When was the last time you went into an activity, a project, or workout and expected to fail? You may be playing it too safe with your potential if you can’t remember. In this episode, I share how my Peloton workout this morning opened my eyes to the ability that we have to be even better versions of ourselves through failing, learning, and trying again. This allows us to continue to raise our level of performance and achievement.

Welcome to a very unique episode of the EnRich Your Soul Podcast. No talking from me this time as I have rediscovered what we all should feel: our calling. For over 25 years, I have been able to express myself as a DJ and performer and recently I have re-engaged this side of me as it truly is my artistic expression. As I’ve been collecting new music for some upcoming performances, I noticed this great theme about how house music expresses different positive emotions. I’ve brought those emotions together in a 90 minute mix that will have you smiling, singing, head nodding, and dancing through your positive feels. Enjoy!

In my world, I get to meet some absolutely dynamic people and I’m honored to connect and support them. These two amazing women are up at the top of my list. Lisa Walden and Hannah Ubl are the duo known as Good Company Consulting and they are on a mission, in their words, to help “people create workplaces that don’t suck.” A-freaking-men to that!!! As speakers, consultants, and now authors, they bring a refreshing view to corporate culture that everyone needs to hear, implement and benefit from. In this episode, I have the distinct pleasure of talking with these two about their individual journeys, the creation and path of Good Company Consulting, and their exciting new book “The Future of Work is Human” an engaging way to create a “humans-first” culture at your company. Questions Why did you decide to go this route of consulting companies about their cultures? What does a human first culture look like? How would you define the culture of Good Company Consulting? What truly makes a great company culture (not just lip service)? How would you define psychological safety and how can companies embrace it? As you’re consulting and speaking all over the place, what are the top 2 concerns for: -       Leaders -       Employees -       How do you fix these problems? What do you recommend to someone who may be listening who feels “Stuck?” With a dynamic, and sometimes polarizing, conversation going on around back to office policies, how should companies approach this? Outside of the book becoming a #1 best seller, what’s your brave prediction for the next year? Check them out at goodcompanyconsulting.com

Every so often, I start a post or videos with “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but…” Well, this is a bit different. I know exactly who needs to hear this because they asked me to talk about it. Now, this will likely appeal to more than just this one person, so if this episode benefits you, all the better. You see, we have times in our lives where our inner view is dark and our head is low because we’re struggling. I’ve been there too many times and I think we all can admit that we’ve faced this battle in our lives at some point. But when we lift our heads, we see a brighter view and we also see those who are around us to support us. In this episode, I just speak from the heart about lessons I’ve learned when pulling myself out of a negative mentality and the help that I will be forever grateful for. My words are just those of support to you in this time and the encouragement that there is a lighter, brighter road ahead. ❤️

Ever get to a point in your day when everything seems like it weighs a ton on your mind? Maybe you’re making things too granular and deep in the weeds? I had that happen the other day (amongst many) and was brought back to the reality of what I should be doing….by my 6 year old. “Dad, you should create a habit of happy.” This sparked a conversation about just being intentionally happy, finding it in myself to pause and be thankful, enjoy life for what it is, and smile on purpose. Seems so simplistic, yet so overlooked. In this episode, not only do I dive into how this interaction with my son helped me consciously create my own “Habit of Happy” but how you can do the same in just 5 intentional minutes a day.

Do you struggle moving through fear to make things happen? Now, this doesn’t have to be working through a traumatic fear (see also snakes and spiders for me) but that little fear that makes you talk yourself out of opportunities, goals, and pursuing the life that you truly want. In this episode, I discuss how I’ve worked with and through fear in my own life and how you can use fear to your advantage as you pursue growth opportunities. I’ll share words of wisdom that have helped me manage my own fears from Anna Greenberg and Jess King of Peloton as well as one of my all-time favorites, Mel Robbins.

Have you ever felt, emotionally or mentally, that you’re walking in the dark or in shadows? That things are difficult and there’s little to no brightness shining through? Of course you have, we all have. That’s why I have a better alternative for you. During a morning meditation with Anna Greenberg of Peloton, she talked about the mental shift of happiness being similar to walking on the sunny side of a city street. With the one side of being a bit darker and shadowed, because the sun’s behind buildings, vs. the sunnier side across the street. We tend to walk on the colder, darker side when things are incredibly tough and challenging. But even that meditative shift to the sunnier side of the street brings about feelings of warmth, happiness, and light. In this episode, I share how I crossed to the sunny side amidst struggle and how you can move to the other side of the street mentally and begin to feel better immediately.

Ever feel like you’re caught in this rut or a storm of frustration and you’re just wondering “why me?” We’ve all been there and it’s a suffocating feeling to not know which way is up on certain days. It’s when we stop and realize that the storm is actually clearing the way for better days that we embrace these times as opportunities to learn, grow stronger, and improve who we are as people. In this episode, I share how tough times are like sculpting a statue. You’ve got to manage the pressure and removing unnecessary weight and things from your life to become the work of are you are deep down.

There are times in our lives where we take on a ton mentally and emotionally. Especially in the last few years, there have been more and more reports of people suffering from anxiety and burnout because of the stress they put on themselves to perform while managing their mental and physical state. While we are all familiar with the feelings of stress, are you aware of how it actually affects your physical and mental wellbeing as well as your ability to have mental capacity for critical thought? In this episode, I share the impacts that stress and anxiety can have on your brain, your physical wellness, and how you can get mentally unstuck when you are feeling out of inspiration.

We all do it. We speak to ourselves in a defeatist, finite tone that limits where we are and where we can go. Don’t think you have? Have you ever said “I can’t do…” “I can’t figure out…” “I don’t know…” Sure you have, we all have. This is where it changes with one simple word: yet. By adding “yet” to the end of any statement that applies to your growth, learning, goal achievement, or abilities, you open the door for progress. I kinda knew it worked for me when I was conscious in doing it, but when my easily frustrated 6 year old started changing his mentality by doing it, I knew there was something there. In this episode, I share how the addition of the word “yet” can blow open a world of success and achievement when you feel stuck in life and down on your ability to improve it.

We’ve all been there before…. You wake up and your emotions and thoughts are off to the races and you become the mental/emotional equivalent of the dog walker holding onto the leash trying to keep up with the gigantic dog who’s chasing something. This sometimes goes on until you lay your head down that night. Just hanging on for dear life, unaware of where the hell you’re going and what you’re feeling from minute to minute. You feel frazzled during the day, uneasy every second, and then completely baffled at the end of the day wondering “What just happened??” I too have felt that and found myself in an exercise this morning that changed the game for me. While I have love and respect for my go-to Peloton meditation instructors Anna Greenberg, Ross Rayburn, and Kirra Michel, Aditi Shah blew my world wide open this morning. In this episode, I share the exercise that transformed my mental and emotional clarity and how I combined it with a recent article I read on how we should be more specific when describing our emotions. The pairing of these two has brought me an immense amount of joy and energy and I had to share it with you.

We live in a distracted society, full stop. With our attention span being at that of a goldfish, it’s no wonder there studies galore about how our focus and productivity is being demolished by the day. Consider these statistics: Carleton University surveyed 1,500 people in six organisations and found that, on average, they worked 47.2 hours a week and spent 17 of those hours on email. Email interruptions increase employees time on tasks by one-third. The average office worker is productive for only three hours a day. 36% of Millennials and Gen Z admit to spending two hours or more checking their smartphones at work. Source: Sereneapp.com So, if you’re a motivated, goal-achieving person, how do you battle these odds? Simple, starve your distractions and feed your focus. In this episode, I share some top tips on how to reduce (or eliminate) distractions from your day to strengthen your focus, energy, and productivity. All of these tips provide instants lifts and cost nothing to implement.

It’s not often that you hear the words harp, piano, metal, gothic, and award-winning in the same description of someone, but here we are. Lindsay Schoolcraft is a one-of-a-kind musician and talent. Her music is the perfect blend of beauty and emotion with some haunting, darker tones. She combines her classically trained voice and talent with the energy and power of metal music. To see her perform and listen to her messages in music is an absolute game-changer, to talk to her and get to know her is a blessing. In this episode, we discuss her musical upbringing, her passion for storytelling, and how she blends her unique sound to capture the hearts and minds of millions. We also discuss the critical nature of discovering your voice in the world and not being afraid to own who you are and how you feel. This approach has allowed her to have a genuine connection with people and fans all of the world and she shares messages on how everyone can own their story and connections in the world. She also shares how the pandemic affected her work style and how it’s opened up new opportunities to perform and to coach and consult other musicians. You can learn more about Lindsay on her website, Instagram, or Patreon. You can also follow her Spotify channel to hear her amazing music. It’s such a special opportunity to mark 150 episodes, on my birthday, with one of my favorite singers and people in the world!! Thank you for all your support! About Lindsay Juno Nominated Lindsay Schoolcraft composes and performs Ethereal Gothic music exploring orchestral soundscapes and heavy metal. From the small city of Oshawa, Canada, LINDSAY is a hauntingly enchanting Singer, Harpist, and Pianist, and was presented with the 2021 Oshawa Music Award for Artist of the Year. Releasing her own solo work since 2010 with the debut full length metal album Martyr, co-written by Grammy Award Winner Rocky Gray (Formerly Evanescence), releasing in 2019, and her harp-driven, orchestral offering Worlds Away in 2020.  Her music is elegant and yet powerful, delivering a compelling sound fuelled by raw emotion. Lindsay’s style prevails effortlessly through every composition whether focusing solely on orchestral instrumentation or delving into the realms of heavy music. Lindsay received her musical education from established vocal instructors, the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), and briefly at York University for Opera and Theory studies. She continues today to study in the fields of business, musical theory, and music production.  Lindsay works with a wide variety of artists and different sub-genres in metal. She has recently featured on gothic-metalcore hitmakers MOTIONLESS IN WHITE’s “Cyberhex”, hardcore outfit CANCER BATS’ “Hail the Acoustic Destroyer”, black/folk metal artist MYRKUR’s single “Rivers Blessed” on harp, and released “Stolen Light” with Sarah Jezebel Deva. Lindsay embraces the creativity of musicians around the world leading to the production of some extraordinary collaborations. 

What is the best version of yourself? Before you give that answer too much thought, I want you to also stop and ask yourself, “When was the last time I invested in my own clarity and confidence?” What I mean by this is that we are typically running on the treadmill of life; exhausting ourselves and not going anywhere because we get caught up in the day to day of demands. We rarely step off the treadmill just to check in with ourselves and we often miss valuable time and opportunity because of that. I spent the morning in longer meditation than normal and wound up taking a class from Aditi Shah of Peloton. It was a class called “Peak Performance” and the mentality that she shared with me was transformative and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. This episode will transform how you view the best version of yourself and allow you to free yourself from the mental restraints that yourself and others have placed on you.

Stress, worry, and anxiety can make you feel like you’re wandering around in the dark with no direction. While these times feel like they take forever and there’s not an end in sight, they truly are temporary; just a page or two in the story of you. To increase your self-management and emotional intelligence, do these three things: 1. Remind yourself that this is temporary. Knowing that a finish line is out there somewhere will clear your thoughts. 2. Find 1 thing to have gratitude for. It’s the little positive steps that walk us out of the dark. 3. Reach out to a supportive friend. They can help you find your way out. For more information about booking me to help your company, conference or cause as a keynote speaker or consultant, please contact rich@richbracken.com. You can learn more about me at richbracken.com

If you’re like most of us, you have ups and downs, ebbs and flows of life that may find you in a place of stagnation. Maybe you’re feeling over-protective of yourself, afraid to step out of your comfort to try something new or go after a goal or change you’ve been wanting to pursue. Just kidding, we’ve ALL been there. That’s why this episode is a bit different than most. In this episode, I share my thoughts about digging deep within yourself, to that place that blends your purpose, determination, and resilience to turn and face your fears with a smile. Whether you’re battling self-doubt, insecurity, or you’re just flat out scared of change (most of us are) this is absolutely for you. Take a listen and know that I’m cheering on what’s about to happen for you!

Way before I was a speaker and podcaster, I was a DJ. It started as a semi-fluke when I was a 15 year old and became one of my favorite things in the world for the following 25 years. Avicii, Kelly Rowland, Roger Sanchez, Betty Who, were some of the brilliant names I performed with during my career and I got to play for crowds in Chicago, Vegas, Miami, London, Boston and scores of others. What I will say is that for those who think DJing is just pushing a couple of buttons (ok for some people pretending to be DJ’s it is) it is a much more complicated scenario than you think. In this episode, I share 5 of my life lessons that DJing taught me that have carried over into my personal and professional worlds. These educational opportunities provided me clarity on my self-worth, personal branding, communication, and relationship management. As a bonus, I’m excited to share one of my favorite mixes that I did a few years back that has still held up well. Even if you call all dance music “techno” there will be some familiar songs remixed in here. So whether you are reminiscing on a time where I got to play for you, or you just need some motivation to move your body, I hope you enjoy it.

Life is tough. Even before the pandemic, millions were dealing with issues that affected their emotional and mental well-being while keeping their feelings to themselves. Even with the conversation around mental health and self-care becoming more prevalent, there are still way too many people keeping themselves in the dark, out of fear, embarrassment, or sheer confusion on what to do. It's time we open the blinds of our mental house, to let the light in and shine light on what we need help with. This conversation encourages you to reach out if you're struggling, or if you know someone who might be.

Life is tough, challenging, and can throw you for a loop when you least expect it. This existed before the pandemic and has become a mental and emotional dodgeball game ever since. The silver lining is that more and more conversations are happening about self-care, mental health awareness, and how we can be better people holistically every single day. In this episode, I chat with Natalie Ottosen, Founder of Soul Sister Coaching. She is a Certified Transformational Life Coach, Reiki practitioner and Astrologist. She is also a Mother to two amazing children, wife to an adoring husband, and seeker of light and truth.  Natalie leverages her knowledge with her experience battling traumas with fitting in, self-love, self-worth, and finding her place in this world. She’s now on a mission to help others like yourself, find your place, your love and your worth. We discuss her path to becoming a Life Coach, how she incorporates energy work and astrology with her clients, the benefits of meditation, and how you can live a Soul Led Life. She offers courses, coaching and a fantastic monthly membership engagement that’s full of value added content at soulsistercoaching.com

I have always been a proponent of being absolutely authentic on social media; it’s actually why I started this podcast. It’s refreshing to see people bring their true selves to any social platform to share their personality, get their messages across, or just have fun. Nobody does it better than Britney Crosson. As a podcaster, social media company owner, and Peloton/Wine/Comedy social media influencer, Britney quickly became one of my favorite accounts to follow to inspire and entertain me. Her blend of social media tips with hilarious dancing videos (sometimes even on her Peloton equipment) are incredibly fun to watch. In this episode, Britney and I discuss tons of topics including the power of social media, how to step into your authentic brand, and how to balance life as a business owner. You can learn more about Britney at britneycrosson.com and her company Fun Love Media funlovemedia.com. About Britney Britney Crosson is the host and producer of The Social Sunshine Podcast, owner of Fun Love Media, a social media management and content creation agency based in Houston, TX, and the founder of Small Biz Social Society, a membership that helps ambitious entrepreneurs stand out on social media. As a performer from the age of 3 with a total of 30+ years experience on stage and screen, Britney developed a natural love for being in front of audiences via social media. She has used her love of social media and her experience as an actor and dancer to help her clients, membership members and podcast audience to use their existing talents, skills and knowledge to create exciting online content for their businesses. When she's not working hard on her businesses, you can find her having a dance party with her two kiddos or cuddled up on the couch with wine and her husband watching their favorite tv shows.