Carlos Mendiola

Caroline Webb: How To Have a Good Day

In this episode of Art of Authenticity, I had a thoughtful conversation with Caroline Webb author of, How to Have a Good Day.

Today on the podcast we have Caroline Webb joining us. Caroline is the CEO of Sevenshift, a firm that shows people how to use insights from behavioral science to improve their working life. Previously, Caroline worked for 12 years in management consulting for McKinsey and Company where she became a partner and co-founded McKinsey’s leadership practice. Prior to that, Caroline worked in public policy as an economist at the Bank of England, working on global economic forecasting and institution building in post-communist eastern Europe.

In this episode, we had an incredibly cool, detailed conversation. I honestly did not even know where to start with this amazing human being, who is absolutely filled with information on the latest science on how you can use what is being said into your personal life.

Caroline also has a new book called How to Have a Good Day, which has been hailed as one of the “top must-read business books of 2016” by both Inc. and Forbes.

We had a great conversation filled with so much amazing knowledge that she shared with us. So check out the interview and go buy her book. You will definitely get a lot of incredible value

Thanks for Listening

Again, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!

Show Notes

  • Hear the story of how Caroline made the change from working as a management consultant to founding her own firm, Sevenshift. [2:55]

  • Caroline shares how she prepared to make the switch to entrepreneurship by focusing in on who she was without the McKinsey brand. [5:10]

  • Find out why Caroline titled her book, How to Have a Good Day and not a “great” day. [8:03]

  • Understand the importance of breaking down big lofty goals to avoid disappointment and reinforce positive outcomes. [9:11]

  • Discover why Caroline believes and authentic life is about living a life that’s driven from the inside, not the outside. [12:55]

  • Learn how small experiments in your everyday life are often the foundation for testing out bigger choices. [18:03]

  • Caroline shares the story of how her high school culture shaped her ability to read the room and work with diverse groups. [21:05]

  • Discover the concept of “affect labeling” and how naming your emotions can allow your brain to relieve the stress of it. [31:04]

  • Find how to embrace your body’s chemical response to stress and learn from the situation rather than fearing it. [36:03]

  • Learn about the importance of finding out how much sleep you need to perform at your optimum level and live your best life. [38:46]

More About Caroline

Episode Resources

by Carlos Mendiola

Authentic Rituals - Find Systems That Work For You

Do you listen to other podcasts that suggest regiments? Do you read blog posts? Do you study the behavioral habits of anybody that you admire and try to figure out what they do? Have you read books on how to hack life and get the edge?If you’ve done any of these things, then you’ve probably got a list of things that are on your "should" list. What I mean by that is “I should get up at 5 AM and go jogging because I read that jogging in the morning is really effective to start your day." "I should have a healthy breakfast to start my day and have a kale smoothie." "I should read more books, I should read at least four books a month and the book should be a certain quality." "I should go to bed at a certain time, sleep a certain amount of hours, I should drink amount of water per day. I should have a healthy diet."The issue to me isn’t that one can’t take an interest in the various things in the world and all of their benefits. The problem is that when we look at a bunch of people or different sources and we start to cherry pick them, put them together into one really long laundry list of should’s. Things we should do that we read or seen that we believe will help us because we want to feel better in our lives and we’ve decided that these things are going to get us there.We also want success and we believe that these people who have had success, who are telling us that these are the things they’ve done in their lives, it’s really a good idea to just imitate a lot of what they do to get there.

by Carlos Mendiola

Danielle LaPorte: White Hot Truth: Clarity for Keeping it Real on Your Spiritual Path from One Seeker to Another

In this episode of Art of Authenticity, I had a thoughtful conversation with Danielle La Porte, author of the new book, White Hot Truth: Clarity for Keeping It Real on Your Spiritual Path from One Seeker to Another 

Today, we have Daniel LaPorte joining us. Danielle is the author of the Fire Starter Sessions, The Desire Map, and now her latest book is available for pre-order, White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path, from one seeker to another.

Danielle was invited to be a member of Opera Winfrey’s inaugural Super Soul 100 and she has a website that has had over five million visitors every single month for her #truthbombs, which are daily little inspirational concepts from Danielle that come to your inbox. Danielle has also been named one of the top 100 websites for women by Forbes and called the best place online for “kick ass spirituality”. She runs a multimillion dollar company made up of women and one guy, and Danielle is all about keeping it real and this episode was as real as it gets.

We dove into her background, how she ended up getting fired from her own company, how she picked herself up from that place, how she went from 60 subscribers on her email list to a multimillion dollar business, as well as the inspiration for her latest book, White Hot Truth.

She's offering all sorts of freebies, including a free chapter of her book. Check out the links below!

Thanks for Listening

Again, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!

Show Notes

  • Hear Danielle’s story of how she got fired from the company that she founded in the first place. [4:07]

  • Learn how to overcome that inner voice that tries to silence you from speaking out. [9:30]

  • Discover how Danielle started over with only 60 subscribers and launched her Fire Starter Sessions. [14:26]

  • Hear the “unglamorous” reality of signing a book deal, pulling back the myths of what it is really like. [18:37]

  • Find out why Danielle’s primary goal is to give as much light to as many people as possible. [22:44]

  • Understand how Danielle is able to blend her artist side with her strategic side to build her brand. [27:39]

  • Discover Danielle’s motivation and inspiration for her new book, White Hot Truth. [30:05]

  • Hear the story of the Dalai Lama’s perception of self-hatred and why it is not part of the human condition. [32:32]

  • Learn about Danielle’s perspective on suffering, and how it comes down to the journey of your soul. [35:19]

  • Danielle shares what success means to her, and why freedom is her main driver for living an authentic life. [39:37]

More About Danielle

And Even More

  • Sneak peek of one of the Chapters! Listen to and download the full written and audio Chapter about forgiveness here. (it's totally free, no opt-in required)

  • Pre-order here

Episode Resources

by Carlos Mendiola

4 Step Breathing Technique to Do Anywhere

Yoga teacher and friend, Amy Owen, joined me to record a 4 part breathing technique that you can do anywhere in less than one minute. Stress? Overwhelm? Big decisions? Take a moment to practice this technique to find calm, space, and freedom whenever you desire.

by Carlos Mendiola

Amy Owen: Feel Better in Minutes

In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Amy Owen, Yoga teacher, dula, fashion model, and good friend.Many of you have written in and talked about stress, a sense of overwhelm, and a feeling that life has just got a lot going on and you’re trying to handle it all. I got to talking to my friend Amy Owen who teaches yoga here in Chicago at Yoga View Studio. Amy is somebody who I met in my yoga teacher training program, a dear friend of mine for about a decade now. She is somebody who has been meditating for 30 years now and she fell in love with yoga in 1994.Amy signed up for a meditation retreat in 1986 after learning that the Beatles had been touting its benefits a generation earlier. In 1994 she found herself on a meditation retreat in Nepal, where she discovered and fell for yoga. Since then, Amy has studied a variety of yoga forms around the world including Ashtanga, Iyengar and Vinyasa flow. Her individual teaching style combines these with a focus on breath awareness and alignment.On the podcast today, she is bringing in small things that you can do right now, in your car, in your bed before you fall asleep at night, or when you wake up. All little techniques that you can do quickly on the floor.If you are looking for a quick fix, stress relief today that you can apply to help take that edge off, feel a little bit better, feel a little more connected to get that process, today is your show. Plus, we hear the story of how Amy went from being a fashion model since the age of 13, before she decided to leave to have her three children and then later went into becoming a yoga teacher. Stay tuned to hear Amy’s real, and practical advice.

Thanks for Listening

Again, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!

Show Notes

  • Hear how Amy started her career in modeling as a hand model at age 13. [4:06]

  • Amy shares about the detrimental impact that her unusually long modeling career had on her self-esteem. [7:50]

  • When Amy first started meditating and discovered eastern philosophy and Buddhism. [11:08]

  • Discover how meditation had always been a subtext of Amy’s life. [13:54]

  • Understand why being a model was never something Amy truly identified with, and how she has discovered her authentic self in yoga. [15:01]

  • Learn why Amy’s approach to a new thing is to start small in order to truly be successful. [18:28]

  • Find out why focusing on your breath truly makes you happy and how you can shift how you feel by shifting your breathing. [31:35]

  • Hear Amy’s breathing technique for centering yourself and being truly present. [35:02]

  • Discover what an authentic life means to Amy and how it starts from the inside out. [46:20]

More About Amy

Episode Resources

by Carlos Mendiola

Reclaim Your Success, Kick out the Impostor Voice

Today I wanted to talk about the dreaded imposter syndrome. If there’s anything that I think causes people to feel that inner sense of discomfort and then shame, it’s that imposter voice. Imposter voice is the voice within you that tells you that no matter how much success you are having, you’re secretively not enough. I have clients that are so successful. If you saw what they have done on paper, you would say, “That person’s got to feel amazing!” But they don't feel they are enough, despite the evidence.Just because we succeed, we have success, we have all the boxes checked, just because things look a certain way doesn’t mean they’ll feel as good? So we go after that next award, we go after that bestselling book, we try to get the promotion at work, we launch a business, we work so hard, we see a future where we feel better.We may even have an image of ourselves walking around relaxed in the future, maybe we think we’re at retirement, that’s when we’re going to feel good.Any way in which you are putting off feeling good today for the future, that sense, that feeling that “when I get there, when I check these boxes, when I get these things done I will feel good” you've bought into your impostor voice. You are accepting you are not enough today.  I bought into this. I literary think it’s an epidemic, but what if it’s not true?

by Carlos Mendiola

Daniel Gefen: On How to Never Give Up

https://soundcloud.com/artofauthenticity/daniel-gefen-on-how-to-neverIn this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a conversation with Daniel Gefen, entrepreneur and host of the podcast Can I Pick Your Brain. 

Today, we have Daniel Gefen joining us. Daniel is the co-founder of a company called, Get Featured, which helps people who want to get featured on podcasts. Get Featured aims to help brands go from obscurity to celebrity. Daniel is also an entrepreneur that grew multiple companies from scratch. These include Jet Answering Service, Jet Virtual services, and Jet Offices.

This is a guy who, in the face of adversity, is all about getting up, making it happen, and making it real. If you’re an entrepreneur out there struggling along, not sure if you have something, not sure of what to do, this is a great story for you. This guy kept it real, kept it going in the face of massive adversity, turned it around, and made it happen.

I totally loved chatting with him. He is also the podcast host of Can I Pick Your Brain? I got to come on his show, and if you are interested, you can check it out. His podcast is all about finding people who have had some success in their life, sharing their stories, and asking questions specifically about how they made it happen.

Thanks for Listening

Again, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!

Show Notes

  • Hear Daniel’s story and how he negotiated himself a six-figure salary without a degree. [3:03]
  • Find out how Daniel handled the downturn of 2008, and how he somehow landed in mortgage sales during it all. [6:36]
  • How Daniel and his family ended up being evicted from their Spanish townhouse in California. [9:14]
  • Find out how Daniel went from working in a high rise to selling milk and eggs. [13:17]
  • Hear Daniel’s definitely of an entrepreneur and why he believes it is simply impossible for them to work for someone else. [16:05]
  • Understand why when starting your business you have to wear all the different hats in the beginning. [16:29]
  • Discover how Daniel learned that in business you cannot take things personally. [17:44]
  • Find out how Daniel saved his business by outsourcing it all to one of his competitors. [26:00]
  • Hear as Daniel shares his story about running his whole business from a hotel lobby, café, or sometimes poolside. [29:22]
  • Find out what an authentic life means to Daniel and why what others think of him is none of his business. [36:23]
  • Discover Daniel’s practices, habits, and daily rituals that keep him on track and persevere through discouragements. [37:46]

More About Daniel

Episode Resources

by Carlos Mendiola

Stay Grounded In Difficult Times

We can't control what life throws our way, but we can control how we respond to it. How do you accept "what is?" How do you accept the reality you find yourself in and still feel ok, not happy, but ok? Most of us hit a road bump and find ourselves looping in the negative moment. We tell our friends. We repeat it to our self. We question how life could result in this outcome. What if you have a bad moment and you find yourself still feeling fine. Wouldn't that be great?

by Carlos Mendiola

Jared Angaza: Bring the Soul into Your Brand

In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a conversation with Jared Angaza, Strategist, Philanthropist, and creator of brands. 

Today on the podcast we have Jared Angaza joining us. Jared and I was introduced a few weeks ago and since then, I have to say, he is somebody I would consider a friend. We just hit it off right off the bat and I think when you hear this episode you’ll know why.

Jared is a strategist and a philanthropist, and has created strategies, brands, and campaigns and events for 20 years. The thing that is super cool about Jared is that he really believes in creating brands with soul. He feels strongly that there should be something called “conscious philanthropy” and “brand alchemy” present within every brand. He definitely takes this idea of brand and how to imagine the possibilities of identity and experience to a totally different level.

Jared is also the coauthor of the book, Wisdom Meets Passion, that he wrote with his father and bestselling author, Dan Miller. Overall, Jared is super creative, he is a very interesting guy, who has traveled the world and I just loved talking to him. We have a mutual passion for authenticity, so we had a great discussion. Definitely have a listen, and let me know what you think.

Thanks for Listening

Again, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!

Show Notes

  • Discover what is different about Jared’s approach to creating strategies and brand for companies. [2:40]

  • Hear as Jared shares practical examples of the tough questions you need to answer when it comes to branding. [4:21]

  • Learn how Jared helps his clients work through the process of starting with their “why”. [6:06]

  • Find out how Jared responds to and guides someone who is superficially engaged with their brand. [7:59]

  • Understand what the term “conscious philanthropy” is and how it can help elevate the quality of life for people. [9:38]

  • Learn how to factor in the psychological and emotional elements of communication. [16:51]

  • Discover what it means to tap into what makes other feel that you care and that you are truly listening to them. [19:00]

  • Find out what it means to have patience and respond deliberately to discover your authentic self. [21:18]

  • Hear about Jared’s path, and how his authentic life started at a very early age. [26:35]

  • Jared shares about his new podcast, Inipi Radio and the concept of embracing our interconnectedness. [29:52]

More About Jared

Episode Resources

by Carlos Mendiola

The Still Point

Today, I hope you'll indulge me. I don't know if any of you have heard this before, but I wanted to read a short section of a poem that has inspired my work greatly and perfectly explains that place we're looking for. That place we strive to find, that sense of calm and stillness and motion. When you hear it, you'll understand it.

Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes if you haven't already!Episode Resources

by Carlos Mendiola