self-improvement – Life in HD

Finding Happiness From Rock Bottom

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Researchers find that achieving happiness typically involves times of considerable discomfort, and that much of happiness is under our personal control. Indulging in small pleasures, getting absorbed in challenging activities, achieving goals and maintaining close social bonds can all increase life satisfaction.

But what if your life has spun out of control? When all seems lost, can you find your way to happiness from rock bottom? Our next guest says, “yes”. After a failed marriage was closely followed by the death of his only brother, David Mauro, who suffered from depression, found himself at rock bottom. That is until he decided to climb a mountain. David is the author of The Altitude Journals: A Seven-Year Journey From the Lowest Point in My Life to the Highest Point on Earth. He tells us how he found his way back to happiness after his journey to rock bottom took him to the top of Mt Everest.

We can all relate to having low points. Some lower than others. What separates us is how we climb our way back to normal. Back to happier times.

In this conversation, David Mauro describes how his passion for mountain climbing forced discipline and focus in his life when he lacked it most. He explains how “rock bottom” can be the ultimate “gift.” And he tells us how conquering the challenges of mountain climbing allowed him to finally deal with his problems.

It’s a great conversation and there are good lessons to be learned. I hope you’ll give it a listen.

Do you have a “rock bottom” to happiness story? Feel free to share it here if you’re comfortable doing so.

For more information on David and his adventures, visit his website here.

Music in this episode is Maree’ by Kai Engel under creative commons attribution license.

Podcast

You Don’t Have to be Miserable

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Welcome to Life in HD – the podcast that puts a spotlight on how we live our lives. [LANGUAGE ADVISORY]

You and I both know how difficult personal change can be. We are creatures of habit and we operate in comfort zones where sticking to habits, whether good or bad, bring us the comfort of familiarity. But what if what’s comfortable for you makes you not a likeable person? Brings out traits that you don’t like in yourself? What do you do then? You know the kind of person that you want to be…you can see yourself in your mind’s eye…but how do you get there?

I talked with man who, faced with that very scenario, decided to go through a personal transformation and he shares his journey with us on this episode.

John Kim, known as The Angry Therapist, was forced to face his shortcomings as a man and a human being. After a heart-wrenching divorce, he turned to blogging as a way to explore how to become a better person. He shares his journey and his discoveries in a new book titled “I Used to be a Miserable Fuck: An Every Man’s Guide to a Meaningful Life” He describes, that after some deep soul searching, that he was indeed a miserable man. He considers his journey as something of a rebirth.

In a sense, John Kim is redefining what it means to be a man. In his work, he finds that there are many fatherless young men out there without proper role models to emulate or provide a moral compass.

In “I Used to be a Miserable Fuck”, The Angry therapist draws on his own personal experiences as a therapist and a man to help readers, men and women, start some important internal dialogue and think about who you are…and who you want to be. He says it requires work: reflection, pain, courage, and perhaps a rebirth. And he offers this book as a guide.

There are a number of do’s and don’ts in this book that will challenge you to examine yourself and your definitions of manhood. Like “Do live a through me life”, and “Don’t pee in the shower”.

You can get a copy of his book from any retail bookstore. For more information on the book and John Kim, visit his website theangrytherapist.com. The music in this episode is Pumpkin Spice by Audiobinger under creative commons attribution license. I Hope you will find his episode and discussion to be of some help on your journey to self-discovery and self-improvement. Please push play on the player and enjoy the conversation.

Podcast

The Magic of Letting Go

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Change is not always easy. We live our lives conditioned to do the same things over and over because we are creatures of habit. Familiarity brings comfort. And yet change, if we are open to it, can bring about some very positive consequences.

This season of Life in HD is devoted to change. Getting out of our comfort zones, shedding old habits, and striving for growth. We start things off with a conversation with Courtney Carver, author of the book Soulful Simplicity: How Living With Less Can Lead to so Much More. She also publishes the blog Be More With Less where she writes about living a simple, clutter-free life.

This isn’t a conversation about freeing up counter space or organizing closets. Instead, it’s about getting your mind and soul ready to let go of all of the physical and emotional baggage. She has an amazing story to tell and I hope you’ll give this episode a listen. Hear her describe the 3 myths of ownership and tell us about the wake up call that inspired Courtney to change her life.

Music in this episode is “Wireless” by Lee Rosevere under creative commons attribution non-commercial license.

Feel free to share the changes that you are planning for your life in 2019. Perhaps it will inspire a future episode.

Podcast

I Chose Defiance – Part 2

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This episode of Life in HD continues with Carol Barbour’s story of turmoil and abuse of power. Her tumultuous year in DC public schools ended with her school being closed and no new administrative assignment. She picks up the pieces and gets a fresh start in North Carolina only to return to PG County where her career began. But PG County offered nothing but barriers to entry. This episode explores how a woman, when faced with daunting obstacles, refused to give up and reclaimed control of her life.

Music for this episode includes:

Lobo Loco Deeply Dungeon – under Creative Commons license
Cutside Rain Drop – under Creative Commons license
AllIknow (Hip Hop) by Makaih Beats is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

I Chose Defiance by Carol Barbour is available at Amazon

Podcast

A Force of Change

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We are judged every day of our lives. Some of us even hold back from being our true selves for fear of being judged. We won’t speak up in meetings or spark a conversation at a bar for fear of how we will look to others. Often, this fear is linked to the desire to be liked at all times.

This edition of Life in HD looks at first generation Arab American Shadia Tadros who, despite a tendency to avoid the spotlight, is putting it all on the line to run for public office. Putting yourself out there for a public vote is a scary proposition, but for Shadia Tadros…the impact that she hopes to make in her community is well worth it. A record number of women have decided to run for office this election cycle. Life in HD examines the motivations of one who wants to be a force of change.

Show Notes

For more information on Shadia Tadros visit #TeamTadros

Music featured in this episode includes:

“Soul Box” by Dustmotes under Creative Commons

“Different” by Suhov under Creative Commons

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	Joe "Bleezie" on Change Gonna Come