. And so much more...
In today's interview I sit down with Kelly McGonigal to talk about her new book The Joy of Movement: How exercise helps us find happiness, hope, connection, and courage. In this episode you’ll learn: How what we call the runners high is actually more of a persistence high that helps us keep going, Why we are wired to persist, endure, and pursue what we want, Some people who are born with a vulnerability towards unhealthy addictions also are more likely to get hooked on exercise when they try it, The science behind the mental health benefits of exercise, The power of thought when it comes to exercise, How to view the purpose of movement differently so you naturally feel compelled to do it, Some of the science behind how movement and exercise can give you a sense of community and belonging, The surprising highlights for the ultra endurance athletes Kelly talked with, And so much more...
I was having a conversation with someone today at a meeting and after chatting with her this became super clear. We were talking about different phases of a business and how the start up phase can be super stressful and even how the success of the business can be measured by our ability to manage and hold that chaos long enough for it to turn into something that we can organize and delegate. Then we were talking about the next big milestone when revenue is consistently coming in the door but we're juggling so many projects that it is absolutely crazy-making! On today's show I dive into What this phase looks like and the emotions that show up, Why we stop ourselves and what to do to get over the hump, How to develop confidence and tactfully push up against your edges, Navigating the transition or reinvention...
I heard Dr. Joe Dispenza answer a student's question with this statement: "Focus on the effort, not the outcome." At first I thought that sounded a little strange. I always hear the opposite. But the more I practice this the more useful it's proving to be to get out of some of my old ways of being and focus on the task at hand. On today's show I talk about: Why focusing on the outcome too much can actually cause stress and panic, How to test this for yourself and how it works in slightly different ways for different people, How putting your focus on the effort can help you eliminate distraction, lack of focus, and even motivation, Why the desire to incessantly check your email, social media, text, or your phone is actually slowing you down and keeping what you want further away, How you know this practice is working or not, And more...
I’m just going to come right out and say it... If you’re hoping things would just get easier then you're not cut out to be an entrepreneur. Ok, now that we got that out of the way... The truth is it’s tough. Every day comes with a new set of problems...
I was doing my bi-weekly track workout with a buddy this morning and we were chatting about goals. A couple of years ago I set the intention to let running teach me about goals. MAN what a fricken teacher. Especially when you test the limits in the right way. But you know what one of the biggest lessons has been? Missing an important goal or deadline can be devastating if you don’t know how to learn from it. Not only that, but it can leave an imprint that prevents you from committing to your future goals...
Do you want to know how to get your business moving in the right direction? Stop standing still. While stillness is an essential step in the process of creation, staying in the same place for too long can lead to the all too common problem of paralysis by analysis. Especially for my spiritual folk and heart centered entrepreneurs out there because to us... everything means something. We’ve conditioned ourselves to over-interpret EVERYTHING. Oops! But when you’re standing still for too long and you’re not taking the next step, especially when it scares the crap out of you, then you’re making meaning from the emotions of doubt, uncertainty, fear, and all the like...
Want to easily attract the perfect clients… those people who are MEANT to find you… without having to pretend to be confident and successful? Then you've gotta find the NOW version of you. If you fake it till you make it… you’ll never make it. And if you do buy into the myth that you need to be someone else, that you have to have it all figured out, and that everything needs to be perfect in order to be successful you’re likely experiencing these things…
I know I’m not the only one that’s had dreams of turning all these devices off and moving to some remote tropical island. Although that would be nice for a hot second, it’s definitely not the solution. But finding a way that works for you to reign back your attention is an absolute game changer! You see, in this day and age it can seem like a luxury to turn off your phone. And not even turning it off completely, but making it so that you’re not constantly gripped with panic hearing the ding that strikes you out of your current train of thought...
So many times we attach a negative meaning to situations, circumstances and feelings. This causes unnecessary suffering and more often than not, being in a standoff with ourselves. Unable to move forward. And it’s not just in that moment. It’s pervasive. That moment of meaning gets transposed on everything and before you know it, you’re doing from that level of defeat, frustration, and mixed meaning. You’re not being intentional. You’re not choosing. In fact, you’re just going through the motions...
Coping is how we adjust to stress in order to make the situation bearable. But when a coping mechanism (healthy or unhealthy) becomes a habit, we’ve missing the message that the situation and resulting emotion is trying to teach us. And when we try to cope our way through we don’t make our way through. Just like physical pain, emotional pain is telling us to adjust something. To let go of something, to set a healthy boundary, to speak up, or to show up in a new way...
When you focus on mastery you foster depth. Seriously though… if you can’t get into the training zone and practice your craft enough to continue learning, make distinctions, and further refine your craft, then you’re not giving it the time it deserves. You’re not executing with mastery. Yes, there are other things you need to focus on in your business. For instance, you need to market and stay on top of projects and timelines. But if you’re just focused on those things and you’re not focused on your craft, you will lose steam...
I picked up lacrosse really quick. And after playing from only my sophomore year in high school, I got a scholarship to a Division 1 college my senior year. Up until this point I had never injured anything. And so I had no reason to think that that would happen. And in all fairness, I was overly confident. Some may say I was cocky. It’s true. But after getting injured it was almost as if my brain worked differently. I started second guessing myself when in the past I would just rock it. I was quick. I was super nimble. And I was ballzy...
It’s easy to lose steam when you lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing. How many times have you done this? How many times have you started a project, a new business, a new offer… and you were off to the races. You hit the ground running with sheer optimism. But over time you start to lose steam because it wasn’t the instant success you hoped it would be. Instead of keeping your eye on the prize and continuing to adjust, you start noticing what’s not working, feeling defeated, and question what you’re doing. When this starts happening it’s easy to fall into bad habits of being. Laziness, cutting corners, snide optimism, and the kind of hope that is less than the 51% needed to keep the engine running and moving full steam ahead...
Life is always teaching you what you need to learn. But the majority of us, myself included, try to fight with reality. We either outwardly attack our current circumstances and judge the ever living shit out of them OR we blame other people, God, the universe, or any other creative source you want to conjure up. But fighting with some imaginary external opponent is not your best use of time. In fact, in my own experience and with a lot of people I work with, trying to fight reality is the biggest source of unnecessary AND prolonged suffering...
This isn’t something I normally dive into outside of my private client interactions, but it’s such a game changer that I wanted to pull back the curtain and give you a glimpse into how this works. The majority of people I work with are doing. They’re not sitting around waiting for something to happen. In most cases, the things they’re doing aren’t producing the desired results. They’ve read the books, taken online courses, listened to podcasts, but the strategies fail to meet their needs of the moment. When the strategy isn’t working, our instinct tells us to push harder and do more. But what happens is we just consume more, do more, and more often than not, do more of the same thing that’s not working hoping that if we do enough, we’ll get a different result...
What seemed like another lifetime ago I was a live in private chef. I’d live in someone’s home anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months. In the beginning, the majority of these people had stage 3 or 4 cancer and the food and lifestyle approach was their last straw. The interesting thing about it was that some of these folks were way gone. They were coming to the end. I noticed there were two different types of people. There were those still holding onto their old ways, still pushing to go to work, still treating other people like crap, and just all around had a bad attitude...
Regret is what happens when we wait too long to get started. We buy into the self-doubt, procrastination, the “someday I will(s).” But someday never comes and the vision of life becomes something hoped for instead of something being moved toward. The unimportant and the inconsequential find their way into the day and the pull of our heart gets pushed aside. Waiting too long turns into regret. And when it gets to that point, there’s no getting that time back...
Striving to be perfect is nothing new. We get it pretty early on. Every family has their dos and don'ts. What they talk about and what they don’t. What you need to do in order to be accepted and loved. But it’s not for the reason you think. Usually there’s shame or guilt attached it. In an attempt to save face, look good, and pretend our shit doesn’t stink, we start to create our life to avoid those things that bring up our feelings of imperfection… of not being enough...
After working with a client yesterday I’ve been reflecting on this one a bit. Have you ever told yourself on a continual basis that you needed to get better at time management, generate more leads, or consistently create content? You know you need to be more consistent generating leads or being more active producing useful messages but you tell yourself the same thing over and over again… I’ve gotta master this time thing … I have to generate more leads…
Something always bothered me about how we approach goal setting and achievement. There is this seeming contrast of setting goals to be attained and charging forward at all costs verses intending what you want and attracting outcomes. In the past 12 years or so...
One of the most frustrating things about wanting to achieve so much and feeling compelled to make a difference is the side effect of feeling overwhelmed and being worn out. Always anticipating the next thing. And on top of all that… feeling like it will never get done...
Today I talk about 3 subtle but powerful shifts that will completely change the way you work. These shifts made consistently accumulate over time. In this show, I dive into how we can start listening to our environment and our internal queues so we can stop trying to just power through and achieving with more ease. These shifts are: Give because you can, not because you expect something in return, stop doubting and checking and start trusting and giving, and defy gravity - find out what you do when your energy dips and replace it with something else.
In this episode I dive into how to harness the power of emotion, why we wrestle with emotions and making hard decisions, where that comes from, what effect it has in our lives and business, and what to do instead. See the full show notes at https://jeffagostinelli.com/podcast/how-to-harness-the-power-of-emotion/
Today I start off with how to think about time and attention and then go into 3 specific ways you can start to master your time and attention.
- Everything exists in context. Nothing is a stand alone.
- I don’t necessarily buy into the myth that you have to sacrifice in order to be successful, but I do believe that there is only so much we can do. So choosing is important. Know what you value.
- You being you doing what you are here to do is you being on purpose.
- The more you can keep coming back to that with a beautiful blend of patience and urgency the better.
- The more you can keep your focus on feeling good the better.
For the full show notes from today's episode visit https://jeffagostinelli.com/152
In this episode, I dive into How to Feel Content and Satisfied Now. I also outline what I’m going to talk about for the next handful of shows. This is in line with the handful of entrepreneurs I worked with this past year. Helping them overcome anxiety and overwhelm so they can grow their business while building a life they’re proud of.
I get into:
- I talk about my own journey with anxiety and overwhelm.
- How to start feeling content now and what to expect when you can drop into the present moment.
- Why using the stress and pressure of your current circumstances is the hardest place to create from.
- What to do when you get caught up in fear, doubt, and worry.
- And more…
For the full show notes go to https://jeffagostinelli.com/151
Welcome Back!
This is the restart of the show after a little over a year off.
In this episode I’ll dive into why I put the show on pause and what’s happened in the last year that led me to turn the show back on and what to expect from the podcast moving forward.
You’ll also hear about the decision process and how often times things don’t make sense until we take the next big step. I get into what drives us to achieve goals and how we need to truly get in touch with what we value in order to know that we are doing the right thing for us and doing them for the right reason.
Check out the full show notes and sign up for email updates at https://jeffagostinelli.com
In times of uncertainty and transition, finding a semblance of peace in the unfolding can be difficult. There have been many times on my own journey where I've questioned my choices, even though it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.
Any time I'm in the midst of change, or speak with someone who is, I revisit one particular episode of the show and even offer it as sort of a prescription for those finding their way.
A while back I had Charles Eisenstein on to talk about the space between stories. Charles is a super modest guy and will even tell you himself that "I know that my books and other work comes from a deep, inspired source, but that source is not me! It is more like I’m connecting to a field of knowledge, or to a story that wants to be told. This knowledge is as much my teacher as it is anyone else’s. I’m kind of ordinary, compared to some of the amazing people I keep meeting. I’m just as much in the learning as anyone else, wandering as best I can toward “the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible,” encumbered by the programming and the wounds of our civilization."
Charles Eisenstein is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, including Sacred Economics, The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible, and Climate: A New Story which hits the shelves September 18, 2018.
This short episode dives into a few concepts I found very useful when navigating the space between stories, which at times can feel like a smashing of an old identity and the land grab for who we will become. This episode is a clip from our previous conversation.
We talk about
- True surrender, letting go, and trusting the process of life
- Understanding different aspects of letting go of the old story like regret, going back to the familiar, being in utter stillness, and getting excited about one thing after another and dropping them
- How no action is insignificant
The illusion of power and impact - How the heart and the mind have their own opinion
- The concept of morphic resonance
Inspired by his best friend’s battle with cancer, Dr. Frank Merritt has engineered the fasting protocol, The 17 Hour Fast, which offers maximum benefits from a minimum fast that promotes an enriching mind, body and soul experience. Drawing on years of medical practice as well as VitalityPro research protocols developed with iconic athletes, respected nutritionists, and behavioral/exercise psychologists, The 17 Hour Fast embodies a minimum effective dose (MED) strategy harnessing powerful health and performance advantages of longer fasts while avoiding many of their pitfalls. Furthermore, The 17 Hour Fast is carefully synchronized and choreographed with diurnal/nocturnal hormone patterns, sleep hygiene, personal growth and relationship building techniques and suggested training/recovery activities to create a potent combination for success.
The 17-Hour Fast is founded on a bedrock of cutting-edge scientific data and presented in an intuitive and approachable way by Dr. Merritt and acclaimed writer Phil White (Unplugged, Game Changer, and Flight Plan).
Today we'll dive into The 17 Hour Fast and how to get started making it a habit.
In this episode you'll learn
- Fasting as a an effective reset button
- The power and accessibility of a minimum effective dose when it comes to a fast
- The problem with some fasts and how that affects an individual in the long term
- How the fast fosters accountability and sustainability
- Easing into the fast and coming off the fast
- The disadvantage of all the time on 24/7 news, social media, and outside influences and how the vacation night of the fast can keep that in check
- Switching from sympathetic active mode to rest and repair parasympathetic mode
Stop. Catch your breath. Do you feel that?
Most likely right up until now, you were chasing something. Success, love, achievement, your social media feed, your to do list, or even your kids. I’m not sure where it happened in the evolution of humanity, but the vast majority of the human race seems to be in that exact frame of mind. A race.
We’re constantly in a never ending battle with time. Trying to use it wisely. Hoping for more of it. Swearing we don’t have enough.
In those moments of stress, rushing from one thing to the next in the existential race against time, our body replies. The stress-handling systems get triggered and the body prepares for response. Our digestion slows down. Blood flow goes to the extremities. Adrenaline and cortisol are produced. It’s primal as fuck. It’s our biological defense.
This can happen from the subtle stress of information overload, someone cutting you off in traffic, an argument with your partner, getting caught in comparison, or an unexpected change of plans that sends you spinning into anger, blame, and pointing the finger.
Often times, months or years go by before we ever notice that something’s wrong, or that a change is needed. We’re simply just too busy.
Clear goals and an unwavering commitment have the power to propel us forward. My guest today declared that he would win the Olympics in a sport had actually never done. Within 4 years, Jeremiah Brown went from first stroke to Olympic Medalist.
Jeremiah Brown won an Olympic silver medal as a member of the Canadian men’s eight rowing team at the London 2012 Olympic Games. A former commercial banker with a big dream, he is one of few Olympians ever to have started learning his sport only four years before winning a medal at the Olympics. After the Olympics, Jeremiah worked for the Canadian Olympic Committee as National Manager of Game Plan, an athlete wellness and transition program supporting 3000 Olympic, Paralympic, and national team athletes across more than 54 sports. Jeremiah is a Canadian sport system expert, author, keynote speaker, dad, and drummer who has played with award-winning artists. He lives in Peterborough, Canada.
His book The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist tells his story from barely escaping an eight-month incarceration for robbery to ten years later standing on the podium with eight other men, now a silver medallist in rowing at the London Olympics. The story of how this fiery twenty-two-year-old without a passion—“an unlit fuse”— found himself learning the sport of rowing and four years later competing at the international level is about chasing a goal with everything you’ve got.
For me this book is about goals. What it takes to stay the course, and sticking with it even against literally painful odds.
In this episode you'll learn
- How Jeremiah literally went from taking his first stoke to being on the Olympic National team in two years
- Picking a sport that is more in line with your natural build
- Knowing your own unique strengths
- Some of the major stumbling blocks Jeremiah had to overcome to get great at the sport fast
- Overcoming the critical voice on the way to a major goal
- Moving forward even when you feel not good enough and lonely
- The importance of being supported
- Modeling pursuing your goals for your children
- How to trust the journey
- How our goals can shape our identity and what the transition looks like after achieving a goal
- What the honeymoon phase post goal looks like
- And MORE
Bar none, the most simple and useful access point to begin creating change in our lives is by shifting how we talk to ourselves and others. Our thoughts and language directly affect how we feel, breathe, act, and so much more.
Today I decided to string together a few powerful episodes where I chatted with experts in language and creating change. You'll hear from four previous guests: Mary Shores, Mark England, Bonnie Kelley, and Rick Hanson.
In this brief format, you'll hear about some ways to start observing your language and self-talk, some simple shifts to make, and how to make change last.
In this episode you'll learn
- Creating alignment and what that really means
- Barrier beliefs and tapping into your positive potential
- Tapping into the problem solving abilities of your brain
- How affirmations really work and what to do instead
- The power of proximity
- Understanding how conflict language creates a stress response and what to do instead
- What parts of your language forces you to look at worst case scenarios
- Seeing the roots and workings or victim language
- How your language shapes indecision and what to replace it with
- The benefits of the simply slowing down your rate of speech
- How your personal development is like a muscle and it needs to be trained from where you are at
- and MORE…
Trust is not basing your level of belief on evidence. While evidence builds confidence, trust is a feeling first. It’s a sensation. It’s a deep knowing that it will all work out.
The how of trust is unknown. Our mind even tries to figure it out, weigh options, and logically navigate it. While the mind is a powerful tool to subdue the dragon of defeat or assist in walking up the ladder of good feeling thoughts, trust isn’t something you can make sense of. It’s a connection you establish, nurture and grow.
Being familiar with this connection comes with understanding the quality of it. What it is and what it isn’t.
When we land here we trust. We trust that our needs are going to be met. That our caretakers will inevitably come to our aid.
As we are introduced to the world and begin to venture out of the nest we call home, we learn how to navigate our reality. Most of us are taught to think our way through life. While that’s a useful skill, there are other ways to play the game...
Before I dive into how to navigate trust, let’s talk about how it works and why we stop too soon.
If you've listened to The Next Level, you know we've done some shows on language and how our language affects our reality. Language has been an absolute game changer in my own life and continues to be a practice in awareness, choice, and presence.
Another area where I find great solace is through movement and exercise. It just so happens that a good friend and language ninja Mark England just teamed up with Mike Bledsoe to blend movement, language and more.
You may remember Mark England the co-founder of Procabulary who's come on the show twice now to talk about language. Today he's back with Mike Bledsoe to dive into their new joint project Flowstated, where they bring together language, breath, mindfulness, and training to help athletes increase their capacity and so much more.
Mike Bledsoe is the co-founder of #1 rated fitness show Barbell Shrugged, Barbell Business, and host of his current podcast The Bledsoe Show. Mark England is a TEDx speaker and the co-founder and lead presenter of Procabulary. He loves to travel, exchange empowering ideas and strategies and practice martial arts. Mark holds a Masters Degree in International Education and was an elementary sports teacher before developing Procabulary.
Today we'll dive into language, conditioning your awareness, what the Flowstated process looks like, and so much more.
In this episode you'll learn
- How Mike started to notice that language was changing who he was
- Being congruent in all situations and getting real with who you are
- Why we as a culture have overlooked the simplicity of words
- Two specific ways to create space between what you think and what you say
- How Flowstated increases your capacity and awareness as well has mental, emotional, and physical dexterity
- Exploring your identity and sense of self
- How language creates separation
- Understanding your inner dialogue, how it shapes your identity, and how to shift it
- How labels can limit how we show up in those roles and make us compromise our values
- Creating what your identity means to you
- And MORE…
Loss isn't an easy thing. Whether its a job, the loss of a loved one, or anything that's a major part of our lives, loss seems to leave an empty space. Anything that we invest time in, commit to, or love in many ways becomes a part of who we are, our identity, and when that thing is gone we inherently ask the question "Who am I now?"
After the unexpected loss of her husband at the young age of 45, Kristine Carlson began a journey that she wasn't expecting to take so soon. With two girls to raise, Kristine began navigating her grieving process and who she was now without her beloved in her life and her own journey back to joy.
Kristine Carlson has captivated readers worldwide with her books, including Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms, An Hour to Live, An Hour to Love, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love, and Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Women. Kristine has been featured on national radio and television broadcasts, including The Today Show, Empowered Living Radio, The View, and Oprah. Today, she is emerging as a profound leader in the areas that matter most to the human heart—how to heal and move forward, and how to love.
Kristine is the bestselling co-author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series. Her newest book, From Heartbreak to Wholeness: The Hero's Journey to Joy, is inspired by her own personal journey after the loss of her husband and offers a practical plan to recover joy in the face of grief and loss.
Today we'll dive into the healing process, grieving loss, mindfulness, and more From Heartbreak to Wholeness.
In this episode you'll learn
- How we go through an identity crisis when we experience loss
- Grief as a normal process of healing
- Creating stillness and how being very gentle can help with the grieving process
- Working through the self-talk and thinking patterns associated with grief
- The healing power of journaling
- Facing adversity through personal responsibility and acceptance
- How Kristine's values shifted after her husband's death
- Role modeling how you deal with adversity for your children
- The role of forgiveness in the grieving process
- And More…
Understanding what’s important, what you value, is the key to navigating life's many options. Whether you’re trying to decide on your next big project, long term goal, or just whether or not you should go out tonight, weighing your options against your values makes all the difference between making the right choice, or the one that leaves you feeling regret.
Values aren’t something I set out to define. In fact, what was important to me was dictated by others. My Parents, society, social media… the things I thought I needed in my life and what I thought was important… wasn’t really important. At all. Let’s call those False Values.
We adopt false values by blindly accepting other people’s definition of what life should look like… success, happiness, connection, romance, and even who we should be… as our own. Without examining further. Without ever refining or redefining them and truly understanding things like our identity, and how we want to feel once we achieve that thing we’re going for...
Face to face with another individual, we have the opportunity to see their body language, tone, eye movement, and many other non-verbal queues that clue us into how to best interact.
Translating your offline persona and style into the digital arena isn't always the easiest when these subtleties are left out. I know I've certainly experienced this, and maybe you have too.
When equipped with the proper strategy and etiquette, the digital space can seem a lot less intimidating and it's a heck of a lot easier to feel like you're being you.
My guest today, Erin Gargan, is an award-winning entrepreneur, Amazon best-selling author, and digital persuasion expert. She sold her first two companies, Jump Digital Media and PMS.com before the age of 30. In 2010, she founded Socialite Agency, a social media firm whose clients include The Oscars, ABC/Disney, VISA, Target, Siemens, Hitachi, and others. She is the author of Digital Persuasion: Sell Smarter in the Modern Marketplace. Erin helps sales, marketing, and event professionals attract attention and increase influence by becoming more effective digital communicators.
We unpack Erin's story, what it takes to be successful in being heard in outbound marketing and the digital area, and the nitty-gritty of Digital Persuasion.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to translate your offline persona into the online space
- What the online disinhibition effect tells us about why we behave the way we do online
- How to make better decisions before we post
- What persuasion is
- The way other people perceive us online and being more of a server or a friend
- The goal of ethical persuasion and moving people to action
- How to widdle down your message and what skill to focus on
- And MORE…
Full article at http://jeffa.co/139
We now have the opportunity to fill every waking moment with something… anything. Idle time doesn’t exist anymore. Powering down and turning off comes with this looming sense of guilt that “I should be doing something.” As if our sense of self is not just subtly, but wholly tied up in doing.
The philosopher Blaise Pascal said this:
All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone
A deeper part of us knows that being perpetually distracted isn’t right, but also knows what happens in those moments of quiet. That we’ll actually have to face what we’ve been ignoring for so long. That we’ll come face to face with our insecurities, feelings not felt, and dreams we’ve set aside while we plug away being a model citizen and believer in the good ol’ American dream.
Comedian Louis CK says this beautifully in a conversation with Conan O’Brian about why he hates cell phones. He calls it the forever empty… the knowledge that it’s all for nothing and you’re all alone...
To show up fully as leaders, it's essential to know thyself. Knowing your triggers, what trips you up, along with your strengths and being emotionally intelligent is what will create strong and compassionate leaders.
Jenna Phillips Ballard began her career in 2006 as a certified personal trainer and life coach for celebrities and has been featured on Dr. Phil and The Doctors. Halfway through her career, she realized that she had a bigger calling. She’s on a mission to motivate and inspire as many people as possible to become leaders and make this world a better place.
Jenna wants everyone to truly fall in love with themselves, because Self Love will heal this planet. She discovered the power of Self Love when she made a full recovery from brain damage after waking up from a coma in 2000. Her commitment to making a full recovery depended solely on how she thought of herself, and she realized that her purpose is to empower others to break through their limiting beliefs and create an unforgettable life.
In 2016, she cofounded Ascension Leadership Academy with her husband and together they have coached hundreds of people into their greatness. She is also the founder of Unicorn University - an online membership community where women never spend another day being beige, broke, or behaved.
Today we'll dive into leadership, emotional intelligence, overcoming low self-worth, and knowing your triggers.
In this episode you'll learn
- How Jenna recovered from a traumatic brain injury despite the doctors grim diagnosis
- Why living in another country can give you a completely different perspective on how other people live
- Jenna's definition of emotional intelligence
- How to respond and not react to your emotions
- Cultivating a strong and loving relationship with your ego
- How Jenna overcame her low self-worth, and how she continues to keep it in check
- Why seeking approval can control how you choose what you do
- And MORE…
Blame… oh righteous indignant blame. Pointing the finger is easy, and you know what, the more you practice the more you tend to do it.
There are many subtleties to blame. Versions of blame that are quiet and others that are big and ugly.
There’s those passing moments where you can just toss it away, like it never happened. A driver cuts you off in traffic and you erupt for a moment. It’s the rain’s fault that you can’t do what you wanted to do today. Your partner left all the dirty dishes in the sink before leaving for work and you come home to a mountain of filth. The salt is not in it’s usual spot in the kitchen and you’re sure it was your kid.
Then there’s big ass ugly blame. This shows up and owns you. It finds the override switch and your intense anger, rage, sadness, despair… it’s all someone else’s fault, and in some cases, rightfully so. A physical assault or a legitimate injustice. Or at work, a team member dropped the ball on a project causing you time and money...
As entrepreneurs, artists, and transformational leaders, we often think we can do it all. But just because we can doesn't mean it's our best use of time or that it will lead us down the path of fulfillment and greater creativity and expression.
Before her son Kingston was born transformational leader, entrepreneur, and humanitarian Alexi Panos had her hand in every aspect of her business. With the arrival of a newborn, Alexi quickly realized that pioritizing was at the top of the list and with a few choices slashed her working hours from 80 to nearly 20 a week.
A leader in the Emergent Wisdom movement, Alexi Panos was named as one of INC's magazines TOP 10 ENTREPRENEUR'S CHANGING THE WORLD, one of Origin Magazines TOP 100 CREATIVES CHANGING THE WORLD, and is a featured expert in the films THE ABUNDANCE FACTOR, RISEUP and AGE OF THE ENTREPRENEUR. As a bestseller, Alexi has authored the books 50 WAYS TO YAY! and NOW OR NEVER, both by Simon & Schuster.
Today we'll dive into some of the strategies she's implemented to Work LESS and LIVE MORE and even some of the things that get in the way and how she works through them.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to see where your best use of time is in your business
- How to craft your day that works for you especially if a morning routine is not your thing
- How to be solution oriented when it comes to navigating conflict
- Some ways to continually step out of victim mentality and into personal accountability
- The difference between blame and responsibility
- What 100% responsibility really means and how to make it useful
- Why responsibility is empowering
- And MORE…
In The Beauty Diet: Unlock the Five Secrets of Ageless Beauty form the Inside Out, internationally acclaimed nutrition and natural beauty expert David Wolfe distills the five factors that lead to exceptional, lasting beauty.
David ‘Avocado’ Wolfe is the rock star and Indiana Jones of the superfoods and longevity multiverse. The World’s top CEOs, ambassadors, celebrities, athletes, artists, and the real superheroes of this planet—Moms—all look to David for expert advice in health, energy, peak performance, beauty, herbalism, nutrition, and chocolate!
David is the author of many best-selling books, including: The Beauty Diet, The Sunfood Diet Success System, Naked Chocolate, Amazing Grace, Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future, Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms and Longevity NOW. He has also appeared in numerous breakthrough documentaries and films including: Food Matters, Hungry for Change, GMOs Revealed and Discover the Gift.
His Facebook page (www.facebook.com/DavidAvocadoWolfe) and Facebook videos and posts reach millions of people each week around the world with succinct powerful inspirational quotes, news, health information and education. David’s Facebook fan-base is over 12 million strong, making his influence one of the most widely commented, clicked, and shared in the world. David is also the co-developer of one of the world’s leading kitchen appliances: the NutriBullet™.
If you're still feeling the slow sluggish nature of winter as we are shifting seasons, the cleanse and recipes outlined in The Beauty Diet are a great way to hit the reset button and bring back that healthy looking skin for the summer.
Today we'll unpack what David presents in his new book The Beauty Diet and how to begin eliminating toxins and focus more on detoxification instead of just nutrition.
In this episode you'll learn
- How the organic standard has changed over the years and what to look for when it comes to food
- What toxins are and why cleansing for beauty is the only way
- How plastics and BPA's act as hormone mimickers
- The difference between foreign toxins and metabolic toxins
- How detoxification is more important than nutrition for longevity
- When is the best time to cleanse
- Where to start with cleansing
- Some places to start with superherbs
- How to add more superfoods into your diet
- How to start restricting calories and add in more liquids
- How to cleanse with charcoal
- and MORE…
If you look at nature, every organism has it's role. In modern times, we've become the exception.
From early on, we are taught to conform, to blend in. After starting over at zero financially, after what many would consider a failed acting career, Adam Roa experienced a series of events that eventually led him to the moment of enough is enough. He started to carve his own unique path.
Since then he has gone on to become an artist, creator, and an inspiration in helping to assemble the new paradigm.
In this episode you'll learn
- What it took for Adam to start calling himself a coach even though he was already actively coaching
- The role of plant medicine in Adam's transformation
- What coaching and mentorship can do to change your life
- The big distinction between awareness and taking action
- How money is only a small part of the goal and what to aim for
- Understanding achievement and fulfillment
- How we assign value and meaning to different goals
- The lessons nature and its symbiotic relationships can tell us about our purpose
- What it means to reconnect with our own unique code and insticts
- Realizing the importance of all roles... leaders and supporters
In the spirit of switching things up, I thought it would be fun to turn the tables and unpack some of my coaching experience with Lauren Zander.
Lauren was on the show back on episode 069 to talk about her book Maybe It's You, and today she is back to help unpack a little bit about the coaching process and what doing the work really means.
Before this interview I had a coaching session with Lauren and let me tell you... it was no joke. It was rather enlightening actually and I learned A LOT about myself, my life up until now, and some things I had no idea were operating in the background.
It all started with the HW I did for the session. I was super intimidated at first when her assistant let me know that it would take about 8 hours to complete... 31 pages later, I not only realized a ton about my life, but I actually realized I really like writing.
Today we are going to unpack some of our session together, what I discovered working with Lauren, the power of integrity, unraveling what haunts us and so much more.
In this episode you'll learn
- Why we tend to pick coaches that are the opposite frequency of what we need
- The real work that's required with an iron clad system of coaching
- Some of the investigation that's required to uncover the truth about your personal history and contributing factors
- What hauntings are and how to start unraveling them
- How a swift kick in the ass was exactly what I needed but up until now was avoiding
- The difference between what you get out of a book and what can happen when you work with a coach
- The importance of metrics and measurements in defining a successful day
- and MORE…
David Burkus is a best-selling author, a sought after speaker, and associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University. His forthcoming book, Friend of a Friend, offers readers a new perspective on how to grow their networks and build key connections—one based on the science of human behavior, not rote networking advice. He’s delivered keynotes to the leaders of Fortune 500 companies and the future leaders of the United States Naval Academy. His TED talk has been viewed over 1.8 million times and he is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
In this episode you'll learn
- Why David calls himself a recovering academic
- Why you need to understand the unifying principles of how networks work and not just master your elevator pitch
- How most people find networking dirty and what to do instead
- The biggest mindset shift to see your network as something you exist in, not something you do
- What are Weak and dormant ties, and why they can be more valuable than your close ties
- Why thinking of people in a work context through more of a friend context can be helpful
- How there can be a great divide between personal and business and how to bridge that gap
- How the shared activities principle can result in a foundation for a deeper connection with new people
- Some useful conversation starters, and one David learned from Lewis Howes
- and MORE...
With a fast rate of change and the pace at which we as individuals are evolving and society as a whole, turning the lens inward and cultivating inner strength is a venture worth pursuing if you want to be equipped to handle life's challenges and develop true self-reliance.
My guest today, Rick Hanson, was on the show back on episode 059 to talk about his book Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom, and the work he does around understanding the natural tendencies of the brain and how to leverage that knowledge combined with practical neuroscience to create change.
Today Rick is back on the show to dive into his book Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness. This book dives into the principles Rick teaches in his online course, Foundations of Well-Being, which has been practiced by around 15,000 students. It's a deep dive to building 12 inner strengths, which became the basis of this book.
Resilient hits the shelves tomorrow March 27th and is already #1 in New Releases on Amazon.
In this interview we will unpack some of the key distinction in Resilient and what it means to cultivate inner strengths while getting your needs met.
In this episode you'll learn
- The true essence of self-reliance
- Why positive psychology is missing a few key pieces and where resilience bridges that gap
- The 3 Fundamental Needs - safety, satisfaction, and connection
- Achieving well-being through recognizing, resourcing, regulating, and relating
- Facing challenges while experiencing our needs being met vs. faces challenges while experiencing are needs not being met
- Why stress, uneasiness, panic and suffering can become a way of life for people and how they use it to meet their needs
- The fundamentals of what Rick calls the Red Zone and the Green Zone
- The difference between reacting and responding to adversity and meeting the next moment already feeling full and balanced inside
- and MORE...
It's pretty tough to deny the fact that we are influenced by unseen forces, energies and frequencies that we can't fully explain or describe from the rational mind. Frequencies, energy, and even emotion are an experience.
Giving more attention to how we feel and tending to our personal vibration and choosing to come from what Penney calls our home frequency is what I would consider a direct translation of what it means to be your authentic self, or that eternal aspect of you.
Penney Peirce was on the show at episode 120 to talk about her book Transparency and this particular stage in the Transformation process. Today we are going to come back around to understand another one of the stages of transformation through Penney's book Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration.
Penney unpacks and builds some powerful distinctions in here to help us understand what frequency is, different ways to regulate our personal vibration (especially in social situations where we may "assume" the frequency of others), and the importance of finding our home frequency and center.
Through mindfulness practices, meditation, and directing our attention, just to name a few, we can start to bring our awareness to more subtle levels of energy and tap into things like intuition, creativity, and even more peaceful states.
The desire for people seeking more meaning in their lives, have more fulfilling careers, and searching for a deeper purpose are just a few of the ways this desire to integrate the physical and the spiritual are starting to not only emerge, but be the norm.
In this episode you'll learn
- How energy and consciousness works and what is happening on the planet
- The difference between your personal vibration and your home frequency
- How we tend to frequency match other people in social situations
- What makes our moods and energy levels swing and how to get more centered
- Some ways we can start to familiarize ourselves with our home frequency
- What you can do to strengthen your sense of self
- Where Frequency and Transparency come together
- Understanding natural joy and your conditioned feeling habits
- and MORE…
I invited Sarah Sherwood back on the show today to talk about adult attachment theory and adult attachment styles. I'm relatively new to attachment theory, but the little I have dug into it helped me start understanding my own patterns of relating and why they exist.
The basic understanding of this theory is that how you regulate and experience yourself is in some ways a product of how you learned to relate with your primary care givers. We develop patterns of engaging with other people and relating based on whether or not our needs were being met and whether or not the world felt safe.
As you'll hear Sarah talk about, we develop behaviors from that experience to relate with other people to ensure we get what we need.
In this episode you'll learn
- How each of us have these biologically wired in patterns of relating
- Our most driving need is connection with other humans and how that helps us understand our sense of safety
- How these styles get patterned into our nervous system
- The 4 Attachment styles
- How our emotional needs getting met or not greatly impacts our attachment style and patterns of relating
- The relationship between attachment style and healthy boundries
- How anxiety and distraction could possibly stem from these attachment styles
- A mantra for parents is perceptive over perfect
- Having a balance between chaos and rigidity in parenting
- Practicing affective communication and vulnerability in safe relationships are some of the biggest places to start
Karla McLaren, M.Ed. is an award-winning author, social science researcher, and empathy pioneer. Her lifelong work focuses on her grand unified theory of emotions, which revalues even the most “negative” emotions and opens startling new pathways into self-awareness, effective communication, and healthy empathy.
Karla also developed the groundbreaking Six Essential Aspects of Empathy model that makes all of the processes in empathy easily understandable and accessible -- so that people can develop and manage their empathy intentionally.
Karla is the author of The Art of Empathy: A Complete Guide to Life’s Most Essential Skill (2013), The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings are Trying to Tell You (2010), and the multi-media online course Emotional Flow: Becoming Fluent in the Language of Emotions (2012). She is also the coauthor (with cult expert Janja Lalich, PhD) of Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over (Routledge, 2018), which focuses on the stories of 70 people who grew up in and escaped from cults spanning a dozen countries.
In this episode you'll learn
- Ways to slow down and examine your choices when different emotions arise.
- Tips and practices to overcome the anxiety of our modern world.
- The reasons you shouldn’t run from your emotions and how to work with the ones that make you uncomfortable
- Why emotions are neither good or bad, and how you can use them to your benefit
- How shame can be used in a healthy way to help you control your actions.
- Learning to read other’s emotions so you increase your caring and empathy
- How to increase your emotional vocabulary and better handle feelings when they arise.
Hall’s music, a blend of roots and folk music with hints of inspiration from India, has led him to a series of sold-out tours and collaborations with artists such as Steel Pulse, The Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, Matisyahu, Michael Franti, Xavier Rudd and Nahko & Medicine for the People.
Trevor Hall’s Chapter of the Forest (2014) and KALA (2015), debuted at #3 and #2 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart respectively. He is currently touring around the US and Australia. While on tour, Hall collects donations to support children’s education in India.
The Fruitful Darkness released in November of 2017, became the #1 Kickstarter Music campaign of 2017 (#30 of all time out of 53,000 Music projects) and is being released in three song installments on specific lunar dates, culminating in a 14-song deluxe edition release, June 1st 2018.
The Fruitful Darkness Part III just dropped this past Friday, so be sure to pick it up on Spotify or your favorite music platform.
Trevor kicks off his A Night in the Village Tour February 21st in Minneapolis, MN with events in IL, OH, MD, CT, NY and more. Tickets are selling out fast for this special event where Trevor will be sharing songs, the stories behind them, as well as rare images and footage from his journeys to India, Nepal and beyond. You’ll have the opportunity to interact and ask questions at the end of the evening during a Q&A. 'A Night in the Village' will give listeners a unique insight into the inspiration and stories behind the songs of Trevor Hall's life journey.
Trevor's mix of deep spiritual work and the stories behind how his songs came to be are food for any creatives soul and for me has deepened the practice of seeing a miracle in every day life.
In this episode you'll learn
- How music can help you explore your inner being.
- Why pushing down emotions can cause them to unconsciously affect your behaviors and relationships.
- Ways to develop a deeper connection and love with others.
- Learning to find mental and emotional freedom by exploring the depths of your consciousness.
- How you can maintain positive energy while navigating a major change in identity.
- Why separateness is actually an illusion and how you can embrace the collective oneness of the world.
In this week's episode I wanted to share a little story with you because I realized in the last few weeks as I've been navigating some personal challenges in my life as well as some things in business that I that I found myself over focusing on the details... let's call it the problem, the circumstances and trying to move around the known pieces in the box of my known reality trying to figure things out.
If you're in a place where maybe you feel hyper focused on the problem or you may even feel a lot of stress or anxiety or overwhelm in your body, my hope is that sharing this perspective with you will give you some relief by taking the pressure off and being able to see things from a greater perspective.
Have The Vision, Patience, and Perspective Of An Eagle.
Full practice and show notes at http://jeffa.co/126
My guest today Jessie May Wolfe describes HeartRise as plugging into the radiant, integral, soul energy (R.I.S.E)... the electricity of the heart.
Her presence empowers those around her. Spreading light and energy, her infectious spirit connects many beautiful souls around the world.
With a strong creative & corporate background in fashion, publishing & marketing,
Jessie May's experience coaching & empowering thousands of creatives, entrepreneurs, and change-makers worldwide, along with her training in various modalities with renowned teachers, led her to develop the unique impactful HeartRise Method.
As a speaker, mentor, and inspirational guide, Jessie May brings the HeartRise Method to organizations, communities and companies across the world.
Her corporate clients include Soho House, Gen Art, Wework, Wanderlust, Amazon, GOOP, Westside Collective, Parachute Home, Nick Fouquet, Juice Served Here, Health-Ade, Sakara.
Jessie May's heart holds a torch for everyone.
Today we'll dive into HeartRise Method and Jessie May's new book High On Heart: The HeartRise Method.
In this episode you'll learn
- How you can win the battle between your head and your heart.
- Identifying your negative go-to thoughts that take up precious time and energy.
- Why the modern world is in desperate need for more heart centered intelligence.
- Strategies to calm and quiet the incessant chatter in your mind.
- Why it's easier to relate and connect with others when you come from the intelligence of the heart.
- How to release negative energy and tap into good vibrations.
If you've ever felt flooded by strong thoughts and emotions, then this one is for you.
Starting to create a healthy distance from strong thoughts and emotions is the first step to creating a more resourceful state where you can lower the stress response and work yourself into better feeling thoughts.
Today I'll distill a practice I use to loosen the hold on these strong thoughts and feelings to be able to tackle the current situation from a more grounded, less emotionally charged position.
These two phrases come from the work of Susan David and Emotional Agility and they are really quite simple. Our tendency when we feel something strongly is to over identify with the feeling. For me and those I've worked with, being able to loosen the grip and see thoughts and feelings as an experience we are having and not something we are has proved extremely useful for creating a mindset that allows for more creativity and solutions to emerge.
The typical response to strong emotions such as anger would be "I am angry."
Susan David suggests using the two phrases:
"I am having the feeling that..."
"I am having the thought that..."
Putting these two tools to use would look like this...
"I am having the feeling that I am angry."
"I am having the thought that what she did made me angry"
Everyone's experience is unique so try these out and play with the variations. You know it's working when you feel the charge start to subside and you can see it more as an experience instead of a state of being.
I get deeper into this in the podcast, so be sure to tune in and leave a comment below letting me know how you're going to put this into practice.
Language is a powerful shaper of our experience. The depth of training and knowledge most of us have when it comes to words stops at basic grammar. I remember when I had my first powerful experience with language and consciousness, and how from that moment forward, my view of language was forever changed.
Back on episode 065 I chatted with Mark England about Upgrading Your Language to Resolve Conflicts at Home, at Work, and In Your Head where we got into the nuts and bolts of Procabulary and how to use language. Today we are diving deeper to go beyond surface language.
Mark England is a TEDx speaker and the co-founder and lead presenter of Procabulary. He loves to travel, exchange empowering ideas and strategies and practice martial arts. Mark holds a Masters Degree in International Education and was an elementary sports teacher before developing Procabulary.
Procabulary builds fun, simple and easy to use tools that help you discover direction, purpose and turbo-charge every goal – from the smallest daily task to life’s biggest dreams.
As we roll into today's show Mark and I both share our own short story of the first time we experienced the power of language and then pull back the curtain to go beyond the surface.
In this episode you'll learn
- How phrases stated by ourselves and others can influence our choices.
- The ways in which the questions we ask ourselves are dictating what we let ourselves see as a valid possible outcome.
- How what we say and how we say it matters.
- Working with your rate of speech.
- How to use your breath to embody statements and states of being.
- Skills for using your awareness when stress triggers or injuries arise.
Language was the equivalent of my gateway drug into the personal development space about 10 years ago. I was already into fitness and health, and was working as a personal live in chef for the years prior. When I got a glimpse of the "non-physical" modalities like thought, language, and consciousness, I was hooked.
In a soon to be released episode of my interview series, I sat down with Mark England who was on the show back on episode 65 talking about the core principles of Procabulary and upgrading our language. In there we dive deeper into language and go Beyond Surface Language.
This really got me thinking of what I did in the beginning to start conditioning new language patterns and modes of perception.
If you're just getting started in the language game or if you could use a little focus adjustment, then see if you can only state the affirmative for an entire day.
While it sounds quite simple, I think you might find this a little more challenging than meets the eye.
I give a few examples in today's show, so check it out and when after you put this into practice, shoot me a message over on Instagram @jeffagostinelli or on Facebook and let me know how it was.
Being able to bounce back from the inevitable hard times in life is an essential skill. The recovery period between something that happens and how we come through on the other side is known as resilience.
We often see resilience as a hard skill... something that we gain when we go through experience that toughens us up. I know I typically thought of it this way too, making "thick skinned" and resilient synonymous. My guest today has a different perspective on resilience.
Sarah talks about resilience as having a softer quality and the result of how we integrate the most horrific, embarrassing, shame filled, disappointing, experiences... integrating those into our story in a way that strengthens us but doesn't make us hard.
As a certified Life Coach, Spiritual Director and Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, Sarah empowers people to rebound and recover from the damaging effects of stress, trauma and chronic illness/disease. Her clients stop the stress cycle, double their energy and break their limiting patterns and habits. Becoming resilient – emotionally, mentally and physically – they live free from anxiety, stop doubting themselves, and find courage to take action on their dreams, regardless the difficulty and challenge they’ve endured. Sarah believes that obstacles and failures are part of the path to reach our fullest potential. Therefore, we must master how to become resilient instead of shrinking back from pain or resistance.
Today we are going to unpack what resilience is and how it can actually have more of a soft, integrated quality to it. We also going to get into how shame and resilience are related.
In this episode you'll learn
- Ways to reframe your thoughts so you avoid feeling unnecessary shame
- Strategies to remove negative feelings by rewiring your patterned thoughts and beliefs
- How to gain self control and change your outcomes by learning to tolerate uncomfortable emotions
- Ways to find your North Star when life seems off-center
- How to identify and stop negative emotions before they rise up and overtake you
- Why it's important to hold emotional space for others without always trying to fix their problems
- How to view your challenges and obstacles as forces working for your higher good
- Strategies to develop more emotional resiliency in your children
If you guys are yet to gather this from the show so far, I’m completely obsessed with esoteric teachings, spiritual practices, and certain concepts like Penney Peirce and I talked about in the last episode… a holographic reality.
I also love science, research, and data driven findings that reveal the “scientific proof” of what these ancient esoteric teachings knew in a different way.
Where all this comes together, literally… is integration. Bringing together all these different aspects of utilizing the power of the mind, understanding the subconscious, spiritual practices, daily rituals, and the use of our will through direct action.
I see it as a buffet where we can look at our little bag of tricks and select the best tool for the job.
In the second half of 2017 I had a strong sense to move into story and to hit the pause button on the left brain linear data driven side of things and dive deeper into spirituality, story, and creativity.
In 2016 I decided to dive into A Course In Miracles and apply the teachings daily for the whole year. Contemplating, focusing on and acting from some of the concepts in there produced some amazing shift and what I can obviously refer to here as miracles.
Late last year (2017) I was in a similar place emotionally, mentally, and spiritually where I was yearning for answers… but not in the usual research and record way that I have became accustomed to.
I ended up stumbling upon The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo and decided that this year I would go through the book each day and do the practice.
Today I want to share with you a passage from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. In here he talks about an aging Hindu master who grew tired of his apprentice complaining.
Penney Peirce is a respected clairvoyant empath, visionary, author, and popular lecturer and trainer. She is one of the early pioneers in the intuition development movement, specializing in intuition development, inner energy dynamics, expanded perception, transformation, and dream work. She has worked throughout the US, Europe, Japan, South America, and South Africa since 1977, coaching business and government leaders, psychologists, scientists, celebrities, and those on a spiritual path about the hidden dynamics of what makes for true success.
She is the author of ten books, including Transparency: Seeing Through to Our Expanded Human Capacity, Leap of Perception: The Transforming Power of Your Attention, Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration, and The Intuitive Way: The Definitive Guide to Increasing Your Awareness.
There are these stages of understanding what transformation is doing and how our consciousness is changing and how its affecting the way our life works… and this process of transformation is what fascinates Penney and what she unpacks in the 4 books previously mentioned.
Transparency is what she describes as the last phase that she has noticed so far.
While this is a word you may relate to information, in her book, Penney outlines different levels or types of transparency, specifically horizontal and vertical transparency. She also speaks to the larger shift from the information age to the intuition age.
There is so much in this book and it’s definetley worth a read. For me Transparency was a great bridge between those hard to grasp “spiritual” concepts and reality. It has also exercises in each section to put the concepts and ideas to work right away.
Today we are going to unpack Transparency and dive into what transformation is.
In this episode you'll learn
- How you can infuse the physical world with the light of your soul
- Why time and space are malleable and don’t actually operate on a linear plane
- Learning how to slow down, find stillness, and drop into a deeper state of conscious awareness
- How to raise your vibrational frequency to avoid the negative emotions of others
- Why the past and future are just an illusion and everything exists in the present moment
- How a mindfulness practice can help to expand your sphere of consciousness
- Why fear begins to subside when you learn to identify with the soul
- How you can release internal pressure and tap into the ebb and flow of life
- Strategies to remove the clutter from your subconscious mind
Something that has been making it's way into my awareness A LOT lately is the difference between familiarity and comfort.
The language we use to describe thoughts and emotions is massively powerful and can create a mental and emotional state of stop or go.
In the personal development space there is a lot of talk about the comfort zone and how we need to step out of our comfort zone where all the magic happen. I had Andy Molinsky on the show back at episode 85 to talk about his book Reach, which is a very well written book on how to strategically step outside your comfort zone. The strategies he outlines are fantastic and very useful, and what I dive into today is how our comfort zone is anything but comfortable. Let's call it a bit of a meta concept if you will.
The objective of getting out of your comfort zone is to achieve your goals, create change, and experience results that you want.
Clearly we have to take new actions to experience a different result, but the analogy of the comfort zone didn't do it for me. It was almost as if I was just trading one frazzled state for another. When I thought about this deeper, it made more sense... it doesn't seem like a worth while trade.
After being with it for a little while I started to see the distinction more clearly. What I was calling my comfort zone wasn't comfortable at all. It was actually creating a lot of collateral damage and unnecessary pain. It wasn't that it was comfortable, it was just familiar.
One of the biggest distinctions that helped me "get out of my comfort zone" was beginning to approach it with curiosity and through the lens of exploring the unfamiliar.
After you tune in to today's show, come over to the show notes and let me know what you think in the comments below.
http://jeffa.co/118
The things that we've ashamed of or have strong feelings about, whether it's addiction or something that may have happened to us, aren't dark in and of themselves. As Shakespeare once said... "Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so."
Anna David is the New York Times-bestselling author of two novels and four non-fiction books about addiction, recovery and relationships. She’s been published in The New York Times, Time, The LA Times, Vanity Fair, Playboy, Vice and Women’s Health, among many others, written about in numerous publications including Forbes, Martha Stewart Living, Entrepreneur, Allure and Women’s Health and has appeared repeatedly on The Today Show, Hannity, Attack of the Show, Dr. Drew, Red Eye, The Talk and numerous other programs on Fox News, NBC, CBS, MTV, VH1 and E.
She created and hosts the Recover Girl podcast and the recovery storytelling show Hammer(ed) Time and speaks at colleges across the country about relationships, addiction and recovery. Through her company, Light Hustler, she helps creatives share their dark to find their light—through coaching, writing, workshops and more.
Today we're going to dive into what Light Hustler is all about and find out if you are ready to share your story.
In this episode you'll learn
- How you can begin to find your light by sharing more of the darkness
- Learning to get comfortable with your emotions and stop running from feelings
- How modern society is removing the stigma and shame around addiction
- Why sharing the darkest parts of your journey can help liberate yourself and others
- The different ways that sub-conscious fears can play out in your life
- How to know if you may be ready to share your story of hardship
- Learning to appreciate how your mindset impacts your physical health
In this episode, I share some of these insights, lessons learned and guiding principles with you in hope that it will give you context and meaning in the situations or challenges you find yourself in and how to look at 2018 through a new lens.
Here’s a summary, and you can see the full outline at http://jeffa.co/116
These two overarching principles served as an anchor that locked the lessons in place.
#1 - Learn your lesson quickly and move on
#2 - Finding your center - your home frequency
Here are my top 5 Lessons from 2017
#1 - The most powerful thing you can do is put yourself around people who are committed to change, knowing themselves more, and creating deeper meaning in their life..
#2 - If you don’t focus on it, it ain’t gonna change.
#3 - Find out what works for you and honor YOUR process.
#4 - Getting it out there is more important than getting it perfect.
#5 - The light casts a shadow, don’t be afraid of it.
Gay Hendricks has been a leader in the fields of relationship transformation and bodymind transformation for more than 45 years. After earning his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1974, Gay served as Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Colorado for 21 years. He has written more than 40 books, including bestsellers such as Five Wishes, The Big Leap, Conscious Loving and the new Conscious Loving Ever After, the last two co-authored with his co-author and mate for more than 35 years, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks.
He is also a mystery novelist, with a series of five books featuring the Tibetan-Buddhist private detective, Tenzing Norbu. Most recently, he has launched a new mystery series featuring a Victorian-era London detective, Sir Errol Hyde. Gay has appeared on more than 500 radio and television shows, including Oprah, CNN, CNBC, 48 HOURS and others.
As we speak, Gay is actually working on the sequel for The Big Leap which will be out toward the end of 2018.
Today we are going to unpack the key aspects of The Big Leap and how we can create a better awareness for those times where we are upper limiting ourselves.
In this episode you'll learn
- Why fear can cause you to self-sabotage when you begin to feel too much happiness
- How you can start to develop more connection and intimacy in your relationships
- Strategies to increase your awareness and identify destructive thoughts and behaviors
- How to reinvent yourself for a future filled with abundance, joy, and love
- Why you should avoid things in your zone of incompetence and spend more time in your zone of genius
- How the body is keenly wired to let you know when you’re out of harmony
A few episodes back I went into 3 Simple Things to Manage Overwhelm where I talked about some strategies I use to get past overwhelm by creating the space to get things done personally and professionally. In there I went into blocking time, eliminating distractions by putting your phone on airplane, and letting others know in your immediate environment what you need to have the type of environment you need for the task at hand.
At the root this is cultivating undivided attention and funneling your focus and pretty much everything you've got into what requires it in the moment
The amount of attention you can commit and hold by your mental and emotional focus can make all the difference in creating something with meaning and making memories with the people you love.
As you're heading into the new year, you can use this practice to really dive into the things at the top of your list and start the year strong.
In this episode you'll learn
- Some simple ways to communicate with your family what your need are
- How to hit the pause button and change gears
- Creating the space mentally and emotionally to give your full undivided attention to the task at hand
- Why being completely present is a gift to yourself and others
- A simple practice to begin giving your undivided attention on one thing today
The beauty industry, for men and women, has had a strong focus on the veneer. It's largely about acquiring and applying beauty as apposed to radiating beauty from the inside out.
There's no better example that I know of personally who radiates health and well-being as much as Nadine Artemis and when it comes to cream of the crop pure products Nadine has curated and formulate just that.
Nadine Artemis is the creator of Living Libations, an exquisite line of serums, elixirs, and essentials oils for those seeking the purest of the pure botanical health and beauty products on the planet. Living Libations natural beauty line that’s won over devoted fans such as singer Alanis Morissette and actresses Carrie-Anne Moss, Shailene Woodley and Mandy Moore.
She is the author of Renegade Beauty: Reveal and Revive Your Natural Radiance and Holistic Dental Care: The Complete Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums, a frequent commentator on health and beauty for media outlets, and her products have received rave reviews in the New York Times, the National Post, and the Hollywood Reporter.
Described by Alanis Morissette as “a true-sense visionary,” Nadine has formulated a stunning collection of rare and special botanical compounds. Her healing creations, along with her concept of Renegade Beauty, encourages effortlessness and inspires people to rethink conventional notions of beauty and wellness.
Today we'll dive into some common beauty and self-care practices you can upgrade right away and dig into Nadine's new book, Renegade Beauty.
In this episode you'll learn
- The real damage people are doing to their bodies in the name of external beauty.
- What toxic chemicals may be hiding in the self-care products you use on a daily basis
- How lotions and potions are mutating and eliminating microbes that are essential for your skin health and immune system
- The importance of giving your home a makeover to clear out toxic products
- How to improve your health and boost your mood with the natural healing powers of essential oils
- The health benefits of spending time in nature and interacting with the elements
- Why certain products listed as natural may actually be misleading and unsafe
Around the holidays, we typically spend time with our friends and families.
Something that started to happen for me when I was upgrading my nutrition and digging into personal development was that going back home felt awkward. Not only that, but I would get judgemental and try to impose my newly found discoveries on my family and friends.
It can even feel like there is a mismatch going on. These people may remember you as a different person with different views and beliefs. This is super common in the personal development and transformational space.
Today I'm gonna unpack what this looks like and how to navigate these situations. It's been a solid 10+ years since I've started down the path of lifestyle and consciousness shifts, so I feel fairly competent in these situations and confidently expressing myself without getting pulled into anyone's B.S.
So naturally, I thought this would be useful for you to navigate the holiday festivities.
In this episode you'll learn
- How the right and wrong of things can lead to harboring feelings and resentment
- The magic of allowing someone the freedom of their own experience
- The art of honoring each others differences
- How a personal transformation or any big shift can naturally make you want to share it with others, but being able to discern the best timing
- Why it's important for people to be ask for help and be in a place of receiving
- How to navigated what might turn out as a heated debate around the holidays
- Gauging when you are being sucked into other people stuff
Today I invited Dorie Clark to come back on the show to talk about her new book, Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive. Dorie was on the show back at episode 037 (The Art of Reinvention and Standing Out in A Crowded Marketplace) where we dug into her book Stand Out and really got deep into how to coach your inner critic.
Dorie Clark is an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, the New York Times described her as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.”
A frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, she consults and speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank. She is also a producer of a multiple Grammy-award-winning jazz album.
In Entrepreneurial You, Dorie outlines a blueprint for professional independence and creating what she calls a portfolio career.
There are countless people who are really good, heck... even GREAT at what they do, but are yet to actually turn that into a lucrative income. Something I've had to grow up and realize and what Dorie so perfectly states is how:
"Learning to make money from your expertise is a different skill set from what’s needed to become excellent at your work or well known in your field."
We are going to unpack Dorie's book Entrepreneurial You and start to chip away at what the income path for independent professionals actually looks like.
In the year Dorie spent writing Entrepreneurial You her income grew by more than $200,000 as a direct result of using the techniques in this book.
Everyone is at a different place in their professional journey. So this isn't to say you'll see those EXACT results, and there's power in seeing what's possible.
In this episode you'll learn
- Key strategies for building a sustainable business in today’s digital world
- The proven lead magnets and opt-ins Dorie uses when launching her books and courses
- How to develop a clear content strategy to share your idea, passion, or business online
- The critical pieces needed to grow a highly engaged online community
- How to leverage your content to create multiple streams of income
- The power of guest blogging and sharing your content through established publications
- How to develop a trusting relationship with your audience
In a society where we place a high value on the intellect, it can be a tough to drop into how we really feel about making choices in our life.
I've personally found it extremely valuable to be able to tap into a deeper intelligence to navigate life's choices and be able to draw upon the feeling of a decision.
In a recent coaching session with a client we came up with a great analogy that helped her clear the mental clutter and drop into a deeper more resourceful place to make the choice she was up against.
In today's episode I'll unpack what that looks like and how to move from a more frenetic whack-a-mole state to a place of yummy tummy. I know that sounds a little strange, but you'll hear all about it in today's show.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to move from mental noise to a place of deeper knowing
- A strategy for cultivating child like curiosity
- Another way to make choices based on feeling
- How to start passing options through each state... whack-a-mole and yummy tummy
Tim Larkin is a former military intelligence officer with a 25 year career where he has trained people in 52 countries in how to deal with imminent violence. Over 10,000 clients are trained in his Target Focus Training (TFT) from Military Special Operations Units, Special Law Enforcement Teams, Celebrities and high profile business leaders on how to use physics and physiology to injure any human(s) trying to attack them. TFT is the original Reality Based Fighting System.
His numerous magazine covers and articles in the Martial Arts and self-defense industry are as controversial as his “pro-victim advocate” position on self-protection. He is a highly sought after speaker as well as the media’s “go to guy” on Self Defense and Victim’s rights.
Today we'll unpack Tim's new book, When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake, and get to know the ins and outs of this topic that most people don't want to think about.
In this episode you'll learn
- Why it doesn’t make you a bad person to learn the tools of violence for self-protection
- How to pick up on social cues to know when you may be in real danger
- The key differences between fighting, martial arts, and self-protection protocols
- How to know when it’s an appropriate time to use violence
- Learning to identify and exploit the weakness of an attacker
- Strategies to maintain emotional composure under fear
- How to make better decisions to minimize the chance of encountering violence
- Why the brain should always be used as your primary weapon
Something that a lot of us men are missing out on is real authentic connection with other men. Like a lot of things that somehow find their way into my life, I didn't know it was something I needed until it found me.
My friend Billy introduced me to the work of Dr. Robert Glover and his book, No More Mr. Nice Guy. After diving into his work and having him on the show, I started attending a men's group with my friend Billy and about 8-10 other guys every other week.
One of the exercises we've done in the group is sharing a story, something we did, or something that happened to us that we haven't shared, or that we are ashamed of. I really underestimated the power of such a simple exercise.
In today's episode, I'll unpack what I'm starting to understand about shame and some things that are unfolding as a result of entering the darkness to find the light.
In this episode you'll learn
- Some ways that shame potentially gets passed on and creates a false identity
- How shame can only live in hiding
- Leaning into being uncomfortable
- Putting yourself into situations where you may have felt embarrassed in the past
- The surprising result of having a support system
Growing up an Irish boy in East London, Steve Sims was the son of a brick mason. This laid the foundation, yes... pun intended..., for his insane work ethic. Steve paints this amazingly vivid picture in his new book Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen, where he saw his dad, uncles, and cousins. His entire family tree down the line of ladders. In that moment he realized that he would eventually be that next one on the ladder for the rest of his life. That night, he quit.
The second he was clear there was a different way to think, he took action.
Ever since Steve has been pulling off the unimaginable. He's been able to make his clients' wildest dreams come true, from a wedding at the Vatican, to being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli, to powerful business introductions to moguls like Elon Musk.
Steve Sims is is the visionary founder of Bluefish: the world’s first luxury concierge company that delivers the highest level of personalized travel, transportation, and cutting-edge entertainment services to corporate executives, celebrities, professional athletes, and other discerning individuals interested in living life to its fullest. He has been invited to speak to MBA students at Harvard (twice), has spoken at the Pentagon, and has been featured in major media all around the world: From The Sunday Times and China Post, to The Wall Street Journal.
Today we'll dive into how Steve pulls the strings and the art of Bluefishing.
In this episode you'll learn
- How Steve built his luxury concierge service that delivers extravagant adventures to rich and famous clientele
- Why most people are scared to acknowledge or go after their deepest passions
- Strategies to develop and nurture your personal relationships
- How raw transparency will help others connect with your vision
- The power of using video messaging to spark excitement and connection
- How many of today’s entrepreneurs are misallocating their time
- Why genuine engagement is more important than the size of your following
Any time we try to change something in our life, we find out how we REALLY handle change. We all have a very predictable way that we respond emotionally to the uncertainty that inevitably arises when we go about creating change. This emotional response is woven into the fabric of our current circumstance and when we can understand what that response looks like and make peace with the present, we can start to cultivate the emotions of our end goal and maintain the emotional terrain necessary for change.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to cultivate the set of emotions that you want to experience
- Why getting clear on what you want to experience instead will help you create peace with the present
- How to stay centered even when you feel triggered
- Tips for fueling your future and not the frustration of the present moment
- A set of questions to ask yourself about how you really want to feel
- How you always have a choice to choose something different
- Playing the game of to do's and to be's to get to where you want in life
- How to extract the lessons from life's situations
- A nightly practice to cultivate new actions and emotional states
- How you respond to change
Even after achieving financial success he felt something deeper calling. Using what he learned in that external journey, Nate applied his lessons of higher accountability and responsibility to developing communities and sharing his gifts with those around him.
Nate Lind, the youngest of six kids, is an entrepreneur, explorer and investor. He is the founder of Legendary Man an 8-figure e-commerce company, and one of the most popular men’s grooming and lifestyle brands in the world.
His first taste of financial success came in his early twenties when he became proficient in the art of buying and flipping houses. When he saw the impending housing crash coming in 2007, he transitioned from flipper to Fortune 100 consultant, with projects at the world’s largest financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. By 2011 he was recruited to Bank of America as a Vice President.
Though he’d tasted wealth, married, started a family, he found a deep sense of emptiness in his own purpose outside of family. As he began looking for opportunities to fill that emptiness he discovered men’s grooming products such as beard oil and a unique brotherhood like no other.
Nate introduced his first proprietary beard oil, product and watched every aspect of his life start to improve. Nate’s most recent project is a culmination of his community building, events and e-commerce experience – the launch of Legendary Man. Legendary Man inspires men to discover their inner hero and to create community through adventure.
In this episode you'll learn
- The power of authentically connecting as men and why it’s become a lost art in the world today
- Nate’s modern-day definition of powerful and positive masculinity
- Strategies to overcome your internal and external limitations
- How to find support and encouragement by surrounding yourself with a band of brothers
- Learning to identify when the shadow side of your masculine characteristics may arise
- How to become an authentic leader and build a community around your mission
- The power of giving and providing value before asking for something in return
- Why the caregiving aspect of masculinity is commonly overlooked
- and MORE…
There are countless ways to manage overwhelm, and I've found these three things consistently over time put everything else in place.
- Having a keen awareness when it hits
- Eliminating distraction and guarding your time
- Creating blocks of time for focused work
A funny thing that happens when we are overwhelmed, especially when it's something that we don't necessarily want to deal with, is that we'll procrastinate. The number one way this shows up is increasing distractions.
Try out these 3 simple things and let me know how it goes.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to focus on what you can do and eliminate anything that will take you off course
- Why getting into deep focused work is so rewarding
- Ways we prevent ourselves from taking action
- What the message is behind overwhelm and anxiety
- How to guard your time and set your priorities
- Parkinson's Law - work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion - and how to effectively block time
As the professional landscape continues to change, now more than ever, it's becoming increasingly important to understand your core gifts and what makes you uniquely YOU.
Steve Olsher is known as the world’s foremost reinvention expert. Famous for helping individuals and corporations become exceptionally clear on their WHAT—that is, the ONE thing they were created to do—his practical, no-holds-barred approach to life and business propels his clients and presentation attendees toward achieving massive profitability while cultivating lives of purpose, conviction and contribution. He is the New York Times bestselling author of What Is Your What? Discover The ONE Amazing Thing You Were Born To Do, international keynote speaker, Chairman & Co-Founder of Liquor.com, and in-demand media guest who has appeared on CNN, Fox Business and other national outlets.
Today we dive into Steve's book What is Your What? and how to find out what you were born to do.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to start uncovering your purpose and bringing your core gift to light
- Why waiting for future events or conditions to make you happy will keep you from living in the present moment
- How to move off the wanderer's path and awaken the search for your deeper what
- Why comparing yourself to others on social media can create unrealistic expectations for your happiness
- How to let go of preconceived notions and open up to new experiences
- Why your core gift stays the same, but the 1 thing you’re meant to do may change over time
- How to find deeper fulfillment by sharing your gift with others
- Why putting too much pressure on yourself to figure out your purpose can be harmful
- and MORE…
When I got very clear on how I wanted to feel and acting and creating from that place, things got a lot more fulfilling.
Now, please hear me on this one. I'm definitely not saying I've got this perfect, that's why it's called a practice :) BUT when I can continually nudge myself in the direction of cultivating a heightened emotional state and bringing awareness to how I actually feel, shit gets a lot easier.
If you're yet to hear episode 100 where I review some of the major lessons learned from the first 100 episodes with my buddy Ian Ryan, be sure to check that out. In addition to my major lessons learned, I also talked about what I would have done differently and how I would have started these solo rounds a lot sooner. BUT... better late than never right :)
In this episode you'll learn
- How to take the mundane and make it feel more sacred
- My favorite strategy for taking your to do's and making them to be's and building spiritual capital
- Successfully mining the transition from one activity to another to create more meaning
- A simple practice for connecting with your deeper why
- How to weed out what's working and what's not based on your results
- Why visiting your outcome in your imagination can spark new ideas
For the full show notes visit https://jeffagostinelli.com/podcast/bonniekelly/
What does it mean to seek better than the norm, to truly live an extraordinary life? Our life experiences and the meaning we attach to them create who we are and shape our reality. Bonnie opens this beautifully by saying "what you believe is what you perceive." On our journey to becoming whole, addressing our deeply held beliefs about who we are is the springboard for true healing and creating the life you envision.
Bonnie Kelly teaches people how to de-weed their minds of underlying Negative Core Beliefs and cultivate a beautiful garden of emotional health and balance. As an author, personal development and emotional intelligence expert, motivational speaker and founder of Bonnie Kelly & Associates and MindFu Academy™, Bonnie has dedicated her life to helping others stop the cycle of self-sabotage. From her experiences as an abused child to her life on the streets as a teen to being in and out of jail and rehab, she has experienced life’s lowest points firsthand. When she hit rock bottom, she became determined to change her life for the better. Now, she is supporting individuals, groups and businesses in understanding what it means to operate from a place of emotional clarity and wellness.
Corporate groups she has worked with include Genetech, Union Pacific, California Nurses Association, Solano County Probation Department, Benicia USD, Keller Williams and Brandman University. At the heart of Bonnie’s work is her year long Emotional Resilience Training program, which helps people end patterns of unconscious self-sabotage and transform their lives for the better. Her new book is entitled, “True to Your Core: Uncovering the Subconscious Beliefs Wreaking Havoc in Your Life.”
Today we dive into Bonnie's book, True to Your Core and unpack what it means to create an extraordinary life.
In this episode you'll learn
- How to let go of the old programming that leads to mental and emotional suffering
- Ways to “win the war of your worth” by turning down the critical inner voice
- Understanding how your emotional state impacts your decisions, actions, and the people around you
- Ways to unpack and rewire the subconscious beliefs that make you feel unworthy
- How to move forward and find a new path after losing your identity
- Why the muscles of self-development need to be trained on a regular basis
- Strategies to overcome procrastination and avoid self-sabotage
- How to make sure you don't settle for a less than extraordinary life
- and MORE…
For the full show notes visit http://jeffa.co/100
What a ride! After 100 episodes of the show I wanted to jump on and do something a little different. There have been a lot of lessons learned, things I would have done differently, and what the show is going to look like moving forward.
Today I'm joined by my good friend and host of The Fearless and Healthy Podcast, Ian Ryan, where he turns the tables and interviews me on my biggest lessons and insights from the first 100 episodes.
In this episode you'll learn
- Valuable lessons from the past 100 interviews with the world’s top leaders
- How to condition your body and mind to better handle adversities throughout the day
- Ways you can avoid the surface-level fluff in the personal development space
- How to develop faith, trust in the process, and act on your inspirations and ideas
- Becoming brutally honest with yourself and doing the deeper work required for change
- Using appreciation to pull yourself out of an emotional rut
- Learning to embrace the “season of suck” when you decide to try something new
- Avoiding the mental roadblocks that keep you from going to your next level
- How to get clear on your priorities and develop a precise plan of action
- Finding your spiritual sobriety and releasing the constant need for stimulation
- and more...
For the full show notes visit http://jeffa.co/099
Every lineage has a different name for the part of yourself that can wreak havoc in your life. Christianity has the Devil and Demons, Vedic traditions have the concept of Maya, and my guest today believes it's time for a new definition for the reactive attached mind. In his new book, Sh#t Your Ego Says, James McCrae takes us on our journey through the pivotal times in his life where he overcame being his own worst enemy.
Dubbed by The Huffington Post as “…the Eckhart Tolle of the Internet Generation,” James McCrae is the author of Sh#t Your Ego Says and an award-winning strategist and writer at the intersection of creativity and mindfulness. He works with people and organizations around the world to unlock creative potential and turn imagination into results. An avid supporter of basketball, burritos, and yoga, James lives in New York City.
Today we are going to dive into James book Sh#t Your Ego Says: Strategies to Overthrow Your Ego and Become the Hero of Your Story.
In this episode you'll learn
- How a mindfulness practice can help recenter and refocus your life
- When you should view fear as an indication of your deeper calling
- How to start living your purpose now instead of waiting for conditions to be perfect
- Releasing the need for outside approval and becoming more comfortable in your own skin
- How to separate yourself from incessant thoughts and become the observer of your own mind
- The power and strength you can find when working towards your higher purpose
- Developing the courage to trust and act on your intuition
- and MORE…
For the full show notes visit http://jeffa.co/098
After failing public school and being expelled from several continuation schools, MC YOGI has a life changing experience when he was introduced to yoga, which he describes as “a coming home experience.” His story is filled with so many instances of grace, hope, and inspiration. It shows that no matter what your life is like right now, you always have the power to find your true path AND experience grace along the way.
MC YOGI is a world-renowned yoga teacher and musician. He has performed and taught yoga everywhere, from head-lining festivals and nightclubs to performing in the Forbidden City in China and even at the White House. When not on the road, MC YOGI and his wife Amanda teach at their home studio, Point Reyes Yoga, in Northern California.
Today, we dive into his first book SPIRITUAL GRAFFITI: Finding My True Path, a memoir that recounts his journey from gangs to grace.
In this episode you'll learn
- The physical and emotional benefits we receive from connecting with our breath
- Transcending the thinking mind to let our art and creativity flow through us
- How we can develop clarity around the guiding principles of our life
- The inner peace and balance we receive from a yoga practice
- Finding the courage to share our art and creativity with the world
- How we can begin to walk the path towards our destiny
- Why doors begin to open when you truly commit to something
- The transformative power of books and the written word
- How to get out of our heads and reconnect with the body
- and MORE…