The Optimized Life

36: Creating Clarity & Structure Around Money

In episode 36, we’re diving into part 2 of our 3-part series all about money.

In part 1, we talked about your relationship with money and why money triggers you.

In this episode, we’re focused on getting clear with your money right now. We’re talking about cash flow, what lights you up, and how you can start having a conscious spending life.

Listen in as we talk about:

5:56 How to define your core values (and why it matters)

11:14 Clarifying your ideal life (and how to have fun in the process)

17:09 The areas of our lives where we don’t budget (and how you can do this, too)

23:53 The essential practical step you must take in order to improve your relationship with money (this is where most people get stuck)

30:50 Our favorite tools for organizing and managing our money

43:03 Determining your own freedom number

Ready to learn about how to spend money to support your dream life right now? Take a little time and listen to episode 36 of The Optimized Life Podcast!

Resources mentioned:

35: Why You Avoid Money

How do you feel about money?

Does that question trigger you? If so, you’re not alone.

The truth is that no matter how we were raised, we all have stories about money that impact how we relate to money today. And for a lot of us, these beliefs and stories are holding us back from living the lives we want to live.

So in episode 35 of The Optimized Life Podcast, we’re kicking off a 3-part series all about money.

Listen in as we talk about:

4:33 No one taught us about managing money

9:17 How we’re taught scarcity around money

16:03 Looking back at the stories we were taught about money (and how they still impact us today)

25:01 Allowing your relationship with money to evolve without comparison

31:48 How to get clear on what matters to you (and what lights you up) when it comes to spending money

42:55 Changing the paradigm and spending money to live your best life now

Resources mentioned:

34: Working with Your Body's Natural Rhythms

You see posts on social media and you feel like everyone else has figured out this adulting thing and they’re sticking to a schedule, a routine, like a boss; and you’re a big hot mess with no structure, no schedule. Or maybe you are sticking to a schedule, but you’re exhausted and having to rely on caffeine or worse to get you through the slumps in your day. Can you relate?

Most of us have felt this way and have assumed that the problem is us -- we’re just not disciplined enough . But in this episode of the Optimized Life podcast, we’re going to challenge that assumption.

You see, the problem is not your ability to stick to a schedule or a routine, but rather, your ability to identify your body’s natural rhythms and develop a routine that optimizes those rhythms. And we can help.

In this episode, we’re going to tell you about our own experiences tuning into our bodys’ rhythms and the huge changes, which we previously thought were impossible, that we’ve experienced as a result.

We’re going deep with this topic and giving you the tools that you need to identify your own rhythms so you can work with them (instead of against them!) for optimal productivity.

Listen in as we talk about:

03:56 The external sources that have overridden our bodies’ natural states and rhythms

20:09 The significance of the circadian rhythm

23:46 The dangers of overriding our natural rhythms

25:02 The four phases of the menstrual cycle, which may be impacting your daily life in ways you don’t realize.

32:29 Chronotypes and how working with your chronotype can optimize your schedule or routine

Resources mentioned:

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

33: The Gut Brain Axis, Weight Loss & Happiness

Have you ever felt like you are doing all the things and still feel stuck? If so, this episode is for you.

On this episode of the Optimized Life podcast, we are joined by world renowned Psycho-Nutritionist and award-winning product formulator of nutraceuticals, Dr. Shawn Talbott.

Listen in as we dive into all thing gut-brain axis and how it impacts weight loss and happiness.

32: How to Feel Safe While Expanding into Something You’ve Never Been Before

What if paying attention to your gut microbiome could allow you to feel safe in the uncertainty while you expand into something you’ve never been before?

Introducing KEEP AUSTIN HAPPY!

A movement to feel good, more often and the ripple effect that could create in your life and in your family system.

Over the past two years, Covid and long Covid has profoundly impacted the way we function in our bodies, live, work and relate to one another.

Coupled with the rapidly shifting landscape of our world it created so much uncertainty.

Uncertainty around health, family routines, money, and the health of the planet.

What’s mind-blowing is that when given the choice ... people will always choose unhappiness over uncertainty ... think about that?

On this episode of the Optimized Life Podcast, we take a deep dive into the disorganized pattern Covid has created through that uncertainly and what these last two years have really shown us as a world and in our individual life.

• In your nervous system
• In your your body
• In your thought life
• In your relationships 

And how you decide what feels safe and what doesn’t feel safe thought the uncertainty

What it would feel like for you to be able trust yourself again, to feel safety from within and to be able to come back home to your body?

Listen in as we talk about:

1:15  How Covid has created the dysregulation we are seeing throughout every aspect of our life and the Keep Austin Happy Movement this is coming to Texas to help get us re-regulated

6:08  How uncertainty can keeps us stuck

12:32 How to create regulation in the nervous system

16:51 How the gut-brain axis impacts health, happiness and our ability to relate to the world

22:38 An introduction to the Keep Austin Happy Movement and how you can be part of it

How you can be part of the KEEPY AUSTIN HAPPY movement:

If you are in the Austin or surrounding areas, we invite you join us at our very 1st Keep Austin Happy event on Saturday, March 12th 2022 from 10am-1pm.

31: How to Feel Anger From a Place of Groundedness

In each of our lives, there will inevitably be someone or something that triggers in you either a burning rage or intense fear.

We know we should get it out of our nervous system and let it go, but that’s easier said than done. How can we so easily let someone off the hook after they cut us off in traffic? How can we not get angry when reading the heartbreaking news we wake up to everyday? Regardless of the reason, the fallout can often be damaging.

Fear and anger arise from a ‘perceived’ threat creating a fight-or-flight response in our body. While it’s not easy to distinguish in the moment whether it’s a genuine threat or a distorted thought, slowing down to do so helps create space for us to respond appropriately to these highly charged emotions.

In this episode of The Optimized Life Podcast, Jess and Amy share some of their personal experiences of dealing with emotions of fear and anger. 

They even outline actionable steps that they find helpful to regulate their emotions and connect with themselves.

Listen in as we talk about:

10:47 Amy explains how she creates awareness around her anger in order to feel it safely.

12:37 Jess relates her anger to excavating honesty and allowing it to exist instead of turning to aggression or numbing mechanisms

21:55 How anger can promote urgency, cooperation and collectivism

26:43 Jess goes deep into her personal experience with characterizing anger as an unmet need and how she’s come to express it in a healthy way in her marriage

34:02 Amy defines the four types of attachment and how most of us typically respond to anger brought forth by these patterns

45:17 Jess and Amy break down the actionable steps they are each doing to create space around anger in order to feel it from a grounded place

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

30: Consistency & How to Create More of It

Admit it. We all want consistency in our lives. In our eating habits, workout schedule, morning routine, cashflow, and even in our relationships…we crave consistency.

In an effort to better improve in this area, we buy all the best motivational books, watch the all recommended TedTalks and we hear the same message played back to us, “Consistency is the key to success.”

While that may be true…it begs the question how do we integrate consistency into our lives in a sustainable way? How do we stay consistent while still consciously and mindfully moving forward in our lives?

Nobody taught us that consistency involves priming our nervous systems with the energy to make those daily choices.

Nobody taught us that it’s safe to choose a frequency of consistency that works best for us and to not feel guilty about it.

Nobody taught us that wherever we are in our consistency process, we are worth celebrating and each of us should be…right now!

In Episode 31 of The Optimized Life Podcast, Jess and Amy get right down to the hard-to-grapple-with truth of what consistency is, what it’s not, how to maintain it, and all the ins and outs we were never taught about it.

Listen in as we talk about:

07:05 Jess brings clarity to how nervous system regulation and attachment patterns are the underlying key to being consistent

10:57 Amy uncovers how the role of technology and instant gratification relates to the way we view consistency for ourselves.

12:55 Learning to choose whatever form of consistency that works for you.

19:40 We learn that consistency is two steps forward, one step back with occasional doubt creeping in.

22:06 Practicing celebration to expand your nervous system.

27:05 Amy divulges how we can bring compassion to ourselves as we experience signs of dysregulation.

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

29: Ayahuasca and What Comes Next

Ayahuasca is way more than just “showing up and throwing up.” It helps your brain to rewire neuropathways, it allows your body to purge things that are no longer serving you, it heals the body and boosts mental well-being. With proper integration post ceremony, it has the power to create profound, positive changes in your life.

Fresh off of a 3 day Ayahuasca ceremony, Jess reflects on back on her most recent medicine journey, the positive changes she is experiencing post ceremony and what comes next ... which is where the "integration" comes in. 

Integration is such an important part of the healing journey as it allows you process and make sense of everything that came up during ceremony.

But what exactly does integration look like?

In Episode 30 of The Optimized Life Podcast, Jess and Amy take you through the sweeping narrative of experiencing Ayahuasca. They recount each day’s moments with a specific visualization of the events as they happened, the ups, downs and how each of their experiences are still plugging into their daily lives, guiding them.

We’re inviting you into an extremely informative and interesting conversation between friends. As you listen, we invite you to purposefully reflect on your own experiences and feelings.

Listen in as we talk about:

3:30 Jess’ experience of exploring different groundbreaking modalities, and turning to Ayahuasca to transform her whole family system

14:24 What psychedelics do to our brain to create new neural pathways

20:08 Approaching integration that’s sourced from the inside and a connection with oneself

36:15 Amy reflects on awakening and releasing trauma by holding space for relief

39:23 The role of Ayahuasca in connecting us back to the natural world

42:06 Jess and Amy share the energy shifts they went through in their life after experiencing Ayahuasca

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

28: Feeling Through Love and Loss

Today Jess and Amy are sharing their very own experiences of grief, loss and also the profound joy that comes with the celebration of life.

Death and unconditional love are entirely interdependent. You can't have one without the other.

Our nervous systems have evolved in a way to protect us and keep us safe, and that includes resistance to change. So the big question is, how do we open ourselves up to that inevitable change that we have no control over?

Sometimes we need to just sit in the discomfort in our own bodies and hold the space. And just that experience in itself will teach you so much.

We're going to get really personal here, so however you need to take care of yourself please do it. Get your weighted blanket out, a nice warm cup in your hands, take a few grounding breaths, whatever feels good to you. We look forward to sharing this with you.

Listen in as we talk about:

07:40 Amy explains how our nervous system is designed in a way that it does not want us to feel grief.

9:55 Jess recounts her first silent meditation retreat experience where she learned the meaning of two powerful words; “equanimity” and “anicha”.

12:13 How we have all experienced trauma on a global level through the pandemic. collectively feel that there's a lot of grief, a lot of trauma, a lot of mourning in that.

12:36 Jess shares her very personal experience of recently losing a beloved pet and how her conscious lifestyle allowed her to feel into that without needing to find a numbing mechanism.

17:17 Amy dives into why one of the big things that we're not taught as children is to allow feelings of grief to happen.

18:29 Amy shares on a micro level how the avoidance of feeling impacted her relationships for most of her life.

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

Episode 27: What Stops You from Dreaming Big

There's something that's happening right now called the great resignation. People are looking for more fulfillment, more flexibility in their lives. They are starting to dream bigger.

Bigger dreams lead to bigger action, right? And bigger action leads to being able to have more financial resources and more financial resources leads to being able to make a greater impact. That impact leads to that bigger sense of purpose and more happiness.

Did you know that our dreams really stem from what makes us feel alive? Our dreams are fueled by the gifts that we know are inside of us, but have yet to bring forward to the world.

With that, there are so many things that get in the way of people being able to think bigger and to dream bigger.

In this episode Jess and Amy discuss all the obstacles and hurdles we face that stop us from dreaming big every single day.

Listen in as we talk about:

4:53 The number one thing that stops us from dreaming big.

11:53 How our dreams come to us when we are little when we still have the freedom and ability to dream big.

14:48 Amy recounts how she was able to get clear about how to bring her dream to life and define her mission to serve people by creating a safe space to help people communicate better.

26: Learning to Trust Yourself

What does it mean to trust fully?

“Trust is defined as choosing risk, making something you value vulnerable to another person's options.” - Charles Feltman

Knowing how to trust yourself is such a fun and timely topic to come back to our truth in this world that feels so chaotic right now. There is no better exercise for you to do in order to get grounded, stand strong in your full expression of yourself, and block out the external noise around out.

On this episode of the podcast, Jess and Amy share their own experiences with trust and how If you focus on your own truth and expression of that truth, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the world around you is going through.

We are probably never going to feel 100% in alignment but there really is something to showing up and trusting yourself consistently that, if you follow your instincts, will lead you to alignment with your true self.

Listen in as we talk about:

6:08 Amy shares what fully trusting herself and being vulnerable looks like in her own life.

9:48 Jess puts words to how trusting herself in sobriety requires a conscious effort to fully trust herself and express her truth.

20:34 Amy walks us through how our attachment styles as children shows up throughout life as it affects our relational ability to trust ourselves and others.

25:55 Jess and Amy discuss how living in alignment and trusting yourself go hand in hand.

35:00 Jess demonstrates her own vulnerability by sharing her walk with her husband as she chooses consciousness daily.

Resources mentioned:

Dan Siegel's work - The Whole Brain Child / childhood developmental stages

25: Life Beyond the Amends Process

Why are the action steps so difficult for people when working through the 12 steps to recovery? Because if your nervous system is not regulated and optimized then it is all too easy to revert back to familiar coping mechanisms instead of facing your fears and owning your past.

On this episode of the podcast, we are talking about what it looks like in your life as a person who chooses recovery. It is our belief that we are all recovering from something and it's how you live in your body, how you embody the process of letting go that really moves you forward.

This conversation is all about how to live beyond the ninth step and really embody the amends process. We are discussing how to live in a state where you trust yourself to forgive and to move on in a way where you actually feel in your body that you've let go

Jess and Amy both share their personal experiences with the 12 step process and how they chose to live beyond the steps and heal from the bottom up.

Listen in as we talk about:

04:16 Why cleaning up your side of the street, as they call it, is so important in recovery.

05:52 Amy shares her experience with diving into the 12 step process of recovery before her nervous system was ready and how that caused her to return to past coping mechanisms as a result.

14:32 Jess shares how she worked through the program by leaving behind the things that don't work for her and incorporating other modalities that do.

15:45 Why it is important to work with somebody qualified to help you do your trauma work before you do the Amends process.

25:39 Why understanding how to regulate your nervous system before doing the steps also is so important.

32:53 Attachment patterns also play a big role in the amends process and are usually uncovered when you work through your trauma with somebody qualified.

Resources mentioned:

24: Nona Kindsvater - How to Take Your Health to the Next Level in Recovery

If you have ever been on a journey of recovery, you know there are several stepping stones to get to a place of healing. When we let go of addictive patterning, we almost always realize that we are physically unwell. Our guest today has over 25 years of experience in holistic nutrition and alternative medicine and specializes in complex health issues. She has also experienced this process first hand.

On this episode of the podcast, we talk about how to nurture our health and heal our gut biome, in order to restore, repair and optimize our bodies after addiction.

With us today is the incredible Nona Kindsvater. Nona is the founder and owner of Health Thyme and is based in beautiful Wyoming. After her own battle with a crippling autoimmune disease, the medical field had given up on her. So she started her own journey of discovery and recovery that grew into an Integrative, Complementary & Alternative Medicine degree. Her credentials include Master Medical Herbalist, Clinical Aromatherapy and Holistic Nutritional Practitioner from the American College of Healthcare services.

Listen in as we talk about:

09:53 Nona explains the importance of vitamins in the recovery journey.

12:34 The correlation between anger and your health

14:27 The importance of paying attention to what's going on in the body and how it’s so much more than just taking supplements or eating better.

19:03 Nona talks about how she uses a step-down system to replace addictive behavior.

25:05 Nona walks us through the steps in the healing process

31:10 The power of believing in yourself on the healing journey

——— Podcast Guest: Nona Kindsvater ———

Nona Kindsvater founded Health Thyme, LLC from her own battle with a crippling autoimmune illness. After the medical field gave up on her, she then started a journey of discovery and recovery that grew into a, Integrative, Complementary & Alternative Medicine degree, including Master Medical Herbalist, Clinical Aromatherapy and Holistic Nutrition Practitioner from American College of Healthcare Sciences. She has over 25 years of experience in her field and specializes in complex health issues.

23: Pressure to find your purpose

Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is? Whether this is something you think about all the time, or something you haven’t given much thought to, take a little time to listen to episode 23.

In this episode, we talk about this idea of purpose, what it is, and the pressure to be on purpose, to live on purpose, to have a purpose. We will also talk about our experiences with purpose, and all the different ways that we’ve looked for it and what we found.

Listen in as we talk about:

01:56 Jess talks about her experience with pressure after quitting her corporate job, even though she wasn’t happy doing that job anymore

02:37 Jess shares about the pressure of finding your purpose after getting sober

08:00 Amy shares how she has felt pressure in so many areas of her life, and how it has played a role in her decision making before and after being sober

10:55 Personality tests and how it has added pressure to both Amy, Jess and many others, and the importance of taking them with a grain of salt and doing your own research on them

24:40 How the pressure to live on purpose can bring people down a rabbit hole of finding something that could fix that pressure

33:51 How making small changes in our daily routines can help regulate the nervous system and can help create great things and live on purpose

Resources mentioned:

22: How to Ditch Ruminating Thoughts and Overwhelm

Have you ever found yourself replaying conversations and scenarios over and over again in your head? Whether they have or haven’t happened, or whether they’re maybe going to happen.

When we can't see something, our brain goes and tries to find evidence of what it might look like.

This leads us to ruminating, overthinking, over-analyzing, and attempting to control things.

Ruminating thinking is excessive or repetitive thinking centered on something that's happened in the past or something that hasn't yet happened. 

As you may know, that sort of thinking really triggers a multitude of other behaviors that do not serve us.

In this episode we are going to be diving into what ruminating thinking really is, how to recognize it, and how we can ditch it for good!

Listen in as we talk about:

01:57 Amy shares how ditching ruminating thinking altogether has helped her this past year to just let go and do more things she actually wants to do.

03:08 Jess talks about how the pandemic has really forced us to change our way of thinking

05:05 Amy shares how ruminating thinking has been present in her life, and the coping behaviors that don’t work long term

10:32 Jess shares how ruminating thinking showed up in her life and the resulting patterns that became disruptive to her well being

16:00 The importance of talking to our children about ruminating thinking

19:00 How prioritizing mental wellness and speaking up about it plays a major role in minimizing ruminating thinking

21:58 How noticing what's happening in and around your body helps you to understand when you are ruminating

30:00 Jess and Amy talk about the important role that your nervous system, nutrition, and stress levels play in eliminating ruminating thinking

Resources mentioned:

21: Mike Govoni - Healing Masculine Energy

On this episode of the podcast we’re talking about how healing masculine energy, no matter your gender, can help you in your life, relationships, business and how you interact with money.

With us today is Mike Govoni. He is passionate about healing people in recovery and giving them a greater healing and transformation. He's been in recovery for over 16 years and has extensive experience in working in addiction recovery and has experienced, including supporting three major hospital emergency rooms in the Boston area, as well as working with both individuals and in group settings.

Mike is also trauma informed, which means that he looks at everything through the lens of trauma. He does a great job of creating a safe place for people to connect with their own body and achieve long term recovery.

Listen in as we talk about:

4:28 Mike’s journey to entrepreneurship

6:12 How Mike’s purpose in life shifted and how he started using his story of healing to help other people

12:50 The challenges Mike faced around finding his identity with the masculine energy influence he had outside home. While being raised by a gay father who was instilling feminine energy around him.

13:58 How society and culture has made it hard for men in general to be vulnerable and get more of the feminine softness and how it is a journey for a lot of men

21:00 How Mike accepted his feminine energy and how it has helped him get in touch with his dad

29:52  How knowledge of masculine and feminine energy helps in connecting to people and how being soft can be a sign of strength for men

——— Podcast Guest: Mike Govoni ———

Mike Govoni helps people take their life in recovery to the next level. He takes an integrative holistic approach and believes in addressing the whole person mind, body and spirit.

20: The Power of Letting Go

In this episode of The Optimized Life Podcast, we're diving into the power of letting go. I mean, how relevant is this topic right now? So just as we're starting to presence this, think to yourself, what are you holding onto that's no longer serving you. What is taking up space in your head? What keeps you up at night?

Listen in as we talk about:

1:50 Amy shares her opinion on some outdated belief systems she has learned through the 12 step model and why they no longer work for her

6:52 How to let go of relationships that no longer serves us (with grace and ease)

18:06 Letting go of resentments and anger

39:15 The importance of having support during the act of letting go

41:42 Jess talks about how meditation, loving kindness, prayer and gratitude has helped in the releasing process

43:10 Amy talks about how accepting all of who you are can be a beautiful thing and a part of letting go

Resources mentioned:

19: Mackenzie McGehee - How to Create Healthy Love

Did anyone give you a handbook on love and dating before you entered into that space of the world? Yeah, us neither. But lucky for you our guest today has dedicated her life’s calling to helping single women see that their dating behaviors, beliefs and patterns make sense based on their history.

On this episode of the podcast, we are going to be talking about love, dating, relationships and regulation and how we do all of these things in this very interesting time in our lives and in this world.

With us today is Mackenzie McGehee. Mackenzie is a love coach who helps successful women stay true to themselves in dating. She is so passionate about healthy love because, maybe like you, she didn't have a roadmap on how to go about that. She gets so lit up by helping women understand the blocks they have in their pursuit of love, and gives them the tangible next steps to have a different dating experience.

Listen in as we talk about:

02:42 Mackenzie explains what she calls “undertow” in our unconscious

05:56 What we wished we had learned in school about life, love, money and relationships

09:04 Mackenzie shares her past and undertow and how it affects her life today

14:05 Mackenzie walks us through the process of helping people feel comfortable in their bodies

19:53 What can sabotage your success in dating and relationships

26:02 The power of showing up and feeling comfortable in your own skin

33:45 What it looks like to choose consciousness at a high level

34:49 Mackenzie’s example of putting her needs and boundaries on the table from the beginning and why it’s such a compassionate approach to dating

——— Podcast Guest: Mackenzie McGehee ———

Mackenzie helps successful women stay true to themselves in dating. 

18: Coregulation and Building Safe Connections

Deep down we all long to connect with others in meaningful and authentic ways. Sometimes we think we are doing this, but we become so good at showing people what we want them to see and hiding the less desirable parts of ourselves. Through deeper connections with ourselves and with others, we begin to see healing from our trauma.

In Episode 18 of The Optimized Life Podcast, we’re talking about the special place that connections and co-regulation have in our journeys and how it can help you find clarity, courage and confidence in your life.

As we unpack co-regulation we cover what it means to build safe connections, noticing the little things around us, listening and learning from one another and continuing to regulate our nervous systems.

Listen is as we talk about:

2:07 - The lens of dilution and how we shield ourselves from others

7:03 - Healthy co-regulation in relation to the last 12 months

8:21 - What it feels like to have a visceral connection experience

16:25 - Co-regulating in a healthy way within friendships and family contexts

20:06 - Healing unhealed trauma

23:46 - Building courage and confidence through a relationship with someone who will fully listen to you

26:53 - Be your best with what works for your body via sleep, time for yourself and/or meditation

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

17: Eva Medilek - How to Be an Ally for People of Color

Over the past year, more of us are waking up to the systemic racism within our country. And while many of us mean well and want to be allies for people of color, the truth is that we often don’t know where to start.

So in episode 17 of The Optimized Life Podcast, we’re bringing in a guest expert to help us learn more about how to be an ally. We’re talking with certified high-performance coach and relationship success coach, Eva Medilek. Eva specializes in helping powerful, successful women have happier, healthier, more intimate connections in their relationships without giving up their power.

She uses her personal experiences along with her leadership, transformational and high performance training to teach you the pillars of high performance as well as showing you how to communicate in a way that fosters intimacy, influence and connection in your personal and professional life.

Listen in as we talk about:

2:22 Eva’s experience as a high-achiever and how this experience led to a wake up call

8:28 The experience of blending in but abandoning your true self

10:0) Taking 100% responsibility for your relationships

15:28 Generational trauma and the expectation of being “strong”

19:27 What many white people get wrong about being an ally (and the safe space Eva has created for us to learn how to be an ally)

26:02 The real work of being an ally for people of color

29:59 Why your relationship styles and inner work matter when it comes to being an ally

38:47 How to be a part of the solution

——— Podcast Guest: Eva Medilek ———

Eva helps highly successful, driven, high achieving, Executives, Entrepreneurs, Influencers, and Business Leaders get their drive back to go to the next level without isolating, exhausting, and sacrificing their lives in the process.

Where to find Eva:

16: The Patterns That Keep You Stuck

The BEST thing we can be doing right now to change the world is to heal our emotional trauma and get OPTIMIZED.

Especially as entrepreneurs.

Emotional trauma and unresolved patterns play a big role in how we show up for our relationships, our commitments, and our businesses.

So this week on The Optimized Life Podcast, we’re taking a look at the patterns that are holding you back.

Join us for this episode, where we’ll uncover the patterns that are holding you back, illuminate how they might be showing you up in your life, and will guide you through the first steps you can take right now to start moving forward.

Listen in as we talk about:

4:15 - What is attachment theory? (and why does it matter?)

9:47 - These are the 4 main attachment styles or patterns

10:36 - The missing piece in healing and recovery strategy

16:20 - The good news (and not so good news) about attachment patterns

24:09 - How you relate to one thing is how you relate to everything

28:16 - How to optimize the patterns that are holding you back

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

15: Jesse Harless - Harnessing Your Strengths To Shift From Addiction To Abundance

We can all use a little inspiration and whenever you’re doing something new in your life, it helps to hear from those who have been where you are and are a bit further along.

In episode 15, we’re talking all about the journey From Addition to Abundance with Jesse Harless. Jesse is a leader and facilitator in the addiction recovery and mental health space. As CEO of Entrepreneurs in Recovery®, he facilitates highly experiential online and in-person events that help individuals and organizations harness their strengths, elevate purpose, and build safety.

Listen in as we talk about:

4:21 - The journey to entrepreneurship - Jesse shares his story

5:08 - Core wounds and how they impact us throughout our lives

6:46 - Addiction and what we’re really seeking

7:38 - The decision point that led Jesse to turn his life around

8:43 - The support and tools that helped Jesse heal

12:06 - The entrepreneurial mindset and how it relates to recovery

17:50 - The importance of safety in creating what you want in life

21:41 - An “impossible” dream that Jesse’s recently brought to life

25:55 - The simple habits that can change your life

33:08 - What no one ever taught Jesse (and what he wishes he’d learned at an earlier age)

37:49 - Jesse’s struggle with anxiety and the challenge that helped him

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

14: Freedom Is a State of Mind

In this episode, we’re talking about one of our favorite topics - optimizing your state of mind.

Even when we’re in this period when it feels like there’s so much happening beyond our control, we actually have the ability to take our power back.

Join us this week as we talk about our own experiences in creating freedom through shifting our inner states and share simple practices you can use today to start optimizing your state of mind.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

(2:23) How your emotions can stay consistent no matter what is happening outside of you

(8:39) The truth that no one taught you about feelings and validation

(10:50) How to learn to feel safe in your body (and why this matters)

(17:03) Some of the simplest ways to optimize and get into flow state

(20:20) The power of what you’re feeding your brain - both through nutrition and the words you use

(33:50) One of our favorite practices for easily returning to your optimized state of mind

———Download The Optimized Life Toolkit———

13: Hiep Tran - Creating Residual Income Through Mental Wellness

(2:45) Hiep’s journey into entrepreneurship

(6:05)  Entrepreneurship and mental health

(7:39) The birth of Amare Global, the world’s 1st Mental Wellness Company – the vision to create the largest mental wellness company in the world

(11:40) Why mental wellness

(21:25) The power of residual income

(28:08) Why network marketing as the distribution model

About Hiep Tran:

Hiep is husband, father, and successful entrepreneur. In 2008, he co-founder and principal of Meritus Payment Solutions. Meritus was named one of Orange County's Fastest growing businesses. Meritus was acquired by Optimal Payments in 2014 for $225 million. He then became CEO of payment processing for Paysafe (Formerly Optimal Payments) until resigning in 2016. Paysafe was sold in 2017 for 3.9 billion.

Hiep's new venture is Amare Global, the worlds 1st Mental Wellness Company. Amare Global is a company committed to creating high quality health and nutrition products that connect people around the world. Our products will vitalize the mind and body. Our passion is to promote a healthy lifestyle and inspire personal growth. We focus on excellence and integrity throughout our product development, people development, and ultimately the customer experience. Amare means “To Love” in Latin, and we believe Love is the most powerful human connection. By empowering people to connect through our innovative products and platform, we will grow together and reach beyond our limits.

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Episode 12: Amplifying Your Message & Impact Through Podcasting

(1:31) Finding your voice

(5:50) Your life experience matters, use your life experience to make an impact

(6:55) Podcast statistics 

(13:22) Have fun with the process, flow with the details

(17:01) How we got started with The Optimized Life Podcast

(20:31) How to make your podcast real

Podcast tools:

Anchor - free hosting and distribution platform

Canva - make your podcast cover and episode images

Filmora - video/audio editing 

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Episode 11 Show Notes: Optimizing Your Environment For Remote Work

(3:15) Being highly scheduled with purposed while working remotely

(4:50) Before you start your week do this

(7:00) Getting honest with your time

(10:15) Optimizng your time through time blocking

(12:10) Plan your work and day around your energy levels - listen to your body

(14:29) Listen up women!

(16:23) Tips and strategies to optimize your remote work environment

(21:10) Take frequent breaks to boost productivity

Episode References:

Book Reference - When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink

Cycle Tracking App -  https://myflotracker.com/

Loop Habit Tracker App - https://loophabits.org/ 

Standing Desks - https://www.upliftdesk.com/

Bluelight Blocking Glasses - Diff Eyewear

Gut-Brain Axis/Mental Optimization System - https://www.amare.com/10043/en-us/combo-pack

Sleep+ (helps body create its own melatonin) - https://www.amare.com/10043/en-us/SleepPlus

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Episode 10: Show Notes: Optimizing Your Belief Systems

(1:13) Tony Robbins on belief systems

(4:50) How many of you have struggled with believing in yourself?

(7:25) A framework to shift your belief systems 

(21:43) New level, new devil 

(26:52) Learning to what your body is telling you without resorting to OTC medications 

(35:46) Suggestions to optimize your belief system

Additional Resources:

Muscle testing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKCQCHbbJWM

A simple 3 step framework to help you shift your belief systems

1. Ask, check in with your body and test the new belief by asking yourself do I believe this while holding your hand over your heart. If you can feel your heartbeat then its a yes. Then take some time to download the new belief into your body. If you cant feel your heartbeat then something is misaligned. 
2. Take the action to show your body that it's safe to believe that
3. Get really clear on the belief and share it with someone you trust

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Episode 9  Show Notes: Optimizing Your Nervous System

(00:52) How to make your nervous system you ally

(6:41) Have you ever felt this way in Costo?

(10:06) What no one told you about what it looks like to have an optimized nervous system

(14:04) Dulling the nervous system vs treating the root cause

(15:45) Over giving leads to resentment

(19:22) Over controlling much? Gift yourself a break

(21:35) Ways to optimize your nervous system

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Episode 8 Show Notes - Optimizing Your Relationships

(2:00) You don't have to sit through a bad movie because you paid it

(5:01) Do you unconsciously take baggage from one relationship to another?

(9:33) Do you pause to ask yourself if you feel safe in your relationships

(14:00) The feelings were always there but I didn't know how to express them

(15:00) I didn't just start to feel this way, I just started to have to courage to say these things out loud

(19:57)  An optimized relationship through Jess's eyes

(27:12) What I wish someone would have taught me

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Episode 7 Show Notes - Optimizing the Way You Generate Money

(1:10) Optimizing the way you generate

(4:56) Do you love the action you to take moment to moment as you are generating?

(6:43) Do you feel overwhelmed, stressed out or anxious while you are working?

(14:20) The excuses you be making

(24:24) What no one told you about generating

(33:57) Have you suddenly been faced with homeschooling, an unemployed partner or a reduced salary?

(36:50) The 4 things you can start doing today

Take Action

Define your core values - https://www.cmu.edu/career/documents/my-career-path-activities/values-exercise.pdf

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6: Danielle DiGrandi - What Optimizing Looks Like in Real Life

(3:50) Danielle's optimization story and how she was finally able set healthy boundaries

(7:32) Traditional recovery vs optimized recovery

(12:05) How Danielle optimized her mental wellness

(15:30) How plant medicine allowed Danielle to take her recovery to the next level

(24:51) Combining your practices as way of life

(25:13) Creating financial abundance through living on purpose

Podcast Guest: Danielle DiGrandi

Danielle helps sober millennial women claim their power and up-level their mindset, wellness and prosperity

Episode 5 Show Notes: Optimizing Your Financial Wellness Without Guilt and Shame

(2:34) How COVID-19 can be an opportunity for you

(5:29) Financial wellness starts with knowing your numbers

(6:28) More is never enough mentality 

(11:26) How big do you want to play?

(13:20) Taking your power back and decoupling from societal conditioning

(6:40) The importance of how you feel while you are making money

(24:23) Conditioning of generation financial trauma 

(33:10) Residual income: work smarter not harder

(45:00) Are you ready to optimize your financial wellness?

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Episode 4 Show Notes: Optimizing Your Life With Plant Medicine and Psychedelics with Ian Benouis

4:26 How optimizing is a lifetime journey 

5:44 - Taking care of yourself is the best low side to having a positive impact on the world

5:50 - If you know anyone who has served in the military 

9:24 - Getting through something and not around something is the power of this medicine

11:18 This medicine is in phase 3 trails at the FDA

11:37 The systematic medicating of our kids 

13:56 - The western medicine masking to the plant medicine healing journey of our military

17:23 Ibogaine for addiction - the receptor reset

18:11 Customized healing with bufo (frog medicine), ayahuasca, mushrooms (psilocybin), san pedro (peyote)

19:09 The fine line between self medicating and healing

22:09 You are what you eat and the significance of your 2nd brain (your gut)

23:28 What a guide looks like in this process

26:40 The chemical make up of plant medicine (get into the scientific weeds)

About our guest:

Ian Benouis, JD, is the General Counsel of Veterans for Natural Rights (VNR), a 501c3 dedicated to veteran healing and reintegration. He is a West Point graduate, former Blackhawk helicopter pilot, former US Army officer and combat veteran who participated in Operation Just Cause in the Republic of Panama the biggest operation in history directed towards the War on Drugs. He has been healing himself for over 25 years with natural earth medicines, a spiritual practice, and as a student and practitioner of ethnobotany. He has organized and participated in numerous trips with veterans to Mexico, Peru and other locations for ethnobotanical healing. This work has been captured in documentaries including From Shock to Awe and Soldiers of the Vine.

Where to find Ian:

3: Optimizing Your Stress Resilience with Gut-Brain Axis Expert Dr Shawn Talbott

(3:35) Dr Shawn on the relationship between uncertainty and stress

(6:50) Dr Shawn on what drives you to drink and use

(7:45) Take the mental wellness quiz here: http://10043.amarecontent.com

(8:50) Stop the overwhelm before it turns into anxiety

(11:10) Putting together all the tools in your toolbox

(15:00) When bone broth and kombucha isn't enough

(17:45) Whats in it for you

About Dr Shawn Talbott:

Dr. Shawn Talbott is fascinated by the links between diet, biochemistry and psychology: the idea that what we eat changes the biochemistry of our bodies, and influences how we think, feel and behave. The “gut-brain axis” is what Doc Talbott refers to as, “The missing piece of the puzzle,” for optimizing mood, energy, focus and overall wellbeing. “Understanding the connection between our microbiome and our brain is fundamentally changing how we think about human performance, both physically and mentally.”

Doc Talbott holds a MS in Exercise Science from University of Massachusetts and a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Rutgers. He also holds advanced certificates in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from MIT. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American College of Nutrition. As a Diplomate of the International Olympic Committee’s Sports Nutrition program, he has educated elite-level athletes in a variety of sports including at the United States Olympic Training Centers.

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Episode 2 Show Notes: Optimizing Your Mental Wellness - What No One Taught You

(:57) Optimizing Your Mental Wellness - what no one taught you

(2:05) Feeling an emotion 

(2:47) Adverse childhood experiences

(7:54) Coping mechanisms started to show up

(12:50) Getting to the root cause

(24:22) The Sledgehammer approach you might be taking

(29:52) The real optimal life happens when ... 

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Episode 1 Show Notes:  How to Optimize Your Boundaries

(:52) Jess Intro 

(7:44) Amy Intro 

(12:36) Jess Why setting healthy limits feels hard 

(13:31) Amy/Jess Defining healthy limits 

(15:30) Amy What fear feels like when you set a limit with family 

(16:20) Amy Safety comes from within

(16:50) Amy You reserve the right to change your mind at anytime

(17:05) Amy Can you communicate the limit effectively 

(20:00) Jess explains how it negatively impacted her life and how its likely impacting yours

(21:50) Jess How saying yes is bad for both of you

(23:00) Amy How to optimize what we already have with limits and boundaries

(24:10) Amy Be clear, concise and compassionate 

(27:00) Amy/Jess Getting more done by doing less

(29:00) Key takeaways - how do you optimize your boundaries?

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