If you've been feeling trapped, stuck, and directionless in your life and career, it can feel like you're living life in beige, when all you really want is to be living in vibrant color.

Nate Otto has been fighting the beige for years.

In this month's interview with a normal person, Kristen chats with Nate about how he finally broke through a colorless existence and started to find his place in the world. Nate is a brilliant, creative, innovative thinker who suppressed his inner inquisitive nature and vibrant spirit for much of his life before deciding enough was enough.

He decided to stop complaining, get curious, seek support, and make changes. He shares his whole journey with us, in this interview.

On this episode we talk about:

• Why so many of us get stuck in complacency, and the dangers of not questioning the status quo.
• How it feels to be too colorful for your workplace (& life in general), and the heartbreak of not belonging.
• Why complaining is the first step toward change, and how to turn your complaining into action.
• The value of seeking support, instead of always trying to go it alone.
• The stages Nate went through to go from feeling trapped and lost to empowered and directed, and the positive changes he's made as a result.

MORE ABOUT NATE

Nate is a fellow human who loves. — He lives in Seattle, is very tall, and often spends time teaching machines to be polite. He is also often found doing his rendition of the slowly waking up dance.

Like most people, he's felt short and tall, happy and depressed, gay and straight, fat and thin, sick and healthy, old and young, tired and awake, popular and bullied, rich and poor, light and dark, and a good number of vague things in between.

He leaves you with one of his favorite quotes: "What is to give light must endure burning." - Viktor Frankl

LINKS

• Leave comments on this episode here.
• Michael Hyatt's Focus Planner
• The book Captivate, by Vanessa Van Edwards
• Submit a question for the next episode of Dear Krachel, our monthly podcast advice column
• Take the Passion Profile Quiz