The Adversity Advantage with Doug Bopst

Today I am joined by Krista Williams and Lindsey Simcik. They are the co-hosts of the highly popular podcast, Almost 30. Almost 30 is the go-to podcast for heart-centered, hilarious conversations and real, raw, impactful interviews with brilliant guests. The show has been downloaded over 30 million times and has been hailed as “The Best Wellness Podcast to Listen To Right Now” by Covetuer and nominated for “Best Wellness Podcast” and “Best Spirituality Podcast” by iHeart Radio.   In this episode, we take a deep dive into: The Importance of finding your “why” and how that will help you trust the process and overcome challenges (how this relates to purpose as well).  Different forms of spirituality and how they can be used as a catalyst for personal growth. The reasons why we fall into “the comparison trap” (and how to avoid it) and how it differentiates between men and women. Why “wellness” isn’t just what you see in the mirror and what else you should measure. How moving thousands of miles apart actually improved their brand and brought Krista and Lindsey closer together (and how they did it). The do’s and don’t’s of starting a podcast (and how this can be applied to anything). And much more… Connect with Almost 30: https://almost30.com/ Connect with Doug: www.dougbopst.com   More on Organifi: Receive 20% off your order by going to: www.organifi.com/doug     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Mauser is a songwriter, solo artist, pop/rock bandleader having spent more than two decades onstage and writing music. As of late, music has also become therapeutic for Matt, who lost his wife Christina in the January 2020 helicopter crash that also killed NBA great Kobe Bryant. Kobe and Matt became close when he hired Matt to create music for some projects of his. Kobe and Christina also worked together, coaching a girls' basketball team at the Mamba Sports Academy. Their loss was tragic to so many and it was unspeakably tough for Matt.  Matt’s latest hit "Lost," was written during the aftermath of Christina's passing, the song reaches out to those who've experienced similar losses in their own lives. Millions of hearts were touched during his performance at America’s Got Talent earlier this year where he shared his devastating story while his 3 kids cheered him on. While he didn’t win the competition, he won the bigger battle by inspiring his kids to find light during times of darkness and to inspire them to chase their dreams. Today we get into the evolution of Matt’s journey as a musician, how he met Christina and the role she played in his music career. Matt and I chat about his intimate relationship with Kobe, what he really was like and the impact that Kobe had on his family. We also get deep on Matt’s grieving process after the crash, how fatherhood has changed, what’s next for him and more!   Connect with Matt here Connect with Doug here   More on Earth Echo Foods/Cacao Bliss:   www.earthechofoods.com/dougbopst   Use Promo code "Doug" at checkout to receive 15% off your order     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Karen Shaw Becker is the most followed veterinarian on social media. Her deliberate and common-sense approach to creating vibrant health for companion animals has been embraced by millions of pet lovers around the world. Dr. Becker also writes and lectures extensively and serves as a wellness consultant for a variety of health-oriented organizations. Rodney Habib is one of the most influential pet health thought leaders in the world. He’s a filmmaker, multiple award-winning content creator and founder of Planet Paws - the world’s largest pet health page on Facebook. His first TEDx talk on pet health stands as the highest viewed TED talk in history pertaining to dogs. Together they have penned a new book called “The Forever Dog” which is a masterclass start to finish on how to maximize the health, longevity, and quality of life of your dog. In this episode, we cover it all and you will be prepared after listening to take the steps needed to help your dog live longer.  Topics covered: The 4 factors you must pay attention to in order for your dog to live longer Simple adjustments you can make right now to improve the health of your dog The most overlooked area of a dog’s health that will impact its lifespan What toys are most dangerous and which ones are recommended? Why your dog’s diet is so important and how to feed it for optimal health How much daily exercise is actually enough?  and more...   Connect with Doug here Connect with Dr. Karen Becker here Connect with Rodney Habib here Buy their book here   Thanks to this episode's sponsor: Organifi Receive 20% off your order by going to: www.organifi.com/doug     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok star Tayler Harber on How Going to Prison For Armed Robbery Saved Her Life!!!   Just 4 years ago 19 year old Tayler Harber thought her life was over when she went to prison for armed robbery.  But, today she has gained over a million followers on Tiktok where she uses her platform to turn her pain into purpose. Tayler was a 3 sport athlete and a model student in grade school. But, after a fight in high school became quite public, Tayler was banned from playing sports her senior year and it devastated her.  She went on to barely graduate and her life started to fall apart.  Tayler ended up getting caught up in the wrong crowd and began using hard drugs to numb the pain.  Things went downhill fast and one year after graduating high school, Tayler would be arrested on armed robbery charges. This came after a botched attempt to rob a drug dealer with a few friends of hers at the time. She was taken to jail, charged and a $250,000 bond was set for her release. Despite a heartwarming plea to the judge for some mercy for being a first-time offender, she was sentenced to prison. Shortly after her incarceration, she entered a prison boot camp program that would end up saving her life. Today she is here to walk you through exactly how she went from that prison cell to using her 1M+ social media platform to share her story, break the stigma and inspire others.    Connect with Tayler by clicking here   Connect with Doug by clicking here   Special thanks to this episodes sponsors:   BiOptimizers/Magnesium Breakthrough: Go to www.magbreakthrough.com/doug and use the code DOUG10 to save 10 percent when you try Magnesium Breakthrough.   Earth Echo Foods/Cacao Bliss: www.earthechofoods.com/dougbopst Use Promo code "Doug" at checkout to receive 15% off your order       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Access Hollywood’s Scott Evans joins me on the pod today. You may also recognize this highly passionate Emmy-nominated Entertainment journalist from hosting other shows like The World of Dance or OWN tonight on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The newest show he is MCing “America’s Big Deal” premieres on Thursday on the USA network. This show is the first-ever live, shoppable competition series that will help celebrate entrepreneurs from all backgrounds with a life-changing deal to help make their dreams come true. While you may think this convo will focus on celebrities given Evans's background, that is far from the truth. Scott’s “come up” story that he shares is quite inspiring and the wisdom he dishes out from his experience and failures is something that I think you will greatly appreciate and relate to. We also chat in-depth about practical steps you must take to achieve any goal or dream and his advice for those who feel they are so far behind. Scott will give you a behind-the-scenes look at his latest show and why he’s so excited about this new passion project.  We also get into how Oprah helped change his life financially and the biggest thing we misunderstand about celebrities and more!   Connect with Scott by clicking here Connect with Doug by clicking here   Thanks to this episode's sponsor: Organifi  Receive 20% off your order by going to: www.organifi.com/doug   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Easter is a leading voice on how humans can integrate modern science and evolutionary wisdom for improved health, meaning, and performance in life and at work. He travels the globe to embed himself with brilliant thinkers and people living at the extremes.    He is the author of best selling book, "The Comfort Crisis" which has been adopted by Major League Baseball teams, top-ranked NCAA D1 football programs, top-tier universities and law programs, major corporations, tier-one military units, and more. Michael’s work has appeared in over 60 countries. It’s been endorsed by directors of the CIA and Navy SEALs, gold medal-winning Olympians, leading physicians, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, Buddhist and environmental leaders, and more.    While Michael has taken a variety of intense life-changing trips including a 30-day adventure to the arctic of Alaska, he states that out of all the extreme endeavors he has done, getting sober was the hardest.    Michael is a contributing editor at Men’s Health, a columnist at Outside Magazine, and is a journalism professor at UNLV.    In this episode, Michael shares his sobriety journey including what led him down the path of addiction, why he got sober, and how he learned to deal with the discomforts of early recovery. We chat about why people today are scared to get uncomfortable as well as certain stressors that are actually beneficial for us that we have done away with. Michael reveals daily things that ANYONE can do to push themselves out of their comfort zone and why you don’t need a sauna or a cold tub to practice discomfort. Our convo gets into the dangers of certain current parenting styles and how they can be detrimental to the health of their children. We also get into his experience surviving 30 days in the arctic and what inspired him to keep going when things got hard and more.    Connect with Michael by clicking here   Connect with Doug by clicking here   More on Earth Echo Foods/Cacao Bliss:   www.earthechofoods.com/dougbopst   Use Promo code "Doug" at checkout to receive 15% off your order     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Victoria Garrick. Victoria is a former Division I volleyball player, TED Talk speaker, podcast host, and mental health advocate. She was a four-year starter at USC, where she won a PAC-12 Championship and finished her career with the top five most digs in program history.   Today she has well over a million followers on her social media platforms, hosts the “Real Pod” podcast, has a TED talk that has been viewed over 370,000 times, and founded a mental health nonprofit, “The Hidden Opponent.”   What is really inspiring about Victoria is that her entire platform has been built from sharing her story. You may think that her incredibly successful collegiate career would guarantee happiness for Victoria. But like so many, the external accolades didn’t quite fulfill her internally and the immense pressure started to impact her mental health. During her sophomore year, Victoria found herself heavily depressed, anxious, battling an eating disorder, and experiencing body dysmorphia.  She finally reached a breaking point where she decided to go to therapy and unpack what was at the root of all of this.  After this, Victoria bounced back and returned to finish her junior and senior seasons and the rest is history. She has been on an absolute tear ever since to share her journey to help those that are experiencing similar struggles.   Today our discussion on the pod encapsulates it all. Victoria will walk you through what rock bottom looked like for her, how she healed and got to where she is today. She shares what she felt were the contributing factors that caused her mental health demise and what helped her feel empowered again when she began her transformation. We chat about Victoria’s struggles with body image, why so many people face difficulties with this, and how to overcome it.  Victoria talks about her relationship with food today and how she deals with competition in her current line of work. She talks about what inspired her to start sharing her story and what she would change if she was in charge of youth sports and more!   Connect with Victoria by clicking here Connect with Doug by clicking here   Thanks to this episode's sponsor:  Organifi: Receive 20% off your order by going to: www.organifi.com/doug             Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How To Have Faith When Life Gets Challenging!!!   I am super excited to share today’s episode with you and I think you will get a lot out of it whether you are a Christian or not. My convo today is with the legendary Dr. Tony Evans and his son Anthony Evans.    Many of you will recognize Dr. Evans, but for those who aren’t familiar he is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder, and president of The Urban Alternative, and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.    Anthony Evans has voiced the gospel for over 20 years and has emerged as one of Christian music’s premier worship leaders and singer/songwriters. Along the way, Anthony has released ten solo projects, (the last two climbing all the way to #1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Album charts). In recent years, Anthony has been working in Los Angeles, where he appeared on NBC’s The Voice. His time on the show led him to be discovered and enlisted to perform and produce vocals for various major networks. His journey in LA has led him to think more progressively about his own music as he desires to communicate in terms that connect with people spiritually, no matter where they are in their journey with God, without compromising his own faith and message.   Our discussion today is a deep dive into how to have faith during the various hardships and challenges that we all face and how Dr. Evans and Anthony were able to maintain such strong faith during such a tragic time in their lives.  We also chat about how to navigate through life’s storms and turn your pain into purpose. We talk about the divide that exists between Christians and non-Christians and what can be done to help create unity. Dr. Evans and Anthony share how they’ve dealt with grief and were able to grow stronger as a family. We also get into how to have faith if you aren’t a Christian and how shifting your perspective can make the biggest difference when faced with adversity and more!   Pre Order:  "Divine Disruption" here Connect with Dr. Tony Evans by clicking here Connect with Anthony Evans by clicking here Connect with Doug by clicking here   More on Earth Echo Foods/Cacao Bliss:   www.earthechofoods.com/dougbopst   Use Promo code "Doug" at checkout to receive 15% off your order     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Dr. Wendy Suzuki. Dr. Suzuki is a Neuroscientist and Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at the Center for Neural Science at NYU.   Her research heavily focuses on brain plasticity and she is best known for her extensive work studying areas in the brain critical for our ability to form and retain new long-term memories.   Dr. Suzuki’s Ted Talk has more than 31 million views on Facebook and it was the second most watched Ted Talk of 2018.   She has also penned two books.  Her latest, “Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion”  is an absolute masterclass on how to transform your relationship with anxiety and use it as a powerful tool for growth.    In today’s conversation, we talk all things anxiety including the different types and why it can actually be healthy for you. Dr. Suzuki and I chat about why so many people have a hard time dealing with anxiety and she also shares some different techniques that you can use to improve your relationship with anxiety both short-term and long term.   We also get into the subject of neuroplasticity including what it is and why it plays such a pivotal role in your brain’s ability to handle anxiety. Dr. Suzuki and I discuss how changing your perception of anxiety can allow you to use it to your advantage. She also shares some things that exacerbate anxiety. We discuss the neuroscience of exercise and why it is so beneficial for improving your brain’s response to anxiety. She will reveal the most shocking thing she found when conducting her research on anxiety and so much more!   Sponsors for Today’s show:   Earth Echo Foods/Island Bliss:   Click here to receive 15% off your order of Island Bliss   Or go to earthechofoods.com and use Promo code "Doug" at checkout to receive 15% off your order   Organifi/Immunity:   Receive 20% off your order by going to:   www.organifi.com/doug     Connect with Dr. Suzuki:   Website: https://www.wendysuzuki.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy.suzuki/   Buy Dr. Suzuki's latest book: https://www.wendysuzuki.com/good-anxiety   Connect with Doug:   Instagram: www.instagram.com/dougbopst   Twitter: www.twitter.com/dougbopst   Facebook: www.facebook.com/dougbopst             Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Jonathan Fields. Jonathan is the best selling author of multiple books as well as the host/executive producer of the extremely popular podcast, The Good Life Project. Jonathan’s work has been featured widely in the media, including The New York Times, FastCompany, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, Forbes, Oprah Magazine, Elle, Allure, The Guardian, and many others.   Much of our discussion in this episode revolves around his latest book “SPARKED: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work That Makes You Come Alive” which is designed to help you discover what actually lights you up personally and professionally. The book is largely based on Jonathan’s revolutionary “Sparketype” assessment that has helped over 500,000 people experience meaning, joy, purpose and fulfillment in the work that they do.  Our chat begins unpacking a few pivotal moments of adversity for Jonathan that have led to where he is today. Early in his life, he was forced to leave his financially stable job as an attorney after he literally nearly worked himself to death. He then went on to work in the health and wellness space and ended up opening a yoga studio the day before 9/11 in NYC. We talk about how Jonathan got through these unfortunate situations and how they shaped what he’s doing today. We get into certain ideas from his latest book including why it’s not always smart to leave your job and pursue a passion project and how to discover what drives and challenges you the most. Jonathan shares his thoughts on why experiencing the full spectrum of both good and bad emotions is actually beneficial to living a happy life. We also chat about the most common and least common Sparketypes and how each of them can have a dark side. Jonathan also shares how he deals with overthinking and impatience which is part of the dark side of his Sparketype. This episode is going to leave you feeling both inspired and empowered to embrace self-discovery and unpack what drives you to be your best.   Buy Jonathan’s latest book here:   https://www.amazon.com/Sparked-Discover-Unique-Imprint-Makes/dp/1400225469/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=jonathan+fields&qid=1627571183&sr=8-1   Take Sparketype Quiz:   https://sparketype.com/   Connect with Jonathan:   Website: https://www.jonathanfields.com/   instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanfields/   Podcast: https://www.goodlifeproject.com/   Connect with Doug:   Instagram: www.instagram.com   Twitter: www.twitter.com/dougbopst   Facebook: www.facebook.com/dougbopst   More on Earth Echo Foods/Cacao Bliss:   www.earthechofoods.com/dougbopst   Use Promo code "Doug" at checkout to receive 15% off your order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices