The Everyday Awesome Project

Two hundred and fifty miles sounds heroic until you do the math: high altitude starts around 9,000 feet, relentless climbs that add up to roughly 55,000 feet, and the daily reality of moving through the Sierra Nevada with a fully loaded pack. We’re recording right before Sam steps onto the John Muir Trail, and we get painfully honest about what “prepared” actually means when you’re going solo for...

Your body often knows the truth before your brain can build a convincing argument. We get real about “woo-woo intuition” and make it practical: how to recognize the first clean signal, why we override it, and what it takes to rebuild self-trust after years of second-guessing, people-pleasing, or living from the neck up. We share stories that reveal the pattern fast, including online scams and high...

Your reaction isn’t “too much” for no reason. Sometimes it’s your nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do a long time ago, then dragging that charge into the present before you can even think. We get real about emotional triggers, why they feel disproportionate, and how to tell when a moment is simply lighting a fuse on an older story. We share two fresh trigger stories that look totall...

You can run a business, raise a family, keep the lights on, and still feel like something essential is missing. For us, that missing piece is often play: the kind that loosens the straitjacket, cracks the mind open, and lets your real self breathe. So we’re claiming it out loud: creativity isn’t a talent you’re born with or without. It’s your birthright, and it shows up everywhere once you know ho...

You blink and suddenly it’s mid-year. If your goals feel stale, your calendar feels crowded, or your motivation feels like it quietly slipped out the back door, we’re here to say: you can restart whenever you want, and you don’t need anyone’s permission. We talk through how we actually do a mid-year reset in real life, not just on paper. On the business side, we break down why a professional revie...

If you’ve ever been told hot flashes are “just part of aging,” we’re calling that out for what it is: an incomplete story that keeps women stuck in unnecessary suffering. We sit down and get brutally practical about the hormones most people reduce to sex and reproduction, even though estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone influence your brain, mood, sleep, joints, muscle, bone density, cardiovas...

Dopamine isn’t your brain’s “treat.” It’s your brain’s chase signal, and once you see that clearly, a lot of modern life makes uncomfortable sense. We talk through why dopamine spikes show up in everything from social media and gambling-style algorithms to shopping, porn, vacation planning, and signing up for big challenges and why the hit often lives in the anticipation, not the payoff. That same...

Forgiveness has a branding problem. People hear the word and think it means letting someone off the hook, pretending harm didn’t happen, or walking back into a relationship that still isn’t safe. We don’t buy that. We frame forgiveness as an intentional release of resentment and blame that loosens the restriction around your heart and gives your nervous system a chance to exhale. We dig into what...

Your week leaves marks, even when you pretend it didn’t. I’m Coach Sam, and I’m sharing a simple weekly journaling practice I call “Highlights and Heartbreaks” to help you get emotionally honest, feel less numb, and stop letting life blur by on autopilot. We start with one blank, double-sided sheet of paper. On one side, you list heartbreaks from the last seven days without overthinking or overexp...

Loving your mom doesn’t automatically make the relationship safe, easy, or even tolerable. We sit down with Nissa Noble, founder and creator of Planet Gayle (@planetgayle), to talk about the reality so many adults carry quietly: complicated mother-daughter relationships where care, fear, resentment, loyalty, and grief all collide. If you’ve ever hung up the phone feeling drained, ashamed, or weird...

A diagnosis can land like a stamp on your forehead, and if you’re not careful, it starts running your decisions, your confidence, and even your future plans. We’re pushing back hard on that. A diagnosis is a snapshot of what’s happening right now, not a definition of who you are. When we stop treating labels as identity, we get our agency back and we can actually make better choices with less fear...

Coach Polly solo this week- talking FEAR and how it can be totally irrational and still feel completely real. I know that firsthand, and for a long time I kept treating it like a discipline problem: read another book, make a bigger plan, try harder, push through. Then I noticed the same thing many of us notice in private, the loop of “I know better” followed by the same old pattern. That’s not wea...

“Don’t wait” sounds obvious until you realize how many of us are quietly living like our real life starts later. Today we pick up The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski and dive into the first invitation, using death awareness and Buddhist wisdom as a surprisingly energizing guide to living fully. We talk about impermanence as a fact, not a philosophy, and why accepting constant change can feel d...

Coach Sam solo this week schooling on the INNER CRITIC!  You know, that “not good enough” voice that can sound like motivation, but it usually runs it's mouth on fear, shame, and moving goalposts. #truthtalk I’m sharing what’s been coming up for me lately: the inner critic, how it sneaks into everything from relationships to body image, and why trying to satisfy it only drains your life force...

If you’ve ever walked away from a hangout feeling like you just donated a pint of blood, we made this one for you. We’re talking about the overgiving trap, that sneaky pattern where “I’m just being kind” turns into over-functioning, people pleasing, and quietly training others to give you less than you need.  We unpack the clear red flags: always initiating, saying yes when you mean no, tolerating...

Odds are- you are probably getting “hypnotized” every day and not in the stage-show way! When you’re half awake in bed, locked into a movie, stuck in doomscroll mode, or deep in a run where everything goes quiet, you’re in a trance-like state that can shape your subconscious mind. We talk about how to stop leaving that doorway open by accident and start using self-hypnosis and hypnotherapy on purp...

Coach Polly solo today! Your resume might look like a patchwork quilt, and you might secretly wonder if that means you are unfocused.  It's more common than you might think.  In this episode you'll learn how a simple comment with a client flipped the whole narrative inside.  Maybe reinvention is not a flaw?  Maybe it is a super power.  This episode is a solo Coach Polly session and I wal...

Your life can look successful and still feel heavy, tense, or unfinished. We get into the kind of personal development that doesn’t just hype you up for a weekend, it retrains how you think, speak, and show up when it actually counts. We talk about Polly’s long arc with the Landmark Forum and what brought her back years later into Landmark’s Team Management and Leadership Program, a yearlong leade...

Coach Sam solo this week! Here to share how a single iPhone memory cracked open a bigger story: what if manifestation isn’t magic at all, but the moment you take full ownership of your life? We trace a straight line from a 2018 desert summit photo to a home within walking distance of that very mountain, and we unpack the real mechanics that turned a distant vision into a daily view. No crystals, n...

What actually changes when you live as if time is short? We open a year-long journey inspired by Stephen Levine’s A Year to Live and the Spirit Rock program led by Vinny Ferraro, Pam Dunn, and Frank Ostaseki, and we get honest about fear, freedom, and what becomes radiant when you stop pretending you have forever. We start with the roots of this work—Levine’s years at the bedside of the dying and...

Coach Sam solo today! Tired of chasing endless fixes that leave you drained and doubting yourself? We flip the script on self-improvement by introducing a sturdier, kinder lens: capacity. Instead of treating your life like a DIY project, we focus on expanding what you can hold, produce, and experience—so your days feel grounded, energized, and truly yours. We start with the nervous system, the con...

A wrecking ball can shatter plans, but it doesn’t have to shrink your future. We dig into the real mechanics of a comeback—how to move from shock and spirals to post‑traumatic growth that outgrows your old life. From job loss to heartbreak to a scary health setback, we share how to separate “what’s so” from the heavy meanings that keep you stuck, then rebuild with a vision that actually pulls you...

Change doesn’t just knock; sometimes it blows the door off the hinges. We dive into the kind of change you didn’t choose—losses that upend your plans, injuries that shake identity, and detours that feel like freefall—and show how to find your footing again without pretending it’s easy. We start with the brain. Uncertainty isn’t neutral; it’s costly. That electric-shock study where a guaranteed sho...

Swipe culture says you’re connected. Your nervous system says otherwise. We dig into why loneliness is surging despite endless “friends,” and how small, trusted circles restore the regulation, resilience, and joy our bodies and hearts are wired for. Drawing on women’s history—from red tents to kitchen tables—we explore how multi‑generational community once kept families strong, and how to rebuild...

Coach Polly solo this week telling you that your goals aren’t failing because you’re weak; they’re colliding with a brain designed for safety, comfort, and the familiar! We dig into the real engine of self-sabotage—how pain and pleasure drive every choice—and show how to flip those circuits so action becomes the easy path. I break down why the brain, an energy-hungry survival machine, resists chan...