Episodes

  • To New Beginnings

    To New Beginnings
    Dec 13 2022

    It’s been four years since I began podcasting. I started with Mastering Midlife, which later became Mastering Overwhelm as my coaching practice evolved. You have all stayed with me for over 400 episodes, and after countless solo conversations and interviews with my brilliant guests, it is time to close the Mastering Overwhelm podcast. I have been going around the world, having a blast, and learning about living life. But all great things come to an end—so that other great things can begin.

    In this episode, I share what I hope you learned—what I hope I was able to impart—from the Mastering Midlife and Mastering Overwhelm podcasts. I also introduce The Rising Leader and describe how my Only 10s principle and career in coaching and sales are culminating in the next major project of my life.

    “I hope you noticed my humanity and how rich it is now that I’ve learned to accept my humanity, my spiritual self, and growth.” - Mark Silverman

    This week on Mastering Overwhelm:

    • My fourth year as a podcaster
    • Lessons I hope you’ve taken from Mastering Overwhelm
    • Introducing The Rising Leader

    Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success

    Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    6 mins
  • Stress and Trauma in Adults and Adopted Children with Bryan Post

    Stress and Trauma in Adults and Adopted Children with Bryan Post
    Dec 5 2022
    Bryan Post is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and founder of Post Institute, an organization dedicated to helping parents heal wounds created by trauma. Post Institute has published over 100 books, DVDs, CDs, audio recordings, webinars, and articles on parenting children who have experienced pre-birth and early life trauma. One of America’s leading child behavior and adoption experts, Bryan has taught and offered love-based, family-centered principles and concepts to over one million parents and professionals worldwide. He also currently serves as the Clinical Director for Parents in Training, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides wraparound services to adoptive families throughout Northern California. Bryan joins me today to discuss trauma and stress and how we can manage our responses to them. He defines trauma and describes its dynamics in adopted children’s lives. He explains why the loss of someone close to us can cause a physiological disruption and why taking the time to grieve is important. He dissects how trauma causes us to become fearful and stress-sensitive. He also shares what we can learn as adults from soothing a child who’s having a tantrum at the supermarket and underscores how we can learn to work through fear-based anxiety and stress responses by practicing mindful breathing. “All emotional reactivity stems from unfinished business. The moment you find yourself being stressed out, it has far more to do with you than the other person in the situation.” - Bryan Post This week on Mastering Overwhelm: Bryan’s background and his passion for helping adoptive familiesAdoption and why it can be a traumatic experience for a childBryan’s definition of trauma and the basis of post-traumatic stress disorderSociety’s aversion to grief and other negative emotionsHow practicing mindful breathing can help us manage fear-based anxiety and stress responsesThe allostatic load and window of toleranceAddiction as a trauma responseThe physiology of stress and trauma reactionsHow to help soothe a child having a tantrum in the supermarketNavigating emotional highs and lows Resources Mentioned: Book: The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life by Joseph LedouxBook: Peaks and Valleys: Making Good and Bad Times Work for You - at Work and in Life by Spencer JohnsonBook: Who Moved My Cheese?: An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson Connect with Bryan Post: Bryan Post WebsitePost WraparoundPost InstituteBook: From Fear to Love: Parenting Difficult Adopted Children Using a Love-Based, Family-Centered ApproachPost Institute on FacebookPost Institute on TwitterBryan Post on LinkedInBryan Post on InstagramBryan Post on FacebookBryan Post on YouTube Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart | Deezer Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners, like you. Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    40 mins
  • Following Your YES with Ken Bechtel

    Following Your YES with Ken Bechtel
    Nov 29 2022
    Ken Bechtel is an author, speaker, and podcaster. He is the creator and host of Speaking of Partnership, a podcast with listeners in over 100 countries. In his recent book, Follow Your YES: A Simple Idea to Improve Anyone's Life, Ken shares ideas on building confidence and eliminating overwhelm across the full spectrum of life. He has invested over 20 years into researching and refining what it takes to make people thrive in this busy world and is dedicated to helping people expand into their fullest expression and live fulfilling lives. Ken joins me today to discuss “following your yes” and how doing so can impact your life. He distinguishes the “internal yes” from the “intellectual yes.” He discusses why a “no” uttered from the deepest convictions is better than a people-pleasing or conflict-avoidant “yes.” He explains how following “maybes” over an internal “yes” makes us overwhelmed and overburdened. Ken also reveals the key to transforming your life and underscores how staying true to your “yes” can become a gift to the people in your life. “The key to any transformation is not the first commitment that you’re going to transform, it’s re-committing when we fall off the track.” - Ken Bechtel This week on Mastering Overwhelm: Your “yes” as divine guidanceThe decision-making process and how to distinguish whether it’s an “internal yes” or an intellectual justificationHow feelings push us forward and guide us through lifeThe discovery of Only 10s and how to declutter our minds of shiny objectsThe fear of missing out and how following your “yes” can become a gift to the people in your life“Maybeland” and the importance of letting yourself be a beginnerProductivity, overwhelm and following your “yes”How Following Your YES encouraged me to write Rising Leader Resources Mentioned: Book: The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection by Michael A. Singer Connect with Ken Bechtel: Follow Your YESSpeaking of PartnershipSpeaking of Partnership on FacebookSpeaking of Partnership on TwitterKen Bechtel on LinkedInKen Bechtel on InstagramEmail: info@SpeakingOfPartnership.com Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart | Deezer Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners like you. Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    32 mins
  • Came, Crashed, Rebuilt: Equanimity amid Crisis with Simon Leslie

    Came, Crashed, Rebuilt: Equanimity amid Crisis with Simon Leslie
    Nov 22 2022
    Simon Leslie is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ink, a global travel media company dedicated to connecting companies with travelers. Throughout the years, Simon and his team have worked to build the company to over $100 million—only for the COVID-19 pandemic to ravage its business and products. Nevertheless, Simon continues to rebuild Ink to be even larger and more profitable. In his book, Equanimity: The Diary of a CEO in Crisis, Simon shares all he’s learned from the pandemic. He is also the author of White Belt Thinking: The Hero’s Journey. A Story of Living with a Beginner’s Mind and There is no F in Sales: A Book About Selling in Every Market Condition. Simon joins me today to share his wisdom, equanimity, and poetry. He describes how the COVID-19 pandemic turned his life and business upside down and how he remained equanimous through it. He discusses the work he has done to become more centered, grounded, and open-hearted. He also underscores the importance of improving your imagination and dreams and highlights the power of gratitude. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” - Simon Leslie This week on Mastering Overwhelm: The many failures in Simon’s lifeInk’s business in travel advertising and how COVID-19 impacted the companyWhy Simon started writing poetryHow poetry became a creative escape for Simon during the pandemicHow Simon found equanimity amid the COVID-19 crisisThe relationship between problems and opportunitiesWhy Simon thinks people who don’t want problems aren’t living to their fullest potentialLiving in the downside and the lifelong process of becoming grounded and centeredHaving a miserable life despite being successful and wealthyRadical candor and training the bravery muscle every dayWhy the pursuit of happiness is unhappinessBecoming more compassionate and open-hearted Connect with Simon Leslie: Simon Leslie WebsiteInk GlobalBook: Equanimity: The Diary of a CEO in CrisisBook: White Belt Thinking: The Hero’s Journey. A Story of Living with a Beginner’s MindBook: There is no F in Sales: A Book About Selling in Every Market ConditionInk on LinkedInSimon Leslie on LinkedInThe Motivational Poet on Instagram Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart | Deezer Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners, like you. Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    30 mins
  • Building Connections and Navigating Difficult Conversations with Sejal Thakkar

    Building Connections and Navigating Difficult Conversations with Sejal Thakkar
    Nov 15 2022
    Sejal Thakkar is the founder and Chief Civility Officer of TrainXtra, a woman/minority-owned training consulting firm based in South San Francisco, California. A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expert and former employment attorney, Sejal is on a mission to educate and empower people to create a world where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. She is also the Chief Culture Officer of Nobody Studios, a venture capital firm that aims to create 100 compelling companies, guiding them from ideation to full-scale company validation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago and received her Juris Doctor degree from Northern Illinois University. Sejal joins me today to share advice on leading people through difficult conversations. She explains why effective communication takes time and why we need more empathy in the world. She outlines the steps to facilitating difficult conversations. She describes the three conversations that simultaneously occur whenever you talk to someone about difficult topics. Sejal also highlights the importance of normalizing conversations around race relations, privilege, and unconscious bias and underscores the value of active listening. “It’s important for an effective communicator to get people into that ‘uncomfortable’ category—to bring them into a conversation that is not going to be well-received but is needed to move forward.” - Sejal Thakkar This week on Mastering Overwhelm: Resilience and getting out of the overwhelm of griefCreating connections in the worldWhy effective communication takes timeHow building connections and rapport makes it easier to navigate difficult conversationsHow the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the disconnection between peopleKey facilitation skills all middle managers must haveThe steps in leading difficult conversationsConversations about feelings, identity, and being rightHow to get people to listen to conversations about race relations and privilegesIdentifying different points of view before having a difficult conversationAssessing your own assumptions and biases before leading a difficult conversationLeading up, leading across, leading your team, and leading yourselfHow Sejal’s legal background helps her navigate difficult conversations with peopleHow I teach people how to be present through mindful breathingHow to proactively kick your brain into active listening mode Resources Mentioned: The Pain, Power, and Paradox of Bias | Sejal Thakkar | TEDxCWRU Connect with Sejal Thakkar: TrainXtraNobody StudiosTrainXtra on LinkedInTrainXtra on YouTubeNobody Studios on LinkedInNobody Studios on InstagramNobody Studios on FacebookNobody Studios on TwitterSejal Thakkar on LinkedInSejal Thakkar on YouTube Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart | Deezer Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners, like you. Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    43 mins
  • No One's Coming To Save You, But They Are Here to Help

    No One's Coming To Save You, But They Are Here to Help
    Nov 8 2022

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    6 mins
  • The Art of Radical Candor with Kim Scott

    The Art of Radical Candor with Kim Scott
    Nov 1 2022
    Kim Scott is an author, speaker, and Co-founder of Radical Candor, an enterprise dedicated to creating productive organizations where respect and collaboration combine. Before co-founding Radical Candor, Kim served as a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies and as a faculty member at Apple University. She also led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google. She is the author of Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity and Just Work: How to Root Out Bias, Prejudice, and Bullying to Build a Kick-Ass Culture of Inclusivity. Kim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Slavic Literature from Princeton University. Kim joins us today to discuss the art of radical candor and giving, soliciting, and receiving feedback without losing your humanity. She reveals how she came up with the idea of Radical Candor and how she got out of the conundrum between being kind and giving people direct feedback. She explains why the phrase “Don’t take it personally” should be eliminated from your vocabulary. She describes the “Asshole Quadrant” and explains how radical candor differs from “obnoxious aggression.” Kim also elaborates on creating a healthy culture and environment of feedback and offers her best practices for giving and soliciting feedback with radical candor. “Ensure that your praise is specific and sincere and that your criticisms are kind and clear.” - Kim Scott This week on Mastering Overwhelm: Kim’s background and the struggles she faced when she first became a leaderTeaching a dog to sit and Kim’s shift to learning about empathy, care, and radical candorThe “Asshole Quadrant” and how radical candor is different from obnoxious aggressionWhat ruinous empathy meansThe CEO’s challenge with giving and receiving feedbackMaking a safe space for feedback and incentivizing itThe importance of timing when giving radical candorPraise as radical candor and how it can challenge people to be their bestKim’s recipe for staying grounded and centeredHow knowing yourself helps build radical candor Connect with Kim Scott: Kim Scott WebsiteRadical CandorBook: Just Work: How to Root Out Bias, Prejudice, and Bullying to Build a Kick-Ass Culture of InclusivityBook: Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your HumanityRadical Candor on LinkedInRadical Candor on InstagramRadical Candor on FacebookRadical Candor on TwitterRadical Candor on MediumThe Radical Candor PodcastKim Scott on LinkedInKim Scott on MediumKim Scott on Twitter Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart | Deezer Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners like you. Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    45 mins
  • I Failed... And It's Awesome

    I Failed... And It's Awesome
    Oct 25 2022

    Is there something in your life you’re trying to force? Are you, for example, trying to write a book instead of writing the book every day? Or are you trying to lose weight and reach a weight goal instead of actively watching what you’re doing every single day? I was in a similar spot. Getting my weight down to 160 lbs has been my goal—a goal that had vexed me for a while. I am a coach, after all, so why couldn’t I achieve the goals I said I wanted to reach?

    Today, I am at 164.5 lbs. I still haven’t reached my goal, but it’s no longer a point of contention. In fact, the process has become an awesome experience.

    In this episode, I discuss failure and committing to the process of achieving your goals. I share some of the goals I made for myself earlier this year. I describe how I’m learning to keep my word to myself and how I’m approaching my weight goals. I also discuss the value of being kind to yourself and highlight the importance of focusing on your process over your goals.

    “Process over goals. We don’t have control over the goal, but we have control over the process and who we are in it.” - Mark J. Silverman

    This week on Mastering Overwhelm:

    • The goals I made for myself this year
    • Learning to keep my word to myself and how I approached my weight goal
    • Not letting stress and grief dictate how I treat myself
    • The importance of being kind to yourself when working towards a goal

    Mastering Overwhelm - Set Yourself Free to Enjoy Your Success

    Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Mastering Overwhelm Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

    Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart | Deezer

    Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners like you.

    Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show more Show less
    11 mins