Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Author: Jules Schroeder

Ep:203 The 5 levers to Economic Freedom and Lasting Wealth, With Garrett Gunderson

Many walk the entrepreneurial path with dreams to accommodate their unconventional lifestyle, creating financial freedom, living their passion and accumulating great wealth and financial abundance. There are now 582 million people in the world who follow the entrepreneurial path for a variety of reasons. However, with 22.5% of small businesses failing within their first year, not all entrepreneurs will reach the level of success they desire, nor will they attain economic freedom that drove them to start their own business.

So what is the key factor that determines whether an entrepreneur reaches the level of success and wealth that they desire?

What is the secret to ensuring financial and economic freedom as an aspiring entrepreneur?

Unconventional Life caught up with Garrett Gunderson, to talk about wealth, money mindset and the role that ancestry and programming have in our experience of wealth and finances. Garrett is an entrepreneur, financial advocate, founder of Wealth Factory and New York Bestselling author of Killing Sacred Cows and What Would The Rockafellas Do.

He is passionate about helping individuals dissolve inherited patterns, break free from ancestral programming and develop a wealth mindset that they can leave as a legacy for future generations.

Garrett’s keen interest in wealth and finances came from a necessity to change his long-held inherited belief systems around money and wealth. Coming from a little town in Italy where they didn’t have much, there was a deep mentality of scarcity in his family.

A belief that you had to scrimp and save and sacrifice.

A belief that “you can be separated [from your loved ones] if you don’t hold onto everything you have”.

While his great grandfather wasn’t armed with the same knowledge around beliefs and programming and therefore wasn’t to blame for his scarcity mentality, Garrett was determined to change this programming for not only himself but became inspired by “the legacy you can live and leave” for future generations of his family.

He stresses that the journey to change these beliefs was not just about ‘money’ or being ‘rich’. That wealth to him was “living a life of purpose and love”, and that it’s the pursuit of these things that you should focus on primarily with money as a bi-product.

Money has an emotional charge for so many people and that is largely why it is so difficult to change beliefs around money. While it’s easy to lay down a formula and tell people ‘here’s how you make money’, if you don’t have the rooted layers addressed – the programmed belief systems, the mindset aspect – then all of that becomes useless.

“Money is just a magnifying glass and it’s either going to be something that harms or helps depending on who [you] are” Garrett believes.

We asked Garrett how you can break and dissolve inherited patterns and belief systems around finances, money and wealth.

The most important thing, according to Garrett, is to understand what true wealth is – it is how we live, not just the money we have in the bank. He quotes Benjamin Franklin, saying “wealth isn’t the man that has it, but the man that lives it”.

Being wealthy is having depth and harmony in 5 key categories (finances, soul purpose, mentality/mindset, physical and social). The best thing you can do in order to secure a sense of internal wealth is to find balance and define clear goals in what ‘wealthy’ looks like for you in each of these areas.

From there, your mindset will be ‘wealthy’ and you will be able to attract success and money you desire.

Garrett also believes it’s about asking the right questions like ‘how do I become a better investor?’ and ‘where can I scale my business?’ instead of asking ‘where do I invest my money?’ which is the mistake most people make.

Investing, according to Garrett, isn’t necessary to become economically independent. But, if you are interested in becoming financially independent, here are the things that will allow you to achieve this freedom in 3-7 years.

Five levers to Economic Freedom and Lasting Wealth

1. Having a “Peace of Mind” Fund + Plugging the 4 I’s To Efficiency

Making sure you are being financially efficient in the following areas which Garrett calls the 4 I’s: taxes, interest, investments, insurance. Using the money you’ve saved in these areas and by automatically saving a percentage of money off the top of what you earn, amass a “Peace of Mind” fund. This should cover 6 months of personal expenses that you set aside.

2. Engineer Wealth

Find out what your monthly “number” that you want to bring in is and reverse engineer from there – what would you have to do to create that income?

3. Accelerate investment income

Turn on the cash flow of existing investments. Rather than focusing on what the ‘next thing to invest’ in should be, focus on capitalizing on and growing the investments you already have such as your own business, real estate you own, etc.

4. Scaling business revenue

Scale the business you already own properly. Prioritize the things that you want to do and that are worth your time. Give yourself an ‘hourly rate’ and only do tasks that are worth that rate. Outsource anything that costs more time or effort than your hourly rate is worth.

5. Make it count

Build a life you don’t want to retire from. Enjoy life along the way so you are the best creator you can be.

January 13, 2020
EP:202 The Balancing Act Between Pursuing Success and Feeding The Ego with Celebrity Photographer, Nick Onken

If instant gratification is food for the ego, then the world we presently live in is a feeding ground. Many of us attribute our sense of self or our worth to our career accolades, vicinity to prestige, status symbols, ‘likes’ or things which bring us external validation.

But desiring success, a high-profile career or friends in high places does not need to be shunned because it is ‘egotistical’. Nor does having any of these things explicitly equate to the impossibility of spiritual enlightenment. As creators, we are worthy of abundance and have a right to create whatever we desire.

The question is about being self-aware enough to separate and detach what feeds the ego versus what feeds the soul. And to determine if what you are pursuing is for the right reasons.

We caught up with Nick Onken – creative entrepreneur, photographer, hat maker and podcast host of Nion Radio – who joined us from New York City, to discuss maintaining this balance of soul passion and ego in order to lead a life that is both conscious and ‘successful’ by normal standards.

Influenced by Tim Ferris’ “Four Hour Work Week” at the age of 22, Nick’s career started out with the simple idea of intentionally designing his life and creating a life that he wanted.

He shares some advice to anybody wanting to pursue a successful creative career. “If you want to make a living as an artist, you have to have a passion for the craft.”

He also mentions the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are already living “the life” or have the level of success you wish to create, or “learning by osmosis” and just by being in their presence.

These are the things that Nick attributes his success to on a practical level, but on a personal level, the importance of being self-aware and detaching from what the ego needs is paramount to him. “The biggest thing [for me] is doing emotional intelligence and deeper spiritual work and learning how to detach from the ego”

As a photographer, Nick has brushed shoulders with high profile celebrities and personalities such as Orlando Bloom, Usher, Justin Beiber, and Jessica Alba. He has done work with huge companies such as Coca Cola and Adidas and has had his work published in Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan magazines.

The level of external gratification involved in his career could easily allow him to find validation in who or what he was shooting, or to determine his self-worth based on his career accolades. However, Nick remains particularly conscious of “learning how to detach from that and find fulfillment from an introspective space.”

The ethos he has for himself and the advice he would offer to anybody else in a similar industry is to focus on going back to the actual passion of the creation instead of the validation you can get from it. “To be able to separate from the ego and what the ego needs to be fed.”

Nick tells us about the Dark Night of the Soul he recently experienced, the impact that it had on his personal life and career and how it led to this importance in self-awareness and detaching from the ego for him.

At the time, he didn’t even know what a Dark Night of the Soul was and was introduced to it through a friend that suggested he join a Breathwork class. He tells us how the emotions and feelings that unraveled for him during this experience made him go through an existential crisis of sorts, questioning everything and finding it difficult to communicate or socialize. Throughout this period, Nick tells us he had a hard time being inspired or wanting to create as he was feeling largely apathetic. He mentions how Eckardt Tolle’s “A New Earth” was largely influential to him during this period and how it helped him through, along with researching what the Dark Night of The Soul was and being able to “put a label on it and to understand what I was going through a little bit more.”

Nick was able to move through this experience and come out the end by taking care of himself and doing as many energetic practices and healings as he possibly could. The experience has propelled him into greater alignment and helped him to be more self-aware.

Check out our suggestions for daily practices on how to become more self-aware and how to navigate through an awakening process.

Engage with a regular healing practice

There are so many different types of practices you can engage with, it’s just a matter of experimenting until you find one that resonates. Some things you might want to try are; breathwork (check out Nick’s “Breathwork for Creatives” here) yoga, shamanic healing, Reiki, EFT, and hypnosis.

Meditation or mindfulness practice

There are so many different forms of meditation that it’s relatively easy to find one that suits you. You can have incredible benefits from as little as 5 minutes a day. If in doubt, youtube can be a great resource for guided meditations or attend a meditation class near you.

Spend time in nature

Going on nature walks, being by the ocean or spending some time in whatever type of natural environment you resonate with does wonders to calm the nervous system, connect you to your inner wisdom and soothe the Ego.

Read

Immerse yourself in content that is uplifting or that helps you to understand the process you’re going through. Nick suggests reading Eckhardt Tolle’s “A New Earth”.

Surround yourself with the right people

Reach out to friends who have gone through what you’ve gone through before or join communities where there’s an open dialogue about personal growth or spirituality. Having a supportive community or people around you certainly helps you to get through.

Whatever you do, know that – like Nick – you are going to make it through the darkness eventually and that what you may be going through is pinnacle to your personal growth, the expansion of your consciousness and for your own transformation. Know that your personal and your professional success are inextricably linked and any self-reflective, spiritual or self-development work you do will have flow-on effects in your career, as Nick has shared.

Connect with Nick:

Follow on IG, Check out Nick’s blog, Subscribe to the Nion Radio Podcast, or get an epic custom hat made!

January 6, 2020
EP:201 Navigating the Spiritual Awakening Process with Matt Kahn

To talk openly about a global spiritual awakening a few decades ago would be considered to be extremely taboo. Modalities and ‘woo woo’ practices such as meditation, energy healing, astrology, breathwork, shamanism, and divination were practiced in the outskirts by the minority, and concepts such as wellness, holistic medicine, consciousness, and awakening were ideas exclusively belonging to those on LSD trips at Woodstock.

The times have changed and all of these terms and practices have been normalized and more readily accepted in the collective consciousness in recent years as we experience a global spiritual awakening, unlike anything the world has ever seen.

It has been predicted that 2020 is going to bring upon a shift unlike any other, that more and more people will experience the spiritual awakening process that many of our readers (who were in the earlier waves of awakening) are familiar with and have been already navigating for considerable amounts of time.

We are all collectively awakening at a different level, and it is our responsibility to learn how to navigate our awakenings with love and acceptance, rather than fear and suffering.

It is now more than ever that spiritual teachers, healers, and advocates – that those who have already awakened to some degree – are needed to guide this new wave of people who are soon to be experiencing the very same, and often incredibly tumultuous process.

We sat down to interview Matt Kahn, spiritual teacher, healer, and author of “Whatever Arises, Love That” and “Everything is Here to Help You”, in Colorado, about his life purpose and how to peacefully navigate the turbulent spiritual awakening process.

Matt started his path at the age of 8 when he had his first out of body experience – since then he talks about how his entire life was guided by an intuitive knowing. That “the mysterious intelligence of our inner knowing has been more reliable than anything else in my life.”

It is through this distinct feeling and impulse that he has been guided ever since.

Matt’s life purpose is dedicated to awaken, activate and heal those going through the global spiritual awakening process that can be notoriously jarring, confusing and isolating.

To bring understanding and compassion so that those suffering can find solace and assistance.

The awakening process is both necessary and pinnacle to reaching a higher level of consciousness, but it does not come without its physical and mental challenges.

According to Matt, the awakening process is bringing the maturity of our soul into our body, “just as a child has to go through growing pains to become an adolescent and an adult, the spiritual journey/the ego goes through an unraveling process”.

So it is bound to bring a degree of discomfort.

How to deal with the discomfort of a spiritual awakening

Although it’s tempting to try to fight or run away from these symptoms (such as chronic fatigue or other physical discomforts) or to fixate on the future when you’re “better” and out of the awakening process, Matt does not believe that this is not the answer.

He believes that rather than escapism, the focus should be on “how can I love myself exactly as I am right now?” and on cultivating greater acceptance of the present moment.

Instead of waiting for circumstances to improve or other external factors, putting the focus on loving and accepting oneself exactly as you are – “every step forward we take in our spiritual evolution is a chance to become more loving and kind to ourselves than we were ever before”.

Kahn goes on to elaborate that beyond that, “our happiness is not based on what happens to us, but it is totally determined by how much we are loving ourselves every step of the way”.

Practical ways to embody this knowledge

Matt discusses how most people don’t experience God as a tangible force and wants to offer a tangible practice of love and light. He shares how focusing on the breath is a functional and practical application of the awakening of consciousness. As dedicated and faithful as we are with our breath, we start to experience how dedicated and faithful the universe is at conspiring to bring us what we desire.

Can you just spend a moment with your breath? How much of your day do you spend consciously breathing?

It’s impossible to judge and focus on breathing at the same time. It’s impossible to worry and focus on breathing. Instead of trying to ‘fix’ the fear or judgment, choose to be with your breath and then the patterns of fear and judgment disappear.

Set the intention that “I’m deliberately taking the opportunity to breathe for all the people in the world who do not consciously breathe” and allow yourself to simply be with and experience the divine connection.

Doing your own part to begin to help or heal the planet

Matt talks about doing whatever you can to help those in your own personal network – even if it’s as simple as picking up the phone and calling everyone in your address book just to tell them you love them. Or helping somebody less fortunate than you, living in poverty. Matt believes that if we just use what we have access to, we’re going to find a lot of things energetically turning around.

Most importantly, walking the true spiritual path is not about being concerned about other people’s opinions or perceptions. It’s not about the ‘show’ or spiritual bypassing.

“If you’re truly on your spiritual path, you’re not aware of who isn’t. You’re doing it on behalf of all.” he believes. It’s about having an innate knowing deep within that when you heal yourself, you heal the world, that “it only takes one being to fully awaken in consciousness to transform an entire planet.”

And this is the reason why this massive global shift is occurring, as more and more people choose the path of consciousness, healing and personal growth.

If you are interested in the work Matt does, about your own spiritual awakening or just want to learn more, make sure you check out his latest book “Universe Always Has a Plan: The 10 Golden Rules to Letting Go” where he shows you how to unlock emotional freedom and guides you along your spiritual path. It will be available to purchase from March 24th, 2020 via Amazon.

See Matt live on his 2020 Awaken Tour across the USA or join Matt for his live tour events from the best seat in the house…yours! Via Livestream.

December 30, 2019
EP:200 How your darkness is paving the way for more light, with Unconventional Life founder,Jules Schroeder

In the most recent podcast, we wanted to do something rather unconventional to celebrate the 200th episode of Unconventional Life. We flipped the script and put the creator of Unconventional Life, Jules Schroeder, in front of the microphone instead of behind it to discuss her incredibly inspirational and (unconventional) personal journey, her drive for creating the podcast and the little known story behind its creation.

We asked Jules what pivotal moments in her life planted the seed that led to the crazy adventure she’s been on and what ultimately was the catalyst for her to start Unconventional Life. Growing up as the oldest of five children with a father who worked in Wall Street, Jules shares how she knew she was always different. Her drive for independence was evident from a young age, leaving home at 16 and working three jobs to fund and support herself (although never cashing a single paycheck).

By the age of 18, she had a burning desire to prove herself which led to jumping at the opportunity of a business development course offered through her Economics degree at university. This opportunity – followed by the subsequent success she found in the painting industry and business worlds – led to Jules’ realization that she simply did not fit into the ‘mold’ of what everybody else was like at the business conferences she would attend.

While she had great success and managed to situate herself in this world to make a living, she maintained her non-conventional free spirit outside of this.

She talks about feeling like she did not fit into either world. Too driven and business-minded for the free-spirited “hippie” world, too free-spirited and open-minded for the business world.

This experience of not fitting a mold and wanting to do things on her own terms is one of the core principles of Unconventional Life.

An even bigger catalyst for starting Unconventional Life was the near-death experience she experienced in 2015 – the year prior to the first-ever podcast. Jules talks about the profound, life-altering and mystical experience she had whilst being rendered unconscious by the wakeboarding accident. That she was given the choice to return to her body and continue the work she had to do on this planet – to fulfill her purpose.

The accident was a pivotal point in how she lived her life – that “life before [the accident] being driven by me and life after coming through for me”.

She uses the example of the UN global ambassador for education contacting her shortly after the accident, her invitation to Forbes 30 under 30 and being approached to write for Forbes. All massive opportunities that seemingly ‘came through’ for her, putting her on the path of creating the Unconventional Life podcast.

Jules created Unconventional Life to be able to talk about the darker aspects of what it’s like to be a human and a leader.

She explained to Forbes how she wanted to tell the story of people through this podcast. How the primary mission was to tell stories so we can connect globally – across all different circumstances, situations and countries – “that we are waking up as a planet and that we need each other”. To share the reality of awakening, that with all of the expansion and mysticism of the ascension process, there are equal amounts of darkness to navigate.

To discuss the experience of “being radically in relationship with both sides”, the dark and the light.

That despite things externally moving at an alarming and impressive rate for her after the accident, “without addressing what was happening underneath it didn’t solve the very thing I was in pursuit of… that fulfillment, that feeling of wholeness.”

Her experience of anxiety when trying to integrate all of the expansion that came after the accident is not something that she believes is independent to her – that as we move towards 2020 and continued global expansion of consciousness, more and more people will be experiencing this “dark night of the soul” or navigating a tumultuous and emotionally confusing awakening.

For Jules, her whole life journey since the accident – and the podcast – has been centered around the idea of “how do I stand in my darkness and realize that my darkness is actually paving the way for more light?” This is the message that she tries to convey in all of her interview subjects, through all the struggles of the people that share their stories on Unconventional Life.

Jules predicts that moving forward, more and more people will be realizing that “being the biggest fish in your small pond is not interesting” and that globally we will realize our true nature and that there’s more to life than what it seems. That we want to create more.

Jules believes that “we are creators of our life and every moment is a choice.” She strives to share stories of people – just like you and me – who have abandoned the ‘mold’ and done things their own way – the unconventional way – to boldly pursue the life they wanted to create. She believes that “every story tells the next story” and that each person, each experience has been so important to the larger message.

She would like to thank everybody who has followed or engaged with Unconventional Life over the past 4 years and wholeheartedly extends the offer to reach out to her to share your story, your journey or your questions in navigating this journey.

For anybody new to Unconventional Life, or starting out on their journey and wanting some inspiration, Jules wants you to know-

“It’s real, keep going.”

For real-time updates from Jules follow her on Instagram.

Check out her music on Spotify and stay tuned for her newest album releasing in 2020!

December 23, 2019
EP: 199 Becoming Limitless with Business Coach and Jedi, Gavin Dantez

If you knew that you had the capacity to be, do, have anything that you wanted in this life – how would your current life stack up?

What would it take for you to boldly follow your dreams and strive to live your life to its full potential?”

While for some of us it takes a near-death experience to shake us to our core and ask the big questions of life like “what is my purpose here?” and “is there more?”, for others, the catalyst for personal growth and change need not be so dramatic.

When we begin to ask ourselves the right questions and diligently seek the answers, we are catapulted into a journey of personal and professional growth.

We begin to notice the synchronicities, the intricate tapestry that becomes our mission and purpose on this planet.

We begin to realize that as humans we have the capacity to program ourselves to become limitless.

So many success stories are popping up in the entrepreneurial world that seem to be built on the very same foundations and principles. That were born out of the realization that we are playing small in our own lives.

What are the foundations for success?

What are the secrets that successful entrepreneurs share that have enabled them to reach such rapid results in their businesses, their happiness, and their personal development?

We caught up with entrepreneur Gavin Dantez in Canggu, Bali to discuss his journey to success, building a business that hit the 3 million dollar mark in its first year, the challenges he faced and the mechanics behind becoming limitless. Gavin’s catalyst for growth and journey to transformation came from a near-death experience when he was 22. At the time he was selling weed, unhealthy, unhappy and ultimately resigned to the fact that ‘this was it for him’. His near-death experience plunged him headfirst into a quest to discover his true potential, scratch the itch that he was here for something bigger and to get the most out of life that he possibly could. Like so many in the personal development and coaching worlds, Gavin started his journey via the fitness and personal training route.

It was through his observations of clientele at his gym that he uncovered subtle differences between those who met their goals and those who did not.

Today, Gavin teaches people how to use the core principles he uncovered in these observations to reach their full potential in his online program “Limitless”. Gavin believes that “our brains are computers and we have to be computer hackers”. He discusses how our brains can similarly be used against us by clever marketing which takes into account how our brain functions. He urges people to learn how your brain actually functions and processes information, that this is the key to unlocking your potential. That given the right manual to this powerful supercomputer, you are able to use it to do whatever you desire – the example he uses is being able to recite 100 numbers he’d written on a board using a simple memory technique that enables him to access his brain’s full potential.

“You are so damn powerful and if you learn how to hack into your own mind, then you’re going to be even more powerful.”

What does this mean in a practical sense and how can you use this knowledge to learn new skills rapidly, rewire your brain and transform the aspects of your ego/personality that hold you back from reaching your full potential?

Supercharge your learning using the Rapid Feedback Loop

Gavin talks about the immediate speed of implementation and that the focus should be on ‘transformation not information’. He discusses a rapid feedback loop. That those who have been able to successfully and quickly learn new skills or grow on a personal level share the same process. That consuming information and knowledge are not as powerful if there isn’t an immediate implementation of the knowledge or learning.

Practically this means that as soon as you learn something, you need to be out there practicing it in a tangible, physical sense.

That the fastest way to become proficient in something or rewire your brain is to take that new information and consolidate it in a practical way.

Know (in detail) what you wish to create

Gavin also discusses the concept of the law of attraction laid out by the famous book “The Secret”, that we become what we think about most of the time. He encourages you to do things like write out – in detail – what your perfect day would look like in order to clarify your values; who you want to spend your time with, what your passions are, what you want to contribute, what you want to spend your time doing, what kind of person you would like to be. To clarify what it is you want to create – with no limitations or restrictions – so you can be shown the steps to create it.

Know Thyself

He also introduces the principle of “know thyself” – uncover your personality type, how you operate, your belief systems, your strengths, your skill-sets, your weaknesses. Be honest with yourself about your set point (where you are currently) so you can discover the steps you will need to take to get you to where you want to be. Some tests that were discussed were: 16 personalities.com and Strengthfinders 2.0.

“We need to know exactly where we are right now in a very realistic standpoint and then we can evolve and change…. We need to know our strengths so we know what we need to focus on and what we can outsource.”

Giveaway!

Enter to win a lifetime membership of Gavin’s masterclass, “Limitless” and learn how to easily rewire your brain to work for you instead of you being a slave to it. To be entered to win the giveaway, click here. A winner will be selected next week.

Find out more about how you can hack your own brain to its full potential here.To follow more of Gavin’s story and teachings check him out on Youtube or on Instagram @gavindantez

December 16, 2019