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Life on Purpose

What can you do to bring more meaning, joy, and purpose into your life? How do you improve your health, happiness, and well-being? If you're asking those questions, you're in the right place! http://www.lifeonpurposeshow.com ​Since 2011, I've been asking those questions in more than 250 in-depth conversations with healers, entrepreneurs, creatives, seekers, and thought leaders from around the world. In each episode, we discuss topics like mindfulness, health and healing, conscious living, personal transformation, frontier science, spirituality, life purpose, and wellness in every aspect of life and work. My goal is to offer inspiration and concrete examples that listeners can apply on their own. Life on Purpose, which was featured in The Huffington Post and iTunes' New & Noteworthy listings in January/February 2015, is produced by Gregory Berg. He's also the host of the acclaimed Radio Enso, which aired nearly 150 in-depth conversations from 2011-2014 and has a five-star rating on iTunes. Through the years, Greg had been fortunate enough to interview an amazing array of inspirational people whose life and work revolves around helping others answer those very questions — creatives, academics, and visionaries like Brene Brown, Dan Millman, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jennifer Louden, Jonathan Fields, davidji, Danielle LaPorte, Chris Guillebeau, Susan Piver, Chris Brogan, A.J. Jacobs, Betsy Chasse, don Miguel Ruiz Jr., and MANY more.
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Now displaying: Category: Productivity
Apr 12, 2021
Life on Purpose returns for a Spring 2021 Season with Episode #97. My guest is writer, therapist, coach, and founder of the New York Voice Dialogue Institute Bridgit Dengel Gaspard, who joins me to talk about her new book, The Final 8th: Enlist Your Inner Selves to Accomplish Your Goals (New World Library) and powerful techniques she’s developed to help readers/listeners recognize and free themselves from hidden internal conflicts that are blocking their ability to achieve their goals.

Bridgit coined the term “the final 8th” to describe the phenomenon when talented, energetic, motivated individuals have accomplished many steps toward a goal (7/8 of it) but stall in front of their finish line, for no apparent reason.

In our inspirational conversation, Bridgit and I discussed:

• The origin story of the term The Final 8th via working with various clients who were getting stuck;
• Has she struggled with Final 8ths in her own life, including writing the book?
• “Is the reason you’re stuck because you’re not meant to go any further? It’s served it’s purpose.”;
• The idea that our healthy personality consists of many aspects, which she calls inner selves;
• Voice dialogue, a technique developed by her mentors Dr. Hall and Sidra Stone;
• “They each have wisdom and they have concerns. But they don’t have the whole picture.”;
• The fact that this is NOT multiple personality disorder or dissociative identity disorder;
• The effects of the pandemic on certain selves and what we can do about that;
• The fact that for most people, working harder isn’t the problem or the solution;
• The power of the questions, “What are the gifts? And what are the stings?”;
• A simple technique that allows you to start to identify these inner selves;
• How do these selves start? And where do they come from?;
• Her chapter on Practice Safe Success: a concept that is silly but real!;
• What is the Double Bind and why is it psychologically painful?;
• Her Final Takeaway: “Be curious to see what’s there; if in doubt, get rid of the agenda.”
• Her upcoming Final 8th 4-Week Masterclass, which runs in May;
• Marianne Williamson: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”;
• Much more!

“My clients were baffled about why they were stuck. They reported feeling frustrated, stressed, sad, and scared. They’d swear to me they yearned for the desired outcome with every fiber of their being,” says Bridgit. “I’d tell them, ‘Believe it or not, some of those fibers just aren’t with the program.’ The truth is, not every part of you wants what you think you want! Some of your inner selves are opposed to your goal.”

About Bridgit Dengel Gaspard:

Bridgit Dengel Gaspard is a writer, therapist, coach, and master facilitator and trainer of voice dialogue who has led professional workshops for the Omega Institute, the New York Open Center, the International Coach Federation, the Expressive Therapies Summit, Conscious Life Expo, New York University, Columbia University School of Social Work, the National Association of Social Work, the Actors Fund, and other organizations.

During her career in acting, improvisation, and comedy, she discovered voice dialogue, a powerful technique of communicating and embodying our inner selves developed by Drs. Hal and Sidra Stone, who would become her mentors.

Bridgit earned a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, acquiring clinical experience in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT.) She was an inpatient social worker at Bellevue Hospital Center and Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. She also worked as a psychotherapist at the New York University Counseling Center.

She founded the New York Voice Dialogue Institute and has been certified by multiple organizations for continuing education credits for social workers, mental health practitioners, nurses, body workers, psychologists, nurses, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, massage therapists, and life coaches.

Bridgit maintains a private practice in Manhattan specializing in creativity blocks, life transitions, and being stuck in sight of the finish line. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

To learn more about Bridgit and her work, visit: https://www.bridgit-dengel-gaspard.com.
Jan 13, 2016

For Life on Purpose Episode #42, author, speaker, and teacher Gregg Krech, one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America returns to the show.

Gregg joins me for a very timely and inspirational conversation about New Year's Resolutions and why they often don't work; using dreams as a motivator instead; identifying your purpose vs. using feelings to guide your life; taking action as a way of figuring things out; the urgency of 30,000 — the amount of days the average person has in their lives; the Japanese psychology of Naikan; and much more!

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.

Gregg 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.

May 4, 2015

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.

Mar 5, 2015

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.

Jan 8, 2015

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:

  • Hop – Focuses on exploring new beliefs.
  • Skip — Helps us harness spontaneity, wonder, and love.
  • Jump — Spurs us into inspired action.

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.

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