Life in the And

Matt Chavlovich is a speaker, advisor, and coach who supports athletes and artists in creating impact. Matt is the Founder of The Chavlovich Group, the Principal owner of Today I Begin, and a former professional soccer player. Driven by his purpose of helping individuals and organizations master what truly matters to them, Matt created Today I Begin, through which he works with people to help them get to where they aspire to be.

In this episode, Matt and I explore the innate magic and potential within us and his mission of fostering that in people. We discuss the role of rest in growth and development and illustrate how we all have limitless possibilities. We dive into the fear high-achievers have around taking days off and the fear of not having enough time to make an impact in the world. We also discuss how everything is possible, even in things that are contradictory, and how by showing your ANDs, you can create opportunity and authentic leadership.

"Everybody has magic inside of them. They just need the right people around to pull it out." - Matt Chavlovich

This week on Life in the AND:

• How muscles grow and why rest days should be part of athletic training
• The importance of giving ourselves permission to recover
• The secrets of human performance and how we all have limitless potential
• The value of learning from more experienced people
• How Matt helps athletes tap into their potential
• What fuels Matt's desire to help people succeed
• The beginnings of Matt's passion for helping children find families and homes
• Heart leadership and why Matt focuses on helping younger adults
• How Matt stays focused on his goals despite everyday life
• The fear of regret and how it helped Matt transition from the corporate world to answer life's calling
• Dancing with your demons and how the willingness to share vulnerabilities forge deeper connections
• Showing your humanity and what it means to be a strong leader

Related Content:

• The ANDs We Need for True Inclusion with Niiamah Ashong

Connect with Matt Chavlovich:

• Today I Begin
• Matt Chavlovich on Instagram
• Matt Chavlovich on YouTube
• Matt Chavlovich on LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Mike Harris is a coach and personal advisor who helps high-level executives, entrepreneurs, and athletes create mastery in their world beyond conventional success. Living a life of many Ands,

Mike has a background in finance and, prior to becoming the personal advisor he is today, played poker and billiards. Mike - a master in complex pattern recognition - is adept at identifying people's strengths and confluences and is an excellent source of insight and wisdom.

Today, Mike and I explore how discomfort is easy and how we can push through challenging times. We discuss our future-thinking muscles and how difficult moments last shorter than how we expect them to. We elaborate on the FITFO philosophy, what it is and how we can apply it in our lives, and discuss how we can plant ourselves in the present and make contingency plans for the future. We also consider the value of having high intentions and practicing nonattachment to our goals and underscore the dangers of the hedonic treadmill.

"Take it a step further than thinking about how it can be easy. Acknowledge its inherent ease if we're not in a rush - it doesn't have to fit some mold that we think it's going to be." - Mike Harris

This week on Life in the AND:

• How Mike became a professional poker player and where he learned to gamble
• The inherent ease in things and how our mind perceives difficulties and challenges
• Reconciling the need to create contingency plans and to stay in the present moment
• Our fear of future outcomes and the importance of nonattachment to goals
• Trusting your instincts and the ways of being in a poker game
• Why having your body language seen is both terrifying and relieving
• The FITFO philosophy
• The relationship between relief and discomfort and how we always avoid any forms of discomfort in our lives
• The instinct of hubris and when not to trust your intuition
• Staying and being still in moments of discomfort
• The meaning of affective forecasting and what the hedonic treadmill is
• Resilience resourcefulness and pursuing the probability of success

Related Content:

• What Becomes Possible When We Have High Intention and Low Attachment to Our Goals

Connect with Mike Harris:

• Mike Harris Website

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

"You can reach your potential." What do you feel when you read those words? Language is a sophisticated tool humanity has developed over the ages. There are many social psychologists out there who study how language can reflect our thoughts, feelings, identity, and even our educational attainment. Language is so powerful: not only does it reflect our character, but the subtle meaning behind the words we use can also make or break us. The language we use can help us create and change how we see the world.

That's exactly why the word And is so powerful.

Today, I explore the power of language and how it can create and change our identities. I discuss the psychology behind the words that we use and how subtle changes in the use of words can change a person's motivations. I share the reason I am fascinated with the word "and," and illustrate how that word creates realms that feel impossible. I also reveal how the phrase "reach your potential" can negatively impact us and how we can reframe it with an AND.

"You are enough AND you can be more. The universe is whole and is ever-expanding. You are a universe that's ever-expanding, too." - Erin Baker

This week on Life in the AND:

• The incredible psychology behind the words we use and how language reveals who we are
• How the subtle shifts in language can change our motivation and identity
• The word And can change our thinking - and create it
• Why the phrase "reach your potential" can be subtly problematic
• Striving for enoughness and external validation from our peers and accolades
• Looking at our limitless potential with an AND

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Laurie Shiers is a Creative Development Coach with a nerdy passion for the creative process and all its nuances. Laurie, a creative catalyst, made a literal Creative Block, a collection of cards that help people get unstuck and enter a new creative headspace. Taking this step further in inspiring people into new ways of creative thinking, Laurie co-authored the forthcoming book, Mindset Mondays: 52 Ways to REWIRE Your Thinking and Transform Your Life, which will be available September 01, 2020.

Laurie joins me today to explore the ANDs she discovered in the creative process. She explains why she created the Creative Block and the importance of letting ourselves feel feelings and what happens when we don't. She discusses why emotional tension and the state of flow are both essential in the creative process. She also shares how she inspires herself to be creative and breaks down the five phases of the creative process.

"Creativity opens the door to emotional freedom. And the way to emotional freedom is by expanding your creative range and developing creative confidence." - Laurie Shiers

This week on Life in the AND:

• Pulling a card from Laurie's Creative Block and how it can help your creativity get unstuck
• The value of throwing a tantrum and what happens when we avoid feeling emotions
• Emotions as catalysts to the creative process and the five phases of the creative process
• How we get the big aha! moments of creativity while doing low-grade physical activity
• Why the creative block and the state of flow go hand-in-hand in the creative process
• Giving our minds the time to marinate and incubate ideas
• How we lose creativity as children and using the growth mindset to foster creativity in younger people
• How the narrow definitions of creativity prevent us from finding our creative genius
• Why Laurie created the Creative Block
• Why childhood is one of the biggest wellsprings of creativity
• Creating in the absence of inspiration and when the mood strikes
• Writing a book for Laurie's 12-year-old self
• Creativity as a door to emotional freedom and emotional freedom as a door to creativity

Connect with Laurie Shiers:

• Brainchild Coaching
• Creative Block
• Laurie Shiers
• Laurie Shiers on LinkedIn
• Book: Mindset Mondays: 52 Ways to REWIRE Your Thinking and Transform Your Life by David Taylor-Klaus and Laurie Shiers
• Email: [email protected]

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Niiamah Ashong is a pioneer and outlier on a mission to create a world of true inclusion and empowerment. He is the founder and leader of the World of Joy Movement where he brings his vision of true inclusivity and diversity into life by helping leaders and organizations leverage their uniqueness and strength. Before embarking on leading this movement, Niiamah worked with AppNexus as a People Experience Consultant and a Senior Consultant for management services firm Deloitte Consulting. Today, Niiamah is a dear friend and kindred spirit who continues to inspire me on my mission.

Niiamah joins me today to discuss the Ands we need to create a world of true inclusion. He shares his vision of an inclusive world and explains how he was inspired to make this vision a reality. He explores the paradox of inclusion and exclusion and illustrates how we can become inclusive while maintaining our differences. He also emphasizes the role of outliers, trailblazers, and mavericks in a divisive and uncertain world, and explores the possibility of being fearful and still being authentic.

"True inclusion is about being celebrated and valued for the things that make you different." - Niiamah Ashong

This week on Life in the AND:

• What inclusion means for Niiamah and why it's more about difference than sameness
• Creating a world of true inclusion and what it looks like in 2045
• How innovation comes when people who are different from each other work together
• The "Yes And" game and why And is a skill set that could be honed
• Where Niiamah's mission of creating an inclusive world started and how he came to realize it
• How inclusion and exclusion go hand in hand, and how we can create a space of diversity that accepts outliers and trailblazers
• The characteristics that make trailblazers, outliers, and mavericks, and what makes them important in a world of uncertainty
• Self-identifying as an outlier and how we are alone and belonging at the same time
• The difference between belonging versus fitting-in
• The costs of owning authenticity and uniqueness and why trailblazing isn't safe
• Handling both sides of fear and what it means to be fearful and fearless at the same time

Connect with Niiamah Ashong:

• Niiamah Ashong
• Trailblazer Tribe
• Niiamah Ashong on YouTube
• Niiamah Ashong on Instagram
• Niiamah Ashong on LinkedIn

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Tony Martignetti is an entrepreneur and Inspired Purpose Coach who is passionate about elevating leaders and equipping them with the tools to navigate life's challenges. His recently-launched podcast, Virtual Campfire, and upcoming book Climbing the Right Mountain: A Journey of Transformation, demonstrate this passion by sharing stories and ideas about people finding their purpose. Before becoming a coach, Tony was a finance and strategy professional who worked with the world's leading bio and life science companies. As the mentor, Tony works with leaders to help them become unstoppable in the world.

Tony joins me today to explore what's possible when you transcend your limitations and live your Life in the And. He reveals the most common limiting beliefs that hinder people from realizing their fullest potential and describes how success happens in small steps. He defines what it means to lead from a people-first mindset rather than a profit-first mindset and describes the possibility of creating innovation and impact the world. He also discusses people's tendencies to become reporters as opposed to the authors of their lives and defines what it means to live a life of purpose.

"Be innovative, create something amazing, and do it in a way that celebrates humanity. Leaders can make an impact at work, and they can impact humanity." - Tony Martignetti

This week on Life in the AND:

• Connecting with a 'people-first' mission and what it means to have an "inspired purpose."
• Why Tony is inspired to help leaders overcome their limits and step into possibility
• The most common belief that limits people from living a life of inspired purpose
• Playing big and acting small and the necessity of taking the first step
• The element of patience and learning the lessons of the present moment
• The right and responsibility to stand for something and why environmental activist Greta Thunberg inspires Tony
• Tony's vision for leaders of the future
• What it means to expand your vision and narrow your focus
• Living life on autopilot and the value of working people who you can trust
• The importance of interconnection and the power of the individual to make change
• Changing the language we use to empower ourselves and other people
• Tales of transformation and the emotional journeys people go through on Tony's podcast, Virtual Campfire

Connect with Tony Martignetti:

• Inspired Purpose Coaching
• The Virtual Campfire Podcast
• Tony Martignetti on Facebook
• Tony Martignetti on Twitter
• Tony Martignetti on Instagram
• Tony Martignetti on LinkedIn

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

What does it mean to have high intentions but low attachment to achieving our goals? Is it even possible, or is it an unattainable oxymoron? I believe you can have high intentions for your goals AND maintain low attachment to their outcomes. To me, it means to take action toward achieving your goals without beating yourself up or dwelling on your mistakes and failures if you miss the mark.

Today, I discuss what can become possible when we have high intentions and low attachment to our goals. I explain how this seemingly unachievable concept is one of the most profound ways to transform your life and business. I share why I believe the act of setting goals and creating action steps for achieving those goals is one of the worst things we can do as leaders and entrepreneurs and what I believe we should do instead. I also explain how more doors of opportunity seem to open when you're less attached to the outcome of your goals and how it allows you to embrace change, failure, and curiosity as you move forward.

"It's not about 'I don't care.' You can care, you can want that goal, you can have that outcome. You can also release all of the emotional attachment to it actually coming true." - Erin Baker

This week on Life in the AND:

• What it means to have high intentions and low attachment to our goals
• Why I believe the idea of setting a goal and creating action steps to achieve that goal is one of the worst things we can do as entrepreneurs and leaders
• How to reduce your feelings of attachment toward achieving your goal without losing your motivation to continue working toward it
• The negative impact associated with being focused on the outcome of your goals
• The benefits of having low attachment to specific outcomes

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Comparison is such a natural human experience that asking you to avoid it like the plague can be a lot like asking you to build a billion-dollar organization overnight. It's pretty impossible. But many coaches and consultants will tell you to avoid 'comparisonitis' - the habit of comparing yourself, your skills, and your success to others. And while comparisonitis can be a thief of joy… it doesn't have to be.

In fact, comparison, at its core, is not really good or bad.

It's an 'and.'

Today, I explain why comparison is a thief of joy AND a source of it. I explain why we feel the need to compare ourselves to others and why it's actually a normal part of humanity. I discuss the two types of comparison and the benefits and disadvantages of each type. I explain the difference between malicious envy and benign envy and how we can use our envious feelings as a tool for personal growth and joy. I also explain how to reduce the harmful comparisons in your life while leveraging the truly beneficial ones that will help you experience more gratitude, celebration, and joy while expanding your personal and professional growth.

"If you can get rid of the 'I'm not good enough,' or the 'I'm incapable,' or the 'there's something wrong with me,' then you can stay in a space of feeling that inspiration, that motivation to propel you forward and that gratitude and celebration for where you are." - Erin Baker

This week on Life in the AND:

• Understanding that comparing yourself to others is a natural human experience
• Why trying to avoid comparisonitis can often backfire
• The two types of comparison and the pros and cons of each type
• The difference between malicious envy and benign envy
• Being aware of when you're comparing yourself to others
• Identifying what your heart needs that your ego is trying to achieve for you
• Determining whether the comparison is truly important and reasonable
• Identifying what you're making the comparisons mean about you

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Shelley Paxton is internationally recognized as The Burnout Fighter and Fire Re-igniter. She is the Chicago-based author of Soulbbatical: A Corporate Rebel's Guide to Finding Your Best Life, a book where she shares her journey from working in Corporate America as the CMO of Harley-Davidson to becoming the Chief Soul Officer of her life and career.

Shelley has spent over 25 years in the corporate world as a highly regarded marketing and advertising executive with some of the world's most iconic brands, including Visa, McDonald's, and AOL. Her work has been recognized and featured in multiple media publications including Thrive Global, Forbes, PBS, and CBS. Since taking her Soulbbatical in 2016 and launching her company, Shelley has been on a mission to liberate a billion souls by inspiring them to embrace their greatest truth, purpose, and possibility.

Shelley joins me today to share all of the "Ands" in her life and career. She discusses her ballsy move to liberate a billion souls by creating a title wave of change in people's lives and organizations. She discusses the magic that can happen when you trust AND surrender to your soul's process instead of the corporate process or the process of others. She discusses how you can trust, surrender, and follow your soul's desires while working in the corporate environment and why the first step to reconnecting to your soul is to get reacquainted with yourself and your personal values. She also explains the difference between rebelling for something versus rebelling against something and why she believes, deep down, everyone has a rebel soul.

"You have to know where you're heading, and you first have to know yourself because getting reconnected with your soul really is getting reconnected with your GPS system." - Shelley Paxton

This week on Life in the AND:

• Shelley's big, audacious goal of liberating a billion souls - one soul at a time
• How Shelley stays grounded in holding onto her big, overarching goal while liberating one individual soul at a time
• The magic that happens when you trust AND surrender to your soul's process
• Bridging the gap between working in the corporate world while following your soul's desires
• Getting reacquainted with yourself and your values and why it's the first step to reconnecting to your soul
• Choosing to believe that crisis always comes as a gift to teach us a lesson
• Why Shelley believes everyone has a rebel soul
• How your 'ands' are the lego pieces of your life
• Using fear as fuel to get to where you want to go
• Why Shelley believes trusting and surrendering to your soul's desires is the "And" everyone should stand for

Resources Mentioned:

• The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Connect with Shelley Paxton:

• Soulbbatical
• Rebel Souls Podcast
• Book: Sabbatical: A Corporate Rebel's Guide to Finding Your Best Life
• Shelley Paxton on LinkedIn
• Shelley Paxton on Instagram
• Soulbbatical on Facebook
• Shelley Paxton on Twitter

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.

Does "The Universe" control your destiny...or do you? That is a question pondering the minds of many people from all walks of life. I don't know about you, but if I sat on my laurels and chose to let "The Universe" take the reigns over my life and business - nothing would happen. However, If I took complete and total responsibility and accountability over my destiny - I also know that leaves me fully accountable for all of my failures. It means I would probably beat myself up over things that I truly had no control over.

So how do you walk the fine line between gaining control of your life and letting things be? How do you balance controlling your destiny and letting "The Universe" do the heavy lifting?

In today's episode, I discuss how you can control your own destiny while still trusting that "The Universe" will provide. I discuss the impact of leaning too heavily on "The Universe" to fulfill your destiny and explain the Locus of Control concept in psychology. I discuss how taking too much control and accountability over your life can lead to negative effects, like stress and anxiety. I also share strategies to help you strike a balance between trusting in "The Universe" to provide what you need to succeed while also taking control of your destiny.

"The Universe IS the wave. We don't know where The Universe is going - but we DO have control of how we surf it." - Erin Baker

This week on Life in the AND:

• The Locus of Control concept and the impact of having a high internal Locus of Control
• The difference between people with high Internal Locus of Control versus high External Locus of Control
• The pros and cons of Internal and External Locus' of Control
• Finding a balance between letting "The Universe" control your destiny while taking control of your life and business trajectory
• Balancing high intentions with low attachments to the final outcomes
• Getting clear on what you're truly responsible for
• Why frequently trying to prepare for the worst is a mistake many high-performing leaders make

Resources Mentioned:

• The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection by Michael A. Singer

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website.