Are you an Approval Addict? How about a Gold Star Chaser? For so many excitable people, it can be exhausting and unfulfilling simply living life under the shadow of the approval of others. If that sounds like you, listen in to this rerun installment of Embracing Intensity. This week, Aurora interviews her mentor Amy Pearson about her own struggles as an Approval Addict. Amy is a life coach, mother, and deep believer in helping women come into their own authenticity. In this episode, she dives deep into what it means to live free from approval, and gives you the tools and opportunity to be who you truly are!
Join Aurora and Amy to experience all that this episode has to offer:
Amy shares how she journeyed from people pleaser to fearlessly fulfilled.
Discover what it means to be an Approval Addict, and how to break the cycle.
It is time to drop the façade of likability, and start embracing that inner fire. Find out how!
Learn how to channel your intensity instead of pursuing affirmation from others.
Moms really do know best—learn what wisdom Amy embraced to change the course of her life.
Unlock what it means to Amy and Aurora to unearth your own authenticity.
Amy describes what it means to find her Tribe, and discover how you can find your Tribe too.
Check out your Approval Personality with Amy’s specially designed quiz.
Links
Join the League of Excitable Women on Facebook
Amy's New Website Being Amy The Blog (Active 1/1/20)
Sign up for updates and take Amy's Approval Personality Quiz
Amy Recommends
Would you consider yourself the “Creative Type?” Does life seem to be barely within your control? Do you ever find yourself toning down your big, grand ideas for the sake of appearance and opinion? If so, you might be like this week’s guest on “Embracing Intensity. Join Aurora as she interviews Katherine North.
Katherine is a life coach, writer, and mother on a mission to lead women out of the creative storm of clutter and into a more beautiful, more authentic life. Her coaching allows women to stop stifling their joy, and embrace the things they truly love. Tune in to hear about Katherine’s journey across oceans and disciplines as she explains what it means to declare dominion over this beautiful life.
Listen in as Aurora and Katherine discuss:
Links
Join the Embracing Intensity Community
Katherine’s Book Practical Magic for Secret Mystics
Katherine Recommends
Parenting Without Power Struggles by Susan Stiffelman
Steering by Starlightby Dr. Martha Beck
Three words: You are enough. For an intense person in today’s fast-paced and demanding world, it is easy to feel like you have to tone yourself down. Are you feeling burned up, beaten down, and bummed out? Then you need to listen to this week’s episode of “Embracing Intensity.”
This week’s guest is Starr Sheppard-Decker, a business coach, and spiritual leader with a passion to see women fully embrace their intense selves. Through spiritual searching and a dive into her own inner psyche, Starr realized she desired attention and acceptance from others, when all she really needed was attention and acceptance from herself. Hear Starr’s wisdom and heart for women with intense passions and a fire worth spreading.
In this episode:
Starr Recommends
A Woman’s Worth by Marianne Williamson
The Mandala of Being by Richard Moss
Links:
This month I'm taking the month off and sharing reruns of my favorite episodes from season 1. This one is particularly timely because I've been having a lot of conversations about twice-exceptionality lately.
Impossible. The world seems to throw this word at you a lot, doesn’t it? For Intense, Exceptional, Gifted, and Intuitive people, our greatest strengths are often viewed as weaknesses and disabilities. When the world tries to label your dreams impossible, what can you do to harness your fire and show the world who’s boss? Wouldn’t you like to know there’s someone who has walked that hard road before, and come out the other end burning brighter than before?
Dr. Melanie Hayes is the founder of Big Minds Unschool, a program that allows Twice Exceptional students to thrive in their own unique gifts. Melanie is also Twice Exceptional, and she knows what it is like to be a bright fire in a world that feels too small for her. After growing up with “impossible” dreams, Melanie learned to make her vision a reality. Now she is using her fire through coaching and Big Minds to change the world. This week, she will share her stories of growing up, success through unconventionality, and wisdom to inspire you to take the word “impossible” and transform it into a force of good.
Also in this episode:
Links:
Melanie Recommends
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Melanie’s Website
Find Melanie’s Book on Amazon!
Join the Embracing Intensity Community
Sign up for the Free Find Your Superpower Course
I'm taking the month of December off again, but this year I decided to try something different and share some of my favorite episodes from season one with an update from the interviewee! This week I'm sharing one of my most popular episodes of all time with Paula Prober!
As a child, were you deemed over-sensitive, dramatic, or over-emotional? Are you a deep thinker, intellectual, or intense creative? Perhaps that just means you are gifted. Join Aurora in this week’s “Embracing Intensity” as she interviews Paula Prober, an expert on the gifted population. Paula has journeyed through many disciplines from education to counseling and now to writing. Her interdisciplinary wisdom has led to a fascinating and enlightening perspective on the mind of a gifted individual. The gifted are often intense and excitable. Paula’s mission is to show the world how the gifted adult can seek healing and live life to the fullest.
Inside this week’s episode:
Links
Paula’s Blog: Your Rainforest Mind
https://rainforestmind.wordpress.com/
Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Adults and Youth by Paula Prober
Paula Recommends
Belonging Here: A Guide for the Spiritually Sensitive Person by Judith Blackstone
Kazmiers Dabrowski was an early proponent of what we now call the neurodiversity movement. He asserted that what was viewed as "neuroses" were not an illness, but in fact a sign of high developmental potential! His theory of Positive Disintegration views the importance of falling apart, or disintegrating, before integrating into a higher whole.
This week, Chris Wells, Director of Qualitative Research at the Gifted Development Center, dives deeper into Dabrowski's life, what led to his theory and how it applies to us in the current day.
In this episode:
Links:
I've been asked a lot about twice-exceptionality recently and especially on how to identify ADHD when giftedness is also involved.
In this episode:
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Do you talk to yourself the way you would talk to a loved one? In this interactive episode, Shannon Meade shares her thoughts on shifting our inner dialog to confront our own inner critic.
In this episode:
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Growing up in a family and community of intense and onside-the-box thinkers who "got" me for the most part, I took for granted how rare that actually is. When I found myself isolated when I moved to the PNW, I had my challenges, but I was able to rebuild connections because I had made them before and new that I could.
In this episode:
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Sometimes we hold back on setting goals out of fear of what might happen if we put our energy into something and it does not pan out the way we had hoped! This week on Embracing Intensity, Clinton Fetters of Distractonaut, shares a tool to help work through our fears so we can move forward on our goals!
In this episode:
Links:
I saw Dr. Anita M Jackson speak on the stage at Spark Live last month and she shared that she was going through a major transformation right there on stage. After a multitude of achievements over the years, she was finally unleashing her full being to the world and fully embodying all parts of herself.
I knew that Anita was accomplished and intense, but what I didn’t know until our interview was that she also was diagnosed with ADHD while she was working on her doctorate degree. She shares how her experience with ADHD and giftedness shaped the way she though in a way that isolated her growing up but led to deep connections as she was able to harness her own power.
In this episode:
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Our 3rd anniversary snuck up on my until I started getting congrats on Linked in! I asked for ideas on how to celebrate and got some great ideas, but between getting sick and working on my usual day off, I decided to keep it simple. Let me know if you have topics you'd like to see covered on the show!
In this episode:
Links:
"Motivation is something that you need over an arc of time, it's not necessarily a destination, it's something you need to bring along with you on your journey, more like a toothbrush."
This week on Embracing Intensity, I finally get to share an edited part of our conversation on Motivation with René Brooks of Black Girl, Lost Keys!
In this episode:
Links:
Last weekend at the Spark Portland Event I attended, Ellen Yin of Cubicle to CEO said something that really stuck with me, "Know when to pivot and when to persist." I've been reflecting this week on the places in my own life and business I need to pivot and where I should persist.
In this episode:
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I met a wonderfully interesting person about a year ago. We were introduced through a women’s business group, and we chatted for hours when we met for coffee. I knew I had to get her on the show so you can hear her story and mission.
Nneka Coxeff is the editor-in-chief of Black Lace + Pearls magazine. She founded the creative lifestyle and healing arts magazine to showcase her inspirational works while merging her skillset as a writer and longtime publicist. Nneka has created a beautiful platform for other healers, professionals, and entrepreneurs to connect, build community, and share their gifts and talents with the world. Nneka aspires to inspire others to live out their desires and to turn their dreams into reality, all while owning their unique authenticity and individuality. Black Lace + Pearls magazine highlights women around the globe who make it their business to serve the world to make it a better place for all. The magazine holds a special place in its mission for female powerhouses and game-changers who are breaking barriers within their field.
Show Highlights:
Resources:
Find Nneka on Facebook and Instagram
Email Nneka: nneka.denise@gmail.com
Nneka’s website: BLP Magazine
Join the Accountability Mastermind: http://www.auroraremember.com/accountability-mastermind
I've been talking lately about false images on social media and perpetuating unrealistic ideals. That got me thinking more about community and belonging, not just "fitting in."
In this episode:
Links:
When you think of intensity, you probably think of someone who is always loud and overbearing. The truth is that intense people can have a quiet nature that isn’t dominating. Meet today’s guest!
Phyllis G. Williams is the co-host of Living The Principles podcast. She’s a US Marine veteran, educator, and entrepreneur who is passionate about community. Phyllis’ entrepreneurial endeavors revolve around writing and speaking, and she’s described by her friends as “quiet, yet strong and confident.” It was a pleasure to get to know Phyllis in this interview, and I hope you enjoy!
Show Highlights:
Resources:
Phyllis’ website: Progress Promoter
Find Phyllis on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram: Phyllis G. Williams or @ProgressPromoter
One Word That Will Change Your Life by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon
In high school when we read the Scarlet Letter, we had an assignment to pick a letter to represent a fault or weakness of ours. I picked the letter P for Procrastination and Perfectionism. My teacher believed the procrastination part but not so much the perfectionism...
In this episode:
Links:
How much emphasis do you put on play in your life? Somehow, as we enter adulthood, we lose our affinity for play. Today’s guest has made it his mission to bring play back into the lives of busy adults, and he’s here to tell us how his intensity has made it all possible.
Gary Ware is someone I first met at the World Domination Summit this past year. People are drawn to his playful energy, and he is twice-exceptional, with ADHD and dyslexia. Gary will share how he’s learned to channel his energy in positive ways to help himself and many other people as he teaches them how to bring more play into their lives. Gary is the founder of Breakthrough Play, and he’s a sought-after corporate facilitator and keynote speaker with nearly a decade of experience as a performer in improv theater. He assists teams with unlocking creativity, confidence, and sparking collaboration with experiential methods proven to drive peak performance. Gary spent over a decade in the corporate world and originally pursued improv to master public speaking. He discovered that combining improv and play could be a powerful solution to achieve various business challenges. Naturally, he created workshops for his team and other executives in his network to deepen relationships and improve creativity. Gary became obsessed with learning how to use play as a transformational tool, and, as a result, happily transitioned from marketing to pursue facilitation full-time. When Gary isn’t leading workshops and keynote speaking, you can find him learning magic or off on an adventure with his wife, Courtney, and son, Garrett.
Show Highlights:
Resources:
Find Gary Ware on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
Books:
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
Check out Embracing Intensity for more info about the Befriending Your Brain course series, launching in the fall.
"We suffer not from lack, but from paralyzing abundance." A few years ago I did a survey and someone used the term "paralyzing abundance" and it has stuck with me ever since. Today we will be talking about how to prioritize when you are suffering from paralyzing abundance.
In this episode:
Links:
Embracing intensity means figuring out who you are and who you want to be, whether other people like it or not. Part of the equation is figuring out why trying to fit a square peg into a round hole just isn’t going to work out well. Such is the story of my guest today who uses her personal experiences with giftedness to bring resources and counseling services to others.
Emily Kircher-Morris is a Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice near St. Louis, and her practice specializes in meeting the needs of gifted and twice-exceptional (2e) learners. Before working in private practice, Emily worked as a school counselor and teacher of gifted programming. She frequently speaks to groups of educators and counselors about meeting the needs of high ability learners, and she hosts The Mind Matters podcast, which explores issues related to the development of gifted and 2e individuals throughout the life span. I first encountered Emily through her podcast, as I was a recent guest there, so this is the perfect time to return the favor and have her on the show. Enjoy!
Show Highlights:
Resources:
The Mind Matters Podcast Find Episode 37 to hear “You Never Outgrow Giftedness”
Find Emily and Mind Matters on Twitter: @mindmatterspod and @emilykm_lpc
Visit Embracing Intensity to join the daily challenge to bring more play into your life
Thanks to everyone who filled out my survey to help shape the future of the Embracing Intensity Community! This week, I share a brief overview of the results and you can find a full summary on the blog.
In this episode:
Links:
How can you use your sensitivity and intuition to program your life for success? Today’s show is about how we find more happiness, achievement, and transformation by focusing on the right things. We will also learn how each of us can make a positive impact on the world by committing to small, everyday actions.
Rachel O’Rourke is the owner of O’Rourke Media, a marketing agency for innovative, e-commerce-based startup companies. She’s also the founder and CEO of SPARK Global, an event company that facilitates self-development summits dedicated to supporting women who are ready to show up in the world. Rachel has done amazing things building community events such as SPARK Live, which I’ll be attending this fall. In her upcoming book, 27 Things, Rachel shares the 27 things that are holding women back from making their lives extraordinary and the action steps to take to spark a major shift in each area. Her podcast, Flawed Females, released in May of this year. You can hear Rachel and co-host Lizzie Keith as they captivate you with their conversations.
Show Highlights:
Resources:
Rachel’s website: Rachel O'Rourke
Find Rachel on Facebook and Instagram
Find out about the SPARK Summit: The Spark Events
27 Things by Rachel O’Rourke
In my next interview episode with Rachel O'Rourke, she talked about the amazing things that can happen when we focus our full energy on something. With my work and summer schedule, my attention has been quite split but as I review the survey data from our audience on the direction to go next I am excited to focus my full attention on expanding the possibilities in our Embracing Intensity Community!
In this episode:
Links:
Being gifted or intense means different things to different people. Today’s show focuses on many things we can do to make the world a better place for everyone. We’re talking about living our best lives in authentic ways, the natural state of flexible emotions, recognizing the strengths in others, and appreciating the neurological diversity in people.
Christine Fonseca is a licensed educational psychologist, critically-acclaimed author, and nationally-recognized speaker on topics related to educational psychology, mental health, giftedness, and using storytelling to heal past wounds. Using her experience consulting and coaching educators and parents, Christine brings her expertise to Psychology Today, authoring the parenting blog, Parenting for a New Generation. She has written self-help articles for Parents.com, Johnson & Johnson, and Justine magazine. Her appearance on the popular gifted education podcast, Mind Matters, was one of the most downloaded episodes. Christine uses her fictional stories to explore the more complex aspects of humanity through sweeping romances, Gothic thrillers, and psychological horror stories. As a trauma-impacted survivor, Christine believes in the power of storytelling as a key to healing past wounds. She delivers soul-centered writing workshops to help writers get in touch with their authentic voice and bring that to both fiction and nonfiction writing. Christine’s critically-acclaimed titles include Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students, Raising the Shy Child, Letting Go, The Girls’ Guide to Breaking Free of Stress and Anxiety, and an action-packed young adult series, The Solomon Experiments. Christine lives in southern CA with her husband and children.
Show Highlights:
Resources:
Find Christine’s articles on Psychology Today
Find Christine’s Facebook group: IntenseLife Community
Mindfulness and Character Strengths by Ryan Niemiec
Christine’s Nonfiction Books:
The Caring Child: Raising Empathetic and Emotionally Intelligent Children
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students
101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids
Shy Child
Letting Go: A Girl’s Guide to Breaking FREE of Stress and Anxiety