The Life Purpose Advisor Podcast with Angie Swartz

In this episode, internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and drumming expert Christine Stevens tells of reclaiming her life and traveling the world as a drummer and music therapist, gratitude as a way of life and her spiritual journey.

“Drums circles are really on the rise. It is because we need it and we're doing it now for different reasons. We're not performing. We're not trying to become good drummers. We get it. It's stress reduction. It's bonding. It's beyond words. It turns off our brains. All of that is the why.”– Christine Stevens

In this episode, Marc Mawhinney shares his experience as a coach in the coaching field, overcoming his business closure, and finding joy in his career.

“Every failure is an opportunity to start over again. I want to encourage people to not think that it's over. You have a long life. You have a ton of time to make a comeback.”– Marc Mawhinney

In this fireside chat episode, Angie Swartz sits down with Relationship Expert Rhoberta Shaler to discuss how romantic relationship impacts life purpose.

"Love Yourself as Much You Would Like Someone Else to Love You and It Will Come True" -Rhoberta Shaler

Angie and Rhoberta discuss:

• Whether or not you should leave the relationship you're in.
• How a supportive versus non-supportive relationship can make all the difference.
• The soul work that is always one's own to do regardless of what we might want to blame on our partners.
• The Seven Rights of Life
• Easy Steps to Take to Understand What Your Relationship is Telling You

• Full Interview with Rhoberta Shaler on Episode 13.
• Rhoberta Shaler's Website
• Rhoberta Shaler’s Books:
  • Soul Solitude: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up
  • Kaizen for Couples: Smart Steps to Save, Sustain & Strengthen

As The Relationship Help Doctor, Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, offers urgent and ongoing care for couples. Dr. Shaler calms the turbulence of troubled relationships and creates the insights, skills and space for new beginnings and positive re-connections. She offers the insights and pattern-breaking skills that lead to blame-free, game-free, non-manipulative relationships at home and at work. Dr. Shaler created The Optimize Center in Escondido, CA, and works with couples globally.

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Host Angie Swartz kicks off Season 2 of the Life Purpose Advisor Podcast and shares what's coming in 2016.

In this special edition of the Life Purpose Advisor Podcast, Molly Morrissey conducts a traditional astrology reading for Angie Swartz. The reading illustrates how astrology can be a useful tool for helping you understand yourself better and provide hints at your life purpose. Hear from Angie Swartz' experience what an astrology reading can be like and see for yourself if this is something that might be helpful to you.

Molly covers the four temperaments (water, fire, earth and air) as well as specifics directly related to Angie. This is an actual session so some of the references you hear may seem foreign. However, you can listen for the key points that are relevant to life management.

Molly has taken Angie's birth date, time of birth, location of birth used them to analyze Angie , her innate patterns, and where she is in her development. Angie had not seen or heard this information before this recording.

In episode 53, the November 2nd show, Molly was interviewed about her life, her journey, her work and her life purpose. You can listen to episode 53 at www.lifepurposeadvisor.com/53

The following description of Astrology is an excerpt taken directly from Molly Morrissey's website:

Natal astrology is the second level of complexity in traditional astrology (the primary level being horary astrology). Natal astrology is the study of a person’s birth chart.

The birth chart will describe the personality characteristics and the events that can be seen or measured in the life.

With regard to the personality, we can see the general temperament (the sort of person you are – emotional, rational, action-oriented or contemplative) using the 4 Element system of traditional astrology, and more in particularly, we can see the specific internal complexities and contradictions laid out with elegant clarity. For example, we can see that you emotional response might often be at odds with your reason. Or that you hold onto your temper and then you outburst with family. Or that you have a hard time expressing emotion at all.

While we can describe the specifics of your exhibited personality and see the internal complexities and internal conflicts, we can also see the hints of your divine essence – the soul level part of you that informs everything you feel, do, and experience.

So – we can describe aspects of a person’s essence as it informs our physical reality. To say with any certainty that we can get at the truly unknowable parts of life is beyond the ego or claims of this astrologer, for sure! What we can know, we are happy to have – and the rest is for the realm of faith.*

Technically speaking, a birth (or natal) chart is a picture of where the planets in our solar system were in relation to the horizon at the moment a person takes its first breath. For example, if a person is born in the morning, the Sun will be over on the left side of the chart, near the horizon – depending on the exact time. At midday, the Sun is at the top of the chart, etc. If a person is born near a New Moon, the Sun and Moon are together in the chart.

The season in which the person was born (the phase of the Sun) and the phase of the Moon are extremely important in traditional astrology – these two crucial bits of information are all but ignored by the modern astrologers, making up one major difference among many between the two types of astrology.

A natal consultation focuses on the birth chart, but then also considers many charts, all derived from the birth chart, to understand a particular event, moment, pattern, personality characteristic or behavior in the person’s life.

The complexity is increased in that now the astrologer is using the same concepts as horary but doing lots more work to understand patterns as they unfold over the arc of a whole lifetime. The astrologer is, at this point, also starting to consider the fixed stars (the constellations) in addition to the planets in our solar system (the wandering stars), as well as considering eclipse charts and more. Natal astrology is all about understanding the person and the events lived during one lifetime.

• Angie's Birth Chart - The circular graphic to the right is Angie's Birth Chart. It is referred to often during this episode. You may want to click to enlarge and save a copy on your hard drive or print.
• Planets, Signs and House Means - See Chart Below for Details.

• Molly Morrissey's Website
• First five listeners to contact Molly Morrissey and mention the Life Purpose Advisor Podcast will receive 20% off a birth chart consult.

To subscribe and review the Life Purpose Advisor podcast on iTunes. Click here. (Your reviews keep us growing so you’ll hear more great stories from difference makers.)

In this episode, Molly Morrissey discusses her experiences as an architecture student in England, a boat captain on a ship, and an astrologer, and how following her curiosity has lead her to discover her purpose.

"If you want to do it, you'll figure it out. You have to be willing to follow your curiosity. Hard work is not a bad thing. Messy work is not a deterrent. Be willing to slow down long enough to figure out where your curiosity is living.”– Molly Morrissey

About Molly Morrissey

Molly Morrissey is a traditional astrologer and resilience coach. She works with inquisitive, contemplative professionals who are ready to build more resilience so they can interact fully with their lives.

Her work helps the client find a deeper sense of understanding about themselves and their life patterns by unearthing and connecting clues found in their birth chart, their family-and-cultures-of-origin, their emotions, beliefs, intuition, and thoughts. She helps them integrate a structured approach for engaging and responding to their lives with more accuracy and depth.

With a Master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Science in coaching and counseling from Bastyr University/LIOS and astrological training with master astrologer John Frawley, Molly also incorporates backgrounds in architecture and the marine industry into her unique offerings.

Molly, her man and her cat split their time between Taos, New Mexico and San Diego, California. She loves walking, big storms, anything to do with the ocean, big cabs, dark chocolate, and spicy red chili – sometimes ALL at the same time.

....In this show….

• "Resilience" and to help people get through without feeling like their settling.

• For the first time in her life, Molly Morrissey, in her late 30's, did not know what she wanted to accomplish next in her life. After many adventures, she realized that she loved having conversations with people and had an idea to pursue communication. Molly saw a counselor and during her sessions, she knew she wanted to do something similar. She signed up for a program to receive her Masters of Art in Applied Behavioral Sciences to align her career with her purpose.

• After returning to America from her architecture studies in England, Molly did not want to return to school because of a negative experience. Instead, she followed her curiosity and volunteered for a boat organization, which eventually led to receiving a captain's license.
• In the late 1990's, she started taking yoga classes where she learned about the chakra system. It was her first introduction to self awareness and knowing internal patterns.
• Molly took a job as a boat captain and first mate on a ship that sailed to Alaska, during which she constantly used her observation abilities through all of her senses. This time in pristine wilderness proved to her that she could go on big adventures. She learned that just because something is difficult, it does not mean there cannot be bliss or satisfaction.
• Learning about symbols in space through architecture and symbols on maps for boat navigation lead Molly to pursue astrology; symbols on paper that show patterns in the universe that can help people understand themselves better.

• She was raised in a Irish Catholic family, however, living in her town of Olympia, Washington gave her a variety of spiritual perspectives.
• Believes in a higher power that she refers to as God, but is open to the many names that other people may like to call "He, She, or It."
• "Faith is a daily practice of learning how to risk."

• To remind herself daily of how life is gift.

"If you want to do it, you'll figure it out. You have to be willing to follow your curiosity. Hard work is not a bad thing. Messy work is not a deterrent. Be willing to slow down long enough to figure out where your curiosity is living."

• Molly Morrissey's website
• First five listeners to contact Molly Morrissey and mention the Life Purpose Advisor Podcast will receive 20% off a birth chart consult.

To subscribe and review the Life Purpose Advisor podcast on iTunes. Click here. (Your reviews keep us growing so you’ll hear more great stories from difference makers.)

In this episode, J V Crum III discusses what it means to live in the flow and how doing so can bring financial and emotional abundance.

“The only way I know to live in the flow is to let go of control. You are not in control, but you are connecting with perfect timing all around you, which is a better experience once you learn to do it." – J V Crum III

About J V Crum III

J V Crum III, JD, MBA, became a self-made entrepreneur millionaire in his twenties. He is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, certified business coach, licensed attorney, serial entrepreneur, Huffington Post Columnist on conscious business, and is host of the #1 Ranked “Conscious Millionaire Podcast”, which is broadcast M-F. He is the Founder and CEO of Conscious Millionaire Institute LLC, a global entrepreneur business coaching, training, and wealth-product business.

....In this show….

• To connect with people and make a positive impact. To help people find their potential, connect with it, and give them the tools to help them do something with it.

• J V Crum lived in Central Florida where he saw his family and town struggle financially. At the age of 5, in a visionary way, he decided he was going to be a millionaire. J V felt he changed at a cellular level at that moment and never doubted he would, indeed, become a millionaire. After telling his parents his plan, his mom shook her finger at him and told him not to tell anyone. His mom's reaction made J V Crum realize that his parents' beliefs tied money with evil; this realization freed him from this idea and allowed money to flow in positively for the rest of his life.

• When J V was "cash-broke" in his 40's, he took time to meditate and thoroughly analyze society. There were many options J V Crum could have chosen to increase his cash flow, but he did not want to choose an option that contributed to a system that J V Crum felt needed to change. During this time, he was able to disconnect his level of happiness from his bank account level and make decisions based on his purpose.
• J V Crum sought to live at the Buddhist monastery to become the perfect meditator, only to learn that there is no perfect meditator. Instead, J V learned that mediation is a practice of being present, not being perfect, which he now applies to the rest of his life.
• J V bought a thousands of bottles of wine to collect, but owning so much wine made him rethink what he really needed. He has resold most of his wine and is continuing to do so now.
• During a getaway in nature, J V followed an intuition to build an enormous fire instead of following the plans he had set for his trip. In the flames, J V Crum saw visions of his purpose, which became his 3 programs to help others. J V Crum describes this experience as purifying and transformative.
• His dad's recent death led J V to emotionally eat and gain weight, which has been his escape from fear and loneliness many times in his life. After looking in the mirror, J V decided to do the deep healing that was underlying his weight gain.

• Believes in something beyond what is conceptual- whether it is called an infinite field, God, higher power, or anything else.
• We can only experience what is beyond concept, not describe it. The infiniteness that we experience is difficult to be explained or written down, because by doing so we are putting filters on it.
• We connect with the infinite energy when we are with the flow.

• Journal
• Meditate and be conscious

"Live your truth."

• J V Crum III's website
  • Don't miss J V's free ebook. Click here to sign up today.

To subscribe and review the Life Purpose Advisor podcast on iTunes. Click here. (Your reviews keep us growing so you’ll hear more great stories from difference makers.)

In this episode, Mark Haffner plays several of the songs he has written as we discuss his life as an Emmy-Award winning composer, music producer and story teller, the power of believing in yourself, creativity, podcasting and the gift of fatherhood.

“If you're not doing it in a loving way, why aren't you?”– Mark Haffner

Mark Haffner is a storyteller and producer, an Emmy-Award winning composer, lyricist, and writer. He is passionate about all things having to do with creativity and encouraging and nurturing self-expression in artists, writers, musicians, performers, and the everyday person.

....In this show….

• To help people see the potential he sees in them.

• Success in music at age 15 gave Mark the belief that he could make a life with music. This began when his teenage rock band was featured on the radio and was offered record deals. Also, his successful motivational songs "A Dream In The Making" and "Sky's The Limit" were written during this early time.

• Mark Haffner worked in the music industry creating messages for others and not for himself. Working for corporations and doing things he didn't really believe in led him to do self-exploration and go "down the rabbit hole." This search led him to discover the language to express himself, which he felt he was unable to do before.
• Because he wasn't happy with his kids' childhood experiences in LA, Mark moved to Florida and worked remotely. This allowed him to be present for his kids while still pursuing his career in music.
• In 2010, Mark Haffner went through a divorce. In this marriage, he let his wife make all the decisions. After spending time out of the relationship, Mark Haffner reclaimed responsibility of his own life and his children's.
• He discovered an ability to relay peacefulness while he watched his daughter's interaction with their family dog. This ability to communicate through touch brought him closer to his realization that love is the answer.
• Realizing at age 49, that he was living the happy life that he'd maybe been waiting for all his life. Mark attributes starting to love again, helping others and diving into work he loves to this happiness.

• Believes that a higher power is something that connects us all, and we all need to be aware of that as one. The idea of one is important because of the connectivity of all living things.

• Journal
• Find time to be with yourself

"Believe in yourself and you can do anything you want to do."

• Contact Mark Haffner: [email protected]
• www.TheMarkHaffnerShow.com (Coming Soon)
• Mark Haffner's YouTube
• Mark Haffner's Twitter: @MHprod
• Recommended Books:
  • The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

To subscribe and review the Life Purpose Advisor podcast on iTunes. Click here. (Your reviews keep us growing so you’ll hear more great stories from difference makers.)

In celebration of 50 episodes in just nine months, Angie Swartz, the host of the Life Purpose Advisor Podcast, jumps into the hotseat and answers the same deep questions she asks of her weekly guests. Friend and colleague Michael Neeley steps in as Guest Host.

Angie discusses transitioning from a corporate job to a career that is aligned with her purpose, how hints at her purpose have always shown up and how her values and lifestyle have changed.

"Sometimes you have to slow down to catch up and our lives move so quickly that that's indeed true. It's hard to grow if there's no room for it. It's hard to make change in your life if you don't make space for something new to come in." – Angie Swartz

Angie Swartz is a coach and the host of the Life Purpose Advisor Podcast. You can read more about Angie in her full Bio here.

....In this show….

• To live a fully expressed life of joy and happiness, and to really see the truth of others and help them see that in themselves.

Angie discusses how several major Ah-Ha moments contributed to moving her along toward her life purpose:

• While working in a fast-paced, high pressure position in the telecommunications industry, Angie became pregnant then had a miscarriage. This experience caused Angie to begin to evaluate her priorities and life goals.
• Angie surprisingly resigned from her job and took a 6 month sabbatical with plans to look for another similar corporate position.
• At the end of the sabbatical, Angie became pregnant again with her daughter who is now ten.

• As a child, Angie found herself wanting to have deeper conversations with her friends about their parents, winning a speech contest, and being a writer. These events are a few of the natural happenings that hinted at Angie's life purpose at a young age.
• In college, Angie worked as a mentor for underprivileged youth, helping them to see bigger version and the possibilities of their lives. This was one of the first forms of coaching Angie experienced without realizing that she was, indeed, coaching.
• After working for 25 years with a MBA and a CPA license, Angie left her corporate job in 2003. She would work very hard to go on wonderful week long vacations around the world and "experience life", only to return to a job that she was not happy in. Instead of separating work and life, Angie now incorporates true living into every day, including when she works.

• Angie believes there is one God, regardless of religion. It is the same God manifesting on earth in a different form.

“Life is designed to get continually better throughout our lives. We're here to have a fantastic experience on earth and we're in charge of our lives. Whatever we choose to go after, whatever our goals are, those are the things that are going to show up.”– Angie Swartz

• Meditation, prayer and energy work.
• Be mindful. Take the time to be present in each moment.
• Journal.
• Spend time in nature.
• Yoga

"Life is to be lived and deeply experienced. We can be and do anything that we want. Happiness and deep joy are there just waiting for us if we commit to what it is that we want and do the work to get there, and invite the divine in to help us."

• Angie Swartz' website
  • Visit the site for a free self-study, Four Essential Steps to Finding Your Life Purpose including 7 lessons sent to your email. It will not be free for long!
• Michael Neeley's Interview on The Life Purpose Advisor Podcast
• Angie Swartz Interview of The Consciously Speaking Podcast
• Recommended Sources
  • Insight Timer App for Smart Phones
  • The Seven Whispers by Christina Baldwin
  • Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch
  • The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
  • Everyday Grace by Marianne Williamson
  • You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
  • Anatomy of the Spirit by Carolyn Myss

A Sincere Thank You to Michael Neeley

My deepest gratitude to Michael Neeley contributing as the guest host of this interview. His talented interviewing style and conscious approach largely contributed to the success of the interview. Thank you, Michael!

To subscribe and review the Life Purpose Advisor podcast on iTunes. Click here. (Your reviews keep us growing so you’ll hear more great stories from difference makers.)

Christina Baldwin discusses the power of storytelling, journaling and holding circle (The Circle Way Process); the story of how her influential book, The Seven Whispers, was birthed, and living the unconventional life.

“Let's be a community. Let's know one another. Let's tell one another enough true story about who we are that we break the pattern. We have a synergistic energy that makes us dynamic and powerful.”– Christina Baldwin

Christina Baldwin is a writer, wanderer, teacher on the trail of community and story; she is co-founder, with Ann Linnea, of PeerSpirit,Inc. and The Circle Way Process, bringing modern structure and application to the human heritage of circle. Christina is the author of 7 books, including (with Ann) The Circle Way, A Leader in Every Chair; Storycatcher; Life’s Companion; Calling the Circle; and The Seven Whispers, Spiritual Practice for Times Like These. She works cross-culturally and internationally instilling circle process wherever it can flourish and in the Art of Hosting network.

....In this show….

• To share stories and help people realize that we can take action between the borders of our lives and the bigger story.

• As a 10 year old in the 4th grade, Christina Baldwin read two stories in the paper about wheat surplus in America and starvation in India. She shared her idea about sending the surplus wheat to India to her father, who explains to her that "that's not how the world works". Christina Baldwin's heart broke when she was told that wheat was pushed into the sea, but then decided at this early age that she wanted a world where these kinds of events didn't happen anymore.

• In high school, Christina Baldwin was moved by the diary of Anne Frank. She learned from Anne Frank's life that even if you don't survive, your story can. Because this was during the time of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and threats of WWIII, Christina Baldwin took her own diary, Anne Frank's diary, a couple of Life Magazines, Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Bible, and buried it in a bank box in the woods. This was a moment she linked her own life to the larger story. She knew then that her life's work was going to be to save the story and to help everyone live their true story.
• In college, Christina Baldwin took a course called "Man And His World", which taught about peace activism and feminism. She then became a different kind of woman than how she had been raised and what she saw in the rest of the world. She carried her new sense of feminism into her literature course, in which her professor challenged her to relate each novel to feminism. This gave Christina Baldwin the ability to look at the world through a lens without being consumed by it.
• At the age of 30, Christina Baldwin went to a writers conference and was given a 15 minute time slot to talk about the importance of journaling. She offered to speak more about the subject after the prevention in a conference room, and forty women showed up. The organizer of the conference encouraged Christina Baldwin to write a book about journaling. This lead Christina to write her first book "One to One: Self-Understanding Through Journal Writing." This topic was so new, that the Library of Congress created a new category for it.

• "Yes" (Listen for details)
• Raised in a liberal and loving aspect of Protestant Christianity and thinks of Jesus as a profound teacher and healer
• Considers herself to be "Episcopagan"
• We show up with aspects of the divine radiating out of ourselves over and over again.
• Defines God as "what happens in the space between. God is what is happening between the whirling atoms that create this whole universe. God is what is happening in the space between you and me when we are in heart space. God is when I really see creation and am moved to tears by beauty and courage."

• Journal. Make time to wonder about yourself and reflect on why things are the way they are.
• Walk in nature.

"There's a poem by William Stafford called 'The Way It Is' that begins,

'There’s a thread you follow. It goes amongthings that change. But it doesn’t change.People wonder about what you are pursuing.You have to explain about the thread.But it is hard for others to see.While you hold it you can’t get lost.'

There is a thread, a narrative thread, that we're holding in ours lives. If we hold on to that thread, sometimes the story shatters, terrible things happen, surprises happen and we have to surrender to them. But as long as you hold to this thread, you're going to be okay."

• Christina Baldwin's website
  • Find the "Resource" section for a Circle Guideline
• Christina Baldwin books mentioned in the podcast
  • The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These
  • The Circle Way: A Leader In Every Chair
  • Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story
  • One to One: Self-Understanding through Journal Writing
  • Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest
  • Calling The Circle: The First and Future Culture

To subscribe and review the Life Purpose Advisor podcast on iTunes. Click here. (Your reviews keep us growing so you’ll hear more great stories from difference makers.)