The Improvised Life with Katie Goodman | How To Create A Courageous, Adventurous, Meaningful Life, Driven By Purpose

Six months ago we had some things come into our life that were difficult. Extremely difficult. We lost someone unexpectedly and then someone we know was diagnosed with a difficult illness. On top of that, there were some medium-evocative stuff: my kid moved into his junior year of high school which made me start thinking about empty nesting…I was noticing how it takes long for my body to recover after a hard workout… and recently a lot of my work has been changing, due to the pandemic. We are empathizing with the extreme suffering out there for the victims families and for healthcare workers. The theme that holds all of these together is Grieving.

OMG, Y’ALL. THIS. IS. A. TIME. BUT WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU. Sick of being "thrown" all the time? Worried about the worst? Katie is going help you learn how to feel comfortable in the unknown, and embrace uncertainty. Join Katie online for her monthly, all-women membership program! It's fun! It's supportive! It's transformative! And it's all from your home in pajamas! Katie will teach you to use new and creative skills to navigate change and joyfully discover possibilities during this time in the unknown! Go to KatieGoodmanSpeaking.com and click membership! Or just email us at info@katiegoodman.com

I wanted to share this interview with you all, in this challenging time. It’s an interview I conducted this past week with my dear friend Laura van Dernoot Lipsky of TraumaStewardship.com. She’a an expert in caring for people who care for people in trauma—like nurses and first-responders. I’d wanted to talk with her because I’ve been feeling so much concern for my friends and family in health care, and like all of us I’ve been disturbed by what we’ve been reading about the workers in health care in Italy, Seattle, NYC and beyond. I wanted her advice on how to support them. In talking to her, though, I came to realize that her methods for supporting caretakers is also excellent advice for how we all can support OURSELVES through this. I hope you find this as helpful as I did. And of course please share it with anyone whom you think might benefit from it. Stay safe, and look out for one another, Katie

Why entrepreneurs always move onto the next thing ("Ooo! Squirrel!") and why you should not stay to slog it out, even when your mother's like, "But you were finally making money!" Does this sound like you? You're bored easily, you always have new ideas, you're not sure which to pick, you start things and don't always (maybe never?) work to completion before you get excited about some shiny new object. And you're making everyone around you, um, crazy? You are a creator, you do a million things because that's your gift to the world. Want to stop feeling bad about that?? Listen in! COOL STUFF: To learn more about how to teach Katie’s Improvisation For Life workshops, check out her Certification Program, go HERE! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, Or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop Or Keynote Speech. Click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon

SHOW NOTES: So many of you are interested in how on earth to stop doing the job you hate and create an entrepreneurial life where you are the boss of yourself, where you’re creating a career that will sustain you financially, and one in which you loooooove your work. I’ve taught a class for several years called Quit Your Day Job and in that class I’ve noticed over and over so many similarities about the fears of becoming an entrepreneur and today I want to help you guys work through some of them and see not only if the entrepreneurial life is for you, but to also help you save tons of wasted time reinventing the wheel and having difficult fits and starts, when you could really be moving ahead to making your career dream a reality much faster and with less stress and anxiety. COOL STUFF: To learn more about how to teach Katie’s Improvised Life workshops, check out her Certification Program, go HERE! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, Or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop Or Keynote Speech. Click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon

Today I interview best-selling author Sarah Knight on her new book, Calm The F*uck Down: How to control what you can and accept what you can’t so you can stop freaking out and get on with your life. Join us for a funny and useful conversation on how to really make your stressful life work! COOL STUFF: To learn more about how to teach Katie’s Improvised Life workshops, check out her Certification Program, go HERE! And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it by clicking HERE! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, Or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop Or Keynote Speech. Click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon ABOUT SARAH KNIGHT: Sarah Knight is the New York Timesbestselling author of the No Fucks Given Guides, including her latest, Calm the Fuck Down: How to control what you can and accept what you can’t so you can stop freaking out and get on with your life. Sarah Knight’s first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck,has been published in more than twenty languages, and her TEDx talk, “The Magic of Not Giving a Fuck,” has more than four million views. All of the books in her No Fucks Given Guides series have been international bestsellers, including Get Your Shit Together,which was on the New York Timesbestseller list for sixteen weeks. Her writing has also appeared in Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Red, Refinery29, and elsewhere. After quitting her corporate job to pursue a freelance life, she moved from Brooklyn, New York, to the Dominican Republic, where she currently resides with her husband, two feral rescue cats, and a shitload of lizards. You can learn more and sign up for her newsletter at nofucksgivenguides.com, follow Sarah on Twitter and Instagram @MCSnugz, and follow the books @NoFucksGivenGuides (Facebook and Instagram) and @NoFucksGiven (Twitter).

Jesus was a liberal?? Comedian, actor and political broadcaster, John Fugelsang is a progressive comic icon. A dear friend of mine and a co-conspirator in all things political comedy, including many shows we’ve done together, John shares funny stories and insights from a career in comedy and improvising on the air. SHOW NOTES: John on my other podcast “UnF*ck It Up with Katie Goodman” a few years ago: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/john-fugelsang-interview-comedy-politics-and-jesus/id516069241?i=1000117180835&mt=2 John hosts "Tell Me Everything" weekdays on SiriusXM Insight #121. His movie “Dream On”: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/dream-on/ His website: http://www.johnfugelsang.com “America is an old couch, Trump is a black light.”(get the magnet on John’s store!): https://johnfugelsangstore.com/collections/home/products/blacklight-magnet-metal Link to John’s stand up set at the top of the show (LINK): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtLYCglvpVA And one other really funny set called “You Know How You Always Have That One Racist Cousin?”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3CO9SgW5bQ Katie on Adam Carolla’s show and John Fugelsang’s SIRIUS XM shows. Go here and scroll to the bottom: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com/podcast FACEBOOK & TWITTER: @jfugelsang KATIE'S COOL STUFF: Click to learn more about Katie's Improvised Life Coaching Certification School. And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it FREE by clicking here! To get more info on Katie's upcoming Women's Retreats, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon

Join me and Dan Savage today talking about the It Gets Better Project. This is an interview I did with Dan on my former podcast a few years ago and I just LOVE this interview. Dan and his husband Terry created this project to save LGBTQ lives, to support the community with advice, coping mechanisms and connection and support. Dan has really improvised his life, thinking outside the box to really achieve something that had never previously been done and It Gets Better changed the culture in our country. Find Dan here: https://www.thestranger.com/savage-love https://www.savagelovecast.com Twitter: @fakedansavage FB: @dansavage Insta: @dansavage COOL STUFF: And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it by clicking here! To get more info on Katie's upcoming Women's Retreats, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com And click to learn more about Katie's Improvised Life Coaching Certification School. Katie's book on Amazon

Clearly Sean and I have nothing whatsoever in common. We had a hard time connecting about comedy and improv on another podcast we met on and so we decided to put ourselves through the misery of disagreeing on everything again on my podcast. It was a sad sad day that we met and we hope it never happens again. We have together made the world a worse place filled with apathy and no enthusiasm for our work. SHOW NOTES: Sean Kleier is an actor and comedian and writer, known for Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Odd Mom Out (2015) and The Affair (2014). Twitter and Insta are both @SeanKleier Here's Sean’s company: http://www.meetmotiv.com/ And here's the Independence Day speech comedy video we mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phKNKP2c2Xw Represent.Us is the non-profit Sean works with. For an overview, here are some videos he helped make for them: https://represent.us/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4HRDbkp4Ww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVl5r6zcnQ COOL STUFF: And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it by clicking here! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, Ffor everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon

Kelly Carlin, daughter of the comedian George Carlin, is one hell of an insightful woman. One of my dear friends, and long time deep-dive-introspective-conversation-buddy, Kelly and I dish on our comedy process, getting our asses handed to us by great directors, and why after 40 we didn't give a sh*t about what anyone else thinks. COOL STUFF: And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it by clicking here! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon SHOW NOTES: Kelly Carlin is known for delving into deep topics with humor and grace while wearing many hats. She is an acclaimed author, performer, podcaster and SiriusXM radio show host, who also leads self-empowerment programs for those looking for a path to their authentic life. www.kellycarlin.com Twitter: @kelly_carlin IG: @kellycarlinishere Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kellycarlinofficial/ A Carlin Home Companion is Kelly’s memoir available at all booksellers. Go to: www.womenonthevergecoaching.com to learn about her year-long women’s empowerment program. Go to: www.patreon.com/kellycarlin to learn about her podcast, meditation class and more. Waking from the American Dream podcast is available on all podcast outlets. The Kelly Carlin Show can be heard on SiriusXM ch. 94.

So right about now you are probably in one of two camps: either doubling down on some New year’s resolutions, or you’re like, um, screw that. I don’t do resolutions. Perhaps you’ve had your heart broken by resolutions not working in the past and of course you aren’t alone. HOWEVER!!! Neither resolutions nor workbooks to change your life are what I’ll be talking about today! Today we are going to talk about feeling SCATTERED. Uuuugghhh. Feeling scattered is EXHAUSTING. And it totally keeps you from being creative, from feeling centered and calm, from feeling productive in a meaningful way. We gotta get our head straight because jumping to DO things in this mindset is probably going to not only waste time, but it’s more like having a cigarette to calm your craving for cigarettes. That’s not really going to solve things and you’re gonna get cancer or at least very yellow teeth. COOL STUFF: And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it by clicking here! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats coming up, or to bring her to your company or conference for a Workshop or Keynote Speech, click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Katie's book on Amazon SHOW NOTES: A good book on resolutions: MJ Ryan's This Year I Will

Today's guest, Rob Alderson, is the creative director of WeTranfer, the content sharing site. A UK born, Amsterdam-based arts and design writer, Rob and his team wanted to know how different types of creatives work (65% need quiet, 14% need noise), what gets them unblocked (musicians = um, drugs of course), how they get ideas, and what gets in their way...thought it was confidence? Turns out it's other work pressures that take up their time. So if you want your employees to be creative, stop emailing them! If you want to understand the life of a creative person, this is your jam. Listen in! Follow Rob: @robalderson (Twitter), @Wepresent (Instagram) Website: wepresent.wetransfer.com The WeTransfer Ideas Report 2018 can be found here. COOL STUFF: And now's a good time: if you haven't already done the Gag Your Inner Critic worksheet, get it by clicking here! To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, click on these underlined links or for everything in one place go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com And go here for Katie's book on Amazon

Well it's that time of year and I'm sitting next to my Buddha statue, decorating my Christmas tree, and eating Chanukah gelt. From my complicated interfaith family to yours! Enjoy this song of ours that went viral online! If you'd like to see the video, go here to YouTube or Facebook. And if you'd like to join Katie February 2 - 3, 2019 (or for a future retreat!) and a group of fun women at her Chico Hot Springs Creative Retreat where you will learn to successfully apply the tools of improvisation to cultivate more energy, spontaneity, and self-trust in everyday life. In this soul-enriching, laughter-filled program, Katie uses hands-on experiences, reflection, and group discussion to teach you how to unleash your confidence and creativity. CLICK HERE FOR THE WOMEN'S RETREAT!

Last summer I planted a flower bed with an automatic irrigation system and my Dad and I put in a soaker hose that lives underground but right near the flowers. And we attached it to the hose bib coming out of the house where the water comes out, and then ran it around all the plants. But it didn’t work very well and the plants at the top of the little hill it was on started to die and we couldn’t figure out why. Finally my dad figured out that we had run it from the bottom of the little hill, up to the top. So it had to work so hard to pump all that water uphill that it never made it to the top plants. So we rearranged the hose and had it start at the top and then just flow downhill to reach every plant. Duh. Now everything's growing and thriving. Let me tell you a secret: creativity is just totally averse to struggle.When you try incredibly hard and struggle you create tension. The ideas won’t come, you’ll block yourself, you’ll get tense and you’re right brain will just shut down. Plus nobody will want to work with you! So learning that “harder is not better” is so incredibly important to a creative and successful life. And I imagine you’ve heard this idea before —but why is it so damn hard for us to believe it???? To get more info on Katie's online courses, Women's Retreats, Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshopor Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com SHOW NOTES: Click here to get Katie's free Gag Your Inner Critic Worksheet sent to you. Katie's book on Amazon Article About How Working Less Leads To More Productivity

I am reading a book called Life Reimagined by Barbara Bradley Haggerty, and she tells a story about her father who tried to learn French and continued to do it for years and years hardly being able to speak it well at all but just kept on doing it I assume because he liked it on some level. But the great line that her father said was: “Some things are worth doing poorly.” What a great and hilarious idea for an over achiever to ponder! To get more info on Katie's online courses,Womens Retreats, Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshopor Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com SHOW NOTES: Click here to get Katie's free Gag Your Inner Critic Worksheet sent to you. Katie's book on Amazon

Got a job interview or a big date coming up and don’t want to blow it? Then listen in! We are going to work with the Inner Critic that can sabotage everything before you even get out the door! Go here and grab your free copy of Katie’s Gag Your Inner Critic Worksheet – this little baby is gonna change EVERYTHING. To get more info on Katie's online courses, Women's Retreats Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com SHOW NOTES: Click here to get Katie's free Gag Your Inner Critic Worksheet sent to you. Katie's book on Amazon

You know how sometimes people talk about weight-creep? Gaining pounds after having a baby or menopause? It’s like that. I have self-promotion-creep. And here’s the biggest question I have for all of us. Does it even work? I don’t mean does it make me money, does it make us famous, does it make us “successful” whatever the hell that means. I mean if the “goal” is a happy fulfilling life, but you’re doing something that makes you feel yucky and narcissistic for 95% of your day, is that successful? Clearly not. You know how 80 year olds who know some stuff always say things like, “I wish I’d known when I was your age what to worry about and what not to give a crap about.” But I want to know the difference now.Not wait until I’ve wasted all this time hustling for some level of achievement that is so unbelievably arbitrary anyway. I mean we all know this: if you gain some achievement you just want more. So… does this endless struggle really make any sense??? SHOW NOTES: Stanford Study on Happy Hormones: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2017/09/study-shows-how-love-hormone-spurs-sociability.html To get more info on Katie's Women's Retreats, Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com Click here to get Katie's free Gag Your Inner Critic Worksheet! Katie's Self-Help Fun Workbook on Amazon!

We want to take a look at what’s holding us back and while some things may be obvious (a job your hate, a partner that’s not pulling their weight, an unfinished project that’s weighing on you), there are tons of things out there that you don’t even notice are holding you down because you’re so used to them. A friend of mine kept her lousy assistant for 10 years. She felt so guilty when she thought about firing her. She just couldn’t do it. Well when things finally came to a head and she just had to (because the assistant just couldn’t get anything done), she learned that the assistant didn’t want to be there either but had hung around out of guilt herself at not wanting to abandon her boss! How ridiculous is that?! How much more joy and energy could both of those people have found in their work had they parted ways earlier?! All endings are beginnings. We hear that all the time, because it’s true. To get more info on Katie's online courses, Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com SHOW NOTES: Click here to get Katie's free “Gag Your Inner Critic” worksheet sent to you. Get Katie's book on Amazon

So now that we are questioning our long-held beliefs…. what the hell do we do now?? I will walk you through how to figure out the feelings you want to feel in order to be happy and fulfilled and then how to find your way onto that path, by learning how to create an authentic life that lets you feel those feelings -- here and now– not in some projected future when you have money that will let you feel good. Then we can assess whether your plan to earn money, in whatever way you are thinking, will actually lead you to get those feelings and the satisfaction you want. Cuz if you don’t do this process, it’s highly unlikely you’ll have lasting happiness. You might get excited for a few months when you have the increase in money, but soon you’ll be right back in a dissatisfied mode wondering what on earth happened?! To get more info on Katie's online courses, Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com SHOW NOTES: Click here to get Katie's free flourishing check list PDF sent to you. Get Katie's book on Amazon

Think your beliefs about money are true? Do you believe money will solve your problems and make your life easier? Be prepared to be challenged on your beliefs on today’s episode, the first of my two-part episode on your money mindset. I have talked with hundreds of people about money and their beliefs and what gets them stuck and what fires them up. Money is always involved because it’s the way our world has decided to determine our worth. The word “decided” is crucial here. Meaning that money in and of itself is fairly random. We assignmeaning to it. Cuz here’s the thing: if you DON’T pay attention and question your beliefs about money, you will most likely make accidental self-sabotaging decisions. You might panic and bail on projects. You might pick work you don’t love out of fear that the work you love can’t make money. You might work with the wrong people who don’t uphold your values. You might spend all your time running headlong into something because of the value you place on it, when in fact, it’s not what you really want. You might value money over everything. And that is not going to serve you. Listen in on how to excavate your beliefs so that you can tackle them once and for all To get more info on Katie's online courses, Mastermind Membership, or to bring her to your company or conference for a workshop or Keynote Speech, go here: https://katiegoodmanspeaking.com SHOW NOTES: Click to listen to Katie’s hilarious and moving song about the trials of parenting, called “Mama, Mama.” Click here to get Katie's free flourishing check list PDF sent to you. Get Katie's book on Amazon