The Mango Effect Podcast

11. Why the heck do we have a living room? Can someone please explain to me why we feel the need to get overpriced furniture to put in a room we rarely use and mount some massive electronic contraption from the 2000s called a TV on the wall? 

In today's episode, let's talk about how living rooms are intended to be a place where we actually spend time living -- not an HGTV before-and-after photo that looks great on camera but actually provides us with no lasting joy. We have the power to choose what goes into our living room and whether that's a fit for our values or not. 

TL;DR - I converted my living room into an epic home gym complete with rubber flooring, squat racks, weight stacks, surfboard racks and an infrared sauna. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• Why I hate home decorating and how I eliminated that guilt once-and-for-all 
• How our homes and living spaces should be a reflection of what we love 
• Going furniture free (finally) after 10+ years 
• Modeling our values for our family and friends in our homes 
• Choosing one word that describes the energy of your living space ...and more!

10. Ever wondered if it was possible to create a business or career by your own design? One of the keys to long-term success is surrounding yourself with the right people and a great mentor. 

In today's episode, we discuss my recent experience in attending James Wedmore's Business By Design Next Level Live experience, and a number of my unexpected takeaways from the event. Unlike the typical "how to" events where you get pitched by a bazillion consultants trying to sell you something, this experience focused on the inner transformation that every successful entrepreneur, career expert or business leader must go through to achieve their vision. 

If you're curious about starting your own business and want to know what you're getting into, you'll enjoy this episode where I share my lessons learned and some practical takeaways for anyone creating their own lifestyle by design. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• The three levels of listening and how to apply them 
• How we can start to ask better questions Importance of integrity with ourselves and in our relationships 
• Tackling our own inner critics 
• What it really means to "be our word" 
• Power of surrounding ourselves with the right people 

Follow us on Instagram or TikTok @mangoeffectpodcast and shoot us a DM with your thoughts! 

09. Ever tried to get up earlier in the day to join the 5am club because that's what all the "cool kids" were doing? Only to realize that your brain doesn't even want to go to sleep till 1am or 2am? What does that say about your character? 

Society tells us that there's ONE way to be when it comes to the most ambitious achievers and some of the most productive humans on the planet -- it's to be a morning person. If you're a morning person, good for you! You already fall into this camp, but according to (aka the sleep doctor) that's only about 15% of the population. What about the rest of us? Like the other 85% who don't get up at 4am bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed? 

In this episode, we dig into the four different sleep chronotypes to figure out exactly WHEN we should be doing WHAT. 

• Bears (50-55% of the population) - sleep and wake cycle goes according to the sun. 
• Lions (15% of the population) - the early risers who go to bed earlier in the evenings. 
• Wolves (15-20% of the population) - enjoy the evening hours and feel most productive later in the day. 
• Dolphins (10% of the population) - light sleepers who tend to be easily disturbed and most likely to have insomnia. 

If you want to dive deeper into sleep chronotypes, check out the following resources:

Take the Chronotype Quiz - Sleep Doctor

National Sleep Foundation

Interested in connecting to discuss this topic? Follow us on Instagram or TikTok @mangoeffectpodcast and shoot us a DM with your thoughts!

08. Are you holding space for your grumpy? It's not always about "putting on your happy face," but it's about being true to your emotions and feeling comfortable expressing them. 

In today's episode, let's discuss why we should welcome the spectrum of emotions—not just the ones we like or the ones that society says are okay. When we learn how to process all our feelings effectively, we no longer need to suppress the negative emotions. We can actually get through things better, then reframe, and move on with the rest of our day. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• Why expressing your grumpy feelings is not always a bad thing 
• Identifying when to feel your feelings 
• How to hold space for non-optimistic emotions 
• The beauty of authentic self-expression 
• Being there for your friends, family and communities 
• When to seek help if your grumpy gets out of control

If you need additional resources to help, please check out these links:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
(800) 273-8255
https://988lifeline.org/

National Mental Health Hotline
(866) 903-3787
https://mentalhealthhotline.org/ 

07. With The Great Resignation all the rage right now, should you consider becoming your own boss or making a career pivot? Making an informed decision is key to creating a workstyle by your own design. 

In today's episode, let's discuss the pros and cons of becoming your own boss, how to ask yourself the right questions to guide your process, how you can thoughtfully prepare for a career or business transition, and exactly what it takes to make it through your first 90 days (and beyond!) 

Approaching entrepreneurship or business leadership from the perspective of mindfulness and intention, rather than just jumping headfirst into the unknown, will serve us better in the long run. It's both an art and a science. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• The questions you should ask yourself before you make a change 
• Pros and cons of starting your own business 
• What to do with your finances to make it through the danger zone of the early days 
• Running smart experiments to generate revenue 
• Enlisting the support of your friends, family and communities 
• Whether or not you should keep your 9-5... and what to do then!

06. Ever find yourself grappling with an "either this or that" question?  Too many of us see things in black and white when there are actually some beautiful shades of grey to explore when it comes to our relationships, our careers and businesses, our family life, our money strategies and our hobbies.

In today's episode, let's talk about what it means to start asking ourselves better questions, rather than limiting ourselves to "either or" thinking, because the creativity in designing our lifestyle by design begins when we explore whether a "both and" question can open up the possibilities.

When we can get out of the binary thinking process, we unleash our creativity towards how we live our days, our weeks, our months, our years -- our lives -- with countless options.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to have it all without sacrificing your values
• Stacking activities to "check more boxes" with things that make you happy
• The dangers of either-or thinking when applied to decision making
• Balancing all of the things you love with the relationships that matter
• Finding the beauty in duality - and how it can actually be more authentic
• Asking better questions that lead to more possibilities

Interested in connecting to discuss this topic? Follow us on Instagram or TikTok @mangoeffectpodcast and shoot us a DM with your thoughts!

05. Ever spend weeks or months developing a habit, working a new strategy, trying a workout routine, sticking to your diet -- then have a moment when you wonder if it's working? Should you stay consistent or should you try a different approach?

In today's episode, let's talk about what it means to be consistent with the right things that will actually get us closer to our Life Vision and our Life Purpose, how to stop sabotaging our progress with unnecessary consistency, and when it pays to be consistent (or doesn't.)

When we can get clear on WHEN and WHAT to be consistent in on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, we empower ourselves to get that much closer to our goals. No more wasting time or energy on the less important stuff.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What to do when consistently leads nowhere
• The dangers of giving ourselves "busy work" for consistency's sake
• Importance of creating your MTP (Massively Transformative Purpose) and Life Vision
• Why consistency must be sustainable over time
• A step-by-step process you can use to create consistency over time
• Where to let go of consistency 

Interested in connecting to discuss this topic? Follow us on Instagram @mangoeffectpodcast and shoot us a DM with your thoughts!

04. Ever want to ditch the label on your relationship? No matter what your orientation or relationship style looks like right now, you do NOT need to cave to the pressure of labeling it.

In today's episode, let's talk about what it means to give ourselves the space to explore, to go deep when we want to learn more about ourselves, to create space in our relationships when we need it, and to ask for what we truly want without fear.

When we can get honest with ourselves and those we're in relationships with, we can often experience a wide range of human emotions that include excitement, fear, doubt, questioning, passion, purpose, and love -- without judgment.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Growing up in a religious cult where relationships only look one way
• Navigating different orientations and gender expressions
• Labeling orientations and seeking to find one that "fits"
• The radical "6-months-of-no-sex" experiment
• Mixed-orientation marriages - when they work, when they don't
• What to do when you're trying to figure out what to do next in a relationship

Interested in connecting to discuss this topic? Follow us on Instagram @mangoeffectpodcast and shoot us a DM with your thoughts!

03. Where do you feel like a dancing bobblehead in your life? No matter our professional or personal mission, we're all performing in some capacity regularly. 

In today's episode, let's talk about what it means to perform at a higher level, how to deal with setbacks when they come, what it means to take your performance seriously, and which experiences actually warrant a performance. 

When we become more aware of how our performances impact us and others around us, we can decide where and how to improve them over time -- while also getting enough downtime between our on-stage and off-stage activity. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• What a performance actually is 
• How to perform when we're not at our best 
• Strengthening our performance muscles with practice and proficiency 
• When to get ON stage and when to participate OFF stage 
• Preparation, performing, and recuperation after "the dance" 
• Figuring out our ideal performance formula 

Interested in connecting to discuss this topic? Follow us on Instagram @mangoeffectpodcast and shoot us a DM with your thoughts! 

02. What is influence? The unmistakable power of influence is shaping our lives at every single moment, whether or not we realize it. We're both being influenced and influencing all of the time. In today's episode, let's discuss the power of influence in our personal and professional lives, the different types of influence, and how we can increase our influence awareness for the betterment of ourselves, our communities and our families. 

Let's talk about what it means to start influencing people from a positive place and how we can shift our influence input sources to affect the way we think, speak, and interact. 

In this episode, we discuss the different types of influencers and how they influence us, how we can embrace being influencers in various areas of our lives, our responsibility to influence people from a good place, Influencing ourselves by paying attention to input sources and raising awareness of our influence in our everyday lives. Interested in connecting to discuss this topic? 

Follow us on Instagram @mangoeffectpodcast, and shoot us a DM with your thoughts!