Who decides?

Are you the architect of your life? Are you living your life on your own terms - a life of your choosing?

Some of the greatest heroes throughout history were born out of tumultuous times. Why? Because when we're winning with ease, we're often not growing. Faced with challenges, we grow, but so often, people turn their learning journey into a story that makes themselves small and weak. They view their struggle into growth as a reprimand, a sore spot, and then they use it to diminish their power.

But heroes choose a different path.

Heroes activate their resilience muscle.

How do they do it? How do they do it when faced with impossible decisions, with death and destruction, with dramatic changes in their lives? How do they do it when their disappointment in themselves and in their lives swells up and threatens to swallow them whole?

In business and in life, we are always either growing or dying.

That's why people who learn to exercise courage and resilience consistently seem larger than life - they're filling their life with growing and living.

This podcast will provide us with an inside look into the minds and hearts of these leaders, thinkers, creators, and artists. We will enter their worlds and learn how they have found their way in a world of uncertainty. Listening to their stories, you will find your own spirit awaken. You will learn tools, strategies, and mindset hacks. But most importantly, you will start to see the boundlessness of this life and of human capability, and how even in the most dire circumstances, we have the power to chart our destiny however we choose.

My inspiration

I was blessed to grow up next to a resilient hero whose indomitable spirit has deeply inspired me on my journey.

It was June 21st, 1941. My grandfather, Mark Levitan, was 21 years old. Standing outside his university building for what ended up being the last time, he felt pride and hope. He had just completed his undergraduate work and was to graduate with his diploma the next week. As he gazed out on the open field, he looked in the direction of the small town in Ukraine where he'd grown up where his family was awaiting his arrival. He thought about his future and visualized an exciting life, full of hope and joy. He saw himself completing his graduate studies and becoming a scientist. He paused and remembered the celebration of his graduation that his family had planned back home for the next week, and he smiled.

The next day, Russia entered WWII and his life was changed overnight. He was drafted for immediate enlistment into the army, and instead of receiving his diploma and heading home to see his family, he headed straight to war, in which he would fight for five long years, losing most of his fellow soldiers, some of whom were hit by lethal bullets when he was standing right next to them, dodging those bullets by a hair. He made it through the war a decorated veteran only to learn that while he was gone, his entire family was murdered by the German forces.

In his memoire, he writes about the moment that he understood that he was all alone in this world. He grieved briefly, but quickly decided that he needed to keep moving. He decided that he now had to live a long life, with so much success and joy that it would make up for four lives: his own and the three lost lives of his parents and brother.

And he did just that. He became a celebrated scientist with over 1000 patents, had a beautiful family, and ultimately travelled across the world to the United States in his seventies, fleeing antisemitism in Russia. My grandfather is the epitome of a resilient hero. His resilience carried him through the long war, later the bullying and targeting due to his religion (including being thrown off of a moving bus because of his Jewish nose), food shortages during communism, extreme health challenges in old age due to a bad fall. Mark Levitan left this physical world on 12/22/21 at the spritely young age of 103. He continued to smile through all of the tremendous curveballs that life threw his way, until his very last breath.

Consider...

What is stopping you from your greatest achievements?

Whether you're seeking greater success in business and your professional activities, greater insights on your physical well being and vitality, greater confidence, greater sense of meaning, or a deepening in your relationships, your mindset and energetic context are what can allow you to navigate your ship to your intended destination.

Every great hero I've ever known has experienced that pit in their stomach, the sweat on their palms, and the dryness in their throat that accompanies the deep sense of dread that fills us up when we're in fear.

What we do to shift out of that state and to get ourselves back on the court in the game of life is what matters the most. This podcast will teach you how to do this, and so much more.

Each of us is extraordinary. You were born to do great things.

Let's roll up our sleeves and develop our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits to make these great things happen.

And, as my grandfather often says,

Most people quit too soon.

My own learning

Two years ago, my lessons in resilience and fortitude got tested. I experienced a debilitating and very sudden health crisis, complete with extreme internal bleeding and a rapid loss of many functions. It was my rock bottom experience, and I vividly remember the day that I confronted my choice: choose to fight for life despite the pain and suffering that I was experiencing OR lose faith and give into what seemed like a downward spiral to a much darker outcome.

I remembered my grandfather's example and what he had overcome, and I chose life.

In my miraculous journey through healing and back to optimal health, I learned so much and gained tremendous gifts. I knew in my bones that I did not agree with the treatment plan and prognosis that I was being offered - it was far too bleak for the life I knew I was destined to have, and I was far too young to succumb to a weak spirit. So even in my debilitated state, I confronted the universe and insisted on alternate options. And, with time and God's grace, they came across my path.

The hardest part, though, wasn't the excruciating physical pain. It was that, when faced with possible death, I could see so clearly all the ways in which I had been playing small, all the ways in which I had not been speaking my truth and living full out. All the ways in which I was stingy with sharing my inner gifts, for fear of being judged or speaking out of turn.

When I did get my second chance, playing small was no longer acceptable. Having faced some of my greatest fears and obstacles, I discovered the depth of my power and fortitude.

Choosing resilience over and over again - even in a state of immense physical weakness - allowed me to see just how often I feel the urge to quit too soon. I didn't just survive, I learned the meaning of thriving. And the lessons I learned have led to more rapid success and joy of life than I ever imagined possible.

Join the movement

COVID-19 has disrupted the status quo in our world. It's been a tough reality for most, but for some people, it's opening up a whole new world of possibility.

As the world continues to shift rapidly under our feet, I have a radical proposal for you. What if we join together to start a movement - to unite in creating a beautiful world, to acknowledge the opportunities that are all around us, to recognize our responsibility to uncover and deploy our gifts into the world? What if we grab the reigns of our lives into our own hands, commit to stop playing small, and choose to chart our own path, the path to the life experience we want? I firmly believe that if we all do this, we will be living in a far more powerful, beautiful world.

Choose yourself

Join me for insightful, and highly personal conversations with successful heroes from around the globe about what it takes to develop resilience and to create a truly powerful, beautiful life.

Accept this podcast as a gift to you to train you in creating your own brand of magic.