Joe interviews Brett about his experience crafting and facilitating a high-flying retreat in the Utah desert and his lifelong journey of learning to embrace fear.  For more about the retreat, visit welcomingfear.com

Joe and Brett share a tool from our courses called Emotional Inquiry. This is a practice that can reduce self-judgment, change bad habits, and improve our ability to communicate with others.To download the tool in the form of a guided meditation, visit view.life/ei.

Brett interviews Joe about his approach to training coaches and facilitators in the Art of Accomplishment. They talk about the foundations of great coaching, the dangers of coaching with unseen motives, and how a commitment to self-discovery supports the capacity to facilitate others in transformation.

Joe and Brett explore a common pattern that underlies conflict dynamics in business, romance, and even geopolitics.

In this coaching session with Joe, Khe Hy explores his relationship with money and the pursuit of wealth. He examines the internal scorecard that's been guiding his ambition and what he'd have to feel without it. In these feelings, he uncovers an internal compass that's been with him all along.Khe is the Founder and CEO of RadReads and hosts The Examined Life Podcast. Find him on Twitter/X at https://twitter.com/khemaridhWatch this session in HD on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh1sLPC8n_Q

Joe and Brett discuss what happens when a blessing that legitimately supports us in our path — money, free time, security, or even love — becomes something we’re afraid to lose and a condition we place on our freedom.

Finding love isn't just about meeting the right person, but about being ready for them. Joe and Brett explore the patterns people exhibit while seeking love, from choosing partners who are emotionally unavailable to being overly self-reliant. They talk about how a fear of losing one's identity can cause us to push away love, and how people tend to show up in our lives the moment we're ready.

How long do you hold on to emotions?How much do they stagnate in your system?How fully you can process your emotions and let them flow through you? Joe and Brett discuss how the capacity to feel all of our emotions and allow them to move through us leads to better decisions, deeper relationships, and a richer experience of life.

Pondering their own entry into parenthood, Brett and Alexa chat with Joe about the profound changes in identity, roles, and expectations that come with the decision to have a child. 

Joe and Brett reflect on how to find or build a healthy community in an era where loneliness has reached pandemic proportions.

Joe and Brett invite questions from listeners on the subject of humility.How can we tell the difference between true humility and false modesty?What does it look like to be humble while fully expressing ourselves?What happens when 'humility' gets used to make ourselves or others small?Send us your questions on Twitter, through our website, or in our Circle community.@FU_JoeHudson@artofaccomp@airkistlerartofaccomplishment.com

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a relentless cycle of burnout? You’re not alone.In this episode, Joe and Brett dive into the nuances of cyclical burnout — the dependence on adrenaline, the self-perpetuating sense of urgency, the inevitable fiery crash.Learn to feel the difference between stressed idleness and deep rest, exploring the interplay between fear, joy, and excitement.Explore alternative ways of working that may be more energizing than relying on adrenaline, and see how gratitude can open up a powerful escape hatch from the burnout cycle.Follow us or ask a question:@artofaccomp@FU_joehudson@airkistlerartofaccomplishment.com

To engage in spiritual practice is to bring awareness to our evolution. In this episode, Joe and Brett unpack the relationship between exploring our inner depths and getting things done in the world, and how both can be achieved together when we see business itself as a fertile ground for self-discovery.

How much tension in your life comes from using or avoiding conflict in order to get what you want? What would change if you allowed conflict to deepen your connection with others and find great solutions?In this episode, Brett and Joe unpack the nature of conflict avoidance. They take a deep look at its root causes and symptoms and how it can lead to stagnant relationships, substandard solutions, and a lack of internal alignment. Learn to navigate the turbulent waters of discord with loving boundaries and an open heart, finding the connection and collaboration possible through welcoming conflict as it arises.

All of us came into this world completely helpless. In many ways, we remain so throughout our entire lives. How does the emotion of helplessness serve us, and what happens when we embrace it? In this episode, Joe and Brett explore helplessness and its role as a crucial component of fear. Examine this commonly-avoided feeling in the contexts of raising children, running a team, or teaching a loved one to BASE jump.Learn to discern between the raw feeling of helplessness and feeling stuck.Experiment with a tool for emotional inquiryExperience how the visceral feeling of helplessness can shatter illusions of control and unearth a profound sense of agency, opening up a path to clear understanding and connection to the present moment.

Brett probes Joe about his history with money, from avoiding it entirely at first to recognizing the role it played as a surrogate for his father's love. They discuss how our projections of money can be traced back to their emotional roots.

Joe and Brett focus on depression and how it shows up in our thoughts, emotions, and nervous systems.Learn how to examine your direct experience to uncover the root causes of depression and get unstuck by relating to yourself in a different way. The conversation includes pointers for showing up for friends or loved ones who are feeling depressed. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at https://artofaccomplishment.com/

Brett, Alexa, and Tara talk about marriage, commitment, and the fears of loving and losing a life partner.  Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at https://artofaccomplishment.com/

Brett chats with Tara Howley, coach and Art of Accomplishment co-founder, about how a flash of insight integrates into embodied wisdom.Tara is facilitating the weekly small group sessions for the Master Class + Deep Dive cohort. Applications for 2023 are open until midnight PDT on May 29th.  Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at https://artofaccomplishment.com/ 

Joe and Brett talk about what they watch for when looking for a leader or teacher or when exploring a new path or practice. They elaborate on how patterns of saviorhood, superiority, and delegation of authority can show up anywhere in society — in the workplace, in the political sphere, or at the dinner table. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

What is love? We all have a felt sense of love and opinions around what it is. How do our feelings and ideas about love form? What happens when our experience of love gets confused with our complex past? And how can we unwind our conditioning and open up to the deepest, richest love available to us? Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

How much of your life do you spend straining and efforting only to spin your wheels and ultimately burn out? In this episode, Joe and Brett peel apart the layers between 'trying' and effortless action. They acknowledge the value of each way of being across various life contexts and discuss the role emotional fluidity plays in freely navigating the spectrum — from trying to its polar opposite. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

We return to Joe's journey, where his years-long chase after a momentary experience of oneness slowly expires. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe takes us on a walk through his childhood and early life, from the suburbs of Connecticut to fleeing the revolution in Iran. A green mohawk and an 8-second hit of oneness. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe and Brett answer more questions from listeners.Is it helpful to connect to difficult people to discover one's triggers?Am I delusional for feeling okay when the money's running out?How do Joe and Brett benefit from being purveyors of knowledge? What kinds of experiences are outside of their reach?How can I call up emotions that aren't presently triggered?How can I make peace when I don't feel affection from my partner?How to feel through contraction or 'gunk' in my body?How necessary is the visual eye contact part of VIEW? Could it be done blind?Thanks to everyone who sent their questions. Tweet us yours at @artofaccomp. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe and Brett talk about how principles drive decision-making and shape our lives -- whether we're aware of them or not. They distinguish between principles and values and examine what gives a set of principles their clarifying power. Joe shares the principles he's used in life and business, and the process by which he's grappled with them over time. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In the third episode of our series for the Decisions Course, Joe and Brett dive into a common emotional pattern that shows up anywhere decisions are made. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe and Brett talk about how to dismantle patterns that cloud our judgment and make decisions that include the wisdom of our emotions. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Our guest Christofer returns with his wife Sadie for a powerful couples coaching session with Joe. They uncover how a pattern of self-reliance and appearing strong for each other has created stress in their relationship. What happens when they try a different approach? Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe and Brett celebrate a banner year of podcast growth by answering questions directly from listeners.In this episode, we explore:(3:20) Anger – feeling, expressing, and receiving ‘anger at’ a person(11:07) Presence – staying with ourselves in complex and fast-paced group situations(15:23) Depression – what is it, and how can we play with it?(21:26) Alone, but not lonely – how our sense of connection evolves through deep work(25:16) Desire – staying in touch with our wants as craving subsides(30:38) Mental health – relating to family or friends with mental health challenges (35:38) Patience – insights and practices to be patient with ourselves and our growth. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joining us for today's episode is Joe’s daughter, Esme. Esme was given a school assignment to make a podcast about where she came from by interviewing a person from her family about a meaningful experience in their life.  She decided to deviate from the task and follow her interest.   She wanted to know what it was like for her Dad to raise her. When her assignment was complete, she offered to share it with our listeners.  Enjoy this touching interview between Esme and her Dad Joe.   Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Today’s episode is a coaching session with a guest who wants to stop postponing his enjoyment into an abstract future that never arrives. The session opens up into a deep exploration of what can happen when we bring enjoyment into any moment -- even while experiencing chronic pain. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe and Brett discuss how to find deeper clarity in decision-making, whether in the office or on the edge of a cliff. Decisions are emotionally-driven, and we navigate them based on how we think we’ll feel when an outcome arrives. When we’re willing to feel any emotion, our decision-making becomes clear.Tune in to see how becoming more aware of our emotions and using guiding principles can help us quickly identify the next obvious step in any decision-making process. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In our previous episode, Joe and Brett talked about how seeing through limiting beliefs can be scary because we're not sure we'll be safe. This is an especially relevant concern in the realm of high-risk activities like skydiving and BASE Jumping. In today's episode, we explore how Brett's relationship with the idea of safety has changed over the course of a decades-long career in adventure sports.They discuss:1:54 - What is safety?5:32 - Safety as an idea can bring us comfort or distress9:20 - The concept of safety as detachment or contact with reality11:17 - Business and safety13:23 - Grounded and ungrounded excitement14:26 - Applying lessons from safety in airsports to business life16:48 - Internal stability and flow19:55 - Learning to be secure is learning to fall - a story24:26 - Finding our inherent innate stability Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Revisiting the topic of limiting beliefs, Joe and Brett explore what prevents us from seeing them, what keeps them stuck, and how to see through and integrate these beliefs in a way that enables a more free and easeful existence.In this episode, we discuss:The logical fallacies, ignorance, and avoided consequences that make us not see many of our hidden beliefsHow we can see a belief and still be limited by itExploring the “latticework” of beliefs that hold structures of identity in place.Three core beliefs that commonly underlie others, and how to find evidence that loosens them.What we can do once we see our beliefs and how we can use awareness and inquiry to easily integrate them. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In this episode, coach Mina Lee joins Joe to explore the nature and emotional dynamics of overwhelm. They inspect how it shows up in our lives and the emotional blocks, beliefs, and nervous system responses that keep it in place.Tune in for a fresh perspective on how to embrace the intensity of overwhelm and tap into an internal sense of safety that facilitates the real-time processing of big emotions and life challenges. Learn how overwhelm flows through a company and inhabits its culture, and how focusing less on reducing overwhelm and more on driving flow can lead to a more relaxed, productive, and fulfilled team.Resources:Mina Lee Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In this follow-up on the recent episode “How Relationships Reveal Us”, Alexa joins Joe and Brett to dive deeper into the premise that we’re all attracted to the partners who trigger us the best. What does this mean, and how do we follow these triggers toward our mutual growth and freedom?We discuss how trigger and attraction are related and how avoiding the feelings underneath our triggers can produce relationship dynamics that last for years if left unexamined. Learn to recognize and welcome your own triggers as well as those of a partner, finding the empowerment to draw boundaries and share desires from a place of kindness.Also, hear Brett sing. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com Resources:Coaching with Alexa: flourishment.lifeCoaching with Brett: brett.kistler.lifeCourses: artofaccomplishment.com

Our sense of identity is composed of the ideas and emotional states — even the gut reactions — that we identify as who we are. Identity is how we recognize ourselves. It guides the structure of our thoughts, emotions, and visceral responses.Most people don’t spend their lives learning how to make their identities more transparent. We often think it’s hard to change aspects of ourselves. The reality is that transforming our identity isn't inherently difficult — it's just that a large part of it is allowing the unfelt emotional experience that our beliefs about ourselves hold in place. It’s hard to change identity from our head, and it's hard to change aspects of identity that we aren't even aware of.If you're running a business or team, it's absolutely being influenced by your identity. Identity limits the emotions we're willing to feel, the information we're willing to receive, and the actions we'll consider taking. These patterns propagate from leadership into a company.In this episode, Joe and Brett share perspectives and tools to see and feel through the limits of identity on the intellectual, emotional, and physical levels. They explore how bringing awareness and transparency to our unconscious structures of identity can reduce rigidity and cultivate a healthy, adaptive sense of self. "Having a fight with your identity is only more identity — it makes it stick harder. The object isn’t to get away from identity, kick it, or beat it into submission: it’s to love it and see what it is."- Which aspects of your identity have recently been brought to your awareness? - What emotional or visceral experience came along with these insights? Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

What can we learn about ourselves from the way we engage in relationships?Brett and Joe address curiosities from listeners about how to approach relationships in a healthy way, riffing on the observation that we find ourselves attracted to the people who most perfectly hook into our triggers, traumas, and projections. Seeing this pattern as a feature rather than a bug, relationships become a vessel for deep healing and personal growth.Examine how an agreement that “we’re together to make each other happy” leads to resentment and kills a relationship. Consider a relationship built on each partner finding their own freedom while being kind and supportive to one another.Learn how relationships involve a continuous grieving process for our identity and bring us into contact with the helplessness of loving another without trying to change them.How can we welcome one another’s needs without neglecting parts of ourselves to make them happy?What does it look like to be authentic and open-hearted in the face of an attack?When a relationship ends, how do we not close down and repeat the same pattern next time?We’ll be following this episode up with others in a new series on relationships.  Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Anthropologist and coach Alexa Anderson joins the podcast again for a deep dive with Joe into the emotional and practical value of grieving fully.They examine several forms in which grief can arise, the relationship between grief and identity, various mysteries of the way grief moves, and how unfelt grief underlies interpersonal and societal conflict.Alexa and Joe discuss the tools they’ve used to help them move their grief in the wake of painful losses and to pre-grieve losses that haven’t yet occurred. They share examples of deep transformation that followed the processing of grief all the way through.Tune in to deepen your relationship with grief as an intimate experience of love and care, and a doorway to the freedom available on the other side.“Without the grief, we recreate the cycle.Without the grief, we relive the trauma.Without the grief, we don’t find the freedom on the other side of the limited identity.”References:Stages of GriefAlexa's coaching practice: flourishment.lifeLearn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

“Never rob a man of his pain or his gold because both will serve him equally well.”Super Bowl champion Aaron Taylor reflects on a journey to emotional freedom that continues far beyond his accomplished career in the NFL. For every feeling he'd been pushing away, Aaron came to find that “on the other side is infinite possibility.”Join Aaron, Brett, and Joe as they talk about performance anxiety, feelings in the locker room, and how faith affects decision-making. They touch on the nature of accomplishment, how to raise children who hear their own voices of approval, and the value of having our identity shattered to pieces. Aaron shares a tearful moment with his absent father that produced an unexpected gem of gratitude. The episode closes with the story of a critical choice Aaron made at age 15 that changed his life.“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what we do, it’s about who and what we become in that process.”Links and references from the episode:Mentalhealthbestpractices.comCheck back in 16 years for a follow-up interview with feedback from Aaron on the referenced conversation with his son.About Aaron:CBS Sports Analyst and College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Aaron Taylor, has a "larger than life" personality, but its roots may surprise you: the former Super Bowl Champion credits his success to the principles of Gratitude, Service, and Teamwork.Instilled from an early age, these principles became the inspiring foundation for the creation of college football’s only non-individual award, the Joe Moore Award, annually recognizing the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit in College Football. Through the Joe Moore Award, Aaron set out to not only preserve the legacy of his coach but also to shift the focus from a “Hey, look at me!” mentality to a culture of teamwork, of putting the greater good above ourselves in society at large.Aaron was a decorated offensive lineman at the University of Notre Dame from 1990-1993, earning unanimous All-American honors both his junior and senior years. In his final season in South Bend, he won the prestigious Lombardi Award, annually given to the best interior lineman in the country.In an incredible culmination of his childhood dream, Aaron was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1994 NFL Draft and was a member of the Packers’ Super Bowl XXXI championship team. After a two-year stint with the San Diego Chargers, Aaron was forced to retire due to injuries after the 1999 season.Off the field, Aaron is a moving and inspirational speaker. His candid approach and sense of humor make him an effective storyteller who is able to weave a powerful message of resilience, perseverance, and the importance of having a championship mindset. Behind the winning smile and accolades, Aaron finds meaning and feels “most alive” when being of service or bringing value to others. Shortly after retiring from the NFL, Aaron established the Aaron Taylor Impact Fund and recently co-founded The Foundation for Teamwork, dedicated to fostering the most essential aspect of all societal endeavors: Teamwork.Aaron currently resides in Southern California and New York with his wife and three children. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Shame is nature’s way of training us to fit into our culture and society. Like an electric fence, it outlines the contours of the identity we’ve grown into and discourages us from straying outside the lines.This boundary around our comfort zone is often a poor match for ourselves and the world we live in. When we feel shame, our emotional experience stagnates, dampening our evolution and our enjoyment. People often find themselves stuck in the same shame cycles for years.In this episode, Joe and Brett examine the structure of shame and how to melt it on an intellectual, emotional, and somatic level.Transformed through awareness and love, our shame becomes a natural set of guide rails that help us live our life in alignment with our deepest values."All we're doing here is freeing the blocking of emotions by feeling into our body and creating love where there was abandonment."The following is the “wall of shame” referenced at the end of the episode, compiled from Brett’s journal and submissions from our listeners:Shame of being amateur/inexperienced...of missing opportunities...of being incompetent...of backing down or giving up...of not creating value...of being wrong, and then being hard-headed about it...of being an outsider who doesn't speak the lingo...of asking for help...of being 'transactional'...of not being present enough...of hovering anxiously...of having shame and hiding it...of being a 'hypocrite'...of being a know-it-all...of being helpless or clueless...of not 'deserving it'...of failing as a result of either over- or under-control...of upsetting people or scaring them with the truth...of showing hurt or disappointment...of not following my intuition...of not being clever, determined, or forthright...of not being ambitious, or of being too ambitious...of disagreeing...of telling people they are wrong...of being withdrawn...of needing people to change their behavior...of needing time...of thinking slowly...of not knowing how...of not feeling good when others are socializing…of not being enough (strong, present, resourceful, smart)…of freezing when action is required…of hurting the people I loveSend yours with the feedback form on our website to add to this list. Submissions will, of course, be anonymized. Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe coaches a course participant through an exploration of self-trust. Beginning with an intellectual question about conflicted inner parts, our guest embraces the underlying emotional experience and touches the essence of who she is."What's the ultimate thing that you're running from?" "Some sort of spiral effect -- I've seen people I love spiral into depression or spiral into madness.""There's an abyss in you that you're avoiding, and your fear is that if you go into that, you won't come out. So let's go." **Full transcript coming soon! Check back HERE for the link.** Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Apologies are commonly associated with shame, power games, or beliefs about who’s right and who’s wrong. In this episode, we talk about the freedom to be had in making apologies without shame and in full ownership of our experience.“When you make an apology that's upright, that's empowered, it feels fantastic. You feel strength in it. You feel responsible. You feel empowered." What We Discuss in Episode 54:3:52   Why apologies are sometimes used to appease our own guilt.11:05   How to apologize in a shameless, empowered way.17:20   The notion of power struggles in apologies — how to recognize when it’s happening and what to do about it.20:07   Why forgiveness is more for you than the person you’re forgiving.26:54   Tools and practices for becoming more aware of the relationship you have with apologizing. **Full transcript coming soon! Check back HERE for the link.** Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

At the age of eighteen — just before the birth of his child — Emile began serving a life sentence for murder. In this episode, Emile tells us how he came to face the fear that drove him to kill a man, and which followed him into prison. He shares how he learned to love himself and see through an identity that might have otherwise imprisoned him in yet another manner. After finding inner freedom, Emile eventually wrote his way out from behind bars as well: his sentence was commuted in 2017 after serving twenty-one years, a testament to his journey and transformation.  "I am under no illusions, right? I cannot make amends to the man I killed. I cannot make amends to his family. I still need to be a north star, right? In my world, in my life. So I can spend my time hating myself, [or] I could spend my time helping to create a world where little kids don't kill other little kids." About Emile:Emile is a queer, African-American activist whose life sentence in prison was commuted by California’s Governor Brown after 21 years for his accomplishments while in prison. While in prison, he was a culture writer for Easy Street Magazine; he co-founded Prison Renaissance, and despite the criminalization of organizing in California prisons, he covertly organized in prison to pass legislation that changed the way California treats juveniles in its criminal legal system. Emile is a widely published journalist, essayist, and literary writer. His credits include pieces in San Francisco Chronicle, TruthOut, Colorlines, and the Brennan Center. Emile is available for talks, panels, and workshops on the following topics:• Power in the Criminal Legal System• Media in the Criminal Legal System• Three Principles of Creating Miracles What We Discuss in Episode 53:03:51   Emile’s relationship to fear — rooted in a culture of hyper-masculinity and violence — throughout his childhood and early adolescence.14:53   How Emile came to the decision to write his way out of prison.19:13   Finding self-forgiveness after murder and redirecting energy to make a positive impact.25:51  The psychological experience of solitary confinement and how what happens in prison is mirrored in society at large.31:00  The freedom and power of choice in the face of fear.41:58   Why welcoming all emotions and aspects of yourself creates the path to an overarching sense of peace and joy. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode53 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Beneath the stories we tell are emotions waiting to be felt. In this episode, we talk about how our stories and emotions interact and how feeling our emotions can help us find deeper stories."If you allow the emotions to move you, your stories change, period. Every time." What We Discuss in Episode 52:01:34   What stories are and how they impact our emotional experience.09:14   Expanding the connection of stories to belief systems and identity.11:42   The intellectual and emotional components of stories — how they interact and how they differ.18:04   How moving our emotions also changes the story.26:39   The paradox of stories both pointing to emotions and having the potential to slow down the movement of them.30:24   The different stages of stories and the purposes they serve. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode52 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Will Chesney found identity and purpose as a Navy SEAL, one of the military’s most elite teams, where he was required to perform calmly and effectively under the most extreme circumstances. However, years of neurological and psychological trauma left Will in a very dark place. Unable to do what he loved most or connect effectively with others, he turned to drinking and isolation. After hitting rock bottom, a friend reached out and invited Will to join him on a journey of self-discovery that allowed him to tap into his resilience and get himself back on his feet. Tune in as we learn what Will did to find healing and meaning in life after war.Will served in the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group as an operator and a dog handler in the Osama Bin Laden raid. He was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his bravery."I woke up and it was me again at one point during the weekend. I know I was a SEAL and everybody always says, “Oh, we can't relate to what you've gone through.” But everybody has trauma. Every life is good but life’s hard sometimes. Everybody deals with trauma no matter what." What We Discuss in Episode 51:02:41   The challenges of reintegrating into civilian life as a combat veteran.05:51   The mindset and techniques that Navy SEALs use to remain calm and effective in any situation.13:25   Navigating the depression and hardships that come with losing a core identity.20:26   How humility is essential for executing any successful mission.24:44   The reflection that put Will firmly on the path to recovery. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode51 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In this bonus episode: Joe and Brett respond to requests to know more about the Master class. They go through the story of how it was created, what it includes, and how it addresses root causes. Brett also asks Joe who the course would be good for and who should not take it.

We talk a lot about connection in this podcast — connection with ourselves, our emotions, our relationships and with the world around us. It’s essentially what we’re pointing to in every topic we discuss. In today’s episode, we talk about why that is, and how orienting toward connection in all aspects of our lives facilitates sustained expansion, increases our capacity, and puts us in touch with something bigger than ourselves.“And the truth is that you're being in connection with yourself and others is not dependent on anybody else because being in connection with what is doesn't require anybody else.” What We Discuss in Episode 50:2:13   Defining connection as a "meta state" or a state that encompasses all states.17:31   How being connected affects productivity and effectiveness in a team.23:39   The physical sensations in your body that let you know you're in connection.28:45   How to be with tension and still feel deeply connected to yourself.32:48   Why connection is all internal and completely within your own locus of control.38:16   How to drop back into connection when things get tough. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode50 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In Episode 49, Brett interviews Joe Sanok, a business consultant and productivity researcher who, until recently, lived full-time in a camper with his wife and children. When he and his wife decided to uncouple, it changed both Joe’s and his children’s lives in a big way. Learn how Joe used his meditation practice and other self-exploration tools to allow his world to unfold beautifully through surrender to reality as it was rather than clinging to what he thought it should be. Joe’s latest book is "Thursday is the New Friday,” a book about the four-day work week. He’s also the host of the Practice of the Practice podcast. "As soon as the sun came up at 5:30, I was wide awake. And so to say, I'm awake, what can I do to ground myself to be the dad I want to be? To be the person I want to be? To be the business owner I want to be? My strongest meditation practice started then and it came from a place of need rather than a place of, 'I should be doing this.'"  What We Discuss in Episode 49:2:48   The pivotal moment that changed the direction of Joe’s life.9:40   Finding an internal locus of control and how it allows things to naturally unfold.12:22   Parenting as a single dad in the midst of a major life transition.18:46   Teaching nuance, healthy rewards and handling difficult emotions to children.24:59   Boosting creativity and productivity by adopting a 32 hour-or-less work week.29:09   Why slowing down is the first step to productivity.32:06   Showing children how to find their own purpose without pattern matching to their parents.**Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode49 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In this episode, we talk about limiting beliefs and how they run our lives, affecting our capacity to be with ourselves and live the life we want. We discuss how to find them, see through them, and discover what happens when these beliefs are no longer running the show.“It's about being able to integrate new knowledge. And if you can't integrate new knowledge because you think you have the whole story, you're limited. Period.” What We Discuss in Episode 48:2:51    Defining what limiting beliefs are and how they can impact your life.12:27   How welcoming or resisting a situation shifts both your interpretation and experience of it.17:15   The notion that integrating multiple perspectives creates better solutions.22:14   The three general categories of limiting beliefs.24:06   How to see through the limiting perspective by discovering it in reverse.34:30   One of the most common limiting beliefs and questions to ask yourself to determine what relationship you have to it. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode48 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

What’s the difference between a boundary and an ultimatum? What happens when we use “boundaries” to control another person?In today’s episode, design researcher, coach, and strategy consultant Alexa Anderson joins Joe for a discussion on boundaries. Tune in to learn how drawing better boundaries can deepen relationships in work and life by immediately increasing our capacity to love."It’s scary if your boundary is accepted and the person loves you in your boundary, because that means the way that you have modeled the world in the past has to now change. And that means you have to change." What we discuss in Episode 47:3:51   How healthy boundaries increase our capacity to love.8:25   Why walking on eggshells, caretaking and other people-pleasing behaviors are not the same thing as compassion.9:35   The trap of trying to change the ones you love in hopes that it will make them happier.13:46   How to hold boundaries in a work context.20:33   The difference between a boundary and an ultimatum.30:12   Resentment as an indicator that a boundary is not being drawn.54:07   Why boundaries can be scary to set and difficult to hear. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode47Alexa's coaching practice: flourishment.life Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

After listening to our two-part series on building functional teams, it's easy to see all of the shortcomings in our teams and realize that we might have a ways to go before we can truly call our teams functional. This realization can result in shame and feelings of not being good enough. Once we realize that our brains are wired to focus more on what’s going wrong than on what’s going right, we can shift to a more balanced assessment using a powerful tool. Gratitude allows us to see how the things we might call “setbacks" or “failures” might actually be leading us to the success that we desire. Tune in to this bonus episode to learn about the power of gratitude in a team.“I would say the real, core reason as to why people resist gratitude besides that it’s strange and awkward in the beginning is the fact that they’re scared that they won’t be prepared for the inevitable doom that is always around the corner if they are happy.” What we discuss in Episode 46:1:27   Negative self-talk and how it contributes to the group dysfunction.3:36   Having gratitude for the lack in your life and why that’s important.7:40   Discerning between dissociative and embodied forms of gratitude.8:04   A simple gratitude practice that can be easily used with teams and in families. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode46 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Last week, we discussed the characteristics that set functional teams apart and how to build your own. In part two of this series, we explore the opposite: what makes a team dysfunctional and how to recognize the signs of one in your own organization. Some of the things that we discuss include why trading short-term discomfort for long-term discomfort is often counterproductive, the top characteristics of leaders who produce dysfunctional teams and the root of the dysfunctional behavior itself. Join us to learn how to identify these behaviors in your team and correct them so that you can cultivate a team culture where creativity, innovation and group cohesion thrive.“The best way to measure if a team is dysfunctional is at the end of a meeting, do you feel invigorated or do you feel depleted?” What we discuss in Episode 45:1:26     What makes a team dysfunctional and why dysfunctional teams exist despite their shortcomings.9:50    Why innovation requires a functional team culture to thrive.11:09    Characteristics of dysfunctional leaders and how they impact the team as a whole.18:18    Signs to watch out for in teams that point to a lack of cohesion and effectiveness.23:20   Practical steps that anyone can take to bring their team back into alignment.25:42   The root of dysfunctional team behavior and how it relates to unprocessed emotions. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode45 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Every functional team is context-dependent on some level. Functionality looks different for a team of Navy Seals than it does for a team at a food processing center. However, there are qualities that all functional teams share. How are you meeting your goals and achieving results relative to other teams in your field? How much do people enjoy being a member of your team? How much do you trust that you will be seen, heard and respected when showing up as your authentic self? Tune in and learn more about what a functional team embodies and how to build your own.“I’ll go into teams and one of the things I’ll do immediately is ask everyone what they want from a team and they almost always agree on everything. Everybody really wants the same thing. If you start owning your wants and you start creating the vision of what you want the team to be, whether you are the head of the team or not, it doesn’t matter. Everybody wants it.” What we discuss in Episode 44:1:15     The different types of functional teams and qualities that they all share.7:05     Ways to determine whether your team is operating functionally.11:50    Why trust is the foundation of a successful team and how to cultivate it.18:42    The importance of putting the power of decision-making into the hands of the people who are contributing to the solution.24:10    Ways to measure the success of a functional team and how it is context dependent.31:57    Cultivating a team culture where people are encouraged to speak up and why it matters. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode44 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In today’s episode, Brett interviews Heather Falenski, documentary filmmaker, adventure athlete and humanitarian worker. Her early career included several years of working on the African continent with refugees and others displaced by war. She is the founder of One World Media, a film production company based in Boulder, Colorado.Heather led a fast-paced life working in some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments. Although her work was fulfilling, it was also physically and mentally taxing. It culminated into a severe chronic illness that left her bedridden for over a year. Heather discusses an epiphany that she had after hitting rock bottom that allowed her to move beyond impossible circumstances to regain health and stability.“The greatest power that we have is to say: I AM that. And whatever “that” is, it’s what we’re defining ourselves to be. It’s what our concept of self is. We can define ourselves in any way that we want. We can say, I’m a filmmaker. I am healthy. I am respected. And once we hold that state as our dominant state of consciousness over a period of time, the outer world will start to conform and reflect that back to us.” What we discuss in Episode 43:07:30     The urge to control outer conditions and why it often leads to failure.10:30     Stabilizing your inner landscape as a way of getting consistent results in the outer world.14:09     Unconditioned consciousness as your natural state beneath all of the things that you identify with.19:00     How to consciously shift into a desired self-concept, rather than allowing it to be dictated by outer circumstances.29:11     Gratitude as a state of allowing a process to unfold, even if it takes some unexpected turns.32:04     How hitting rock bottom can lead you to the necessary conditions to completely recreate yourself. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode43 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In today’s episode, we explore how fear underlies the power dynamics that develop in our relationships with others and within ourselves. When fear is present, we naturally desire to control outcomes by taking on a bully, victim or savior role that externalizes our fear and separates us from our truth. Tune in to join us as we discuss the difference between power and empowerment. We will explore how welcoming the emotions and resistance around undesired outcomes can allow us to exit the power dynamics and show up authentically, leading to deeper connection and more harmonious relationships.“We all get scared sometimes and so we all also get into power dynamics sometimes. It’s just the way it is. It doesn’t matter how old you are and it doesn’t matter how much you’ve meditated. If there wasn’t some of this tension, we wouldn’t be alive.” What we discuss in Episode 42:03:31  How fear creates power dynamics.06:15  Fight, flight or freeze — the three ways that fear presents itself and the three roles of the Fear Triangle dynamic.13:03  The different voices in our head and how they influence our behavior towards ourselves and others.17:15  The difference between power and empower and the ways that it affects how we show up in relationships.22:22  Choosing your authenticity as a way of dissolving the fear dynamic.25:10  Brett’s relationship to fear/power and authenticity as it relates to his history in air sports.28:00  The shame behind the roles in the fear triangle and how it can hold the cycle in place. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode42 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In Episode 41, Brett interviews Jaime Waydo, Chief Technology Officer for Cavnue. Previously, Jaime led systems engineering at Waymo, Google’s Self Driving Car program, and collaborated with NASA on the Mars Rover Curiosity.Jaime came from a mindset passed down generationally that, especially as a woman, it was important to place everyone’s needs — children, spouse, employees — before her own. She quickly realized that this way of being led her to chronically running on empty, which neither benefited her nor her community. She pivoted to putting herself first: speaking her needs vulnerably, organizing systems to support her and designing a schedule that worked for her, transforming her work culture and her home life, while giving her the energy she needed to live life on her terms.Tune in to this episode to find out how she made it all happen.“Let’s just look at this like a patient on the table. What are the symptoms? And then, what’s the next step in treatment? And so, solving problems like that and not worrying about whose fault is something, I think is a really good way to keep the shame from cropping up in people and then they can stay much more in the problem-solving mode.” What we discuss in Episode 41:1:41   Why it’s okay and important to be selfish.6:06   How being a chronic people pleaser can result in "chameleon leadership” and create anxiety within a team.9:23   Generational expectations placed on women to constantly give without having support systems to replenish their own energy.11:13   The turning point where Jaime realized that prioritizing herself would also allow her to better serve others.16:00   How Jaime showing up vulnerably allowed her to improve team culture and cohesion during the pandemic.20:00  Jaime’s techniques for speaking her truth within the context of challenging interpersonal dynamics.26:26   How Jaime brought more peace and joy into her household by relating authentically with her children.33:28   Shame as a root emotion behind micromanaging and people-pleasing behavior.  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode41 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Anxiety is a visceral experience of physical and emotional constriction that is hard to ignore. And yet, many of us engage in a maze of avoidant behaviors in an attempt to do just that. What happens when we see our anxiety as a signal pointing to unmet needs and the unfelt emotions around them? How can sitting with and feeling the sensations of anxiety result in profound internal and interpersonal shifts? Let anxiety be your guide as you tune into this episode.“To love it, to invite it. I can’t wait to be anxious again. When you’re at that place, that’s the real freedom, where you’re not trying to manage yourself. That’s where the real freedom is.” What we discuss in Episode 40:3:15  Defining anxiety from the perspective of the “three brains” — the head, the heart and the gut.9:15  Why we sometimes constrict ourselves from feeling the unfelt emotions that result in anxiety.14:27  Anxiety as means of defending our sense of self and a signal pointing to an unmet need.18:24. The internal and interpersonal shifts that happen when we sit with and feel the physical sensations of anxiety.23:00  The consequence we are actually avoiding when we operate from anxiety.25:16  The idea that emotions that we label as “positive” are often the ones we find most intimidating.31:22  How emotional responses that society deems “unacceptable” can generate shame and anxiety, and can impel us to take action. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode40 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In this episode, Brett and Joe interview Sam Altman on how self-awareness gained through meditation can be combined with intelligence in business. Sam is an entrepreneur, investor and programmer. He is the CEO of OpenAI and the former president of Y Combinator. Sam discusses his experiences with meditation and how it has transformed his decision making and resulted in a much calmer, more joyous default state of being. He explains some of the most profound realizations that he has had about himself and humanity in general through his work with AI. Join us to hear more about how Sam arrived at a place of calm detachment that allowed him to respond to challenging and stressful situations with ease.“Intelligence and awareness, to me, seem like that have to go together.” What we discuss in Episode 39:1:30  A realization that completely changed the way that Sam operates in business, the way he thinks about AI, and his life.5:04  The moment Sam realized his old way of operating, from a place of stress and anxiety, needed to change.8:00  How to really care about something while remaining detached from the outcome at the same time.11:03  The most transformative aspect of meditation according to Sam.14:40  The experience of non-duality — how it shifts perspective and provides clarity on self, passions and priorities.22:22  Whether human emotions are possible for artificial intelligence to experience.29:38  How intelligence needs self-awareness to reach its full capacity.32:50  How meditation shifted Sam’s relationship to anger and joy.35:55  How the work that Sam has done on himself has evolved his work culture.**Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode39 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In this work, we often talk about being in our body. There are practices and exercises in the courses where we’re invited to feel into our sensory experience and speak from our our heart or our gut, accessing deeper wisdom beyond our intellect. This can be very confusing for people when they approach this work for the first time. Today we’re going to explore what it means to cultivate awareness of what’s going on in our body and how it can help us access different kinds of knowing and wonder in our lives.“There’s a way that our brain processes that requires not thinking and being in your body is one of the things that helps that to happen.” What we discuss in Episode 38:01:03  What it means to be in our body and why it’s so important for this work.06:02  What it means to embrace the intensity and how it increases presence and creativity.09:15  The difference between speaking and listening from the head, the heart and the gut.13:33  How cultures that rely heavily on one of these types of intelligences can unintentionally cut themselves off from the other kinds of knowing.20:28  The idea that placing awareness in our body can enrich our sensory experience and intuition.27:28  Listening to the gut as a way to relieve analysis paralysis.30:35  How the practice of body awareness can be incorporated within a business or organizational context.35:46  Emotions and physical sensations as a doorway to the subconscious. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode38 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Today’s episode involves a coaching session between Joe and a man in our community who has expressed the desire to have the courage to be himself despite fears of offending the people around him. By exploring triggers and feeling into the shame that underlies conflict avoidance, our guest finds that he can stay in connection with himself, even when others are angry with him."To heal my shame, I need to feel it and like feel through it and learn about it."  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode37 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Most of the things that we do not understand, we fear. But what if the very path we fear also leads us to our most authentic selves? Approaching our fear allows us to go places and understand things that we wouldn't be able to otherwise. Join us in a conversation where we unpack what it means to use fear as a tool and an ally. **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode36 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In Episode 35, Brett interviews Carla Piñeyro Sublett, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of IBM on a heart-opening experience that radically altered the dynamic of her business and personal relationships. Carla came from a mindset that doing self work was self-indulgent. Stemming from that belief, she took on the role of being a manager of herself, her emotions and others around her. Through a sequence of transformative self-discoveries, she uncovered a greater capacity for love that was immediately felt and reflected back to her by her family and colleagues. In this episode, we follow Carla on an exploration of how making space to allow her own feelings to be felt invited others to do the same, thereby shifting the dynamics of her relationships both to herself and others into profound alignment."As I was going up on stage, one of my peers grabbed me and he said hey Carla, I am going to tell you something. I said what. He said I love you. That just doesn’t happen. It is wild but since doing this work, not only have I felt differently, somehow it has given people the permission to be their authentic selves and be open with me." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode35 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Much of the work that we do in this podcast centers around defining our needs and desires — living into our own self interest, while loving it and trusting it as good. This can conflict with some of the programming that we have gotten from parents and society, which tells us that we should strive for selflessness and avoid selfishness. But what if self interest has the power to lead us to a more refined understanding of what makes us happy? In this episode, we will dive into the distinction between healthy self interest and what society calls selfishness."All self-interest it seems leads, if you allow it to, a more refined understanding of what makes us happy."  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode34Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Brett and Joe interview Stacy Brown-Philpot, former CEO of Task Rabbit and founding member of the Softbank Opportunity Fund, on her journey through childhood abandonment to self discovery. Stacy identified that by choosing the path of self-exploration, she was able to feel through difficult emotions of fear and anger to find deeper love and joy. We will learn how her willingness to confront her past traumas has helped her become a more honest and empathetic business woman."You want to really work on yourself that deeply to process emotions like fear and anger, and on the other side of it is love and joy. How does that happen? The answer is it is a journey, and my journey is very different than what someone else’s journey might be. But the important thing is to be willing to take a step, one step." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode33Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In last week’s episode on anger, we discussed some of the theoretical ways that this emotion impacts our relationships, families and society. In this second episode, we will follow up on what we learned last week by taking a deeper look into how repressed anger might show up and flow through us as individuals."If you are following the mind, it’s very hard to allow anger to move cleanly. Whether your story is they are absolutely wrong and they deserve this, or your story is no, they deserve compassion. Any kind of thick story around it is going to really make the anger have a hard time coming out in a clean way." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode32Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

 "I think it’s most dangerous if someone is like I should be good with other people’s anger. No, you shouldn’t. You either are or you are not. If you aren’t, take care of yourself. If you are, great, lean in. Just worry about loving your own anger, and all the rest of it will take care of itself."It may be that the most misunderstood and hated emotion in our society is anger. At some point in probably everyone’s life, words spoken in anger have cut us deep to the bone. Actions taken from a place of rage have broken relationships and door hinges and turned families and societies against themselves, but where would we be without our anger? How can anger point to what we and others love and care deeply about? What does anger look like when we allow ourselves to feel it fully and cleanly? **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode31Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Brett interviews Ant Taylor, founder and CEO of Lyte, on a profound self-reflection that changed his life and business. Ant discovered that shifting from living largely in his head to operating from a more intuitive and embodied space allows him to tap into the wisdom of his emotions. We will learn more about how he now embraces the ebb and flow of emotional intensity, resulting in the uncovering of deeper truths."This moment, when he called out the anxiety, I didn’t know it at the time. It just triggered a different kind of, I guess, leadership style that was a little bit more like I am going to jump into that pit over there, guys. I’m pretty sure it is filled with snakes. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get my ass handed to me. It’s going to be at least funny, possibly dangerous, but if I live, come with me."  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode30Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

There are emotions inside all of us that can sometimes be difficult to fully feel — anger, sadness, fear and even joy often have an intensity that causes us to brace ourselves against them. What if instead of running away from a feeling, we leaned into it? How would it change our experience to turn towards the thing giving us discomfort, asking us to expand in some way? In today’s episode, we will explore how to embrace intensity in order to allow transformative change to flow into our lives."The person’s willingness to embrace intensity will mark the amount of change they will feel in their life in the short term. It’s a great leading indicator." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode29Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Today's episode is the first of a new series on emotions. To kick things off, we’re going to explore the process of emotional development that we all go through as we start to work through each of the emotions that we’re going to discuss the next upcoming episodes. "Managing our emotions is maybe a short-term solution sometimes, but it is really not a good long term one. That feeling of our emotions really actually brings us the freedom and the joy we want." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode28Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Joe and Brett jump into Brett’s background in extreme sports, business, and relationships to explore a key shift in mindset: from setting out to conquer our fear to welcoming it as a focusing and energizing force."The relationships and connections I have now feel much more real and much more robust than they often used to be when I was holding and carrying this belief that I had to hide my fear from the relationship, or it would damage it somehow."References:Brett's company: clearview.teamBrett's coaching practice: brett.kistler.lifeFor a deeper dive into Brett's history in BASE Jumping and his perspective on fear, check out this episode of the Exit Point podcast. (Apple / Spotify)**Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode27 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

The essence of a cult dictates that you hand over your power to someone else, which is the antithesis of the VIEW mindset. Is there a way to retain autonomy and have individual needs met while also deeply contributing to the needs of a group? In this episode, Brett and Joe unpack the differences between cult dynamics and group cohesion. "I want to bring people to their own wisdom, and I don’t want to bring people to my wisdom, somebody else’s wisdom or a group wisdom." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode26Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Many of our beliefs about the way the world works and our role in it are formed in our early years of life. As adults, the family dynamics that we had as children can show up at work, in our relationships and other areas. Family dynamics gives us a chance to identify and heal patterns that are no longer useful to us so that we can empower ourselves to consciously choose how we show up in our lives. "My brain isn’t in a place where I can trust my thoughts, so I am going to go get my brain in a place and my body in a place where I can trust my thoughts, where I am out of my trauma so that I can think clearly because if I am acting out of the trauma, I will recreate it over, over, over and over again." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode25Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In today’s episode, we will be taking a deeper look at projections. What exactly does that mean? The parts of ourselves that we cannot own — either good or bad — are what we project onto other people. The concept of projection is rooted in the idea that we create beliefs based on our past experiences. We carry these beliefs with us into the present, where they subconsciously shape our current reality."People think somebody who really sees through projections is really smart because they come up with really cool, unique, innovative ideas, or they act in a way that is seemingly not normal but yet it works. It is not so much really that they are smart or not smart. It is that they don’t see the same level of limitation on everything that somebody who fully buys into the projections sees." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode24Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Most of us have a voice in our heads constantly narrating our experiences. Have you ever noticed what yours is like? How it talks to you? How would you feel is someone else spoke to you the way that this voice speaks to you? Would you speak to someone else this way? Today we are going to explore how the voice in our head influences what we say, do and feel. We will learn how we can develop a new relationship with it. "You have this deep, critical voice in your head. It is like you are living with a horrible, micromanaging boss all the time. We know what that's like if we are actually sitting next to one of those people and they are constantly barraging us, and yet we just think it is normal when it is coming from ourselves." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode23Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com  

This week’s episode took an unexpected turn after co-host Brett Kistler had a difficult week, prompting an unplanned one-on-one session where Joe coaches Brett. In this session, we dive deeper into exploring how the relationship with self is reflected in the relationships with the people around us. "My mind is flitting around in a million directions, going down rabbit holes, and my body is like hey, we have something important to do." "Yeah, that's beautiful. That's always the way it works, right? The relationship with the self is reflected in the relationship with the people around us." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode22Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

"If it ever crosses your mind that the person can't handle what you are going to say to them, what you want to say to them, if you ever think they are too weak or incapable, those absolutely are key indicators that you are in it, that you are in the caretaking side of things."What is wrong with making people feel better? When a lot of us think of codependence, we think of alcoholism or we think of addiction, a lot of the extreme examples, but codependence is something we really do a lot in our daily lives, and this happens in very subtle ways in relationships, personally and in business. Today we are going to talk about the difference between care and caretaking.  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode21Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com 

People often think of business as something that’s separate from life. They may say things like, “It’s just business.” In today’s episode, we explore the business side of VIEW and our integrative approach to business that serves as an extension of the values, mindset and strategies that we use in our everyday lives."To me, self-awareness is life. There is no difference. People think about business as something that's separate from life. I do that in business, or it's just business. To me, business is far more of an art form, and how you use it is far more important." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode20 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Today's episode involves a coaching session between Joe and a woman in our community who is experiencing tension around authority figures. The conversation starts out with workplace challenges and very quickly ties into her relationship with her father, ultimately touching on how she can give and receive love. While listening to this conversation, we can observe Joe’s state of mind and how he holds the VIEW principles. These are the kinds of conversations that Joe has with participants and that participants learn to have with each other in the Art of Accomplishment course."Joe, I either want to fight myself or I just want to roll over and stay safe. I either want to fight against myself or I don't want to listen."  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode19Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In the second episode of this two-part series on money, we are going to address another common misconception that people have, which is that money is bad and the root of all evil. What if we did not have to see money as a game or a means to an end? What if we understood that we could transform our relationship to it by simply recognizing that money is not personal? By seeing ourselves as human beyond the money, money can start flowing very differently into our lives. "All that's required is to not have the money be personal, so you don't actually have to see it as a game. You don't actually have to see it as a means to an end. All that's really required is the money isn't personal. You just have to see yourself as human beyond the money, and then money has a way of flowing very differently in people's lives." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode18Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Money can be a very tricky, emotional subject. Many of us have all kinds of projections and misconceptions around it. In this episode of a two-part series, we are going to talk about a common misconception that people have, which is that money is our savior and if we just had more of it, it would solve all of our problems. What if we learned how to effectively use money and accept its constraints in a way that would allow us to be even more creative than we would be without it?"As long as money is here, you can choose to think it is good and I want it, or you can choose to think it is bad and I am going to want it secretly but actually I'm going to try to avoid it or you can say wow, this is the way the system works. How do I use it and accept the constraints of it in a way that allow me to be even more creative than I would be without it?" **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode17Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com 

We are taught how to defend ourselves from a very young age. But few of us are taught the pragmatic power of love. We build a series of walls we can put up whenever someone makes us uncomfortable. What if those very walls create a drag-on life that slows down our dreams? What if love is an easy-to-use tool that turns all that friction into forward momentum?"Love can't really exist without empowerment. You can be fond of. You can be scared of losing, but to actually love in a way that is beyond you, that is a deep welcoming, the only way you can deeply welcome, is to feel deeply empowered to not be worried of the result."We are taught how to defend ourselves from a very young age, but few of us are taught the pragmatic power of love. We build a series of walls we can put up whenever someone makes us uncomfortable. What if those very walls create a drag on life that slows down our dreams? What if love is an easy-to-use tool that turns all that friction into forward momentum? **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode16 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

The accumulation of power seems like a good idea at first. Then we see how deeply insecure some billionaires and leaders of countries can be. What if no amount of power could ever make you feel safe? What if it was just another thing that could be taken away from you? What if being empowered is the key to the only security that truly sets you free?"Power is control over other people and empowered means that you are not looking for control of others. You are just being you despite the consequences."The accumulation of power seems like a good idea at first. Then we see how deeply insecure some billionaires and leaders of countries can be. What if no amount of power could ever make you feel safe? What if it was just another thing that could be taken away from you? What if being empowered is the key to the only security that truly sets you free?  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode15 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

When we consider how we want life to be in the future we often create a list of things that we have to improve about ourselves. Yet we rarely consider that we could succeed in “improving” every aspect of our lives, and by doing so, completely lose touch with who we are and what we want. What if learning who we are creates a future far better than what we think we want? What if it creates a future better than we could imagine?"I will watch people and if they are just following their intuition, they will just pick the next thing. This is what we do, when we are just following our nature. My nature, my authenticity improved me in ways I didn't even know were happening."When we consider how we want life to be in the future, we often create a list of things that we have to improve about ourselves. Yet, we rarely consider that we can succeed in improving every aspect of our lives and by doing so, completely lose touch with who we are and what we want. What if learning who we are creates a future far better than what we think we want? What if it creates a future better than what we could imagine? Today's episode is about valuing authenticity over improvement.  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode14 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

If you look at all the bad habits that you’ve been trying to stop for a decade they all have one thing in common: They are all things you’re telling yourself you SHOULD stop doing. What if thinking you “should” is what keeps you stuck? And what if getting in touch with your wants, in a deep way, is the quickest way to get you unstuck?"The want is that very simple impulse that is moving us, that moves us to have a closer relationship with our loved ones. It is a constant pull that leads us all the way down the developmental line. If we allow it, it will take us all the way to freedom." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode13 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

We often try to figure out solutions to our problems intellectually. But modern neuroscience tells us that, if you removed the emotional centers of your brain, you would be unable to make even the simplest decision regardless of how much intellect you had. What if there were emotional practices you could do to clarify every decision? What if emotions were the key to finding whole new kinds of solutions?"The reason that somebody gets angry at somebody else is because they haven't gotten angry by themselves. It takes a while to build that kind of anger, so go release your anger and then talk to the person. Go get really, really scared and then talk to your boss about the raise that you want. You have the emotional experience and then go and take the action." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode12 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

The problem with getting good at managing your life is that you end up with a life that has to be managed. What would happen if you found out that focusing on enjoying your life could make you more productive and happier than managing your life? We know most of the greats enjoyed what they did. What if enjoyment is an essential part of what makes us great?"Imagine that you are on a boat and you are going down a river. Management is when you are fighting against the river, but when you are in that effortless flow of the river, there's an enjoyment to it. What you have to do is,  you have to be listening to that river deeply. You have to be listening to that impulse." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode11 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

We are taught from a very young age that doing things perfectly will get us where we want to go in life. But what if doing things in connection is far more effective? What if being in connection with your customers gets better results than trying to make a perfect product? Or being in connection with your spouse makes a better marriage than trying to make it perfect?"If you close your ideas and you think of the things that you feel are most perfect in the world, those are also things that are deeply connected. We think of a flower. We think of a scene. We think of God. We think of an amazing product. What the human population sees as perfection, they are all deep expressions of connection."What is perfectionism? If having clear goals can be so helpful in life, how could it be that the simple act of measuring ourselves up to them so often holds us back? Today we are going to explore why our quest for perfection never seems to satisfy us and often only slows or impedes productivity, while seeking connection tends to result in better output, better products and a better life.  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode10 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

When we are ready to embark on the journey of self-transformation we want to make the most of our time in an effective and progressive way. For this, as with all journeys, it helps to have a compass and a clear map.A clear map tells us four things about the journey: the necessary conditions, the best approach, what to expect along the way, and impediments where we might get lost. The compass that keeps us on track—our constant reference along the path—is enjoyment."There is no way of getting it right. There is no complete. There is no finish line, no done, there is no “I’m going to get it.” There is just “What’s the next experiment?” “What’s the next adventure?” “What can I learn from what just happened?” There is just play." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode09 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

The premise of The Art of Accomplishment is simple: it is our heart’s capacity that determines our success and happiness in life. Emotional intelligence is the bottleneck to the change we want to see in ourselves and the world. Tapping into our heart’s potential opens up the possibility of fulfilling our greatest ambitions without sacrificing our sense of joy and authenticity.We are taught early on that if we accomplish enough stuff we will have the life of our dreams, only to find it is a life that fails to make us happy and fulfill our hopes. In this 9-part series, you will discover that how you get things done is what makes your life far more fulfilling.Not only because you will enjoy the process of an authentic life but because enjoyment and self-awareness are critical tools in making what you accomplish more meaningful and effortless.The Master Class podcast series accompanies the online course led by Joe Hudson. More more info, visit artofaccomplishment.com."When you’re self-aware, it means there is a full expression of you happening. It’s why with the great artists, you see their full expression. And they can only get to that self-expression, they can only get to that level of ease, by having more and more self-awareness." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode08 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In self-discovery practices, there’s this idea that the path to deeper freedom is to go through our resistance. This often sets us up with an adversarial relationship to our resistance, as if all it does is needlessly hold us back. In this episode, we discuss resistance as we might reconnect with an old friend -- exploring how it shows up in all its forms, the path to developing a healthy relationship with resistance, and all the fun and foibles we can expect along the way. "My kind of rule of thumb is go for the joy. If I don't want the resistance to change, how can I meet it most joyfully?" **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode07 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

If you do much Art of Accomplishment work, chances are good that you will have a transformational experience. When you return to your life after a profound breakthrough, you may experience feelings of confusion, being lost, or even being unmoored from everything that once grounded you. That’s why integration is so important when doing this work. "As you're moving forward, it isn't a straight line, so what you think to be moving backwards might just be the way humans learn. Kids go from walking to crawling. To be easy on yourself about your learning process and be appreciative of those moments that you are learning, this helps integration out more than anything else." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode06 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com 

Many of us have learned to associate vulnerability with weakness. We fear that being deeply vulnerable will open the door to being dominated or taken advantage of by others. What’s the difference between vulnerability and timidness, and how can unprotected vulnerability be a sign of strength and courage?Vulnerability is the V in VIEW; and the topic of today’s episode."In every moment, you can feel where your fear and your truth are together. And that's the vulnerable action." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode05 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

How does empathy affect our decision making? We often think we are making decisions based on intellect but in reality we make many, if not all, decisions based on trying to feel or trying not to feel certain emotions. If you look forward to all of your emotions what will that do to your decision making? "When you have empathy with someone, they are more likely to be open because they feel that you are with them, and you can't do anything to show it to them. You are just empathetic, and it just occurs."  **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode04 Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

In today’s society, we have an archetype of the successful leader as a commander; someone who knows what they want and bends the world to their will in order to get it. But so many of us end up elbowing our way into loneliness or controlling our lives into a place we later realize we don’t want to be.How can we have clear goals and desires while staying in flow with reality?What if accepting the outcomes we’re avoiding makes our desired outcomes more likely?On today’s episode, we’ll be discussing Impartiality -- the I in VIEW."Recognizing something that's right and going with it rather than trying to get it to be your version of right is the practice of impartiality in business, and it is incredibly, incredibly useful." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode03Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

Being in wonder helps you understand the value of the right question and If you’re in wonder, it’s a constant exploration. Questioning the assumptions that are in your mind is one of the quickest ways to get to wonder, where curiosity and awe are being experienced together."It's really a point of view of looking at the world. Follow your wonder.  It's a trail.  Just follow it in the conversation about the other person, about yourself.  In the conversation, just follow it." **Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode02Learn more about our free workshops and online courses at artofaccomplishment.com

VIEW is a state of mind that, through a series of experiments and exercises, you can learn to drop into with ease. When we approach conversations from VIEW we are able to understand others and ourselves in any situation and in a way where even conflict can bring joy and connection."Think about it this way.  If you have a conversation with a person and at the end of that conversation, they feel like they understand themselves and their business better, they want to continue to have conversations with you."**Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode01To sign up for our newsletter and learn more about our courses, visit us at artofaccomplishment.comYou can also follow us on social media:Twitter: @artofaccompInstagram: @theartofaccomplishment YouTube: @ArtofAccomplishment