Secrets for an Awesome Life

Part two of the story “A Teenage Carol”, where Eben gets brought back to events in his past to see how it affected the way he thought of himself - whether he remembered the event or not.  Ben Pugh joins us today to discuss how events in our past can consciously or subconsciously cause shifts in the way we think of ourselves years down the road. Sometimes these events are much more insignificant th...

Today's episode is part 1 of a multi-part story leading up to Christmas! This week we talk about how the way you think about a social situation can cause the social situation to change, for better or for worse! Todays’ secret is.. It is easy to get stuck when we mistake certain thoughts for facts. Joey Mascio - Firmly Founded Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | tiktok

Today Zach Spafford joins the show to share a personal experience of his. At some point in his life, he decided he needed to quit watching porn. He comes on the show to talk about how we can stop unwanted behavior in ourselves. Personal growth is a constant in our lives, and sometimes we can find ourselves feeling powerless to unwanted behavior. In this episode, Zach shares the secret of how we ca...

Life would be so much easier if we had a book of cheat codes for it, right? In this episode, Brooke Romney comes on the show to share some of her “cheat codes for life”. She’s the author of the book “52 Moderns Manners for Teens!” which can act as a book of cheats when navigating life. Joey Mascio - Firmly Founded Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | tiktok Brooke Romney: website | instagram...

We all deal with anxiety in one way or another. Some people feel anxiety is just a constant that we need to deal with - but the problem with this thought process is it removes any control you have over it. While we all do deal with anxiety, there are elements we can control to reduce how it impacts our everyday lives. More often than not, our thoughts blow things out of proportion, and being able...

Using humor as a shield against bullying is very effective! Penn State saw that using humor when being bullied is the 3rd best way in preventing further bullying. The best way to be able to use humor is loving who you are and accepting the parts of you, you might not like - but not believing any part of you is actually bad. Being you is the best thing ever, and once you know that, it makes using h...

Penn State did a study that looked at different tactics used against bullies. Some of these were more effective than others, some were even harmful and ended up with more bullying in the end. The tactics that weren’t very helpful were usually focused on the bully and changing, and trying to control their behavior.  What tactics specifically tend to be the most effective? We take a look at Penn Sta...

Bullies rarely ever see themselves, or their actions as being a bully. They often don’t even realize what they are doing is negatively impacting someone. What if the bully actually needs help? Sometimes all it takes is for the bully to realize they are, in fact, a bully. Bullies don’t want to think of themselves as a bully, and sometimes that is all it takes to change a bully’s ways.  Joey Mascio...

Being bullied sucks, it really does. It’s hard to find a way to deal with it - but I learned a way to counter the things bullies would say about me. I learned to own it. This didn’t stop them from saying it, but it stopped it from having a major negative impact on the way I felt and thought about myself. I accepted it, but what made this effective was that I also accepted myself and I still loved...

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, this means we will be diving into the secrets that will help all of us become Bully Proof.  The war against bullying is a very positive movement. There are a lot of things being done - but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like it’s quite hitting the mark. The message towards bullies to.. stop bullying is not very effective - usually the bully doesn’t...

It takes two people to escalate an argument to a full-blown fight. Which means, the secret for this week is….to step off the anger ladder. It takes two people to build each other up for a fight to start. Don’t let yourself climb up, and help the other party climb to the top of the anger ladder which can lead to saying things we don’t mean and things we may regret. Firmly Founded is hosting the Fir...

Nobody fits in perfectly all the time. Being able to adapt to each situation is a life skill that will take you far. It will allow you to assess different social situations and get a sense of what is needed from you. This doesn’t mean not being yourself, but instead being authentically adaptable. This means knowing what personal values you have and knowing when and how to apply them, and being sec...

Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No wait, it’s… a mom and her teen fighting? This week, Ben Pugh joins the show and we’re looking at how we can become the relationship hero and how we can prevent arguments from happening (and how we can win more!). It’s not about saving the other person in the relationship, it’s about choosing how you feel and being in control of your emotions within...

The ‘straw man fallacy’ is everywhere! We encounter this type of argument all the time in life, even between teens and parents! But what exactly is the straw man fallacy? Understanding why someone might be using the straw man fallacy can help us know how to react to it. It will also help us identify when and why we might be using a straw man argument in our lives! Firmly Founded is hosting the Fir...

While many of us have been focusing on staying physically healthy throughout the pandemic, a lot of us are neglecting our mental health. Similar to viruses, thoughts are contagious. It is important we surround ourselves with positive thoughts and protect ourselves from negative thoughts. So how can we protect ourselves, vaccinate ourselves against bad thoughts? This episode will share that very se...

Teens, what do you do when you’re dealing with ‘helicopter parents’? It’s hard when you’re ready to find your way in the world, but you have a parent hovering over you, monitoring your every action and looking out for you. It comes from a place of love and a place of fear. In this episode, I am joined by Heather Frazier to discuss what teens and parents can do about helicopter parenting.  Joey Mas...

The “back to school dread” is starting to set in for many. It’s easy to let the anxieties of the school year take over and take away the fun and relaxation of the last few weeks of summer. Today Ben Pugh joins the show and we discuss tips on how you can prepare mentally for the upcoming school year.  --- Joey Mascio - Firmly Founded Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | tiktok Ben Pugh - webs...

We tend to view unpleasant emotions like a monster from a horror movie. When we encounter these emotion monsters, we want to run away or hide from them. Fighting against them instead of accepting them, causes these monsters to grow. So, what can we do to prevent these unpleasant emotions from growing? How can we feel these emotions without letting them prevent us from achieving our goals? Joey Mas...

Where is your timeline heading? If you kept doing the same thing every day for the rest of your life, would you accomplish all your goals and dreams? If not, you need to create a Nexus event. Today.

We all go through trials. We don't get to choose that. But, we do get to choose how we respond. In this episode, I tell the story of Paul, someone who spent a life changing day with three kids with a rare disease. You'll never believe what happens...

Have you ever broken an arm trying something new? Yeah? Well that ain't NOTHING compared to my guest's story today. Hers is at least TWICE as bad as your story. Erica Rood, Life Coach for teen girls, allows me to fictionalize her crazy story and we talk about not letting fear stop you from trying something a second time, whether it's public speaking, dating, or anything else that broke you the fir...

What is your summer going to look like? Do you have plans? Are you going to follow a schedule? Will you have weekly numbers to strive for? If you have goals you want to reach, I hope you do. Because if you're not intentional with your Summer, Fall will come around and you'll be the same person you are now. Goals don't happen on accident.

How many assignments have you fallen behind before? 2? 3? 10?? It's not always easy to do the work to catch up. In this episode, I talk about why that is and how you can get the motivation to stop yourself from falling... behind.

You are living smaller than you can be. What's holding you back? What's stopping you from living a bigger life, one where you are more free to be who you want to be? The answer? Mental fences. In this episode, we talk about how to plow through those mental fences that are holding you back.

You have a super power that helps you hyperfocus on things. What are you using yours for? Focusing on the bad? On the good? On the annoying? In this episode, we hear a poem in the style of Shel Silverstein about a girl named Kimmy Caroline Crustaecia Cred based off of the life of my guest, Kim Lukens, teen life coach. You can connect with Kim at www.kimlukens.com or find her on TikTok on @kimluken...