Purpose Through Pain

Life is messy. For all of us. 

In this episode, Joseph sits down with Michelle Crist a close friend and mentor of his. Michelle dealt with alcohol addiction and some mental health matters, which runs through her family.

Michelle became strong growing up by having to grow up faster than others her age. When she was in middle school, she had a stalker and her parents made her take martial arts classes to protect herself if anything happened. 

When she was a freshman in high school she saw her teacher get shot. This changed her perspective on safety. When she went back to school she could not believe how normal everything was. Her life changed, her teacher’s life ended, but no one was really reaching how she was expecting. 

She realized if she was shot too, no one would have noticed until the teacher told them. Once she started prioritizing safety over connections, she felt very empty. She had a great job but felt weak and purposeless. She decided to end her life becasue she was just tired of living the life she was living. 

When she decided to end her life, she felt God’s hands on her. She was unable to move. The voice was just telling her to breathe. 

This episode is all about how to change yourself have a life that you are painfully wanting and prioritizing the right things. If you want to set yourself up on solid ground, this episode is for you. 

In this episode:

• How Michelle changed her life after feeling purposeless. 
• Overcoming alcohol addiction.
• Dealing with PSTD
• Entering a relationship to heal one another in a healthy way. 

Key Takeaways:

• When you are overwhelmed, just take a breath and believe in yourself. 
• Life is hard, but fear and doubt hold no truth. Do not let those thoughts overpower you. 
• Love life and make connections with others. That is the key in life. 

Tweetable moments:

• “Just because you have weak moments, you can’t stay in that”
• “We tend to think what happened to us. We are not weak. We are perfect not because we are strong but because we complement God’s greatness.”
• “Fear and doubt are loud and rarely hold truth. They hold survival, not life.”

Connect with Michelle Crist:

Michelle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MichelleCrist_thankful/

Michelle’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.clay.7505

Michelle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-crist-7557a715b/

Michelle’s Email: [email protected]

Advance your reach: https://advanceyourreach.com/

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/meetjoejames/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/

We are already 5 months into the year... when are you finally going to do that think that you keep saying you will do?

Time and life can pass us by very quickly. Are we making the best use of it? That is the topic of today's solo episode.

On this Episode:

• Joseph shares about the loss of his wife and how he recognized he didn't make the best use of his time.
• Learn how to make your relationships count with the time you have.
• Discover the difference between being driven and being available to those most important.

Key Takeaways:

1. Don't become so driven you to become dismissive of people.
2. You can be in the same room as others and still not be present.
3. You never know how much you have time.

Tweetable Quote:

"If you will change your mindset, you will change your world."

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purthrpn

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/252908273026721

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/

This week's theme is all about the value of time. In today's episode, Joseph James is speaking with Adriana Cowdin.

Adriana is a firm believer in living life to the fullest. She has 4 successful entrepreneurial businesses, all while fighting for her life. Over the past 5 years, she has had 27 procedures that have kept her alive. 

Adriana lost her identity when she became increasingly ill. She didn’t want to be seen as a sick person. Her identity was in corporate America, but her body no longer allowed her to work those long hours in the office. She had to search for her new identity, so she started meditating daily. 

The pressure not to work made her realize what made her happy and she started to do the things that she loved, including running a social media marketing agency and coaching over 6,500 clients globally, across 5 continents, in the past nearly 20 years.

Adriana's battle with chronic illness started in childhood with severe asthma and recurrent bouts of bronchitis, which she outgrew as an adult. The toughest days came from 2015-2019 when I underwent over 25 procedures and surgeries. She has continued to battle wich chronic illnesses, including Type 3C diabetes, chronic pancreatic disease, gastroparesis, Addison’s disease, hypopituitarism, hypothyroidism, celiac disease, and osteoporosis. 

She has learned to thrive in the body she was born with. To maximize her productivity and happiness, she schedules her day around when her body works best, usually doing the things she needs to do in the morning. She shares her story so other people who may be dealing with health dilemmas may feel seen.

In this episode:

• Adriana Cowdin shares how she manages how to run multiple successful businesses while battling chronic illnesses. 
• How she created a new identity for herself after leaving corporate America. 
• Finding Happiness and Thriving Amid Health Adversities
• How she built 4 businesses while fighting for her life.  

Key Takeaway:

• You can change your identity when you set your mind to it
• You are not alone, even in your darkest moments
• Learn to thrive in the body you are born with 
• She became successful in entrepreneurship while fighting for her life

Tweetable Moments:

• “Life is really about how you find your way when adversity comes your way”
• “What we feed our mind grows”
• “No book was written for you unless you write it yourself”
• “I am blessed with every day I am given.”
• “If it helped one person, its worth it”

Connect with Adriana:

Adriana's Website: https://adrianacowdin.com/

Adriana's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabulousandfiercewomen/

Adriana's Facebook Group, "Fabulous, Fit, & Financially Fierce Women Entrepreneurs": https://www.facebook.com/groups/magnificentmillionaire

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetjoejames

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/

Do you find yourself struggling with triggers? In this episode, Joseph James explains how he recently learned what triggers are and how to communicate with someone who struggles with them.

Through the process of learning, he was able to understand how to be sensitive about others' triggers, as well as how he was able to acknowledge his own triggers to work through his past.

Key Takeaways:

• Triggers are teachers that show us what we need to heal.
• Triggers disclose areas where we need to heal.
• Learn what triggers others and focus on the root cause, not the symptoms.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Ask what happened and WHY it happened.”
• “Triggers are teachers.”

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetjoejames

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/

Host of The Mastermind Effect Podcast, Brandon Straza believes that the right mastermind can be the ultimate secret weapon when it comes to personal development which is why he created The Success Finder App that focuses on helping cut through the noise, invest in oneself, and move past our natural limits. Learn more about working through our limiting beliefs, defining success, and more! 

On this episode:

• Brandon shares the “No’s” in his life which are the reasons why he does what he does today
• Learn about the Champion’s mindset
• Learn ways on how to navigate the feeling of self-doubt 
• How we can define success 
• Learn why ourself is the greatest investment 

Key Takeaways:

• The byproduct of solving a problem is money
• Choose to be helpful over being right
• You can take charge of your own success
• Self-doubt will always creep in and we just have to recognize it every time 
• Everything in life is sales
• Learn from your past so you can have the opportunity to not make the same mistake

Connect with Brandon Straza:

Instagram

The Mastermind Effect Podcast

The Success Finder Website

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook Page

Facebook Group

Instagram

In this episode, Joseph James shares the 6 ways that we can start forgiving ourselves as part of our own healing.

Key Takeaways:

• We cannot forgive ourselves when we project our pain onto others.
• We judge and shame others as a distraction from our fractured relationship with ourselves.
• Forgiving ourselves is part of our healing 

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook Page

Facebook Group

Instagram

In this episode, Joseph speaks with Michelle Jewsbury, an international philanthropist and advocate. In July 2017 she founded a non-profit called Unsilenced Voices, an organization that inspires victims to break free of silence and assault. 

Joseph met Michelle at the Ultimate Wealth Camp in Las Vegas, where Joseph was a speaker. 

Michelle was a victim of domestic violence. In 2016, she performed a 65-minute solo play about her experience, and after that, she connected with so many others who the same things have happened to them. 

Text UNITE to 26786 to receive a downloadable document to help you overcome and recover 

In this episode: 

Michelle grew up in a healthy and happy family

She found herself in an abusive relationship for 4 years 

How she founded unsilenced voices

Key Takeaways:

The stages of domestic abuse

Try to leave at the first sign of abuse

Before you're trapped in a toxic relationship, research that person 

The ways to get out of an abusive relationship

Tweetable moments: 

"Hurt people hurt people."

"You fall in love with someone for good times."

"Just keep swimming. Nothing can make you give up." 

Connect with Michelle Jewsbury:

Unsilenced Voices: https://unsilencedvoices.org/

Michelle's coaching and masterclass: https://www.unsilencemyvoice.com/

Michelle’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellejewsburyspeaks

Michelle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellejewsbury/

Text UNITE to 26786 to receive a downloadable document to help you overcome and recover

For episode 101, Joseph wants to reintroduce himself, and share the goals he has for his won life and the mission he has for the podcast. If you are new here, welcome, and if you have been listening since episode 1, welcome back.

The Purpose Through Pain Podcast centers on personal stories that offer

life lessons on topics like rejection, grief, anxiety, and trauma.

Joseph James is a former U.S. Marine and Law Enforcement veteran,

business owner, father, motivational speaker and life coach. Joseph has

spoken in many venues across the nation and has helped thousands of

people understand their purpose in life. After his wife’s battle of

cancer, and the journey of pain his family went through, Joseph is now

coaching people that have gone through life’s struggles, pain and trauma

to help them not just find their purpose through pain but teach them to

take their pain and launch them into their destiny.

On This Episode:

1. Joseph shares how he learned to deal with feelings of abandonment, rejection, and abuse.
2. Learn the danger of trying to always be a fixer in your relationships.
3. Joseph shares how he always sought approval from others.
4. Hear Joseph’s vision for the future of the Purpose Through Pain Podcast.

Key Takeaways:

1. The number one place you need to look for help is within.
2. The pain we experience has a reason for it.
3. We can’t touch what we can’t feel.

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purthrpn

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/252908273026721

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/

Welcome to episode 100! For this episode, Joseph wanted to reshare his interview with Joseph's brother, Michael James.

Family is so important to Joseph James, but as a child, it was quite difficult. He grew up with an abusive father and was very scared of rejection. In this episode, Joseph invites his brother, Michael James, onto the show. They discuss how they grew in their life and what they dealt with as an adult who grew up in an abusive household.

In This Episode:

• Joseph and his brother, Michael, discuss their abusive childhood and the things they’ve taken from it.
• Learn what drove Michael to become entrepreneurial.
• Michel discusses how travel impacted him.
• Michael opens up about his divorce.
• Hear how cycling helped Michael’s mental health.
• Learn how to stop quitting.

Key Takeaways:

• Don’t allow your pain to stick to you.
• You have to be able to stop erosion before you have a full flood.
• We have everything we need to succeed. We just need to take the consistent, correct, steps.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Make it a priority every day to do SOMETHING.”
• “You’re either eroding or growing.”
• “We quit in small stages.”
• “We’re built to make a difference.”
• “You can’t be grateful and hateful at the same time.”

Connect with Michael:

MichaelJamesRemodeling.com

Connect with Joseph James:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetjoejames

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/

When you keep telling yourself the same story, nothing will change. 

In this episode, Joseph James talks all about identity, and how most people prioritize the wrong thing. Changing your identity is something that many people struggle with for a whole lifetime. 

If you want to change your identity, the vision of yourself must change.

How we feel about our own lives is so important. We create an identity for ourselves about how we talk, look, act, and even who we interact with so we can keep up a certain look or idea of ourselves

But when your profession becomes your identity, something certainly needs to change. Joseph experienced this first hand, and in this episode, tells the story of how he was able to change his mindset around this. 

If your identity is work, and if your job changes, your job changes your life feels meaningless. 

In this episode:

• Joseph shares how he had to change his identity twice. Once after a career change, and once after his wife passed away. 
• The steps to take to change your identity. 
• How to know when your identity is no longer working for you. 

Key Takeaways:

• If you want to change your identity, the vision of yourself must change.
• Work should not be your identity.
• Your identity can change, when you put effort into it. 

Tweetable moments:

“Align your future with where you want your identity to be.”

“If I want a different future, I have to change how I think now.”

“Change your mindset, change your world.”

Connect with Joseph James:

https://www.facebook.com/meetjoejames

https://www.instagram.com/meetjosephjames/