Make Life Less Difficult

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My guest today is Anne Blunden.

Anne has served as the Executive Director of Nursing at both the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre and the King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz University Hospital in Saudi Arabia.  She also served as the director of nursing at the King Fahad Medical Center.

Originally from South Africa, much of her career has been dedicated to the medical system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is where we first met.

I’m delighted to share this conversation with you, as Anne is one of my favorite humans that I’ve met.  Anne has been an inspiration to me and her wisdom and approach to life and leadership have influenced me over the years.

In our conversation today, Anne shares about her own journey of learning about herself, so she could truly lead others.  She shares how this journey of knowing herself was the key to being an effective leader and helping others find their own pathway to leadership.

I also asked Anne to share her reflections on a very special experience we had together in 2016: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the African continent.  This was the goal I had set for my 40th birthday, and the entire experience was so special because of the amazing group of family and friends who went on the expedition with us!  I know you’ll enjoy hearing Anne’s retelling of the experience and story.

Anne, thank you so very much for joining me in conversation here.  Thank you for your authentic and impactful stories of self- development and growth. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and thoughtful reflections that help so many others.  And thank you for continuing to show up in the world with a spirit of humility, curiosity, and wonder.  I’m so grateful to be connected and connect you with others through this podcast.

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My guest today is Cherise Tuttle.

Cherise is a returning guest and I’m so delighted to get to share this conversation with you. 

First, let me say if you haven’t heard our first conversation, I recommend taking the time to listen to Episode 73, where Cherise graciously shares pieces of her journey of grief and loss after losing her husband, Cody, in a paragliding accident. Cherise’s ability to go deep into the messiness and beauty of grief is really moving and difficult to describe in words.

Second, this conversation was recorded at the end of September 2023, not long after the 4th anniversary of Cody’s passing.  Cherise shares some more beautiful reflections on honoring Cody’s memory and life.  Even though it’s a couple months later that it’s being published, the reflections are evergreen.

In addition, in our conversation today, I ask Cherise to share stories about her dog, Astro, who we didn’t get to talk about last time, but is a formidable presence in the world.

We also talk about career transitions, as Cherise has been in the midst of some major changes and choices, working to align with her values in a deeper way and find fulfillment while also managing the practical aspects of life.

Cherise, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast.  Thank you for sharing these reflections, and also your wisdom, in sorting through difficult decisions about work and life.  You are inspiring as you live in intentional ways, filtering through the noise to the heart of what really matters.

Learn more about Cherise and her work: https://www.invertedlifestyle.com/

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My guest today is Anna McMahon.

Anna is a returning guest with our first conversation on episode 61.  If you haven’t listened, I highly recommend it.

Originally from Ireland, Anna spent many years working internationally in education.  She now is a Positive Psychologist and Coach, focusing on helping individuals and organizations determine what wellbeing is and how to achieve it.

Anna founded the company, Enhanced Wellbeing, and facilitates clients in a process of deep self-learning to enhance wellbeing. Her solution-focused and strength-based approach ensures high quality, valuable learning experiences for every client.

Today, Anna share updates on her life, which include her gorgeous son who was still yet to be born when we talked last!

Anna does a beautiful job in sharing her transition to motherhood, working to continue building and growing her business alongside this new role of mom, and then managing an international move on top of it all.

I so appreciate Anna’s authentic reflections and lessons learned through this season in life.  Major life transitions like these are difficult to manage.  Hearing how others experience and manage those difficulties is one small way to help make them less difficult.  If you are going through a challenging transition right now, I hope this conversation will bring you hope and build your resilience and your self-compassion!

Anna, thank you so much for coming back for another conversation on Make Life Less Difficult!  I’m so grateful for your stories, your reflections, your wisdom!  I look forward to continuing the conversation in the future!

If you’d like to connect with Anna, you will find links below:

Connect with Anna:

·       email: [email protected]

·       website

·       Instagram

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My guest today is David Achata.

David is a returning guest and if you haven’t listened to our first conversation, I highly recommend it.  It’s episode 83. 

David is a leadership and team development coach, the author of several business leadership books, and he brings over twenty years of leadership experience into his work.  He’s experienced multiple career changes, moving across the country and back, supporting his mother through the end of her life, and more.

David is a great storyteller, an inspiring leader, a man who practices what he teaches. 

In our conversation today, David shares reflections on his most recent book, Executive Retreats for Busy Business Leaders: How to Achieve More by Working Less.  This is a fantastic book reminding us of the value of intentional time away.  More than that, though, David shares how he realized after publishing the book, that his number one audience was himself, hence the title of this episode, Writing a Book to Yourself.

David, thank you for jumping into another conversation here. Thank you for your authenticity and vulnerability.  Thank you for sharing your thoughtful wisdom and reflections.  

You can find links to David’s books, his website, and social media pages below:

• www.achatacoaching.com
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

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My guest today is Alan Questel.

Alan S. Questel is known for his clarity, creativity and down to earth style of teaching.  He brings a depth of understanding, humor and gentle human perspective while creating lively conditions for learning.  Alan has taught thousands of people in over 20 countries.

He was trained by Dr. Feldenkrais and has created numerous Feldenkrais programs over the years.

Alan was an actor before becoming a trainer in the Feldenkrais methodology.  He is also an author of the books Creating Creativity – Embodying the Creative Process, and Practice Intentional Acts of Kindness… and like yourself more, which we talk about during our conversation today.  This book holds deep wisdom and practical exercises to take action and practice intentional kindness, as well as find ways to like yourself more!

This conversation with Alan is a delight in so many ways.  Alan and I didn’t know each other at all before recording this conversation and it was super easy to connect and dive into discovery. 

Alan, thank you for this conversation.  Thank you for sharing these pieces of your story, for sharing your wisdom, and your passion for helping others connect more with themselves and others through kindness.  

If you’d like to connect with Alan, you can find links in the show notes, or go to uncommonsensing.com.

Connect with Alan:

• Website: www.uncommonsensing.com
• YouTube

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My guest today is Noel Bulger.

Noel is a returning guest to the podcast after sharing pieces of his story on episode 100!  

Noel is a leadership coach and veteran of the US Marine Corps.  

Noel grew up in Ireland and moved to the United States at age 18.  He has had life toss him some difficult curveballs including the loss of his son, PTSD from his time in the military, and a traumatic childhood.

In our conversation today, Noel shares reflections on his divorce and the process of healing and reentering relationship after the loss.  His introspection is inspiring, and he shares a beautiful wisdom that has been birthed through pain.

Noel works with organization and leaders around the globe helping them develop the skills of leadership, communication, strategy creation, and culture transformation.

Noel has degrees from Georgetown and Stanford Universities, Thomas Aquinas College, and the Marine Corps University.  He has been awarded medals of commendation and achievement from both the Navy and the Marine Corps.

Noel, thank you for entering into this amazing conversation. Thank you for sharing these pieces of your story, of your healing, of your processing.  Your transparency is an inspiration for so many and you offer peace and healing to others as you have worked intentionally to create that peace and healing in your own life.

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My guest today is Federica Vinci.

Federica is the Deputy Mayor of Isernia, Italy.  She’s a recognized Obama Leader Europe 2020 as well as a co-founder of Volt Italia, shaking up politics with activist campaigns and strategic election planning.

Federica’s background includes International Public Administration and Community Organizing, with stints as a Harvard’s Kennedy School teaching fellow, and a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute.

Federica and I met through our mutual friend, Russ Watts, a familiar name here on the Make Life Less Difficult podcast.  And Russ had met Federica through Noel, who has also been a guest on the podcast!  The connections like this that happen make my heart very joyful.

Federica is co-creating an ethical political leadership program for aspiring politicians, especially women, from Southern Italy.  She lives in Isernia, finds joy in horse show jumping, and shares her home with her boyfriend, her cat, and her horse.

As you listen to our conversation, you may find in yourself a surprising desire to explore the world of politics, particularly the purpose and value-driven approach that Federica takes and is helping others discover.  There are links in the show notes to connect with her.

One quick note on some technology glitches… throughout our conversation our internet connection was slightly unstable, meaning a word here and there gets a bit distorted.  My apologies for this; I request your patience as you listen. Fortunately, I don’t think it takes away from the great message and the inspiring stories Federica shared. 

Federica, thank you SO much for coming on the podcast.  Thank you for sharing these pieces of your journey.  Thank you for sharing boldly, bravely, vulnerably, and with your priceless passion.  May your work grow exponentially around the globe because humanity needs leaders like you!

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My guest today is Rob Allan.

Rob is a Doctor of Psychology, a registered counselor, coach, facilitator, consultant, business operator, author and speaker.

Originally studying medicine, Rob has had a career spanning training and development for adult learning programs, private equity and venture capital, serving as CEO of an acquisition and operations company, working two different times for McKinsey & Company, and most recently the founder of Approval Removal, a way to inspire others to live more authentically.  He currently serves clients in a coaching and facilitation capacity as well as seeing individual clients for counseling.

Rob is putting the finishing touches on his book, Approval Removal, which is focused on how to live authentically without the need for approval from others.

In our conversation today, Rob shares pieces of his own journey that inform his book and his passion for helping others find their equilibrium to live authentically rather than always in pursuit of approval from others.  He shares poignant stories of crisis in his life, experiencing failures that he had long feared and tried to avoid at all costs.  And he shares the lessons learned through these difficult times.

Rob and I met through mutual work events and I’m deeply grateful for this conversation and the chance to learn more about Rob’s journey as well as his incredibly impactful work in the world.

Rob, thank you so much for your time, your reflections, your wisdom.  Thank you for sharing authentically and vulnerably and inviting us into these insightful snapshots of your life.

Connect with Rob:

• Website: ApprovalRemoval.com
• Instagram: @ApprovalRemoval
• LinkedIn

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My guest today is Andrew Kauffman.

Andrew is a returning guest to the podcast and I’m so happy to be continuing the conversation with him. 

Our first conversation is on episode 117, and I highly recommend listening if you haven’t yet, as Andrew shared pieces of his journey including his experience coming out as gay as well as being a kidney donor to his father.

Andrew is a coach, a writer and a teacher of creative writing.   He believes that writing be a transformational aid for healing, in coaching, and in all contexts.

Trained and accredited by The Professional Writing Academy in the use of expressive and therapeutic writing, he uses stories, metaphor and narrative tools to help his coaching clients cope with life transitions, and to derive meaning from challenging life events. 

In our conversation today, we talk about mental health and mental ill-health.  Andrew cares deeply about mental health and wellbeing and his work reflects this compasion.  

One of the more specific areas we explore today is around male mental health.  

I admittedly am distanced from this topic and it was interesting to explore with Andrew.  I came away from the conversation with a greater desire to be aware of the challenges of various groups of people, how they are both different and similar to my own journey.  

Holding the paradox of our differences and similarities is not necessarily easy.  And there’s no easy answers to the challenges of mental health and wellbeing.  I believe conversations like this one are useful, however, despite not having a well-defined outcome or a pretty metaphorical bow to finish it off.  

Andrew, thank you again, for stepping into the conversation with authenticity and passion.  Thanks you for sharing vulnerably from your own journey, the places you’ve found answers, and also the places you are still seeking understanding.  Both in conversation and in writing you are inspiring as you model the challenging work that you also facilitate and invite others into as well for the sake of healing and making the world a better place.

Please check out the links to Andrews work, his workshops, and to connect directly with him:

•  Andrew is Writer-in-Residence at the UK's Centre for Mental Health. Read his new essays here https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/topics/writer-residence. (Andrew’s latest essay is entitled, Life with OCD: An Anti-Memoir. )
• In autumn 2023 Andrew will be running Queer Storytelling, a creative writing course for LGBTQ+ writers, together with London Lit Lab. Getting underway in November, he is taking bookings now. 
• He is also facilitating workshops for writers, focusing on writing for personal wellbeing, and as a creative outlet. Do check out his events with The Literary Consultancy in October and November. Again, bookings are happening now. 

Find Andrew on Twitter: @JKaye82

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My guest today is Russ Watts.

Russ has been on the podcast several times and I continue to be so grateful for his willingness to jump into conversation whenever I say, hey, we should talk about that on the podcast! 

This conversation today is special is so many ways.  First of all, for context, if you haven’t listened to Episode 4 where Russ shares stories of two mountaineering accidents he was in, you will want to go back and listen – either before or after listening to this one.  Today’s reflections are around the 2nd story Russ told on Episode 4 of getting crushed in a collapsed snow cave and nearly losing his life.

A few weeks ago, Russ shared that he’d had a chance to spend time with his friend Dave, who was a key player in saving Russ’s life after the collapse of the snow cave, and who is also in the midst of his own difficult season of sickness.  There had been a retelling of the story at the request of Russ’s son, and the reflections around the story as well as the experience of hearing/telling the story again were all so magnificent, so I said to Russ: Hey, would you be open to sharing this on the podcast?  And, per usual, he said yes. 

This conversation has sparked many new and beautiful insights into my own stories, the other people involved, their own stories about the same events, and more.

Russ, thank you so much for your willingness to again jump into a beautiful conversation and into the magical transformational world of storytelling.  Thank you for inviting us into the intimate space of your summer visit with Dave and your family – this is a gift and treasure that is beyond the description of words.  I hope it will also be a gift back to you the winds of change continue to blow across our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

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