The gift of being human is that we’re sort of part animal and part consciousness and we have the choice to live like the animal or the choice to live as a conscious being. I always have the choice to resist life, resist what is, or to take responsibility for my own state of consciousness and choose to accept what is.

And the amazing thing is that when you can truly accept what is, you enter a state of peace. And then, and only then, does something even more amazing occur - you actually can experience joy in the thing that you didn’t want to do. Suddenly, by accepting that I’m going to play with my daughter, I can enjoy and laugh that in my house Jafar, from Aladdin, is in love with Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast. I can play with my daughter with vigor, attention, and presence of being. If I’m just dreaming of the time when I get to be done playing, I’m literally wasting my life. I’m wasting these precious moments, and whether I have cancer in my blood, or get into an accident or live a long life, life will always be too short.

Acceptance is not easy. Sometimes, I just don’t want to do what I’m doing. But acceptance takes practice, and you have to make the decision again and again and again. But on the other side of acceptance is peace, and on the other side of peace is joy, and who doesn’t want to experience more of that.

Today’s podcast is a special one for me. My guest today is my grandfather, Mel Osterfeld.

This is a unique podcast because it’s one that I never actually planned on releasing publicly, but seeing that it’s National Grandparents Day, and the fact that many of us have lost our grandparents this year due to the global pandemic, or we are in many cases unable to see our grandparents, I thought I would release this episode as a reminder to take the time to do the things that are important to you because we have no idea what tomorrow will bring.

For years, I’ve tried to figure out ways to spend more time with my grandparents. I concocted fun ideas like cooking for the holidays together, weekly lunches, monthly movie nights, and of course, none of them happened. For years I’ve wanted some sort of audio or video with my grandfather and I always put it off because I was busy traveling for work, or busy with my daughter, or busy being busy.

I wanted a recording, in his own words, his own voice, retelling some of my favorite stories. Like the hilarious story of his first date with my grandmother, when he thought he was meeting some blond and a brunette showed up at the door. Or the story of how he somehow convinced a restaurant franchise owner to allow him to open a franchise without the money to pay for it. Or the strange decision to retire at 49 years old, when he was finally making enough money to save a little, because he thought he wouldn’t make it past his fifties.

This pandemic has been difficult for a lot of different reasons, and I cannot discount how fortunate I am to have grandparents to even talk about, but it’s been most difficult being unable to see my family, to not have my grandparents hold their newborn great-grandchildren, and celebrate birthdays together and so on.

At nearly 90 years old, I can only hope my grandfather is around long enough for this pandemic to end, see his great-grandchildren take their first steps, speak their first words, and celebrate their lives together.

I knew I could no longer wait for the timing to be perfect so I took the initiative, and decided it was now or never to get a recording with my grandfather! There is not a moment to waste in this life, and nothing could be more of a reminder than a global pandemic. So I bought my grandfather some headphones and a microphone, shipped to his house, and walked him through recording a podcast remotely. The audio is a bit muffled as I tried to troubleshoot virtually, but the stories are there and they are full of gold!

My grandfather is not the perfect version of full life living. He can be rigid, aggressive, short-tempered, and downright grumpy, but he loves his family fiercely, he has an incredible work ethic, and he built his life out of nothing, consciously and deliberately building a family, working his butt off, saving, investing, deciding to retire when most people wouldn’t even consider it. My grandfather is a force, and when he puts his mind to something, he gets it done. To say I learned a lot from him is a grand understatement. He taught me from an early age that real wealth is being surrounded by a loving family. He taught me the value of hard work, investing, saving, not living in debt, making your way in the world, being entrepreneurial, and never giving up.

So happy Grandparents Day! If you have grandparents alive, let’s give them a call today, let them know we love them, and that they’re special to us.

Last night I had a wasted opportunity. I wasted an opportunity to have a really special night with my daughter. My desire for a hot bath and some alone time at the end of the day distracted me from being the better dad that I want to be, and I know it is a moment that I’ll never get back.

I want to waste less of my life. I want to see these moments for what they truly are, and even if I’m exhausted, stressed, anxious, or frustrated, I want to truly be aware of these moments and seize them! I want to make them into the beautiful moments that they can and should be. And I’m committed to doing my damn best to see them when they arrive, to seize them, and to honor them by making them the most special moment that they can possibly be. And I will fail now and again, but I promise, as always, I’ll be right back here tomorrow, trying to be better.

I have tried to distill what it means to Live a Full Life in one sentence, or in one mantra, if you will.

I am deliberate.

Deliberate as an adjective literally means; done consciously and intentionally. As a verb it means; engage in long and careful consideration.

This to me, is the basis for any journey into uncovering full potential, purpose, passion, and ultimately an abundant life. Because a Full Life is the one that is chosen consciously and intentionally, and that can only begin after long and careful consideration.

This conversation is with my own coach, Sarah Goodson. Sarah has not only helped me level up and launch this passion project on Living a Full Life, but continues to be my guide as I work to uncover my best self, helping me question my assumptions, thoughts, desires and fears, while maintaining balance and presence.

Sarah was born and raised in Los Angeles. She became certified as a coach through Gallup in 2006. She has a Masters in Organizational Leadership, worked as a director in live production for 5 years, then as director of Student Affairs and teaching public speaking at Pepperdine, then finally as an executive in mental health before she decided that it was time for her to become the CEO of her own life, and to consciously and deliberately choose the life she really wanted to live.

As a coach, Sarah provides high level 1:1 coaching in addition to corporate coaching, workshops, facilitation, speaking, and she also puts on a coaching group for female entrepreneurs called Exceptional Women, which is a specialty coaching program for CEO/C-Suite professionals.

Sarah’s mission is to support people as they rise to the fullest expression of themselves, their creativity, and their vision

And this conversation with Sarah was incredibly fun for me because my conversations with Sarah usually revolve around me talking and this time I was able to turn the table and ask her questions, learn more about her own journey, and how she is living a full and deliberate life.

I learned so much in this conversation, not just about Sarah’s story and journey, but about how she thinks about conscious living. How Sarah has deliberately chosen how to spend her life and her time, and the type of principles and questions that are meaningful to her and her success.

We discuss how the death of her close friend and the birth of her daughter were two key moments in her life that truly made her stop and evaluate her life. We discuss marriage, divorce, going pro with her passion, raising children, important principles, and questions to ask yourself in order to drive real transformation.

Living a Full Life takes work. It takes desire. But it also takes stillness and care, love and compassion - not just for everyone else, but for yourself too. If you can’t love yourself, how can you possibly be of service to others and be the best version of you? How can you possibly find lasting happiness or love? How can you provide the loving home for your children? A Full Life is multifaceted. It’s beautiful and boring, full of joy and pain, messy and fun, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I think Comfort Zone, the very words are just too nice of a phrase.

I think I’m going to rename it! Maybe I’ll call it the Unsuccessful Zone, or the Lazy Useless Zone, or the Complacent, Boring, Dull Where Nothing of Importance Is Ever Achieved Zone.

A Life (hopefully a long one) is not but one moment. It is a life. It’s all of it. And a Full Life is one that encompasses all of the important things for living a great life. A full life, one that I would like to live, is one filled with love, and purpose. It is a life filled with challenges, adventure, success, and failure. But most importantly, for me, a Full Life is the one that I choose to live, and actually make happen! Not what my spouse wants, or my parents want, or what society wants, even if their intentions are pure. It’s the life that I want. It’s taking my unique gifts and sharing them with the world. It’s about purpose. It’s about presence and mindfulness. It’s about self-love and cherishing the mind and body so that they can be in service for a lifetime. It’s about relationships and passions. It’s about showing up, getting into the driver seat, buckling in, and being the best!

It has become my mission to live an Amazing Life, to be the best version of myself that I can be, and to inspire others to be the best versions of themselves and to create the lives they want to live. This podcast is a narrative of my own personal journey, along with rich and meaningful conversations with truly successful people, exploring how to build great wealth, while maintaining balance for family, love, health, parenting, purpose, and passion.

So please join me, let’s take this journey together, to uncover what it really means to live A Full Life.