For Life on Purpose Episode #16, my guest is spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, author, and coach Eric Klein from Wisdom Heart and Dharma Consulting. Eric was a guest on Radio Enso back in 2012 and joins me for another deep and thought-provoking conversation about awareness, consciousness, neuroscience, integration, habit building, and his latest program The Meditation Habit. We all know meditation is good for us, so why aren't we practicing?
About: Eric Klein is a spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, author, and coach. For the past two decades, he's been a leading voice in the movement to bring greater spirit, meaning, and authenticity to the workplace through his company Dharma Consulting. He’s worked with over 20,000 leaders from a wide variety of settings: Fortune 500 companies, healthcare, governmental and non-profit organizations as well as mid-size companies.
Eric is the author of the bestselling book Awakening Corporate Soul: Four Paths to Unleash the Power of People at Work (over 250,000 copies sold) and To Do or Not To Do: How Successful Leaders Make Better Decisions based on research and experiences with more than 200 companies. His book You are the Leader You’ve Been Waiting For won a 2008 Nautilus Award as a world changing book in the conscious leadership/business category.
About Wisdom Heart: Wisdom Heart helps people bring powerful spiritual practices and principles alive in their daily lives.The Wisdom Heart Way (WHW) distills and focuses a 5,000 year old spiritual system (called Kriya Yoga) into a form that works for 21st century people. We’ve been engaged in committed practice of this method since 1972. We’re ordained swamis in the Kriya lineage. We’ve tested the practice in real life. We’ve applied the practices and principles personally, in our relationship, with our kids, and in our businesses.
To learn more about Eric and Wisdom Heart, visit: http://wisdomheart.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #15, I'm joined by entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and coach Shelli Johnson from yourepiclife.com. Shelli dares her clients to go off-trail and uphill and to choose their way even if it's the hard way. She asks each of us this crucial question: "We all have an Epic Life; are we living it?"
About: In short, people and organizations hire me to light a fire that is inside of them but that may be smoldering or not yet lit. I help you pull yourself up by the bootstraps. I help you get back on the horse. Actually I help you get on the horse in the first place, and the more unforgettable the ride, the better, since the ride is your life. Once in a while, you should have to hold onto your hat!
Speaking of hats, I wear many. I'm an entrepreneur. The Webby Award-winning YellowstonePark.com was my first. An amazing team & I built it over 15 years before selling it to Active Interest Media, the owner of Backpacker, Yoga Journal, and other great magazines. I am a master at bootstrapping and leveraging limited resources. I love creating things and "route-finding" my way to discovery. In 2009, I started my professional reinvention, and started Epic Life Inc/YourEpicLife.com. I'm also a life & leadership coach (CPCC and ICF), a Certified Emotional Intelligence Consultant (EQ-i 2.0 & EQ 360), a NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, a motivational speaker, social media and personal branding consultant, writer, media producer, NOLS grad, certified Wilderness First Responder, and adventure guide.
Mostly, I'm a "champion-for-hire." Someone who wants to, or has to, climb a tall mountain – i.e. make, or endure, a big change in their life – will often enlist me as a coach to help them make the climb. People hire me when they’re thinking about (metaphorically) climbing the mountain, or when they are at the base of said mountain. Often I get “called in” when they’re already en route up the mountain but they hit a particularly difficult patch and they feel they can’t go it alone. They want to stay the course, but could use some help. Rather than giving up on the climb, they hire me as their coach and they lean in and finish the work. In other words, I’m not a helicopter that gets called in. You don't hire me to bail you out. Rather, you hire me to help you overcome the crux..
To learn more about Shelli and her work, visit: http://yourepiclife.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #14, my guest is social change activist, writer, blogger, and photographer Sash Milne, who joins me to discuss the Nothing New Project (no new things bought for a year), her TEDxPerth talk about the project, and what she calls the Economy of Human Connection.
About: Sash Milne is a social change activist, writer, blogger, photographer and all 'round hunter of the good life. In her early 20s she decided that a life lived inside the box was not one she wanted to live. She ran away from her mainstream life in search of something simpler. She lived in a very remote village in Indonesia for three years, where she learned some fundamental lessons about community, connectedness and most importantly, happiness. While living with nothing but the basics , she completed her Masters in Social Change and transformed the course of her life, for good.
Sash then returned to Australia as the single mum of one, with a need to incorporate her passion for community, simplicity and sustainability into a life lived down under. She continually challenges social norms and consumer trends by creatively connecting with other people. She launched her Nothing New project at the beginning of 2014 and soon discovered that buying nothing new is perhaps the best way of gaining everything that really matters.
To learn more about Sash's work, visit: http://www.inkedincolour.com or http://www.inkedincolour.com/category/nothing-new/.
Living a life “on purpose” requires a healthy brain; so Life on Purpose Episode #13 takes us to places we've never gone before on the show! In this fascinating hour-long chat, Dr. Andrew Hill joins us to discuss the newly emerging science of nootropics — supplements and functional foods that improve one or more aspects of mental function such as focus, memory, and motivation. We also talk about NeuroFeedback, a type of biofeedback that uses real-time displays of brain activity such as EEG to teach self-regulation of brain function, as well as neuroplasticity and much more!
About: Andrew Hill is a UCLA graduate with a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the department of Psychology, employed as a Lecturer at UCLA, teaching multidisciplinary courses on Healthy Brain Aging, Neuroscience topics, and Biofeedback. He has extensive experience working with clinical and research populations across many areas, including neurodevelopmental, inpatient and outpatient, and people working to overcome substance abuse challenges.
Dr. Hill received his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCLA in 2012, studying how attention operates in the brain. He is currently lecturing for the Undergraduate Education Initiatives program at UCLA, teaching a course sequence gerontology, and the neuroscience of healthy brain aging. Dr. Hill has published chapters on measuring and modulating human attention, and continues to research self regulation. Prior to UCLA, Dr. Hill obtained extensive experience working with both psychiatric and developmental populations as well as gaining experience in high technology areas. He received his B.S. in Psychology/Neuroscience from UMass Amherst.
To learn more about Dr. Hill's work, visit: http://www.alternativesbh.com or https://trubrain.com.
In 1945 the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, and the world caught its breath. This pivotal event deeply impacted the young Barbara Marx Hubbard, who found herself asking President Eisenhower, "What is the meaning of our power that is good"? Barbara's 40+ year inquiry, and the answers she has found, offer invaluable assistance to us all at this time in our history. Despite the state of the world, we are truly on the threshold of great possibility, of our own conscious evolution.
In this inspirational conversation, Barbara and I discuss the revised and updated edition of Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential (New World Library), her seminal book first published in 1998, which laid the foundation for the significance and impact around the world of the idea of conscious evolution.
About: Barbara Marx Hubbard has been called "the voice for conscious evolution..." by Deepak Chopra. She is the subject of Neale Donald Walsch’s book The Mother of Invention. And many would agree she is the global ambassador for conscious change.
At her heart, Barbara Marx Hubbard is a visionary, a social innovator. She is an evolutionary thinker who believes that global change happens when we work collectively and selflessly for the greater good. She realizes that the lessons of evolution teach us that problems are evolutionary drivers, and crises precede transformation, giving a new way of seeing and responding to our global situation.
As a prolific author and educator, Barbara has written seven books on social and planetary evolution. She has produced, hosted, and contributed to countless documentaries seen by millions of people around the world. In conjunction with the Shift Network, Barbara co-produced the worldwide "Birth 2012" multi-media event that was seen as a historic turning point in exposing the social, spiritual, scientific, and technological potential in humanity.
In 1984 her name was placed in nomination for the Vice Presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket, calling for a "Peace Room" to scan for, map, connect and communicate what is working in America and the world. She also co-chaired a number of Soviet-American Citizen Summits, introducing a new concept called "SYNCON" to foster synergistic convergence with opposing groups. In addition she co-founded the World Future Society, and the Association for Global New Thought.
Barbara Marx Hubbard is not an idealist, nor does she believe that social and planetary change is simple. But she does believe that humanity has the tools, fortitude, and resolve to take the leap towards conscious evolution.
To learn more about Barbara and her work, visit: http://evolve.org.
Part of living a life “on purpose” is running your business (or work life) in a deliberate manner. Life on Purpose Episode #11 is great conversation with Tara Gentile, a business strategist and coach for creatives, idea people, and professionals who want to leverage their Quiet Power and devise a strategy for growth without the heartache or hassle. She’s the author of The Art of Earning and Quiet Power Strategy.
About: Every day, you add more marketing tactics, product ideas, and goals to your notebook. You’re distracted from your purpose and drained by all the options. All the while, your big idea—that thing you really want to be working on–is waiting. And the more you lose yourself and your idea in the weeds, the more likely you are to fail.
The good news is that there’s a better way to run your business: yours. Your Quiet Power Strategy™ taps into your strengths and gives you the ability to lead yourself where you want to go. It’s a plan for What You Want to Create and How You Want to Connect–and how that’s going to lead to the business growth that brings you the wealth, peace, and ease you crave.
To learn more about Tara and her work, visit: http://taragentile.com.
Life on Purpose Episode #10 is a heart-centered conversation with writer, speaker, and teacher Martha Du’Sage, the best-selling author of Why Bother? Because Self‐Help is Never Stupid in which we discuss abuse, suffering, heart‐centered consciousness, forgiveness, and healing.
I believe that we can't fully live our life "on purpose" if we don't deal with wounds from the past and so I thought this was an important conversation to have.
About: Martha Du’Sage is a writer, speaker, teacher, facilitator, and the best-selling author of Why Bother? Because Self‐Help is Never Stupid. Martha has stepped through the looking glass of dysfunction and sexual abuse to discover, what we can all discover, an end to suffering. Over 20 years of practicing heart‐centered consciousness has helped Martha aide others in seeing their situations in a new light.
Currently, she is in the process of developing several workshops, including “The Heart Pillar” which was introduced in this book and is a powerful tool in creating a pillar of personal empowerment, and over-riding past hurts. She offers a variety of private sessions to help you discover the “I AM” in you.
To learn more about Martha, visit: http://marthadusage.com.
For Life on Purpose Episode #09, we go back into the archives and pull out one of my favorite conversations from the old show Radio Enso. In August 2012, I was honored to have a conversation with author, research professor, and speaker Brene' Brown, one of world's top experts on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame after studying those topics for more than a decade. She's since been on Oprah, had a New York Times #1 bestselling book, and become known around the world.
About: Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame.
Her 2010 TEDx Houston talk on the power of vulnerability is one of the most watched talks on TED.com, with over 15 million views. She gave the closing talk, Listening to Shame, at the 2012 TED Conference in Long Beach.
Brené is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012). She is also the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Gifts of Imperfection (2010), and I Thought It Was Just Me (2007).
Brené is also the founder and CEO of The Daring Way – a teaching and certification program for helping professionals who want to facilitate her work on vulnerability, courage, shame, and worthiness. Brené lives in Houston with her husband, Steve, and their two children.
Learn more about Brené at: http://brenebrown.com.
Life on Purpose Episode #08 is an in-depth conversation with Charles A. Francis, the co-founder and director of the Mindfulness Meditation Institute. He has studied the practice of mindfulness with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. For over 18 years, he has worked to help people find inner peace through mindfulness meditation.
Charles has published numerous articles, and is the author of the new book, Mindfulness Meditation Made Simple. He is also the creator of 12 Steps of the Mindfulness Meditation Practice outlined in the book.
Charles has a master’s degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University, with a focus on health care management and policy. He has worked for the North Carolina State Senate in writing legislation to address childhood obesity, and government efficiency. He has a background in accounting and business management, and has served as CEO of ITC, an international telecommunications company.
He also earned a master’s degree in International Relations while studying in China and Japan. There he studied various facets of Asian culture such as society, history, economics, and politics. He also studied both the Chinese and Japanese languages.
Charles has conducted research in systems evolution, and has made major breakthroughs in identifying key principles regarding the evolution of systems. These systems include organizational, social, economic, and biological systems. His research has significant implications toward not only how organizations are managed and how public policy is structured, but also in how humans evolve physically and consciously.
Charles is a speaker and does consulting to help organizations develop mindfulness training programs, in order to help them realize the cost-saving benefits of the mindfulness practice. He also leads workshops and mindfulness retreats.
See more at: http://www.mindfulnessmeditationinstitute.org/about-us/about-charles/
Jennifer Louden is a personal growth pioneer who helped launch the self-care movement with her first book The Woman’s Comfort Book. She’s the author of 7 additional books on well-being and whole living: The Couple’s Comfort Book, The Pregnant Woman’s Comfort Book, The Woman’s Retreat Book, Comfort Secrets for Busy Women (The Comfort Queen’s Guide to Life in hardcover), The Life Organizer, and A Year of Daily Joy. There are about million copies of her books in print in 9 languages.
Jennifer has spoken around the U.S., Canada and Europe, written a national magazine column for a Martha Stewart magazine, been profiled or quoted in dozens of major magazines, and appeared on hundreds of TV and radio shows, even on Oprah.
Jennifer has been teaching retreats and leading workshops since 1992, and creating vibrant on-line communities and innovative learning experiences since 2000. She married her second husband at 50, and is the very proud mom of Lillian and very proud bonus mom to Aidan.
Her latest book is A Year of Daily Joy: A Guided Journal to Creating Happiness Every Day. "This lush journal’s powerful prompts and quotes – organized by monthly themes like courage, authentic, and faith – along with stunning National Geographic photos will inspire mindfulness and joy into your daily life. Positivity in practice!"
We talk all about the book, along with her life journey, her evolving career and endeavors, and how she lives her own life “on purpose.”
For more information on Jennifer, visit: http://jenniferlouden.com.
The first Life on Purpose Roundtable, which will be a monthly feature of the show, was a great conversation with Kristoffer Carter, Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, and Eric Zimmer on how they define living a “life on purpose” and what that means to them, as well as various ways that we can EACH do that in our daily lives.
Kristoffer Carter is an outspoken advocate of mindfulness in business, a Kriyaban Yogi (from the Self Realization Fellowship), a husband and Father of 3, a marathoner, and multi-instrumentalist since childhood. He designed and released a multimedia manifesto called The Framework, which outlines his approach to what he calls Full Life Integration. He launched a mindfulness & meditation program called THE PAUSE for his company Centro, and he's faculty for Jonathan Fields' Good Life Project.
Emiliya Zhivotovskaya is a leading voice in the world of positive psychology & the science of flourishing. She's a widely sought-after speaker, educator, facilitator & coach. Jonathan Fields himself says, “he offers that astonishingly rare blend of deep insight, wisdom beyond her years, a fierce grounding in science and the heart of a teacher.”
Eric Zimmer has 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, he started a solar energy company called Tipping Point. and he'sthe host of a podcast called The One You Feed that's currently the #1 philosophy podcast on iTunes! He's also a musician, a passionate leaner, and loves to meet new people.
For more information on Kristoffer Carter, visit http://www.thisepiclife.com. For more info on Eric Zimmer, visit http://www.oneyoufeed.net. For more info on Emiliya, visit http://www.emiliya.com.
For more information on Life on Purpose, visit http://www.lifeonpurposeshow.com.
Dr. Bernie Siegel is a sought-after speaker and media presence and the author of more than a dozen books, which have sold more than 1.5 million copies! They include the blockbuster Love, Medicine, and Miracles; Peace, Love, and Healing; and 365 Prescriptions for the Soul.
Bernie first wrote about miracles when he was a practicing surgeon and pioneered Exceptional Cancer Patients, a groundbreaking synthesis of group, individual, dream, and art therapy. His safe and loving approach facilitated patients’ awareness of their own physical, spiritual, and psychological healing potential.
Compiled during his more than thirty years of practice as well as his speaking and teaching events, the new paperback edition of his book A Book of Miracles (published by New World Library) offers a cross-section of the healing and miracles he has personally seen and facilitated.
The book is dvided into fifteen sections, each consisting of stories of miracles, pertinent quotes, anecdotes and his personal reflections.
We talk all about that, along with his life journey, and how he lives his own life “on purpose.”
For more information on Dr. Bernie Siegel, visit: http://berniesiegelmd.com.
In addition to mentoring hundreds of small business owners, publishing Artella magazine, and authoring hundreds of online workshops and courses, Marney Makridakis' first book, Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life, was published by New World Library in 2012, and hit #1 on Amazon’s bestseller lists in several categories.
Marney is also the founder of the ARTbundance approach to self-discovery through creativity. Since 2009, the ARTbundance Certification Training Program (ACT) has trained over 300 coaches and practitioners in her techniques, and is the result of her deep desire to help creatively minded people design a successful business rooted in true passion, personal joy, and creative meaning.
A graduate of Duke University, Marney playfully hops, skips, and jumps in Dallas, Texas, with her wonderful husband and their wise and adventurous young son, Kai. She names these things as being essential to her creative well-being: the color orange, poetic novels, singing loudly, daily naps, the love of a good man, and hero worship of Mary Poppins.
The New Book: We habitually view work and play as mutually exclusive opposites. But what if we didn’t? What if we could manifest whatever our heart desires from a place of fun, joy, and ease? What if having more fun could mean getting more done?
In Hop, Skip, Jump: 75 Ways to Playfully Manifest a Meaningful Life (New World Library, November 15, 2014), creativity expert and bestselling author Marney Makridakis presents a blueprint for melding work and play into a single approach and shows how doing so can transform every aspect of our lives — from work to health to family to money, and beyond.
“When it comes to the intersection of play and productivity, the secret is quite simple: what moves us is what moves us, which simply means what moves us emotionally is what moves us to action,” writes Marney. “This is why play helps us be productive. Play is many, many things, but it is never still, stuck, or stagnant; it somehow always moves. So when it comes to manifesting a meaningful life, play works.”
Marney explains that successful manifestation unfolds through the following three phases. However, the quality of time, energy, and pleasure experienced in each phase varies greatly, based on an individual’s natural tendencies and conscious choices:
The introduction of Hop, Skip, Jump includes a quiz that helps readers identify which of the three phases represents their manifestation strengths. This allows readers to fully enjoy the part of the process that comes naturally to them, while encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones to embrace the other key elements as well. Then, 75 playful tools and techniques help readers activate all three phases.
“Think of anything you’ve manifested in your life, and if you look closely, I believe you’ll see that you touched on each of these phases in some way, though likely spending more time in some phases than other,” writes Marney. “If you look at the things you want but have not yet manifested, you will likely realize you have not hit all three phases yet, or perhaps have not explored them all fully.”
For more information on Marney and her work, visit http://artellaland.com.
Founded and led by Jeffrey Davis – author, in-demand consultant and speaker, story-shaper and “Book Whisperer,” and world-traveling teacher – Tracking Wonder is a boutique creative company that helps quiet creatives and collaborative teams face challenges with acumen, shape captivating books & brands, and improve their patch of the planet.
For over 25 years, Jeffrey and his work have been featured and highlighted at world-class centers, conferences, and universities. He has helped first-time authors become New York Times best-sellers, earn handsome advances, and publish break-through books with the Big 5, independent presses, and their own publishing experiments.
Jeffrey is author of The Journey from the Center to the Page and writes online columns for Psychology Today and The Creativity Post.
He spends his days guiding private clients, speaking to small teams & organizations, developing new learning expedition programs & trainings, writing his next book, homesteading his farmhouse in the Hudson Valley of New York, and dancing with his daughter and wife.
Secret weapons: wonder, 88% artisanal chocolate, white tea, creative juice tea, imagination, mindfulness & yoga, Mind Rooms, amazing people.
We talk all about that, along with his life journey, and how he lives his own life "on purpose."
For more information on Jeffrey and Tracking Wonder, visit http://trackingwonder.com.
Dr. Eric Maisel is a bestselling author, psychotherapist, and creativity coach. He's the author of 40 books on a wide variety of subjects, from the challenges of living the creative life to natural psychology, the new psychology of meaning; those books including Fearless Creating, The Van Gogh Blues, and Coaching the Artist Within. A licensed psychotherapist, he reaches thousands through his Psychology Today and Fine Art America blogs, his print column in Professional Artist magazine, and workshops in the United States and abroad. He's an advocate for a changed and revitalized view of mental health services, one that does away with our current mental disorder naming system. He's also an advocate for a global paradigm shift from seeking meaning to making meaning, a very crucial distinction that we'll talk about today.
His latest book, LIFE PURPOSE BOOT CAMP, recently released on New World Library, talks about that very shift, as he helps readers who are seeking meaning in their lives understand how, by adopting certain ideas and engaging in specific practices, they can effectively meet their pressing life purpose challenges. To do that, he suggests that readers do three things, which he explains in great detail in the book: get clear on what their unique life is all about, upgrade their personalities, and manage their circumstances as mindfully as they can.
We talk all about that, along with his life journey, and how he lives his own life "on purpose". For more information on Eric, visit: http://ericmaisel.com.
Emiliya Zhivotovskaya is a leading voice in the world of positive psychology & the science of flourishing. She's a widely sought-after speaker, educator, facilitator, and coach. Jonathan Fields says, "she offers that astonishingly rare blend of deep insight, wisdom beyond her years, a fierce grounding in science and the heart of a teacher."
Backstory: At the age of 5, Emiliya and her family fled from Kiev, escaping the fall of Communism and the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. She found herself in a new land, faced with challenges completely foreign to the average kid growing up in a New York suburb.
Then, 9 years later, she faced yet another tragedy, the sudden loss of her brother as he ran to save his fiancé from drowning and lost his life in the process of saving hers. And years later, the loss of her mother.
From this place of deep challenge, she could have turned to the dark side. She could have given up, blamed the world and walked away from joy. From happiness. From possibility. Instead, she found awakening, strength and a renewed sense of gratitude.
She discovered within herself a wellspring of resilience and a relentless desire to understand where this came from and how to bring a similar lens to others. She was determined to help others flourish.
For more information about Emiliya, visit her webste at http://www.emiliya.com.