AMPstigator

Overdoing it is ingrained in our culture. So how do you go against the grain? In this latest episode, host Lauren Lowrey takes you on a journey through our American obsessions with doing too much. Get the deets on how our nation compares to other countries when it comes to work-life (im)balance. Plus, what questions to ask yourself so you can DO LESS.

Wait, you want me to face my pain!?! Woof! In the latest AMPstigator episode FACE IT, host Lauren Lowrey teaches you that once you've experienced trauma, the pain doesn't go away. It just blends with you over time. The difficulty in processing the trauma comes from your inability to move forward. After we experience pain, we spend our lives trying to return to status quo. We try to get back to who we were before that pain. But we have to realize: We were literally changed by the pain and the person we were is gone. In this episode, she shares 6 steps to FACE your pain and accept yourself for who you've become.

We look for reflections everywhere - in our friends, on our social feeds, in our work - but when do we ever see who we really are? In this episode of 2 Words that will Change Your Life, host Lauren Lowrey shows you how cameras give the ultimate reflection. Listen as she shares stories from her own life as she learned how to be her true self.

We talk entirely too much! If our mouths aren't yappin', our minds will certainly fill the void. In this eternal conversation with our intuition, our racing thoughts create a barrier for us to listen to the guidance. You're missing the best parts of your spiritual experience because you just can't figure out how to SHUT UP. So in this episode, we help you find ways to close your mouth, quiet your mind and just LISTEN to what you're being guided to do.

You say 'I'M SORRY' more than you think. Research shows when we say it in the wrong situations we cause more harm than good. In this latest episode of the mini-series '2 Words that will Change Your Life,' Host Lauren Lowrey explores how we constantly over-apologize [newsflash: women are repeat offenders]. Get ready to learn why we say it, the 8 things you should never apologize for and the 3 things you could say in it's place.

Why did I have to deal with that pain? Why did that traumatic loss happen to me? If you've ever asked the question WHY ME?!? this episode is definitely FOR YOU. In this latest installment of '2 Words that will Change Your Life,' host Lauren Lowrey answers the question by highlighting our uniquely human need for meaning and how -when we've found it- research shows we live longer, happier lives. She walks you through her own steps to heal hurts and reframe the deepest of all questions [Why did this happen to -of all people- ME?!] to arrive at the answer you really seek. Next time you ask the question WHY ME, Lauren's answer will ring clear in your mind 'because it had to BE YOU.'

WHAT IF you could change your $h!++y situation? WHAT IF you could change your reality? WHAT IF you could change your life? You can! It all starts with these two words: WHAT IF? In this installment of the mini-series Two Words that will Change Your Life, host Lauren Lowrey lays out a path to transformation. Before you ever make a choice, buy a book, or start a plan... you begin with imagination. Transformation starts when you allow yourself to imagine you have the power to change. We get there by asking 'WHAT IF?' You'll hear the latest research around the sheer power of your mind and its ability to shape reality. Then, Lauren walks you through what the research says about identifying the $h!++y parts of your life that need re-shaping. She helps you apply the WHAT IF? principles to make change -- all in less than 15 minutes!

Ready to make the impossible possible? Just ask. In this first installment of the AMPstigator mini-series "Two words that will change your life," host Lauren Lowrey explores what it means to just ask for what you need. This isn't about asking another person to shoulder the load. Nope. That isn't surrender. This episode gets you into a place of true, hands-up surrender - which only happens when we know we don't have the answers, we can't see the way forward and we don't know if what's to come is better or worse, we only know we can't continue the way we've been living. Your path to surrender isn't in the DOING, but in the NON-DOING. Your next-level spiritual development is in letting go of the process and surrendering to something much greater than you. All you have to do is JUST ASK.

Feel like crap? No libido? High stress? High anxiety? Before you fill the Rx for an anti-depressant, do me a favor, sis. and let's test your hormones. In this episode, Katy Whalen explains why your hormones are betraying you. So often it starts with racing thoughts, difficulty sleeping and an increase in anxiety. The walls slowly cave in and you find yourself saying "what is happening to me?!?" Katy explains how she discovered the hormonal changes in her own body and how she's built a company to help other women do the same. Simple hormone tests saved her from divorce. It's why she says her company 'saves marriages.' This is a conversation about controlling the physical things we can control and understanding when we get wacky, maybe it's the hormones.

When things aren't working out, most of us white-knuckle the wheel and believe we can think our way out of the problem. This episode's guest is teaching you how to surrender. Cyntoia Brown-Long shares her UNBELIEVABLE testimony of being convicted of murder, trying to THINK her way out of prison, and then finding a level of spiritual surrender few of us ever reach. After 15 total years behind bars, she walked out of prison a free woman in a totally IMPOSSIBLE situation where every door had closed. Her attorneys were baffled, but Cyntoia was not. She always knew she would be set free. How the heck did that happen? In this episode Cyntoia details a remarkable story of LETTING GO and LETTING GOD. Get ready for the unapologetically spiritual and inspirational conversation we all need right now.

I know what you're thinking: How the heck does she find 2 hours a day to meditate? In this solo-episode with the AMPstigator founder and host, Lauren shares her touch-and-go history as a non-meditator and what made her recently commit. She shares the striking words from multiple sources urging her to commit to stillness and who served as 'the final straw.' Lauren also walks you through the phenomenal benefits of meditation before finally sharing her list of 7 surprising things that happened when she began meditating 2hrs/day, just one month ago. Plus, during the recording, Lauren shares two more BONUS anomalies that popped into her mind, for a total of 9 things that have happened since she committed to consistent, daily meditation. In the end, she encourages you: when you meditate consistently, just wait for the shocking benefits to emerge.

In this AMPstigator exclusive, intuitive business coach Amanda Marit leads an 8-minute BONUS visualization to help you hire your higher self. Come back to this visualization often (first thing in the morning, before a meeting, after a setback, etc) to remind you that you're choosing abundance, passion, depth and meaning in your life. Listen to the full AMPstigator episode featuring Amanda Marit, Ep. 54: We're NOT settling. ✔️ Connect with Amanda Marit ✔️ Connect on her website Connect on Instagram ✔️ Connect with Lauren Lowrey ✔️On the AMPstigator websiteAMPstigator on YoutubeThe AMPstigator InstagramLauren's Instagram

Are you ready for your greatest lesson (the one that totally pops paradigms around your rug-pulls, hardships and worst days)? In this episode, intuitive business coach Amanda Marit shows you how your disappointments are really just preparing you for what's next. If you know you're here to make a big impact on the world, Amanda will help awaken your best self then step into your future. Amanda walks you through how to identify the dream in your heart and play with the possibility that what you want is actually MEANT FOR YOU. Amanda teaches you how to listen to your intuition and even shares how to look for signs (because they'll start coming). Plus, this episode ends with an AMPstigator-exclusive visualization to help you welcome in your higher self. For repeated quick access, the visualization has also been separated as it's own episode, Ep. 55: Bonus Visualization for your highest path

What do you do when your life looks totally different than you think it should? Judge yourself? Go to therapy? Start traveling around the world? Do deep inner work? Write a book about it? Dr. Melanie Hicks did all of those things. In this episode of AMPstigator, Dr. Hicks shares more on her two failed marriages in her 20s, domestic abuse, a traumatic sexual assault in her 30s, and losing the ability to have children. She shares the deep inner work required to shrug off the weight of expectation and live her life, free of judgement, even though it looks totally different than the norm. She shares her life lessons (many of which were learned while staring out airplane windows), exposing her deepest secrets while exploring countries both near and far. This is the conversation every 30-something woman wished they heard at age 19. But then again, would we have listened? **Trigger Warning: if you've been a victim of assault or abuse, this conversation may be difficult to hear.**

What happens when you shed the skin of expectation and boldly define your feelings in the most raw and honest way possible? Well, that's when you'd become a Nashville songwriter! Katelyn Drye is one-half of The Dryes. She and her husband Derek are a singing/songwriting duo in Nashville. On this second AMPstigator appearance, Katelyn talks through what's changed in her life and the impact her own personal development has had on the depth of the music she's helping to write. This conversation does a deep-dive behind the scenes of their recent stint on NBC's The Voice, the Nashville music industry and what it's like preparing for their upcoming concert tour with Jo Dee Messina. At their core, The Dryes write music that cuts through to connect with people and gives words to the deepest emotions. Katelyn shows her faith and feelings in this follow-up conversation, one year later.

We're overwhelmed, stressed and heading toward burnout. Who wants to live that way?!? NOBODY! In this episode, stress expert Rosa Castano shares how you can identify, address and overcome your chronic stress and create a stronger foundation of wellness for yourself. Rosa is a certified meditation, mindfulness and movement teacher. She combined her extensive background in international sales and start-ups to create stress management how-to's for companies and teaches them to overwhelmed employees. She's bringing her best tips and how-to's to help you enhance your well-being and prevent burnout. It's an episode you'll be grateful for - where you remind yourself to STRESS LESS.

Our food lacks nutrition. Our bodies can't detoxify. The Earth is sick. So what do we do about it?!? Dr. Christina Rahm has a plan. In this inspiring episode, Dr. Rahm shares how her work in the pharmaceutical industry ignited a passion for healing people naturally. Her work evolved to include an environmental mission, makeup and skincare, a fashion line and a new dream to launch a way to educate people how to ACTUALLY heal their bodies. She's the most educated and accomplished woman you'll likely ever meet, with multiple doctorates and advanced degrees. She owns 14 companies and holds multiple patents - all with one goal in mind: how do we make our bodies and our Earth healthy? Get ready for an enlightening, power-packed episode that sounds like girl-talk between two brainy gal-pals.

This episode will make you think twice before you say 'it's my truth.' Because... what if your truth is wrong? In this episode, host Lauren Lowrey highlights her own incorrect, unconscious and unhealthy belief around a tiny-little-4-letter-word and how she's working to combat it. She teaches you the questions to ask to root-out belief systems that aren't serving you. Plus, learn the science behind changing how you think as Lauren shares how she's applying it to herself.

You can't truly know a person until you meet their therapist (LOL). In this week's episode, host Lauren Lowrey introduces you to Tonia Dixon, LPC -- the woman who helped Lauren heal the trauma of her hospitalizations in August. Hear Tonia describe the latest trends in mental wellness, what has surprised her in the last 5 years of client work, and why she doesn't think athletes get a fair shake. Be INSPIRED to set your boundaries around work and learn to include yourself in your schedule. Tonia has spent decades listening to others but the tables have turned as we listen to her talk about her work helping professional athletes, military members and people of all backgrounds find peace and purpose.

Being a published author 25 times, those on the outside saw J.T. Ellison as the definition of success. All while internally, she was painfully (and repeatedly) struggling with personal tragedy. Driven by a years-long battle with loss and infertility, J.T. channeled that energy into her 25th published book (It's One of Us, released Feb. 21st, 2023) – in what she calls the most important work she's ever done. It's not the typical subject matter you'd expect for a thriller novel - which tracks - because J.T. isn't your typical thriller writer.

Burnout was so real for author and entrepreneur Jessica Zweig it manifested itself in the form of severe depression and anxiety. It cost her her happiness, her peace and nearly her business. That is, until she was able to open herself up to ask for (and receive!) help. A trip to the other side of the world helped Jessica leave behind how she's been programmed to think, act and be – and see the path forward. In this episode, you'll hear how the former hustlin' boss babe shed the skin of overwhelm and stepped into a divinely feminine mode in her life and work.

We rarely celebrate. WHY IS THAT!?! Celebrations aren't just for birthdays and big promotions. They're for marking the moments that MATTER. For AMPstigator founder/host Lauren Lowrey, the launch of this podcast was a date worth marking. This re-launch of Season 3 falls intentionally on AMPstigator's one year anniversary, February 15th. In this solo episode, Lauren details what 2/15 really represents. Part surrender. Part truce. Part celebration. She walks you through the 5 questions to ask yourself to find times in your life that are worth marking. Lauren also shares how she spent her two-month "creative winter" from Dec '22 to Feb '23 and how the time away from AMPstigator became an unexpected opportunity for advocacy work around maternal heart health.

You once loved it dearly, but now you dread doing the very thing that made your heart sing. How do you reverse it? We're glad you asked because that's EXACTLY what today's episode is all about: why your creativity NEEDS A VACAY and how to turn it around. In this solo episode, AMPstigator host Lauren Lowrey walks you through her own experience with burnout and why you need to take a "creative winter," even if its preemptive. She encourages you to explore the seasonality of creativity and how you can take charge of your process by incorporating the wisdom of nature into your yearly rhythms. Creativity should never be a grind. It's sacred. Keep it that way.

Consider this episode your call to action as trademark attorney Aleece McKnight encourages you to STOP fitting the mold. Much of her advice comes from working with creatives to protect their intellectual property. She's also personally struggled to fit into they typical image of an attorney. After years of practicing family law, criminal law, civil litigation, bankruptcy and personal injury, Aleece admitted to herself she hated it all! In 2019 she quit the big law firm to take time away, find silence and re-set. In that time of soul-searching she remembered her love of non-traditional law – particularly working within intellectual property. By the end of the same year, she started a law firm specifically to help and protect the work of entrepreneurs. In this episode Aleece reminds us: you were called to break the mold.

When was the best time in your life? How 'bout the worst time? In this episode, AMPstigator host Lauren Lowrey is put on the hot-seat by two friends and podcast guests Dr. Joyce WIlliams and Keli Alvarez. Together, they turn the series of questions on the host. Press play to hear her answers! Prepare to learn more about Lauren in the first 25 minutes than she's ever shared on this podcast before. This episode also explores the lessons these three women are learning right now as they encourage you 'this, too, shall pass.'

Prepare to gain a new perspective on giving from a powerhouse business woman who's co-founded a tech startup, run a non-profit, served on beaucoup boards and helped name the AMPstigator video podcast. Pat Shea has provided background support for AMPstigator's efforts for the last 15 months, but now she makes her podcast debut with the lesson "How Giving Connects Us." In this episode, Pat teaches you how to create a movement and shares why asking someone for money is actually doing them A FAVOR.

Just because someone has letters behind their name DOES NOT mean they have it all figured out. So, what lesson is a doctoral-level therapist learning right now? In this episode of AMPstigator, Dr. PaQuita Pullen, a therapist-professor-yoga instructor, shares the role scarcity continues to play in her life. You'll also learn how she helps her patients UNLEARN behavior to rediscover purpose. In this LAUGH-OUT-LOUD episode, Dr. P gives real talk about having a clinician of color and what it's like to show up each day from a place of wholeness.

Alyssa Rosenheck is living in a forceful season of non-attachment. Once you listen to this episode you'll understand how it's made her stronger. In this episode of AMPstigator, Alyssa shares her personal evolution from workaholic, to cancer survivor, to acclaimed creative. Her work as a celebrated architectural/interiors photographer provides the metaphors for her own life as she explores the light and shadows in herself. It's been the platform from which she's expanded into titles like 'celebrated speaker' and 'best-selling author.' In this episode, Alyssa reflects on her use of visualization and meditation to show how powerful it's been in her physical healing and how you can use it in your own life. She also shares how she's embracing her divinely feminine wisdom and the role it plays in her work.

How do you define success? And is that definition even yours? In today's solo episode, Host Lauren Lowrey shows why your definition of success is holding you back from PURPOSE. She encourages you to eradicate the word success and instead replace it with a better word that's expansive, uplifting and releases you from others' expectations of you. In the final minutes, Lauren guides you as you uncover your true definition of success. She creates a mindful moment and guided meditation to help you understand your truth around what you're striving for. It's another encouraging episode that will leave you calmer, lighter and ready to reconnect with what you really want.

Grief and loss are powerful emotions, but they can also be your greatest teachers. In today's episode, entrepreneur/wife/mom Katie Radel goes deep on her relationship with death, even calling it her "greatest teacher." Katie grew up working in the family funeral home business, working Visitations, cutting the grass and maintaining the hearse. She saw what death did to families but was most struck by how people were remembered. "I have this strange habit," says Katie. "I read obituaries all the time. To me, it's just another reminder that ‘this life is short,' and ‘what do you want that to say?'” She was confronted with death when someone incredibly close to her died. Katie talks through what she learned through that traumatic loss and what it meant for her failing marriage at the time.

When was the last time you did something that took REAL courage? Something that made you nervous or forced you to trust yourself in a new way? Sometimes courage can mean standing up for what's right. Other times it's more like accepting where you are in the present moment and saying to yourself: I belong here. In this episode, speaker/author/entrepreneur Brittany Cole shares the times she's felt she might not belong and how she found courage to keep going.

How do you handle it when you've been hijacked by your emotions? When we consistently try to not to feel the suckiest of emotions, it sets us up to be completely derailed when one of them takes over. In this episode, AMPstigator Host & Founder Lauren Lowrey talks you through a recent time where she was hijacked by fear, how she regained control and the questions she asked herself to find the true source of the emotion.

If you're burning yourself out from constant & punishing work, this episode is for you. Bestselling author Rea Frey is here to teach you a lesson about your value. Girlfriend, you have nothing to prove. Rea's written 9 books and co-authored/ghost-written another 50 books. Her company Writeway has also shepherded another 100 books to publishing in the last 2 years. She's been SOOO busy. But she's standing on her soap box teaching the lesson she's had to recently learn: she doesn't have to do anything to prove anything to anybody. No one determines her value. Just her. In this episode, Rea hammers the importance of getting out of your head and into your body, and how to down-regulate your system with one simple decision. Plus(!!!), she introduces us to primal screaming: the way she handles her sacred feminine rage. Did you know this was a thing?!?

Have something you want to do but you're too scared to jump? JUST GO FOR IT! That's the lesson in today's episode with (soon-to-be) Captain Emily Kinzer Crews. Emily was a former TV News Anchor in Sarasota, FL who fell in love with boat life when she moved to Florida in 2019. By 2021 she had quit her job with a plan to sail the world with her soon-to-be husband. The story that follows is equal parts freaking-unbelievable and awe-inspiring.

Female friendships aren't a luxury. They're a necessity. In this AMPstigator episode, Host Lauren Lowrey enlists the help of two of her closest friends in Nashville to talk candidly about cultivating deep female friendships. The women sip some bubbly while getting real about the struggles of cultivating deep, life-giving friendships, and how they support each other through life's hardest times. If your friendships just aren't doing it for you, these three women discuss what should be present in every supportive friendship in a light-hearted, LOL-type-way. Together they explore WHAT'S THE LESSON?

In this Season 3 Premier, Founder/Host Lauren Lowrey explores the life-altering events of August 2022 and how three hospitalizations caused her to deeply understand the focus of Season 3: What's the lesson here? In this episode Lauren details how an emergency appendectomy sidelined her, but surgery complications deemed "exceedingly rare" by her care team forced her to deal with past traumas and the pain of new scars. She covers the life lesson that got her out of the hospital and back to normal life.

Get ready for Season 3! In this episode Lauren shares with you what you what's totally new in AMPstigator Season 3 (a new location, new focus, new conversations) as it shifts from "finding purpose" to a deeper connection of wisdom shared between women.

When life is craaazy or a major setback is put in your path, you have a few options on how you react. You can freak the -eff- out (not advisable). You can decide you're the victim (also, not advisable). OR you can just flow. In this shorty Lauren-only episode, the AMPstigator herself shares a life-lesson she's learning in real time: how to flow. Too often we get sidelined by struggle. We give up! In this episode, Lauren encourages you to see setbacks as opportunities to pause, reevaluate and move on. She also details when to call in reinforcements in the form of therapists and friends. BONUS: Lauren shares how to sign up for a special August event, Mom's Night Out: Parenting to Inspire Purpose with AMPstigator guest and Holistic Life Coach, Clara Belden.

What does it look like to blaze a new path? To be so confident in who you are and what you bring that you don't mess with pretense or attempt to impress anyone. That's Rhett Power, a world-renown business coach, speaker, best-selling author, podcast host, entrepreneur and CEO of Accountability Inc. He's kind of a big deal. But he doesn't let on. Even after all the awards, the major international stages and all the success, Rhett tells Lauren Lowrey, he only just recently discovered his purpose: to help leaders be accountable, and not just in business, but in life!

What could you accomplish if someone believed in you? Maybe you could go faster or further? Or maybe a person's belief is the one thing you needed to begin the journey toward a new phase in life. Amanda Banks is your person. She believes in people, opens the door for them and encourages them along the way. As CEO of Sports to Suits, a company using technology to develop a workforce development solution for collegiate and professional athletes, Amanda connects deeply with people. She's a mom, entrepreneur and student of life. In this episode we dig into her past as a competitive child gymnast and how it served as the root of her perfectionism problem, but it also gave her the basis of understanding to launch her new company that serves the athletic community.

What if the worst thing that ever happened to you turned out to be the best thing? Consistently, the people on AMPstigator who've discussed finding purpose say, for them, it came after some level of pain. But the choices they made in spite of the pain helped them overcome negativity, stress, and disillusionment. Let's be real, life ain't all butterflies and roses, so in this episode we talk about why you have to find the strength to transform pain into purpose and focus on ONE VERY POWERFUL way to do that: SHOWING GRATITUDE. #FindTheGift

Are you human? Do you get hungry?If you answered ‘yes' to those questions, then you can be a part of Kirbee Miller's events mixing culinary with good conversation. As a former hospital administrator with 3 science-based degrees, Kirbee is analytical. A few years ago, she decided to follow the entrepreneurial undercurrent that she felt was pushing her to food. Her delicious and accessible popcorn (of all things) was what garnered the most attention and even ended up in Grammy swag bags for attendees. A tragic car accident in 2019 rendered her mom paralyzed and unable to speak. Kirbee left her full-time hospital job and became her mom's full-time caregiver. All the while, Kirbee has maintained her drive to be an entrepreneur, pursuing her purpose as a nourisher to people who need to be fed physically and spiritually.

Frank Castellano is singular. He's a 6th generation psychic medium who maintains a 16-month wait for readings in Nashville. He was 4 years old the first time he remembers having abilities and was counseled through how to use them by a relative with the same gifts. Learn more about how his gifts work by going here. In Part 2, we delve deeper into spirituality and how to weave it into everyday life. We also talk about how to heal your energy and shedding toxicity in our lives. You can't help but love the guy and feel so supported in every conversation with him. During this episode, you'll get a clearer sense why his episode is named "The Healer," because he brings so much closure to wounds of the past. He has a way of making everyone happy, even on their worst day.

How tightly do you cling to your labels? In this episode of AMPstigator, Clara Belden (certified holistic life coach) goes into detail about how labels keep us from connecting with our authentic selves. Her episode is called "The Untitled" because of the work she's done to define her own life authentically -apart from labels- and how she helps others do the same. "You don't have to have a severe trauma to work on yourself," says Belden who keeps therapists, life coaches, energy and nutrition coaches on staff.

Research is pretty clear about the benefits to being inspired: more creativity, optimism, competence, self-esteem and FLOW. Inspiration is even a predictor for how many U.S. patents someone holds. But inspiration is elusive and happens spur-of-the-moment. So, how can you lay the foundation to be inspired? In this episode, Lauren details:[2:59] The three components of inspiration and what sparks the difference between something you're inspired by versus inspired to do. She also details how inspirational thought transcends ordinary thought and motivates you to act. [11:08] Lauren goes in-depth on the four things that come before inspiration, as it's understood in psychological research: openness to experiences, work mastery, small accomplishments and exposure to inspiring role models. She helps you understand how you can use those things to foster more inspiration. Plus, she details a bonus 5th signifier for inspiration she's noticed in her own life.[20:24] Throughout the episode, you'll hear the benefits of inspiration, plus:[6:58] A BONUS! Lauren does a mini-meditation for you to remember your most recent inspiration and identify what triggered it. Chapters:0:00 - Intro2:59 - Researching inspiration & the 3 Components5:23 - Active and passive inspiration6:58 - Inspiration meditation8:43 - The Inspiration Scale (IS)11:08 - (How to be inspired) Openness to experiences12:55 - (How to be inspired) Work mastery 17:01 - (How to be inspired) The final 218:40 - (How to be inspired) Lauren's bonus 5th predictor20:24 - Benefits of Inspiration23:05 - Research Recap For Lauren's research and show notes, email her at Lauren@AMPstigator.comSign up for weekly emails at www.AMPstigator.com

How do you overcome bankruptcy, ego, greed and a victim-mindset? Former NFL Offensive Lineman, Marques Ogden knows how. He went from the National Football League to nationally-acclaimed speaker and coach. But It's the journey in between the two titles that's created the man. After his 5 years in the NFL, he built a multi-million dollar company and lost it all through greed and ego. He filed bankruptcy, lost his business, his home, his car, his money – became a janitor - and embarked on a gut-wrenching journey to build everything back up again to find the other side of success. In this episode, Marques shares his personal story of overcoming shortcomings and building a business based on coaching, public speaking, podcasting and writing. His story brings inspiration and forces a hard look in the mirror about where we're failing and how commitment and determination can turn it around.

This week is all about setting intentions. In this episode we cover three important facets of intentions:-what intentions are-what intentions are not-how to set intentionsLauren also details how to set intentions every day and scale them to cover what you want to focus on for months at a time - or until you've completed what you set out to do. "Setting intentions is an important lesson in connecting with your values and understanding that doing inner work on yourself can impact your ability to live a life you dream of," says Lauren. This episode is for you if:-You need help in understanding the power of intentions-You've never really understood intentions-You want examples of how Lauren sets intentions Chapters2:22 - Intention is not expectation4:41 - Intention is not assumption6:31 - So what is intention?7:17 - The link between intention and purpose10:27 - Intention is born from what you value12:56 - Your intention is an arrow16:48 - How to use intentions every day20:48 - Lauren's current seasonal intention

Prof. Kelly Goldsmith, PhD is a brilliant researcher in the space of marketing and human behavior. She was the person who helped America understand why we were hoarding toilet paper at the start of the pandemic. It was her work to understand scarcity that helped people laugh at themselves in the midst of a stressful situation that was out of their control. In this episode of AMPstigator, we talk through what the research says about setting goals, finding happiness and living with perceived scarcity. Goldsmith explains how to overcome our human nature to better pursue a life with more meaning and purpose. PLUS! We delve into her 24-day stint on Survivor and her strategies for making it on and staying on the show. This episode is for you if: - You love witty fast-talkers with high IQ's (Kelly is GOLD for this) - You geek-out over research on human behavior - You want to better understand why you never reach your goals - You want to understand why you're afraid to take the leap and live with purpose - You want to hear about Kelly's stint on Survivor What's in this episode?Prof. Kelly Goldsmith, PhD brings her 20+ years of research into bite-sized and simple ideas that help you understand human behavior and better harness it to live a life with purpose. We start by discussing goals and why we usually don't meet them: we have unrealistic timelines, we don't make them quantifiable, and we just give up. We also talk about happiness - more specifically - why we don't try to be happy. Most people perceive happiness as something others can impact. When people perceive their level of happiness as something they can control, their overall measure of happiness improves. Goldsmith specializes in scarcity - which is how consumers respond to not having enough. In this episode of AMPstigator, she applies her research in scarcity to a person's fear of changing their lives or living with purpose. She also discusses her 24-day stint on Survivor Season 3. Her account of getting on the show is laugh-out-loud funny and what it taught her about herself and others.

If we're disillusioned and disenchanted in life, what the heck do we do? Shannon Schottler specializes in getting people out of the "mucky middles" (as she calls it) and into a life that's suited for their purpose. Shannon is a career transition coach, but she walks people through the deep inner work that has to be done BEFORE a major transition out of a career that isn't in your calling. Shannon shines the light into the places of ourselves we don't otherwise know how to explore and she does it by reconnecting people with their bodies. She calls it embodied sensation - which is essentially a somatic experience. Shannon also talks at length about her foster care journey, which took four years to get a child placed in her home. Her, now adopted, daughter is 7 years old and has been the muse in much of Shannon's work to (re)learn rest and play. She brings those lessons to her clients, too, as she teaches self-compassion and devotion. This episode is for you if: -You've felt stuck for a while and know you need a change-You don't have the slightest clue how to start transitioning out of something that isn't right for you-You're really into somatic experience and conscious sensation-You're on a foster journey and need encouragement What's in this episode?Why is resting so hard for Americans? What do we do if we need to transition but have no idea where to start?Shannon is full of wisdom on the topics of transition and helps explain what role rest plays in finding the right answers for yourself. You'll hear her prescription for lifting the fog of indecision in your life. We also talk at length about reconnecting people to their bodies and how we disconnected from those somatic messages in the first place. Shannon also is very forthcoming about grief and loss and the ridiculous corporate path that got her into this work to begin with.

Let me ask you a question: What does your self-talk sound like? Mine sounds like questions. Did I eat vegetables today?When will I have time to go to that?What's the right way to do this? The question about my self-talk is what inspired today's episode (the first Lauren-only iteration of AMPstigator). It was a question I was asked recently while being interviewed on another podcast. If you've been following along for a while, you know I do long-form one-on-one interviews focused on wisdom-sharing, soul-baring conversations that help you connect deeper with purpose. This episode is no different as I discuss what role questions played in my own search for purpose and what questions you should be asking yourself on your path to fulfillment. This episode is for you if: -You find yourself feeling unhappy or unfulfilled but you aren't quite sure where to start-Your self-talk needs an overhaul and you want suggestions -You just freaking love Lauren and you want more of her story-You want to get to know Lauren and the journey of how she came to create AMPstigator What's in this episode? This episode begins with Lauren describing the difficulty in recording this episode, both because she's living in a remodel and also because she's been coached for 16 years not to insert herself into the story. She tells several instances related to her role as a news anchor where she's been encouraged to keep herself out of it.Lauren discusses the role questions play in deepening self-awareness during transition. She tells her own personal story of transition and the questions she asked herself in the process of discovering what would give her life meaning.Lauren closes with the questions you should be asking yourself to deepen your awareness and refine your path to purpose.

To many people, Dr. Alex Jahangir was the face of COVID in Nashville. He was the one who said “stay at home” or “wear a mask” and he faced hostility for it. But despite any ideas you have about his upbringing or his privilege, he's endured the kind of life-defining hardship most of us will never understand. At 6 years old, his family abandoned their life on the other side of the world when war made them refugees. He came to America speaking zero English and was bullied for his heritage and his real name (which is Amir, not Alex). Despite it all, he's devoted his life to improving his community through his work as a trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt Health since 2009. This episode is for you if: -You want to understand the man behind the mask -You're interested in how he's devoted his life to Nashville and his family -You already love Dr. Alex Jahangir and you want to hear about the experiences that made him who he is What's in this episode? In this episode, you'll learn about Dr. Alex Jahangir's commitment to his role as an orthopaedic trauma surgeon with a specialty in saving limbs. He downplays his role with humility, using his phrase "don't believe the hype." Dr. Jahangir talks at length about being an immigrant, moving to the US at age 6 to escape the Iran-Iraq war in 1984. His parents gave up everything to give Alex and his brother a better life. Dr. J describes being bullied and doing everything he can to honor his parents and the sacrifice they made. In this episode, he also covers how he decompresses from his most challenging days, clinically, and the weight he felt in March 2020 as he announced the city was putting into place a "Safer at Home" order which would shut down most in-person operations. He also covers the physical response people had to that order. We end the episode with everyone's favorite AMPstigator game, Best Time/Worst Time where we cover some life defining moments and how he's changed just since COVID.