AMPstigator

What if the worst thing that ever happened to you turned out to be the best thing?

Consistently, the people on AMPstigator who've discussed finding purpose say, for them, it came after some level of pain.  But the choices they made in spite of the pain helped them overcome negativity, stress, and disillusionment.

Let's be real, life ain't all butterflies and roses, so in this episode we talk about why you have to find the strength to transform pain into purpose and focus on ONE VERY POWERFUL way to do that: SHOWING GRATITUDE. #FindTheGift

💥 This episode is for you if 💥

-You struggle with gratitude

-You're in the middle of a pretty big storm that you can't seem to get a handle on

-You need encouragement to let go of negativity

📺What you'll hear in this episode📺

What if this stormy period in your life is the exact gift you need to blow away bad habits, wash away limiting beliefs and drown-out an old identity? In today's episode:

-[4:47] Lauren shows gratitude is embedded deep within us because giving gifts and showing gratitude pre-dates our widespread use of language

-[9:27] Our connection to gifts and why changing our ideas about what they are is the key to feeling gratitude, even in the darkest times.

-[14:58] How purpose is the culmination of repeatedly making choices to overcome -- and nature's ability to teach us this every hurricane season.

-[20:51] A reflection session with Lauren where she asks you to think about what gifts are in your life.

Plus, receive Lauren's 5-step guide to starting a gratitude practice, reserved only for email subscribers. To receive it and sign up, email her directly: [email protected]

Chapters

0:23 - What if the worst thing was the best thing?

4:47 - Our connection to giving gifts

6:16 - A vision that teaches us to Find the Gift

9:27 - Research-backed benefits of feeling gratitude

10:51 - How to feel grateful in the hardest times

14:58 - Purpose is the culmination of repeatedly choosing to overcome

15:25 - How loss teaches us gratitude (The Hurricane)

18:26 - What changed for me when I committed to gratitude

20:51 - Reflecting on where to find the gifts

Other AMPstigator episodes mentioned in this episode:

-Ep. 4: MaryBeth Hyland, The Bridge
-Ep. 5: Kristoffer Carter, The Transformer
-Ep. 17: 3 Questions to deepen self-awareness (w/ Lauren Lowrey)
-Ep. 20: Set your intention (w/ Lauren Lowrey)

Are you human? Do you get hungry?
If you answered ‘yes’ to those questions, then you can be a part of Kirbee Miller’s events mixing culinary with good conversation.
As a former hospital administrator with 3 science-based degrees, Kirbee is analytical. A few years ago, she decided to follow the entrepreneurial undercurrent that she felt was pushing her to food. Her delicious and accessible popcorn (of all things) was what garnered the most attention and even ended up in Grammy swag bags for attendees.
A tragic car accident in 2019 rendered her mom paralyzed and unable to speak. Kirbee left her full-time hospital job and became her mom’s full-time caregiver. All the while, Kirbee has maintained her drive to be an entrepreneur, pursuing her purpose as a nourisher to people who need to be fed physically and spiritually.

💥 This episode is for you if 💥
-You know the struggles of being a caregiver
-You need encouragement to pursue your dream
-You’re analytical but feel a pull to explore spirituality

📺What you'll hear in this episode📺
What does purpose and transition look like in real time? Kirbee Miller’s life is a good example. In this episode, she shares her journey as she balances entrepreneurship and full-time caregiving of her mother who was paralyzed in a tragic car accident in 2019.

She begins by sharing her big ideas on purpose and finding your path, but tells the story [13:51] of how she left her job to take care of her mom. 

-[20:46] Kirbee shows so much grace as she talks about her gratitude practice and the affirmations she says as she prepares for the day. You’ll feel uplifted and encouraged.

-[24:41] How many people can say popcorn changed their life? Kirbee tells the full story of how she started making popcorn and how it launched a whole new path

-[45:32] She also talks at length about unifying her analytical and spiritual sides. It’s a beautiful example of the evolution of a person who commits to follow their heart. 

🔖 Chapters 🔖
0:00 - Intro
5:12 - Why Kirbee’s on AMPstigator
12:08 - Magnetism of purpose
13:51 - How Kirbee left her job
18:51 - Being a caretaker for a parent
20:56 - Kirbee’s gratitude practice and mantras
24:41 - How popcorn changed her story
35:01 - Best time in Kirbee’s life
41:05 - Worst time in Kirbee’s life
45:32 - Unifying the head and heart
48:50 - When she realized her purpose to nourish
50:52 - What’s next for Kirbee

✔️ Connect with Kirbee Miller ✔️
KiNiMi Kitchen www.kinimikitchen.com 
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kinimikitchen/?hl=en

📝 Show Notes & Mentions 📝
5 Truths of Purpose  https://www.ampstigator.com/opt-in-45f0cdcf-3810-43d7-b905-26a02d0c2a0a

Other AMPstigator episodes mentioned in Kirbee's episode:
-Ep 10, Delisa Guerrier, The Groundbreaker (Kirbee's friend)
-Ep 17 3 Questions to Deepen Self Awareness (with Lauren Lowrey)
-Ep 23, Clara Belden, The Untitled
-Ep 24, Frank Castellano, The Healer Part 2 

Frank Castellano is singular. He's a 6th generation psychic medium who maintains a 16-month wait for readings in Nashville. He was 4 years old the first time he remembers having abilities and was counseled through how to use them by a relative with the same gifts. 

Learn more about how his gifts work by going here.

In Part 2, we delve deeper into spirituality and how to weave it into everyday life. We also talk about how to heal your energy and shedding toxicity in our lives.

You can't help but love the guy and feel so supported in every conversation with him. During this episode, you'll get a clearer sense why his episode is named "The Healer," because he brings so much closure to wounds of the past. He has a way of making everyone happy, even on their worst day. 

💥 This episode is for you if 💥
-You're interested in meeting a person with psychic abilities
-You loved Frank's 1st episode and you want a deeper follow-up
-You wonder how a person could be Christian but still celebrate other religions
-You're in awe of Frank (like everyone else who meets him)

📺What you'll hear in this episode📺
We start off by talking about why he honors the spiritual practices of other religions, even though he was raised in the Christian tradition, and move into the idea of [12:27] what we’re all here to embody. This particular quality is connected to PURPOSE in a powerful way. 

[23:06] Frank also reveals how to heal a person’s energy and how we can begin to do that on our own.  

[32:15] In this section, Lauren shares a viewpoint about healing past traumas that Frank disagrees with. Hear his take on why it's important to just let things go.

[45:09] He ends with the encouragement that “You’re never off you’re right path. You can never mess it up. You’re always where you’re supposed to be.”

Like all conversations with Frank… they’re never long enough. 

🔖 Chapters 🔖
0:00 - Intro
7:03 - Everything is spiritual
9:38 - Honoring spiritual practices
12:27 - Love, hate and embodiment
16:22 - Love as a spectrum of many emotions
23:06 - How Frank heals energy
24:51 - Step One for healing energy
25:39 - Asking questions of yourself
28:50 - Frank’s view of Astrology
32:15 - Toxicity in our lives and reframing past
36:50 - Looking at our design (Frank’s an enneagram 8)
37:59 - A shared goal of science & spirituality
42:32 - Astrology for America right now
45:09 - “You’re never off the right path”
46:32 - Coming up next week

✔️ Connect with Frank Castellano ✔️
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankacastellano/
Website: https://www.thespiritchrysalis.com/home.html

How tightly do you cling to your labels?
In this episode of AMPstigator, Clara Belden (certified holistic life coach) goes into detail about how labels keep us from connecting with our authentic selves. Her episode is called "The Untitled" because of the work she's done to define her own life authentically -apart from labels- and how she helps others do the same. 

"You don’t have to have a severe trauma to work on yourself," says Belden who keeps therapists, life coaches, energy and nutrition coaches on staff.

💥 This episode is for you if 💥
-You're into personal transformation
-You struggle with perfectionism and you want to hear Clara's journey
-You're a MOM (lots of good stuff here for parents!)
-You want to go through an Authenticity exercise with Lauren 

📺What you'll hear in this episode📺
[6:15] This episode begins with an understanding about Clara's business, The Happy Hour and why she created it. Clara goes into detail about her own personal transformation from corporate marketing into entrepreneurship and shares the question she could never seem to answer for herself: who am I? Clara is a perfectionist and works to combat that, regularly. She shares helpful reminders for anyone dealing with the same thing.   

[34:44] A powerful part of the episode is the conversation geared specifically to parents who struggle to balance the important self-work with the responsibilities to their children. She guides parents to understand the emotions kids exhibit and help them to reconnect to how we really feel in situations.  

[39:39] In this episode we dive deep into the meaning of "shadow work" and how to do important self-work when you're a parent. Clara focuses especially on moms who need support, saying "the work you do on yourself is work you do for the world."  

[49:10] Lauren and Clara are teaming up to host a special night just for moms coming up on August 23rd (listen for all the details)!

[57:05] PLUS - in this episode, the tables turn. Learn even more about Lauren Lowrey than she's ever revealed in other episodes as Clara walks the AMPstigator host through an Authenticity exercise.

🔖 Chapters 🔖
0:00 - Intro
0:37 - The backstory for this episode
6:15 - What is The Happy Hour?
9:46 - From corporate to entrepreneurship
12:15 - Asking the question Who am I?
17:13  - Clara’s personal road to creating The Happy Hour
18:31 - The importance of curiosity in transformation
23:14 - Happy Hour as a disruptor in the mental wellness space
25:47 - How she helps connect people to purpose
27:36 - Best Time/Worst Time
28:54 - Turning Point
33:07 - How Clara overcomes perfectionism
34:44 - Teaching kids their power
39:39 - How to do shadow work
43:10 - Doing this kind of work when you’re a parent
49:10 - AMPstigator & Happy Hour are teaming up!!!
50:41 - Stop, Breathe, Reflect, Choose
51:53 - Clara’s purpose is to help people find purpose
55:53 - What does an authenticity coach do?
57:05 - Lauren answers questions in an authenticity exercise
1:04:53 - How Lauren names episodes
1:07:09 - How old is someone when they connect with purpose?

Show Notes:
Ep. 17: "3 Questions to Deepen Self Awareness (w/ Lauren Lowrey)"
The Happy Hour https://www.thehappyhournash.com/

Research is pretty clear about the benefits to being inspired: more creativity, optimism, competence, self-esteem and FLOW. Inspiration is even a predictor for how many U.S. patents someone holds. But inspiration is elusive and happens spur-of-the-moment. So, how can you lay the foundation to be inspired?

In this episode, Lauren details:
[2:59] The three components of inspiration and what sparks the difference between something you're inspired by versus inspired to do. She also details how inspirational thought transcends ordinary thought and motivates you to act.

[11:08] Lauren goes in-depth on the four things that come before inspiration, as it's understood in psychological research: openness to experiences, work mastery, small accomplishments and exposure to inspiring role models. She helps you understand how you can use those things to foster more inspiration. Plus, she details a bonus 5th signifier for inspiration she's noticed in her own life.

[20:24] Throughout the episode, you'll hear the benefits of inspiration, plus:

[6:58] A BONUS! Lauren does a mini-meditation for you to remember your most recent inspiration and identify what triggered it.

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
2:59 - Researching inspiration & the 3 Components
5:23 - Active and passive inspiration
6:58 - Inspiration meditation
8:43 - The Inspiration Scale (IS)
11:08 - (How to be inspired) Openness to experiences
12:55 - (How to be inspired) Work mastery
17:01 - (How to be inspired) The final 2
18:40 - (How to be inspired) Lauren's bonus 5th predictor
20:24 - Benefits of Inspiration
23:05 - Research Recap

For Lauren's research and show notes, email her at [email protected]

Sign up for weekly emails at www.AMPstigator.com

How do you overcome bankruptcy, ego, greed and a victim-mindset? Former NFL Offensive Lineman, Marques Ogden knows how. He went from the National Football League to nationally-acclaimed speaker and coach.

But It’s the journey in between the two titles that’s created the man. After his 5 years in the NFL, he built a multi-million dollar company and lost it all through greed and ego. He filed bankruptcy, lost his business, his home, his car, his money – became a janitor - and embarked on a gut-wrenching journey to build everything back up again to find the other side of success.

In this episode, Marques shares his personal story of overcoming shortcomings and building a business based on coaching, public speaking, podcasting and writing. His story brings inspiration and forces a hard look in the mirror about where we’re failing and how commitment and determination can turn it around.

💥 This episode is for you if 💥
-You like hearing life perspective from former pro athletes
-You love a good underdog story from someone with a chip on their shoulder
-You're interested in how someone could go from boom, to bust, back to boom again
-You love motivational speakers!

📺 What you'll hear in this episode 📺
The episode begins with Lauren Lowrey's trademark collection of questions: Best Time/Worst Time. Marques details how losing his father at the age of 25 rocked his world.

We also talk in great detail throughout the episode about the loss of his business after his career in the NFL. Marques comes clean about where he failed and how he had to overcome his own ego. He also discusses overcoming his victim mindset and how he helps others work through the blame-game.

In this episode, you'll hear Marques say he coaches people who want to AVOID becoming like him.

🔖 Chapters 🔖
0:00 - Intro
0:38 - The Back-story
4:20 - Best time in Marques’ life
4:51 - Worst time in Marques’ life
8:10 - Greatest moment of clarity
11:39 - Getting out of victim-mindset
13:48 - People didn’t believe he could speak
17:12 - Bankruptcy is “hell on earth”
20:40 - Life as a professional athlete
26:27 - Transitioning from “player” to “coach”
30:53 - How Marques coaches people to leave victim-mindset
35:58 - The problem with impatience
37:12 - Be a farmer, not a hunter
38:34 - Belief vs. Trust
43:18 - Unhappiness among pro athletes
46:56 - How to create the life you want
53:36 - Black speakers are rare
57:29 - Marques’ purpose

This week is all about setting intentions. In this episode we cover three important facets of intentions:
-what intentions are
-what intentions are not
-how to set intentions

Lauren also details how to set intentions every day and scale them to cover what you want to focus on for months at a time - or until you've completed what you set out to do.

"Setting intentions is an important lesson in connecting with your values and understanding that doing inner work on yourself can impact your ability to live a life you dream of," says Lauren.

This episode is for you if:
-You need help in understanding the power of intentions
-You've never really understood intentions
-You want examples of how Lauren sets intentions

Chapters
2:22 - Intention is not expectation
4:41 - Intention is not assumption
6:31 - So what is intention?
7:17 - The link between intention and purpose
10:27 - Intention is born from what you value
12:56 - Your intention is an arrow
16:48 - How to use intentions every day
20:48 - Lauren’s current seasonal intention

📝 Show Notes & Mentions 📝

LAUREN-ONLY EPISODE LINK"
https://open.spotify.com/episode/54Y8oNUp4Gjm7LO0QfWcBF?si=H18dtKhnQeuXEM_5DSxNOw   FRANK'S EPISODE LINK: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4cOWwxF2ZBjGUbj9xy3Vym?si=vJrhN4AsRVygiTL2HL5Nuw   MARYBETH'S EPISODE LINK: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AXLNdeRvXF0TiWhEs4hCV?si=2KXJfHxGRdKN_5e-9WmDjw   Link to Lauren's video, 5 Truths of Purposeful People https://www.ampstigator.com/opt-in-45f0cdcf-3810-43d7-b905-26a02d0c2a0a

Not signed up for AMPstigator emails? Here's how you can get the note sheets and prompts Lauren sent related to this episode: Email Lauren directly at, [email protected]

Prof. Kelly Goldsmith, PhD is a brilliant researcher in the space of marketing and human behavior. She was the person who helped America understand why we were hoarding toilet paper at the start of the pandemic. It was her work to understand scarcity that helped people laugh at themselves in the midst of a stressful situation that was out of their control.

In this episode of AMPstigator, we talk through what the research says about setting goals, finding happiness and living with perceived scarcity. Goldsmith explains how to overcome our human nature to better pursue a life with more meaning and purpose.

PLUS! We delve into her 24-day stint on Survivor and her strategies for making it on and staying on the show. 

This episode is for you if: 
- You love witty fast-talkers with high IQ’s (Kelly is GOLD for this)
- You geek-out over research on human behavior
- You want to better understand why you never reach your goals
- You want to understand why you’re afraid to take the leap and live with purpose
- You want to hear about Kelly's stint on Survivor

What's in this episode?
Prof. Kelly Goldsmith, PhD brings her 20+ years of research into bite-sized and simple ideas that help you understand human behavior and better harness it to live a life with purpose. We start by discussing goals and why we usually don’t meet them: we have unrealistic timelines, we don’t make them quantifiable, and we just give up.

We also talk about happiness - more specifically - why we don’t try to be happy. Most people perceive happiness as something others can impact. When people perceive their level of happiness as something they can control, their overall measure of happiness improves. Goldsmith specializes in scarcity - which is how consumers respond to not having enough.

In this episode of AMPstigator, she applies her research in scarcity to a person’s fear of changing their lives or living with purpose. She also discusses her 24-day stint on Survivor Season 3. Her account of getting on the show is laugh-out-loud funny and what it taught her about herself and others.

📝 Show Notes & Mentions 📝

Amy Cuddy, “Presence: Bringing your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges” https://www.amazon.com/Presence-Bringing-Boldest-Biggest-Challenges/dp/1478930152

Research in embodied cognition (fake it till you make it)

The Mere Urgency Effect
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yang-Yang-355/publication/327103570_The_Mere_Urgency_Effect/links/5fe35ee0a6fdccdcb8f592b5/The-Mere-Urgency-Effect.pdf

Find the full transcript by going here:
https://www.ampstigator.com/blog/kelly-goldsmith-show-notes

If we're disillusioned and disenchanted in life, what the heck do we do? Shannon Schottler specializes in getting people out of the "mucky middles" (as she calls it) and into a life that's suited for their purpose.

Shannon is a career transition coach, but she walks people through the deep inner work that has to be done BEFORE a major transition out of a career that isn't in your calling. Shannon shines the light into the places of ourselves we don’t otherwise know how to explore and she does it by reconnecting people with their bodies. She calls it embodied sensation - which is essentially a somatic experience.

Shannon also talks at length about her foster care journey, which took four years to get a child placed in her home. Her, now adopted, daughter is 7 years old and has been the muse in much of Shannon's work to (re)learn rest and play. She brings those lessons to her clients, too, as she teaches self-compassion and devotion.

This episode is for you if: 
-You've felt stuck for a while and know you need a change
-You don't have the slightest clue how to start transitioning out of something that isn't right for you
-You're really into somatic experience and conscious sensation
-You're on a foster journey and need encouragement

What's in this episode?
Why is resting so hard for Americans?
What do we do if we need to transition but have no idea where to start?
Shannon is full of wisdom on the topics of transition and helps explain what role rest plays in finding the right answers for yourself. You'll hear her prescription for lifting the fog of indecision in your life.

We also talk at length about reconnecting people to their bodies and how we disconnected from those somatic messages in the first place. 

Shannon also is very forthcoming about grief and loss and the ridiculous corporate path that got her into this work to begin with. 

📝 Show Notes & Mentions 📝
Hudson Coaching Institute in Santa Barbara, CA https://hudsoninstitute.com/ 

Shannon's cocooners workbook https://shannonschottler.com/product/cocooners-workbook 

Find the full transcript by going here: https://www.ampstigator.com/blog/shannon-schottler-show-notes

Let me ask you a question: What does your self-talk sound like? Mine sounds like questions.

Did I eat vegetables today?
When will I have time to go to that?
What's the right way to do this?

The question about my self-talk is what inspired today's episode (the first Lauren-only iteration of AMPstigator). It was a question I was asked recently while being interviewed on another podcast.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know I do long-form one-on-one interviews focused on wisdom-sharing, soul-baring conversations that help you connect deeper with purpose. This episode is no different as I discuss what role questions played in my own search for purpose and what questions you should be asking yourself on your path to fulfillment. 

 This episode is for you if:
-You find yourself feeling unhappy or unfulfilled but you aren't quite sure where to start
-Your self-talk needs an overhaul and you want suggestions
-You just freaking love Lauren and you want more of her story
-You want to get to know Lauren and the journey of how she came to create AMPstigator

What's in this episode?
This episode begins with Lauren describing the difficulty in recording this episode, both because she's living in a remodel and also because she's been coached for 16 years not to insert herself into the story. She tells several instances related to her role as a news anchor where she's been encouraged to keep herself out of it.
Lauren discusses the role questions play in deepening self-awareness during transition. She tells her own personal story of transition and the questions she asked herself in the process of discovering what would give her life meaning.
Lauren closes with the questions you should be asking yourself to deepen your awareness and refine your path to purpose. 

📝 Show Notes & Mentions 📝
Find the full transcript and corresponding blog post by going here: https://www.ampstigator.com/blog/questions-deepen-self-awareness