This episode is focused on connecting with your body and soul through walking. Yes. Walking. Something I have had zero focus on my entire life. I looked at walking as a waste of time. But now I'm devoting near ⅓ of my exercise time to it. I am about to go out for a 2.5 walk with 45lbs on my back, right now. My guest here is Michael Easter who I’ve known about since 2021 when he published his book, The Comfort Crisis. In my peer group of people pursuing wellness, this book immediately became a mainstay and I resonated with the message hugely because I continue to question that our modern day conveniences have helped us at all. I think they have hurt us, and this is what Michael showcased in The Comfort Crisis. In that book he really helped put rucking on the map. Rucking is simply walking while carrying weight. It’s well known in the military, but now has become commonplace amongst us civilians. Here we discuss the physiological and psychological benefits of not only walking with weights, but simply walking. I feel that through walking, differently than running or mountain biking or other activities, I am connecting with me, and possibly benefitting my body more than with all my more extreme athletic pursuits. Michael’s brand new book is called, Walk with Weight: The Definitive Guide to Rucking. Michael Easter has built a remarkable career traveling the world in search of practical ideas that help people live healthier, happier, and more remarkable lives. I tune into hisTwo Percent blog weekly as do hundreds of thousands of other people to hear the latest findings from his extensive research and personal experimenting.

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Research and surveys showcase that what we most value in our lives are relationships. Yet for all the teaching and training we get as we grow up, how to have healthy relationships is seldom a topic. And we often fall to the examples we are exposed to. In this episode we are looking at identifying unhealthy relationships, healing, and growing. This was the second time I brought Nedra Glover Tawwab. I first had her on with her book, Set Boundaries, Find Peace. This time is for her book, Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships. We dig deep into the relational issues that we all tend to just settle for and expect we have to endure long-term. Nedra is a New York Times best-selling author, licensed therapist, and renowned relationship expert. She has practiced relationship therapy for nearly 20 years. Nedra’s expertise is in helping people create healthy relationships by teaching them how to implement boundaries. Her philosophy is that a lack of boundaries and assertiveness underlie most relationship issues, and her gift is helping people create healthy relationships with themselves and others. Nedra has grown to be one of the most well-known, modern day therapists, you can find her on Instagram @nedratawwab with over 1.8 million followers.

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Author David Foster Wallace is credited with a story in a commencement speech, where he shares, "There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says 'Morning, boys. How's the water?' And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and says 'What the hell is water?'" We live in a culture where the expectation is to have absolutely everything.  And more. Obviously there is a material cost to everything. Money. And it takes time to make money. So we cost ourselves a lot of work to afford all the stuff. But regardless. Even if you win the lottery and can easily afford anything. Having stuff takes up our mental space, and I don’t think we consider this. I sure didn’t. I was just like the fish. Stuff? What stuff? I don’t feel I bought things needlessly. Or for status. I had a big family. If we felt we needed something? Get it. Maybe get two. If someone might need it, let's have it on hand. This had its value. But my gosh. There is just stuff. Everywhere. I ultimately felt so tied down by it all. So, my guest is Joshua Becker, the founder and editor of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to inspiring others to find more life by owning less. His websites welcome over 1M readers each month and have inspired millions around the world to consider the practical benefits of owning fewer possessions and given them the practical help to get started. He is an international speaker and the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of several books, the newest of which is, Uncluttered Faith: Own Less, Love More, and Make an Impact in Your World. I am on a constant quest to…pair down. Yesterday, as of this recording, I accompanied two of my daughters in talking through everything in their rooms. Rooms I think most would feel were sparse. The result of questioning each item? Two trash bags and two boxes full of clothes and…stuff. And an entire big bag of trash. Feels like a breath of fresh air. Space to…contemplate. Create.

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I want to start off by asking a question I continually interest myself with. Do we really want to be happy? If I survey the culture, it looks like we very much want happy moments. The little jolts of dopamine from entertainment, food, drugs and such. But do we really want deep and abiding happiness in our souls? Because if we do, then our primary interest would be in relationships. But not just any relationships. I’m revisiting a conversation I had with Robert Waldinger. Robert is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital which has been going on for 87 years. His devotion is on what most equates to human happiness, and the answer is, relationships. But let me point out that Robert himself is a Zen master and teaches meditation around the world. Which is a focus on what I feel is our first and most important relationship. The relationship with ourselves. I have continued to grow in appreciation, not just for the message, but for Robert himself. If you have my book, What Drives You, you’ll see his endorsement. Roberts book, which is how I came to know of him, is, The Good Life: Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study on Happiness. And you type in, “Robert Waldinger TED” you will find his TED talk, titled, What Makes A Good Life, that between postings on both YouTube and TED has over 80 million views.

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If you search as to why brain surgery is on the rise you will read it’s due to advancements in technology. Less invasive techniques, AI-guided imaging, and robotics—which have made procedures safer, more precise, and more accessible. But to me it begs the question of why we are in need of so much brain surgery? My feeling is I would rather not have my head cut into. At all. In this episode I’m joined by a friend. Dr. Lee Warren is a brain surgeon at the top of field. And he is here to tell us that the most effective brain surgery we can do is through our thoughts. But he is not giving some motivational speech. He is being completely literal. He takes tools and instruments to dig into the human skull and literally restructure the brain, and he says you can do more and better restructuring with your thoughts. He leads us in understanding that our thoughts are creating our brain structure. When we have the same thoughts over and over we strengthen and create pathways, and to a degree, at this level he can’t help you with any medical procedure. No surgery or resetting can overcome a concrete belief or fear you keep reinforcing. Lee’s new book is called, The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery: Connecting Neuroscience and Faith to Radically Transform Your Life. I’d encourage you to pull the book up on Amazon and click “read sample” and just peruse the contents and see his “10 Commandments of Self-Brain Surgery.” This alone will either inspire you or show you that you don’t want to take the level of personal responsibility Lee is calling us to. Search for Dr Lee Warren and you will find him everywhere.

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Ultimately, the research shows what we all most want is love. To be desired past the point of like, and actually loved. And to receive the resulting affection, devotion, care, and commitment. Yet the research also shows that overall, we are not super successful at achieving and maintaining healthy relationships. My guest today feels we define love incorrectly and we pursue it errantly. Humble The Poet is a Canadian-born rapper, spoken-word artist, poet, international bestselling author, and former elementary school teacher. He began reciting spoken word poetry in coffee shops to impress girls and now has four books. He has a huge social media following and uses his platform to help people learn and grow and…love. His book that caught my attention is How To Be Loved: Simple Truths For Going Easier On Yourself, Embracing Imperfection & Loving Your Way To A Better Life. I really resonated with the book, which is why I invited him onto my podcast. Humble headlines the concept of his book with, “Love doesn’t have to be earned or found, it has to be realized.” I think the discussion will challenge your paradigm on what love is and how to better realize it. Find the book and all he’s involved with by searching for Humble The Poet.

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Steve Smith is a friend of mine. He runs Potter’s Inn, which provides soul care. Much of Steve’s time is spent with people running large organizations, from mega church pastors to Fortune 500 CEOs. People who as Steve says, live much of their lives in the white water of life. And living this way takes a toll on your soul. Years ago, I actually argued with Steve. I said I was living in a way to keep myself strong so I could endure the constant white water. And I did. Until I couldn’t. Until I burnt out and caused plenty of collateral damage in my life. Recently Steve sent me a book of poetry he had written. He’s published many books, but with poetry he feels he can say more with less. The book is called, Greening: Poems In The Unfolding Of Our Lives. And the focus is on unfolding through the seasons and reasons of our lives. Steve has walked intimately with so many people. Dramatically successful people as our culture tends to define success. But Steve walks with them as their lives unravel and their identities unfold. In recent years, Steve has had some losses and gone through his own unfolding. As my own life has unfolded, I brought Steve on to discuss some of the concepts of his poetry book, and his life experience. Greening is a term he relates to our flourishing, vitality, well-being, and emotional health. As a speaker, spiritual director, and author, Steve offers soul care and spiritual care through many avenues. Find him at pottersinn.com

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Sometimes a story comes along that challenges my perspectives at a core level. As a father, I took great responsibility in instilling self-worth into my children. And, I still had kids who struggled with their self-worth. I feel our culture as a whole is more insecure than ever. My guest in this episode is Peter Mutabazi, and he found his self-worth after a childhood that gave him zero access to any concept of it. Peter was born out in the boonies of Uganda in what can hardly be described as a home. He was routinely beaten by his father and treated like a stray dog. Or worse. Treated like trash. He ran away at age 10 for fear his father would finally kill him. He made it to the city of Kampala where he lived on the streets and slept in the sewers. Literally. It was so disgusting in the sewers nobody would venture there, which meant it was the only place he could find safety. He lived as a street kid where he only ate every few days, he never slept in a bed, rode in a car, or had shoes. But at age 15, someone befriended him and gave him a chance. Today he lives in America where he fosters and adopts children and runs an organization he founded called, Nowiamknownfoundation.org where his goal is to encourage and affirm marginalized and abandoned children. He wrote a book titled, Now I Am Known:  How a Street Kid Turned Foster Dad Found Acceptance and True Worth. My focus was on how Peter could come from such dramatic abuse, abject poverty, and zero exposure to any nurturing or support, and not only find his self-worth, but then serve others in finding their self-worth. And be at peace with this world that he found so much pain from for the first 15 years of his existence. What could we learn and apply to ourselves? Find Peter on Instagram where he has nearly 900k followers @fosterdadflipper

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This episode is a dive into the awakening of self-awareness and a connection to what really matters in your life. This has been my journey over the past few years as I've unraveled my identity from what I do and achieve and learned to embrace who I am being aside from any doing or producing or achievements. My guest is a kindred spirit in working themselves to the bone to prove their worth to themselves and everyone else. Jen Fisher a global authority on workplace wellbeing, the bestselling author of Work Better Together, and the founder and CEO of The Wellbeing Team. Jen was Deloitte US's first chief wellbeing officer who pioneered a groundbreaking, human-centered approach to work that gained international recognition and reshaped how organizations view wellbeing. From her personal experiences with burnout and cancer to her role as a trailblazer in wellbeing intelligence Jen has dedicated her career to

helping people thrive—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Jen has a new book titled, Hope Is The Strategy: The Underrated Skill That Transforms Work, Leadership, and Wellbeing. As you're about to hear, Jen shares, “My identity had slowly merged with my output and I became what I produced." She realized she had no real hope in anything so she just worked to stay busy, filling the void with production and accomplishment. She was languishing in performance with profound emotional emptiness. Finally, she says, “I began to understand that productivity is a tool, not a purpose; that work is a part of life, not its meaning; that doing is important, but being is essential." Today she focuses on doing less, but doing activities of more value, and questioning what all she is doing for external validation alone. 

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We are a world that devours stories. Most people tune in every night to be taken in by the stories others are living or they have created, and the vast majority of these stories are centered about a grand cause. The action and adventure movies and dramas we love so often showcase someone encountering a cause and devoting themselves to it. A cause. Something bigger than themselves that involves protecting or supporting the welfare of something or someone else. Finding and having a cause is often the most profound aspect of a life well lived. But we don’t seem to grasp how finding a cause works. We tend to think of learning and training and preparing, so that we can commit to something truly big and worthy. A grand purpose. A cause. My guest today argues, in the most compassionate way possible, we have it backwards, and that the greatest people ever known simply committed to something they believed in, and the journey within it is what made them great. It crafted and honed them. The challenge and trials and triumphs along the way is what refined them. Then the charge is not to commit to preparation, but to commit now and let the commitment prepare you along the way. Lynne Twist is a recognized global visionary and legendary humanitarian. Lynne wowed the world with her first book, The Soul of Money, but I had her on my show for her book, Living a Committed Life: Finding Freedom and Fulfillment in a Purpose Larger Than Yourself. Lynne’s own story began when she heard about the The Hunger Project where their goal was to end world hunger, and knew she was supposed to devote her life to it. She spent a decade there and has influenced more people through more humanitarian efforts than nearly anyone. Lynne has been an advisor to the Desmond Tutu Foundation. The United Nations honored her with a “Woman of Distinction” award. From working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta to the refugee camps in Ethiopia and the threatened rainforests of the Amazon, Lynne’s on-the-ground work has brought her a deep understanding of the social tapestry of the world and the historical landscape of the times we are living in. Over the past 45 years Lynne has worked with over 100,000 people in 50 countries in the arenas of fundraising with integrity, conscious philanthropy, strategic visioning and having a healthy relationship with money. Find Lynne Twist’s book, “Living a Committed LIfe” anywhere, and connect with her at Soulofmoney.org.

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