The Adversity Advantage with Doug Bopst

Today’s guest is Shaun Galanos. Shaun is a love coach, host of The Love Drive podcast, and an online course creator. He teaches intimacy and communication tools for better relationships and more love. In this episode we discuss how to know if someone is actually a solid potential partner for you, why you shouldn’t start to date if you are in a negative headspace, how to know if you are falling in love too quickly, why shouldn’t overshare when you first start dating someone, how to know if it’s time to breakup with someone, what to do if your view of love and romance is jaded, how to know if you or someone is emotionally unavailable, common themes of long term healthy relationships and much more.    What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 01:42 Two most important things to remember when you begin dating 05:47 How to avoid falling in love with the wrong person 08:42 Are you falling in love too quickly? (& what to do if you are) 11:36 Should you begin dating if you are in a negative headspace? 14:20 How to communicate effectively 17:29 Should you breakup? 20:57 How do you find out what your needs are? 24:09 Shaun gets diagnosed with an STD 29:33 When should you bring up your past? 34:28 Do relationships help you heal? 37:01 Signs of someone who is emotionally unavailable 39:48 Blaming others is a red flag 40:45 Common limiting beliefs when it comes to dating 42:52 What to do if your view on love/romance is jaded 44:47 How to deal with heartbreak 48:34 Common themes of healthy relationships 49:37 Dealing with conflict in a relationship 50:57 What to do once the honeymoon phase is over Episode Resources: Connect with Shaun | Website, Instagram, Podcast   Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter ⚠ WELLNESS DISCLAIMER ⚠ Please be advised; the topics related to mental health in my content are for informational, discussion, and entertainment purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your current condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard from your favorite creator, on social media, or shared within content you’ve consumed.   If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.   If you do not have a health professional who is able to assist you, use these resources to find help:   Emergency Medical Services—911 If the situation is potentially life-threatening, get immediate emergency assistance by calling 911, available 24 hours a day.   National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org.    SAMHSA addiction and mental health treatment Referral Helpline, 1-877-SAMHSA7 (1-877-726-4727) and https://www.samhsa.gov   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Ashlie Molstad. Ashlie is one of the most successful Beachbody coaches of all time, having earned the prestigious top coach award two years in a row. This achievement was no small feat, given that there are hundreds of thousands of coaches. Ashlie is also a life coach and host of the "Insource" podcast. In this episode, we discuss Ashlie's rise to success in a competitive industry and how that same rise to success also led to addictions to things like achievement and external validation. We discuss how these addictions led to her swimming in a river of "misery" and how she bounced back. We also chat about her struggles with her mental health and not liking herself, how to overcome the opinions of others, why she is reevaluating her relationship with alcohol and so much more.      What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:00 Addiction to achievement 07:00 Has Ashlie always been into personal development? 09:30 What made her expand her business? 14:00 Helping others pulled her out of a dark place 18:35 Why did Ashlie hate herself? 22:20 External validation doesn’t build confidence 26:15 Reevalutating her relationship with alcohol 30:00 Dealing with online criticism 39:00 You don’t need a morning routine to be successful 44:30 Overcoming the opinions of others 49:50 Does she still make money from Beachbody? 52:20 Change your thoughts not your circumstances 56:30 Dealing with her “inner bully” Episode Resources: Connect with Ashlie | Website, Instagram, Podcast Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter ⚠ WELLNESS DISCLAIMER ⚠ Please be advised; the topics related to mental health in my content are for informational, discussion, and entertainment purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your current condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard from your favorite creator, on social media, or shared within content you’ve consumed.   If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.   If you do not have a health professional who is able to assist you, use these resources to find help:   Emergency Medical Services—911 If the situation is potentially life-threatening, get immediate emergency assistance by calling 911, available 24 hours a day.   National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org.    SAMHSA addiction and mental health treatment Referral Helpline, 1-877-SAMHSA7 (1-877-726-4727) and https://www.samhsa.gov   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guests are Vanessa and Xander Marin. Vanessa is a licensed psychotherapist and has spent over 20 years as a sex therapist. She has bachelor’s degrees in human sexuality and sociology from Brown University and a master’s degree in counseling psychology. Xander is a regular dude who left a cushy career in tech once he realized it was more fun to talk about sex with his wife all day. He’s here to show you that you don’t need a graduate degree or a license to have extraordinary communication skills. Vanessa and Xander also host the highly popular Pillow Talks podcast where they share the ups and downs in their relationship while giving you step-by-step techniques for improving yours. In this episode we discuss how to maintain emotional connection during your relationship, how to get the “spark back” if you are feeling disconnected from your partner, the relationship between physical and emotional intimacy, how to improve your sex life with your partner, why gratitude is so effective for rebuilding relationships, how to know if you’re relationship is stale and much more. While this episode covers some mature content, it’s intended for educational purposes and to help you improve the relationship with yourself and/or your partner. Thanks to this episode's sponsor:   MANSCAPED:  Check out the new Beard Hedger™ Pro Kit. It also makes a great Valentine’s Day gift for your partner. Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code BOPST at www.manscaped.com. .    What to Listen For: 00:00 Intro 02:08 Maintaining emotional connection during a relationship 04:32 How to get the “spark” back in a relationship 07:35 Why is diving back into memories effective for rebuilding emotional connection 09:17 Does sex lead to emotional connection? 11:35 How long should you wait before getting intimate in a relationship? 14:36 Does chemistry in the bedroom matter? 17:05 Your sex life shouldn’t be a fairytale 18:36 Why is it weird to talk about sex? 20:54 Has Vanessa and Xander ever lost attraction for each other? 26:02 Is your relationship stale? 29:16 How do you know if your relationship is healthy?  31:18 Discovering your interests in the bedroom 32:38 Initiating sex with your partner 36:28 Communicating your needs to your partner 43:22 Biggest “turnoffs” in a relationship 46:31 What to do if your partner doesn’t want to work on the relationship 49:42 Dealing with resentment in a relationship 50:19 How to flirt with your partner 52:22 Exploring new things with your partner     Episode Resources: Vanessa and Xander | Website, Instagram, Podcast, Get their book, TikTok Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter   ***WELLNESS DISCLAIMER***       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Britt Frank. Britt is a licensed psychotherapist and trauma expert. She received her bachelor's from Duke and her Master's of Social Work from the University of Kansas. Britt is also the author of the book, The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward This is her second time on the podcast and today we are going to discuss many of the themes of her work but we are also going to chat about Britt’s incredible story. She struggled for more than two decades with relationships, chemical/behavioral addictions, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, OCD, and complex PTSD.  After finding her way out of that mess (with a lot of help and a brief stint in a religious cult), Britt changed careers, went back to graduate school, and became a therapist.   In this episode, she shares her incredible journey and how she completely transformed all aspects of her life. We also chat about why taking micro-steps leads to big changes if you’re trying to become unstuck, how to effectively reduce anxiety when you’re feeling overwhelmed, why external validation cannot save you, how to transform the way you speak to yourself, why trying to heal your past and forgive others keeps you stuck, how to improve the way you set and achieve goals and so much more.     What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 02:06 How to become “unstuck” 03:44 The power of taking “small steps” 05:19 The origin of Britt’s addiction journey  11:06 Did joining a religious cult save her? 14:27 What was her rock bottom moment? 17:14 No one is coming to save you 20:48 Being honest with yourself 24:21 How to ask for help 27:30 What helped Britt transform her life? 29:56 Making peace with your past 33:28 Coregulating with family members that hurt you 35:55 The opposite of trauma is “choice” 38:25 Britt’s contrarian view on laziness 41:04 Don’t fall into THIS trap 43:15 How to successfully change your life 45:15 Transforming negative thoughts 47:37 The problem with optimism 50:58 Reducing anxiety when you’re feeling overwhelmed Episode Resources:   Connect with Britt   Instagram Website Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter ⚠ WELLNESS DISCLAIMER ⚠   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Robert Greene. Robert is an absolute icon and is the author of the NY Times bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, Mastery, & The Laws of Human Nature. In this episode, Robert and I chat about  why it’s important to understand your emotions, why success is more dangerous than failure, how to read nonverbal communication cues and body language to determine if someone actually likes you, the dark side of human nature, the importance of protecting your reputation, how to overcome adversity and much more.      What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 01:28 3 Most important principles from Robert’s books 07:00 Understanding your emotions 11:44 Robert’s near death experience 18:30 How to overcome adversity   23:22 Why the 48th law of power is so important  27:55 Why does Robert struggle with feeling inferior? 32:05 Success is more dangerous than failure 36:56 Protect your reputation at all costs (5th law of power) 41:07 Nonverbal communication and body language 46:46 How to tell if someone actually likes you  51:53 What does Robert think of me? 55:42 What types of people should you stay away from? 1:00:46 How to tell if someone is lying to you 1:04:37 Master your dark side 1:11:11 Robert’s live event with Ryan Holiday Thanks to this episode's sponsor: BTR trucks and service: the leading commercial truck company in the Baltimore Washington region. BTR does everything a commercial truck user would ever need including repairs, routine maintenance, body work and inspections. If you are in the Baltimore Washington area and you or a loved one needs help with your truck, reach out to BTR at 410-691-9882 or check out their website at www.btrtrucks.com. Episode Resources:   Connect with Robert   Instagram Website Books Attend Robert Greene & Ryan Holiday's LIVE event Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Brad Jensen, also known as thesoberbodybuilder online. He is the owner of Key Nutrition and - co-host of the popular "The Key nutrition podcast." Brad has an incredible recovery story and over ten years of sobriety. The ironic thing about Brad's story is that fitness has played both a positive and a negative role in his life, and it even led him to try painkillers for the first time when he was just seventeen. The years followed were filled with self-destruction and turmoil, leading to multiple incarcerations and rehab visits. After being homeless for nearly a year in 2012, Brad found himself at rock bottom after his mom bought heroin for him so that he wouldn't feel dope sick at his Grandfather's funeral. His mother, filled with tears, watched Brad get high in the back of her car; this was Brad's breaking point. Hours later, Brad found himself arrested again, but this time it was the catalyst for his sobriety. Today he comes on the podcast to tell his riveting story from start to finish. We talk about the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Our discussion also gets tactical as we dive into how to thrive in recovery, the power of your inner circle and much more!     What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 02:20 Mistakes that people make in sobriety 07:04 Spend time with people who have “common futures” 10:11 Unhealthy coping mechanisms 13:12 Where did Brad’s addiction journey begin? 27:00 Using opiates to numb emotional pain 21:39 Things go down hill for him FAST 27:28 Why Brad struggled with staying sober 29:23 Did he still workout during active addiction? 33:19 Brad is homeless for nearly a year  36:03 Getting high in his Mom’s car before his Grandfather’s funeral 39:43 How did he finally get and stay sober? 47:02 The four pillars of fitness 51:40 Does Brad still have addictive patterns? 55:38 Advice for parents who have a kid who is struggling with addiction    Episode Resources:   Connect with Brad   Instagram Website Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter   WELLNESS DISCLAIMER Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is the Queen of Confidence Serena Kerrigan.  Serena is a Latina Content Creator, Media Personality, Entrepreneur and creator of Let’s F*cking Date. Her brand is famous for its wildly effective relationship-building card games. Her unique ability to listen and engage with her audience has generated viral success and a dedicated cult following on social media.  Serena’s bold personality and life changing mantras have inspired thousands to live their life unapologetically.  Today we discuss why changing her middle name and creating the SFK persona helped Serena survive when she was younger and how it helped her build extreme confidence along the way. She also shares the struggles this same persona has created for her and how it wasn’t until recently that she was comfortable just being “Serena.” We also discuss the world of dating, why rejection is redirection and steps you can take to develop real confidence. We also play one of her card games live on the show which I think you will find very entertaining!    What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 01:56 How do you know if you’re TRULY confident?  05:03 Serena explains why she created SFK  09:48 Does she struggle with being vulnerable? 15:04 When did she become comfortable just being “Serena”? 19:43 Not letting your childhood dictate the rest of your life 22:19 Struggles with dating 29:46 “Prizes don't chase winners. Winners chase for the prize” 31:38 How to avoid “situationships” 34:47 He said WHAT?! 37:58 Rejection is redirection 47:00 Serena and I play her dating game! 49:24 Our first impressions of each other  51:43 Dating advice from Serena           Episode Resources:   Connect with Serena   Instagram TikTok Buy her card games Attend her live event Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter     ⚠ WELLNESS DISCLAIMER ⚠       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Marc Schulz, PhD. Marc is the Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development which is the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted. The study has followed the lives of two generations of individuals from the same families for more than eighty years. Dr. Schulz received his Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College and his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a practicing therapist with postdoctoral training in health and clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School.  Marc is the co-author of the newly released book The Good Life: Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study on Happiness.  Today Dr. Schulz and I chat about the findings of his study and what actually makes people happy long term. We discuss how things like money, relationships and work impact our levels of happiness and what it actually means to live a Good Life.      What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 01:38 How does someone know if they lived a “good life”? 03:14 What types of relationships are most meaningful?   05:35 Does technology change what makes people happy? 08:24 Online vs. in person relationships 10:45 How to strengthen in person relationships 12:31 How do scientists define happiness? 14:20 Handling adversity (according to 80 years of research) 16:47 How to remain optimistic during hard times 19:23 Common happiness traps 22:45 Can money make you happy? 27:29 Is happiness a choice? 31:17 How did people deal with their mental health 80 years ago? 34:57 Does being married make you happy? 38:16 How to improve intimate relationships 44:38 What makes people happy at work?   Episode Resources:   Connect with Marc Buy "The Good Life" Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Dan Garner. Dan is the founder of Team Garner, Inc. and co-founder of RAPID Health Optimization which offer high-level personalized online training, nutrition coaching, and lab analysis for world-class results. His coaching resume is second to none having worked with dozens of professional athletes in 14 different sports. Within his clientele he has worked with world champions, hall of famers, MVP’s, world record breakers and more. In this episode we discuss why you shouldn’t major in the minors when it comes to your health and the things should actually focus on. Dan shares some solid tips for building healthy habits and developing discipline so that you can put consistency on autopilot. We get into what you can do if you’re feeling fatigued, stressed or bloated and what supplements you can take to better your sleep, reduce stress and improve your overall health.     What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 01:58 Don’t “major in the minors” when it comes to your health 06:12 Momentum builds consistency   08:57 The 60 second movie of your day 14:26 Dan’s thoughts on bloodwork 16:15 What causes fatigue  22:32 What supplements should everyone take? 24:56 Don’t lose weight…Get healthier! 29:54 Can stress cause gut issues? 35:37 How to reduce stress?  40:10 What causes digestive issues? 42:41 Are you dehydrated? 44:47 The dangers of being dehydrated 48:19 Tools for improving sleep quality 55:44 Why motivation doesn’t work   Episode Resources:   Connect with Dan   Instagram Rapid Health Report Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter   ⚠ WELLNESS DISCLAIMER ⚠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is social media personality Lyss Boss. Lyss is the host of the highly popular podcast “Date Yourself Instead,” a podcast intended to inspire you to become the best version of yourself. In her podcast, she gets candid about her relationship experiences, and touches on other topics including business, beauty, wellness, and so much more. In 2021, Lyss started a self-love series on TikTok which amassed over 100+ million views on her videos and counting. In this episode, we talk about learning how to date yourself and take your power back so that you can become your highest self and attract a partner that reflects that. Lyss opens up about healing her relationship with external validation and also shares some unhealthy patterns she has had to work on. We also get into why you shouldn’t be attached to timelines, the truth about manifestation and more.    What to Listen For:   00:00 Intro 01:56 How to take your power back after a breakup 06:20 What mistakes has Lyss made in relationships? 09:26 What does self-love REALLY mean? 12:25 Are you with the right partner? 15:00 Why you shouldn’t be attached to timelines 19:38 What does “Date Yourself Instead” mean? 21:34 The external validation trap (& how she’s healed from it) 27:24 Lyss’s spiritual transformation 30:45 How she stopped worrying about the opinions of others  34:16 The truth about manifestation  37:01 Does Lyss believe in the law of attraction? 41:14 How to get over an ex  43:28 What is she looking to manifest? 47:36 Common manifestation misconception  48:48 Lyss’s music career 50:20 What does she do to improve her mental health? Connect with Lyss Instagram TikTok Podcast Follow me on Social Media: LinkedIn Instagram Twitter   ⚠ DISCLAIMER ⚠   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices