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The Mindful CEO
The Mindful CEO episodes
- The Hidden Advantage of CuriosityShow Notes Summary
What if curiosity is more than a personality trait? What if it’s one of the most practical business advantages a leader can cultivate? In this episode, Chris and Aaron explore the relationship between curiosity, growth, identity, health, leadership, and meaningful work. The conversation moves far beyond productivity hacks and into the deeper question many founders quietly wrestle with: how do you keep growing without becoming numb, rigid, or disconnected from yourself? Through stories, humor, frustration, and reflection, they unpack how curiosity creates movement where shame, certainty, and burnout tend to create stagnation. This is a conversation for thoughtful business owners who want sustainable growth without losing their humanity in the process.
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEpisode Outline1. The Health Journey OpenerChris and Aaron joke about weight loss, discipline, and the emotional tension around personal change.
2. Why Results Alone Eventually Stop Motivating UsThe conversation explores why external goals often lose emotional pull over time.
3. Curiosity as an Infinite GameAaron and Chris unpack curiosity as a sustainable fuel source for growth and transformation.
4. The Trap of Hustle Culture CertaintyHow rigid identity, overconfidence, and performative productivity disconnect leaders from real learning.
5. Curiosity Creates Psychological FlexibilityThe hosts discuss how curiosity softens defensiveness and opens space for evolution.
6. Building Businesses Around ExplorationA deeper conversation about creating businesses, communities, and cultures that reward discovery instead of exhaustion.
7. Future Pull vs Shame PushThe distinction between being pulled toward possibility versus pushed by fear, guilt, or inadequacy.
8. Leadership Through OpennessWhy the best leaders often ask better questions instead of pretending to already have all the answers.
39 min - Ace Your Day with Shawn KunklerShow Notes Summary
What happens when successful people realize the game they’ve been playing is exhausting them? In this conversation, Chris Angell, Aaron Hendon, and Shawn Kunkler explore the tension between achievement and presence, especially inside industries obsessed with production, image, and constant striving. They unpack what mindful leadership actually looks like in the real world, why so many professionals feel disconnected despite outward success, and how authentic conversations can create a different way of working and living. This episode is less about tactics and more about reclaiming humanity in a culture that rewards performance over connection.
Learn more about Shawn Kunkler and Ace Your Day:
homewardassociates.com
shawnkunkler.com
fifteenminutemomentum.com
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEpisode Outline- Opening reflections on mindfulness and “one moment at a time”
- Why The Mindful CEO started as a reaction to hustle culture
- Shawn Kunkler’s journey and the origins of Realtor180
- The emotional cost of production first business culture
- Real estate, identity, ego, and the pressure to perform
- What authentic leadership and human connection actually require
- Creating meaningful conversations instead of transactional networking
- Redefining success through presence, purpose, and alignment
42 min - I don't want to work that hard (and other confessions)Show Notes Summary
What happens when the goals you’ve been chasing stop feeling meaningful? In this candid conversation, Chris and Aaron unpack the tension many thoughtful entrepreneurs feel between wanting growth and refusing to sacrifice themselves to hustle culture. They explore why traditional motivation eventually breaks down, how shallow goals quietly drain energy, and what it looks like to build a future that genuinely pulls you forward. This episode is less about productivity and more about the deeper question underneath it all: what kind of life is actually worth organizing yourself around?
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEpisode Outline- Confessions, vulnerability, and why transparency matters
- The hidden exhaustion underneath self improvement culture
- Why external goals stop motivating thoughtful people
- The difference between pressure and future pull
- Business purpose versus personal purpose
- The problem with shallow definitions of success
- Aligned action versus alpha grind culture
- Creating an infinite game worth becoming for
39 min - 9D Transformational Breathwork with Tabatha DeBruynSHOW NOTES SUMMARY
What happens when the strategies stop working… and the real work begins? In this episode, we sit down with Tabatha DeBruyn to explore transformational breathwork as a doorway into the emotional and energetic layers most leaders avoid. This isn’t about productivity hacks or mindset tricks. It’s about what’s underneath the drive, the pressure, and the constant doing. We talk about control, surrender, stored emotion, and why the next level of leadership may require feeling more, not pushing harder.
Learn more about Tabatha at: https://www.tabatha.online
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World → https://thegratefulbreath.com/
Learn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less → https://www.therealtorsedge.com/EPISODE OUTLINE- Why High Performers Hit a Ceiling
The moment when strategy stops being the answer- What Breathwork Actually Is (And Isn’t)
Moving beyond the woo or skepticism into lived experience- Stored Emotion in the Body
How unprocessed experiences shape behavior and leadership- Control vs Surrender in Business
The tension leaders feel but rarely name- What Happens in a Breathwork Session
The real mechanics and emotional range people experience- Leadership After Emotional Release
How clarity, decisions, and relationships shift- The Future of Conscious Leadership
Why this kind of work is becoming less optional36 min - Why High Performers Hit a Ceiling
- Quantum Success with Russell NoheltySHOW NOTES SUMMARY
What if success isn’t about pushing harder, but about aligning deeper? In this conversation with Russell Nohelty, the guys explore what it means to build a business that actually feels good to live inside of. This isn’t theory. It’s the messy, real-world tension between making money and making meaning. They unpack creativity, identity, and the quiet realization that most people are chasing outcomes that don’t actually satisfy them. If you’ve ever felt successful on paper but off-center in your life, this conversation will land.
Learn more about Russell at: https://www.hapitalist.com/
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World → https://thegratefulbreath.com/
Learn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less → https://www.therealtorsedge.com/EPISODE OUTLINE- Meeting Russell and the Hapitalist
- Why traditional success models stop working
- The trap of building a business you don’t want to live in
- Creativity as a path, not just a product
- Making money without abandoning yourself
- Letting go of external validation as the scoreboard
- Redefining success on your own terms
52 min - Imposter Syndrome with Chris MillerShow Notes Summary
Most leaders assume imposter syndrome is just insecurity. In this conversation, Chris Miller breaks down why it’s often a deeper pattern tied to identity, success, stress, and survival. We explore how capable people become trapped in overworking, second guessing, and chasing proof they’re enough. If you’ve built something meaningful but still feel like you’re one mistake away from being exposed, this episode offers a smarter path forward, one rooted in awareness, resilience, and real confidence.
Learn more about Chris Miller
→ https://www.theleadershipmovement.netLearn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEpisode Outline1. Opening Banter and 136 Episodes InChris and Aaron reflect on consistency, staying in the game, and what it means to keep showing up.
2. Meet Chris MillerChris shares his unconventional rise into leadership, executive roles, and learning through experience instead of traditional paths.
3. The Cost of Success Without Self TrustHow high achievers compensate with long hours, pressure, and proving energy.
4. What Imposter Syndrome Really IsWhy it’s more than self doubt, and how identity distortion fuels it.
5. Why Capable People Struggle MostThe surprising link between competence and feeling like you don’t belong.
6. Rebuilding Confidence Through EvidenceHow to interrupt false stories and reconnect with what’s actually true.
7. Failure, Recovery, and Trying AgainWhy resilience matters more than certainty.
8. Final Thoughts and Where to Find ChrisChris shares details about his upcoming book Impostor and podcast.
42 min - Seeking vs Seeing with Kushal Choksi
Most entrepreneurs are taught to seek. More clients, more revenue, more growth. And while that drive builds businesses, it often carries an underlying tension that never quite resolves. In this episode, we explore the deeper distinction between seeking and seeing, and how that subtle shift changes everything from how you lead to how you experience your work. This isn’t about slowing down or giving up ambition. It’s about operating from a place that no longer needs the outcome to feel complete, and discovering what becomes possible when your work comes from awareness instead of lack.
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEPISODE OUTLINE- Opening: The invisible tension behind “success”
- Defining seeking vs seeing in real terms
- How seeking shows up in business decisions
- The emotional cost of chasing outcomes
- What shifts when you move into seeing
- Maintaining ambition without attachment
- Practical awareness in leadership and conversations
- Closing: What becomes possible from this place
39 min - The 2 Kinds of Cognition for ManifestingSHOW NOTES SUMMARY
Most conversations about manifestation stay stuck in either blind belief or hard skepticism. In this episode, we explore a quieter, more grounded middle. There are actually two kinds of cognition at play in how we create results, and most people are overusing one while ignoring the other. This isn’t about forcing outcomes or waiting for the universe to deliver. It’s about understanding how your mind filters reality, shapes perception, and ultimately determines what becomes possible in your world.
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEPISODE OUTLINE- Opening banter and the “Substack as DJ” idea
- Introducing the concept of two kinds of cognition
- Why most people default to one mode of thinking
- The limits of force, hustle, and over-efforting
- The role of perception in shaping reality
- How awareness changes what you notice and act on
- Bridging mindfulness with real-world results
- What it looks like to operate from a more integrated mind
48 min - The Real Tension Between Results and Human Leadership with Erin TreacySHOW NOTES
What actually creates results… pressure or people? In this conversation with Erin Treacy, we explore the tension most leaders feel but rarely name. The pull between driving outcomes and creating environments where people can actually thrive. This episode goes beyond leadership theory and into lived experience, where performance, culture, and humanity collide. If you’ve ever felt the quiet cost of pushing for results, this conversation will help you rethink what real leadership asks of you.
Learn more about Erin Treacy
→ https://www.coacherintreacy.comLearn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEPISODE OUTLINE- Framing the tension between results and people
- Erin’s background and early exposure to leadership in a family business
- The inherited models of leadership most people operate from
- Where “results at all costs” begins to break down
- The unseen cost of pressure on people and performance
- What it actually takes to nurture sustainable results
- Redefining leadership as an environment, not a demand
- Closing reflections on choosing a different way to lead
40 min - Trust the Universe - Whatever the fck that meansSHOW NOTES
What does it actually mean to “trust the universe” when you still have bills to pay, goals to hit, and people depending on you? In this episode, Chris and Aaron unpack the real tension between surrender and action, where mindfulness can drift into passivity, and where hustle turns into force. This isn’t about choosing one side. It’s about learning how to move in the middle, where awareness guides action, and where trust becomes something lived, not just something we say when we’re trying to feel better.
Learn more about How to Live a Grateful Life in a Fucked Up World
→ https://thegratefulbreath.comLearn more about From Hustle to Flow: Sell more by stressing less
→ https://www.therealtorsedge.comFind Aaron’s course on Stan.store here:
→ https://www.stan.store/realtorsedgeEPISODE OUTLINE- Opening banter and framing the phrase “trust the universe”
- Why the phrase feels incomplete or frustrating in real life
- The spectrum: surrender vs control vs force
- Where hustle culture distorts action and creates pressure
- Where passive “trust” becomes avoidance or disengagement
- Finding the middle path: responsive, aware action
- What it looks like to trust and act at the same time
- Practical reflections for leaders navigating uncertainty
42 min
About The Mindful CEO
From the publisher's feed
For socially conscious business owners who have a legacy beyond the transaction and want to grow their business mindfully.