Your Joyful Life Podcast

Serious doesn't have to be hard. Mike and his wife have a new daily check-in: "Are you letting it be easy?" With a renovation, a new puppy, surgery and his mom's terminal illness all landing at once, Mike found it's the one question that keeps cutting through. Why it matters: Most of what makes life hard isn't the situation. It's our resistance to it - and that part i...

Your phone is a pacifier. Evan spent a weekend at a silent meditation retreat with the phone switched off and noticed how much it had been pulling attention away from what actually mattered. Why it matters: Endless scroll has no finish line. You never feel full. The way out isn't willpower - it's knowing what you'd rather be doing. Mike's back! In this episode:• The freedom of a phone-free weekend...

A follow-up solo episode picking up from last week — if you haven't heard that one yet (#26), start there first. This week: why there's no such thing as a "bad" feeling, why unresolved situations keep resurfacing in your thinking (and what to actually do when they do), and how identifying your personal emotional trigger makes the pattern easier to spot next time. Pulled from a re...

What if feeling bad isn’t actually a problem to solve? In this solo episode, I continue my exploration about leaning into whatever experience is happening right now, this time shifting from something actually happening now to what happens when thoughts about past events trigger unpleasant emotions. I look at what happens when frustration, anger, painful memories, or other difficult feelings come u...

Mike is away today so Evan has a solo episode where he talks about some recent 'tests' he faced that gave him the opportunity to put the 'lean in' strategy to the test. As a celebration of our 25th episode, for the month of September our viewers can get FREE access to our online course: The Joyful Life Project. Use this link to apply the promo code: https://www.udemy.com/course/the...

What if the thing you’re resisting right now is actually worth paying attention to? In this episode, we look at how much of our frustration comes from wanting the present moment to be different, and what might happen if we stopped fighting it quite so much. Evan shares a particularly unexpected insight that came to him while high and trying to meditate, which sends us down a rabbit hole about atte...

In this episode, we’re asking a pretty big question: what are we actually doing here? After an unexpected hiatus, Mike and I get back into the conversation by exploring what we’re really looking for when we talk about meaning, purpose, happiness, peace, and living a joyful life. We get into the idea that maybe we’re not actually incomplete. Maybe we already are complete, and the feeling that somet...

In this episode, Mike and Evan explore one of the most challenging ideas in personal growth: the possibility that there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with you to fix. Drawing on personal experiences, coaching insights, and the famous Marianne Williamson quote about our fear of our own light, they unpack why so many of us feel inadequate despite constantly striving for more. The conversation touche...

What if there isn’t one ultimate path to truth? In this episode, Evan and Mike explore a question sparked by a discussion about Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths: if so many religions, philosophies, and spiritual traditions seem to help people find peace, what does that say about truth itself? The conversation wanders through Buddhism, yoga, Sid Banks, Christianity, and personal experience, touching on...

In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast , Mike and Evan explore a simple question sparked by a clip from spiritual teacher Sadhguru: why do we take life — and ourselves — so seriously? They dig into how seriousness often comes from wanting life to be different than it is, and the belief that happiness depends on getting things “right.” From work and relationships to spiritual practice and pare...

In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast , Mike and Evan dive into The Inside-Out Revolution by Michael Neill and explore the foundational ideas behind the Three Principles developed by Sydney Banks. Together, they unpack the principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought , and examine a simple but profound idea: our feelings don’t come from our circumstances—they come from the meaning we give...

What if the situation you’re in isn’t the whole picture? In this episode, we explore the different dimensions of awareness we bring to our lives and relationships—and how shifting levels can completely change the way we experience what’s in front of us. From the immediate story and emotional charge to a broader and more spacious perspective, we talk about what it means to zoom out, soften our atta...

Mike and Evan explore the idea that happiness may not come from finding the “perfect” spiritual framework, belief system, or intellectual answer. Instead, they dive into the tension between overthinking and direct experience - and why constantly searching for the “right” perspective can sometimes become another form of resistance. Using examples from spirituality, consciousness, personal growth, a...

In this episode, Mike and Evan unpack a simple but powerful idea: resistance is the problem . From overthinking inspiration to resisting everyday tasks, they explore how our suffering often comes not from reality itself, but from wishing things were different. Through stories about meditation, washing dishes, traffic, and life’s unexpected challenges, they examine how letting go of resistance can...

In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast , we explore a deceptively simple idea: what if most of our struggle in life comes from resistance? Starting with a simple metaphor—holding a ball underwater—we unpack how much of our effort, stress, overthinking, and emotional friction comes from trying to force, control, suppress, or manage life instead of allowing it to unfold. This conversation dives...

In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast, we explore what it means to get pulled into other people’s stories - and how easy it is to lose sight of your own values, priorities, and sense of self along the way. Through simple everyday examples, we unpack how relationships, expectations, and unconscious patterns can quietly shape the direction of our lives without us even noticing. How do you know...

In this episode, Evan and Mike explore compassion as a way of being that transforms how we move through the world. It starts with a simple question: when you're stressed, rushed, or overwhelmed, do the people around you stop feeling like full human beings? Evan introduces the NPC concept - the idea that other people can start to feel like background characters in your own story - and how compa...

We explore two ideas that changed how we think about uncertainty. The first comes from coach Michael Neill: when you're facing a decision, there are only three possible answers - yes, no, or I don't know. But here's the part that stopped us in our tracks: "I don't know" is a complete statement. It's not a failure or a call to action. Just… a place to be. From there, we get into why we're so afraid...

What if the most peaceful thing you could do was stop trying to finish? In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast, Mike brings two phrases that have shaped how he thinks about commitment, growth, and the whole arc of a life: "die trying" and "you'll never get it all done". These ideas aren't about grinding - they point to the freedom that comes from making a real comm...

What happens when you finally accept that you're the one creating your experience - and it terrifies you? In Episode 10, Mike and Evan sit with a question that followed naturally from their last conversation: if we really are the creators of our own experience, why does that feel so scary? They explore what it means to lose the "victim card," why blaming the world is secretly easier...

What does it actually mean to live a joyful life - not just in a single moment, but as a way of being? In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast, Mike and Evan explore a question that sounds simple but runs surprisingly deep. If joy isn't something you manufacture through the right conditions, the right job, the right circumstances, then what is it? And what's actually in the way? The co...

If you’ve ever felt pulled in a hundred different directions, this episode explores a simple but powerful idea: having a personal north star. Something that quietly guides how you want to show up in the world. In this conversation, we explore the idea of “gooder” and gooderness as a way of describing the pull toward wholeness and a better way of being. It’s not about self-improvement or becoming p...

If you struggle with overthinking, this episode explores a practical way to notice when you’re caught in a story that doesn’t serve you. The core idea is simple: overthinking feels real because the story in your head feels real, and the way out begins by noticing how that story feels in your body. We go deeper into the distinction between data and drama, or what happened versus what your mind make...

If you struggle with overthinking or anxiety, this episode explores a powerful shift: realizing that the thoughts you’re stuck in are stories - and everyone is telling them. We talk about how stories shape your experience, why certainty can feel so convincing, and how teachers and frameworks can both guide and limit you. When you start trusting your own instincts instead of outsourcing truth, some...

In this episode of Your Joyful Life Podcast , we explore what happens after you take responsibility for your experience… and then still find yourself in a bad mood. If you’ve ever understood that your experience comes from thought, but then snapped at someone you love and felt guilt, shame, or pressure to “know better,” this conversation is for you. We talk about the “second arrow,” why self-judgm...