Happy Holidays! With Hanukkah wrapping up and Christmas right around the corner, we take a moment to wish you a very happy holiday season.  Stay safe, spend time with friends and family, turn off technology, and enjoy the final weeks of 2017 as we tie this year off with a big red bow and move into 2018.

Huge shout-out to all of our Elevated listeners inside the U.S. (especially our friends in New Mexico) as well as all of our international listeners in the Philippines, Guam, the UK, New Zealand and more!

This episode features a fireside chat with host Michael. He gets personal and shares details about his life, upbringing, schooling, skirmishes with depression, fascination with personal growth, partying, friendships, existential crises, and so on. 

No matter where we come from, what our beliefs are, what our life stories are, we are all sharing this experience of life right here, right now.  We’re in this together.  Take a moment to recognize the diversity of people.  Seek to understand rather than condemn.  Strive for community, for common goals, for unity that elevates humankind and the world we share.

We hope you enjoy

Envision yourself with everything you presently want. The shredded physique. The perfect significant other. The window seat on an airline transporting you to a distant land of your choosing. The corner office overlooking the city skyline. The time to do the things you love.

Now work backwards. What would it take to achieve these things? The shredded physique would probably take a few years of strict dieting and strenuous training. The perfect significant other would require meeting and dating enough less-than-perfect others. The window seat would take money, planning, and free time. The corner office would demand countless work hours and political maneuverings. The time to do the things you love would insist all your other responsibilities are handled.

This can be painfully daunting.

Motivation vanishes upon seeing the amount of time, effort, and knowledge required to achieve our dreams. But if those dreams are worth pursuing, we’ll need to start somewhere which, ironically, can truly be the toughest part. This week’s solo episode focuses on the beginning of any journey to greatness: the starting point.

Key Points:

Many of us aspire to live our dreams, to do things that matter, to “check off” items on the bucket list. When confronted with the reality of what it takes to live those dreams, however, we may not choose to try at all.

If you are set on living a dream or doing something important, you’ll need to start somewhere. Be SPECIFIC with what exactly you’re trying to do. Learning a new language? Which one? Beginning a new fitness regimen? For what goal? Specificity helps solidify the starting point and direct action to make real progress.

Find your WHY. Why do you want to start this new endeavor? What intention is driving you? What values are you satisfying by beginning the journey? Without a solid WHY, you may find yourself acting out of peer pressure, perceived incompleteness or neediness rather than intentional and purposeful motivation.

Create a PLAN. What do you need to get started? Perform research. Read books. Watch videos. Talk to people. Then acquire the things you need to begin taking action.

Do the thing! Take action. You’ve been preparing for this moment, it’s time to look fear in the face and say “fuck you.”

Set SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely.

Give yourself a huge pat on the back after you take action. So many people TALK a big game about what they’re going to do. You’ve actually DONE it.

If it’s a one-time thing, move on to the next. If you plan on getting better, you’ll need objective feedback from yourself and others, consistency, and dedication.

Don’t be afraid to look like a fool or to look surprisingly awesome. Leave ego at the door. Learn tons about yourself in the process. You’ll learn what you like, dislike, and what may or may not be worth incorporating as a lasting component in your life. You might even beat FOMO.

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Intro/Outro beat by @shadelockwood on Instagram and Soundcloud

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Have an #elevated week!

“We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.” ― Ryan Holiday

Jarrod Greth was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, at age three.  Now cancer-free and working towards a law degree, Jarrod weighs in on life as a cancer survivor, amputee, and how he’s been able to reframe adversity to strive for the best version of himself.

Key Points:

Adversity is a mindset.  This does not mean life doesn’t deal you bad hands.  It does.  But you choose how to play the hands you’re dealt.  Adversity is not an excuse to not achieve or not to try.

Adversity forms who we are.  Instead of lamenting all the things we aren’t or what we can’t do, we should instead ask ourselves “What can I do? What am I capable of?”

Adversity in and of itself does not hold us back.  Our expectations, effort, and egos do.

There are many avenues to succeed.  Learn who you are, what you’re capable of, and what you value to capitalize on unique strengths.

There are two primary ways of dealing with adversity: overcome it or find a new path.

People choose to let adversity stop them from self-actualizing for many reasons including the western obsession with success, viewing life linearly, our culture of victim-hood and the race to see who is the most disparaged/underprivileged, and pursuing happiness as an end-goal.

Values conquer adversity.  Hard work, duty, responsibility, honesty, gratitude, integrity, etc.

Failure is “missing the mark.”  Many people fail because they’ve set unrealistic or unattainable goals.  Others fail because their goals are too easy.  Choose smart goals and know when to quit.

Become a realist.  Learn who you are, what success looks like to you, and how your expectations of yourself and others impacts your reality.  What makes you happy?  Discover the values that guide your thoughts and behavior.

Don’t be afraid to think for yourself and forge your own path, but listen to the feedback of others to fill any blind spots you may have.

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Special thanks to Jarrod Greth for being this week’s guest!

Intro/Outro beat produced by Shade Lockwood @shadelockwood on Instagram and Soundcloud.

Love the podcast? Leave us a review on iTunes! Follow us on Facebook for new episodes and #elevated updates.  Visit our site elevated-u.com for the full episode library.  Have an elevated week!

“It is always the secure who are humble.” – Gilbert Keith Chesterton

You wake up, brush your teeth, and gaze into the mirror hoping to see the reflecting visage of a Brad Pitt or Emma Watson. Nope, just you again, frazzled hair and all. In that moment, it’s easy to fall into despair. 

“Why am I not a beautiful celebrity worth millions?” you might think.  Why aren’t my finances respectable? Why am I so socially awkward? Why did THAT incident have to happen to me? Regardless of the question, there’s a good chance you, like most others, suffer the lifelong condition of feeling insecure. Left untreated, it can morph into a debilitating plague, infecting all areas of life.

This week’s episode inspects insecurity with the hope of suppressing it to a reasonable degree.  Bryan and Michael discuss common symptoms of insecurity, where it stems from, human narcissism and philosophy, personal anecdotes, the necessity of intrinsic value and external results, solutions such as the “fuck other people” mindset, service to others, therapy, self-awesomeness and more. 

There’s a saying that goes “the more personal the problem, the more universal it is.” You’re not alone if you battle with insecurity. If anything, it means you’re a fully functional human

Happy Thanksgiving! This week, we’re joined by the lovely and talented Ms. Alex to talk turkey day and travel escapades.  We practice gratitude by reflecting on the things we’re thankful for and share stories acquired from traveling the world. 

This episode follows the arc of adventure.  We discuss first impressions stepping off the plane, the “honeymoon phase” of being in a new place, total immersion, the return home, lessons and benefits of travel, and practical ways to make travel a part of your life.  We cover how to stay safe in a new environment, the two-way process of culture exchange, history, resourcefulness, and making it happen. 

Travel is personally empowering and perspective enhancing.  It doesn’t matter if it’s the town 10 miles away or a continent only accessible by 13-hour flight.  Exploring new lands and new people teaches you about the world, destroys bias and preconception, and develops one’s understanding of their home, culture, and place in the world.  We hope you enjoy!!

Relationships are awesome, they allow you to share the essence of your soul with another individual willing and capable of receiving it.  Once this bond is solidified by an unbreakable love, you are both carried away to nirvana to spend the rest of your days totally getting each other and living happily ever after.  Except not, relationships are tough!

In this content-rich episode, Bryan and Michael examine the components that constitute successful relationships.  We talk interdependence, polarity, trust building, boundaries, self-worth, red flags, The 5 Love Languages, sacrifice and more as we attempt to pick apart what separates healthy, long-term relationships from toxic, self-destructive ones.  This episode provides ample perspective to help you assess and maximize the relationships in your life, whether you’re dating, in a committed relationship, or happily single.

“Just because we’re on different paths doesn’t mean I’m lost.”

As the fall season continues to descend upon us, Bryan and Michael share their plans to partake in “Sober November” and get personal on the topic of quarter-life crisis.  The quarter-life crisis is typically characterized by the solidification of identity and one’s standing in the world as they transition from young-adulthood to the next phase of life.  We share personal struggles with this phenomenon, examine some of the reasons why this happens particularly for the Millennial generation, and discuss a plethora of ways to cope with this period of existential uneasiness and confusion.  Whether you’re in the midst of your quarter-life crisis or have already passed this uncomfortable phase, this episode should provide plenty of vulnerability and insight with which to sink your auditory teeth.

Have you ever found yourself weeping uncontrollably into a vat of Ben & Jerry’s for no apparent reason?  Have people told you your level of agreeableness is less than that of a rabid baboon? Do you struggle to connect with others to form healthy, win-win relationships?  If so, you may be suffering from a hard case of emotional stupidity, AKA a lack of emotional intelligence.

In this episode, we’re greeted by special guest and father Cody Blowers to discuss the critical topic of emotional intelligence.  As a current doctorate student with over 20 years of experience working and teaching in the medical field, Cody shares his insights on emotional intelligence and how we can develop it within ourselves to lead more successful and self-aware lives.  From empathy to emotional outlets to communication and motivation, no stones go left unturned in this special guest episode of the Elevated U podcast!

In this double-digit installment of the Elevated U Podcast, Bryan and Michael steal a quote from their favorite Batman movie and riff on the topic of seriousness.  We ponder the causes and effects of seriousness, how it impacts those around us, and how fun can serve as an important counter-weight for a balanced life.

The best and most memorable adventures are the ones that happen.  In this week’s installment, we discuss our roots, how Elevated U came to be, and what we’ve learned in the process.  We show some love to all of our listeners, you guys rock!  Then Bryan and Michael argue the case for stagnation; why personal growth can actually be harmful.  We share personal stories, examine the symptoms of misdirected growth, and offer a few suggestions for how to make your life meaningful no matter how growth-oriented you are.  This episode is great for those that are interested in counter-arguments, abstract ideas, and grown men talking into a box.

Have an elevated week!

#ElevatedU