100% Awesome Podcast

Over the last 300 episodes, I've shared the thoughts that have made the biggest difference in my life, shared experiences and examples from my own life, and encouraged you to apply these thoughts in your own life. In this final episode, I'm sharing the top 15 things that I hope you have learned by listening to this podcast over the last six years. These are the thoughts that have changed my life and the way I see myself and my life experience—and I hope that they have helped you too. All good things come to an end, and while this is the final episode of the podcast, I hope that these thoughts and ideas will continue to create awesome results in your life. ***This is the last podcast episode but I am still coaching. If you are interested in coaching, please email me at april@aprilpricecoaching.com and I'll set up a call so we can talk about working together.

I've learned a lot from creating nearly 300 episodes of this podcast, but perhaps the most important is how to show up for myself and pursue the things I want even when my brain wants completely different things. In this penultimate episode of the podcast, I'm sharing the best lessons that showing up for myself every single week has taught me. I hope they'll help you identify your brain's excuses and fears and give you the courage and tools to overcome them so you can get started and keep going when it feels hard.  If it feels hard to show up for yourself when you “don't have to” or “don't want to,” I think this episode will be helpful and inspiring! **You can find the “Always Go to the Funeral” article that I mention in the episode here: https://www.npr.org/2005/08/08/4785079/always-go-to-the-funeral

Recently I've been reminded that as much as our brains believe they can control and predict what's going to happen, they can't. Life is impermanent and there is plenty that we can neither predict nor control. What we do control is our choices in the present. What we do have is the moment right here in the now. Sometimes it can be a powerful exercise to remember that there are no guarantees, that today is all you have, and to make decisions and choices from that reality.  In this episode of the podcast, I'm welcoming you, not to the “new” year, but to the “now” year and inviting you to stop waiting and start creating and living in the daily rhythm of your goals and dreams. I'm sharing five tips to help you make this new year the year where you live the life you want to live right now.   **You can find the Interview with David Roche that I mention in this podcast here: https://www.richroll.com/podcast/david-roche-875

We're just a couple of weeks into a brand new year and I've noticed myself feeling hesitant—hesitant to decide and declare my goals, hesitant to finalize plans and decisions and intentions, just hesitant to start. If you've been feeling hesitant when you think you should be feeling motivated and refreshed and ready to go, then this episode is for you. In today's episode I talk about why we sometimes feel hesitant at a “start line” and give you three tools to help make yourself feel safe and encouraged when you're ready to move past your hesitations and begin.  I also share an announcement about the future of the podcast on this episode and some changes I'm making in the new year.

Welcome to a brand new year!  Here at the starting line of the new year, it can be tempting to want to change some (or all) of the things we're doing, but don't forget that every action begins as a thought. That means that the most important changes you can make in your life are the things you choose to think. As we start another revolution around the sun, I want to encourage you to start a thought revolution in your head and choose some new thoughts to power and fuel your life. On today's podcast, I'm sharing some of the thoughts that I'm using to create my year, fuel my actions, and make decisions from. I hope they inspire you to purposefully choose the thoughts that will create the things you want and remind you that you get to believe whatever you want about yourself and your life. 

Before we start thinking about plans and goals and desires for the new year, it's important to review the year we just finished and take the time to look back and see what we've created.  On today's podcast, I'll show you how to review, receive, rejoice, and reexamine your year with love, so that you can celebrate and appreciate all the work you've done and the choices you made, and so that you can find the best way to support yourself in the new year. As you think back on the highs and lows of this year, as you think about what you did or what went undone, free yourself from the illusion that it should have or could have been any other way than it was. It was. And it was good. And on today's episode I'll show you that there's plenty to celebrate and there's plenty to learn from and it's all found in your year review. ***** Here's a link to the large, year-at-a-glance calendar I use: https://jesseitzler.com/products/the-big-a-calendar?srsltid=AfmBOoqz76LrETRqK_9x79Y0Bl2pyOAwBcq2AxFYEGjm1vb6PPhH1PqI

Christmas is less than a week away and so I'm taking the opportunity today to share my thoughts about Christmas and about Jesus Christ, and reflect on the impact his life and death have had on my own life.  Every year I write a Christmas letter that I send to all our family and friends in which I try to find the lessons and make meaning of the biggest experiences of my year. And today I'm sharing that letter with you. Of all the thoughts I share on my podcast, these thoughts about Christ and his love and grace are the ones that mean the most to me and bring me the most comfort and peace and joy in my life.  I hope they help you feel the love of God in your own life. Merry Christmas!  

We are fully in the gift-giving season. Everywhere you look there is another ad or gift guide to help you find the perfect gift for someone in your life.  Today I thought it might be fun to create my own take on this and make a list of the best gifts I think you can give yourself—and actually, they are all gifts that only you can give yourself.  As you think about the end of this year and the start of the next one, these are things you should think about purposefully giving yourself and incorporating into your life in the new year.   

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour ends this Sunday and as a tribute to her, her music, and the most epic tour of all time, today I invited my daughter, Olivia onto the podcast to talk all things Taylor Swift. We share what we learned and loved from the tour, as well as take a deep dive on our favorite Taylor Swift songs, some of which made the tour and some of which didn't.   In a break from our usual programming, today I'm taking off my coaching hat and donning my fan girl outfit complete with friendship bracelet to gush with my daughter about Taylor Swift and talk about what her songs have meant to each of us.  Fair warning…this episode is a long one (we have A LOT to say!!) and only meant for you if you're a fan of Taylor Swift. Come listen as we share our takes on Taylor's best work, the songs we just can't get over, and the feelings we feel when we hear them. This one's just for fun! Are you ready for it?! If you want to listen to our playlist of the songs we talk about on the podcast, you can click here:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4OJGdeDNUTLjn7n4jDaWaw?si=LKMjMxnXRH6hVFxRwAwAZg And if you want more of Olivia, you can check out her Youtube channel, Liv in Literature, where she talks all things books:  https://youtube.com/@livinliterature?si=k5pPrOe1jYwXmosj  

Recently I was reading a book by Julia Cameron who wrote, “The universe is prodigal in its support. We are miserly in what we accept.” Most of us are uncomfortable receiving and there's a good reason for this. Psychologically, it feels better for us humans to feel like we are giving more than we are getting. This makes receiving hard because our brains, which like things to be even, are always calculating whether we've done enough to deserve the gifts or service or abundance we have. Today on this special Thanksgiving episode of the podcast, I'm bringing your attention to your ability to receive and the thoughts that get in the way of us fully receiving the abundance of our lives. I think getting better at receiving makes your whole life better, enriches your enjoyment of it, and makes all your relationships sweeter. Today we'll talk about how to get better at receiving the goodness that is already present in your life, and I'll share some ideas, thoughts, and feelings to help you practice noticing and receiving the gifts of your beautiful life.   

The holiday season is in full swing and today I want to give you some help as you navigate the stresses, obligations and feelings of the season. Because no matter how long your to-do list is or how much extra work you might have to do, it's always our thoughts that are making us feel bad and our brains that end up making things even harder on ourselves. So today's podcast is a little holiday peptalk to help you handle the holidays and feel good during one of the most stressful parts of the year.  We'll talk about what to say no to, what to say yes to, how to use your agency to take care of yourself so you can have more of the experiences and feelings you want and less of the ones you don't.  Just in time, here's the holiday halftime speech you've been needing!  

Even though the election is over, there are still a lot of thoughts and feelings about it to process. No matter what your political viewpoint is, it's hard to wake up and realize that half the country doesn't think and feel the way you do (p.s. the right way). That realization can make us feel scared and uncertain about our future. In today's episode of the podcast, I'm talking about how to process your feelings about the outcome of the election and how to process your feelings about the people who voted differently than you and who might feel like the enemy right now. And what if they are the people across the street, across the pew, or across the dinner table?   If you've felt heavy or anxious in the aftermath of the election, I hope this episode will help you compassionately take care of yourself as well as give you a reason to love other people and embrace our common humanity.

I recently cheered my brother on in a 100-mile race called the Javelina Jundred. Watching him grind out all those long, hot miles awed me, terrified me, and taught me about the way we create transformation in our lives. It's messy, it's slow, and it's inevitable if you keep going—but many of us stop because we're waiting for a magical moment of transformation rather than the unremarkable and boring work of taking the next step.  In today's episode, I'm sharing all the things I learned by watching my brother do something impossible, unthinkable, unbearable, and insurmountable by simply (but never easily) putting one foot in front of another.   

Making mistakes is a big part of our human experience but none of us enjoy it very much. And while making mistakes isn't fun and we never want to hurt ourselves and others, our brains as especially intolerant of our mistakes and can sometimes use them against us for years after we make them, haunting us with feelings of regret and shame and recrimination.  Every time we make a mistake, there is an opportunity for learning and growth, but our brains usually just use them as an opportunity to belittle and bully us. So, what do we do when we know we got it wrong, and our brains won't let it go? In this special Halloween episode of the podcast, I'm sharing some thoughts to allow you to exorcise the ghosts of your past mistakes and access more grace and compassion, so you can move you forward rather than be terrorized by your past.  

It is a brave thing to be a human. Mostly because, as long as we are alive, we are each under the constant scrutiny and criticism of our own brains. And no matter what we do, it seems like we're never good enough to quiet its relentless disparagement. Recently I have had a few experiences that reminded me how vulnerable and scary it is to stand up to you brain and its criticism, and how many incredible experiences are available to us if we do. In today's podcast episode, I'm sharing a few thoughts about how all of our brains want to make us scared and insecure and just how much bravery it takes to feel that and create the things you want anyway. I hope these thoughts will give you comfort and motivation, help you be a little braver, and allow you to be a little more compassionate with yourself and others as you do the brave work of being human.

It can be easy for our natural desires to change and grow to become a never-ending quest for continued self-improvement and optimization.  This can lead us down a road where we're always chasing what comes next because we believe that next version of ourselves will be better than who we are now. And without meaning to, we can end up making our present selves inferior to some superior future self, and always feel a low level of discontent with ourselves and our lives. On today's episode of the podcast, I'm inviting you to the idea of choosing present over perfect. And I'm giving you thoughts and strategies to be more present in your life and to value you who you are and where you are, without worrying that your contentment will make you complacent. If you're someone who finds it difficult to rest or if you find yourself always trying to prove or earn your worthiness, I hope this episode will allow you to embrace your inherent goodness and trade your quest for perfection for joy in the present.

It's election season here in the U.S. and many of us have lots of thoughts and feelings about it. There can be a lot of tension and stress when it comes to politics because our brains believe that our happiness and safety are at stake, and it feels like we have so little control over the outcome. It's also stressful because we have relationships and interactions with people who think and vote differently than us and their thoughts and opinions are very loud right now.  In today's episode, I'm not going to tell you how to think or who to vote for, but I am going to share some thoughts that will allow you to feel peace at a time when there is a lot of fearmongering everywhere you turn. We'll also discuss how to allow other people to be who they are and think what they think without resenting or villainizing them, and how to engage and participate in the political process (if you want to), when your brain is making you feel hopeless or unseen or powerless.  No matter where you live or what political season you are in, I hope this episode will allow you to feel less scared and angry and more empowered to contribute and make a difference in the world.  

Whenever we watch the people in our life suffer or face challenges, our natural instinct is to try to fix or change things in order to ease their suffering. But not only is changing or removing their pain often impossible, it's also not the kind of help our loved ones really need. As I faced the challenges of a recent endurance event, I watched how perfectly my husband, David, was able to offer me incredible support without changing the challenge, questioning my decisions or my abilities, and without losing his patience or compassion. And on today's episode, I've asked him to share his experience and insights.  We all have incredible opportunities to support and care the people we love, and I hope this episode will help you as you witness, cheer, and comfort the people you love most in the world as they face the “mountains” of their lives. 

I recently completed an ultra-endurance challenge called 29029, where I climbed the vertical equivalent of Mount Everest, 29029 feet, in 36 hours. Reaching the summit took everything I had and plenty that I didn't think I had. And I learned so much. There are things we can only learn by going way outside our comfort zone, by finding the edge of our abilities, and stretching ourselves beyond what our brains believes we are capable of. I surprised myself, I met myself, and I discovered myself. In this follow-up episode, I'm sharing the final lessons I learned in those uncomfortable, sometimes painful, hours I spent climbing and ultimately conquering to Mont Tremblant. I hope they will help you, encourage you, and inspire you as you face the Everests in your life. **Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

I'm part of a full-day coaching retreat happening Oct. 12th in northern Utah called HOPE DAY. This is a special bonus episode to invite you to that event, give you all the details, and remind you that the last day to get your ticket is Tuesday, Oct. 1st. If you have been thinking about coming to HOPE DAY consider this episode your personal invitation to join me there. In this bonus episode, I also share a powerful thought about how to be both happy IN your life and WITH your life and how coaching can help you do both!! You can sign up for HOPE DAY using my discount code using this link: www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

I recently completed an ultra-endurance challenge called 29029, where I climbed the vertical equivalent of Mount Everest, 29029 feet, in 36 hours. Reaching the summit took everything I had and plenty that I didn't think I had. And I learned so much. There are things we can only learn by going way outside our comfort zone, by finding the edge of our abilities, and stretching ourselves beyond what our brains believes we are capable of. I surprised myself, I met myself, and I discovered myself. In this episode I'm sharing the powerful lessons I learned in those uncomfortable, sometimes painful, hours I spent climbing and surrendering to Mont Tremblant. I hope they will help you, encourage you, and inspire you as you climb the mountains of your life. **Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

Do you ever wonder why it feels so good to set a goal and decide you're going to do something but then it feels so bad to actually do it? When our dreams are out ahead of us in the future, they feel exciting. When they are accomplished and behind us in the past, they feel satisfying. But in the present, our dreams don't necessarily feel so good because the present moment is where all the work and effort and discomfort and pain and vulnerability of our dreams exists. The difference between dreaming and doing is discomfort. And on today's podcast, I'm sharing some tools to help you manage and navigate the discomfort and difficulty that inevitably comes whenever you are working towards your goals and dreams.  **Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April  

You can get a lot of relief and hope using the principles and tools of thought work. But it's also easy to weaponize these tools and use them against yourself. The whole point of increasing your awareness and understanding of your thoughts is to make the hard work of being human easier. And if the tool you're using isn't making the relationship with yourself warmer and stronger, then there's a good chance you're using the tool as a weapon. On today's podcast, I remind you that when it comes to thought work, usefulness is the only thing that matters, and I'll point out some common ways you might be using these tools to make yourself wrong, so that you can take what helps you feel hope and optimism and compassion and leave the rest.  **Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

I am competing in a big endurance event in a couple weeks and in the run up to that event my brain has given me lots of doubt—doubt about my preparation, doubt about my ability to finish the event, doubt in my capacity to endure pain, doubt about my age, my body, my mental toughness, and everything in between! But doubts are just thoughts.  And my doubts don't know any more about the future than my beliefs. So I don't have to give them any more credibility than I want to. Today on the podcast, I'm sharing the things I'm doing about my doubts and giving you some tools that I hope will help you overcome your own doubts. Cause all the good stuff is on the other side of your doubts and you never have to let your doubts keep you from anything you really want. **Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

We all share this world with each other. And we all have separate brains that are individually assessing and interpreting that experience for only ourselves. That means that in any given circumstance or situation or experience, lots of different brains are going to have lots of different opinions about it. The problem is that many times other people's opinions can feel dangerous. Because even though we can't control other people's opinions, it often feels like their opinions have the potential to have a big impact on our safety and happiness.  On today's episode of the podcast, I'm giving you a new way to think about the opinions of other people. I'll show you why those opinions often feel so threatening and how to release your fear and your need to control other people's opinions so that you can feel more peace in any situation.  Other people's opinions are a big part of the human experience, but today I want to show you that your own opinion (which is the only one that you can control, by the way) is the only one that really matters.  **Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

Like you, I have been so inspired and delighted as I watched the recent Paris Olympics.  I was amazed by the skill, by the vulnerability, by the courage, by the willingness to suffer and sacrifice that was demonstrated by the athletes that participated. And I took notes. Because I wanted to remember the things I learned by watching other people pursue their dreams. On today's podcast, I'm sharing some of my favorite lessons and thoughts from the Olympic games. I think no matter what you are trying to create in your life, no matter what choices you are trying to make, no matter what dreams you are pursuing or what obstacles you face as you do that, watching other humans choose and pursue and overcome in pursuit of their own goals can help you. * * * Looking for tickets to HOPE DAY? I'm part of an all-day coaching event in Utah on October 12th and if you'd like to get a ticket you can use this link:  www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

Perhaps the most essential element to changing your life is having the hope that it's possible.  It's easy to get discouraged and believe that change is impossible, but as long as we are alive and have the ability to choose our thoughts, change is available for all of us. In today's episode, I share a metaphor to remind you of your power to change and give you hope that real change is simpler and more accessible than you think.  I also interview Annie Haviland about HOPE DAY, an upcoming coaching event being held in northern Utah on October 12th. I will be at this event teaching and coaching and today I'm sharing all the details and inviting you to join us there. To learn more and get signed up using my discount code, you can follow this link: www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April

We each have three amazing gifts: our body, our brain, and our spirit. But many times, these three parts of us want and need different things and it's easy to find these three parts of ourselves at odds with one another. This can create conflict within and we can spend lots of time and energy fighting ourselves.  On today's episode of the podcast, I'm talking about how to listen, respect, and glean the unique wisdom of each part—our body, our brain, and our spirit—so that we can form a council of wisdom that will allow us to create a life we love while maintaining a warm and loving relationship with ourselves.

One of the most universal human experiences is the experience of being tired. Our bodies and our brains are fueled by limited sources of energy and all of us need to take time every day to rest and recover. But it's interesting to notice that we also have lots of thoughts about being tired and what it means about us when we stop to rest.  On today's podcast, we're covering lots of thoughts about being tired, including what to think when you're tired to make your rest more effective. We'll also talk about how to reframe the experience of being tired when rest isn't an option, so that you can lower your resistance and make it easier on yourself. Because just like everything else in life, the way you think about being tired will completely change the way you experience it.

When it comes to choosing your thoughts, the truth is that there aren't any rules. You get to think whatever you want! And there really aren't any rules that you have to keep or obey or even pay attention to. But if you want to change your thoughts and you don't know where to start or sometimes feel overwhelmed or confused about how to think something new, then I hope these 7 rules will give you some help and structure for choosing a new thought.

It's the middle of the year. Maybe some of you are feeling like we're already halfway through the year and you haven't accomplished as much as you wanted to yet. Maybe you're feeling a little discouraged with your progress, or maybe your brain has convinced you that the things you want are never going to happen and this is a good time to just give up.  Today on the podcast I want to give you some encouragement to keep going and some tools to help you keep working on the things you want to accomplish and create in your life.  In this episode we'll talk about how discouragement and shame can stop us from continuing to work towards the things we want and what to do about them. And I'll share two powerful experiences I had recently that I think will help motivate and inspire you to keep working on it no matter where you are in your progress. *** If you are interested in coming to HOPE DAY, an all-day coaching retreat where I will be coaching and teaching, please follow this link to get signed up: www.eventbrite.com/e/930171486957/?discount=April You can use the code APRIL to get 15% off.

We spend all of our time inside our own heads, but have you ever noticed how it's often more like a prison than a playground in there? Our brains can be tyrants. And if we leave the thoughts it gives us unquestioned or unsupervised, they will keep us stuck and tortured and oppressed.  On today's podcast, I'm talking about how you can use your agency to break free from the tyranny of your brain and overthrow the regime in your head that is constantly criticizing, comparing, doubting, and diminishing you. I'll show you five specific ways our brain harasses us, traps us, imprisons us, keeps us stuck and feeling bad—and what to do about it! Learning to overthrow the tyranny and the dictatorship of your own brain is so important to be able to do what you want, feel how you want, be who you want, and create a life you love. 

Summer is traditionally a time of year where many of us take a break, get away, and do some traveling. And so today on the podcast I thought I'd share my best travel tips. But this episode isn't about things like how to pack efficiently or how to make the most of your travel reward points. Today I'm giving you all my best tips about what to think and how to feel as you travel with your loved ones—so that you have the best possible experience mentally and emotionally as you travel together this summer. Because guess what?  No matter how far you go, no matter how exotic the location or how many planes, trains, or ferries you took to get there, your vacation is still being experienced through the filter of your brain. And even though we're getting away from it all, we never get away from our brains.  

I recently ran my first marathon, and I learned a lot of lessons doing it.  On today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing my race day experience. You'll hear about the highs, the lows, the lessons, the battles I fought inside my own head, and the feelings you only get to feel when you do hard things. Getting to the finish line is hard. It's gonna take everything you've got.  But I hope this episode will encourage you and help you keep moving toward your own goals and dreams and remind you not only that you can do hard things, but that it might be why you're doing it in the first place.

I recently ran my first marathon, and I learned a lot of lessons doing it. But there were also a lot of things I learned just getting to the start line of this race.  From the sign up, to the training, through the taper, and all the miles in between, this experience taught me so many things about perspective and perseverance and fear and the power of decisions and celebrating every win. On today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing the first part of my marathon experience—what I did, what I learned, what got in my way, what I had to overcome, who I became, and what thoughts helped me the most as I did the work to get to the start line of a marathon.

We've just finished commencement season. At some point in our lives, most of us have sat in the audience of a commencement speech thinking that everything good in our life was about to start.  But then time passes and maybe 5 or 10 or 20 years later we can find ourselves looking around and thinking: Is this it? Is this what being an adult was gonna be like? Is this how it was supposed to turn out? Most of us had big plans to change the world, but maybe after a few decades, it just feels like the world changed us instead.   I think the problem is our expectations.  I think commencement speeches and the happily-ever-after we see in the movies and on social media are all selling us the idea that life is supposed to be big and magical and exciting, and you are supposed to be happy and successful and gorgeous and killing it all the time.  So today I wanted to give a kind of “anti-commencement speech” and reframe your expectations about what life is supposed to be like, so that you can feel better about yourself and your very ordinary, normal human experience, and hopefully answer the question, “Is this it?” along the way. 

Most of us are good at being hard on ourselves. We know how to be disappointed and disgusted and frustrated with ourselves and we're experts at being critical and condescending of the parts of us that we don't like. Treating ourselves this way comes naturally (because of the way our brains work) and we've also had a lot of practice doing it.  What doesn't come naturally is being kind—especially to ourselves and especially when we are struggling. We've all heard the advice to be kind to yourself, but how do we do that, especially when we make mistakes or feel like we don't deserve kindness?  In today's episode I'm answering that question and teaching you how to develop a practice, habit, and culture of kindness with yourself. Your relationship with yourself is the most long-lasting, long-term relationship you will ever have and learning how to relate to yourself with kindness is a superpower that will serve you in every area of your life. Use this link to sign up for a free coaching session: https://www.aprilpricecoaching.com/call

Sometimes it can feel like your brain is the enemy, but there's actually a really significant survival advantage for everything your brain does.  When humans first showed up on the scene, we had no camouflaged skin, no super hearing, we couldn't fly or swim. We couldn't see in the dark or breathe underwater. We didn't have claws or huge teeth or thick fur. The only thing we had was a three-pound pile of flesh secretly stashed in our skulls and that one advantage that allowed us to survive and thrive on this planet. Today on the podcast, I thought it would be fun to imagine what self-help might look like in the Stone Age to demonstrate why your brain does what it does and why it takes so much awareness, intention, and energy to try and think differently. Your brain is a miracle. But it is also misinformed about what's best for you and I hope today's podcast will help you have a brand new appreciation for the way your brain works and feel much more empowered to redirect it.   

Nobody likes feeling bad, but what can make it even worse is when we think we're bad for feeling bad. Even though our emotions are always just information being passed from our brain to our body, it's easy to make the mistake of thinking that feelings have a morality—that there are good ways to feel and bad ways to feel. And this can make us suspicious and even ashamed of our negative emotions.  On today's podcast, I'm pointing out the negative rap that our negative emotions get and giving you some important things to remember when you feel bad. You'll learn why you might conflate your negative emotion with wickedness, what your all your emotions really mean and say about you, and how to allow and embrace the experience of feeling…even when you feel bad.  

In an attempt to keep us safe and happy, our brain spends a remarkable amout of energy in places where it has no control.  For example, we can only make choices in the present moment, but have you noticed how often your brain time-travels into the future or back to the past trying to change or control things that it can't? Or maybe you've noticed how much time your brain spends thinking and worrying about the thoughts and feelings and opinions of other people? Again, this is a place where we don't have any control because we don't get to make other people's choices, including how they choose to feel about us.  On today's podcast, I want to bring your awareness to how much energy you are spending trying to control the uncontrollable and remind you that your most powerful place is the place where you have the ability to make choices. I'll share a powerful visualization tool that will help you refocus your energy and your agency to control the things you can and let go of all the things you can't.  

I recently spent a week at a surf school in Costa Rica and had an incredible time.  On today's episode of the podcast, I'm telling you all about my experience and also sharing some of the memorable lessons that I got from the trip, from the ocean, and from my surf coach that I have been thinking about since I got home. While you might not be planning to go to surf school any time soon, we are all down here at earth school and I think the things I learned while I was trying to acquire this new skill will help you with the things you are trying to learn and master in your own life.

This week's podcast episode marks 5 years of the show!  And today I'm sharing 5 important things that I have learned during that time as I have created this podcast.  No matter who you are or what you are trying to create in your life, your brain is going to create resistance and excuses and fear and these can keep you from creating the things you want.  So today, I want to inspire you and give you the help you need to overcome your brain.  Along the way, I'll teach you that creation is an accumulation, it is imperfect, it is vulnerable, it is important, and it is unique—and I'll show you how embracing these principles of creation can get you started and keep you moving towards your dreams.  

Have you ever noticed all the tiny little things that make life awesome? It turns out that the more you notice, the better you feel. Your brain, of course, wants to notice all the things that have gone wrong, but there are just as many things that have gone exactly right and it can feel really good to bring your awareness to them. In today's episode of the podcast, I'll remind you of how fun it is to like things, teach you what you can learn from the U-curve of happiness, give you a daily practice to help you pay attention to the small but significant pleasures of your life, and make my own little tribute to some of the ordinary things in my life that I think are seriously awesome. Sometimes our brains can miss the spectacular awesomeness that can be found in the most ordinary things in our lives and this episode is all about inspiring you to see them again for the first time.    

I recently cleaned out my closet and intentionally decided, piece by piece, the items that I wanted to keep in my wardrobe and the ones that I no longer needed or wanted. What if we did the same thing in our lives?  If I went through my life piece by piece and examined each element—my habits, my schedule, my relationships, my work, my faith, the thoughts and feelings that I have most, the things I spend my time on—are they all things that I really want to be choosing? Given the choice to put them in my life, would I choose them again? Is my life full of things that I intentionally want to be there? In today's podcast, I ask three questions that you can use to evaluate whether you are prioritizing the things that are really important to you so you can make sure your life is stocked with all the things you like and want.

This week I celebrate my 50th birthday which has me thinking about this episode of the podcast kind of like a halftime report. If I'm about halfway through my life (halfway through the game, if you will) I'm metaphorically going back to the locker room to take breath and evaluate how the first half of the game has gone. I've been on earth for five decades and today I'm thinking about my life, assessing what I've learned and loved about the first half of my life, and the recording the lessons that have meant the most to me. No matter how old you are or where you are in the course of your own life, I hope these lessons will change the way you experience your life and help you find more joy in all of it.

For those of us that live in the northern hemisphere, spring is a time of year where there are reminders everywhere about the true abundance of our lives.  Of course, we always live in an abundant world surrounded by an abundant universe, but because of hedonistic adaptation, most of the time our brain either doesn't notice it or diminishes it down to nothing.  In today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing a few things that have caught my attention recently that have surprised me, humbled me, and reminded me how much abundance and grace fills our lives and is extended to each of us by God.  

There's never going to be a point at which your brain isn't going to doubt you and question your ability to succeed, no matter how talented or capable you are or how many times you've succeeded or failed in the past.  Most of us are waiting for the doubts to go away. We think that if we could make our doubts go away then we would find our belief.   But on today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing the idea that belief isn't the absence of doubt—believing in ourselves is a choice we are allowed to make even while we have doubts. It's your brain's job to doubt you. But you never have to let those doubts stop you. Doubt is what your brain does. Believing is what you can do and today's podcast episode is all about how to do just that.  

Today on the podcast I ask and answer a question that you may occasionally find yourself asking: What's wrong with me? As humans it's easy to wonder why we feel so bad, why we can't seem to figure out how to be happy and productive, why we do the things we do, why it feels so hard to do the things we're “supposed to do,” and why it often feels like we're our own worst enemy…I mean, what it wrong with us? Over and over, we ask this question, thinking that if we could just figure out the problem of us then we could fix it and finally feel better about ourselves and our life. In today's episode we'll talk about why it sometimes feels so hard to be human and how to stop thinking that there's something wrong with you—cause there isn't! This episode will give you perspective, warmth, and understanding for the very challenging experience of being human.  

From the moment we become parents we are concerned about the safety, happiness, and success of our children.  But how much of that is in our control? And how much of it is our responsibility? In today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing three important distinctions that will allow you to improve the relationship you have with your children by releasing all the things you can't control and focusing on the things you can.  You'll learn the big difference between being a responsible parent and taking responsibility for your children's choices, how your influence can make a difference, and how to know that your children have everything they need for their best life.   

While it's true that most of us appreciate the ease and entertainment that we get from our digital devices, it may also be true that we are spending more time on them than we want to be. Why is this?  Well, it turns out that our brains are biologically programmed to respond to the content and the alerts of digital media and there is an entire attention economy dedicated to taking advantage of that, and using your neurobiology to get more and more of your time, attention, and money there. Over the last two months, I drastically limited the amount of time I spent on my phone and digital devices and today on the podcast, I'm sharing that experience, the things I learned about myself and my brain by doing it, and the overall impact less digital media has had on my life.  This episode will teach you about your own neurobiology and shine a light on how our brains respond to the digital experience, so you can make more conscious decisions about how you spend your time, and the quantity and quality of the things you let take up space inside your own head.

All of us know about trying harder. We've been taught to believe that if your life doesn't look the way you want, you probably need to try harder! But today I want to offer you the idea that instead of being harder and tougher on ourselves in order to create what we want in our lives, what we really need to do is to be warmer with ourselves. Instead of criticism and impatience with our efforts, what is really going to help us grow and become is learning and practicing in an environment of encouragement, understanding, and love.  Join me on the podcast today where I'll tell you all about the power of trying warmer instead of harder. Trying warmer isn't about indulging ourselves or our excuses—it's about making sure we have the support we need to try and keep on trying until we get what we want.