Podcasts about love your story

Episode 284: Are Anger and Shame the Root of Depression and Anxiety? - Interview Bronwyn SchweigerdtDo you suffer from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, even psychosis? My guest today, Brownwyn Schweigerdt may be the most evocative psychotherapist you've ever heard. Instead of fixing peoples messes, her goal is to elicit the feelings we're most ashamed to have, such as hatred, betrayal, anger, shame. She knows that even though feelings are invisible they don't evaporate - instead they store away in our bodies when we disown them. These hidden feelings haunt us and cause mental illness until we externalize them into words… so stay tune and let's have some words with Bronwyn.Bronwyn has a masters degree in counseling and another in nutritions She is a public speaker, and author and licensed psychotherapist. I'm excited to have her on the show as depression and anxiety have shown up in my kids and I'm always looking for answers. So…let's get right down to talking about this topic of how feelings buried alive cause us some serious harm.Tune in to hear my discussion with Bronwyn and to hear us discuss questions like:Let's start with your story. What in your life brought you to want to specialize in this career, this topic?Tell us about this idea of externalizing our feelings into words and the best ways to do that and not alienate the world.You believe that most types of therapies and medications don't work for depression and anxiety, let's hear about that. There are a lot of people on meds.What role does shame play in our lives?How do we raise resilient children, and how do we help older children that may already suffer with some of these issues like depression and anxiety?Find Bronwyn:Podcast: Angry at the Right ThingsYears ago - like really - 20-30 years ago, I read a book called Feelings Buried Alive Never Die. It became one of my go-to favorites because it explained so many things to me about myself. Things I didn't understand about me. Bronwyn's message is very much the same. If we bury feelings they show up in our body in different ways - illnesses, aches, weakness, stuff just not working right. Because our bodies and minds are so closely connected, I believe this is very likely true. I don't think it's the absolute cause for all that ails us, but I do believe that it effects us. Mental and physical are intertwined. As we create our best life stories on purpose we are always needing to process and grow from the emotions and the messiness that life generates. Understanding how to do this, like the things we've talked about today can be crucial to making changes that bless our lives, our minds, our hearts.As we close I want to send my love and best wishes to all the listeners of the LYS podcast. I am getting ready to take a sabbatical from the show and I want to thank all the editors, listeners, supporters and people who have learned to love their story on our 8 year journey together. Thanks for being here. We'll be back in the saddle in no time at all, but for now: Live your best life with intention and keep coming back to the Love Your Story library. All the shows will still be available at www.LoveyourStorypodcast.com. There are almost 300 incredible episodes with incredible people, incredible stories that shine a light for the rest of us on how to navigate tough things, and incredible life hacks. Keep using the episodes. There is so much good to keep listening to! It's all still here. Enjoy and happy travels on your life adventure.

Episode 283: You Must Be Present to Win - RevisitedJoin us in this audio remastering of one of our earliest episodes. I quote May Swenson, share my experience in the moon-soaked darkness of the Teton mountains in Wyoming, and we talk about how being present to our senses...slowing down just enough to tune into our experience with all it's color, texture, and noise, makes all the difference in living a good life.Thank you for being a listener of the Love Your Story podcast.

Episode 281: Spiritual AlchemyFinding Inner Peace and Joy Interview Sohale SizarWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast! Today we're here for a dose of inner peace. Isn't that what we're all searching for? Some days we may have a taste, some days it's a million miles away. Today Sohale Sizar, the founder of Soul, with the mission to illuminate the daily practice of gratitude for his rapidly growing online community, - which I”m a part of - is here and we're talking about the practice of spiritual alchemy, knowing ourselves, and finding that illusive inner peace and joy. Stay tuned. We have something for you.LYS QuipSohale Sizar has been an entrepreneur since the age of nine with fifteen years of dedicated practice in meditation and gratitude. Sohale translated his experiences into earning a Stanford MBA and building ventures spanning non-profit charities, education, and consumer technology. Sohale is now an entrepreneur on a mission to facilitate access to one's inner light. - Let's find that inner light.Sohale, thank you for being here today.Join us on the audio program to hear our discussion about thing like this:Tell us your story - usually we all have something happen in our lives that helps us learn or understand a thing better, and then we often want to share it. First - How did you get to this place, Second - what is your mission, and Third - how do you do it? What is spiritual alchemy?What do you think creates inner peace?What is an “inner light”?What sorts of ways do you suggest we “get to know ourselves?”Thanks for being here today. I know your time is precious and we honor the time you spend with us. Join us in two weeks for a Quick Chat - One Inspirational Idea in 15 minutes or less. And please, share this episode - it's super easy to do - just send a link to someone you know. It's a great way to share the love and make the world better.The Love Your Story podcast will be taking a break toward the end of 2024. Thanks for being a part of our audience. I'd love to hear from you about your favorite episode or what you've enjoyed about the show. lorijlee@msn.comHave a great week living your life on purpose.Finding Sohale Sizar:Website: https://www.bringsoul.life/ , https://www.sohale.org/aboutFacebook:

Episode 279: Life By Design: The Power of Positive Habits - Interview Amy KempWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I'm your host Lori Lee.Can we agree that our thought habits basically build our worlds? How small we stay, how big we become, what we allow, what we don't allow, how much we sacrifice, how hard money is to come by, etc. etc. these type of thought habits are the spaces we function from. In today's show we are talking about thought habits, with the expert Amy Kemp, author of “I See You.”Stay tuned for my in-depth conversation with this certified Habit Finder coach who has worked with literally hundreds to help people see how our habits impact our lives and how we can replace unhealthy thought habits with more healthy ones.Amy Kemp not only coaches, but she also gives workshops, speaks on stage, and has now released her new book: I See You. I'm excited to sit with Amy to learn and share as we talk about this powerful piece of our lives - our habits. So let's hop right in.Amy, Welcome to the show.Please join us on the audio program to hear our discussion about the following:At the start of your book you share this wonderful story of meeting with a woman for the first time, a woman who, as you had coffee shared her career path, her accolades, her successes. A woman who looked to have everything together. When she asked why you had asked her to lunch, you said, “Because I see you. Because I really see you.” Which brought the woman to tears. - WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY “I REALLY SEE YOU?'What does a certified Habit Finder Coach do?What are some of the most oft seen habits you see that do not serve people?What habits do you replace those with?Boundaries - Let's talk about thought habits and boundaries. (Let her speak) In your book you quote Prentis Hemphill and her definition, “Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.”In your book you ask a questions, “Wht if everything we want and are trying to create depends on only 1 thing: how connected we are to the source from which all things come?Do you believe this and why?Let's get back to habits - If you had one tool that you have seen really make a difference in helping people realize which habits are holding them back what would it be? How do we change unhealthy habit? Tell us the story of “Respect the mile.) Share with us what you have to offer: your coaching, your book, where listeners can find you.How to find Amy Kemp and the Habit Finder Tool:Website: Amylynnkemp.comInsta: @amykempincEmail: amy@amylynnkemp.com Often times our habits are something we aren't even aware of. I certainly do not believe I am aware of all of mine. In fact I am aware of very few of mine. I hope our conversation with Amy Kemp, today, has given you a gentle awareness - a reminder of how important it is to understand the habits - THE AUTOPILOT - we are allowing to run our lives, to create our worlds. To live intentionally - which is what this show is all about - is to be aware, and to make choices, actively.Blessings to you and yours. May you see your habits as they truly are and use your power to shift what you wish to shift, to respect the mile you are currently running. Until the next show - Live beautifully and with heart. See you in two weeks.

Episode 277: Tips for Successfully Parenting Adult Children: Interview - Emily and Erik OrtonHow to get a Seat on your Adult Kids' Board of Directors.Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast! I'm your host Lori Lee and today we are talking about the complexity and balance of interacting with and influencing our adult children.My guests today are Emily and Erik Orton, You'll remember them from Episode 133 - Seven at Sea, where we talked about the year they took their 5 kids and lived on a sail boat.This was one of my all-time favorite episodes because I so loved the things Erik and Emily shared.I'm very excited to have them back on the show! But I'm also excited because I'm personally having a hard time getting on the board of directors for my adult kids - or in other words, I'm not having a great deal of success having any influence with my adult children. How do they still think I have nothing to share with them….???? What am I doing wrong?Stay tuned as we get to talk shop with Erik and Emily as they share their expertise they have developed and share through their business The Awesome Factory.Erik + Emily Orton - Erik is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer. Emily is an educator, author and public speaker. Their life design framework mutes fear and accelerates growth. They are parents to five kids raised in Manhattan, where Erik worked on such shows as Wicked, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. When their kids were 6-16 years old, Erik and Emily bootstrapped life aboard a fixer upper sailboat in the Caribbean. They sailed as a family from St. Martin back to New York City. Their memoir about the experience (Seven at Sea) is a New York Times Top 10 Travel book. After life on the boat, they continued to travel the world with their children through Europe, the South Pacific, Africa, and across North and South America in planes, trains, boats and vans. They are the co-founders of The Awesome Factory, a coaching and travel adventure company that leads retreats and sailing adventures all over the world.Emily and Erik - Welcome back to Love Your Story!TUNE INTO THE AUDIO DISCUSSION TO HEAR THE THOUGHTS ON THESE AND OTHER IDEAS:Lets start with your story. That introduction gave everyone a super quick look at the adventures of your past decade, but I'd love to have you share some of the highlights you've had with your family - particularly those that have helped you build relationship with them in a way that they now give you a place on their board of directors.You coach and direct a great deal regarding empty nesters and dealing with adult children. How did you metamorphose into this space of expertise?Let's jump right in - I attended an entire evening presentation on this topic, with you, so I know there is lots to talk about. How do we get on our adult kids' board of directors?What kinds of things do you have coming up and where can people find you?Finding the Ortons:Here is the link to The 100 Year Grid: https://www.theawesomefactory.nyc/100They tell all about how to use it in episode 18 of their podcast - What Could Go Right?The 100 Year Grid – How to Visualize Your Whole Life on 1 Sheet of Paper

Episode 275: Everything They Never Taught Us in School about Money - Interview Kristen WonchWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I'm your host Lori Lee.Last year one of the favorite episodes was my interview with Dr. Amanda the money doctor. Money is a really big part of our lives, so of course people want to learn and de-mistify how to get it, how to grow it, how to remove blocks to it.So 2024 delivers as well. Today Kristen Wonch, a wizard with numbers and one of a handful of women to land a highly coveted role of structuring multi million dollar deals as a commodities trader, is here on the show to talk with us about choosing with intention the life we want and then building the numbers around it. Her Money Mastery Method is the world's first to teach women to master the art of earning efficiently, spending smart and investing intentionally, while rewiring subconscious money beliefs from the ground up. That's all big stuff. So, stay tuned and get richer.Kristien - Welcome to the LYS PodcastJoin us on the audio to listen to our discussion on topics like:You went from $100,000 in debt to being a global money coach. Can we start with your story about how you turned that around?Let's talk about creating our life on purpose - money is often a big part of that. How do you coach someone through this process?What about this process where you determine the life you desire and then build the numbers around it?What is an unbudget?Let's talk money blocks. How do you figure out if you have money blocks and what they are?What do you do with them once you've identified them?What are the top 3 things you advise women to do in their financial lives?Find Kristen Wonch at:Free Investor Secrets Revealed Workshop: https://www.kristenwonch.com/investor-secretsKristen@kristenwonch.com1.

Episode 274: Quick Chat - Every Problem is a Thought ProblemWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I'm your host Lori Lee and today you are here for a Quick Chat - that's one inspirational idea in 15 minutes or less.Today chat is: Every Problem is a thought problem. It's a bold statement. But a true one. And one that sets us free. One that puts us in control, most of the time.So stay tuned as we discuss how much power ACTUALLY have, and how to solve the problems.Since you are a listener of the Love Your Story podcast I'm going to make the assumption that we are on the same page on the topic of taking responsibility for the pivotal role our thoughts play in shaping our realities. Basically - our thoughts OR stories that we create in our minds create our realities - are we on the same page there? There are 7 Billion realities going on out there…Ok. With that said, I want to start out with the quote by Byron Katie. She says, “It's not the problem that causes our suffering; it's our thinking about the problem.”In other words, “Every problem is a thought problem.”Let's put me in the hot seat. 2023 was a rough year for Realtors and lenders. The higher interest rates meant that for a great many of us the clients buying and selling slowed down. I primarily blamed my slow year on this situation, but here's another angle - a slower year allowed me to travel more. It gave me more time to reach out and renew and develop relationships with my data base - my past clients. Which part do I want to focus on? Was it a problem or an opportunity? Problems don't have to stay problems, they can become opportunities if we choose to shift our thoughts.In the realm of personal development and self reflection this idea invites us to scrutinize the nature of our challenges by recognizing the subjective nature of them. By understanding and claiming that situations and ideas only hold the power we allow them to hold. Another example - if I come from a family where being a part of a certain religion is tantamount to being right with God and the world, then if I step away from that religion my social construct - family, friends, and members of that congregation may collapse around me, or cause people pain. On the other hand, if there is an acceptance among those people that everyone find their own way in the world, in a way that each individual feels is best for them, then the suffering ceases to happen. Or, if respect is really important to me, as it is to most type A personalities and I am disrespected, I will/can feel a lot of resentment, anger, frustration, maybe even embarrassment about this, whereas someone for whom that is not an important thing may hardly notice it, or may not feel disrespected in a similar situation. In other words - situations are subjective. Problems are subjective.My mother used to get really upset when her family parties didn't unfold as she had expected - her expectations weren't met and she'd often cry before the night was through - she learned to let go of those expectations and go with the flow as the years went by, but this is a good example of a person creating pain for themselves and then learning how to adjust their thoughts in a way that created less pain for them.Now let's combine this with the idea that “everything happens for me, not to me.” With the combination of these two ideas a powerful shift occurs. A shift that can redefine the way we navigate life's complexities.Katie's assertion is that our thoughts about our circumstances themselves contribute more to our issues than do the circumstances themselves.This is an important thing to realize...

Episode 273: The Road to More Confidence - Interview Christina LecuyerWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast, I'm your host Lori Lee.Have you ever met someone that brimmed with confidence? I can tell you that there is an energy behind confidence. There is a way you hold yourself, a mindset of expectation that doors will open for you, a presence that actually opens those doors.There are so many powerful concepts - gratitude, love, allowing, accountability - but today we're talking about confidence. I'm excited about this because we haven't talked about confidence before, been coached in confidence before and WE DON'T WANT TO SHORT CHANGE THIS INCREDIBLE MINDSET.Today I have Chrstina Lecuyer on the show - Voted one of the top Confidence coaches, this former professional golfer and TV host now works with an extensive ist of cientele from around the world. . Tune into the audio program for a little coaching. What does confidence look like? How do we get it if we don't have it? Where do we start and how do we use it?Confidence is defined as a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.Our guest today - Christina, battled low self-confidence, an eating disorder, and tying her worth to external validation, Christina was able to turn her life around to create her dream life and a multi six figure business. She uses the same tools she used for herself to help hundreds of clients to create their own profit and success. Through her signature “Decision, Faith & Action” framework clients have not only brought their own dream life into reality, but many have gone on to create multi six and seven figure businesses in the process. I guess we can tie confidence in ourselves to success in business, but I think it propeturates success in all areas of our lives. Let's see what Christina says. Join the audio to hear our conversation about:Christina's story: Who were you when you were battling with this low self-esteem and what caused the eating disorder, and how did you evolve and transition out of that?Let's talk about why confidence is important.Isn't this a topic almost everyone could use a little coaching in?If you don't feel confident in yourself? If you're one of those who hugs the walls, or doesn't risk, or prays nothing bad will happen because you may crumble under it….how do you start to step into more confidence? Maybe give us a little coaching here: What are some of the stories of people you've coached, some of the transformations you've seen?To find Christina:christina@christinalecuyer.comwww.christinalecuyer.com1 on 1 Confidence coaching - You're One Decision Away from the Life of your Dreams.Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”I share this quote because if you haven't stopped to consider all the tough stuff you've navigated, do. Stop and think about it, and realize that when the tough stuff comes along, you make it through. You've done it before, you can do it again. This recognition builds confidence in our resiliency, which helps us live with less fear.And one more quote: Dale Carnegie said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get...

Episode 270: How to Stop Self Sabotage - Interview Thais GibsonWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Have you ever self sabotaged? Are you aware of your own limiting beliefs?Today, Thais Gibson, the founder of the Personal Development School and I are going to talk in detail - get schooled on these topics. This is really cool to get to talk with Thais about this because this Ph.D. candidate has a decade of experience helping over 30K clients, and her private practice has a 2 year waiting list, so getting to have this one-on-one class discussion with her is lit. Tune into the audio program to start dissecting self sabotage and limiting beliefs with the head teacher from the Personal Development School.Thais Gibson - is certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, in Neuro-linguistic programming, in Somatic experiencing (which is a form of therapy aimed at treating trauma and stress related disorders) She has certificates in a bunch of other therapy and self development disciplines as well…13 in total I believe… and she has 38 million views on social media. I started following her on Instagram and it's fun to watch her great educational clips as she discusses mental health ideas. Thais….Let's bring that to my audience.Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast Thais….Join us on the audio to hear our conversation about:How did you get into this work? - What's your story?Can we talk about self sabotage? What does that look like? What do you know about it? What do we need to know to keep ourselves from doing it? Do you have success stories that show us how to overcome this?I've been trying to recognize my own limiting beliefs. How do we discover what our limiting beliefs are? What do we do with them once we recognize them? Those are hard things to change, usually really ironed in strong with our subconscious.Let's talk about the subconscious…how do we reprogram deeply help beliefs that are holding us back? Do you have success stories about this?Tell us about the school and what you do there?Thanks for being her with us today. I hope you've found just one ah-ha or idea that helps you on your journey, or inspires you to reach out to Thais, or follow her on Instagram so you can keep learning to navigate your mental health.How to contact Thais Gibson:She's big on Instagram: @thepersonaldevelopmentschoolYou Tube: @thepersonaldevelopmentschoolFacebook: @thepersonaldevelopmentschool Have fun building your best life story on purpose!

Episode 268: What is Success? Interview John PlyWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. John Ply is a successful business man who started his own company - twice - and made millions. His father - Ziggy - was a Polish immigrant who was captured by the Germans in WWII and survived the horrors of a POW camp and then moved to America with nothing but the clothes on his back. Both men personify different types of success, and on today's show John Ply joins me to share stories and lessons learned from both lives. Stay tuned as we talk about stories of his father turning in a lost $20 bill when it would have paid his mortgage for a month, or when he refused to shoot a woman the Germans in the POW camp demanded he kill or be killed. John Ply has taken the stories of his father and the things he learned from him and written a book about both of their lives. The book is called YOU CAN BE THE BEST.Today John is here with me and we are going to share stories and some beautiful ideas for successful living. John, welcome to the LYS podcast.Tune into the audio to hear our conversation with topics like:A. Tell us all about you - your story - Let me give you a jumping off point: In one of the first chapters of the book you have a section entitled “You never know where becoming the best is going to take you.” I love this idea of doing the best you can do at anything you try and stirring that in with the magic of the unknown - how that translates into opportunity. So lets start in the summer after 8th grade….B. Let's talk about “Being the Best You.”I loved how you said, “Be the best “you” and everything else tens to take care of itself.”C. There are so many culturally dictated ideas of success. Let's talk about a couple different things here: 1. Our own individual definitions of success 2. What your definition of success is. 3. What did you learn about success from Ziggy?D. Ziggy - Your favorite stories about him and what he taught you.E. You have a concept called “The Clubs of Success” Will you run through those for us?To find John or get his book:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-ply-author-332449270/Amazon: https://geni.us/youcanbethebest In his book John says, “ America has been called the land of opportunity, but the thing about opportunity is that it comes down to choices. My father eded up having an incredible life in America because he built that life.”There are so many powerful concepts in the book, and I'll just end with this one: Ziggy came with nothing but a lot of trauma, a great work ethic, and a sense of morals and ethics. Despite having come from undoubtedly experiencing horrors in that war and POW camp he made choice after choice...

Episode 266: The Beautiful Life Designer Interview Edwina Murphy DoomerWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast! I'm your host Lori Lee.I'm reading a book called Change It Up. The entire premise of the book is a comparison of how scared we get of change, but also how much we need novelty and how refreshed we are by changes we choose - new hair cut, wearing a new color, going to a place you've never been, and even sometimes the shifts that happen after a divorce or or a loss. In the moment it's a struggle, but many times it's those moments of change, even loss that propel us into some of our best and healthiest paths. Stay tuned for my talk with Edwina Murphy Droomer, the great women empowerment coach, we'll hear her story of how divorce was the cross-roads to greater things and then we'll talk about creating a higher purpose master plan.Are you ready to create a life you love living?Like many women, Edwina's metamorphosis sprung from her darkest hour as a suddenly single, broke mother with four children. With no choice but to sit firmly in the driver's seat of her life, Edwina set about taking back control of creating the life she dreamed of living. Now, as a Professional Interviewer and Women's Coach, Edwina is a powerhouse in the fields of vision building and transformation. She has supported thousands of women to create an exciting vision for the health, wealth, time and love they crave and then provides the support and accountability to bring that vision to life.Join the audio program to hear:Edwina's story of growing up - as an adult, and learning to source better energy and beautiful results.She said, "Like many women, I unlocked my strength and moxie during the darkest hours (weeks, months, year) following the breakdown of my first marriage and becoming a suddenly single, broke mum with four small children. For the first three and a half decades of my life, I was on a mission to prove myself worthy. Worthy of what I was never quite sure of, however, at its core was wanting to feel worthy of love and belonging.All the while raising four kids as a single mum and running a flower farm. But still, I suffered from not enough syndrome.Then one day, while sitting on my veranda taking photos of my children, I had a ‘what the heck moment'. Looking at my vibrant, happy, beautiful kids running around amongst the roses on our flower farm, it dawned on me…I did this. ME! I made this beautiful life for us.The proof was in front of my eyes. It is not about comparison or perfection; it is simply about doing the best I can with what I know, being grateful for the life I have now, and striving to grow into all I can be.That shift in mindset was the start of a whole new life."Join us as we talk about braking through the worthiness barrier, seeing how powerful you are, and how shifting your perception of self changes what you can do. What do you want women to understand about themselves?I love the part where we talk about taking responsibility and how an empowered human takes 100% responsibility.This beautiful life designer shows us how she did it and shares some of the most important insights she shares with her clients.Conclusion: On Edwina's website there is a quote that is so compassionate. It...

Episode 265: Quick Chat - Small Steps Big Wins with Sue SallerWelcome to the Love Your Story Podcast. I'm your host Lori Lee and you're here today for a Quick Chat. That's one great inspirational idea in 15 minutes or less. Today's show is called Small Steps Big Wins. Stay tuned for a quickie discussion with Sue Saller, host of the Small Steps Big Wins podcast as we explore the idea of giving yourself a break because, as Van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”Tune into the audio program to hear Lori and Sue talk about ideas like:Lives are transformed one decision and one conversation at a time. You can't always see the difference you're making.Keep getting up and doing the little things. They make a difference.Sometimes you can only see one step ahead.Thanks to Sue Saller, host of the Small Steps Big Wins podcast. You can tune into her show wherever you listen to podcasts.Hope this quick thought helps you lighten up on yourself as you go about the daily good you do! You're doing bigger things than you know. Hit up the Love Your Story podcast website - www.loveyourstorypodcast.com and leave me a voicemail. There is a graphic of a little microphone at the bottom of the home page and you can click that and leave a message. Pretty cool I want to know what you think of these episodes. Have a great week living your life with intention, and recognizing that small steps lead to big wins.

Episode 262: Lost on the Slopes - Lessons Beyond the Mountain: Interview Nick ShawWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Today's show takes us into the story of the death of a 9-year-old boy after a ski accident at Big Sky in Montana. The tragedy, as you would expect, brought his parent's to their knees, on a path none of us want to walk. But Nick Shaw - today's guest - sought meaning as the life-line to hold to as he moved forward, and part of his healing process involved putting it down in writing, sharing the lessons he learned from his son. Stay tuned as he shares his story and as we discuss his book: My Teacher, My Son: Lessons on Life, Loss and Love.Nick Shaw, William's father, an accomplished executive coach, and the author of My Teacher, My Son, joins us today to share his story and the things he's learned along the way.Nick, welcome to the show.I wanted to read a quick review of your book:Kelly McGonigal, PhD, Research Psychologist at Stanford University writes:“It seems impossible that a book about unimaginable grief could offer so much hope, yet that is the gift of My Teach, My Son. With breath taking honesty, Nick Shaw shows how love, joy and continued connection co-exist with loss, change and challenge. The courage of Nick's self-reflection empowers each of us to find a way forward. A truly heart empowering read.”Very high praise.Tune into the audio program to hear answers to the following discussion questions:I know your story - I finished your book last week - but of course none of the listeners know who you are yet, so can we please start with your story? Tell us about your family and about that day.In dealing with this devastating loss, you chose to look for lessons. What have been the greatest lessons you have learned?In your book you say:“I took a six-month leave of absence from work to bewith Susie and Kai and to try to make sense of everything. This pause gaveme the time and space to reflect and ask, “Is this the way I want to go onliving my life?” While the answer is important, I found that taking the timeto ask the question is more important.” TELL ME ABOUT THIS. I LOVE THE QUESTION.As your healing progresses and a year later you and Susan have your third son, you say, In another section of the book,“ I had to be able to hold both my despair and my happiness at the same time. I had to accept that I could be happy and sad at the same time. I could revel in the delight of holding mynewborn son and at the same time be devastated by the loss of my oldest son. I could delight in sharing new and exciting experiences with Kai and at the same time be shattered by the fact that I will never be able to share those same experiences with William. I had to stop letting one feeling diminish the other; I made room for both feelings to coexist.I feel like this is a healthy mindset that allows room for the complexity of the emotional journey. Talk to us about this idea... When we are going through something traumatic, how do we not let the emotion and trauma just take over? How do we maintain our ability to choose mindset?To connect with Nick or get a copy of his book:www.meetnickshaw.comLinkedIn: Nick Shaw

Episode 261: The Best of 2023Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast!As 2023 comes to a close it's time for the annual “Best Of” episode - This is where we look back at which episodes of the Love Your Story podcast were the favorites of the listeners. Which ones did you guys like best?Tune in for the Top 5 Episodes, a clip from each, and if you've missed one of these favs - go back and listen to get all the goods. Coming right up…. the years top 5 favorites…Welcome to the top 5 Love Your Story Podcast episodes of 2023. Let's start with #5.#5 falls to one of our latest episodes. It's called “Voices of Healing” it's episode #252. It's a compilation episode where I pulled in clips from lots of past interviews so we heard from Todd Sylvester, Amanda Grow, Dianne Butterfield, Trevor Lay….and others about their healing journeys. I think this episode was so powerful because we learn from one another, and when we pull in real life healing stories from so many different people, with different experiences, as well as professionals, well…there's a lot to learn and something for everyone. We all have things to heal from, so we all want to understand this path better. Here's a clip….Tune in to hear the clip...If you want to hear all the stories from this favorite, go back to episode 252, this one launched on Aug. 23 of this year, and take a listen to the whole show.Ok. Here we are at #4 - the number 4 favorite episode of 2023 was episode 239: my interview with Chris Hawker. This episode was titled: Tools to Magnify our Worthiness. I loved my chat with Chris because he is a man that has been in the leadership of Next Level Trainings - which was where I did a great deal of my work in moving my life forward - learning to reframe my stories. Chris came on the podcast and was honest and vulnerable about his own struggle with feelings of unworthiness. We talked about how these stories of unworthiness happen, how he navigated his, and then we get to hear some of his wonderful suggestion for reframing those erroneous and destructive feelings. I think this one is a favorite because working through any feelings of unworthiness is an important part of really becoming YOU. Here's a clip:Tune in to hear the clip...to hear the rest of his story about his road to truly embracing his real self worth… - again, it's episode 239 and it aired on February 22 of this year.Now on to #3 top fav for 2023. It's none other than What Kindness Can Do with Peter Mutabazi in episode 242.Peter Mutabazi grew up in Uganda. In this episode we hear his whole story - the brave escape from an abusive father at 10 years old, his subsequent life as a child living on the streets struggling daily to stay alive, and the fortuitous meeting of a man who would change Peter's life, and in so doing change the lives his siblings, their children, and all the children Peter now helps as a foster parent. This was part 1 of a two part series that was just incredible. One of my favorite interviews because he story is shocking, incredible, and how often do you get to speak with someone who was there to see the Tutsi and Hutu massacre in Rwanda - he talks about that in the second episode in this series, What Hate Can Do. The whole thing was incredible. Here is the beginning of his story.Tune in to hear the clip...Again, to listen to the whole episode and the next episode -it's a 2 part series, for his whole incredible story. He's amazing.Now for the #2 favorite of the year….. Episode 244 - Tips on Connecting with Your Man. My interview with Laura Doyle. I found it super...

Episode 260: The Key to Upleveling - Relax Interview Cortney McDermottWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. It's December and we are winding down 2023 with two of the best episodes of the year. In a couple week's we'll have the Best of 2023 episode, which looks at download numbers for all the episodes throughout the year to find out what the favorites have been - I always love that episode. It gives me lots of great info. but it also gives the listeners a quick peak at 5 excellent episodes with a small quip from each, so if you missed any of them you can go back and listen……..AND our final interview of the year is today with Cortney McDermott.I'll tell you why I think this is going to be one of the best episodes of the year. On Love Your Story we are all about living into our best lives. We are all about intention and responsibility. We are all about gaining a greater understanding of universal laws and how they work so we can work with more faith, allowance, and intention to create what we want, well…I've been in this place lately where I've been trying to figure out how quantum physics works with the power of our own minds, how to manifest in bigger ways, how to get rid of mental corrals and think beyond what I'm used to….and then guess what shows up? This woman - Corney McDermott and her book “Give Yourself Permission.”I admit, as I read the book I really dreaded trying to write up my notes for the interview because there are tooooooo many things I want to talk about. Soooo much I'd love to get Cortney's perspetive on…so it's going to be a value packed show.Cortney McDermott is an award-winning author, she is a TedX speaker, and a mind-body expert who helps the world's leading organizations and creatives to disrupt old patterns of behavior, grow healthy businesses and apply the physiology and psychology needed for success. She has been featured in Inc. Women's Health, Success, The Huffington Post, FOX news and lot of other mainstream business and life style media. She was an executive at Vanity Fair Corporation….and I could go on, but I just want to talk with her, So….Cortney…. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast.First, who are you? What's your story….let me get more specific…..in your introduction you say that years ago you started having experiences you couldn't explain, like losing a lot of weight overnight..and another time you were transported out of the constraints of time and space.Whaaattt? 1. Who are you and why did these things happen, and what were they like?Listen to the audio program to hear Cortney's story and some in depth conversation on how we can connect with a greater flow of life by relaxing, listening, following inspiration, and doing with joy.We talk about intrinsic motivation vs. hard pushing and I talk with her about my lack of understanding about how we can make things happen by relaxing. What does it look like when you are a type A personality and the best flow of life lies in relaxing, surrendering?How to reach Cortney:CortneyMcDermott.comBook: Give Yourself PermissionTune in next week for our season closing episode - The Best of 2023 - and see what all the listener favorites were. See you in two weeks.

Episode 259: Quit Proof - Interview with Jenn DrummondWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. We are closing in on winter, and I always like to pull in a guest with some wintery story - a professional skier or a mountaineer - during these chilly months. We'll today's guest fills that bill nicely. Get ready to be inspired by my guest Jenn Drummond. She is a mountaineer who has conquered the world's seven second summits and recently became a world record holder. But her journey goes far beyond mountaineering. As you'll see, her story, of being in a horrific car accident that brought her inches from death, is a testament to resilience, motivation and the exhilaration of achievement. Her book, QuitProof: the 7 Necessities for Becoming Resilient, will be released in January.Jenn, Welcome to the LYS podcast. Let's start with your story.Join the audio conversation to hear about her summiting the 7 second tallest summits in the world. How to be resilient and how to intentionally build our life. Come listen as she shares her story of a car accident that shifted her world.How to get a hold of Jenn:Website: https://jenndrummond.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-drummond/Twitter: https://twitter.com/drummond_jennInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejenndrummond/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jenndrummondResilience has been a strong theme this year. It's been on my mind because I've been watching people struggle, a lot of the upcoming generation struggle with mental health, in particular, and the ability to be resilient, or to...

Episode 258: Understanding Your Emotions for Emotional Resilience: Mastering Anger - Part 5Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. This is the last of the 5-Part Series on Creating Emotional Resilience.This series was created from a class I took, you've heard about it in all the other episodes - in it we practiced different skills like healthy thinking patterns, managing stress, overcoming anger….all the good stuff. Take from it what resonates with you, that you may navigate your life with a bit more resilience. One step at a time. These are muscles we are trying to develop. Emotional resilience muscles.Today's episode is about one of our strongest emotions. Anger.It's a real emotion that we don't want to deny, but that we need to learn to navigate and choose thoughts and actions that create more peace in us rather than feed the anger beast. Stay tuned.As I am writing this episode we just completed the April 2023 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As I sat and listened to the prophets and leaders I was surprised at how many talks were about not being contentious. Even the prophet himself focused his primary message on the topic of being peacemakers. In 3 Nephi 11:29-30 the Savior taught the Nephites: “There shall be no disputations among you…for verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another behold this is NOT my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.”Anger is something we all feel. It's an emotion that rears it's head when underneath we really feel resentful, disappointed, ashamed, hopeless, guilty, our expectations are unmet, we are embarrassed, frustrated, anxious, threatened, rejected, hurt, offended, heartbroken…there are a lot of underlying emotions and situations that trigger anger. Emotional resilience means that we are able to more effectively understand our emotions and manage them. This is a life-time of work, but a very important part of our work. This is part of living with awareness and moving toward higher ways of being.Let's consider a couple ideas.1. Anger comes from lots of various emotions, as I've just mentioned. Understanding that can help us get to the bottom of an angry situation so we can deescalate it and understand ourselves better. What I mean by this is that when you feel yourself getting angry, stop and consider what's causing the anger. Are your feelings hurt? Are you disappointed? Are you embarrassed? Once we understand what has us so upset we can navigate the situation better - sometimes even just understanding that can help you better communicate with the person you are angry with. For instance, let's say you've asked your husband to do something numerous times and he doesn't get around to doing it. You can spiral in the “Why doesn't he listen to me? Why can't he help? Why can't he see the wisdom in doing it this way?” etc. etc. or you can identify that perhaps you're feeling disrespected, resentful, unappreciated, hurt. With this knowledge you can then open a conversation, “When I ask you to help rake the leaves up over and over and it doesn't get done, I feel unheard, disrespected, hurt.” This approach shares a vulnerable insight into your feelings that focuses on you and doesn't focus on making accusations toward him At the very least this opens space for communication. People talking things out and striving to understand another's position on something is a tool to choosing peace and peacemaking over anger and...

Episode 257: Stronger Together - Building Emotional Resilience Through Healthy Relationships - Part 4Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast.Have you ever been in a tight spot where a strong family relationship or a great friendship provided you a space for staying sane or healing? Let me rattle off a few that come to mind quickly for me:Once I was talking with my therapist during my marriage to an emotionally abusive man. I was explaining how I had left and gone to my parents for a weekend. I remember her response because she praised me for intuitively going to a mentally safe space when things got hard for me. Going to a space where there were supporting relationshipsI've noticed a comparison to the times that was single and had to deal with a hard day, a deep frustration with a real estate client, or a betrayal from a friend, vs. being married to a really good man whom I can vent with and go to for a place to talk and and shoulder to lean it. It's a big difference.I love that I have healthy relationships with my siblings. We laugh together and often play together, and at the very base of those relationships is the feeling that I have a strong base. I have roots. I'm not alone. Knowing that strengthens me.As we develop loving relationships with others, our physical, emotional and spiritual health is strengthened. Family and friends provide love, support, daily sounding boards, socialization, people we learn from and teach, people we laugh with. We need each other. The adversary wants to isolate us from others. He wants to deprive us of the blessings that come from healthy relationships. This episode is Part 4 of a 5-part series on Emotional Resilience. This started from an emotional resilience course I took with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I wanted to share some of my biggest take-aways from the 188 page 10 week course. I hope these episodes - this series, will support you in your own quest for choosing emotional resilience skills. Today's episode is entitled: Stronger together: building resilience through healthy relationships. Stay tuned and let's talk about this simple but super important foundation for emotional resilience.People were not made to rock things solo. We are social creatures. We all understand this because we are drawn to relationship. We want to find love. We seek after community and friendship. Babies who are not held and loved wither away and die. During Covid when we were kept from one another we saw serious mental issues surface across the board. I know for me, when I was single and my kids would leave for the weekend with their dad, I would sometimes be alone for an entire weekend, by the time Sunday got there I could feel the crazy of being alone. It's also why solitary confinement is considered the ultimate punishment in the penal system. We need each other. Today's emotional resilience episode is all about the reminder of the importance of building healthy relationships. Perhaps this simple concept is the basis, the most basic of creating healthy living.Today's show will go over 8 main points of creating healthy relationships. Things you probably intuitively know, but it's always good to get a reminder. We'll throw in a few recommendations and skills as well.#1Creating relationships means BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. This means you must take initiative and invest in the relationship. What does initiative look like? Inviting someone to meet for lunch or to come over for dinner, or to ride bikes or meet for an evening out. Reaching out to talk, go on a walk, share ideas. IInvesting in a person looks like remembering special days for them, checking on them, sharing life experiences, talking, playing. Basically creating space for them in your life and initiating...

I believe humans have an innate desire to do the right thing in all areas of their business and life.But what IS the right thing?And what if it feels wrong to other people when you do it?Dr. Natalie Marr was raised as the middle child of 5 in a culturally Catholic family where she learned two core values: standing up for the little guy and having a powerful work ethic.As a therapist, she ran into imposter syndrome when she went through not one, but two divorces. How could she help others fix their problems when her own life was so messy and things weren't working out for her? Through it all, she still had her practice, and it was doing okay, and everything seemed fine.But fine is a 4-letter word.One day, Natalie made the decision to stop accepting insurance and switch to a private-pay model, which meant her practice almost immediately decreased to about 25% of its previous size. She did not like the way insurance treated mental health providers and undervalued their services. And the way it did not pay for specialized treatment and paid providers the same rate based on credentials regardless of their experience or expertise. By refusing to accept insurance, she was living up to her value of standing up for the little guy. Additionally, she was also starting a coaching business and figured once she got that up and running, it would replace her previous income.But this was just when her teenage son was preparing to go to college. How could she be so selfish? How was this in alignment with her value of standing up for the little guy - in this case, her son who was headed off to college and needed help paying for it? Her decision made a lot of people around her uncomfortable. They criticized and judged her.How did she overcome and persevere?In a moment, when you meet Natalie, you'll learn about her journey toward self-acceptance and applying her deeply-rooted values to an ever-changing world. In a society where we're taught to delay self-gratification because it's "selfish" to do otherwise, you'll discover how you, too, can change your perspective to enjoy a truly aligned life.Dr. Natalie's hype songs are "About Damn Time" by Lizzo and "Me Too" by Meghan Trainor.Resources:Dr. Natalie Marr's website: https://learntoloveyourstory.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-m-marr/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/learntoloveyourstory/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learn_to_love_your_story_/X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/NMarrCounselingInvitation from Lori:Like Dr. Natalie, if you find yourself unsure about the right thing to do, and people around you are calling you out on your values, it can feel chaotic.One of the key elements in my "Staying Calm in Chaos" program is how to gain and enjoy radical self-acceptance. I take you by the hand and guide you through how to go from being what others expect you to be to finding and following your truth no matter what. It comes with some powerful, mind-changing meditations as well. Check...

Episode 253: Coding the Subconscious for Success - Interview Riya SokolWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. We are inspired by people who help us see the world in fresh ways. We often get stuck in our stories and perspectives, and those stories, many times, limit us. Further more, we don't often stop to question those stories and perspectives. Let's take the Corona Virus for example. How many people stopped to look for the positive things that came from our time of seclusion, fear, change and sickness?My guest today, Riya Sokol, is an internationally acclaimed artist, speaker and viral content creator. She gained widespread recognition for her video poem, “Thank You, Coronavirus.” I'll play a bit of it for you a bit later in the show. The poem has been translated into dozens of languages and received awards at several international festivals.Today we're going to talk about abundance mindset, divorce mindset, gratitude mindset. She's growing in popularity due to her unique and life-changing approach, so stay tuned to hear our discussion.Riya, usually we start out with your full story and then talk about the things you've learned from it, but as I've gone through your areas of expertise, what I want to do is address three topics, and as we get to each topic you can tell us your story about how you came to understand the things you're teaching us. First - let's talk about the subconcious mind: You have been doing research and experiments on the subconscious mind and then helping people realize the potential of our subconscious and how understanding and using it helps us live a deeper life. Let's start here:First, tell us your story about how you got involved in this type of research and why you're qualified to talk about it?Tune into the audio program to hear her answers.Second: Let's talk about abundance mindset. You have been known to say that we each sit in a position of abundance despite our current situation, even if it doesn't seem abundant. You say, lack only exists if you decide it does.What is your experience in how you learned this, how you use this?What do we need to know about how to shift into this mind set?Tune into the audio program to hear her answers.Third, You, like me, have gone through a divorce. In that situation you always have a chance to choose to separate in a friendly or unfriendly way. That is a very emotional space to navigate. You and your husband chose to “extend your family rather than break it.” Tune into the audio program to hear her answers.Fourth, You started performing at the age of 6 - and as I understand it, that was a source of anxiety for you. This is a big deal - anxiety, depression, panic attacks. We'd love to hear your insights on these spaced.Tune into the audio program to hear her answers.To contact Riya:Poem performance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgm9E_cmvWABio: https://kitcaster.com/riya-sokol/Instagram:

Episode 252: Voices of Healing -Personal Stories of Life on the Healing Journey.Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast.We all die. We all pay taxes. Another thing we all have in common on this crazy ride called life is that we all need to heal. Why? Because in this rough and tumble life we all get hurt. We all have to heal from things mild to wild, the broken heart, the deep disappointments, the full-out traumas. As I've looked over the past episodes of the Love Your Story podcast, no matter the episode, over 90% of them involve discussion about the path of healing. Whether the stories shared are about a miscarriage, an injury, a rape, a divorce, an eating disorder, the death of a loved one, etc. the thing they all have in common is that healing is part of the process if forward progression is to be made.As is obvious by the name of the show, we are all about coming to love our own personal life story. Often times the thing that stands between us and a full acceptance and love of our story are the broken times, the shameful times, the things we see as “failures,” the things we need to heal from.I'm so glad you've joined me today for some voices of healing as past guests share what this looked like for them. Let's shine a light on the healing journey and see what we can learn. We all have things to heal from.As we start out this episode I want to start on a humble note. The things we heal from are deeply personal and I'm not suggesting that I know how everyone should heal - just do this or that and all will be well. If I've learned anything from listening to people's stories, it's that healing is different for everyone, it's deeply personal. So what I share today are quips from other's journeys and a few personal ideas about things that seem to consistently work for people. See what hits home for you. If you can take one thing that will shine a light forward on your healing journey or someone you love's healing journey - then we are getting it right.My first real heart break was in high school. My first love was my high school boyfriend. We shared a locker, we snuck out of our windows to be together. We both played percussion so we got up early every morning before school and practiced and stayed late after. Of course we spent every minute we could, together. We dated for years. One summer we had a fake wedding ceremony next to a stream up the canyon. We had a teddy bear that I named after him and it symbolized our future kids. I have boxes of letters and notes from him. I know, to say it out loud is to shine a light on the beautiful immaturity, and at the same time I think it also shines the light on the depth a young, unharmed heart can go to. ….Until one Friday night I found him drunk, making out with the girl who was my “best friend” at a party. We had a couple of these bouts before I reached 19 years-old, and finally my heart was too broken to ever be put back together by him again. I don't have a great healing story to tell you, unless you count 25 years later when I finally had to heal from a life of heartbreaks, I had to reframe, I had to let go, I had to come to love my messy, broken story with all the deep pains and disappointments. All the betrayals, all the bad choices, all the disillusionment. Three marriages, three divorces, a handful of serious boyfriends that I hadn't chosen to stay with. There was a lot of relationship healing for me. At any given time we can be on the path to healing. It's not just something that we do once and everything is okay. Every time you get a cut or a broken bone you have to heal all over again. Of course it's the same mentally, emotionally, psychologically - we need to heal whenever we experience hurt. So, we are off and on the path continually.As I've gone back and listened to the healing stories of past guests, I mentioned that it really struck home how complex healing is. It's not the exact same...

Episode 251: How to Overcome Money Block Stories: Insights from Dr. Amanda the Money Healer When I was growing up we didn't have a lot of money. My dad was a teacher and we grew up growing our own food in the garden, mom made homemade bread, which now is very cool, but back then it just meant you were poor. My parents were frugal because they had to be and I gained a money mindset of lack. Over the years I've spent a lot of time working to shift that - focusing on gratitude and abundance. I'm so grateful for the abundance in my life - for which I have a great deal, but I also know I still have money fears, that I have to focus on generosity at times, that I have a tendency to save money rather than invest it. We all have our perceptions and comfort levels with money. So today I have Dr. Amanda - the Money Healer on the show. Stay tuned and let's all see if we can take one more step on our money mindset ladder. What is money mindset? Your money mindset defines how you think about money and influences how you save, how you spend, and how you manage your debt. It's your core beliefs about money and your attitude towards it. This includes: What you think you can and cannot do with money. So this is a topic for everyone because we all use it. Mindset and money have been hot topics, because everyone wants more money and everything in our lives is about what's going on in our heads - the stories we are telling ourselves. Dr. Amanda Barrientez - known as "The Money Healer" - is the founder of NFA - No Fooling Around - Money. She's a bestselling author, an international speaker, the host of The Woman Entrepreneur Podcast, and the NFA Money YouTube Channel. She's been featured on over 150 podcasts, sharing tips on how to up-level your money mindset to manifest easier money in your life and business. Today we're going to hear her story of going from food stamps to building a 6-figure business. And once she got that figured out she decided to teach people how to transform their relationship to money so they can attract abundance from their Zone of Manifestation™. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast Dr. Amanda. Join the audio program to hear her story. We talk about the biggest money blocks for people. Her NFA Money Formula Her techniques with Affirmantras, and a lot more. Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” As I researched money mindset I found quotes from everyone from Suze Orman, Benjamin Franklin, Brigham Young, Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, Warren Buffet: They all said, it's not how much money you make, money is a tool, it's not where you set your heart but getting money allows you to free up time in order to pursue the things you want - money doesn't bring happiness, but it gives you time to create your own. They stressed the importance of not spending beyond your means, the importance of letting it work for you. In all the wisdom from these money minds we come back to the fact that money isn't happiness it's a tool. But as I've discussed, a lack mindset sometimes stops you and keeps you small. I'd like to end today's discussion with these ideas - Mindset, one of abundance and gratitude has been proven to create such better living by opening to the flow of all good things. Just like we heard about today. I'd also like to tip my hat to the wisdom of being a wise money manager. If you don't care for your money in the right ways, it won't matter how much comes to you, it will also flow right out again. How many lottery winners have to prove that? There is a balance of responsibility and a generous flow I think we need to find in our peaceful heart of hearts. We are all in different places of getting to this peaceful relationship with money. Dr. Amanda has a proven 3-step formula to help you begin...

Episode 249: Trusting Your Gut: How Intuition and Curiosity Can Shape Big Life Stories - Interview Taylor ProctorWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast peeoooopppplllleeee!A bit ago, Taylor Proctor, a spicy little red head and the host of “Creating with Confidence” — an internationally acclaimed podcast, was meditating, and the idea of being an 8-figure business owner came to her mind. Now….8-figures is a minimum of $10m, and she initially thought….ya, there's no way that is possible. But then she decided to explore what would happen if she leaned in curiosity instead of pulling away for the sake of reality. Stay tuned to hear her story because I LOVE the idea of leaning into curiosity. That idea comes up a lot when we talk about what's possible, about not judging, about knowing ourselves better….curiosity can take us to some new places!! Stick with us and let's see where curiosity took her…..Taylor Proctor is an intuitive business strategist and coach who uses her skills as a mentor to help high-performing business owners confidently create the life and business they love. As I mentioned in the intro, she's the host of Creating with Confidence — an internationally acclaimed podcast — and she loves to work with entrepreneurs to uncover their unique intuitive strengths while scaling and propelling their businesses through her proprietary IMOVE method. Tune into the audio program to hear our conversation and topics like:Let's talk about this idea of intuition - this seems to be a big part of your system and experience. What do you know and believe about intuition?I think, when we are talking about how to make our best life stories, that intuition is a really interesting piece of the puzzle. We haven't talked about this at all, but I think we should.Also, curiosity - let's talk about that. What does that look like for you? What has your experience been?What does IMOVE mean and how do you help people with it?“When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.” ― Kahlil GibránTo Contact Taylor:8 Crazy Actions to an 8-Figure Business Opportunity — Free Access: https://8crazythings.taylorproctor.com/8 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taylor.proctor.31/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creatingwithconfidence/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-proctor/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSv02tDGqO2_gyUbtMfVKNgWebsite: https://www.taylorproctor.com/Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/creatingwithconfidenceQuotes on Intuition:“Intuition is the whisper of the soul.” - Your challenge this week is to tune into your intuition. What does it tell you? Alan Alda said, “At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.” As we close today's episode we've heard an important story of intuition at work. Whether you have a business or not, whether you reach out to Taylor or just receive inspiration from her story, I think we can all take away some encouragement about getting curious,...

Episode 247: Embracing Your Journey: A Gratitude Coach's Guide to Loving Your Story - Interview Holly BertoneWho has ever heard of a gratitude coach? What a great idea. On today's show I am speaking with Holly Bertone, a gratitude coach, and we are going to be talking about how to unwrap resilience and build fortitude in our lives with the very lovely and important tool of gratitude. Stay tuned and let's see if she'll give us a little coaching.After all, as Tony Robbins says, “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”With us today is breast cancer survivor, Hashimoto's warrior, #1 Amazon bestselling author, and host of the Grateful Warrior Podcast, Holly Bertone. Holly spent 25 years rising through the ranks of consulting and federal government service before her failing health shattered her corporate dreams. Since then, she has leaned into her path of true purpose and fulfillment as a Gratitude and Mindset Coach by helping women view their cancer or autoimmune diagnosis as a gift so that they can unwrap their resilience to build fortitude with gratitude. Holly, Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast.Tune into the audio program to hear us talk about things like:What is your story and who are you and what's the story that brought you into your wisdom?Have you come to love your story?I want to talk about How Gratitude Builds Fortitude During the Storms of Life. Tell me your thoughts on this…. What does gratitude coaching look like?Coach the me and the listeners for a minute - what is a basic technique we can practice to help us really embrace the power of gratitude.To connect with Holly:hjracer@gmail.comFortitude.Academy https://academy.pinkfortitude.com/podcast-landing-welcomeIG: @Holly.BertoneFB: Pinkfortitude1Deepak Chopra said, “Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.”Use it, people. Use gratitude to live with joy, wisdom and power. In the spirit of gratitude I want to deeply thank all who are taking a moment to scroll down on your app and hit the “leave a review” button. Thank you. And, if you haven't yet, I'd love to hear from you, we'll even share your review on the show. Here's one: Podcast Review: Title: Such a treat! Author: Claribelleee from the Philippines“Empowering, brilliant, and I learn so much!! Love this awesome show!”Thank you so much Claribelleee from the Philippines. I appreciate your time in cheering me on!!Your challenge for the week is to bring a larger dose of gratitude into your life. Where ever you are at on the gratitude scale - an every day event, or less, just move it up one level and start to open your being to all the beauty that surrounds and flows to you in your life.See you in two weeks. Please take 5 seconds and share this show with someone you love and want to see succeed.

For this week's #Biz Breakdown Series on The Woman Entrepreneur Podcast, Dr. Amanda and Lori Lee, Host of the Love Your Story Podcast, explore expanding your business based on your Zone of Genius, how to monetize a Podcast, using feelings (rather than monetization) to set goals, overcoming Money Blocks, and end with some EFT Tapping techniques and strategies. We talked about …

About Abigail Abigail Burle is a Georgia native that calls Gainesville, Ga home. She wrangles 6 year old triplets and serves with her husband Ryan in the local community. She is passionate about creating spaces of belonging for families impacted by disabilities. She is the Founder of a non-profit, Love Your Story that provides respite for families. Favorite Quotes "When you are just being faithful and living your life for yourself and your family, and not trying to make it better than it is, or not trying to make it look worse than it is, joy will come." -Abigail Burle Related Links @Abigail_burle @loveyourstory.us. www.loveyourstory.us   *Big thank you to one of our By the Brook sponsors this year, Fry, Fry, Knight & Looper! You can find them here.*  

Episode 245: Forbes declares, "One of the Best Storytellers of the Year." Interview Max StosselDear Listener…welcome back to the Love Your Story podcast. Today I have a special treat for you….really. It's performance time… to welcome in the warmer weather and all good things we are getting a little Max Stossel. Max Stossel is an award-winning poet, artist and filmmaker named by Forbes as one of the best storytellers of the year. Spanning across five continents, from Lincoln Center in NY to the Hordern (HORDEN)Pavilion in Sydney, Max's performances have been described as "a rare opportunity to experience so many different emotions in the blink of an eye — the best bang for your buck of knowledge dropping, therapy, standup comedy, and wisdom-sharing. It's an hour of purity." Tune into the audio program because Max is with me today and he is going to perform two of his poems from his poetry special: Words that Move, and it's REALLY good stuff.Max Stossel's work has been translated into fourteen languages, won multiple film festivals, and has been viewed over 20 million times online. He's been featured on BBC, CNN, TEDX, and a handful more.His new release "Words That Move" is a first-of-its-kind Stand-Up Poetry Special told on stage at the Brooklyn Kings Theater. This is nine original poems where Max guides us to see the world through different eyes, while articulating the deep-seated kernels of truth that we so often struggle to find the words for ourselves. Taking on topics like heartbreak, consciousness, social media, politics, the emotional state of our world, and even how dogs probably (most certainly) talk, Max uses rhyme and rhythm to make these topics digestible and playful. Love me some poetry…In the audio program Max performs 2 of his poems for us and we talk about creativity and how we all have it.You don't want to miss this.Find Max and watch Words that Move:wordsthatmove.com/special; https://www.instagram.com/maxstosselThank you so much for being on the show today and sharing your work. So happy to share space with your lovely poetic soul. You have an important way of seeing the world; poets always do.I am a lover of poetry, a writer of poetry. If you recall, back in September of 2017 we had the poet laureate of Logan, Utah on the show, which was fun. I've had a handfull of poems published in the past, but one thing I know about poets, is that in general its a thankless art. It's a quiet art published in small chapbooks and read at open mics in coffee shops and University campuses. I'm really impressed with how Max has used technology and performance to share his poetry, his unique insights into the world with the rest of us.The lesson I'm taking away today is one about thinking outside the box. Just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn't mean you can't breach new boundaries, break down walls, find and use new ways of sharing.Your challenge this week is to take one thing you're doing in your life, especially if you feel stuck with it, and do a little brainstorm session that is strictly outside the box thinking, and see what you come up with. We always create our own boundaries. We also have to be the ones to break them down.Have a great couple weeks and we'll see you on the next episode of the Love Your Story podcast.

Episode 244: Tips on Connecting with your Man - Interview: Laura DoyleWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast - we are really knocking it out of the park in 2023. This is our 6th year doing the show and I'm so pleased to have collected so many wonderful stories and life tools for all of us to reference and use. SO MANY.Thanks for being here and continuing to enjoy the show.Today's guest is going to blow your mind. Laura Doyle is a New York Times Bestselling Author, she is the star of Empowered Wives on Amazon Prime, and hosts The Empowered Wives Podcast. On her home page it says, “I show women the proven way to fix their relationships without their man's conscious effort–even if it seems completely hopeless.” That sounds like magic.Stay tuned for 3 secrets to make your marriage happier and all the relationship magic Ms. Laura can dish out in 30 minutes.Insert LYS QuipAre you ready for some incredible power tips? New York Times Best Selling author, Laura Doyle was the perfect wife…until she actually got married. When she told her husband how to be tidier, more romantic and more ambitious he avoided her. So she dragged him to marriage counseling and nearly divorced him. In desperation she asked happily married women for their secrets, and that's when she got her miracle…the man who had wooed her returned.Laura wrote a book, to share what she had discovered, and it has been translated into 19 languages in 30 countries, and accidentally started a worldwide movement. She is the founder of the International relationship coach training school -called Laura Doyle Connect,she is the star of Empowered Wives on amazon Prime, the creator of The Ridiculously Happy Wife program and the host of The Empowered Wife podcast. She has been on The Today Show, Good Morning America and The View. She has worked with over 15,000 women and helped them fix even the most hopeless relationships.Join us on the audio program to hear answers to questions like:1. Let's start with your story. It sounds like it might start at a place where all women in marriages have been - a space of trying to help your husband be his best self - at least that's how we see it…. go ahead…2. What are the most common mistakes women make when they're trying to get their husband's attention or affection?3. How can you get your husband to help more with the house or the kids - the to do list?4. You have 3 secrets to make your marriage happier - what are those?5. Sometimes it's hard to get our men to connect in deep converstation - you've got 4 suggestions for us, what are those?6. You mentioned that there is a way to skyrocket the passion in a relationship, even if you're in a sexless marriage - what does that mean? Enlighten me…How to find Laura Doyle: Email:lauramdoyle@gmail.comSkype: laura.doyle44Telephone: 7147263340Website: lauradoyle.orgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramdoyle/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauradoyle.orgTwitter: https://twitter.com/lauramdoyleBrene Brown defines connection as, “The energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard and valued. When they can give and receive without judgement.”Personal relationships, especially with our significant other, are key to our health and happiness. It is key to a fulfilling life, and things that are important often take a lot of work. Today we've had some great tips from Laura. If there are some weak spots...

Episode: 243 - What Hate Can Do: Interview Peter MutabaziWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Today is part 2 of a two-part story - the story of Peter Mutabazi. Peter joins me today, to share the incredible story of his life in Uganda, we are picking up where we left off in part 1. For his full story - please listen to part 1, because today we are going to look at the rest of the story and the other side of the coin. Part 1 is titled: What Kindness Can do. Part 2 is titled: What Hatred Can Do. The reason I am going to take an episode to talk in detail about hate, is because as I was reading Peter's book “Now I Am Known,” one of the greatest turning points in his life came as he became a witness to the genocide in Rwanda. What he witnessed, what these events taught him, and how they affected the progress of his life.Tune in for my talk with the author of “Now I am Known.”“When I first saw the bodies floating down the Kagera River out of Rwanda and into Lake Victoria on the local television station, I knew something horrible was happening in our neighboring country. Every day I watched news reports showing hundreds upon hundreds of mutilated corpes floating down the river. Men. Women, Children. Some had been decapitated. Others wer cut open with other body parts missing. The bodies of children…I cannot speak of what was done to the bodies of the children. Over the course of three months, tens of thousands of bodies piled up in Lake Victoria and washed up on its shore. When the winds came out of the south and east you could not escape the smell of death…”This is how the chapter “What hate can do” starts. Peter - Welcome back to the show. We loved hearing the first part of your incredible story a couple weeks ago…Tune in as we hear the story of bodies floating down the river, the massacre in Rwanda, the ah-ha of how hate was affecting him and where that took him.“I have seen firsthand the destructive power of hate, but I have also seen the healing power of generosity, acceptance, and love. We all have the opportunity to help others, inspire others, and love others from a sincere heart.”I think the world is incredibly messy. We are hurt, we hurt others, we love people who have been hurt or are hurting. We want to forgive, we want to know how to help others deal with difficult things like trauma or neglect or hopelessness. It's all so much. One of the things Peter said in his book was “Hurting people need to be heard. They need to know they are not alone.” And then I was listening to a Ted Talk about addiction and the way we try to punish and ostracize addicts, when research actually shows that people and lab animals don't turn to drugs or destructive behaviors when they feel connected. The suggestion for healing was not to ostracize the difficult ones, but to let them know you care, even though that may be the most difficult move. At any rate, I believe the more we listen to these real life stories, the more we seek the higher road, the more we understand where hate takes the human heart and the opposite, where caring, forgiveness, empathy and kindness takes the human heart, we can take steps in the direction of light. There is no quick solution to the struggle to forgive, or to heal from trauma, but there is the choice everyday to choose kindness and love when we can, and to work on the moments where we can't. Let's end with a couple quotes:Will Smith said, “Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too.”Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”May you move toward love, empathy and kindness today, with intention. See you in 2 weeks for the next episode of the LYS...

Episode 241: Standing Up for What YOU Believe in - Interview Samantha HawkinsWelcome to the LYS podcast. On this show we share stories - stories of big adventures, stories of big struggles, stories that allow us to share our experiences and learn from each other.Today's guest is a story teller, so get your cup of tea or cocoa, find a warm comfy blanket, and settle in for some stories that teach us a few lessons.Samantha Hawkins, author of the children's book “My Mommy Marches,” has been a 911 dispatcher for almost 8 years. She's a training officer and instructor with Cobb County 911 in Marietta GA. She's also a public speaker and a story teller.Samantha was working disbatch during the riots that happened during the Black Lives Matter movement. She, being a black woman and a dispatcher and public servant, gets a unique view from both sides and I've invited her to be a guest on the show today to share some of her own stories.Tune into the audio program to hear what brought Samantha to write the book, My Mommy Marches, and the right we all have to stand up for what we believe in.I think part of living our lives intentionally is standing up for what we believe in - whatever that is - I think that's really what your book is about. Everyone has a different set of beliefs, but we live in America where we all have the freedom of speech - at least in theory - and we get to support that for everyone while marching for what we believe in. And maybe marching means not being afraid to share your beliefs in social media. Maybe it means standing up for people who have a difficult time standing up for themselves. What does it mean to you?In the audio program she shares 2 stories with us about how she learned to preserver. Join us for her stories.To contact Samantha:Instagram handle: @forevertellingtalesLinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/samantha-hawkins-2a045b3bPre-order My Mommy Marches:https://www.amazon.com/My-Mommy-Marches-Samantha-Hawkins/dp/1915244129/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OV5LJ2JS5NAC&keywords=my+mommy+marches&qid=1671720404&sprefix=my+mommy+marches%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1Samantha - thank you for sharing your storytelling and your life lessons. And thank YOU, dear listener, for being with us today. If you have some stories you'd like to share, I've been thinking of doing an episode or two that are a bit like The Moth - if you've ever listened to that it's where people come and share their own 5-10 minute stories about an event in their life.On the Love Your Story podcast website - loveyourstorypodcast.com, there is a page titled “guesting.” Go to that link and fill out that form with the subject line of Share My Story and let's see where this leads us.

Episode 240: A Brave Little Warrior - The Story of a 4-Year-Old's Amputation JourneyDescription: Rosalie Mastaler was pushed into the world of disabilities when her son was bitten by his father's K9 police dog. Tune in for the story of courage and how the family creates good and recognizes miracles from this loss.Shownotes:Rosalie Mastaler learned about Disability Advocacy when her husband's police dog bit her son, Hunter, on February 8, 2015. Despite the trauma, Rosalie and Hunter chose to accept his disability and continue on with life. Rosalie learned that she couldn't change her son's choice to accept his disability, but she could give him tools and opportunities to help him. Hunter eventually accepted his disability and learned that happiness is a choice and that resilience is a journey. Rosalie was inspired by Hunter's ability to keep getting up and pushing forward, no matter how difficult or challenging the journey was.Listen in to our discussion about:1. How did a police dog bite Hunter and what were the rules around those dogs?2. How did Rosalie and her husband cope with the guilt and the trauma of the situation?3. How did Hunter's journey of resilience help shape Rosalie's perspective on life?Visit Rosalie Mastaler's Socials:Mastaler Family on InstagramRosalie's WebsiteRosalie on FacebookTRANSCRIPT00:00:19 Lori: Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. On this show, we share stories. We share stories of big adventures, stories of big struggles, stories that allow us to share our experiences and to learn from each other. And today's guest, Rosalie Mass Taylor, was pushed into the world of disabilities when her oldest son was attacked by a police canine and he lost the lower part of his left leg. She and her family now focus on being advocates for those with disabilities and helping people to keep hope was a big thing. 00:00:55 Lori: When Hunter, this is her son, became an amputee at just four years old, his parents had to negotiate a host of feelings, including guilt and grief and worry for how their son was going to adapt. The loss of his lower leg altered their lives and how they cared for him, of course. But Rosalie and Michael, his dad, soon realized that the most powerful tool that they could offer Hunter was resilience. I'm really interested about this resilience topic because it's so big for all of us. So stay tuned for their story and a peek at the Mass Taylor Party of Five. 00:00:43 Lori: Stories are our lives and language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I'm Lori Lee, and I'm excited for our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you the listener ideas to work with in making your stories work for you. Story power serves you best when you know how to use it. 00:02:25 Lori: Mass Taylor Party of Five is the social media presence of the Mass Taylor family and their story. In 2015, Michael, that's the dad in this story, his police dog attacked Hunter, their four year old son. And the bite was so severe that they were forced to...

Episode: 238 - The Messages: A Story of Navigating Life Transitions and Embracing ChangeWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I've struggled for a month, since I read Dawn Kohler's book, The Messages, to figure out how to introduce this woman, what direction to take our discussion, and how to adequately portray the events that took place in her life….I've come up with nothing that seems to fully do the job so I'm just going to say “wow” and jump right in. In her 30's Dawn's body simply would not let her get out of her car as she pulled into her thriving, award-winning computer company, for another day as CEO in a job she loved. She couldn't get her hand to open the door. After sitting for hours she finally drove home and started on one of the most interesting and spiritual journey's I've ever read about. She says, “by sheer self-mutiny, the self I was born to be decided to hijack the one I had created.”Tune into the audio for Dawn Kohler's story and the amazing things we are going to learn from it.Dawn Kohler was an award-winning entrepreneur in the computer industry when she was abruptly summoned to take a life-altering course. What followed was an extraordinary healing journey from childhood abuse and rape. This journey took a giant toll on her, on her family, and on her marriage, but it gave her profound insights, incredible healing, and deep understanding. Combining these insights, and her business experience, Dawn became a sought-after Executive Coach helping leaders understand and enhance their impact on others and their contribution to the world. Her clients have included many of the most influential women in entertainment, as well as senior leaders at Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, Lionsgate, DreamWorks, Fox, Snapchat, Disney, and Amazon. Dawn is the author of 3 books including her recent memoir, The Messages, a prophetic journey.Tune into my talk with Dawn. Here are just some of the things we talk about:While your book, The Messages, is the whole detailed story, will you please tell the listeners your story, and then we'll move into where that brought you?In your recent memoir, you share the story of how you came to receive a series of what you experienced as divine messages. What were the messages? How will they impact us? And why do you think they came to you, a secular businesswoman? In your book you share a conversation with your therapist where she said, “You followed your messages, faced your fears, encountered great upheavals, and released a lifetime of stored emotions that, honestly, I'm surprised have not killed you by now., It's the hero's journey. you want through the crucible in order to come out the other side and bring back a treasure to the kingdom.” The onset of your personal journey was marked by high anxiety and depression. We are certainly seeing an increase in both in our culture, do you think those symptoms are a kind of summons or awakening for all of us? How do we answer the call to a greater life? Why are some called and some aren't?In your book you say, “People need to understand how important it is to take responsibility for their own healing. We can avoid so much suffering if we embrace who we really are and learn to love more deeply.” How do we do this?You also said, “Our spirit is always trying to heal us, deepen our capacity to love, and guide us to where we can best serve. We just have to listen and follow our own path.” I want to talk about “our own path.” Your experience is incredible, but very different from my understanding of how the universe works. My sons are on paths that I can't fully understand. This idea of our “own path” is really opening me up to allowance, but how do we support each other when our understanding and belief in a certain path differs from

Episode 237: Bang Head Here: Interview with Josh Brazier & Hollie Henderson - Part 2Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Today is Part 2 of Bang Head Here. We're back with Hollie and Josh, the authors of Bang Head Here, and today we are talking shop. In Part 1 we got their stories, of Hollie's troubled youth and how it put her on this incredible path, so go back and listen to part 1 to get her full story. And we got Josh's story of being a young man in Morocco and working with refugees from West Africa, watching their abuse and deportment that became so formative for him as he built a life of humanitarian work.Today we want to move on with our conversation with them so we can glean insight from their wisdom.Hollie and Josh, welcome back to the show.Let's dive right back into our conversation and pick up where we left off…..Last episode we finished up with the challenges teens are having with connection, this episodes let's go to the next obvious question:Tune into our conversation about:1. What keeps parents from connecting with their teens and young adult children?2. Why are you able to connect with teens when the parents cannot?3. Let's talk about developing resilience. In your book you talk about the need of accepting that pain is a part of life. You say, “We realized that we didn't really know what it meant to look at pain without trying to avoid it. In essence we didn't know how to be ok with not feeling ok.” Let's talk about this idea of acceptance of all the emotions of living, but then let's talk about how this is a part of becoming resilient. 4. How do we fill our resiliency tanks? How do we lay a foundation of resiliency?5. Why do young people listen and how do you keep their attention? “In your book you gave some great advice - “Make sure what you say today is living and void of judgement.” “If you can make them feel loved and valued at least once a day, you'll have a great start.”6. How do we deal with and avoid pain? What are healthy ways of dealing with pain?How to contact Hollie and Josh:WEBSITE: https://www.joshandhollie.com/EMAIL: info@joshandhollie.comFACEBOOK: @joshandholliecoachingINSTAGRAM: @josh_and_hollieTWITTER: @JoshHollie2I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about how hard communication is for everyone. When you think about it, we all have different experiences, different triggers, different insecurities, different stories about everything. And with those stories that we are telling ourselves in our own heads, we are creating different realities. In Bang Head Here, Josh and Hollie say, “We know very little about what's going on her to really know what's going on. It's a reminder that we need to keep our initial opinions and perceptions out of the equation until we have had enough time to be curious, ask questions and create different perspectives and possibilities, and to give the benefit of the doubt.”Your challenge this week is to give someone the benefit of the doubt. When you are hit with frustration or fear in one of your relationships, give them the benefit of the doubt and approach them with that in mind.So many teens right now seem to struggle so deeply. Suicide rates are so high. Social media doesn't help. We're dealing with the first generation being raised on the internet, hitting our heads against that proverbial wall, and finding our way around outcomes we've not had to deal with before. Bang Head Here may be a great resource for you. We'll see you in two weeks.

Episode 236: Bang Head Here - Interview with Josh Brazier & Hollie Henderson - Part 1Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast.What do you get when you bring together a woman who was an at-risk teen, with severe troubles in her family of origin, and a man who on his LDS mission to Morroco worked with thousands of African refugees who were abused by guards and eventually deported, despite all their struggles, to make a better life? What you get is a dynamic duo who have partnered together, after years of their own experience in social work - like violence prevention and humanitarian programs, to help families and troubled youth learn to communicate and solve pain points.You also get a new book called: Bang Head Here. Tune in because we are going to get into their stories, as well as the tremendous work they are doing and you'll definitely learn some things about communicating with your loved ones.Today's podcast is about a number of things. It's about how to communicate in families, especially with at-risk youth. It's about how to recognize the part we play, as parents and caregivers, in the miscommunications that occur. It's about sharing the life experiences of two people who have taken some traumatic experiences and turned them into skills to share and help families communicate better. It's ultimately about using what they know to help others along the path of building better life stories.We have a couple “guides” with us today. Let me introduce them:First, Hollie:Hollie has been training teens and adults for over twenty years. Her training work began in the field of violence prevention and dating violence prevention. Hollie has trained thousands of teens and young adults to recognize the warning signs that lead to violent and deadly relationships.She is an active parent & teen coach who specializes in working with at-risk teens and young adults and their parents. She understands the struggle and nuances of these relationships primarily because she once was an "at-risk teen" who has found a way to reconnection within a family structure that once was failing.Josh:With over 15 years of experience working with youth and family in over a dozen countries, Josh brings a very unique perspective to healing and family culture. Having worked alongside thousands of young people and having been inside hundreds of struggling households, Josh's experience has led to deep and powerful insights that help create a new path of healing. Having worked for the past decade creating social programs for youth in the US and abroad, Josh brings his 15 years of experience working with youth to help solve real pain points the youth are facing.Tune in to the audio program to hear about his story serving in Morocco on an LDS mission. In a Spanish provence there was a refugee camp where thousands of West Africans were coming up to create a better life in Europe. He was tasked with building a church and helping the refugees - creating an English speaking branch. He worked with these people building good spaces for them. The refugees had to deal with very difficult psychological issues, abuse from the guards physically, verbally, sexually abused - rape was an issue. The overcrowding was severe. In addition the refugees had the horrible struggles in their travels to actually get to where they were - friends being eaten by wild animals, drinking their own urine to survive on the trail, women having to sell their bodies. He grew very close to these people as he walked with them on this path. One day he got on his boat to go to mainland Spain with his branch, when they were all apprehended by local authorities and his entire branch was deported to their countries of origin. He never saw them again and the trauma of the event caused a great deal of personal struggle. He started his program to honor these people. It became

Episode 234: Your Extraordinary Starts Now - Interview Shannon Bahrke-HappeWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast.Do you remember Shannon Bahrke Happe? Her 12-year career on the U.S. Ski Team, which brought her to the Olympics. Check out this list of her accomplishments: Member of 3 Olympic Teams (2002, 2006, 2010) Bronze Medal in Vancouver, CAN, 2010 Silver Medal in Salt Lake City, UT, 2002World Championships: Member of 6 World Championship TeamsWorld Cups: Member of U.S. Freestyle Ski Team for 12 years (1998-2010) On "A" Team (top 10 in the world or higher) all 12 years Over World Cup title, 2003 7 World Cup wins 26 World Cup podiumsU.S. National Championships: 6 U.S. titlesGeez.. Well, today she's here to reveal how she overcame obstacles, doubts, and fears to ultimately earn her 2 Olympic Medals. Shannon will also share how the same mindset, tools, and strategies directly correlate to how EVERYONE can execute them to achieve their maximum potential! Click the link to listen to our discussion and to feel her energy.Today's show is titled - Your Extra-Ordinary Starts Now! And Shannon Bahrke Happe is here to talk about how she did it.Welcome Shannon!Tune in to hear our discussion about the following:As always I want to start with your story. I listened to your TED talk where you talked about how average you felt you were, and yet here you are with a 12-year career on the US Ski Team and 2 Olympic medals. How did you go from average person to Olympic medal winner?As I mentioned, I've titled this episode: Your extraordinary starts now - because that's what you teach. So teach us a little about how to be extraordinary. Great things take work. A sense of entitlement will NOT help you accomplish much. I worry about the upcoming generation who often think if something is hard that it's not meant for them. Let's talk about how to develop mental toughness.You have the “Always do 1 More” adage. Can you teach us about that?You talk about envisioning the end goal with our senses. What does that look like? How have you used that? - a little manifesting hack here.Every day we have hundreds of choices - actions, reactions, these choices matter because they change the outcome. How do we “choose to win” in these small daily choices. Turn your biggest challenges and roadblocks into opportunities - what does this look like? I love putting this one out there. This is an important tool to understand when you are mired in a really tough space.Final thoughts on living extraordinary lives on purpose?To Contact Shannon Bahrke-HappeShannonBahrke.comTeamEmpowerHour.com(713) 670-4047MogulMama@mac.comLet's end with two quotes: 1. ”Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're probably right." - Henry Ford 2. Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”You only have one life to live, so why not make it something fabulous and unforgettable? As a 20-something I had a poem on my wall called If I had My Life to Live Over. The author was talking about dancing in the rain and eating chocolate cake for breakfast and worrying less and celebrating more. I think we could all stand to take a moment to stop, step out of the rat race, take a breath and decide how we want to make a difference, how we want to be grateful and powerful and what it means to us, individually to live an ordinary live or an extraordinary life. Sometime it's just small and simple things that make a huge difference. It is a path of mindset shifts, of positive talk shifts, of a choice to do one...

Hi everybody, we're joined today by Alissa, the German creator behind the webtoon canvas series To Be Honest. The story follows Leon as he lands in an orphanage and finds himself roommates with Gilbert, the most hated kid in Leon's new school.   We had a great time learning about Alissa's story, from her professional work in animation and how it has impacted her comic, to her passion for her story and how it drives her to do her best work regardless of the size of the audience, and about how to deal with anxiety around being good enough in art, and how to combat it. Check out Alissa's work: https://linktr.ee/alissacolors

Ep 27 How to Love Your Story with Lori LeeIf you're stuck in shame because of the past and the stories you've built around those experiences, then you might not be living your full, authentic self. Those closed-off places impact our parenting, relationships, communication, and work more than we think. In this episode, author and podcast host Lori Lee shares just how much we create our own reality and walks us through the steps it takes to not only accept our past, but to learn how to love yourself, and your story, here and now. Episode highlights ...Why sharing your story is powerfulHow stories (and the surrounding shame) are created in the first placeThe first three steps to reframing your storyHow owning your story helps you become a better momA simple technique to rewrite the negative beliefsAbout Lori:Lori Lee is the host and producer of the Love Your Story podcast, a podcast dedicated to sharing candid interviews and conversations about living our best life stories on purpose. Lori pulls no punches in capturing interviews that shine a light on how we make it through the hard stuff – stress, anxiety, suicide, eating disorders, rape, the death of children, abuse, divorce and the real stuff that creates our dark and sacred pathways.  She also shares interviews with Olympians, athletes, life coaches, therapists, and influencers who are changing the world. Lori has a master's degree in Folklore. She is the author of six books and over 100 magazine and newspaper articles, including her latest book, L.I.F.E. – Living Intentional and Fearless Every day: The 21 Life Connection Challenges. She has been on radio and TV shows to discuss her work, and currently helps people recognize and manage the stories they tell themselves so they can live intentionally as they live their life story moving forward.How to Connect with Lori:Website: https://loveyourstorypodcast.comDealing with Anger: Interview with Lara Johnson: https://loveyourstorypodcast.com/captivate-podcast/episode-177-dealing-with-anger-interview-lara-johnson/L.I.F.E.: Living Intentional & Fearless Everyday - 21 LIFE Connection Challenges (Book): https://loveyourstorypodcast.com/shop/The Five Steps to Reframing Your Story, and its episodes 46 through 51 on Love your Story Podcast

In this episode I speak with Abby Burle, founder of Love Your Story, an organization dedicated  to create places of belonging for families impacted by disabilities.  This project started after Abby and her husband Ryan traveled around the country seeking medical care for their triplets. They realized the financial impact of disability on family, and that many families spend more than 22% of their annual income on expenses related to the disability.  In the episode, Abby talks about her journey as a mom to children with disabilities, and how she advocated to start Love Your Story. She shares the story of their first project, which was to purchase a home in Gainesville, Georgia to provide physical and financial rest for families traveling to the area for medical treatment or intensive therapies. Abby is passionate about inclusion and changing the way we talk about disability and understanding those who live with disability in their families. You will be inspired by her drive and how she creates community.  Enjoy!!You can follow Abby at:Instagram @loveyourstory.usWebsite: https://loveyourstory.usCome share your thoughts in the Safe Harbor Facebook group. And find me on:Instagram: @theresabartolottaFacebook: Safe Harbor: A Podcast for Parents of Children with Special NeedsWebsite: https://www.theresabartolotta.com/Please rate and review - it helps others find us. And thank you for listening! I know your time is precious and I send my gratitude to you.

Lori Lee Welcome to the #ShareYourHotness Podcast Episode 77! It's a Podcaster Faceoff! Head-to-head! No Holds Barred! Nah, it's just me and my friend Lori. :) Lori is a lover of stories. Her motto is, "Do more than Live It...LOVE your Story!" Lori Lee is the host and producer of the Love Your Story podcast, a podcast dedicated to sharing candid interviews and conversations about living our best life stories on purpose. Lori pulls no punches in capturing interviews that shine a light on how we make it through the hard stuff – stress, anxiety, suicide, eating disorders, rape, the death of children, abuse, divorce and the real stuff that creates our dark and sacred pathways. She also shares interviews with Olympians, athletes, life coaches, therapists, and influencers who are changing the world. Lori has a master's degree in Folklore. She is the author of six books and over 100 magazine and newspaper articles, including her latest book, L.I.F.E. – Living Intentional and Fearless Every day: The 21 Life Connection Challenges. She has been on radio and TV shows to discuss her work, and currently helps people recognize and manage the stories they tell themselves so they can live intentionally as they live their life story moving forward. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode 230: Your Story Matters - Interview Amy Chandler Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Every once in awhile I find another story practitioner who preaches the same truths I teach. Birds of a feather - another who understands this simple but often overlooked idea of how much our stories matter, how powerful we can be when we realize the power in our stories, and our ability to write them with intention. Today is one of those days. Amy Chandler is an entrepreneur who helps people become an active agent in their story. She is the founder of a non profit called My Story Matters, that started forming about 15 years ago - one chapter at a time. She understands her mission is to empower people with the tools and resources they need to write their own story. As they do so, they choose to claim and create the future they want to achieve. She knows that within each of us is a unique skill set designed to help us achieve far more than we realize. Tune into the audio program for our talk - because Amy has been to correctional facilities, in elementary schools, in high schools, all over the place helping people tell their stories, and I think you'll like hearing about her adventures and seeing what they tell you about the importance of your own story. I asked Amy questions like: Amy, let's start off with what you do in My Story Matters. What exactly do you do and who do you do it with? In your work, what stories can you share of watching people step into their power as they own their stories? Let's talk about intentional living. What is your take on that - specifically about healing? Share any specific story of this happening? You talk about claiming and creating a life of miracles. What does that mean to you? One of the quotes you often share is “When we give voice and energy to our war stories they consume us. When we give voice and energy to our champion story it transforms us.” This sounds a lot like what I call - THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES. Let's talk about this a bit. I'd really like to hear about what you call, "dealing with life's detours through the growth zone” Let's end with some stories of transformation that you have witnessed as the people you have worked with have stepped up to find, tell, accept their stories. Find Amy: amy@mystorymatters.org http://www.mystorymatters.org/ (www.mystorymatters.org) http://www.safeharborscourse.com/ (www.safeharborscourse.com) @mystorymatters Why do our stories matter? I think they matter on multiple levels. They matter to us individually because they are literally the playing out of our lives. They matter to us because we want to have adventure, fun, love, accomplishment, satisfaction, growth. They matter to us because if our lives don't matter, the foundation of purpose starts to dissolve. Our stories also matter from a simple space of empowerment. When you know who you are and the power you have to create just what you want, you realize you are powerful, you matter, and that ties us into why our stories matter to each other. Our stories matter to each other because we are all in the same giant play. Our characters interact, we benefit from one another, we share with one another, we hurt one another sometimes, we set off domino effects everyday that matter to many people (in kind and positive ways as well as cruel and difficult ways), we shine a light on the way ahead as we share our stories and support one another. No one does life alone, we all need each other, and like it or not, acknowledge it or not, our lives are woven together like a tapestry. We are almost inseparable. Our living, our loving, our growing, our falling down, our being, matters deeply to the world. Challenge for the week: Take the opportunity to let someone in your life know how much their life affects you. Share this episode with just one person this week - more if you're willing to go the extra mile. And remember that Your...

Episode 229: Mothering with Intention- Interview Lara Johnson Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. The other day I had a woman approach me and confide that she was a focused and successful career woman before her children, and that she struggles with being with her kids all the time. It felt like her career was fading away and her kids did not afford her the success she felt in the corporate world. She was panicking and felt a bit like she was drowning. We talked a bit about seasons of life, about investing our time in the things we most value, in living our best, personal lives. Today we are diving into this topic with an expert. Lara Johnson has been married for 14 years, has 3 beautiful tyrants, 2 spicy cats, and a baby on the way. She has the best job in the world helping moms live their lives ON purpose and WITH purpose. In her free time she likes to grow and kill plants, play with pretty rocks, awkwardly dance in the kitchen, read too many books, and spend time with God, nature, and her family. As a speaker, podcast host, writer, consultant, and coach, she has helped thousands of moms be in a better mood, play more with their kids, manage their homes better, get their to-do lists done, and answer their purpose with fire in their Souls. Stay tuned for my talk with her and how mothering/ and apply this to fathering as well, can be less stressful and more of what you want. Can I start with a worry I have? I am always so honored to be a part of sharing the sacred stories of people's lives. But so often, the triumph comes after the tragedy, the struggle, maybe always….there is no triumph in sitting around and watching TV or in a story that focuses on the easy times of our lives. Therefore, I find that our episodes are often focused on something depressing - an eating disorder, a divorce, mental illness, sexual assault, death, domestic violence….this sounds like dark list, and I can just imagine people saying, geez, I don't want to tune in to another depressing story, (even though they have happy endings of learning.) So, I've tried really hard this year to include lots of positive episodes that focus on creating our life stories on purpose, like the Hero on a Mission series, and noticing and focusing on our happiness in the Practical Happiness episode, or how to Engineer our Lives on purpose, in the Life Engineered episode. Well, today is another of those supportive, live-on-purpose episodes, and this one is about motherhood. How to Mother on purpose in our own unique ways. Tune in to hear my interview with Lara Johnson where we talk about ideas like: Lara - first tell us what you do and why you're qualified to talk to us about this topic. Motherhood can be a challenge - those of us lucky enough to be mothers have found our way through in different ways. Some moms love babies, some love teens, some love toddlers, some want many kids, some want only one or two, and as we learn and navigate this, we learn who we are and boy is this a workshop for patience and love and joy and things you never imagined. But like all things, we can live reactively or intentionally. Let's talk about what a reactive MOM life looks like and what a MOM on purpose life looks like. We all come with different talents and abilities. You say, “Your kids don't need the best, they just need you.” Do you think our children need specifically what we have to offer? You have something called Discover Your Purpose - how does that work? How to Contact Lara Johnson:E: lara@larajohnsoncoaching.com W: http://larajohnsoncoaching.com/ (larajohnsoncoaching.com) IG: @lara.t.johnson   Motherhood is the most influential role played on this planet. It is the creation and nurture of new lives, new hearts, new mindsets. It IS, after all, the creation and nurture of people. So this really big role is given to women - regular women who come with baggage and weaknesses...

Episode 228: The Stewardship Principle - Interview Ganel-Lyn Condie Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. “When was the last time you experienced a major shift in your perspective? A moment when you learned something that changed your paradigm so significantly that the way you once saw things is forever altered with a new viewpoint?” So begins the book, “The Stewardship Principle,” by Ganel-Lyn Condie Tune into the audio program because today Ganel-Lyn is on the show to take us deeper into what that paradigm shift is, and I for one, needed the shift. Ganel-Lyn Condie is a popular motivational speaker – she inspires with her unique honesty, authenticity and spirit. She is dedicated to her family, faith, and inspiring others. Ganel-Lyn has experienced healing from a major chronic illness and is the mother to two miracle children. After the heart-breaking suicide of her 40 year old sister, Ganel-Lyn is constantly working towards suicide prevention. Ganel-Lyn lives with an open heart and feels passionate about sharing principles that will empower others to live life with more joy. She is a regular television/radio guest, and hosts the popular shows REAL TALK CFM and THE MIDDLE. Ganel-Lyn's talks and books have now encouraged thousands of people all over the world.   Connect with Ganel-Lyn: Facebook - Real Talk: https://www.facebook.com/groups/realtalkcfm/?multi_permalinks=775617246659046¬if_id=1621479650343120¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif Website: www.ganellyn.com Instagram - The Middle: https://www.instagram.com/third.hour/ Buy her book the Stewardship Principe: https://ganellyn.com/products/   Click to listen to the interview: Here are some of my main take-aways from this concept: A. Everything is on loan to us from God, so we can talk with him about how he wants us to handle our stewardships. B. Success is about our process and efforts, not necessarily about the outcome. C. Our stewardships - the good and the bad are tailor made for us, so don't bother with comparison. D. This whole process of stewarding is what the path to being more like God looks like. This week's challenge: What are you struggling with right now in your life - a child? a relationship? a health issue? Your challenge this week is to shift your mindset from owning this to one of stewardship over it. How does this lighten the load? How does this bring hope? Thanks for being with us. Please share this episode - it's a couple clicks on your phone to message it to someone you know, and spread the love, joy and understanding around creating your best life on purpose.

Episode 227: Blooming - Interview Carrington Smith Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. The most beautiful flowers and plants bloom with fertilizer, water, and light. Today's guest, Carrington Smith, says in her book, “I had been told to shut up and not tell my story. It makes people feel uncomfortable. But the truth is that my power, my secret weapons, my gifts are IN my stories. That is where I discovered the authentic me - where I discovered the gifts, the buried treasure - in all the shit (which turns out to be fertilizer). It is in the debris of life, in the fire, that I found out who I was and what I was made of. Tune in for my interview with Carrington to hear her story and the process of blooming. Carrington Smith is the author of https://t.sidekickopen84.com/s3t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7kF8bG4RGW2fvRnN59hl3kW7_k2841CX6NGW36PLmz1FVXgfVs7zDQ3smq6Lf197v5Y04?te=W3R5hFj4cm2zwW4mKLS-3F4FX-W3T1k8843Tw4hW3_VrY81JxwY5w1LC3nWb2k2&si=8000000020780700&pi=9dcf5186-a461-4c49-8a43-1735f5f301c2 (Blooming: Finding Gifts in the Shit of Life). Despite being born into a legacy of wealth, life was not so kind to her. Carrington has survived childhood abuse, sexual assault, two divorces, mountains of debt, religious manipulation, and the loss of close friends. In her bestselling, debut memoir, she combines her wit with wisdom to share her journey from trauma to triumph. Today, with a shift in mindset, she lives a life filled with joy, opportunity, and purpose. We talk about her story at home - Everyone's story starts at home. You spend a number of chapters giving your background with your family, the incident with you father and the bike ride, the toilet incident at church, your mother's response to your rape - these stories set a scene of a childhood that was traumatic and unsupportive. Can you share some of these most pivotal stories with us and then let's talk about what gifts these held for you. Let's talk about the importance of owning our stories. In your experience, how did you do this? What was the power behind owning your whole messy story?     CONNECT WITH CARRINGTON Carrie@CarringtonLegal.com Carrington-Smith.com +1(512)627-7467 in/CarrieSmithTrabue @CarringtonATX   In each of the interviews on the love your story show, our purpose is to share the stories of our lives and learn from one another how we got through them - that's what stories do, they inspire and teach. Carrington's book more or less sums up what we are doing here on every show - listening and learning how to bloom despite the hard stuff. But I think we're far enough along here to note that in the end, we can really thrive BECAUSE of the hard stuff we go through. We learn who we are as our character unfolds and we learn and grow. We become strong because we had to. We become empathetic because we now understand things we didn't know before the fertilizer got shoveled our way. We become resilient because we learned to bounce back and regroup. We bloom BECAUSE of the fertilizer. It's a rough game, and it's one we often want to tap out of, but understanding how it's played, can help a lot when the growth spurts happen. Your challenge this week is to choose one of your past challenges - something really tough you went through, and to journal at least 1 page about what you gained from that experience. Just let it free flow as you write, and by the end you'll be able to dig through and find the gifts. Have a beautiful week and share this, right now, with someone in your life who is struggling. We'll let the show remind them that there are gifts to be found in the hard stuff. See you in two weeks.

Episode 226: Life is Hard, But I'll Be Okay - Interview Johnny Sirpilla Welcome to the LYS Podcast. Today's story is of Johnny Sirpilla, his wife Susan, their struggle with infertility, the death of their triplets, and the power of hope, coming through pain, and learning to live with gratitude.   Johnny Sirpilla, founder of Encourage, LLC, and author of Life is Hard, But I'll Be OK, he is a professional speaker to businesses, communities and universities, about managing thoughts, leading yourself to productive choices and framing each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-reflection and growth.   Right up our alley. I want to start with a couple reviews of Johnny Sirpilla's book - Life is Hard but I'll Be Ok.   Dr. Nido Qubein, President of High Point University, says… “He has written a book to help anyone deal head-on with any struggle they face so they can become more resilient, eventually heal, and find beauty in the hardship, the silver lining in a dark cloud.”   Srini Pillay, M.D., Harvard-trained psychiatrist, said, “Johnny Sirpilla takes us on a journey through adversity and reminds us that anyone who is falling apart can put themselves together again at a higher level. With a heartwarming style of writing, he reminds us to find the blessings in our struggles and to explore our shadow selves so that we can live in a more whole and self-forgiving way. Touched by magic himself, Sirpilla will remind you that your own magic is more within your reach than you think. A profoundly touching page turner, this book is a must read.”   Tune in to hear my conversation with Johnny as he shares his story and what he's learned. To contact Johnny: johnny@encourage33.com encourage33.com LinkedIn - Johnny-Sirpilla   In a talk by Elder Larry S. Kacher, a Seventy in the LDS Church, called Ladder of Faith, Elder Kacher illustrates what we've seen in the Sirpilla's story. (The Sirpilla family are members of the Catholic church.)   He asks the question, “How will life's challenges affect our faith in Jesus Christ? And what effect will our faith have on the joy and peace we experience in this life?”   Johnny's story, and their faith, is a prime example of this - choosing faith has allowed them to find peace.   Elder Kacher goes on, “Accepting God's will in place of our own is key to finding joy no matter the circumstances….our faith in him, can and will, guide us through the complexities of life. Indeed we find that there is simplicity on the other side of life's complexities as we remain steadfast in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.” This story Johnny has shared today, is one of resilience and the power of managing thoughts to seek gratitude when life is hard - I hope you have found a light in his experience that will shine on your own path.  Remember that though life can be hard, you can be okay. Please share this episode with someone you think would benefit from hearing it. We'll see you in two weeks for the next episode of the Love Your Story podcast.            

Episode 224: Practical Happiness - Interview with Pamela Gail JohnsonWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Let me start with a story: A Native American story tells about how god gathered his animal advisers together to help him decide where to hide the Secret to a Happy Life from humans.  He first asked the Eagle, “Where shall I put it?”  The Eagle answered, “I shall hide it at the top of the highest mountain. Man will never find it there.”  God considered this but decided against it. “One day, Man will go there,” he said.  Next, he asked the Clam, “Where shall I put it, little Clam?” “I will hide it at the bottom of the deepest ocean,” the Clam answered. This seemed like a better idea, but the Lord hesitated again.  “Man will go there someday,” he said after some thought. Then the wise Owl stepped forward. “Though I regretfully cannot take it there myself,” he intoned, “perhaps you ought to hide the secret on the moon.”  After considering this, God finally came to the same conclu- sion as before: “No. There, too, Man shall go.”  After some period of reflection, the humble Opossum came forward. “Perhaps,” he said, so softly that he could barely be heard, “the secret should be hidden in the heart of Man.” There was an awed silence among the animals.  Finally, the Lord spoke: “Yes, cunning Opossum, that will be the last place Man will look.”  This story reminds us of something that we already know but are often reluctant to embrace: Our happiness is inside us. The challenge is knowing how to find it.  This story is shared from the introduction of the book, Practical Happiness, by Pamela Gail Johnson who is here today with me on the show.  Tune into the audio program where we are talking about personal happiness. The individual nature of it all, and what makes YOU happy.  Today on the show I have the founder of the Society of Happy People, and the author of Practical Happiness here to support us in intentionally creating our own happy spaces.  Pamela Gail Johnson has helped people understand, expand, and rethink their happiness mindset since 1998, when she found the Society of Happy People. As a mostly happy person, she asked herself, where are all the happy people? She decided they needed their own tribe. Are you one of her tribe, or would you like to be? Yes, of course, who doesn't want to be part of the happiness people tribe. She has started 3 happiness holidays and her new book “Practical Happiness: Four principles to Improve Your Life.” Tune in to the audio program to hear my conversation with Pamela. As I've considered happiness in my own life - I have my own 4 ingredients to happiness: I have determined that happiness is comprised of 1. purpose - without purpose most people are unhappy and unmoored. And, 2. people - we need healthy personal relationships. 3. Gratitude, where we don't ignore all the great blessings in our lives. Gratitude makes you feel like the universe has your back. 4. Fun - whatever is fun for you. Our brains are hardwired to quickly recognize and help us get away from things that can hurt us. This goes back to our caveman days, when we had to protect ourselves from gigantic, hairy, scary creatures and such. Our brains evolved to help us recognize danger and keep us safe. That's why it's always easier, and maybe even more natural, for us to see what's wrong before we can see what's right. Having a positive outlook usually requires a conscious effort until it becomes a habit or our go-to mindset. Practice this mindset. Look for what is going right. Your challenge for this week is to look for what is going right in your life right now. Take 5 minutes, sometime this week, and write a list of the things that make you smile. Then, I want you to put the list someplace where you can see it regularly, and make sure that you're including those happy things in your days. Look for the good, acknowledge...

Episode 221: Hero on a Mission, Part 1 - with Jessica BurrellWelcome to the Love Your Story podcast! Today's episode is a double whammy of goodness because we are going to be discussing some really fun ideas for moving our lives forward, from Donald Miller's book - Hero on a Mission, and we're doing it with Jessica Burrell, the owner of Amplify Your Vision, the fabulous transformational coach. Do you want your life story to be as meaningful as possible? Are you willing to take responsibility for your own life story?  The good life stories take work. Our lives have a beginning, middle and end - like a story. We play many roles - friends, husband, wife, son, daughter, teacher, learner etc. - we are multi-dimensional characters. But within our story there are times we also play the role of the villian, the victim, the hero and hopefully the guide. But before we go there, we first need to talk about our own power and responsibility. This brings us to - Who is writing your story? Do you think fate is responsible for where you are, for how your story turns out? Do you believe others, who act upon you, determine the storyline? Is it God that writes our story? As Donald Miller says in his book, if it's fate or God they are doing a very unfair job. In Hero on a Mission, Donald Miller says, “What if God has created the scene - the sunset, the sunrise, the ocean, the mountains. He has set the scene for US to create within. The broken nature of life is a fact. But, we have been given a pen to write our way within it.  It felt right when he said, God isn't writing your story, Fate isn't writing your story, there has rather, been a space created for you to pick up the pen and write the meaning into your own story. We get to decide if we use colorful sparkle pens, we get to decide what we focus on, who we want to become, how WE choose to deal with the natural tragedies that arise from a world full of crazy. This is the gift of agency. You alone have the responsibility to shape your life into something meaningful. To learn from the setbacks and pain, to create with intention. Tune in to the audio program for an interesting discussion about what it looks like when we play the hero, victim, villain and the guide. What energy are you sourcing? Let's start with a little definition and explanation: Heroes are victims going through the process of transformation. Victims believe they are buffeted by circumstances and they have no power in their own lives. They often give up, surrender to fate, believe they are doomed. The Villain makes others small. They don't seek transformation, they seek revenge. The Guide helps the hero. The hero does not transform alone - we all have help. Lots of help. The hero doesn't know how to do it all, because they are in the process of transformation. Here's the cool part…the pain transforms a hero into a guide for others. Donald Miller says, in the book, “Life is a beautiful experience and we get to participate in making it so….the idea that fate writes our story is a lie. We do not suffer fate, we partner with fate to write a story generated from our own God-given creativity and agency. And that story can be more than interesting, it can be meaningful.” Join us for Part 2 as we discuss our personal times of sourcing the hero, villain, victim and guide energy. To buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Mission-Path-Meaningful-Life/dp/B09128GM6X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VH6LCREL2CE&keywords=Hero+on+a+Mission&qid=1653005991&sprefix=hero+on+a+mission%2Caps%2C275&sr=8-1 See you in two weeks.

Episode 220: Death with a Little "d" - Interview Margaret MeloniWhen a marriage fails, a friendship terminates, we find new wrinkles and new sagging skin, we lose a job or lose a beloved pet, the facts of impermanence stare, unblinking, at us. While logically we can acknowledge that impermanence is a matter of fact, a fact of life, it is also something we fear. We fear losing our youth, people and pets we love, a job that helps us define who we are, a way of life, wealth, etc. With that fear comes suffering. Learning to let go….that's what we are talking about today. Today's episode is about Death with a little d. I've called in our death specialist, Margaret Meloni, but we aren't talking about dealing with the death of our loved ones or ourselves today, more about the death of less crucial things. And we are having this discussion because a section of the road to enlightenment is living with more peace and less fear, and impermanence is one of those things we get to understand better. Tune in for what this looks like in real life and maybe come away with a new coping skill. Margaret Meloni is used to talking about death. In fact, her second book recently hit the book stands, Sitting With Death: Buddhist Insights to Help You Face Your Fears and Live a Peaceful Life. Her first book, Carpooling with Death, was highlighted in episode 146 of the Love Your Story podcast. But I don't want to talk about Death with a big D today. Refer back to that episode for that discussion.  Today I want to talk about impermanence. Margaret's second season on her podcast, Death Dhamma, she is focusing on death with a little d. - the impermanence of all things and with the ability to accept that impermanence we increase the ability to create less painful life stories. So we'll learn how to navigate the inevitability of change today. In the audio program we'll discuss ideas like: Can you tell us a little about how you got into the study of death? What is death with a little “d”? Let's talk about the idea of impermanence. How do you define it? What does it look like in our lives? How do we accept it? Things that we can expect to be impermanent: relationships, health, jobs, etc. What would you add to this list? Shelley Knight said, “We are all grieving something. When we talk about grief people think it's the death of a loved one and it's not just that – that's bereavement. Grief is the loss of anything with which you have an emotional connection. It could be your health, a relationship, a dream, your self-confidence, or something else. We don't need to hide it. We need to normalize it.” In your discussions on your podcast regarding this topic - what insight/story has stuck with you the most? Let's talk about: pain+resistance = suffering. Does the acceptance of impermanence help us with resistance and thus reduce our suffering? There are lots of real feelings to deal with when we lose something important to us.  What do you think is the most helpful Buddhist teaching regarding impermanence and dealing with it? In your blog post - Master Improvisation, Master Impermanence, you talk about the rules of good improv.  “All you need to know is that there will be death, in that awareness there will be peace.” - Margaret Meloni To Contact Margaret: Social Media https://twitter.com/MargaretMeloni (https://twitter.com/MargaretMeloni) https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretmeloni/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretmeloni/) https://www.facebook.com/DeathDhamma (https://www.facebook.com/DeathDhamma) https://www.facebook.com/groups/962871121024043 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/962871121024043) Website: https://www.margaretmeloni.com/ (https://www.margaretmeloni.com/) What are you grieving the loss of in your life. Maybe it's as simple as the loss of an expectation - you expected a marriage to be happily ever after, you expected a friend to be loyal, you expected a party you threw to turn out...

Episode 219: Come Off Conqueror - Interview Bonnie Randall Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. "You can't go back and change the beginning of your story... but you can start where you are today and change your ending" On today's show we are talking about coming of conqueror. What does that mean? To conquer something is to prevail over it; to overcome and take control of. Often times we are held hostage by events in our pasts that have traumatized us. We are cripple by the abuses of others, by shame, even by our own destructive choices. We are talking about events we have not been able to heal from. Events in our stories that have us stuck, like a knight in a mud bog - forward progress inhibited, wallowing in the dirt and muck we don't know how to break free from. Tune into the audio program for my interview with Bonnie Randal, creator the YouTube channel Come off Conqueror. Ms. Randall is a champion of the down-trodden. She has a 20-year career in marketing at all levels from Fortune 500 to non-profit and charity work. Her charity work has led to her meeting many trauma survivors, and her own experience with date rape has created understanding bonds with these survivors and has sparked a passion for helping them heal. Her mission is to help victims of abuse, primarily women and children, conquer their trauma and live healthy, fulfilling lives. She believes that God is the key, and so she started a Youtube channel, Come Off Conqueror, where survivors share stories of healing, as well as insights from other therapists, healers, authors and practitioners to help women take back their power, heal, and step into their true identities. "It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite life of Christ's Atonement." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland In today's interview I talk with Bonnie about: Her story. How did you heal? How long did it take? There are lots of treatment programs out there. What is your philosophy for healing? I'd love to hear some inspiring stories from the women you've worked with. What have you learned from them? What do we all need to know - most of all - about how to heal? What exactly do you offer people? Where can people find you to share stories with you?   Contact information for Bonnie Randall https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v_-x8uvv89jW7pVfZC6cg (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7v_-x8uvv89jW7pVfZC6cg) https://www.facebook.com/groups/817834172106176 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/817834172106176)   I don't know why so many terrible things happen in the world - bad things to good people. But what I do know is that trauma changes us. We know more, we sometimes come to understand things we never wanted to understand. Sometimes it breaks our souls, our minds and our bodies. This is why healing becomes so important. Like our bodies our souls can be healed. It's not fast, and it needs proper care and time, and help. But healing is hope. Healing is essential to stepping out of the dark, sticky bog in which trauma can throw us. Healing is part of the process of being able to live again. Your challenge this week is to consider what trauma in your past may still have a negative hold on you - one that holds you back because you don't understand how to get past it. Take this acknowledgement into your meditations and your prayers and ask for the way of healing to open to you. Keep this intention in your heart this week. See what doors open. Please share this episode link with anyone you think it would bless. Have a great week creating your life intentionally. See you in two weeks.

Episode 218: Life Engineered- Interview Rusty Lindquist Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast! When we talk about living your life story with intention, we are essentially saying, let's engineer our lives. Let's look at what we want and purposefully create thought patterns and habits to be who we want to be. Rusty Lindquist was interviewed in the early years of the podcast - episode 21 - Remember that because you're going to want to go back and listen to his story if you haven't heard it yet - His father thought he was being called on by God to sacrifice his son and that led Rusty and his mother to run for their lives. This man lived alone, hiding out in a forest as a 10 year-old. He knows how to go from trauma to success, so he's got cred. Rusty founded Life Engineering to help individuals, parents, leaders, and organizations cut through everything and achieve excellence. Life Engineering provides the tools and the training, the motivation and the methodology, an entire system designed to help people move beyond where they have been, to go farther than they thought they could… to achieve more, to do more, to become more. It's about more than just short-term success. It's the disciplined pursuit of excellence.   Tune into the audio program for my discussion with Rusty Lindquist and to get a real look at what life engineering looks like and answers to these questions: Let's start with your story - what was the path to creating Life Engineering? What are the main components of engineering a life? What activates and unleashes our energy? - Our potential… What about apathy? What happens when you feel like the effort isn't worth the outcome? Let's talk about human potential and science. What do you scientifically know about how to access human potential? What motivates us?   To contact Rusty: rusty@lifeengineering.com www.lifeengineering.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-XyC4DyynM (Learn to sustain energy and begin your purposeful journey - YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUqrtb5Rzz0&t=94s ( The Greatest Asset On Earth - YouTube) https://lifeengineering.com/human-achievement-events-training-and-speaking/leadership-development-and-live-training/ (Leadership Development and Live Training – Life Engineering)   Time, talent, energy….understanding how to activate and sustainably employ that energy so you can reach the outcomes you want. Anything worth having is going to take work. I can tell you now, having a few decades of living under my belt, that time just keeps rolling on. Before you know it another 10 years have passed, and what have you done? Did you do, experience, become what you wanted? If not, now is the time to use the resources, like what Rusty has talked about, like what I talk about on the show, the 21 Challenges, life coaches, etc. to help you engineer what you want. I love that we live in an age where we have so many resources for our success. So many that it's sometimes overwhelming - so many podcasts, so many books, so many life coaches, so many programs, but all it takes is one good one. Start somewhere if you need support and greater understanding of what it looks like to go a little further than you've gone in the past. Image that satisfied feeling a year from now, when you've created something you really feel great about. Or lived in an active way that created opportunities for you. Your challenge this week is just to think about what you want in your life, and then consider what type of engineering could help you get it. Thanks for being here. Check out http://www.loveyourstorypodcast.com (www.loveyourstorypodcast.com) for links to buy Living Intentional and Fearless Everyday, to get the show notes with Rusty's contact information, to hear all the past 200+ episodes and all the great stories in each one. Have a great 2 weeks creating your best life - every step counts.

Episode 217: What's the Most Important Story in the World? Interview Mary Alice ArthurFor all my Love Your Story listeners, you know the premise of the podcast is that we are living our story and while our backstories may be messy, coming to love and accept them is crucial to self-love and acceptance and to moving forward in a healthy way. We also constantly talk about the fact that since our lives are an unfolding story, and we have agency and intellect, we can, if we choose, control that story, we can shift directions at any time. We understand that the stories we tell ourselves determine what we believe, how we see the world, how we see ourselves - and those are powerful things, because they, in turn, determine our very lives. I have a question - do you get this in theory, or do you REALLY get it and put it into action? Stay tuned — On today's show I have Mary Alice Arthur, a woman who has spent her life as a story activist helping people to understand this, and to empower them to use this power that we all have. She is the author of 365 Alive - Find your voice, Claim your Story. Live Your Brilliant Life. And she has travelled the world goin gin and out of organizations, systems and cultures working with groups and individuals helping them realize that story is the secret superpower of humanity. Back to my question - do you REALLY get the super power you have within the story you are living? Do you use that super power with intention? Maybe you're just starting to understand it. …. Well, if you really get it, then you begin to use your power to track the stories you are telling yourself. To determine which stories are lifting you, and which ones are holding you down. Then, with that information, you start to purposefully and intelligently make room for the stories that support and empower you. You become aware of the damage stories can have as well, and you realize you can purposefully extract the destruction, you don't have to make space for it, or feed it. So….Today's show is particularly exciting because we have a guest who is going to give us more know-how, more insight, and actual things we can do to understand and embrace this power that lies within our mind and spirit, so we can create our best life story with intention. Mary Alice, welcome to the show!!  I want to start with a quote from you, “The stories you tell yourself influence whether you feel powerless or powerful, color how you define success and happiness, underpin eery action you take. When you wake up to the stories at work in for life you suddenly step into the position of power. Story stops being what defines you and becomes your ally.” We want to make story our ally. We want to more fully understand the position of power we have with story.  How do you help people understand the subjectiveness of story, and the power the stories we tell ourselves have in how our lives unfold? When I read the Harry Potter books I would think, man, why doesn't Harry study harder? If you knew you had that kind of power, why wouldn't you figure out how to use it? Really practice… but in real life we do have power - amazing power that few of us take the time and effort to tap in to.  Tune into the audio program to hear our conversation about the most important story in the world and how we can use it to support ourselves. To contact Mary Alice: 365live.org www.getsoaring.com mary-alice@getsoaring.com We've already had a lot to think about in this episode, so I'll just end with the challenge - get clear on your own story. Pinpoint one area of your life that isn't working for you as well as you'd like and take an honest look around the stories you are telling yourself, the stories others are creating for you, and determine how you could shift that story, look at it from a different angle, focus on what was learned instead of negative emotion, consider other perspectives, what would it look like to experiment with changes in the stories...