The 200% Life

This week, I had the opportunity to interview Melissa Bernstein of the well-known and loved Melissa & Doug Toy Company. Melissa shares her journey to self-love and acceptance and the inspiration behind her new book, Lifelines.

Melissa and Doug started their toy company in their garage in 1988 and now have over 5,000 children’s products that have brought joy to millions of children. All 5,000 of those products were imagined and designed by Melissa herself! But financial success did not bring relief for Melissa, who has battled existential depression all her life.

After years of hiding her struggle, Melissa talks openly about her journey, the importance of being seen authentically, and how she found light through her love of nature, the verses that she writes daily and has much gratitude for, and how she realized her curse was also her blessing. She hopes in sharing her story, she can help others who are struggling alone with depression and anxiety.

See full notes here.

The driving force behind human action is motivation. Think about what truly motivates you. You may be motivated to lose weight, make more money, or gain more freedom. The thing is, if the motivation turns out to be a means to end, then it is not true motivation. The most impactful motivation comes from when you are living from your true and authentic self, free from ego, from which you can experience a much more powerful drive that is focused by your intentions in alignment with nature. From this place of authenticity, you can start living a bigger life than you ever thought possible.

But, it’s not easy to just let go of old drives that do not serve you or to surrender the mind’s stories we have long believed about ourselves. So this week, we talk about how to flow from a state of acceptance, joy, and enthusiasm, and why that will help us be even more productive and clear than just trying to muscle through with external motivation. See full show notes.

Learning how to successfully scale businesses isn’t exactly like learning to ride a bike. There is no surefire way to grow any business with guaranteed success, and the risks stretch beyond yourself. There aren’t any training wheels, but there are mistakes you can avoid when you begin the journey into growing and expanding your organization which will save you some growing pains down the road. This week, Hallie and I discussed the top seven mistakes we see leaders and CEOs make when trying to scale a business, whether it’s scaling for the wrong reasons, holding onto projects that would be better handled by someone else, or simply how they treat their own finances as their profitability increases. We have made some of these same mistakes along the way, but we are here to help you learn from our experience so you can avoid some of the pitfalls of growing your own business. See full show notes.

This week, I am joined by Ph.D. Chris Niebauer, author of the groundbreaking new book, No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology is Catching Up to Buddhism. Chris shares with me the story of how he became interested in neuroscience, psychology, and Eastern philosophy after being devastated by the loss of his father. During his studies and research in grad school, he found parallels between the latest discoveries about the brain and the philosophies of Buddhism, specifically the practices that allow us to develop an awareness and manage basic mental challenges like fear and anxiety to alleviate suffering. He wrote his book to share his findings with the world and help others who are struggling with anxiety. Chris and I talk about the interplay between consciousness and neural science, embracing emotions, and why Chris feels it’s best to have one foot in the doing world but not attach yourself to the outcomes in it. See full show notes.

Are you clear on the amount of passive income you need for financial freedom? You may want to invest your money as quickly as possible, but finding clarity on your goals and getting down the details of exactly how much money you are looking for first will get you results much faster. This week, we talk about the number one investment you should make right away, how to work backward to find your financial freedom number, and knowing how to set your monthly budget based on your goals. Hallie and I discuss ways to cultivate more joy in planning your investments and using the money you have now along with time and discipline to take your wealth to the next level. We talk about exactly how much you should be saving each month, and how to start getting to that number even if it doesn’t seem possible now. We each share our own experience with figuring out our financial freedom number, and how life actually becomes more open and relaxed when you get clear and diligent about how you invest your time and money. See full show notes.

Our guest this week provides us with a crystal-clear example of the importance of connecting business and spirituality in your world. Brandon Beachum has produced over 1,400 episodes of his popular podcast, Positive Head, which has earned over 15 million downloads. He joins us to share the inspiring and entertaining story of how earlier in his career, he built a company that was on the verge of selling for 30 million dollars, then lost it all in one phone call. Brandon, a serial entrepreneur, did not let this setback destroy him. He let go of the outcome, allowed life to unfold, and stayed centered and true to himself throughout this challenge. And just recently, this event is all coming back to the surface of Brandon’s life in a very positive way! Brandon also talks about switching your narrative to fit in a growth mindset, tells us about his new book The Golden Key, and the one job he feels we have as spiritual beings. We hope you will learn from Brandon’s experience and enjoy playing in the external world while staying centered in yourself. See full show notes.

Brandon is giving away his book, The Golden Key: Modern Alchemy to Unlock Infinite Abundance, for free. Use our code, SURRENDER, at checkout.

We get this question all the time from people who have read or listened to The Founder & The Force Multiplier — how do you know if you are working with the right strategic partner? Everyone wants to have a strategic partnership, but finding a partner and building and maintaining that relationship requires both parties to be equally committed. It requires you to take a good look at yourself and ask if you are ready and able to take on the responsibility of being one half of this kind of partnership.

First, Hallie and I define what a Force Multiplier even is, and how this role fits into a person’s goals and vision beyond just being a timely business buzzword. We also talk about the difference between a Force Multiplier and an assistant, and how both strategic and transactional roles have their purpose and are important in different ways. Then, we talk about how a leader can find a Force Multiplier from their talent pool, and the distinguishing factors to look out for when setting up a dynamic relationship between both parties. Listen for tips on finding talent and achieving more with the power of a Founder and Force Multiplier dynamic. See full show notes.

This week, Hallie and I talk about how to know who you are to your core by starting with who you are not. It may uproot your belief system (also not you!) to discover that you are not your mind, feelings, emotions, and even your body. So, if we aren’t these things, then what exactly are we? How do we navigate the doing world while still taking action to let go of the ego’s attachments and have meaningful inner work? Tune in to find out. See full show notes.

If you have been considering taking on a leadership or coaching program this year, this episode is for you. We are joined this week by three amazing guests for a conversation about their experiences as participants in our year-long leadership training program, Project | U. Jim, Amanda, and Mie, each successful leaders and high achievers in the real estate industry, talk about their journey of committing to self-growth, dropping their egos, and opening up to possibilities of abundance and deep inner work.

Find out what you can expect when you fully engage in building awareness of your authentic self through this type of training. You may be surprised about how your motivations for joining a program like this change over time! We talk about what inner work really looks like, and hear about each of these participant’s experiences, growth, and challenges. See full show notes.

There is a mountain of content out there for each and every one of us. Between social media channels, emails, the news, emerging apps, tools, and technology, there’s a lot of noise in our world. We are nearly constantly bombarded with new articles we “need” to read, new must-listen podcasts, conferences, webinars, new episodes to stream — all while our emails are piling up in multiple inboxes. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by this ceaseless influx of new information — some of it contradictory, and much of it ultimately useless to our businesses and our lives.

This week, Hallie and I talk about how to cut through the noise and get purposeful about the content you consume. Of course, it’s important in whatever industry you are in to pay attention and stay on top of the news, but not at the cost of your and your team’s performance in the moment. We talk about building purpose into your content choices by revisiting goals, staying centered and laser-focused, and how to say no to media that isn’t helping move you or your business forward.