Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Category: Wellness

  • Ep301: Believing in the 1% Chance with Women Empower X CEO and Inspirational Speaker Alexa Carlin

    Ep301: Believing in the 1% Chance with Women Empower X CEO and Inspirational Speaker Alexa Carlin

    When you’ve been dealt a bad hand in life and your chances of success add up to 1%, most of us settle for an alternative, but for Women Empower X CEO Alexa Carlin, failure is guaranteed for those who do not try.

    Whether it’s about working towards an impossible goal or surviving a near-death experience, Alexa knows what it’s like to hang on to that 1%. For her, the odds stacked against you are stepping stones that set you up for success.

    “I am a big believer that you need to put yourself in that small 1% chance because you deserve that.”

    From the early age of 17, she had a passion for turning dreams into reality and bringing out the true potential in people. Her work ethic and dedication to the grind originate from the lessons she learned after her recovery.

    After being diagnosed with a bacterial infection that left her with 24 hours to live, she was sent into a medically induced coma. Having been this close to death with a slim chance to survive, the experience left her with a firm belief that you should never let a chance slip away. To her, fate only accounts for half the job, and taking control over what you can, both physically and mentally, is paramount in making your big break.

    “Hope is not a strategy and you can’t control someone else’s opinion about you, but you can control how much you prepare, how knowledgeable you are, and how confident you feel.”

    But how does one “take control”? Alexa makes it a point that all control starts from within by becoming in-tune with your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

    She doesn’t expect us to learn how to take control immediately, it did take her a long time to really grasp the concept herself, but she does emphasize the importance of taking the time to understand what is and isn’t in your hands, ultimately taking responsibility for your life and your future.

    “You have to be consciously aware of the thoughts that you think, and understand that we’re all human and you’re not going to be perfect all the time. I have to remind myself to recognize where these feelings are coming from.”

    One lucky listener will be receiving a signed copy of Alexa’s new book, Adaptable.

    More from Alexa:

  • Ep300: Book Writing and Branding with Entrepreneur and Author Technologist Scott Turman

    Ep300: Book Writing and Branding with Entrepreneur and Author Technologist Scott Turman

    When you wanna make it big, you need to make a memorable impression on the world; give the audience an introduction that really marks your presence. Branding is the name of the game, and for author and tech entrepreneur Scott Turman, there’s no better way to put your brand in the spotlight than getting published.

    Being the co-founder of BrightRay Publishing, Scott and his team have helped millionaires, artists, and promising talents pull the stories out of their heads and onto the page. He makes it a point that success is always worth publishing and that getting the word out is best done “by the book”.

    “Typically, as a creative, maybe you’re just trying to get that word out, a book is a fantastic way of doing that,” Scott says.

    Scott understands the difficulties of book writing, but through experience and working with his team, he shares with us a formula that eases that first step of making a best seller.

    What is the point of this book?

    Throughout his work with the BrightRay company, Scott and his team have worked with millionaires, organization leaders and various artists. He mentions that despite their different stories the purpose of the book needs to be established; they may fall into different categories, but each one has a reason for publishing their story.

    The Chapter Outline

    Oftentimes, having little direction is better than having none at all. It can be overwhelming to view ourselves writing a book, so Scott encourages us to establish an outline before the writing process can begin.

    Here, he and his team, functioning as consultants, guide their interviewee or subject from start, middle and finish. It is yet to be written but the idea that the work could be accomplished is getting clearer and clearer.

    One Chapter a Week

    Once the main point of the book has been established and the outline laid out, writing can truly begin. Here we shift our focus to—instead of writing a great book—we will pour our heart out to writing the best sentence, paragraph and chapter, then repeating it again the next week.

    It is often at this stage that a lot of us lose motivation since it can be exhausting to write creatively on a daily basis, which is why doing it with a team of people like Scott’s makes sticking to the task a lot easier.

    And finally, before leaving the show, Scott emphasizes that even when your book gets published, your story doesn’t end there. The whole appeal of becoming an author is to elevate your brand and endorse yourself to the world.

    “Personal branding, in my opinion, is the act of shaping how people experience you.”

    More From Scott:

  • Ep299: Curating a Purpose-Driven Life While Making a Positive Impact on the Go with Entrepreneur and Travel Maverick Mike Savas

    Ep299: Curating a Purpose-Driven Life While Making a Positive Impact on the Go with Entrepreneur and Travel Maverick Mike Savas

    Often, we are told that contentment brings happiness but if we are not careful with preserving that drive within ourselves, contentment could lead to stagnation, and for Entrepreneur and Positivity Influencer Michael Savas, that drive means everything.

    First establishing his roots as a Tour Director, Savas had a taste of what it was like to travel and hop from place to place. Working in the Music and concert industry, he has had the chance to tour the globe with the likes of Oprah, Guns N Roses, Queen + Adam Lambert, Michael Buble, Genesis, Cat Stevens, Britney Spears, Coldplay, WWE and so many others. For someone who’s passionate about travel, you’d think this was enough to quench his craving for life, but Savas knew there was a way to make it better.

    “I always thought that I’d get paid to travel,” he said, “that’s what I kept telling myself… for a while I was a Tour Director, meaning I took people on their vacations around the world having nothing to do with rock n’ roll. I realized that was an entertaining job, but it wasn’t something that met my personal marker of success—travel, makes more money to make a bigger impact on people and communities.”
    After having spent time employed and on the road, Savas set up a checklist that all needed to line up before he could live the lifestyle he has now. He shares with us these indicators that led him to pursue a more exciting and fulfilling purpose.

    Time

    This is our most valuable resource as you can never get it back. Having time to pursue your passion, on top of making a living—having a job or running a business—is your first priority.

    In his current project, Month in the Making where he learns 12 skills in 12 months in 12 countries, Savas describes it as a project that’s 15 years in the making since his past efforts have been made to prepare him for this undertaking.

    Think about where you are now, and what you can do to prepare yourself for that future lifestyle you are dreaming of.

    Resources

    Savas describes this as primarily money, and knowledge. We not only need to know where to get money but also how to spend it in a way that is meaningful to our passion. Like many others, Savas was also broke in his 20s and partially in debt, but he found jobs in fields that involved travel and this broadened his understanding of that field.

    Autonomy

    Savas noted that autonomy is different from freedom, as he says that “Having boundaries and obstacles is what makes life interesting.” He adds that autonomy means making our own decisions and being accountable for them.

    Having established his own business and platform, Savas found that he was able to set his own time schedule, set his own destination, and undertake projects that mattered to him.

    Health

    Lastly, Savas mentioned that this was an element that he had ignorantly missed until it was pointed out to him. He noted that over the break caused by COVID-19, he has been working on himself and maintaining an active lifestyle. Taking care of our health means giving ourselves more time, and broadening our knowledge, and having more autonomy since our physical body remains capable.

    Sharing his story with us Savas encourages listeners to pursue a life of travelling but also to make an impact on the lives of others.

    Michael is giving away airline miles with American Airlines to a lucky listener, having them pick any destination they’d like to go to, domestic or international flight!

    More from Michael:

    • YouTube: SavasONtheGo
    • Instagram: savasonthego
    • Website: savasonthgo.com
    • Month In The Making Episodes
    • Upcoming LoopCast Live Podcast Event
  • Ep297: Making a Path from the Pain with Singer-Songwriter and Breakthrough Coach Adena Sampson

    Ep297: Making a Path from the Pain with Singer-Songwriter and Breakthrough Coach Adena Sampson

    Our wounds are an opening into the best and most beautiful part of us, the same couldn’t be truer for musician and entrepreneur Adena Sampson. Born with a fragile body and a broken home, Adena learned to value what was whole and let the light seep through the cracks.

    A house rarely feels like a home when you grow up in dysfunction. On top of this, Adena also had to deal with Chronic Lyme Disease which added physical pain to the emotional aching. But like many great talents, meeting pain also meant discovering your art, and for Adena, it was music.

    Seeing herself in the lost and the broken, she now offers her talents as a musician and her experience as a fellow survivor of trauma to help others find their way and make peace with the cause of their pain. Today, she uses her voice through her albums, books, and mentoring sessions to reach out to thousands of people, spreading a single message – “You are not alone.”

    “Because if I’m still standing,” Adena says, “I know that you can too. It is a choice.”

    With all the problems she’s heard from people who’ve asked her for help, Adena makes it a point that the reason for most of our problems today originates from the old traumas that we never sorted out. She makes it a point that traumas aren’t always big bundles of burdens, they could also be small insecurities and doubts that your mind unconsciously carries around. She says that dealing with the muck and grime of the past, doesn’t just demand effort but self-love as well.

    “A big part of my healing has not just been self-awareness, self-discovery, and self-mastery but truly self-love” Adena stresses, “[This meant] reclaiming my power, taking responsibility for what it is I’m creating in my life.”

    Adena knows that the road to getting better isn’t easy, that’s why she emphasizes the need for support and proper guidance to turn your trauma into tools that bring out the best in you.

    “It’s like the more you go through the muck, the more you face the obstacles., the more the obstacles become a path.”

    More from Adena:

  • Ep294: Seeing the Angel in the Marble with Michelangelo Mindset co-founder and Just Listen Author, Dr Mark Goulston

    Ep294: Seeing the Angel in the Marble with Michelangelo Mindset co-founder and Just Listen Author, Dr Mark Goulston

    It had almost been 30 hours since Dr Mark Goulston had last seen sleep.

    Before being a UCLA professor of psychiatry, an FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer, and a jury consultant on the OJ Simpson’s trial, Michelangelo Mindset co-founder and Just Listen author, Mark Goulston was a trainee himself under American Association of Suicidology founder, Dr Ed Shneidman.

    A turning point in Mark’s life was the patient, assigned to him by Shneidman, whom he called Nancy. She had made three suicide attempts in the past three months and had been hospitalized on several occasions. Upon her discharge, Mark would need to check on her as an outpatient.

    “Every time [Dr. Shneidman] did a consultation, it was always the same,” Mark narrated, “he would page or call me and say that there is this lovely young woman, ‘She’s in a lot of pain. You can help her, Mark. See her.”

    “I went to see her for about six months, and I didn’t think I was helping her, but that was the longest she’d gone without a hospitalization or a suicide attempt.”

    On top of this responsibility, Mark also covered for other doctors and checked on their patients once a month on Saturdays and Sundays. In one Monday session with Nancy, Mark was sleep-deprived and exhausted. He felt chills down his spine, and the room seemed colourless.

    “I’m a psychiatrist, not a psychologist so I did a neurologic exam on myself…,” he continued, “And I had this realization, [that may be] I’m not having a stroke or a seizure. I had this crazy idea that I was looking at the world through her eyes and feeling her feelings. So, because I was sleep-deprived, I blurted something out that normally I wouldn’t say.”

    “Nancy, I didn’t know it was so bad, and I can’t help you kill yourself,” he stated, “but if you do, I will still think well of you. I’ll miss you. And maybe I’ll understand why you had to, to get out of the pain.

    Remembering his training, Mark gasped, thinking he messed up because he had just given a suicidal patient permission. However, Mark was astonished to see that he and Nancy finally made eye contact.

    “Thank you for understanding I’m overdue,” Nancy said. “If you can really understand why I might have to kill myself to get out of my pain then maybe I won’t need to.

    Following this story, Mark shared with us a story from an even younger period in his life, when he had dropped out of medical school for the second time. In his conversation with the Dean of Students, William McNary, McNary said”

    “Mark, you didn’t mess up, because you’re passing everything. But you are messed up.” The dean continued, “if you get un-messed up, I think the school will be glad they gave you a second chance. Mark, even if you don’t become a doctor. Even if you don’t do anything, for the rest of your life, I’d be proud to know you, because you have a streak of goodness in you that we don’t grade in medical school. You don’t know how much the world needs that goodness.”

    In founding the Michelangelo Mindset, Mark shares that they got the name from a quote by the Italian sculptor where Michelangelo said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

    For Mark, that mindset meant looking into your future and clearly seeing happiness and fulfilment. This was the concept that has guided many defining moments of his life.

    In his career as a suicide specializing psychiatrist, Mark saw hope inside his suicidal patients that they couldn’t see or feel. He saw hope in Nancy just as the dean saw hope in him.

    “I was the David in the marble of my future that I couldn’t see but Dean McNary could see.”

    Mark shares with us that we can also be Michelangelo for the marble of the people we love.

    He teaches us the HUVA Method where we conduct an analysis of the conversations we’ve had recently. Mark says that once a day, we should look back at a conversation and ask ourselves if we made that person feel Heard, Understood, Valued and if we Added value to that conversation.

    To Mark, conversations are more than just tools of information, it can also save a life and contribute to the making of a kinder world.

     

    More from Mark: