The Big Self Podcast

Burnout has become one of the most talked about workplace and life topics, and its impact is far-reaching. But too much of the conversation is focused on the problem vs. what we can actually do to break free from burnout. In her new game-changing, self-illustrated book, THE AWESOME HUMAN PROJECT: Break Free from Daily Burnout, Struggle Less, and Thrive More in Work and Life Nataly makes a compelling case that while challenges in life are constant, struggle is optional. She offers us proven...

Today we speak with entrepreneur and investor, Ted Alling. Ted is a leader in Chattanooga who uses his entrepreneurial achievements to create opportunities for others. He is the co-founder and former CEO of a $500-million startup, Access America, which merged with UPS subsidiary Coyote Logistics. That initial success allowed Ted and his fellow Access America founders to create Lamp Post Group, a venture capital firm and tech-focused incubator located right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee....

Leading teams and organizations to greatness has never been more challenging than it is right now. But there is opportunity amidst the chaos. We are now in an era of post-traumatic growth. An https://www.egonzehnder.com/it-starts-with-the-ceo/highlights (Egon Zehnder study) reports that 80% of CEOs strongly agreed they needed to transform themselves as well as their organizations—up from 26% prior to the pandemic. Employees want to grow. Leaders want to help their people and their companies...

Anne Scottlin is on a mission around the world to help people from business executives to creatives to startup employees who wear a lot of hats to find their joy. What does joy mean? What does it mean to possess it and carry it around with you wherever you go? Tune in to find out. Plus, how Anne practices her own methods in her life. Also, what happened when Anne mind-mapped her life and connected the dots from Medieval literature to acting to altruism around the world supporting oppressed...

Long before the pandemic gripped the world and blurred the lines between home and work, we had become a nation suffering high levels of burnout. It is one of the most discussed, and far-reaching problems in the workplace today. And that is why we are covering it from a wide variety of perspectives on our podcast here at the top of the year from top business professionals and trained coaches, researchers, and leaders. In https://amzn.to/344LRfH (BEATING BURNOUT AT WORK: Why Teams Hold the...

We’ve been covering burnout from our inception at the top of 2020. We've suffered from it in different ways and at different times in our lives. Now we help organizations and leaders deal with it, and we had no idea how acute it would become and how the screws would tighten with the circumstances and chaos of the pandemic. And who better to bring on the show to discuss her own unique strategies and experiences than Jennifer Moss? In her compelling new book, Moss argues our current strategies...

“People change all the time,” write Peter Bregman and Howie Jacobson in their new book, https://amzn.to/3FvJVdB (You CAN Change Other People). “They make big changes like starting businesses, getting married, moving, or getting a new job. And they make smaller changes like eating healthier, waking up earlier, or listening better. But people change when they choose to change. If they feel like you’re trying to make them change? Forget it.” How do we help others make changes they actually want...

It’s that time of year! Time for reflection. Time for slowing down and chilling out after all the social functions. And time to recharge those batteries. We are taking inventory to pat ourselves on the back for our accomplishments, to get real about the small and possibly big ways we can improve our coming year. We break it down into five pragmatic and powerful ways to move forward in self-awareness, in confidence, in optimism, and to make those annual goals using the SMARTER method, and...

Sebastian Matthews experienced a life-changing event that was almost life-ending. Besides the broken bones, part of his growth process for him and his family was dealing with the trauma. He tells us that sometimes PTSD doesn’t even set in until a couple of years after the event. He also tells us that we don’t all have to go through such an intense trauma to experience things like burnout, anxiety, and disconnection from yourself and others. He believes in the creative life, in soft...

Today we share a wide-ranging conversation with Parker Palmer. From acts of rebellion to the hidden wholeness of the world to the integration of the inner and outer life, as well as teaching and leadership, this conversation is rich in wisdom and hope. We have followed Parker Palmer’s work for literally decades, and are both thrilled and honored to have him on our podcast. This opportunity to get a chance to meet him and reflect with him on the condition of the world right now was a real...

The idea behind the name Big Self is a paradox. We encourage people to do the inner work before they take big leaps, so they know their ladder is leaning on the right wall in the first place, and that they're motivated for the right reasons. Or if they come to us in burnout or crisis, we still begin with inner work, which usually begins with self-awareness training, and personality "hacking." When it comes to the self we want to diffuse the ego so that when we lean into our ambitions and...

On this week’s episode we speak with Joe Sanok. In 2012 Joe launched Practice of the Practice to blog about what he was learning about business, marketing, and private practice. Since then, his income has gone up over 2,000%. In the beginning, he was making around $1000 per month. In 2015, he grossed over $200k. By 2019, he had sold his private practice. Joe is a keynote and TEDx speaker, business consultant, and podcaster. He has the #1 podcast for counselors, The Practice of the Practice...

Personality Hacker is an organization designed to help people leverage their own mental processes to optimize whatever can be optimized: productivity, communication, job satisfaction, and most importantly – your overall happiness. When we get these needs met we stop being so myopic through the lens of our own experience, and start seeing a bigger picture. Today’s episode gives you some high-level overview of the Myers-Briggs as a system from Antonia Dodge and Joel Mark Witt. We also nerd out...

Today we speak with a boots-on-the-ground guy. Remmington Curtis is a fan of the podcast and reached out to see if he could join us on the show. We love to hear from our listeners, and we love hearing from not only thought leaders, influencers, and authors, but also the coaches doing the work themselves. A person some might say had the dream job. He spent the first 10 years of his career on Wall Street, researching companies as an equity analyst initially, and later a client relationship...

This week we speak with Barbara Dalle Pezze. Barbara is a speaker, author and seminar leader with two decades of experience living and working in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Canada, and the U.S. Barbara works to inspire others, especially entrepreneurs and leaders, to reconnect with their purpose. She does through helping them make mindset shifts and breakthroughs, which in turn helps their teams and organizations effectively create large scale changes. Barbara is a member of the Leadership...

What is the Great Resignation? What's causing it? What are companies doing about it? And what's our final takeaway? The Great Resignation is a term first used by Anthony Klotz, a psychologist and associate professor of management at Texas A&M University, during an interview with Business Insider. It describes a profound shift in the way Americans are viewing their relationship to work over the past four months. For four months in a row, a record number of Americans are quitting their jobs....

Today we speak with Justin Sainton, Elle Worsham, and Erin Maslowski. Enneagram 7s don't like constraints. They tend to want it all, and they have a lot of the tools for getting it. They're head types with the ability to solve a lot of problems through their own structures and spreadsheets. At the same time, they're upbeat and positive. They have loads of interests and plenty of energy. What could go wrong? Sometimes that can be a little complicated. One of the answers our panelists discuss...

The Enneagram is so much more than a typology. It is so much more than a static symbol. In fact, the Enneagram is a living, breathing, dynamic process-driven system to self-observation and self-understanding. It helps you to understand yourself ("Know Thyself") at deeper level much faster than you ever could without it. It helps you to understand others. In today's episode, Shelley and Chad cover five proven approaches to going beyond just knowing your number. Knowing your number is a start,...

Today we speak with Suzy Anthony, Marta Gillilan, and Roger Coles. We discuss what it's like getting into the heads of Sixes. Sixes are sometimes named the Loyalist, and sometimes the Skeptical Troubleshooter. Their archetype centers on a person who seeks security and certainty, but ironically often doesn't find it. Of all the personality types, Sixes are the most loyal to their friends and their beliefs and ideas. At the same time, it's easy to break trust with them if you don't pass their...

Today we speak with Richie Daigle and Chris Schoolcraft, two Fives who have done a lot of work to under their personalities and how they show up in the world. We discuss what it's like being a headtype as our center of intelligence, and how they hold on to their knowledge and skills and share it only when they feel completely ready. Fives highly value working independently. They're more comfortable with data and facts than with people and emotions. They also tend to see the work they do...