The Thriveology Podcast For Thrive Nation

Are you up for a challenge? In the last episode of my podcast, I discussed how to hold on when life is tough.  That's when life is challenging you. But what about when life isn't so challenging... where life is copacetic?  Just cruising. It's my observation that we work hard to keep life flat.  We work hard to keep things smooth.  Cold out?  Turn on the heater.  Hot out?  Turn on the A/C.  Keep th...

Life is tough. Not always.  But along the way.  And even after you get past one struggle, that doesn't mean there isn't another one up ahead.  That's just the nature of life. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong or that the world, God, or the Universe is out to teach you a lesson.  It's just the nature of life. You may notice 2 crowds.  First is the "Grind Culture" that just says to suck i...

What's your WHY?  Your BIG WHY?  Why you are here.  The WHY that is your life purpose? I think we all have one... even if we haven't found it yet.  It's there.  Within us.  Your first task is to find it.  That's important.  But finding it isn't enough.  Second, you have to move toward it, work toward it... try to fulfill it.  If it is big enough, it may just take you the rest of your life! But wha...

We ALL want MORE out of life... right?  But more of what?  More toys?  More stuff? Or are we craving more of LIFE?  Of living... more?  Living a more full life? I think that is it.  At least, that is "it" for me.  Experiencing more, connecting more, adding more purpose, living more of "me."  And I suspect that is true for you, too.  But sometimes, we aren't sure about how to do it. Not whether we...

I don't know about you, but I was raised around competition.  Not so much from my parents, but from culture.  In school, you compete in all sorts of tasks... trying to prove how smart, how good, how talented, how athletic, how whatever you are... compared to the others. It doesn't stop there, but keeps on going.  Win or lose.  That's all that matters.  Well, winning.  That's what matters. Remember...

Well, you are on to me!  Last week, I started talking about things you can do to guarantee that you DON'T thrive.  I'm sure you knew I didn't really want you to NOT thrive.  But I wanted to point out some ways people make themselves miserable... and what they might do to shift. If you missed that episode, JUST CLICK HERE TO HEAR IT. It is interesting to notice how we humans can really mess up our...

Over the years, I have tried to learn to thrive.  And I have tried to teach others how to thrive... even getting other experts to do the same. But today, just for a moment, let's assume you DON'T want to thrive.  In fact, you want to... well, do the opposite of thriving!  You want to be miserable and live a smaller life.  You want to feel stuck and frustrated. (I'm not going to even explain WHY yo...

World got you down?  Maybe even looking down?  It can feel overwhelming, like you just need to keep plodding ahead, keeping your head down. But often, that is just the time we need to look up. To the sky. Physically and metaphorically. When I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and flustered, when it seems there is just too much going on, too much to get done... I take a step back and look up. And then I...

There are days when you just wish that something would change.  The same ol' same ol' just seems to roll along.  And then there are the days you wished that things wouldn't change.  What happened?  How did things turn upside down? One simple word to explain both situations:  Life. If you don't find that comforting, let's call it the cycle of life.  Because cycles keep on rolling.  If you can't wai...

"How did I end up here?," my client asked.  He told me that for so long, he thought he was headed in the right direction.  Now, he thinks maybe it was the entirely wrong direction. I asked him, "Did you course correct along the way?"  He looked at me rather quizzically.  So, I elaborated, "If you are sailing, you point the boat toward some object in the distance, in the direction you want to sail....

Over 40 million people.  Every year.  That is the number who suffer from insomnia, in the United States alone.  It's just a little "missed sleep," right?  Maybe a little cranky in the morning, but nothing that a cup of coffee can't fix. Right? Wrong. First, insomnia is incredibly frustrating.  When you want to sleep, but can't, it is frustrating.  Especially if everyone else is peacefully slumberi...

How's your life going? The way you want?  Or not quite?  Do you want to "level up" and play a bigger game?  Have a bigger life? In this episode of the Thriveology Podcast, I chat with David Wood, successful-entrepreneur-turned-life-coach.  Nope, not a business coach (although he does some of that), but a life coach.  Helping successful people "level up" to more success. While David had been succes...

We have a sectional couch.  My spot is right in the corner.  I can sit one way, stretch my legs out the other way.  And my dog, Ziggy, settles in right beside me.  Why do I tell you that?  Well, when I am crammed into that corner, you might say I am "balanced."  No way will I fall over, in any direction.  I'm propped up and held in position. Other than that, balance is something I work at.  You do...

Your subconscious mind is constantly active, constantly scanning your world.  It controls our choices and actions, emotions and feelings.  Scanning for threats, it is relying on old scripts and patterns. And that is why our subconscious is often running us, not the other way around.  It is running our lives, not working as a tool for a better life. Dot Campbell is trying to turn that around.  She...

Did you know that repetitive dieting and relentless exercise can actually break your metabolism?  Your body has an amazing capacity of adjusting to circumstances around you.  If you simply drop your caloric intake, your body will assume there is a famine... and will reduce your metabolism. If you take part in "chronic cardio," endless cardio exercise (running, biking, climbing machines, treadmills...

I've rolled and been rolled, tapped and been tapped.  My journey into jiu jitsu continues! Since my last post on lessons I have learned in jiu jitsu (LIFE lessons -- not just jiu jitsu moves and techniques), I've continued on my journey.  The first time I posted, I was just a few months into my study.  When I completed my Combatives belt (a Gracie standard), I added a second post. This past month,...

Sometimes, we spend so much time trying to think through a problem that we just get stuck.  Our minds tend to spiral on the same thoughts over and over... not really giving any new information or help. "What should I do?" is usually followed by an almost endless loop of "What should I do?"  Or worse yet, we take action, but then realize that our thinking was more limited than we thought. There HAS...

We can fail in so many ways.  Often, it is just a matter of stumbling through, not looking for a better path.  We forge new paths to failure.  That is often "life on automatic." If someone has succeeded, though, they leave a trail.  The more people who succeed that same way just make the trail more clear, the path easier to follow.  Success always leaves a trail.  Everywhere in life. When I wanted...

What is "reality"?  Is it "out there" or in us?  Or more importantly, is there something about us that creates our experience of reality?  And if so, can we somehow find a way to "re-write" reality in a way that shifts it to more of what we want and less of what we don't want? There are plenty of philosophical wonderings in there.  Lots of spiritual traditions have tried to tackle this one.  Are w...

Life is a fairly constant flow of goodbyes and hellos.  Sometimes, those goodbyes are incredibly painful.  The death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, the loss of a job or role.  All can be painful. And sometimes, those goodbyes feel like the end of the story.  But many times, there is more.  More to the story, more to life.  More to live.  Those are the hellos. When you are caught up in...

Do you find yourself a bit rebellious?  Maybe you just don't want to be told what to do.  Or maybe you just want to find your own voice.  I think we all have some rebellious place in there.  That rebellion can serve us or keep us stuck. Ilana Kristeva tells me she was born rebellious.  Colicky and anemic as a baby, Ilana just pushed back.  She reports lots of parent/teacher conferences, since she...

Many times, life just kind of, well, hits us.  We have a major transition. Or we just hit a plateau.  What if you know there is more... you just can't get there?  That's when we have to find our "untapped strengths." Angela Stillwell is the "Vulnerability Warrior."  Why?  Because she discovered that struggling with tough times can keep in in "survivial mode." Angela came from a dysfunctional famil...

? What if your "future self" can help your "current self?" And maybe even help you make sense of your "past self!" In this episode of the Thriveology Podcast, I chat with Valerie Lemme about her journey from painful childhood and struggling adulthood to thriving. Valerie discovered that by accessing her Future Self, she could move beyond the beliefs and stuck points she was experiencing. But in or...

My friend tells me, "Aging ain't for sissy's, but I ain't ready for the alternative!" It happens to every single one of us who are fortunate enough for it to happen.  We get older.  Moment by moment, day by day, year by year... and hopefully, decade by decade. Personally, I am planning on being around for a long time.  I'm already in what I refer to as "Bonus Time," after a health scare over 15 ye...

How are you with your emotions? This isn't a question on whether you are "in touch with your emotions" or not.  It is how you process the emotions. Some people have, well, "emotional diahrrea."  Emotions just dump wherever and whenever. Others have "emotional constipation."  They just can't get them out.  Emotions get stuck, lodged in hurtful and painful ways. Maybe we all need a little "emotional...