Biggest Small Things

Have you struggled with finding your personal Why? Are you aware of how your Why leads to clarity and direction when you’re finding your path? Today I’m talking to one of my best friends, Miranda Barrett,  Vice President of Membership Growth and Retention at the Community Company. The Community Company builds and manages communities for business leaders.

Miranda was fortunate to work with Life Coach Jamie Douraghy on finding her WHY. As someone who also worked with Jamie, I can attest to the importance of finding your why, and how it leads to clarity and direction when finding your path.   

Miranda and I worked together for many years and became friends as we traveled the world together. We both made career changes around the same time and she’s here today to share how she went from a full-time executive to a full-time consultant and back to a full-time executive. Miranda also shares her story of hiking the Sierra Nevada trail—being totally present in the experience and how this experience allowed her to shut off her brain for a few days. 

Show Highlights

• It’s important to assess where you are in your current role and if your required needs being met.
• Sometimes the best way to grow is to leave a situation.
• Making career changes often leads to home, life, and financial changes.
• If you are thinking of making life changes you need to ask yourself WHY. 

“I think to anyone who may be in a situation thinking about going, first, understand that you can. You're not an indentured servant. You have to be smart about it financially. Digging down to what the root of the problem is, is so important.” Miranda Barrett, Community Company 

Resources:

Find Miranda on LinkedIn Find Jamie Douraghy on LinkedIn Find Andy Bailey on LinkedIn 

Mama Story Book

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

In today’s episode, I have the pleasure of talking with Dr. Edward O’Bryan. Dr. O’Bryan is the Chief Medical Officer for Business Health at the Medical University of South Carolina and is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of One World Health. He spends his days saving lives so I was truly honored he took the time to share his story with me. 

For those who don’t know, One World Health has built hospitals and clinics in Uganda, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and are now expanding into Honduras. They serve over 150,000 patients annually through the service and dedication of medical and non-medical volunteers. The needs of each country are different. Whether it’s a rural clinic or a full hospital, One World Health tries to answer the needs of the community.

A mission trip to Nicaragua 20 years ago was an eye-opening experience for Dr. O’Bryan, he saw the need for long-term sustainable medical solutions. He found Matt Alexander, and they partnered to work to make this daunting idea a reality. They had many opportunities which led them to begin their mission in Uganda. Even though they found the initial response overwhelming, it encouraged them to keep working toward their goal.

Listening to the stories of the people they’ve helped and the work this organization does is amazing and has inspired me to think about going on a mission trip myself. Take the time to learn about them, you won’t regret it.

Show Highlights

• A lesson Dr. O’Bryan learned early on, in order to ensure dreams come true, find someone to share them with.
• Don’t be discouraged by the doors which close. Make the effort to watch for the  opportunities which open.
• A reminder: walk forward and make as big of an impact as you can.
• Recognizing the different levels of health need around the world.
• The story of how a neonatal hospital was built in Uganda. 

“If everybody does the best they can, a lot of good things are going to happen.” Dr. Edward O’Bryan. 

Resources:

Biggest Small Things 2020 Retreats

Dr. O'Bryan on LinkedIn

OneWorld Health

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

This week I have the pleasure of sharing my conversation with Marcie Anderson, an author, healer, and meditation teacher. Marcie’s daughter Adi also joins us. Together we have a discussion on using the elements of nature to help achieve balance. You will hear about how at the age of seven, Marcie was with her older brother at the moment he died of Leukemia. This was a life-altering experience which left her with many questions. Years later it led her to India where she spent ten years studying with a spiritual teacher learning mediation.

During the second half of our conversation, we discuss Marcie’s book, Are We There Yet? Each chapter of the book explains nature’s five elements: earth, fire, sky, water, air, and how these relate to who we are. Marcie explains with the help of meditation you can use the elements to keep yourself in balance.

As you can gather from the discussion, the Fire Element chapter really hit home for me and the one I was most drawn toward. I hope after listening to our conversation or reading Marcie’s book you can also find your elemental balance. As Marcie explained, meditation is the best medication because it allows you to dive deep within yourself to the core of who you are.

Show Highlights

• All about the Earth element and how it is our body, our bones, and our flesh.
• We learn about the Fire element and how it represents our passion and temperament.
• The Sky element and how it is all around us.
• The Water element is the liquid of our body, our blood, and our tears.
• The Air element symbolizes our breath and our consciousness.
• When one element is out of balance find the counter element to level yourself out.

“You have to honor yourself, you see, because if you don't honor yourself, you're not honoring your five elements, not honoring yourself or your heart or soul. And all of those are together in one.”  Marcie Anderson

Resources:

Biggest Small Things 2020 Retreats

Marcie Anderson on LinkedIn

Check out Marcie’s book: Are We There Yet? Enlightenment for Busy People

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

Today I conclude my conversation with Australian entrepreneur, David Bartholomeusz. In part one, David shared stories from his youth to illustrate how you can find a quiet place outside of meditation when you are able to find it within meditation.

In today’s conversation, we delve a little more into being able to find that quiet place as we discuss the concept of flow.  Flow is a state of consciousness in which people can experience more enjoyment and creativity.   David talks about how he primarily finds his flow when he is working on a task that requires complete focus.  He says that he can go into an almost trance-like state when he is in flow and coming out of it is like waking up in the morning.  

Additionally, you will hear my conversation with psychologist Marisa Nava, about emotional triggers. I shared how I was embarrassed by a reaction I had to an emotional trigger. When I discussed it with Marisa she assured me that my reaction was common and boy, was it reaffirming to hear. She also expressed the importance of practicing relaxation techniques like yoga or meditation, so that when negative things do come up our reactions aren’t so big.  

I hope you enjoyed listening to my conversation with David. A key takeaway from my talk with him, and also with Dr. Nava, was that we need to recognize we are going to experience emotional triggers in our lives.  By slowing down and recognizing the triggers, we can better manage our reactions to them.   

Show Highlights

• Give yourself grace when you have a negative reaction to emotional triggers.
• Negative reactions aren’t shameful, the goal is to better manage them, not deny them.
• Accept the nature of your humanity.

Guided meditation at 29:25 in the episode.

Resources:

"If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there's room to hear more subtle things--that's when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before." – Steve Jobs

12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation: 12-benefits-of-meditation

David Bartholomeusz

Marisa Nava, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist 

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

Today’s episode is part one of my conversation with David Bartholomeusz of Entrepreneurs' Organization. David is a serial entrepreneur known for his explorations in behavioral economics and applied evolutionary psychology.  He has a particular interest in habitat systems and the organic growth of communities. Today we explore some unconventional and conventional ways of finding your quiet voice. 

David uses a story from his youth to illustrate how he found his quiet place and how that helps him be better prepared for challenges in his life.  Growing up in a small town in Australia, he believed his only path to a future would be through the military. After attending cadet school, an Academy Psychologist worked to convince him otherwise.  Angry and discouraged, David had to allow the quiet in, in order to accept that the psychologist was correct and that the university path was the correct one.  

Through this experience, David learned that it’s in these challenging times, the quiet you find can help you the most. One key takeaway from this conversation was that meditation can then help you transcend into finding a quiet space when you're out of meditation too.  That is, assuming you’re open to accepting it. Be sure to check back in a couple of weeks for part two of my conversation with David. 

Show Highlights

• Advice doesn’t always come from who you expect, oftentimes non-traditional teachers can help you along your path
• You learn more when you surround yourself with people who disagree with you
• Learning how meditation can help you find your quiet place

Guided meditation on finding your quiet voice can be found at 36:20 into the episode.

Resources:

"If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there's room to hear more subtle things--that's when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before."  – Steve Jobs

12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation: 12-benefits-of-meditation David Bartholomeusz

Marisa Nava, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist 

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

In this episode, I will share my EASY goal setting method to help you see the value of setting your own goals. And, no, setting goals isn’t easy but there are four things to keep in mind in order to make your goals something which will be lasting and fulfilling.  

What is your relationship with goals? My relationships with goals used to be 100% corporate.  They were set by those above me and I was tasked with accomplishing them while I had very little control over them. I could see—and appreciate—their necessity but since I had no ownership of them, I had very little excitement about these goals. If this is your primary relationship with goals it can be difficult to see their use in your personal life.

About five years ago my relationship with goals shifted. At the end of every year, my husband would sit and go through his list of goals (he actually typed a list of goals) and marked his progress.  One year I finally stopped rolling my eyes and I sat down to review his list with him. Even if he didn’t always make it to the end-goal he would give himself credit for getting closer. And, this acknowledgement of his achievements  is what helped me begin to see the value of what he was doing. He didn’t get discouraged or ashamed of not making his goal. He recognized his growth and gave himself room for more. I decided I wanted in on these feelings of accomplishment. I want to give him a big Thank You for helping me get into a better goal-setting mindset and for helping me recognize there are goals I want to do. I hope this episode does the same for you. 

Show Highlights

• Enjoyable: What your goals should be.
• Authentic: How authenticity is important when creating goals you want to accomplish, not things others say you should accomplish.
• Strategic: Why goals should be more than day-to-day To-Dos that are necessities of daily life.
• Yearlong: Make setting your goals an on-going practice. If it can be done tomorrow, it’s a To-Do, not a goal. 
• Goals aren’t just moving from bad to good; they can be good to great.
• Goal setting reinforces our “why.”

“It's the dawn of a new decade. Let's think BIG. Let's DARE to be bold. Let's dare to PUSH ourselves and really, really connect.” Renee Manning

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

***

EPISODE CREDITS:

If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.

He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.

Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com 

Sean and Katie McLaughlin, my brother and sister-in-law, join me on this episode to help me demonstrate the Wheel of Balance in action. Sean and Katie are parents to two precious children. They each maintain busy lives—both inside and outside of the home and I am extremely grateful to them for agreeing to participate. I must admit, I was nervous working with a couple, relatives, no less. I’m so glad I pushed through my apprehension because we ended up having an insightful conversation. 

So, what is the Wheel of Balance? The Wheel of Balance, or Wheel of Life, was first developed in the 1960s as a popular visual tool used in coaching to help clients quickly understand how balanced or fulfilled their life is in this moment. The purpose of the tool—typically set up as a worksheet—is to help with self-reflection and to help achieve better communication with others in your life. The Wheel of Balance is broken into a pie-chart, dividing your life into the eight most important pieces. From there you can examine and rate your satisfaction with each sector of your life. This is a tool that I have used both in my personal life and in group coaching situations.

The main takeaway from today’s discussion is how to gain insights for where you are in your life and where your partner is in theirs. This knowledge aids in helping both of you set goals for where you want to be. You can use your satisfaction levels as a baseline and then revisit them to measure your growth. 

Show Highlights

• Life and work are not a 50/50 split; work on life-balance rather than work-life balance.
• Having and recognizing your shortcomings is not shameful, however, you must be willing to work on them.
• Assumptions can lead to misunderstandings. You must define what you want and what you expect from others or from your partner.
• The energy level you put in doesn’t always match the results you expect. Acceptance is the magic word.
• Take from your strengths and use them to build on your weaknesses.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

“I can only say I can do better so many times. But if I’m not doing better, there comes a point where the words become hollow.” Sean

Resources:

The Complete Guide to the Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life

Bonus Content:Subscribe to receive the Wheel of Balance Worksheet

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

On this week’s episode I am joined by Dana Marxer, CEO and Founder of Gen5, a strategic marketing firm that focuses on accelerating growth for emerging B2B companies. Dana has led marketing and product management teams for almost 20 years. She's created thought leadership concepts and visionary marketing strategies for companies across a variety of industries leading to significant revenue growth, public offerings, and acquisitions. 

I admire Dana’s ambition and her commitment to family and business, which is one of the many reasons I am elated to have her as a guest. She’s one intelligent and inspiring woman. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering and Economics and Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth College plus has a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University along with an MBA, with a concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Maryland. She is a devoted mother to five boys who are her greatest inspirations. By the end of this episode you will understand and appreciate the depths of her devotion to the millionth degree

Our conversation delivers so many takeaways it is challenging to single-out only one to highlight here. Her insight is powerful and resonant in so many aspects of my life—be it with my business or in the past when I was working on something important or passion related. I believe the idea to start and keep going is an awesome reminder—a lesson many can do well to remember. I also got enormous value from her reminder that patience is a virtue. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all. 

I want to pay tribute to Dana for showing tremendous courage when she freely shared about her struggles with domestic abuse. She is positive about the outcomes and opportunities we have to make to have a better life. This episode is extremely inspiring—and a little bit heartbreaking. I really hope you enjoy it. 

• Using family as a motivation and inspiration for doing things you would never have thought of doing—including opening a business.
• Letting things go and watching them unfold. “It's not until I'm reflecting later that I realized when I've been successful, it's when I have let go.”
• Not believing in coincidence but in working as hard as you should. 
• Surviving domestic abuse—reflecting on this difficult time in her life and in her sons’ lives then ultimately rising from the ashes.
• If you want to start a successful company, start one and don't stop. Keep experimenting. Keep trying different things. Keep going.

“This is something one of my clients told me several years ago, ‘Dana, here's how you create a great business. You get started and you don't stop. That's how you do it.’” ~Dana Marxer

Resources:

“We can all learn how to love better. Through One Love educational programs we empower young people to understand the basics of healthy and unhealthy love before relationships become dangerous and abusive, and like Dana said, raise our hands for help.” Katie Hood, CEO of One Love Foundation

For more, reference the One Love resources page: https://www.joinonelove.org/get-help/#real-time

The National Domestic Abuse Hotline, a 24-hour confidential service for survivors, victims and those affected by domestic violence, intimate partner violence and relationship abuse.: https://www.thehotline.org 

Contact Dana:

Website: https://gen-5.com/leadership

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danamarxer/

[email protected] 

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

This week my featured guest is Rob Jordan, CEO and Founder of Idealist Consulting, a Salesforce and Marketing Automation firm. Rob left his job at a global consulting firm in 1998 to join the Peace Corps. His decision would lead to a lifelong commitment to ethical business and a graduate degree in International Issues and Conflict Resolution. From his time as a Peace Corps volunteer, Rob developed a vision for a better way of doing business. This led him to founding Idealist Consulting, with the goal to bridge the technological chasm between nonprofits and the corporate sector. Rob is also a published author, speaker and lifelong traveler. 

In this episode we explore overcoming mental obstacles and learning to live in the moment. As well as being willing to define the low moments and finding the strength to come back from them. We also explore the topic of rebirth from both a business and personal perspective. 

One of my favorite takeaways was this idea of what “muscle” do you want to work out and grow? My first reaction was all of them. I want to work out all the muscles and do all the things. Then I immediately became exhausted. I needed to slow my roll. The muscle that I've decided I am going to work out is welcoming abundance into my life by not holding to a scarcity mindset. The goodness, the positivity, the abundance, is out there and I'm just going to work on letting that in. 

• Understanding and transitioning away from martyr syndrome
• The metaphors we choose to define a scenario we're in are hugely important
• Defining highs and lows of life and coming back from a “breakdown moment”
• Learning to celebrate the “muscle” that is the strongest and sculpting the kind of person you want to become
• Asking for help and welcoming it, and the rebirth of Rob’s approach to his company
• The notion of worrying, getting warning signals when we are looking at the world through a lens that might be unhealthy 
• The importance of taking a moment and thinking about how you are perceiving a situation

“What muscle do you want to work out? Because as we get older, the muscles that we don't work out, die first. What's left is the sculpture of how we've applied ourselves.” Rob Jordan

Bonus Content:Download The “Don’t Worry” Flowchart

Contact Rob Jordan:https://idealistconsulting.com/

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst

When it comes to the holiday season, it’s not uncommon to have a lot of extra responsibilities added to our already overflowing plate. There are extra parties to attend, extra tasks to complete, extra decorating to do and extra family events to navigate. Everything we have in our busy schedules is multiplied. And yes, it feels totally overwhelming. Here’s the thing, there are always going to be unexpected things that come up. So when things are already super full, those extras on top of the extras can push us over the edge. There are ways to ease the overwhelm and help manage the stress of the holiday season, and that is the topic of this special holiday bonus episode of the show. 

Today, I'm going to share my system for mindful scheduling. My system will help you determine what you should do, what you should delegate and what you should delete. Using my scheduling system will allow you to go about the holiday season a little bit more mindfully. But what about the stress? Well, in this episode I will also share two of the best science-backed strategies for keeping holiday stress under control. The best part of all, these tools can be used at any time of the year. So, whenever life if throwing you curveballs, or things are getting a little too hectic, just go back to the methods mentioned in this episode and move forward with grace and strength. 

• My system for mindful scheduling: Do, Delegate, and Delete
• The importance of writing out all your tasks
• Acknowledging that it's important to recognize the why behind the activity
• Commit to exercise, no seriously, this is a science-backed strategy for combating stress
• Why creating or continuing your gratitude practice will also help you feel stress-free

Contact Renee:  

[email protected]

Instagram: @Biggest_small_things 

Subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/939b8210f2f2/bst