Second Calling: Life Purpose for Professionals at an Inflection Point

When people find purpose, it often involves an inner compunction. Something inside of us "knows" that we should do something. This can be called inner wisdom. The question becomes how do we find this inner wisdom?
Audrey Seymour started out as a software engineer with a background in mathematics. About 20 years ago, she changed to life coaching with an emphasis on helping people find purpose. She brings a deep and thoughtful approach to her work. She shares her insights on best practices for finding purpose.  
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The three sources of trusted inner wisdom
• Whether purpose is chosen, discovered, or imposed
• The role of doubt and fear in finding purpose
• The need to feel safe when looking for purpose
• The value of the ego in our lives

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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

What would you do if knew that you had a terminal illness and would die soon--would it change what mattered to you? Change what you did?
William McNeely knows the answer to this question. In his early 50s, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable and terminal disease. For three years, his medical chart was marked EOL for end of life. Yet, William had a long-term vision for making a difference in his hometown of Charlotte. When he was within a week or two of dying, he received a double-lung transplant. He's recovered fully, and is now doing great things with his non-profit Do Greater Charlotte. He credits his sense of purpose for his community as keeping him alive.
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Making an impact locally
• Stating your purpose as an elevator pitch
• The power of knowing that you've got things to do in life
• How to plan a yearly family dinner for visioneering
• Helping children to find purpose

Do Greater Charlotte website

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Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

How is purpose linked to the most painful moments of our lives? 
Ferose VR was living his dream life--a successful career, marriage, and a child on his way. Then his child was born with autism. Ferose was in anguish. Then he spoke to a mentor about it. Instead of grieving, she congratulated him.  She told him that now he knew his purpose in life. Beautiful things have resulted, including Ferose's starting a movement to integrate people with autism into the workplace. These experiences, combined with extensive reading in the philosophy of Gandi, give Ferose a deep perspective how we live purposefully. 
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Why purpose is complex but not complicated
• The potentially negative side of purpose
• How purpose finds us rather our finding it
• The importance of purity of intention
• Preparing your inner-being for purpose

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Find more on my Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

We often think of living a life of purpose as being extreme--quitting your job and taking up something brand new. This happens sometimes. But, how can purpose be meaningfully integrated into our existing lives? 
Attorney and self-discovery guide Lauren Krasnodembski sheds light on how to live purposefully in your current life. She's a successful privacy attorney and is raising a family. She also has found a way to help others find their way. She guides them in her writing, speaking, and coaching through the process of self-discovery. 
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• How following purpose leads to discomfort
• Balancing personal security and the risks of purpose
• How to know what your heart is telling you to do
• Living purposefully even when you're really busy
• Responding to live vs. reacting

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Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

Mindfulness and purpose are two common themes in research on how to live a good life. How do they interlink? Does one lead to the other? 
Jon Macaskill turned to meditation out of need. He had experienced severe trauma in the battlefield. It lead him to find another side of himself such that when he retired from the Navy, he turned full time to helping others find mindfulness for themselves as well. Mindfulness, in turn, sets the stage for purpose. As both a mindfulness practitioner and a retired SEAL, Jon has a unique, insightful perspective on what makes humans thrive.  
In this episode you'll learn about:

• The importance of being in a tribe for living out purpose
• Growing a side interest into a full-time, purposeful activity
• A common pattern of purposeful activities
• The relationship between mindfulness and purpose
• Common mistakes people make when they start mindfulness

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Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

How does purpose intrude into our everyday life? Even in middle age, can we turn our careers into something profoundly purposeful? 
Burton Fleischner has a successful career as the manager of a large retail bookstore. But, it didn't engage him at a deep level. Then, one day, a customer asked him a question that caused him to reevaluate everything. Not long after that, he left the safe, known world of retail and moved into medical care. He was inspired by a tragedy that his family had experienced decades prior. He's now a celebrated rehabilitation aide who powerfully helps patients in a rehabilitation hospital. He's so full of purpose that it doesn't even feel like he's doing work. 
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• How we can us our careers to complete unfinished business from our youth
• What it feels like being in an organization that doesn't have a compelling mission
• How empathy brings us closer to our purpose
• How friends and family can actually keep us from exploring our purpose as they encourage us to be risk averse
• How a single conversation can change our whole lives

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Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

Why aren't more people able to find their purpose? What is it about our past that makes it difficult to do so?
This week's guest explores this topic with his work. Joey Drolshagen helps people overcome their blocks to living fully and purposefully. He has developed a system that enables people to overcome their unhelpful conditioning and move more fully into the life they are meant to live. Removing these barriers can make all the difference. 
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• What it feels like to not be doing what's purposeful to you
• Creating time to do what is purposeful
• How past conditioning can take us away from our purpose
• Three things that everyone should do for more purpose
• The distinction between hard work and inspired work

Links to Joey's work:
Book
Website
Promotional
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Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

If you're a person of faith, how do you connect what you're doing in life with what God wants for you?
This is a big, meaty question that this week's guest, Dustan Christensen, unpacks for us. He identifies several steps that we can take to align our actions with God's will. He anchors this discussion the in the distinction between sacrifice and obedience, and he prescribes the right ordering of them. 
In this book, you'll learn about

• How writing a book enables you to leave a legacy
• Asking yourself "who am I supposed to be?"
• Sharing our purpose with others in the context of a relationship
• How God uses pain and love to align us with our purpose
• Purpose can be found in all areas of our lives

Dustan's book: Obedience vs. Sacrifice
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Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

What is the story of your life? Are you willing to give yourself over to it fully?
Robert Pardi lives a beautiful, meaningful life. He got there through living out stories. His wife died at a tragically young age, and Robert was her caregiver for 11 years. He transitioned from Wall Street to being a life coach. He stumbled upon a small town in central Italy where his family emigrated from and he made it his home. He shares the wealth of knowledge that he's gained through all of this about living a meaningful life.
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• The value of sharing our life experiences with others
• Using a vision board to plot our purpose
• How to think of your life in terms of the stories that you create
• The need to surrender completely to what life asks of us
• Supporting others into the life that they want to live

Robert's website (check out the view from his balcony!)
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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

What does a young person need to find purpose in their lives? What are the skills, abilities, and experiences that will push them into a life that matters?
As a fifth grade teacher, Kenneth Joyner saw a problem. Some of the boys in his school were lost. They didn't have father figures in their lives. They didn't apply themselves in school. They didn't know how to present themselves to others. They were acting out. In response, Kenneth and another teacher started an afterschool program called "Boys with a Purpose." They started off simply: teaching the boys how to dress well and observe basic etiquette. From there, they developed training for academic success as well as a wide range of life skills. Boys with a Purpose now partners with Boeing, the Charlotte Hornets, and other sponsors to make a profound difference in these boys' lives. At the heart of what Kenneth is doing is the question of what are the preconditions for finding purpose in life?  
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• How pain points us to our purpose
• The power of new experiences for showing us what is possible
• The power of thinking differently to act differently
• How to mentor others in finding their purpose
• The difference between passion and purpose

Boys with a Purpose FB Page
Kenneth's book: Without a Father
***
Find more at our Instagram page. 
Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]