The EXTRAORDINARY Family Life Podcast

Every great story, movie, or book contains elements of what’s been called the ‘Hero’s Journey’ — a series of events and experiences that makes the story meaningful and transformational . It’s the process by which the hero-to-be becomes the hero of the story. The interesting thing is that the same elements which make a great story also make a great life . YOU can become the hero of your own life by...

All of us have been ‘conditioned’ by society when it comes to things such as HOW to behave and WHAT to care about. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It fact, social conditioning can be very positive . Caring what other people think or how others view us helps us to be law-abiding citizens — which keeps order and civility in communities and nations. But sometimes, social conditioning can cause us...

Can we start with a ‘slap’ in the face? In all sincerity, most of us suck at communicating with other people, especially in our family relationships. Plus, ‘communication’ seems like such a vague or broad topic. What exactly does it mean? And how do we improve it? We’re not the experts. And we still struggle communicating in some relationships or situations. We came to our marriage with giant defi...

Many, if not all of us, know of someone — are ARE someone — who has dealt with the devastating effects of anxiety and depression. Methods for dealing with these issues can be very charged. It’s a subject that’s often difficult to discuss , for a variety of reasons — shame, guilt, anger, frustration, despair. But they are subjects that NEED to be addressed — least of all because it’s becoming a cri...

Many of us have been taught or grown to believe that unconditional love is the highest of virtues. And in many ways it makes sense. Loving others — without conditions — seems to be the highest level of love possible , partly because it sometimes seems so unrealistic, especially when it comes to family members. (It’s even difficult to get clear on exactly what we’re talking about because we only ha...

Getting things done is one of the most critical ingredients for achieving your dreams and goals and building a lasting family legacy . Yet it’s also one of the hardest things to do because of the natural ebbs, flows, and interruptions of family life. There are mouths to feed, diapers to change, laundry to fold, meals to prepare, and dishes to wash. How can you even think about taking action toward...

Greg Denning often says, “Tell me your habits and I’ll tell you your future.” Habits are the MOST important thing to determining the outcomes and happiness of your life. Habits will make or break your mental, emotional, spiritual, social, physical, family, and financial life. Where you are right now — and the quality and happiness of your life — is a DIRECT result of the habits you have had to thi...

In our line of work coaching families for the past 20 years, we get an up-close-and-personal look into the lives of many different types of people .  It’s a sacred privilege and we learn so much. We often experience a wide range of emotions , from empathy to despair to elation. And not going to lie, sometimes we get fired up or frustrated about the things that people do — or don’t do — especially...

"I would like to be more confident but my face turns red if I am embarrassed, nervous, shy, afraid, or just talking with someone . Without that handicap, I know I would be more confident, but unfortunately, I let it stop me all too often. But I heard that Mr. Denning used to be really shy and his face would turn red anytime people would even ask him a question in class. I'm heading off to...

As a parent, if you knew there was ONE major characteristic which — if developed — would drastically increase your child’s chances of success and happiness , not only now but as an adult… wouldn’t you want to know what it is?  And wouldn’t you do everything in your power to help your child develop that characteristic? As parents of seven children, we give a definite ‘ Yes !’ We want to know and we...

Emotions can be big and scary — for both parents and children. But it is possible to teach — and model — emotional management for your kids. Emotions are EVERYTHING. Our lives our experienced through emotions, so by default, the quality, quantity, and content of our emotions determine the quality and content of our lives. We can and should educate our emotions — and teach our children to do the sa...

There is a lot of ‘surface tension’ in the media today -- social and mainstream. Lots of polarity and opposition about intense topics. And it bothers me. Because it paints the picture that there are only two sides to any issue. And that’s just not true . We (as individuals and society) have to look beyond the ‘surface tension’ of topics to the underlying problems and underlying causes of those pro...

We get a little serious in this episode -- and Greg sheds a few tears -- because in our work with clients, we've seen the trauma caused by yelling parents. We do not use this word lightly. “People are people no matter how small.” Your children are people. And when you yell at them — consistently and in anger — you’re traumatizing them . A child's self-worth comes from the view their parent...

Have you ever thought of chores as child abuse? I haven’t either. But I shared a post on Instagram about our system for organizing chores and I was shocked at the number of NEGATIVE comments I received from people who believe that giving your children chores is akin to child labor and abuse. One comment said, “Parents who want to do less [sic] things by dumping it on kids should be ashamed of them...

When Greg Denning was out on his own as a teenager it wasn’t difficult for him to realize that his life sucked … but he desperately wanted it to be better and different. Nobody wants to live a sucky life and stay there. But it was so interesting to him to watch people live a sucky life — and stay there. They would keep doing the same things that would produce the same sucky results. As a 16-year-o...

You may have seen or heard that we’re planning a move to Portugal — and hoping to travel while making the transition. We received some questions about this: “We would love to travel more , even long term, but I am getting more hesitant because of predictions about downturns in the economy, warfare, etc. I see a lot of people encouraging self-reliance and preparation at this point in time (ie...

We all have blind spots. We all have things we’re doing (or not doing) that are causing or contributing to our own problems. In our coaching, we often work with people who keep doing (or not doing) the things that are keeping them miserable and unhappy. If they could just STOP then they could drastically change their life. Of course, this is easier said than done, otherwise, you would ALREADY have...

Understanding YOURSELF and the other human beings around you is one of the trickiest and most complex aspects of life and relationships — Your personality begins to form from conception, in the womb, and as you grow as a child. You don’t start to become aware of this until much later in life (and some people never gain awareness of who they are and what makes them do the things they do.) For a lon...

Have you ever had that inner feeling of discontent, frustration, guilt, or dissatisfaction ? (I know I have.) Have you ever thought — what’s the point of setting goals? I’ll just be disappointed. Or have you ever tried to achieve something — losing weight, earning more money, or improving your marriage — only to finally give up and accept yourself and your circumstances ? In this episode we’re goi...

We received some great questions about parenting that we’re addressing today. We love it receiving questions so if you have one please don’t hesitate to ask us. You can leave a voice message for us on our podcast page, or you can email us support@extraordinaryfamilylife.com The first question is about teen device usage and sneaky behavior . We are having an issue with our son's cell phone usag...

We regularly receive questions from parents and spouses on all sorts of topics — and we love it! If you have a question please don’t hesitate to ask us. You can leave a voice message for us on our podcast page, or you can email us support@extraordinaryfamilylife.com Recently we received some questions about marriage — specifically how to have more engaging conversations and intellectual connection...

Greg and I are always fascinated by ideas , the search for truth , intellectual discussion , and meaningful connection . As intentionally as we have designed our lifestyle, it’s still rare for us to have all of those things in one evening. But we got the chance last week when we drove to Birmingham, AL to listen to Jordan Peterson present a live lecture at the Alabama Theater. He discussed a chapt...

Greg and I just returned from an incredible trip to Portugal to celebrate our 21st anniversary and we’re excited to record an episode about it. We’re going to share all the romance, magic, and serendipity we experienced that surprised even us . It’s difficult for us to put in words the super special experience we shared together during this trip. But we’re going to unpack it for you, explain the k...

Welcome to the podcast! We’re discussing something today that is crucially important to raising healthy, well-adjusted kids . We want to teach them to NOT be quitters, to follow through , and to have grit and perseverance . But in this episode, we lay out some arguments which show that the way many parents are trying to accomplish this is actually having the opposite effect . When we make a six-ye...

Hey everyone. We hope you’re having a great week. I know Greg and I are excited to have some sunshine and warmer weather after two cloudy and cold weeks. Today we’re discussing something which — at first glance — seems overly simplistic. We’re talking about HOW to wake up. And yet, waking up is something every one of us does and we do it every single day of our life . There’s an incredible power t...