The Struggles Podcast

It's a pretty exciting week for James, who has finally started his new paid apprenticeship . He feels excited and nervous, and there's fear, but he's looking forward to it! Sean talks about his own fears, those he spent time sitting with, and how he realized that fear is not really bad and that extreme fear can actually promote growth. Finally, they talked about how emotions play in re...

In this episode, Sean and James talked a bit more about the book, Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame by Tara Brach. Sean is finding ways to apply what he has learned in real life and shares why he thinks life struggles aren't necessarily a bad thing. James says it is easier to accept life struggles when we know that challenges will be present daily.  They also tal...

James is going back to the corporate world into a completely new industry and new position. Pretty exciting! We'll hear why he is joining the sales team and what led him into the energy industry. On the other hand, Sean had a small win with golf and got back on track with some housework. A little reminder that whatever you do, you're being productive.  Key Takeaways: Sales is everywhere, n...

Both hosts share new learnings and surprises after a week of time with their parents and family! Listen to James discuss the three steps to starting and finishing a new project. Keep your ears open as Sean shares about the new member of his and Mink's family. You heard it right! With a second baby on the way, Sean shares his insights on having meaningful conversations with friends, family, and...

No matter what you do and where you are in life, you’ll always encounter struggles. How do you learn to embrace all of these realities? This week, it’s all about the paradox of acceptance and change. James and Sean discuss chapter two of Tara Brach's Radical Acceptance. What has golf got to do with it? Listen to the full episode to find out!   Key Takeaways: Radical Acceptance is about knowing...

This week, Sean and James start discussing Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance. They zero in about how the feeling of unworthiness hinders us from enjoying the sacred pause. Our hosts discuss why we over and under compensate and why we judge ourselves.  Key Takeaways: Our society is designed to encourage comparison and competition, instead of focusing on improving yourself. It’s a challenge to stay tr...

In this week's episode, we start with our host’s startup stories. James and Sean talk about their college life at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University and how their working journey started. From Sean’s multi-million automotive accessory business to James’ taking a breather in Vietnam. The two jump back into where they left off from last week’s session on self-worth. Finally...

Sean and James share a little backstory on their friendship and how this podcast was born. Then our hosts share their experiences of dealing with and managing depression. Sean discusses the changes in his life and the different perspectives on happiness and personal value. Listen to him and James discuss how their definition of success has evolved over the years.  Key Takeaways: When one person ta...

This week, our hosts talk about struggles with reintegrating into the workplace. As Sean's family dynamic changes, he realizes his definition of success has changed drastically. While priorities and lifestyle change, he struggles to understand how to pursue work without sacrificing his family life. Listen as James offers a different way to look at our relationship with money and his astute adv...

In this week's episode, our hosts discuss the aspects that impact their limitations, whether they're building habits, testing new approaches, or realizing the things that drive them forward. Listen to Sean as he shares about his therapy, processing your thoughts externally, the two-week rule, and their reflections on how our culture and systems shape how we see our goals.  Key Takeaways: H...

The show celebrates its 25th episode this week. We have shared struggles and challenges with you for the past six months. Sean and James talk about re-evaluating their priorities and revisiting their purpose. Taking a medical leave allowed both hosts to focus on what is important. Listen to their discussion about excessive freedom and lack of limitations on their current work setups. Key Takeaways...

In this week's episode, our hosts discuss both physical and emotional struggles. Having been recently diagnosed with Bell's Palsy, Sean discusses how he is adapting physically and emotionally to the condition. He and James discuss the guilt of not working, taking a break, and how hobbies can help you take better care of yourself. Key Takeaways: The hardest part of working post-pandemic is...

After 6 months, Sean and James took a two-week break to travel to South America. They talk about their experiences and new things they discovered after not traveling outside the country for two years. Listen to how they navigated difficult conversations with their team.  Key Takeaways: As they come back from their two-week break, they need to face new challenges and mainly have to ask tough questi...

The show will mark its 6-month milestone in one week. Similar to the hosts' willingness to record every week, they share their stories of perseverance. James talks about signing up for the Ship 30 for 30 program, and Sean shares his journey on creating video content following the same format. Listen to how these commitments overcome the learning curve. Listen in on this conversation as the hos...

Feeling overwhelmed with your startup? You’re not alone. In this episode, Sean and James talk about the challenges of running a business or pursuing goals— from having rough weeks to getting stuck in negative cycles of procrastination. They open up about how these stressors can make everything seem impossible at times, but venting out helps them process their thoughts. They also talked about simpl...

In this episode, Sean and James examine the differing expectations that friends can hold for each other. James tells how his experiences in middle school and high school influenced his friendships. They take the 'Love Languages' test to find out which of the five love languages (words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch) speaks to them the mos...

Having been through a month of intense regular pitches for the accelerator program, Sean talks about adjusting and focusing on the future while keeping in touch with the present. When you meet with 30 to 40 mentors each week, it's hard to stay on top of things. Though he finds the program overwhelming and mind-numbing, he talks about how he's adapting so far.  The two discuss the Winter Ol...

Sean and James face a dilemma this week. Starting a business requires constant balancing between meeting short-term demands and working towards our longer-term goals. When you’re faced with an option to work in the business or on the business, what do you prioritize? Is there even a difference between the two?  Sean shares insights from the acceleration program in today's episode. He discusses...

On Startup Struggles this week, Sean and James talk about Korean food. The two reminisce about all the delicious dishes that James' mom makes. Their conversations focus on eating regularly and not skipping meals. The duo discusses what affects our brains’ creative and analytical processes and how Sean and his co-founder Servie benefit from Techstars' mentorship program. Finally, Sean talks...

Sean and James have been exploring Byron Katie's book Loving What Is for the past four weeks. According to the book, suffering occurs when we believe our stressful thoughts. Through self-inquiry, the author describes how “The Work” can help us manage our difficult emotions. She suggests asking these four questions:  Is it true? Can you absolutely know that it's true? How do you react? What...

“Peace doesn't require two people; it requires only one. It has to be you. The problem begins and ends there.”― Byron Katie, Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life Byron Katie's book, Loving What Is, has been the focus of Sean and James' discussion in the past few weeks. The pair discussed how they have been applying “the inquiry” to their daily lives.  In this episod...

With people catching up with deliverables leftover work from the holiday, following up on projects, and people getting sick left and right, it is hard not to feel overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done.  It's impossible to avoid overthinking things when we're constantly bombarded by our own thoughts to succeed. In a world that hides failure and encourages comparison and competi...

Epictetus, the Greek philosopher, said that we are disturbed not by what happens to us but by what we think will happen in the future. We are often disturbed by the feeling that we should have handled things differently and what to do next. We tend to plan for the future too much.  When you're trying to imagine your life and make a difference, this might seem contradictory. No matter whether y...

Your level of satisfaction is closely linked to your acceptance of reality. In spite of tons of materials on accepting reality, most days, the mere concept is hard to comprehend. That's because accepting yourself is closely tied to accepting reality.  What happens when we resist reality? How do we respond when God's business and the reality of other people's lives affect us? In this ep...

Life is full of struggles. This is especially true for entrepreneurs who wake up thinking of new ways to solve the world's problems. What if the problems around you aren't your own? Those of us looking to effect change often focus our energy on how to change those around us—how they treat and speak to us. In this episode, Sean and James discuss Katie Byron’s book Loving What Is, enjoying t...