SPARKED

Have you ever started the new year feeling unstoppable, only to hit February and realize your plans need a major refresh? I've been there too. The ambitious goals we set in January can seem so achievable in the moment. But life has a way of asserting itself. Unexpected challenges arise. Priorities shift. New opportunities emerge.

The question is: what do you do when you find yourself at this crossroads? Do you rigidly cling to outdated plans and force failure? Or do you have the courage to tear up the blueprint and start again aligned with your new reality?

My guest today, Charlie Gilkey, is intimately familiar with this entrepreneurial rite of passage. In our conversation, Charlie shares his wisdom on what to do when you realize it’s time to reconsider your goals. With insight gained from years of experience, he reveals how to take stock of where you actually are right now, not where you hoped to be, and create an updated plan aligned with that reality.

With Charlie’s guidance, you’ll learn how to rework your plans while honoring the past and creating space for the emergence of new possibilities.

SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Charlie Gilkey | Website

Charlie Gilkey has advised hundreds of teams, from Fortune 100 companies to tiny nonprofits, through Productive Flourishing, the coaching and training company he founded. Charlie is the author of the critically acclaimed Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done. His latest book is Team Habits: How Small Actions Lead to Extraordinary Results.

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Money. Some view it as a dirty word. Others live their entire lives in pursuit of it. There is so much mythology and misinformation about what it really takes to build life-changing levels of wealth. Even if we find a way to be well-informed, and are fortunate to be in a position to be thinking about building wealth, so many are still left to deal with the often triggering family and cultural patterns, assumptions and values we’ve adopted, and been pummeled by, around money. What if you could reshape your entire relationship with money?

I’m willing to bet that at some point you’ve felt confused, overwhelmed, or just plain frustrated when it comes to personal finance. It’s not easy to navigate, especially when so many supposed “experts” seem to be speaking a different language. But what if you had a guide, a mentor who could decode it all for you in simple, practical steps? Someone to help you adopt a realistic, yet affluence-friendly mindset and stop just getting by paycheck-to-paycheck?

In our conversation, we dive into the assumptions, misinformation and missteps that so often become the dominant tropes in personal finance. Then, Vivian shares specific insights, strategies and tips designed to help equip you with tools and knowledge to understand finances and build your own generation-changing wealth strategy, no matter where you are in life. We explore ways to maximize earnings, how to negotiate your true worth at work, overcome investing fears, adopting simple, effective habits to grow wealth, and then tap this resource not just for your own security and wellbeing, but also to make the world a better place.

And we’re in conversation with:

SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Vivian Tu | Website | Book

Vivian Tu, is a former Wall Street trader turned personal finance phenom, educator, and now author of the new book, Rich AF: The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life. After burning out in the toxic environment of high finance, Vivian found a new purpose: making financial literacy accessible – after she realized there was a huge unmet need for judgment-free financial advice. Especially for people who’ve traditionally been excluded from a level of financial intel that can be lifechanging. She started creating viral TikTok videos packed with no-BS money advice. Now, with millions of loyal followers, she’s become a leading voice empowering everyday people to get smart about money and achieve financial freedom.

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions

More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

*Coaches & Leaders: Tap a Game-Changing Credential - The Certified Sparketype® Advisor Training. Next Training starts March 2024.

Why do we feel so bad when we say no to people? Even to complete strangers who request our time, advice or even money out of the blue?

What’s going on there? What is the deeper psychology of our inability to comfortably and shamelessly just say no? Even to people and things that sound genuinely interesting, but are not landing at a moment when we have the capacity to say yes?

This dilemma shows up at work all the time, and also in every other part of life and personal relationships. We worry about disappointing others, missing out on something better, or even jeopardizing work relationships. But what if reclaiming the lost art of "no" opened up space for what matters most?

If you struggle to decline without guilt, tune in for permission to reframe "no" as an act of self-care. 

In today’s episode we’re digging into:

• What are some of the reasons people feel compelled to perpetually say yes and have difficulty saying no?
• What motivations compel chronic people-pleasers to overcommit? 
• How can systems eliminate the need for repeated no's? 
• What decision filters discern a clear yes from an energy-draining maybe? 

SPARKED HOT TAKE WITH: Jenny Blake | Website

Jenny is a podcaster, career and business strategist, and an award-winning author of three books: Life After College, the groundbreaking Pivot for navigating what’s next, and her recently published Free Time for optimizing what’s now. 

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many of us have felt the call to create our own professional path and start our own business. The call is especially strong when your why is deeply personal and mission driven. And, sometimes, that even means walking away from something else that, from the outside looking in, is everything you’d ever want.

How do you handle these moments, make good decisions, and find the courage to step into the unknown? In today’s episode, we tackle questions that can arise when making decisions about what path to take, such as how do you avoid the sunk cost fallacy and know when to walk away? And if flooded with ideas or directions, how do you stay focused and committed to one project or path?

And we’re in conversation with:

SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Raina Kumra | LinkedIn | Website  

Start-up founder, advisor, and food activist Raina Kumra. As the Founder of Spicewell, CEO of Juggernaut and partner at The Fund LA, Raina Kumra is on a mission to help people have greater access to nutrient-dense food and better health at scale. After 25 years of working in the tech industry, Raina realized that Big Food requires as much work as Big Tech and Big Pharma when she helped heal her family using Ayurvedic practices mid- pandemic.

Named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, she’s mastered new territory in each chapter of her storied career. After a decade in digital advertising working with brands like Nike and Coke, Raina knew she could create a greater impact on the world.

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions

More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever feel like you spend way too much time in the tactical details and lose sight of the bigger picture? Especially when you don’t have to be doing much of the detailed work, but you somehow can’t stop yourself from it? You're not alone. 

We've all felt the temptation to retreat into the comfort zone of tackling familiar tactical tasks instead of venturing into unknown strategic domains. But what drives this tendency? How much of it is practical necessity versus psychological coping mechanism or a fear-based response to the unknown? 

In today’s episode we ask, why do leaders often get stuck spending too much time on tactical details and "in the weeds" instead of thinking more strategically?

SPARKED HOT TAKE WITH: Karen Wright | Website

Karen is the founder of Parachute Executive Coaching, acclaimed executive coach, advisor to senior leaders for more than two-decades, and the author of two great books, The Accidental Alpha Woman and The Complete Executive.

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions

More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Overwhelm has become the post-pandemic pandemic. And it’s showing up in all parts of life - personal, professional, social, health and beyond. So many feel like they’re one seemingly small thing away from completely shutting down. That your work, task and emotional load has hit a saturation point, leaving you unsure how to move forward. And terrified of the one more thing that gets piled on and ends up taking you down. 

All too often, the response is not to get proactive, and there’s no judgment here, it’s hard to act when you feel like you don’t have the capacity to. So, we end up numbing out, in myriad ways. Which is, by the way, different from run-of-the-mill burnout. Question is, what’s really going on here, and what can we do about it?

In today’s episode we’re digging into:

• How is the feeling of being "blown" or "numb" different from regular stress or burnout? 
• Why does shame and a sense of "not enoughness" often accompany these feelings of numbness or system overload? 
• If lowering expectations temporarily could help, how do you navigate when your workplace won't allow that reprieve?  
• What are practical ways to "turn down the volume" on inputs overwhelming your capacity and ability to cope?
• How can you add supportive, energizing elements back into your life to increase resilience against this numbness and stress saturation?

And we’re in conversation with:

SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Yvonne Ator | Website

Yvonne is the Founder of Thriving Physicians and Thriving Idealist, where she coaches heart-centered, mission-driven Physicians and other helping professionals who seek to make a positive impact in the world. 

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions

More on Sparketypes at: Discover You Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What story will your audience notice and act on? How do you cut through noise to connect? And why does it seem so difficult for people and organizations to communicate clearly? 

In today’s SPARKED hot take episode, messaging expert Ben Guttmann joins me to explore simplifying communication to ensure it resonates. Together, we tackle why most messages fail and how to design ones that compel action. Ben reveals the gap between hyper-distracted modern brains and Stone Age instincts. And why must we meet audiences where they are? He also offers interesting insights on how to use constraints to spark creative breakthroughs.

In today’s episode we’re digging into:

• How do we simplify messaging and communicate complex ideas effectively?
• How can we better understand our target audience and what motivates them?
• What principles and techniques make messages more salient, focused, and empathetic?
• How can we minimize friction and guide audiences smoothly to where we want them to go?

And we’re in conversation with:

SPARKED HOT TAKE WITH: Ben Guttmann | Website | Book

Ben Guttmann is a marketing entrepreneur and educator, and is the author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win — and How to Design Them. Ben is the former co-founder and managing partner at Digital Natives Group, an award-winning agency that worked with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast NBCUniversal, Hachette Book Group, The Nature Conservancy, and other major clients. Currently, Ben teaches digital marketing at Baruch College in New York City and consults with a range of thought leaders, venture-backed startups, and other brands. 

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions

More on Sparketypes at: Discover You Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine feeling like no matter how hard you work, how much you contribute, you just can't seem to get the recognition or advancement or even feedback you deserve. It's frustrating. Especially that last part.

Can you remember a time when a vague performance review left you unsure what to actually change? Or when subtle biases infected feedback, limiting your growth? I’m sure a lot of us can. So how can we craft a more growth-oriented, collaborative feedback process?

Together we question, what are the common pitfalls that undermine performance reviews and inhibit collaborative communication? 

And, how can we reframe performance management as a partnership, not an adversarial process? Deborah reveals research showing marginalized groups often receive far less actionable feedback, impeding their advancement. 

In today’s episode we’re digging into:

• What constitutes vague, non-actionable feedback versus concrete, constructive feedback?
• How can unconscious biases negatively impact performance reviews, especially for marginalized groups? 
• Why do managers sometimes fail to give direct feedback due to "protective hesitation"?
• What strategies can employees use to obtain clear, helpful feedback for growth?
• How can both managers and employees reframe performance conversations as collaborative rather than adversarial?

And we’re in conversation with:

SPARKED HOT TAKE WITH: Deborah Owens | Website

After a long career in leadership in some of the biggest companies in the world, Deborah founded her own consulting firm, Corporate Alley Cat, where she advises and coaches People of Color in all aspects of career visioning and development. She has this incredible ability to see what’s happening under the surface in any given situation, and ask questions that get to the heart of the matter and reveal possibilities that feel both empowering and expansive.

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions

More on Sparketypes at: Discover You Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do we transcend “us vs them” thinking? In turbulent times how do we build bonds instead of walls?

In today’s episode, Talia Fox joins me to explore the skills that shape conscious connection. Talia reveals the nightmare of disconnection plaguing our teams and work culture and shares frameworks to transform noise and vitriol into understanding and connection.

In today’s episode we’re digging into:

• How do we move beyond an "us vs them" mentality to create unity and understanding?
• What skills can help us deeply listen, observe, and connect across divides? 
• How do we speak our truth while also elevating collective humanity?
• What gets in the way of conscious communication and connection?
• How can we lead with curiosity instead of certainty to bridge differences?

SPARKED HOT TAKE WITH: Talia Fox | Book

Talia is the CEO of KUSI Global, is a Harvard Fellow with a Masters in Education from Howard. With over 20 years of experience, she helps major organizations maximize human potential. In her forthcoming book, The Power of Conscious Connection, Talia shares her methodology for helping individuals and organizations foster connected cultures. 

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

More on Sparketypes at: Discover You Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What truly ignites your inner spark? Does the work you’re doing fuel your fire or is it time to rewrite stale stories of “success”? How do you know when logic alone can no longer guide your path? 

Karen offers insights on protecting space for what matters, even within traditional careers. Because radical change may not be required to reclaim meaning. Subtler shifts can get you closer to the feeling you seek.

In today’s episode we’re digging into:

• How do you know when it's time to make a career change based on passion versus just building your resume?
• How do you expand your vision beyond job titles to purposeful pursuits that energize you? 
• When is it time to make a change based on joy rather than advancement? 
• What are some tools we can use to reawaken creativity suppressed by corporate culture?
• When changing paths, how do you get support from loved ones affected by your choice?

SPARKED HOT TAKE WITH: Karen Wright | Website

Karen is the founder of Parachute Executive Coaching, acclaimed executive coach, advisor to senior leaders for more than two-decades, and the author of two great books, The Accidental Alpha Woman and The Complete Executive.

YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.

More on Sparketypes at: Discover You Sparketype | The Book | The Website

Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.