For Life on Purpose Episode #41, my guest is artist, photographer, life coach, and mentor Andrea Scher, the creator of Superhero Life — "where we all learn together to use our voices, share our superpowers and live life in full color."
Andrea joins me for a great conversation about her work as a creative, coach, and healer; her Mondo Beyondo talk at WDS 2011 that helped inspire my first podcast (Radio Enso); her creative practices and classes, and much, much more!
About: I’m Andrea Scher, creator of Superhero Life — where we all learn together to use our voices, share our superpowers and live life in full color. As an artist, photographer, life coach + mentor, I’m redefining what it means to be a SUPERHERO — ‘cause in my world, it’s got nothing to do with capes, spandex or sidekicks and everything to do with tenderness, intuition & baby steps of bravery.
Back in 1995 when I was living in New Orleans, a tarot card reader told me that I was an artist. At the time, I held an oh-so practical degree in Economics, and rarely shared my passion for painting + photography with anyone. (But then, you can’t fool a good psychic.)
She also said that my real work was as a healer — that I would heal people through my art. All of the hairs on my arms pricked up. All I could think was: Yes! Yes! But how? I never forgot that wise woman (she is still my spiritual advisor to this day) or that quiet promise I made to myself — to fulfill my true calling, and be a healing force in the world.
But first, I had to start with myself. I began painting every day.
I began painting . . . to find freedom + flexibility. To find the joy in the mess. To keep myself feeling engaged and alive and curious — not necessarily to save the world, but simply to fully experience it.
But that’s the beauty of doing what we love — we delight ourselves first, and we can’t help but serve others in the process.
To me, a Superhero is someone who invites her wisest, bravest, most alive self to come out and play, every day.
This doesn’t mean having all the answers, being unshakably strong, or performing dramatic feats of heroism.It means being someone like you – and someone like me.
Someone who is anxious and uncertain, oh, say, 50 – 80% of the time. Someone who wants to live a juicy, full, courageous life — but doesn’t always know how. Someone who understands that vulnerability just might be the greatest superpower of all.
“To me, a Superhero is someone who invites her wisest, bravest, most alive self to come out and play, every day."
Superhero Life is a love letter + resourceful playground for all my fellow creative superheroes. Moms who want to paint. Painters who want to write. Writers who want to travel. And travelers who want to come home.
I’ve been writing + teaching online for nearly 10 years — back when the web was a much quieter place. My intention is to make Superhero Life feel like a virtual oasis — a space for unhurried healing, beauty, and joy to unfold.
To learn more about Andrea and her work: http://superherolife.com/.
For Life on Purpose Episode #40, my guests are SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) an international expert in personal well-being and transformation whose name has become synonymous with transformation, color, healing, movement and fun AND her husband Dr. John Waddell, who has been helping individuals and couples lead happier lives for over 30 years through his clinical psychology practice and metaphysical teachings.
SARK and Dr. John join me for an inspiration conversation about their brand new book, Succulent Wild Love: Six Powerful Habits for Feeling More Love More Often, in which they offer powerful relationship advice including "Joyful Solutions" (where no one needs to compromise or sacrifice), being "Soufully Single", and listening to your Inner Wise Self.
We also discuss their unique life journeys, some unexpected recent news in their life, and much, much more!
About the book: Succulent Wild Love: Six Powerful Habits for Feeling More Love More Often combines SARK's trademark creativity with the more left-brain psychological perspective Dr. John brings to the table. Using real life examples, they offer six simple but profound habits for feeling more love more often that speak to readers at every stage in a relationship — whether they are looking for love, happily partnered, or in the midst of uncoupling.
About SARK: I’m SARK, also known as Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy- which spells SARK. The name was given to me by the author Henry Miller in the early 1980’s. Soon after, I started taking notes as spirit spoke through me. Those notes turned into all the books and art and everything SARKian. I love representing the SARK spirit and I know that that spirit is inside everyone!
Throughout the course of my life and career as an international expert in personal well-being and transformation, my name has become synonymous with transformation, color, healing, movement & FUN.
I’m inviting you to play and connect with me, letting gladness expand into your heart and touch that place deep inside of you- your inner Wise Self- that already knows everything you’ll ever need in this world is within you.
I’ve written countless books and created programs that I offer to provide a powerfull, grounded and practical approach to feeling glad more often, transforming what hurts into what helps and living a life of joyfull creative expression. No matter what!
About Dr. John: Dr. John Waddell has spent over 30 years as a practicing psychologist helping individuals and couples lead more joyful lives.
While a psychologist by training, he also spent many years studying metaphysics. This enables him to integrate the tools from both these fields to help people create richer, more fulfilling lives.
His interest in metaphysics led him to specialize in the practical application of the Law of Attraction. And he wrote two novels showing how the characters are able to consciously change their lives using this approach. (John and Jeanie Fly: Living the Law of Attraction and John and Jeanie Fly: Our World and The Law of Attraction).
In understanding his own life and in working with others, he begins with the attitude that we have the power to change any experience, and we have the ability to rendezvous with more joyful and fulfilling experiences, whether it’s with someone close to us, a physical situation, or a desire for more abundance. John created significant wealth and is exploring the true nature of wealth in all forms.
John was able to transform the painful loss of his wife in 2011, into a marriage where the honeymoon never ended.
His vision was to continue to grow, to be with someone in a relationship that was just as nourishing and would continue to new levels. John kept his vision and in 2012 met Susan Kennedy (SARK). Their lifestyles and spiritual connection are uplifting in more ways than John had even imagined. John and Susan live and create happily together in San Francisco.
To learn more about SARK and her work: http://planetsark.com/.
For Life on Purpose Episode #39, my guest is intuitive strategist, corporate change-maker, and life-driven business mentorSusan Lustenberger.
Susan joins me for another great "Soul Session" — a powerful conversation on abundance, manifesting the life you want, the power of gratitude, moving past obstacles, mindfulness and meditation, the "laws of the Universe", and much more!
About: Susan Lustenberger is the only master teacher and intuitive strategist that makes activating universal laws a lifestyle for conscious people and businesses who are weary of theory and hungry for results at a time when the hope of abundance is more common than the experience of it.
She was born Clairvoyant and Claircognizant. Through major life transformations, she learned more about her intuitive strengths and realized that she was put here to help. Along with these gifts came the ability to manifest and help others manifest vast prosperity and abundance in their lives through consciousness.
Through this work, she has been lucky enough to work with an array of clients from guiding pro athletes, movie executives, C.E.O’s on various goals and manifestations to working privately with individuals seeking happiness, answers and authenticity in their personal lives.
Susan is a Natural energy 3. What does that mean? Well we each are born with on of nine different natural energy centers and each one indicates a different universal strength. A Natural energy 3 soul-type is able to connect with a person’s soul (their deepest dreams and desires) and directs the energy into the Universe for manifesting. It is her SuperPower!
To learn more about Susan and her work: http://susanlustenberger.com/.
For Life on Purpose Episode #38, my guest is artist, coach, author, and creative dynamo Cynthia Morris of Original Impulse.
Cynthia joins me for a powerful and timely conversation in the wake of the recent Paris tragedy and other acts of violence around the world.
In "Creative Expression as a Force for Good," we discuss her recent piece "Paris, Oh Paris", which strongly resonated with me and many other creatives, as well as learning to co-exist with uncomfortable circumstances, the need for creativity during tumultuous times, her work helping people getting creatively unstuck, travel as a vehicle for greater understanding in the world, and more!
About Cynthia: A coach since 1999, I've helped thousands of creative people get their ideas out of their heads and into the world. Whether it's a book to be written, an idea brought to market or a quest to find authentic voice and expression, I help people get out of their own way so they can make things that matter.
I lead creativity workshop in Colorado and Europe that facilitate not just insights but life-changing actions. I am available to lead one-five day tours for corporate groups that need to get out of the box and refresh their creativity.
I'm a coach and trainer for Jonathan Fields' Good Life Project Immersion program.
To learn more about Cynthia and her work: http://www.originalimpulse.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #37, my guest is bestselling author and world-renowned "dream explorer" Robert Moss.
Robert joins me for a fascinating and lively conversation in which we discuss fun ways to bring more magic and play to your life; his new book Sidewalk Oracles: Playing with Signs, Symbols, and Synchronicity in Everyday Life; living with a sense of a larger purpose and story; becoming a kairomancer, and much more!
About: Robert Moss is the author of Sidewalk Oracles and numerous other books about dreaming, shamanism, and imagination. He is a novelist, poet, and independent scholar, and the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of dreamwork and shamanism. He leads creative and shamanic adventures all over the world.
About Sidewalk Oracles: Playing with Signs, Symbols, and Synchronicity in Everyday Life: Synchronicity is when the universe gets personal. Through this book of games and enchanting stories, you’ll learn how to monitor the play of coincidence and the symbolic resonance of incidents in daily life in order to tap into the deeper logic of events, receive extraordinary counsel, and have wonderful fun.
You will be invited to become a kairomancer: someone who is poised to catch the messages in special moments when synchronicity is in play — and to take action to seize the opportunities those moments present. To be a kairomancer, you need to trust your feelings as you walk the roads of this world, to develop your personal science of shivers, and to recognize in your gut and your skin that you know far more than you hold on the surface of consciousness.
This is a way of real magic, which is the art of bringing gifts from a deeper world into this one. Follow it, and you will put a champagne fizz of enchantment into your everyday life.
To learn more about Robert and his work: http://www.mossdreams.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #36, my guest is syndicated radio host, bestselling author, and life coach Joel Boggess. Joel is the host of ReLaunch, which was named by John Lee Dumas' Podcasters’ Paradise as the “Most Inspirational” and the “Best Overall” podcast of 2014.
Joel joins me for an impactful "mini-sode" (30 minutes) in which we discuss both nearly dying at a young age and how those events changed each of our lives; along with the importance of his three-Rs: Resources, Relationships, Routines; and tips for ReLaunching your life towards the one you really want to live.
About Joel Boggess:
Joel Boggess is the go-to guy for clarity, confidence and direction. He’s the guy people call when they’re feeling stuck, under-challenged, or overwhelmed.
As a syndicated radio host, bestselling author, and life coach, Joel teaches people how to relaunch their lives and start over with confidence.
Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Joel earned his undergraduate degree at Texas Tech University, an MBA from Amberton University, and a Master’s in Counseling.
His latest book, Finding your Voice, hit the #1 spot on Amazon for success, happiness, and in the self esteem categories. And his podcast, ReLaunch, was named by Podcasters’ Paradise as the “Most Inspirational” and “Best Overall” podcast of 2014, and has recently passed the one million listens mark.
Joel and his wife Pei live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and have two Golden Retriever, retired therapy dogs, Bubba and Jake.
To learn more about Joel and ReLaunch visit: http://relaunchshow.com.
What is a life worth living? How do change your behavior and establish lasting habits? Which wolf do you feed?
For Life on Purpose Episode #35, my guest is podcast host/producer Eric Zimmer from The One You Feed, which was named one of the Best Health Podcasts of All Time by The Huffington Post.
Eric has spent the past two years asking these questions of thought leaders, scientists, and teachers such as Simon Sinek, Byron Katie, don Miguel Ruiz, Sharon Salzberg, Bob Proctor, BJ Fogg, Dan Millman, and many more.
He joins me for a great, in-depth conversation about his own life journey (being addicted to drugs and homeless 20 years ago), what he's learned doing the show, tools and tips for self-awareness and behavior change, and much more!
About: Eric Zimmer is the host of a weekly podcast called The One You Feed- Conversations about Creating a Life Worth Living, based on the parable of the Two Wolves. One You Feed was recently named one of the Best Podcasts of 2014 by iTunes.
It was also named one of the Best Health Podcasts of All Time by The Huffington Post and it's been the #1 ranked podcast in the Health, Philosophy. and Spirituality categories, respectively, on iTunes.
He's also been helping to build companies for the past 15 years and has been involved in technology for longer than that. He's led a major software program for a Fortune 20 company and he started a solar energy company called Tipping Point.
Eric is also a musician, a passionate leaner, and loves to meet new people.
To learn more about Eric and The One You Feed visit: http://www.oneyoufeed.net.
What is the feminine soul? And how do women access their deepest source of personal power, inner wisdom, and authentic expression? For Life on Purpose Episode #34, my guest is bestselling author Sara Avant Stover.
Sara joins me for a deep conversation about her new book The Book of SHE: Your Heroine’s Journey into the Heart of Feminine Power, in which she guides both women and men to a powerful new understanding of and appreciation for every aspect of femininity.
About: Sara Avant Stover is a yoga and meditation teacher, bestselling author & founder of The Way of the Happy Woman®.
Sara graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Columbia University’s all-women’s school, Barnard College.
After a cancer scare in her early twenties, Sara moved to Thailand, where she lived for ten years and embarked on a decade-long healing and spiritual odyssey throughout Asia. She has since gone on to uplift tens of thousands of women worldwide.
A pioneer in contemporary women’s work, she’s the creator of the world’s first Women’s Yoga Teacher Training, Reversing Our “Curse,” and The SHE School. Sara has been featured in Yoga Journal, the Huffington Post, Newsweek, Natural Health, and on ABC, NBC, CBS, and more.
Sara currently lives in Boulder, Colorado with her fiancé, Keith Martin-Smith, and their dog Amia.
Her new book, The Book of SHE: Your Heroine’s Journey into the Heart of Feminine Power, is now available.
To learn more about Sara visit: www.thewayofthehappywoman.com.
Have you ever been psychically-curious? The idea that the deceased can communicate with their loved ones certainly intrigues me! Life on Purpose Episode #33 is a special "Soul" Edition (periodic explorations of such topics); my guest is psychic medium Bill Philipps.
Bill joins me for a fascinating and inspiring conversation about his unique work and how he became one of the world’s most renowned psychic mediums. Plus we discuss his brand new book Expect the Unexpected: Bringing Peace, Healing, and Hope from the Other Side.
About: Bill Philipps is a psychic medium who helps the deceased communicate with their loved ones on earth. Bill’s fresh, upbeat, and direct approach perfectly complements his warm and relatable demeanor, captivating audiences worldwide.
Bill studied opera at the san Francisco conservatory of Music and graduated in 2008. He found that music, in a deeply spiritual way, enabled him to tune in to and further develop his psychic-medium abilities, which dated to his childhood. He gave readings while attending the conservatory and, after graduating, professionally pursued his true calling.
Bill has appeared on such television shows as Dr. Phil, and his clients include numerous celebrities. He conducts individ-ual readings in person, by phone, or via skype. He also offers small-group readings and large-audience readings throughout the united states. He lives in southern california.
His new book Expect the Unexpected: Bringing Peace, Healing, and Hope from the Other Side (New World Library) is a down-to-earth, honest account of how he became one of the world’s most renowned psychic mediums. He explains how spirits communicate with him; why he first denied and then embraced his gift; and how anyone can learn to recognize the signs spirit loved ones use to offer them guidance.
Part memoir, part explanation, and part inspiring testimonies from clients, the book provides the “unexpected”: insight, wisdom, and evidence that there is a life beyond this one and that we are never alone.
To learn more about Bill, visit: http://www.billphilipps.com.
Life on Purpose Episode #32 is the long-promised return of the LoP Round-Table! For RT#2, I was joined by Kyle Wood, Elloa Atkinson, and Toku. Collectively, they are coaches, trainers, and thought leaders in the mindfulness and personal development communities. They each write, podcast, and speak about mindfulness, vulnerability, and living purposeful lives and they each help others do the same.
They joined me for a fantastic deep-dive conversation on the topic of vulnerability — what that really means, how that applies to our lives, holding space for others, and some practical tips for being more vulnerable each and every day.
NOTE: I was incredibly fortunate to meet each of my guests at an amazing gathering that I've attended the past two years called Camp Good LIfe Project. This conversation began as a meet-up there and I thought it would be incredibly valuable to continue the conversation here on my show. I hope you agree!
LoP Round-Table #2 Guests
About Kyle Wood: Hi, my name is Kyle Wood. And this is scary as hell. The last couple of years have been really challenging for me. It seemed like the work I had done over the years before to try and be a better man (think exercise, meditation, gratefulness practice, etc) had come undone. I had put up my shields and walls to protect myself during this time.
When I was ready to make some awesome new friends and grow my business, something was stopping me. It was my walls; while they did a good job protecting me at one time, they were now stopping me from having the kinds of connections I desired. And I had no idea how to tear those walls down.
Until (with the help of a coach, psychologist and friends) it hit me. The only way to start tearing down those walls was to start being a LOT more vulnerable. In fact, every success I’ve had this year has come through a moment of being vulnerable. And I want more of that.
I’m married, to my amazing wife Zoe. I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I was (still am) a personal trainer. During my time as a trainer I worked on a fun side hustle that I call Bootcamp Ideas. This is now my full time income and allows me ‘location independence’. I still like living in one place at a time, but it is nice to be able to visit family and friends on short notice
To learn more about Kyle, visit: http://heartmen.net.
About Elloa Atkinson: I am a wife, a life-changing coach and entrepreneur, a dancer, a writer, a daughter sister and auntie, and a mum to my lovely rescue dog, Molly Miracle the Westie.
I am driven by a vision that stirs the depths of my soul. Through a process of deep coaching, Fearless Expression challenges and my podcast, The Academy of Miracles, I reunite people with their whole self; that I coach + mentor brave people through a process of profound inner and outer transformation.
I do this work because I spent the first 18 years and 6 months of my life heading towards a dark night of the soul, and the last 13+ years learning how to live again with authenticity, vulnerability, bravery and intimacy.
To learn more about Elloa, visit: http://www.elloaatkinson.com.
About Toku: Toku is short for “Gentoku”, which is the name I received while living at a Zen monastery. In my tradition when you take Jukai and become a card carrying Buddhist, your teachers give you a name. The name they gave me was “Gentoku”, which means “manifesting virtue or present sincerity”.
I do my best on my blog and in my training to live up to that name and to help other people embody their best selves as well.
I’m originally from Tennessee, but now I live in Portland, OR. I work as a Mindfulness Based executive coach and have clients in Portland, as well as all over the US and Canada.
I’m a writer and thought leader in the mindfulness community. My writing has been published on sites such as Tiny Buddha, The Change Blog, and Sea Change.
To learn more about Toku, visit: http://unexecutive.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #31, my guest is veteran journalist, speaker, and author Tess Vigeland, a well-known voice to millions of American radio listeners as the longtime host with public radio’s Marketplace. In the fall of 2012, she quit what she considered her "dream job" without having a Plan B lined up, or even any idea what she wanted to do next. This set the stage for what happened next...
Tess joins me for a great conversation about career, life, vulnerability, her life changing speech at WDS 2013 in Portland, and her brand new book Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want.
About Tess: Tess Vigeland is a veteran journalist, and a well-known voice to millions of American radio listeners. She is the CEO of Tess Vigeland Productions, a Los Angeles-based multi-media company. Tess spent 11 years as an anchor for public radio’s Marketplace, including six hosting the personal finance show Marketplace Money. Her first book, titled “Leap Without A Net: Leaving A Job With No Plan B,” is due out August 25, 2015, from Random House Harmony. When she’s not locked away writing, Tess can be heard as a backup anchor for NPR’s All Things Considered, as well as KCRW’s To The Point and KPCC’s Take Two in Los Angeles. She also serves as a professional emcee, speaker, panel moderator, and interviewer for conferences and other events. Tess also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian, among numerous other publications.
About Leap: Until recently, Tess Vigeland was a longtime host with public radio’s Marketplace; it was a rewarding, high-status job, and Tess was very good at it—but she’d begun to feel restless. Without any definite, clear sense of what she wanted to do next (but an absolute certainty that what she’d been doing was no longer truly satisfying), she walked away from her dream job and into a vast unknown. Suddenly she was no longer “Marketplace’s Tess Vigeland,” she was just Tess Vigeland.
For the multitude of Americans who change jobs mid-career (by choice or circumstance), the growing legions of freelance workers, and the entrepreneurially-minded who see self-employment as an increasingly more appealing and viable option, Tess Vigeland has created a personal and well-researched account of leaping without a net. With her signature humor, she writes honestly about the fear, uncertainty, and risk involved in leaving the traditional workforce—but also the excitement, resources, and possibilities that are on the other side.
Leap is also about finding a new definition of success. Tess poses the important question – “Who am I without my job?" She shares the accounts of people who struggled with this question before and after they took their own leap of faith, and ended up finding out more about themselves than they’d thought possible. Success doesn’t have to be measured by salary or a traditional career path, as so many of us are conditioned to think, but by your own happiness and fulfillment.
Part memoir and part field guide, this book offers a funny, thoughtful, and provocative look at how to find satisfaction and success when pursuing a career less ordinary.
To learn more about Tess, visit: http://www.tessvigeland.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #30, my guest is meditation teacher, spiritual teacher, and counselor Diana Lang, the director/owner of LifeWorks - Center for Growth in Los Angeles.
Diana joins me for an inspiring conversation about meditation, consciousness, spirituality, and the updated version of her book Opening to Meditation: A Gentle, Guided Approach.
For Life on Purpose Episode #29, my guest is Marc Allen, the internationally renowned author and president/publisher/co-founder of New World Library, which has published numerous classics in the personal growth field including Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now, Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization, and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra.
Marc joins me for a deep and inspirational conversation about the updated edition of Tantra for the West: A Direct Path to Living the Life of Your Dreams, in which he introduces a brand new way to experience the ancient and yet modern tradition that is called tantra.
About: Marc Allen is an internationally renowned author and president and publisher of New World Library, which he co-founded (with Shakti Gawain) in 1977. He has guided the company from a small start-up with no capital to its current position as one of the leading independent publishers in the country.
Marc is a well-known musician and composer as well, having released five albums of his music for the label he co-founded with Sky Canyon and Robert Powell, Watercourse Media.
His latest book is The Greatest Secret of All. It may be Marc's most important book, because it gives us not only one of the clearest explanations of the "secret" of creating what you want in life, but also the far greater secrets of a life well-lived, a life of happiness, inner peace, ease, and fulfillment, where you contribute to making the world a better place for all.
His previous book, The Type-Z Guide to Success, has been released both in print form and as an innovative multi-media ebook. His most popular book is The Millionaire Course: A Visionary Plan for Creating the Life of Your Dreams. It is an entire course, filled with keys to success.
Over the years, he has written and published several other books, including Visionary Business: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Success, which brought his principles to those in the business world, and A Visionary Life, which remains one of the best books ever written on personal fulfillment. He has also published The Ten Percent Solution: Simple Steps to Improve Our Lives and the World, and produced a popular audio CD, Stress Reduction and Creative Meditations.
His books, audios, and workshops have been highly rewarding — even life-changing — experiences for thousands of people, and he has produced a 12-part audio version of his powerful seminar called The Success with Ease In-Depth Course.
He lives in northern California, with his wife and two children. Marc and his wife Aurilene have founded the Brazil Hope Foundation to help street kids in Brazil.
To learn more about Marc and his work, visit: http://marcallen.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #28, my guest is Michelle Jones, a former traditional-model college professor who is starting her own college called the Wayfinding Academy in Portland, Oregon. Michelle joins me to discuss higher education re-imagined for the 21st Century, the importance of asking questions, passion-based leadership, and the crucial importance of real-world skills and experience.
Many listeners also know Michelle as "Michelle the Magician", the behind-the-scenes guru at the annual World Domination Summit (WDS), that was the inspiration behind my first podcast Radio Enso. We talk about that experience and how she's applying what she learned there to her new venture.
About: Michelle Jones is a former traditional model college professor who is starting her own college, the Wayfinding Academy. Her 15 years teaching leadership and organizational behavior courses at colleges and universities across the country has prepared her well to re-imagine what higher education can be with this new endeavor. She is also drawing on her experience organizing events and communities with TEDxMtHood and the World Domination Summit and founding non-profit organizations such as SuperThank.
About the Wayfinding Academy: We're a group of professors, students, higher education professionals, non-profit and community leaders, and everyday citizens with over 100 years of experience in higher education who know college can be the incredible experience it promises to be.
Right now too many students can't afford college, drop out, or even finish college without finding direction or purposes in their lives. We believe there is a better way. We are starting our own college. A new model for higher education.
The Wayfinding Academy will be an affordable, 2-year college based in Portland, Oregon focused on what matters most in education: real world experience, community support and individual passion. Students won’t be asked to choose a major from a list, they’ll be supported in discovering their own personal mission. They’ll take core classes building skills that will serve them on any path. And they’ll work with advisors to create handcrafted experiences meaningful to them and build a portfolio through real experiences.
To learn more about the Wayfinding Academy, visit: http://www.wayfindingacademy.org/.
For Life on Purpose Episode #27, my guest is training consultant, coach, writer, and mediator Louisa Rogers, who at 63 has never held a day job and has lived in eight different countries. Louisa joins me to discuss how she built a life living and working on her own terms and saying "yes" to life at any age.
About: Louisa Rogers has been training and facilitating workshops on leadership and management skills for over 30 years. Her clients have included corporations, government agencies and nonprofits throughout the USA and in eight foreign countries from Kansas to Kazakhstan.
In addition to her business trainings, she speaks and writes on wellness, travel and simplicity. She grew up overseas (a diplomat kid) and still loves traveling. She and her husband divide their time between Northern California and Mexico, along with regular visits to Europe--with their folding bikes, naturally.
To learn more about Louisa and her work, visit: http://louisarogers.vpweb.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #26, my guest is psychotherapist, workshop facilitator, and former journalist Kim Schneiderman. Kim joins me to discuss her brand new book Step Out of Your Story: Writing Exercises to Reframe and Transform Your Life, a self-help writing program designed to help anyone who can compose a simple sentence get a fresh perspective on a familiar story— their own. As a psychotherapist and freelance journalist, Kim utilizes research-inspired methods to help people who are stuck — in a dead-end job, relationship, or stage of life — to imagine themselves as the star of their own stories with the power to reframe and reclaim their personal narratives.
About: Kim Schneiderman, LCSW, MSW, is a psychotherapist, workshop facilitator, former journalist, and spiritual essayist who lives and works in New York City. She counsels adults through her private psychotherapy practice and has facilitated therapeutic writing groups at the 92nd Street Y, the JCC in Manhattan, FEGS Health and Human Services, the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS), Art Studio NY, Limmud New York, and various other venues.
When she’s not seeing clients, Kim writes a psychological advice column for the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia Metro daily newspapers http://www.metro.us/newyork, which have an aggregate circulation of roughly 4,000,000 readers. She has also worked as an adjunct professor for the Long Island University’s School of Social Work and served as a Guest Lecturer for NYU’s Post-Graduate Social Work and Spiritual Care certificate program. She also completed a year-long certification at the Association for Spirituality and Psychotherapy in New York.
Before pursuing her MSW at the University of Maryland, Kim worked as a journalist for a chain of weekly newspapers in the Bay Area. Subsequently, she has written dozens of freelance articles, including cover stories, for major Jewish newspapers, including The Jewish Week, the Baltimore Jewish Times, and the Northern California Jewish Bulletin.
To learn more about Kim and her work, visit: www.stepoutofyourstory.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #25, my guest is artist, entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and coach Emilie Wapnick. Emilie joins me to discuss what those she calls multipotentialites, people who have many different interests and creative pursuits in life. We also discuss her recent TEDxBend talk entitled Why Some of Us Don’t Have ONE True Calling, overcoming fear and confidence challenges, and how she lives a life on purpose.
About: Emilie Wapnick is an artist, entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and coach. She says she was blessed with so many interests that she was unable to pick just one. She studied music, visual arts, film production and law, and graduated from the Law Faculty at McGill University. After years of feeling anxious about her zigzagging career path and hyphenated credentials, she finally decided to embrace her plural nature and start a movement for others who lean toward being what she calls “multipotentialites.”
Since launching her website, Puttylike, in 2010, Emilie has inspired thousands of multipotentialites to stop trying to fit themselves into boxes, and embrace their plurality. She has been featured in Lifehacker, The Financial Times, and The Huffington Post. Currently, she is working on her forthcoming book, “Multipotentialite.”
This past April, Emilie stood in front of 1,400 people at TEDxBend and gave a talk entitled Why Some of Us Don’t Have ONE True Calling, which encapsulates her findings on multipotentiality in 12 minutes!
To learn more about Emilie and her work, visit: http://puttylike.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #24, my guest is Master Coach, NLP Practitioner, and author Sandi Amorim. Sandi joins me to discuss her new book The 100 Day Promise, which is designed to guide you over the course of one hundred days to create a promise based on a change you want in your life, and to develop your capacity to follow through with daily actions to bring that promise to life.
About: Sandi Amorim is a Master Coach, NLP Practitioner, and creator of the 100 Day Promise, a successful online program created to help people change with greater ease and effectiveness and the title of her BRAND new book. She has spent the past twenty years studying what makes us tick, what keeps us stuck, and most importantly, what helps us thrive.
As a seasoned professional in the field of coaching, she holds coaching certificates from Erickson Coaching International in the Art & Science of Coaching, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, as well as a Master Coach designation from the Harmony Integration Academy. In 2014 she became one of the first coaches in the world licensed to lead Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map workshop.
About The 100 Day Promise: Change can be challenging, frustrating, and sometimes impossible, but we all want to change something about ourselves. The problem isn’t that you want change; the problem is that you judge yourself harshly when you fail to change the way you want. So how do we get there – to our desired change – from here, the feeling of dissatisfaction and longing?
Frustrated by the popular belief that change only takes 21 days, author Sandi Amorim decided to answer that question for herself and her clients. It was a question that led her down a rabbit hole of neuroscience, the cycle of change, the law of attraction, and positive psychology. Like Dr. Joe DiSpenza, she believes that we have to “Go beyond knowing … to know how.” She shares what she discovered in The 100 Day Promise, a guide to changing from the inside out.
What will you have at the end of one hundred days? You get to decide. For some, it’s a new habit or practice in life. For others, it’s releasing an old habit or fear. The best part is that The 100 Day Promise gives you resources and strategies you can use over and over again that will help you shift from struggle to ease, and a newfound sense of freedom.
The 100 Day Promise is a journey that goes deeper with each promise you make, and this will have a profound impact on how you see yourself. You'll realize - maybe for the first time - you've got what it takes to change.
To learn more about Sandi and her work, visit: http://sandiamorim.com/.
For Life on Purpose Episode #23, my guest is author, ghostwriter, "flourisher," and free-range home-worker Cheryl Rickman. Cheryl joins me to discuss her latest book The Flourish Handbook: How To Achieve Happiness With Staying Power, Boost Your Well-Being, Enjoy Your Life More and Reach Your Potential, as well as some of the tools she uses to live a purposeful life.
About: Cheryl Rickman is a Hampshire (UK)-based author/ghostwriter, "flourisher" and free-range home-worker. Her practical books and products empower and enable people to enjoy and appreciate their lives more, boost their well-being, start-up in business, pursue their purpose and reach their potential.
Cheryl's latest book, The Flourish Handbook, is a compelling and easy-to-digest practical guide on how to flourish; packed with worksheets, guidance, to-do lists and planners to help people find their forte, boost their positivity, and bolster their resilience, mindfulness and gratitude. Drawing on extensive research and her own methods of coping with adversity and tragedy, achieving dreams, and harnessing the power of gratitude, The Flourish Handbook is about much more than merely achieving happiness. It's based on the five pillars of well-being as set out by leading positive psychologists: positive emotion, engagement, supportive relationships, meaningful purpose, and achievement.
Meanwhile, The 7-Step Flourish Challenge has been designed to help busy people to flourish. It provides a comprehensive workbook along with daily e-mail reminders to maximise positivity, minimise negativity, bolster resilience, focus and action steps towards growth and achievement.
To learn more about Cheryl and her work, visit: http://www.cherylrickman.co.uk.
For Life on Purpose Episode #22, my guest is Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor, yoga and meditation teacher, and author Michelle Fondin. Michelle joins me to discuss all things Ayurveda — from how it helped drastically change her life after she was diagnosed with cancer at age 28 to how it can help you find the health answers you're seeking by tapping into your body's inherent wisdom, as well as some of the tools she uses to live a purposeful life.
About: Michelle Fondin is an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor, yoga and meditation teacher, author, and since 2008, the Owner of The Ayurvedic Path. She holds a Vedic Master certificate from the Chopra Center and has worked with Drs. Deepak Chopra and David Simon at Chopra Center events teaching yoga and meditation. She regularly sees clients and teaches them how to live an Ayurvedic Lifestyle and achieve optimal wellness. She’s a member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, The Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North America and Yoga Alliance and writes for Chopra.com. She lives in Virginia with her three kids and two cats.
Her most recent book, The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle (published by New World Library) offers an in-depth exploration of Ayurveda, which originated in India at least five thousand years ago and has stood the test of time. Ayurveda, the “science of life,” is a complete wellness system that includes all that we associate with medical care — prevention of disease, observation, diagnosis, and treatment — as well as self-care practices that are generally absent from Western medicine.
The book is built around eight “spokes” of the Ayurvedic wheel of healing — physical, spiritual, emotional, relationship, occupational, financial, and environmental health, as well as healing the past. Using the system of three principle doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha), Michelle offers readers a self-assessment for discovering their mind-body type, as well as practical ways they can enhance their health based on their type.
To learn more about Michelle and her work, visit: http://www.michellefondin.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #21, my guests are Heather Thorkelson, a location-independent business strategist, certified life coach, occasional Antarctic expedition guide, and founder of the Republic of Freedom and Leah Kalamakis, a location-independent freelance web designer & developer and the founder of The Freelance To Freedom Project. Heather and Leah join me to discuss making the LEAP to self-employment and freelancing (which we've all three done); the joys and challenges of self-employment; and their helpful LEAP Guide, which includes "everything you need to know to start and grow your freelance business so you can quit your soul-sucking job and start living life on your own terms."
About Heather: Despite seven years working for a pharmaceutical company that she’d rather forget, she left the golden handcuffs behind with no plan and still managed to do all kinds of grown-up things like buy a house and get a dog and travel the world while building an awesome passion-fueled business where she gets paid to help people. (She’s still in disbelief about that.) 43 countries traversed, 7 continents visited, and 7 countries inhabited outside of her homeland (Canada), Heather is an entirely self-made woman who knows fear, uncertainty, adventure, and personal responsibility (plus a few languages) like the back of her hand. She can often be heard waxing poetic over a craft beer, “It ain’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.”
About Leah: She spent years in a corporate job because that’s what she was supposed to do, but was only thinking, “This is as good as it gets?” She decided to learn a new skill (web design) after discovering you don’t need a 4-year/$40k degree to do so, side-hustled to build her business and surpassed her corporate income 3 months after her LEAP. Along with running a rockin’ web design business, Leah now helps freelancers take their skills, escape their soul-sucking jobs and start living life on their terms. When she’s not hanging out online, you can find her eating popcorn, riding her scooter along the French coast, or taking le apèro on a terrace in Biarritz.
To learn more about the LEAP Guide, visit: http://www.leapguidetofreelance.com
To learn more about Heather, visit: http://heatherthorkelson.com
To learn more about Leah, visit: http://freelancetofreedomproject.com
For Life on Purpose Episode #20, my guest is author, speaker, and teacher Gregg Krech, one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America. Gregg joins me to discuss the importance of taking informed action, how maintaining awareness of our finite reality can infuse your life with passion and urgency, the Japanese philosophies of Naikan and Morita Therapy, and some of the tools he uses to live a meaningful and purposeful life.
About: Gregg Krech is an author, speaker, teacher, and one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America. He's also the founding Director of the TohDoh Institute, an educational center for purposeful living, based in Vermont.
He is the author of the award-winning book: Naikan: Gratitude, Grace & the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection, which has been translated into five languages, and he's the editor of Thirty Thousand Days: A Journal for Purposeful Living. His work has been featured in a wide range of publications including THE SUN magazine, Utne Reader, Fitness, Counseling Today, Cosmopolitan, and Experience Life.
His most recent book, The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology brings an eastern perspective to the issue of purpose is currently an Amazon best-seller in the Zen category. It offers an empowering approach to meeting our own personal goals, but also focuses on the impact on our actions (and inactions) on the world..
To learn more about Gregg and his work, visit: http://www.artoftakingaction.com or http://www.todoinstitute.org.
For Life on Purpose Episode #19, my guest is Brigitte Lyons, a media strategist with a passion for storytelling. Brigitte joins me to discuss the question, "What do you want to be known for?", how we can each answer that, and how it's applicable to all areas of our lives.
About: Brigitte Lyons is a media strategist with a passion for storytelling. She founded B, the forward-thinking PR agency that she runs, after spending a decade working at traditional public relations agencies. She learned how a movement was organized from the ground-up, she battled a governor and won, and she worked with top tier media like CNN and Bloomberg.
Now she is relentless about helping forward-thinking organizations and individuals move people with their ideas, and she is obsessed with bringing public relations into the social era—especially the values of co-creation and continuous innovation.
To learn more about Brigitte and her work, visit: http://www.bthinkforward.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #18, I'm joined by entrepreneur, author, and speaker Jia Jiang for an inspiring conversation about rejection, fear, conscious intent, and his new book Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection.
About: Jia Jiang is an Entrepreneur, Blogger, Author, Speaker. His brand new book is entitled Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection. Several years into his career in the corporate world, he took a life altering risk and stepped into the unknown world of entrepreneurship, which resulted in everyone’s biggest fear… REJECTION.
This became the catalyst that set him on the path to his true calling. To conquer the fear of rejection, he embarked on a personal quest and started a blog to face 100 Days of Rejection. His journey revealed a world that was hidden in plain sight, a world where people are much kinder than we imagine, discovering that rejection can be much less painful than we believe, and that it's the fear of rejection that is much more destructive than we know.
He's taken that message to the stage and is an outstanding keynote speaker. His TEDx talk is among the top 200 most-watched TED talks of all-time. His story has also been shared on Bloomberg Businessweek, Yahoo News, Forbes, the Huffington Post, and many more.
To learn more about Jia and his work, visit: http://fearbuster.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #17, I'm joined by writer, speaker, and entrepreneur Jeff Goins for a great conversation about purpose, legacy, creativity, finding your true calling, and his new book Art of Work- a Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do.
About: Jeff Goins is a full-time writer who has authored four books, including: The In-Between, Wrecked, and You Are a Writer plus he's written and guest-blogged for more than 100 magazines, publications, and blogs including Copyblogger, Problogger, and Michael Hyatt's Blog. He's also a speaker, online writing teacher, and consultant. His website, Goinswriter.com, has been visited by more than four million people from all over the world. He lives just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, son, and border collie. and he humbly considers himself the world's foremost expert on guacamole.
His brand new book is the Art of Work- a Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do. Steven Pressfield, the best-selling author of the War of Wart says, "It will make you think differently about what you do and how you do it. The author is a fresh young voice in a field full of copycats. He challenges us to approach our work the way we would a canvas—both delicately and with furious discipline."
About the Art of Work: "Abandon the status quo and live a life that matters." The path to your life's work is both difficult and mysterious, which is why few finish the journey. The Art of Work is about discovering your true calling—that thing you were born to do. As Jeff Goins explains, the search begins with passion but does not end there. Only when our interests connect with the needs of the world do we begin living for a larger purpose.
Those who experience this intersection experience something exceptional and enviable. Though it is rare, such a life is attainable by anyone brave enough to try. Through personal experience, compelling stories, and current research on the mysteries of motivation and talent, Jeff shows readers how to find their vocation and what to expect along the way.
To learn more about Jeff and his work, visit: http://goinswriter.com.