Your True Calling Podcast
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The Secret to Finding Your Purpose
I first helped people find their life calling by accident. While teaching self-actualization and creativity workshops, my clients started rediscovering amazing superpowers they'd suppressed since childhood. They not only became more creative but went on to find purposeful careers and passion projects using their newfound gifts. The podcast closes by providing hints for finding your own hidden superpowers. (Pssst! That's the secret to finding your calling.) Play Episode.
Overcoming Fear and Perfectionism
If you're like most people, you haven't followed your calling because your inner critic scares the bejesus out of you. K-CRAP, the radio station that plays 24/7 in your head, tells you you're not good enough to reach your dreams and keeps you stuck in a meaningless life. You may have grown so used to it that you don’t hear it anymore, but it’s holding you back big time. This podcast shows you how to gently bypass KCRP, tune into your soul's guidance, and gather delicious clues for becoming the person you were born to be. Play Episode.
A 91 Year Old's Advice for a Happy Life
June Smith is a professional writer and incredible dancer who is still going strong at age 91. She lives in a condo with an ocean view near Santa Cruz, California, and is a powerful manifester. This podcast discusses how June discovered her writing and dancing superpowers and created a richly rewarding life. She also divulges her secret to success by doing what she loves and following "the nudge." The podcast includes hints for how you can find your superpowers and purpose, too. Play Episode.
How the Wrong Job Can Lead to Your Right Career
Buck O'Kelly meandered through a few jobs before finding his true vocation as a custom furniture builder and co-owner of Inventia Design in Portland, Oregon. He and I talk about how our first jobs can help us find our life calling when we take note of the skills and values that make us come alive. We also discuss the importance of play and how Buck found success in the furniture-making business by carving out his own niche. We end with a spirited discussion of what it's like to get into a flow state and why it's the most direct way to discover our unique gifts. Play Episode.
You are Born with Superpowers
You came into the world with a unique set of strengths to answer your calling. But you may have overlooked them because they came so naturally to you. Your superpowers don’t need to be ultra-amazing such as flying or shapeshifting to be significant. Your greatness comes from the particular combination of passions and abilities that make you YOU. In today's episode, I talk to Dana Hazell — one of the best massage therapists I've ever had — about how she rediscovered her innate talent for doing massage. She describes how she combined this gift with her sports background and scientific interest in the human body to follow her life calling, and how you can bring it all together to find your purpose, too. Play Episode.
The Power of Seeing Your Own Greatness
Diane Dreher, Ph.D., is the best-selling author of "Tao of Inner Peace" and four other books. She is an award-winning university professor and positive psychology researcher whose work on hope has been recognized internationally. In this podcast, we discuss how Diane found her true purpose and helps clients discover their own gifts and calling. She shares how being seen by just one person empowers us to recognize our own personal greatness. Diane also talks about using the free VIA character survey to discover our unique strengths and listening to our intuition to find our true path in the world. Play Episode.
Bust Limiting Beliefs and Boost Confidence
Line Hilton is a UK-based jazz singer, clinical hypnotherapist, and resilience coach. She blew me away with how quickly she helped singers improve their performances at an educational songwriters meeting and I immediately booked her for my podcast. Line gives up powerful tools to blast through self-limiting beliefs, such as "I'm not good enough" and "I'm invisible," and build self-confidence so that we can succeed in life as our true selves. She also describes helping clients reach their goals by developing a growth mindset, and what it's like to pursue a range of interests and careers as a "multipotentialite" rather than follow a single North Star. Play Episode.
Find Your Purpose Through Role Models
Meet Emma Hirsch, a 23-year-old novelist and supervisor at Youthline, a crisis support center for teenagers. Recently accepted into the graduate program at the University of Oregon to become a therapist, Emma shares with us how she merges her writing and psychology superpowers in her new novel and work. She's a true inspiration to us all, showing us the importance of discovering and combining our own unique talents and passions to succeed in life. Emma and I also talk about how to embrace new experiences, release attachment to outcomes, and seek out role models to discover our life calling. Play Episode.
The Power of Authenticity and Kindness
Rudy Zambrano is a fantastic hairstylist and an incredibly kind person. I met him after I got lost on the way to my first gig in Portland during the Rose Parade. Hundreds of people passed by before Rudy came out of nowhere to help. We talk about how Rudy struggled as a gay Latino man to be his true self and follow his calling. The #1 regret of the dying is that they wish they'd dared to live their purpose, not the life others expected of them. Learn how Rudy persevered and you can, too. Rudy and I also discuss how most of us (except the dark triad personality) can develop our kindness superpower and the surprising health benefits of being kind to ourselves and others. Play Episode.
Indiginous Wisdom for Living a Balanced Life
I am deeply inspired by Buffalo Child, a Plains Cree Native American who generously shares his wisdom and culture to help us experience the sacred every day. We talk about the importance of slowing down, living in balance, and removing false labels put on us by others so that we can shine as our true selves. Renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung's concept of the golden shadow leads me to believe that our buried superpowers are nuggets of gold that can light the way to our purpose. We also discuss how Buffalo was called to lead a powerful Summer Solstice ceremony at Serpent Mount and how we often find our calling by being true to ourselves in the moment. Play Episode.
The Power of Purpose and Prayer
Reverend Dr. Sunshine Michelle Coleman is an inspiring Senior Minister at the Oakland Center for Spiritual Living in CA. She shares her life experiences, tools, and concepts for living a greater life and authentic self-expression. Sunshine Michelle has a doctorate in Transformative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies. We talk about how she left a career as a model to go into Human Resources while studying spirituality on the side and eventually combined her superpowers to answer her higher calling to be a minister. Play Episode.
What Makes You Come Alive?
Maria Williquette is an extraordinary psychotherapist and yoga instructor who heals us on the mat with her words. Her classes and retreats are always packed with adoring students, and I'm happy to be one of them. Maria's secret to success comes from combining her therapy and yoga superpowers in her dual careers. She also stays present with her clients and comes from the heart in everything she does. We talk about how to find your calling by giving yourself the space to notice what makes you come alive. We also discuss ways you can merge your unique gifts and why being kicked off the path you thought you should be on can help you find your true purpose. Play Episode.
It's Never Too Late to Answer Your Calling
Hannah Onstad is a powerhouse businesswoman who answered her calling to write fiction after climbing the corporate ladder. She's also one of the first and brightest students I taught as a psychology professor. We talk about what inspired her to go to graduate school two years ago and get an MFA in Creative Writing even though she's wanted to write since she was a young girl. We discuss what stops us from pursuing our dreams, how to find values-aligned work, and the importance of reclaiming our purpose later in life. Hannah is now publishing impressive book reviews and working on a novel while running a successful consulting company. She will be in conversation with Manuel Munoz, author of The Consequences, at Orinda Books in Orinda, CA on October 7. Play Episode.
The Confidence to Create Yourself
Kay Kostopoulos is a triple-threat actor, singer, and dancer who teaches acting and communication skills at Stanford University's Theater Department, Graduate School of Business, and School of Medicine. Kay talks about how she grew up in a working-class family and was able to create her amazing life, giving us hints and clues for finding the power and confidence to succeed as our true selves, too. I was lucky enough to take her acting classes and they changed my life! Kay has been featured in O Magazine and performs as “Black Olive Jazz” with the finest jazz musicians in the Bay Area and New York City. She will be performing at Pangea in NYC on November 16. (Listen to Shake it Up, the song that opens the podcast.) Play Episode.
Your Calling is Bigger Than You
Jahmal Lake is a Princeton graduate with a high-powered career in high-tech who is making the world a better place with his nonprofit organization Our Kids Read. As its Executive Director, Jahmal is devoted to improving literacy in African-American, Indigenous, and Latinx elementary school children nationwide. His enthusiasm and energy are contagious! Jahmal and I talk about how you can answer your own greater calling by tapping into your authentic power and connecting to something bigger than you. For those living in Portland, OR, Boys and Girls of America recently partnered with Our Kids Read and is looking for local volunteers to read to students from February through April 2024. To learn more, check out ourkidsreadinc.org. Play Episode.
Discovering Your Soul Purpose
Eddie Watkins, Jr. is an amazing bass player, singer, and songwriter from Detroit, MI who has recorded with many renowned musicians such as Barbra Streisand, Santana, Cher, and Diana Ross. We talk about how he discovered his musical talent at age seven and the best ways to identify your own superpowers. We also discuss how Eddie became a sought-after session bass player for Motown, but success and the fast life led him down a path of substance abuse and recovery. Hitting rock bottom became an opportunity for Eddie to experience a spiritual awakening and answer his higher calling. On January 13th, Eddie launched his Peace on Earth Tour to promote unity across our nation. Give his music a listen! Play Episode.
The Power of Music and Therapy
Joel Kroeker is an internationally known pop star, music-centered psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst with a private practice in Victoria, British Columbia. We discuss how curiosity can lead us to discover our unique superpowers. We also talk about when it's time to answer our true calling and how to end one career and start another. Joel received a Master's in ethnomusicology but dropped out of the Ph.D. program to sign a record deal with Universal/True North Records. He spent ten years traveling the world as an award-winning singer-songwriter. Still, he felt called to get a second Master's in music-centered psychotherapy and eventually trained as a Jungian analyst in Switzerland. Joel blends his passions and expertise in his amazing TED talk and new book, Jungian Music Psychotherapy. Play Episode.
Turn Your Career Into A Calling
Laura Goff left a career as a graphic designer to follow her calling to become an extraordinary acupuncturist. In this fun interview, Laura discovers one of her superpowers on air. We explore how she uses this gift to design websites and diagnose clients and how our strengths often cross over into different areas of our lives. We also talk about how you can find your right career by discovering what puts you in a flow state and why sometimes your current occupation only needs to be tweaked a bit to become a calling. We also discuss how Laura decided to become a Qi Gong and Yoga teacher and integrates these "energy medicines" into her practice at Whitney Green Acupuncture. If you'd like to turn your career into a calling, this podcast can show you the way. Play Episode.
Are You Called to Do Something Bigger?
Catherine Ming T'ien Duffly is an Associate Professor at Reed College in the Theatre Department. While pursuing her BA in History, Kate found her calling to combine social justice and theater and pursued a PhD in Performance Studies from UC, Berkeley. She now teaches socially engaged and community-based theatre, race theory and performance, directing, and puppetry. We talk about Kate's love of teaching and the cool parade she's putting on to boost community joy, and how you can combine your gifts to find your bigger calling, too. We also give tips and clues for creating passion projects to boost your well-being and help make the world a better place. Kate is the president of the board of Oregon’s Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) theatre company Theatre Diaspora. Learn more about her First Annual Everything Under the Sun Parade in Portland, OR, on June 15. Play Episode.
Spirituality is Good for Business
Dr. Steve Koc joined an ashram at age 16 and became a rockstar chiropractor in Beverly Hills with clients such as Michael Jackson. We talk about how Steve combined his passion for spirituality with his expertise as a doctor of chiropractic to create a thriving practice and why having empathy for others is good for your business and your life. We also discuss how you can find your unique gifts and build a successful career. After working with many celebrity clients, Steve shares what he learned about truly living a rockstar life. He now lives in Oregon and has produced award-winning music, videos, and art, including his inspiring metaphysical fiction book The Seeker. Play Episode.
You Are Not Your Parents
My beautiful mother, Ingrid, passed away recently. This podcast shares the wonderful gifts I discovered she had while going through her things. It also covers why knowing what makes you different from your parents enables you to thrive as your true self. According to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, "the greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of its parents." Mythologist Michael Meade says we come into the world with our own gifts and life journeys, unique from our parents. The answer to finding your authentic purpose lies in living between these two poles. Play Episode.