Lauren Fay joins us to share her transformative journey to sobriety and how living alcohol-free has allowed her to create the life of her dreams. With 7.5 years of sobriety under her belt, Lauren discusses how removing alcohol from her life gave her the time, space, and energy to truly play and experience life authentically.

• When drinking, Lauren wasn't truly living - there was too much recovery time and mental obsession
• Society equates fun with alcohol, making it difficult to imagine socializing without drinking
• Alcohol silences our loud thoughts, but removing it requires learning how to manage those thoughts sober
• "Alcohol is the only drug you have to justify NOT taking" - the strange social pressure to drink
• External changes (new jobs, locations) don't solve alcohol issues because "wherever you go, there you are"
• The neutral zone: finding peace in everyday existence between high highs and low lows
• Choosing yourself isn't abandoning others - it's creating space for better things in your life
• True self-love means extending love to others instead of withholding it
• Being of service to others can help heal yourself during difficult times

Look for Lauren's upcoming memoir "Blurred Lines: My Reclamation of Power from Alcohol Addiction" coming in 2025. Connect with her at laurenfaycoaching.com to learn more about alcohol-free living.

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Catherine Giovanni shares her powerful forgiveness system that transforms mental health by releasing people from our thoughts and reclaiming our authentic power. She teaches the step-by-step process of forgiveness, explaining how to start with easy forgiveness targets before tackling the most challenging ones.

• Forgiveness defined as "wanting someone out of your head," not reconciliation or condoning behavior
• The link between forgiveness and business success—clearing personal resentments directly impacts professional opportunities
• How to rate forgiveness targets on a 1-10 scale and work systematically through them
• Forgiving the energy around people and situations, not just the people themselves
• Breaking down "unforgivable" memories into components you can forgive individually
• Why forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting or resuming relationships with harmful people
• The science of anger as "toxic" to physical health through the Japanese Water Study findings
• Limiting forgiveness work to 10 people per night to avoid "energy sickness"
• How forgiveness attracts better people while some relationships naturally fall away

You can find Catherine's book "The Ultimate Path to Forgiveness: Unlocking Your Power" on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats. Visit katherinegovani.com for private sessions and join her newsletter "The Thriving Times" to learn about her upcoming forgiveness books.

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Former professional football player Quinn Magnuson shares his journey from playing through multiple injuries to founding the Effort Over Results movement and coaching high performers. We explore how accountability to teammates drives athletes to push beyond their limits and why the mindset of focusing on effort rather than outcomes creates more resilient, confident individuals.

• Accountability to teammates and commitment to the team drives athletes to play through pain and injury
• Most humans don't realize how powerful the accountability of their immediate circle and environment is
• The true separator between good and great is doing the work when nobody is looking
• Today's culture overly emphasizes showcasing results on social media rather than celebrating the process
• When we praise children for talent rather than effort, we create "talented wimps" who crumble under adversity
• The "Paint Layer Theory" demonstrates how small daily efforts compound into significant growth over time
• Studies show children praised for effort choose more challenging tasks than those praised for intelligence
• Focusing on effort over results creates resilience when facing inevitable setbacks and failures
• Living with an identity rooted in performance creates fragility; focusing on inputs builds sustainable growth
• Parents and coaches should praise the process and effort rather than outcomes to develop mentally tough individuals

Check out Quinn's podcast "Effort Over Results" on all platforms, visit effortoverresults.com, or follow @effortoverresults on Instagram to learn more about his upcoming book and movement.

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Therapist and hypnotherapist Kerie Logan joins us to explore how our core wounds form and shape our adult relationships. We dive deep into understanding the role of consciousness in healing trauma and manifesting the life we truly want.

• Core wounds develop in childhood when we spiral into shame and humiliation, creating negative beliefs about ourselves
• Our inner critic is actually a wounded part of ourselves that needs compassion and healing, not rejection
• The "anxious generation" struggles with authenticity due to social media creating constant comparison and performance
• Self-sabotage is usually an unconscious behavior stemming from fear of rejection or feelings of unworthiness
• Understanding your attachment style (anxious, avoidant, or disorganized) can help explain relationship patterns
• We manifest both positive and negative experiences based on our consciousness level and dominant emotions
• True healing involves accepting ourselves, setting boundaries, and raising our vibrational energy
• Genuine affirmations must feel congruent with our current state to be effective
• Gratitude practice shifts focus from what we lack to what we have, immediately raising consciousness

Visit mastertheupperrooms.com for free resources including consciousness charts, MP3 downloads, and e-books to support your healing journey.

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Australian author Andrew Matthews transformed his understanding of happiness after discovering that the happiest people he knew faced bigger challenges than he did, inspiring his journey to help others cultivate resilience and joy regardless of circumstances.

• Born into an artistic family with a professional landscape painter father and language-loving mother
• Found success as an artist but wasn't truly happy despite doing what he loved
• Had a life-changing realization at 25 when he noticed people with bigger problems were happier than him
• Read over 200 books on happiness, attitude, and the subconscious to develop his philosophy
• Discovered that happy people focus on what they have while unhappy people focus on what's missing
• Created the bestselling book "Being Happy" followed by many others including "Bouncing Back"
• Explains that we create the life we feel we deserve based on our self-worth
• Teaches that most disasters are not total disasters – they often lead to better opportunities
• Outlines the keys to bouncing back: acceptance, breaking challenges into small steps, and maintaining hope
• Emphasizes that happiness is a choice we make moment by moment
• Advises giving your absolute best to whatever is currently on your plate
• Explains why focusing on what you want (not what you don't want) is crucial for success
• Demonstrates how visualization creates the mental pathway to your desired future

Visit andrewmatthews.com to sign up for Andrew's newsletter, find his books on Amazon and Audible, and watch his videos on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Our relationship with money directly mirrors our relationship with ourselves. Money mindset expert Pericles Rellas shares how shifting our thoughts about money can transform our financial reality and overall wellbeing.

• Money functions as a magnifying glass that amplifies who we already are
• Most people create debt trying to appear wealthy rather than building actual wealth
• Vacation debt often ruins the experience you were seeking in the first place
• Our "financial thermostat" regulates how much money we allow ourselves to earn and keep
• Four-step process: own your limiting money beliefs, release them, create new empowering beliefs, look for evidence
• Our surroundings reflect who we are—the people around us are mirrors
• Small consistent actions toward your financial goals create massive changes over time

Visit periclesrellis.com or resetyourfinancialthermostat.com to access Pericles' free masterclass on the four keys to resetting your financial thermostat.

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Alan Lazaros, CEO of Next Level University, joins Josh to explore the complex journey of self-acceptance and how our strengths can paradoxically create social challenges. Through personal stories and psychological insights, they uncover why success often makes life harder rather than easier.

• Understanding how other people's behavior reflects their insecurities, not your worth
• The three-step process: self-awareness, self-acceptance, then achievement
• Why success makes life more challenging, not simpler
• How our greatest strengths inevitably come with corresponding weaknesses
• Identifying what you tie your self-esteem to and accepting it as a starting point
• The paradox that being exceptional often means feeling like you don't belong
• Recognizing when you need to stop shrinking yourself to make others comfortable

Check out Next Level University podcast and website for more insights from Alan on holistic self-improvement.

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Kevin Palmieri shares his journey from external success that left him empty to building a life of authentic growth and fulfillment through consistent boundaries. The founder and host of the Next Level University podcast reveals how organizing his life with clear boundaries has been the key to reaching nearly 2,000 episodes and sustained success.

• Treats podcasting like a 9-to-5 job with firm boundaries that prioritize productivity
• Sets and maintains boundaries despite potential discomfort or disappointment to others
• Values keeping promises to himself above pleasing others
• Believes building self-trust comes from consistently showing up for yourself
• Warns against social media comparison which shows only highlights, not reality
• Experienced suicidal thoughts despite external success markers
• Advocates for setting "embarrassingly small" goals rather than massive action
• Emphasizes alignment between goals and core values
• Describes his superpower as the ability to "suffer well" through challenges
• Maintains that most success comes from staying power and consistency

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Conscious communication is the foundation of a fulfilling life, transforming our relationship with ourselves and everyone around us. Jim Fuller shares wisdom on living in the present moment, practicing self-acceptance, and understanding the ego.

• Accepting reality as it is frees up mental bandwidth for what we can actually influence
• Practicing non-attachment to outcomes allows us to enter flow state more readily
• Self-acceptance ("self-okayness") is the foundation for all personal development
• Our internal world determines how we experience external reality
• Practical affirmations work best during states of heightened dopamine
• Mindfulness meditation allows us to experience emotions without identifying with them
• A healthy ego can serve us rather than control us
• Communication quality directly correlates to relationship quality and life satisfaction
• Quality communication is about "sharing" not "telling"

To get Jim's free introduction to mindfulness meditation course, visit jemfuller.com, go to the courses tab, and enter "podcast" in the coupon code field during checkout.

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Marianne Renner shares powerful insights on how the stories we tell ourselves shape our reality and limit our potential. She explains how our self-talk becomes habitual thought patterns that form our belief systems, often unconsciously sabotaging our outcomes.

• Our brains are naturally wired for negative thinking but can be reprogrammed through neuroplasticity
• Most common self-limiting stories include "I'm not good enough" and victim mentality ("it's not my fault")
• Self-imposed barriers often form by age seven and operate below our conscious awareness
• Daily practices to change your self-talk: celebrate wins (past), practice gratitude (present), use affirmations (future)
• Overcoming fear of failure by playing the story all the way through and seeing it's not catastrophic
• Focusing on what you can control, especially during uncertainty, creates unexpected opportunities
• Real success stories of people transforming their careers through changed self-talk
• Approaching goals as experiments reduces pressure and fear of failure
• Feelings are just alarm signals indicating action, not commands to be obeyed
• Simple tools work best because you're more likely to follow through consistently

Pre-order Marianne's book "The Self-Talk: 10 Stories You Tell Yourself That Hold You Back" wherever books are sold and download a free workbook at mariannerenner.com/self-talk.

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Want to be a guest on Playing Injured? Send Joshua Dillingham a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/playinginjured