Growing up in Rochester, New York, I trick-or-treated through rain, wind, cold, and sometimes snow. The nights with the worst weather stuck with me.

That came back to me after Halloween this year, when I wrote about trunk-or-treating, where kids walk from car to car in a church parking lot and fill their bags in about ten minutes. It started as a smart fix for rural families whose homes were far apart.

But it also got me thinking about what we lose when we take all the friction out of life.

In this walk-and-talk episode, part of my year-long Friday growth mindset series celebrating the 25th anniversary of My Last Bad Day, I explore the difference between friction we should remove and friction worth keeping.

The key is discernment: knowing where friction serves us, and our kids, and where it doesn’t.

Here’s what I want you to remember: we can do hard things, but only if we practice doing hard things. And if some days you just want life to be easy, congratulations, you’re officially human.

Before you go, I have a question for you:

Where in your life could a little more friction make you stronger?

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Two days after the election, I walked to check on my turtles at the nature center, and I couldn’t stop thinking about change. Whoever you voted for, the message was clear: people want relief from the cruelty, the corruption, and the rising cost of everyday life.

That got me thinking about a change formula I’ve relied on for years, in my corporate days, in my executive coaching today, and in my own recovery after My Last Bad Day.

In this walk-and-talk episode, I break down the Beckhard-Harris change formula: Dissatisfaction x Vision x First Steps must be greater than Resistance.

I also share my own twist on the formula, adding culture as an exponent. Culture can speed change up or slam on the brakes, which is why a strong peloton matters so much, whether you’re leading change at work, in your community, or in your personal life.

And remember, real change happens through small steps taken consistently over time.

Before you go, I have a question for you:

Where is resistance winning in your life right now?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation, forgiveness, and making things right. It has four distinct phases: repentance, forgiveness, gratitude, and love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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I feel that way every fall. The reds, oranges, and yellows, sweater weather, fire pit season. When I lived in Washington, D.C., I felt it during cherry blossom season too, when the streets turned pink and I never wanted it to end.

In this walk-and-talk episode of Whole Again, I take you through our nature center to share mono no aware, a Japanese philosophy about the impermanence of life. It speaks to the tenderness and bittersweetness of one season ending so another can begin. We push against the hard moments and cling to the ones we love, but every moment is fleeting. The tough ones pass, and so do the great ones.

When we stop clinging and simply appreciate what’s in front of us, that beauty intensifies. So this week, get outside, soak up the fall colors, and practice mono no aware with me. And if you catch yourself clinging anyway, congratulations, you are officially human.

Before you go, I have a question for you:

What moment are you savoring this fall?

Drop your answer in the comments, and share this episode with someone you’d love to take a fall walk with.

Until next time, celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience, and have fun storming the castle.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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For me, it started in gym class. Getting picked first made me feel like I was on top of the world. Getting picked last crushed me. That need to be chosen followed me for years, into the right university, the right job, the right promotion, all to prove I was valuable.

In this walk-and-talk episode of Whole Again, I share what that need really cost me: my agency. Every time I waited to be picked, I handed someone else the power to decide my worth. It took my Last Bad Day to learn I could pick myself.

Your post doesn’t need to go viral. Your work only needs to reach the smallest viable audience, and even if that audience is one, you are still worthy. Because the conversation you have with yourself changes every other conversation you’ll have.

Before you go, I have a question for you:

When was the last time you picked yourself?

Drop your answer in the comments, and share this episode with someone who needs the reminder that they are already worthy.

Until next time, celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience, and have fun storming the castle.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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In 2022, a table of strangers at a small coffee shop in Rushville, Indiana, called over Michael mid-ride across America, peppered him with questions, and sent him off with “God bless you.”

That moment frames this recap of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, released on Election Day after 79 conversations with everyday Americans from every corner of the country.

Michael shares what landed on him most: we don’t need more like-mindedness. We need more like-heartedness, the kind that leads with curiosity, kindness, and the humility to admit we might be wrong.

Along the way, he calls back to guests like Jeff Gold, who reminded us that everyone has a story, Demetria and her radical empathy, and Grace, who got a Democrat and a Republican baking America’s 250th birthday cake together. The election won’t heal us. But the way we show up for each other on day one after it just might.

The series isn’t ending. A Perfectly Imperfect Union continues as its own podcast after Election Day.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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How do you wish to show up?

What ripples do you want to create?

What values do you wish to honor?

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Fatima is a sophomore studying neuroscience at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and an international student from Pakistan. She’s also the final conversation in A Perfectly Imperfect Union, and the perfect person to close out 79 conversations across the country.

When Fatima thinks of America, the first word that comes to mind is opportunity. But living here has shown her something more: a place where people from completely different cultures and faiths can share who they are with neighbors who genuinely want to learn.

Her hope for America is simple. Listen more, judge less, and remember that we rarely know what someone else is carrying.

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If your first instinct is “Let me know if you need anything,” you’re not alone. I’ve said it. And after my Last Bad Day, I heard it more times than I can count. It comes from a good place. But when you’re already buried under a pile of problems to solve, that well-meaning offer quietly hands you one more.

In this walk-and-talk, Tip #43 in my year-long series celebrating the 25th anniversary of my Last Bad Day, I share two simple shifts that can help your support land when it matters most.

The first is to get specific. Instead of a general offer, ask a question the other person can answer with a simple yes or no. Can I mow your lawn? Can I pick up your groceries? Better yet, if you already know what they need, just do it.

The second is to keep showing up. Support pours in during the first few weeks, and then it fades. But healing doesn’t follow that timeline. It took me about a year to feel like myself again. A text, a phone call, a simple “I’m thinking about you, how are you doing today?” can mean everything months after everyone else has moved on.

And when they answer, let them be. Tears, anger, small celebrations. All of it is welcome.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Can you have the strength to win a fight and the peace to never throw a punch?

Rodger believes we’ve contracted into echo chambers where a different opinion feels like a threat rather than a possibility. His way forward is simple and hard at the same time. Before you decide about someone, walk in their shoes. You don’t have to agree. You just have to understand.

And then there’s the story that changed his life. A 250-pound prison guard challenged Roger’s 135-pound martial arts teacher to a fight. For 90 seconds, his teacher only blocked. When the bigger man collapsed from exhaustion, his teacher helped him up, dusted him off, and thanked him. That moment sent Rodger to his first meditation group, and it might just change how you think about strength.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

What is one action step you can take tomorrow to help repair this country?

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With Halloween coming up, I’m taking you on a walk-and-talk to share a theory I first floated with fellow podcasters: AI is like a bowl of mini peanut butter cups.

One or two seem harmless. They’re small. Hardly any calories, right? But grab a couple off a coworker’s desk in the morning, a few more after lunch, and a few more before you head home, and suddenly you’ve eaten two full packs. Double the sugar. Double the guilt.

I don’t believe AI will destroy us with a big bang. I think it’s more likely to wear us down one little handoff at a time -- the email we didn’t write, the plan we didn’t think through, the map we never looked at -- until the things that make us human start to fade. Our ability to write in our own voice. To think. To find our way. Even our compassion and empathy.

That doesn’t mean swearing off the candy bowl. For deep research, AI can be a remarkable tool. The difference comes down to one foundation of mindfulness: intention. Knowing what you’re reaching for, and why.

My advice for the season? Be intentional about how you use AI. And be just as intentional about how you sneak candy from your kids’ Halloween bags.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Chad is a lifelong Alaskan from Anchorage, a dad of six, and the owner of Veritas, a financial services company focused on retirement and legacy planning.

For Chad, the American dream isn’t about getting as rich as you can. It’s about using your unique gifts to make the biggest impact on the people around you. He also makes the case that we spend too much time on the 5% that divides us and not nearly enough on the 95% that unites us. And he reminds us that miracles become mundane if we let them.

Plus, a bit of Alaska trivia that might just win you a bar bet.

To learn more about Chad, please visit his website.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

What's one place in the United States you would love to visit, and why?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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If you find yourself "arguing with reality," then this practice is for you.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Randy’s mission to grow love through kindness comes from a very personal place. As a teenager, he hit a moment so dark he didn’t want to go on. Friends and their parents stepped in with love and helped him find his way through. He calls them kindness heroes, and he’s been paying it forward ever since. As he puts it, kindness is love made visible.

Randy loves this country deeply and worries about what he calls the contention cycle: disagreement that turns to anger, contempt, and eventually dehumanization.

His solution? Pause, get curious, and remember that the person across from you needs to love and be loved just like you do.

Learn more about Randy by visiting his website.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

What is one kind thing that happened to you that inspired you to go out and be kind to somebody else?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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In 2000, Julie cast her very first vote alongside her mom. They picked different people, then went out to eat. No big deal. Twenty-six years later, she wonders if that moment is even possible anymore.

Today she has mixed feelings about America and what she calls the myth of meritocracy. Her biggest hope for healing is restoring confidence in our elections, and remembering that every big name on the ballot started local. As she puts it, they came from somewhere.

Plus, a professor’s view on why her students skip Apple and Google and name Buc-ee’s as a company they admire.

To learn more about Julie, visit her website.

And her question for you and her next guest is: How do you stay informed and still protect your mental health in a 24-hour news cycle?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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This episode packs two tips into one word: Sorry.

In 2026, to celebrate My Last Bad Day, I'm sharing tips I've learned over the last twenty-five years to help you step into the person you're becoming and build a meaningful life.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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For her, America means community. Wherever you go, someone knows someone. Still, she sees many people stuck in their ways. Her ask is simple: set your stubbornness aside and listen. You don’t have to change your mind. Just widen the view.

To learn more about Gravel Worlds, head to their website.

Her birthday wish for America is to break out of our shells, and her question for you and our next guest is:

What’s your favorite off-the-beaten-path place you’ve ever been?

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Since the news broke about The Cornell 7 and Jane Doe, many have weighed in on how to make things right. Some want Cornell's President to resign; others suggest banning frats or making them co-ed.

These might work, but they are also downstream solutions.

What I haven't heard people talk about is what influenced these men long before they arrived on campus, and that is the focus of this episode.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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We start here: What happens when you put a beagle in a room full of politicians?

John Roemer knows. He’s the executive director of Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary, a home for animals retired from laboratory research.

For years, John and his beagle, Uno, have traveled to Capitol Hill to advocate for research animals. On one trip, they met with members of Congress from both ends of the political spectrum. Every single one of them ended up on the floor playing with Uno. No labels. No talking points. Just people and a dog.

Learn more about Kindness Ranch here.

His question for you and our next guest is:

When you make decisions, how much do you think about your legacy?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Here's a simple microdose meditation to help you start again. You can also find it in the free Pause Breathe Reflect app, available on Apple's App Store or Google Play.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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What would change if we led with our hearts a little more?

Jamie is a holistic wellness coach who specializes in Ayurveda and mindfulness, teaches meditation, and leads retreats worldwide.

Jamie sees America as a melting pot full of freedom we often take for granted. She also sees the polarization, and she believes much of it comes down to fear versus trust.

She also shares a memory from a few days after 9/11 worth hearing.

You can discover more about Jaime via her website.

Her question for you and our next guest is:

If time and money weren’t part of the equation, what part of the world would you explore?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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We talk about a range of topics, including how well we know the history of the land beneath your feet.

Randy’L Teton does. She’s a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the model for the Sacagawea golden dollar coin.

She asks us to slow down long enough to honor the land. Learn whose land you live on. Talk about it at the dinner table. Build a real relationship with your tribal neighbors, because, as she says, “We’re still here.”

You can discover more about her on her website.

Before you go, Randy’L has a question for you: Can you name three things about Sacagawea?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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In Tip #40 of 25 Lessons in 25 Years, Michael moves up a tip he had been saving for December. The night before recording, he saw The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s new film about Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

Michael is honest about loving to hate social media. He needed it to build his coaching business after leaving corporate America. He watched his daughters get pulled into the comparison trap of Instagram, and he noticed his own mental health dip during heavy-scroll weeks.

He also shares the answer he's heard from nearly 10,000 people when he asks how they would spend an extra hour in their day. Not one of them said more time on social media.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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He believes we can.

In his mid-30s, Rich had everything on paper. Raises, promotions, praise. Inside, he wasn’t happy, and he was ready to quit tech and open a canoe camp in the Boundary Waters. Instead, he chose a different path, built around two simple questions: Who do you serve, and what would delight look like for them?

You can check out his book here.

His question for you and our next guest is:

If planet Earth is a campsite, what contribution are you making to leave it better than you found it?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Rebecca asks a version of that question near the end of the Ted Lasso season four finale.

Here's the final episode in my Ted Lasso Season 4 series, and it captures what is beautiful about life. It's its messiness. We spend so much energy chasing hacks, shortcuts, and frictionless tech, yet we still wonder why we aren’t happier.

As I share, it's Rumi’s poem “The Guest House.”

Welcome every visitor, even the sorrows, because each one arrives as a guide.

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So I thought it would be fitting to connect with Grace Pak, who, with help from Capitol Hill, baked America's 250th birthday cake.

Something happened in those offices. The politics fell away, and people were just people. Her prescription for a divided country is simple: get in a room together, get your hands busy, and laugh.

She also shares another cool thing that happened, but you need to listen to discover what it is.

To learn more about Grace, visit her website.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

If you were 250 years old, what would you tell your one-year-old self?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Gem State and connect with a fellow cyclist who likes to get dirty, Heidi Dohse.

She calls herself a professional heart patient, endurance athlete, and digital health innovator.

Heidi believes America is still the land of the free for anyone willing to be brave and do the work.

Her prescription for a divided country is simple and hard: stop getting spun up by the whole world, and start with the five feet around you. A smile, a piece of trash picked up, a deep breath before the anger spreads. That's where real change starts, and it ripples out from there.

To discover more about Heidi, please check out her website Tour de Heart.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Why celebrate episode 502 instead of 500?

Because 502 is two more than 500. And because most podcasts never make it this far.

When I started podcasting back in 2019 under the show's old name, The Kintsugi Podcast, I had no idea if I'd ever reach 500 episodes.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. Listening back to those early episodes proves the old adage that you're usually bad before you get better.

But I kept going. I took a break during the pandemic, came back, rebranded the show as Whole Again, and committed to being the type of person who keeps showing up.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I stay in The Garden State and connect with Anita Rivers.

She's a lifelong educator and the heart behind Fairleigh Dickinson University's 250 Acts of Kindness movement.

For Anita, America is about honoring the people who laid its foundation, starting with Native Americans and enslaved Africans whose full story the history books still don't tell. During our conversation, we talk about her grandmother, who lived to 104, and what one act of kindness can do.

She's also the host of Talking Points on WFDU, and I had the honor of being on her show a few days ago. You can listen to it here.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

How will you help make kindness a priority instead of an afterthought?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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We like to think life arrives in tidy chapters. A season of struggle, then a season of joy. A season of grief, then a season of happiness. But life doesn't work that way. Life be lifing.

I know this firsthand. Only a few days before my near-death cycling accident, I was riding one of the highest peaks of my life. Then life came in like Hulk Hogan and body slammed me.

In this episode of Wh It stacks moments of pure joy, the kind of appreciative joy called mudita, right alongsi 9.

It stacks moments of pure joy, the kind of appreciative joy called mudita, right alongside moments of profound heartbreak. It's a reminder that the greatest news of your life can arrive on the exact same day as the hardest phone call of your life.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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What if some of the weight you're carrying was never yours to begin with?

Beatrice was born in Canada, raised in Paris, and became a US citizen in 2011. After more than 20 years as an MD and pharma executive, she's now a life transformation Sherpa.

She's also a fan of Kintsugi, which helps people heal, and she believes the same golden repair can work for a country. Much of what weighs on us, she says, was handed down from generation to generation, and that burden only hurts the person carrying it.

We also talk about the trip that fueled her desire to come to America. At 16, Bea came to the US on her own and flew coast to coast in a tiny Cessna 120 over 12 days.

You can connect with her via her website.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

Have you found your true purpose yet? And if so, how long did it take you to realize what it is?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Healing, Growth & Resilience after Physical Trauma through Kintsugi Mindfulness listeners explore resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on stress management, mindfulness practices, and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools like breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress relief. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embraces healing as a process of transformation, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and being overwhelmed to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and holistic approaches to self-care, this podcast empowers listeners to cultivate emotional resilience and live with greater balance and intention.

What would you do with 25 more good years?

Dr. Mike Roizen believes this is possible for most of us.

For him, America means freedom of opportunity and his vision for us starts with health. He led a wellness program that cut the Cleveland Clinic's employee healthcare costs by 38%, and he believes we can do the same as a nation.

He's all about staying younger longer, with more years to work, contribute, and build an abundant life.

Discover more about Dr. Mike's work here.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

What's one thing you do that could reach more people, and what would it take?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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I explore why so many of us are clenching against a world of accelerating uncertainty, why that grip leaves us exhausted and feeling every bump in the road, and how easing up lets us absorb setbacks without losing momentum. You don't give up control. You let balance do its job.

My invitation for you this week?

Notice when you start to tense up. Acknowledge the fear, then release the tension, using your breath, mindful movement, or yoga to come back to center. Make small shifts instead of reaching for a big fix. And trust your process enough to let momentum do some of the work.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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He served 33 years as a soldier, became a corporate executive, and now runs Level 5 Associates, a leadership company, from Melbourne, Florida, where his wife, Ruthie, declared their 20th move would be their last.

We talk about his service, the value of waiting two seconds, and what happens every time he comes back home.

You can connect with Robert here, and you can also check out his books while you are there.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

Where do you think your biggest opportunity is in your life?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Alice knows. And in episode eight of Ted Lasso season four, she finally says it out loud.

I know it too.

Apple titled this one "Follow the Anger." Michael has a better name for it: The Road Back. It's the stage of the hero's journey (or in Alice's case, the she-ro's journey) where our hero believes she's found her way home, only to be tested one more time.

When Gemma goes down mid-match chasing a hat trick, all of Alice's old career-ending pain rushes back to the surface. Alice asks Rebecca to promise that Gemma won't disappear in real time, and that from the bottom of the organization to the very top, Gemma will know she still matters. Not just as a player. As a person.

Resilience was never meant to be a solo ride. We all need a peloton.

Think of someone who's going through something and hasn't heard from you in a while. Reach out today. One call or one message might be the reminder they need that they haven't been forgotten.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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We discuss whether America is a noun or a verb.

He runs Let's Fix This, a nonpartisan civic hub for Oklahoma, and serves as executive director of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers.

We also discuss voting and the power of witnessing who comes and goes at gas stations and seeing that we are all just trying to get by. In that ordinary moment, it's hard to miss how alike we really are.

You can discover more about Andy via his website.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Today, we tap into one of the most powerful words in the English language: And.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Peace Garden State and connect with Angela Arntz.

We discuss how America's greatest strength is possibility: the idea that you can take a risk, change direction, and become someone different than where you started.

Angela makes the case for something she thinks we've forgotten how to do: listening to understand someone instead of just waiting for our turn to respond. You don't have to agree with someone to hear them, and that distinction might be the whole ballgame.

Her question for you and our next guest is:

If there were one person in the US you'd love to meet, who would it be?

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More than you'd think.

In this episode, I share tip number 38 in his year-long series celebrating the 25th anniversary of my last bad day, and it comes straight from personal experience.

A small groove in his fingernail that he first noticed nearly two decades ago slowly grew more pronounced, and after finally committing this year to solve it, surgery revealed a ganglion cyst around his knuckle.

Now recovering with his hand in a splint, I'm pausing, breathing and reflecting on what happens when we put off the small stuff, especially us guys, who tend to rub some dirt on it and deal with things later.

His takeaway: if you don't spend time on your wellness, you'll be forced to spend time on your illness.

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If you feel you need more mental health support, please contact NAMI. 

With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Healing, Growth & Resilience after Physical Trauma through Kintsugi Mindfulness listeners explore resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on stress management, mindfulness practices, and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools like breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress relief. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embraces healing as a process of transformation, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and being overwhelmed to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and holistic approaches to self-care, this podcast empowers listeners to cultivate emotional resilience and live with greater balance and intention.

Mia built her career on a simple bet: that love, the highest form of positivity, can be a real business strategy, not just a nice idea.

Mia's family story runs straight through the American promise.

Her mother immigrated from Greece as a child with nothing but the clothes on her back, and her grandmother spent her whole life revering what it meant to become a citizen here.

That history shapes how Mia sees the country now: not through politics, but through diplomacy in the everyday sense- how we treat each other. Her wish for America isn't a policy fix. It's a return to basic human decorum, the kind where disagreeing with someone doesn't mean you stop treating them with dignity.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

If you could meet and connect with one person in this country, who would it be and why?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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As I continue diving into season 4 of Ted Lasso, this question can help us strengthen our resilience and mindfulness practices.

In this episode, Alice is mid-transformation, working her way out of what Michael calls the messy middle. She's been told to lean into the power of "yes," but tries it on like an allergic reaction, saying yes to everyone and everything with no boundaries at all.

That's not resilience. It's passive surrender. It's Ted and Beard who help her find the missing piece: not yes on its own, but "yes, and."

Yes, this is real. And here's what I'm going to do about it.

Discover how to scroll less and live more by taking my Free Smartphone Wellness Audit by clicking phone.

Did you know that stickers are wonderful visual cues to help you create healthy habits? You can get one of my free Pause Breathe Reflect sticker by clicking sticker.

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Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am. 

If you feel you need more mental health support, please contact NAMI. 

With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Healing, Growth & Resilience after Physical Trauma through Kintsugi Mindfulness listeners explore resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on stress management, mindfulness practices, and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools like breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress relief. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embraces healing as a process of transformation, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and being overwhelmed to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and holistic approaches to self-care, this podcast empowers listeners to cultivate emotional resilience and live with greater balance and intention.

We talk about how you only really understand freedom once you've lived outside this country and come back.

Jack doesn't think the divide we're in is unfixable. He thinks it's a communication problem, not a values problem. We've got more ways to talk to each other than any generation before us, and somehow we're worse at it. He pushes back on the idea that disagreement has to mean disrespect, and he means it.

His challenge lands hard: stop being an armchair quarterback and start having the honest, in-person conversation instead.

Discover more about him and his unbreakable mindset on this website.

His question for you and our next guest is:

What's one thing you could do today, just one, that benefits more than yourself?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

Join me most Mondays and Fridays for live practices to start and end your week in community.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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We talk about whether or not we've been measuring success in America by all the wrong things

He's watched teachers pay out of pocket for their classrooms and nurses burn out while CEOs and athletes get treated like heroes, and he thinks our money priorities are simply out of whack.

Vince's story is one that many Americans have experienced and it's a story worth listening to.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

What is the end game of the American experiment?

Do you believe utopias are even possible, and if not, what's the compromise?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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That's the question behind this week's tip, number 37 in the 25 Lessons in 25 Years series. It starts with a line from Anne-Marie Bonneau, "The Zero-Waste Chef," who said back in 2019, "We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly."

Michael takes that idea and runs it through a memory from 1997, when he and his wife stood in line at the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa for the first time -- supposedly the world's most perfect painting.

Watching total strangers react to it in wildly different ways became proof that perfection is entirely in the eye of the beholder. From there, Michael connects the dots to his own healing journey, a Mark Twain line about continuous improvement beating delayed perfection, and why showing up "perfectly imperfect," day after day, moves you forward.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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On this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to the Pelican State and connect with Joshua Jones, a rising senior studying marketing at LSU.

Joshua's take on America starts with persistence: the idea that progress means creating space in places never built with him in mind. He talks openly about being a young African American man navigating rooms that didn't always have room for him.

His Kintsugi wish for the country is education, the equitable kind that took him from community college to LSU, because he believes it's what teaches people to think critically, check their own bias, and actually hear each other again.

And his question for you and our next guest:

What advice would you give the Founding Fathers, knowing what America is dealing with today?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

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Welcome to episode six of season 4 and the messy middle.

Jamie's back, and he's still, with love, a bit of a prick. Roy's nursing an injury and some relationship drama. Coach Beard is having an identity crisis. Ted and Michelle are working through the wreckage of divorce. And Alice looks like she's being quietly set up for the biggest Kintsugi moment of the whole season.

If you're expecting the usual warm, fluffy Ted Lasso energy, this isn't that episode. But through the lens of resilience, it might be one of the best episodes of the series.

Michael walks through why the messy middle, not the tidy comeback, is where the real work happens, using Joseph Campbell's hero's journey and the Thich Nhat Hanh teaching "no mud, no lotus" to unpack what's actually going on beneath the surface of this episode.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Dominion State and connect with Katy Talento.

Katie's mission is to pull medicine back from what she calls the "corporatocracy" and return it to a true healing built on real food, sleep, sunlight, movement, and connection.

She shares how she was "brutally vicious" to herself inside her own head, and the years of work it took to build radical self-acceptance, which she now calls the greatest gift she can give her family. Once you stop attacking yourself, she says, it's so much easier to stop attacking everyone else.

You can connect with Katy on LinkedIn and AllBetter Health.

And her next question for you and our next guest is:

Of the 10 items in the Bill of Rights, which one matters most, and why?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to the Tar Heel State to speak with Madhavi Parikh.

She left India in 1988 for an arranged marriage and built a life and a career around helping people heal.

We talk about assimilating into the Bible Belt as a new immigrant, why she believes people who lash out are usually offloading their own pain, and the day she realized she was turning into the kind of parent she never wanted to be.

That moment led her to meditation, and years later she landed on the insight that changed how she saw herself: the word hole is literally part of the word whole. Real kindness, she says, starts with accepting our own fractured pieces before we can extend it to anyone else.

You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

What do you do to spread or increase kindness in the world?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Where were you twenty-five years ago today?

Michael was in a rehab session at the Kessler Institute in West Orange, New Jersey, when he overheard a therapist mention a plane hitting the Twin Towers. He called his wife and told her to turn on the TV—it didn't matter what channel.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael revisits September 11, 2001 through the lens of Rumi's poem "The Guest House," and the grief, shock, and unexpected gratitude that arrived that morning like uninvited guests. But this episode isn't only about remembering. It's about what we've let ourselves forget, and the one thing Michael says we've never really talked about in twenty-five years of "never forget": forgiveness.

This is the heart of tip #36.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfectly Union, I travel to the Big Sky State to connect with Carrie Haney.

I love Carrie's grounded energy, and I know you will as well.

She is a meditation and yoga teacher who left a fast-paced marketing career behind to live a slower, more intentional life, currently based in Montana and traveling the country seasonally in her bus.

She talks about the fracture she sees in America: how deeply we've been programmed into fast, demanding lifestyles that our bodies were never built for.

Her prescription isn't complicated: take the full hour for lunch, stop multitasking, take real vacations, and give yourself back the time technology promised but never delivered.

And she makes the case that connection shows up in unexpected places like the Olympics, a Taylor Swift concert, even a "designation day" like National Meditation Day. Really anywhere people set aside their differences long enough to feel something together.

Her question for you and our next guest is: What is one of the most important moments in your life story so far, and where did it happen?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love and who could also benefit from slowing down.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the fastest way to build trust with your team is to let them see you at your most embarrassed?

That's the question at the center of this week's Ted Lasso recap, where Michael unpacks episode five of the show's final season through the lens of vulnerability.

When the Lady Greyhounds fall apart in the first half against Chelsea, Alice calls the team an embarrassment and Ted, instead of deflecting or defending, leans right into the word. He opens up to his players about his divorce, his dating life, and why he eats hot dogs alone, reframing embarrassment not as a fatal flaw but as a defense mechanism that keeps us small.

Press play to hear how one halftime hot dog story became a masterclass in leadership, trust, and the golden repair of our own imperfections.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to the "Live Free or Die" State to connect with Celia Jarest, host of the podcast Sunflowers: Grow Through What You Go Through and a single mom of three.

We talk about fear and how it shapes almost everything we do, whether we notice it or not. She traces her own healing back to naming her complex PTSD and realizing just how much fear was running the show in her life. Her answer isn't more armor. It's grace, compassion, and boundaries, starting with ourselves.

We also get into New Hampshire's spirit, the shifting politics of a state where people move for the freedom and then try to change the values, and why she finds some of her deepest connection to fellow Americans not in New Hampshire's quiet but in Massachusetts, where she works alongside people from all over the world.

You can connect with Celia on LinkedIn.

Her question for you and our next guest is:

What is a piece of yourself that you will not back down from and will defend and fight for?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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This Monday's microdose meditation helps you rise up. Drawing on an image as old as it is simple, a mighty oak, rooted deep so its branches can reach high, I'll guide you through a short breath practice built around one mantra: rooting, to rise. Inhale rooting, exhale to rise, until strength and stability start to feel less like something you chase and more like something already underneath you.

It's a quick reset, not a big commitment. A few grounded breaths before the week gets loud.

Find it, along with 700+ other microdose meditations, free on the Pause Breathe Reflect app (Apple App Store and Google Play).

If it grounded you even a little, share it with a friend who could use some rooting today too.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the biggest regret people carry isn't something they did, but a road trip they never took?

In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Mount Rushmore State to connect with Jeffrey Gould on this question.

Jeffrey believes America is a story worth telling, one built on possibility rather than perfection. He also believes we've forgotten how to tell it, trading gratitude for outrage because outrage gets more clicks.

He shares what 700 funerals have taught him about regret, and why the road trip is almost always the thing people wish they'd taken. We also get into South Dakota's particular brand of curiosity, the kind that starts with "where you from" and ends in finding someone you both know.

Please connect with Jeffrey via his website or LinkedIn.

And his question(S) for you and our next guest are: 1) Have you been to South Dakota, and 2) what's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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When someone shows you who they are, do you actually believe them?

Tip #35 in my year-long series of lessons from his last bad day comes straight from Maya Angelou.

September is my birthday month - go Virgos!

All month the tips center on poetry, starting with the poet whose words already open his other series, A Perfectly Imperfect Union: "We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike."

But I speak to a different Maya Angelou line here, one she gave Oprah in 1997: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." Not as a license to write people off, but as an invitation to trade wishful thinking for acceptance, hold first impressions loosely, and then decide who belongs in your peloton.

Whose first impression did you choose to believe or not believe?

Drop it in the comments, and share this one with someone building their own Toll House cookie recipe for a meaningful life.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does true tolerance actually look like, and are we anywhere close to it?

In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel back to my old stomping grounds, Our Nation's Capitol, to connect with Tiffany Rider. She's an emergency medicine PA turned health policy writer with infectious energy.

She believes tolerance is at an all-time low in America. She also believes freedom here, imperfect as it is, is still unmatched anywhere she's lived.

Tiffany shares what the emergency room taught her about connection: no one asks who you voted for before saving your life. We also talk about her Cajun French family, how they punished her for speaking their own language as a kid, and why she thinks real tolerance means respecting other people's choices even when you disagree with them.

Before you go, Tiffany has a great question for you and our next guest:

If you really knew me, what would you know about me?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Can a team of guarded strangers ever really trust each other?

In this installment of Whole Again's Ted Lasso series, I dig into what's really holding the Lady Greyhounds back. It's not talent. It's not effort. It's trust.

As Dr. Fieldstone puts it: "A team is simply a collection of guarded strangers until they believe they are safe to fail in front of one another."

And trust gets built in reps, in the "figurative gym," in tiny unscripted moments.

Michael turns the episode into four practices you can start using today:

1. Recognize your control mechanisms as survival tactics
2. Offer up micro-moments that create psychological safety for someone else
3. Practice collective responsibility over blame
4. Anchor yourself in self-trust

Watch (or rewatch) Episode 4 through the lens of trust.

What's one small, unscripted moment when someone did something that made you trust them more?

Drop it in the comments and share this episode with your favorite Ted Lasso fan.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Silver State to connect with Kate Quay.

Kate believes freedom is the simplest answer to what America means to her. She also believes that answer gets complicated fast, because freedom has never been equally distributed.

She shares how leaving the Bay Area's political homogeneity for Reno's purple streets actually made her feel more connected, not less. And why detaching people from their politics might be what heals us.

To connect with Kate, you can find her on LinkedIn and her website.

And her question for you and our next guest is: How do you find joy in your life?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Who's sitting at your table?

In this Monday microdose meditation from Whole Again, I walk you through a visualization I return to often. You picture that table. You fill it with the people who genuinely love you. Then you invite your higher self to sit down. Then your higher power, however you define it.

And you ask each one the same question: do you love me?

It sounds simple. It isn't always easy to sit with the answer. But once that room is full — full of people, full of your own wiser self, full of whatever you call the bigger thing — a different question opens up: what do they need to tell you right now? What do you most need to hear?

This practice reminds us that we're rarely as alone as our hardest moments convince us we are. Support surrounds us, even the support we forget to ask for.

This episode is a microdose meditation from my Pause, Breathe, Reflect app — free on the App Store and Google Play, with over 700 meditations if this one resonates.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What's one small step you can take today to honor your health?

Francesca is originally from Madagascar and has called Rhode Island home for the past 12 years. She's the founder of an organization doing healing work on two continents, work born out of her own story as a survivor of verbal, emotional, and psychological violence.

She sees the American Dream as the idea that your past doesn't have to define your future.

If you've ever wondered whether healing a family relationship is even possible, or what it actually takes to break a cycle, this episode is for you.

You can connect with her on LinkedIn and her website.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

What is one thing you can do for your health today?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What would you do if someone else were beating you up?

You'd fight back. You'd get out of the situation. You wouldn't just stand there and take it.

So why do we let ourselves get away with it?

In this Growth Mindset Tip, part of his 25th Anniversary of his Last Bad Day series, Michael O'Brien shares Tip 34: stop beating yourself up.

We're quick to defend ourselves against cruelty from others. But when it comes to the voice inside our own heads, the one telling us we're too much or not enough, we let it run the show. That self-critical conversation isn't harmless background noise. It's actively holding us back from the ripple effect we're capable of creating.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Peace Garden State and connect with Peter Schott.

Peter is a Kintsugi artist, community builder, and North Dakota native who spent nine years running a monthly potluck that brought together 50 to 250 people at a time.

He shares how he found Kintsugi through a book on the Enneagram and eventually traveled to Tokyo for a 12-day master class with a traditional Japanese artist.

And in true perfectly imperfect fashion, his answer for the place that makes him feel most alive isn't a mountain or a coastline. It's the Walmart parking lot, where he sees the full, messy, beautiful spectrum of who we are as a country.

To connect with Peter, you can find him on LinkedIn and Substack.

His question for you and our next guest is:

What's something that sparks joy for you, beyond your kids, your work, or your hobbies?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it take to keep getting the most out of something you love, right up until it ends?

That's the question running through this week's Whole Again as Michael dives into Episode 3 of Ted Lasso Season 4, part of his ongoing weekly recap series.

In this solo monologue, Michael pulls back the curtain on why he's spending several weeks unpacking the final season one theme at a time, not to spoil the show, but to mine it for the mindfulness lessons hiding inside it. This episode's theme is Take a Chance on Me.

Three new players join the Lady Greyhounds, each one simply asking for the opportunity to prove what they're capable of, and Michael connects that hunger to something universal: the first date, the job application, the promotion nobody thought you were ready for.

He also gets honest about a harder thread running through the season, the uneven playing field in women's sports, and why the discomfort some viewers feel watching that storyline is exactly the kind of tension mindfulness asks us to sit with rather than dismiss.

As a girl dad, longtime sponsor of a women's cycling team, and co-author of a book on allyship, Michael brings real stakes to the conversation about who gets a chance and who has to fight twice as hard for the same one.

Michael ties it all back to Kintsugi. Taking a chance on someone, even someone with a checkered past, is what makes golden repair possible in the first place. Sweep the broken pieces into the trash too quickly, and there's no gold left to add.

By the end, he leaves you with a challenge: look around your own life this week and ask who's on the sidelines waiting for a shot, and whether you're willing to be the one who says yes.

Before you go, celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience. And don't forget to have fun storming the castle.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What would it take to truly see someone else's humanity, even when it's easier not to?

In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to The Pelican State of Louisiana to connect with David Robinson-Morris as a hurricane came to shore.

David founded The Reimagination and the Center for the Human Spirit and Radical Reimagining. (I just love this).

He talks about America as a paradox, a promise not yet fulfilled, and why he believes the real work ahead is repairing our inability to see one another's humanity. When asked what he'd need to give up that he loves in order for us to unite, his answer was simple and hard: the idea that we are separate.

His question for you and our next guest is: As you imagine America in its next 50 years, what kind of future would you create where everyone, not just some of us, can truly flourish?

You can discover more about him here: https://www.reimaginelution.com/

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it take to simply be?

That's the invitation at the heart of this week's microdose meditation, a short practice designed to help you drop into the present moment before the busyness of the week pulls you in a hundred directions.

Michael guides you through a simple, grounding practice from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app. It's not about doing anything more. It's about giving yourself permission to just be, to notice the breath, a sensation in the body, or a sound in the distance, and to rest your attention there the way a puppy rests its chin on your thigh, quietly seeking connection.

And when your mind wanders off, as minds do, you're invited to come back without judgment, because that's simply what it means to be human.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What are you willing to give up in order for us to unite?

That's the question Jerry Colonna leaves us with in this conversation for A Perfectly Imperfect Union.

Jerry is an executive coach of 25 years, former investor, author of Reboot and Reunion, and a previous guest on The Kintsugi Podcast. Today he calls Centennial State Home.

Jerry believes disunion has a beneficiary. Someone always gains when the rest of us turn on each other, and naming that is the first step toward healing.

He traces his own family's story, immigrant ancestors who came to America out of poverty and survival, sons who served in World War II, a grandfather who registered for the draft before he was even a citizen, and uses it to make the case that America has always been a process of transformation, not a finished thing.

You can connect with Jerry via his website: https://www.reboot.io/

Share your thoughts on Jerry's question and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it really mean to be wealthy?

The answer showed up at his dad's 90th birthday party, complete with a theme borrowed from his father's signature line to every doctor who asks how he's doing: "Did you bring the coffee and donuts?"

Michael's dad spent his career in the moving industry, and at the party, his former coworkers spoke about how he always showed up. He wasn't rich by the usual measure, Michael says, but he was wealthy in the way that matters most.

Here's Michael's blog post about his Dad's birthday.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to The Palmetto State and sit down with Emma Ambrose.

Emma grew up in Sag Harbor, New York, and now calls Charleston home, though she joined this conversation from the Bahamas mid-move into her first apartment.

Emma built a social media career from scratch, selling over $700,000 in her first eight months on TikTok Shop, and she's now launching her own jewelry line, Popped by Ambrose, while also pursuing a real estate license.

Her take on America centers on freedom and permission, the encouragement to chase what you want even if it means reinventing yourself, something she watched her own father do when he left a Wall Street career to become a chef.

You can follow her on TikTok @emmambrosee

And her question for you and our next guest is:

What's a moment in your life you wanted to change, not for anybody else, but for yourself?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

-------

After three years apart, Ted Lasso is back for Season 4, sliding into our DMs like an old college flame asking to grab "just one beer."

But can you truly rekindle that pandemic-era magic without ruining your favorite memories?

Michael breaks down the awkward initial reconnect, the lingering nostalgia, and whether that folksy Lasso charm still holds up in a brand-new era.

This week, Michael dives into the highlights, emotional beats, and subtle commentaries hidden within Episodes 1 and 2:

• Ted isn't returning to coach the FC Richmond men's side. Rebecca has a completely new challenge in store: the Lady Greyhounds.
• A detour to the Negro Baseball Hall of Fame delivers a memorable reminder from Satchel Paige: “No man is born uncommon.” Being uncommon isn't about trophies or social media followers—it's about showing up daily with dignity, empathy, and excellence.
• Finding the Spark: Episode 2 brings back that classic 2022 warmth while introducing Assistant Coach Alice Chilton.
• The Coaching Gap: Beneath the humor, the show shines a light on a stark reality: only 22% of women’s sports teams are coached by women, and zero women hold head coaching roles in men’s major professional sports.

Ted Lasso has always been more than a comedy; it's a playbook for human connection.

• Real inclusion isn't about falling back on comfortable defaults. It’s about representation, allyship, and creating spaces where people feel they belong.
• Just like repairing broken pottery with gold, our experiences and our scars make us stronger.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it take to actually hear each other again?

In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I travel to the Last Frontier State to speak with Laura Norton-Cruz.

She's a licensed social worker, documentary filmmaker, and policy advocate based in Anchorage.

Laura believes the deepest fracture in this country right now is informational.

We're all working from different sets of facts, fed by algorithms and shrinking newsrooms, and she thinks the way through is simple to name and hard to do: get more stories from people with the least power in front of more people. Survivors, immigrants, disabled folks, foster kids, home health aides, the people whose lives rarely make the front page. Amen!

She holds two things at once: the fear that comes with raising brown, bilingual kids in this political climate, and a genuine belief that common ground is still findable, one relationship at a time.

To connect with Laura, please visit her website: https://www.lauranortoncruzconsulting.com/

And her question for you and our next guest is:

How are you helping advance the wellbeing of pregnant people and young children so we have a healthier future?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this week's microdose meditation from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, Michael guides you through his own morning ritual, a practice he returns to each day to greet the day with clarity and purpose.

Starting with a few generous, expansive breaths, you're invited to check in with your body, release any tension held in the shoulders, forehead, or jaw, and arrive fully in the present moment.

From there, Michael leads you into the heart of the practice: setting an intention for the day, the half day, or even just the next hour and visualizing yourself showing up exactly as you wish to be.

It's a simple, judgment-free practice you can do in bed, seated, standing, or on the go, designed to help you put a little more of the ripple you want to see out into the world.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Have you ever had one of those days where absolutely nothing goes right, right down to a door that won't open the way you expect it to?

That was Michael earlier this week. Not a bad day, not compared to July 11, 2001, but a day.

Errands piling up, arms full of packages, and a post office door that stubbornly pulled open instead of pushing. Just as his frustration peaked, a stranger stepped in with four simple words: "Hey, let me get that for you." That small moment sparked tip number 32 in Michael's 25 Lessons in 25 Years series, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his last bad day.

It sounds almost too small to count as a tip. Hold the door open for someone?

But Michael digs into the psychology behind it, what researchers call the shared effort model, and shows why this tiny, split-second exchange between strangers does real work. It signals to another person that they're seen, that someone has enough time and generosity to slow down for them, even for a second or two.

In a world that can feel lonely and divided, Michael makes the case that these small, subconscious social pacts matter more than we realize. They won't solve your biggest problems, but they can pull you out of the story that tells you you're on your own.

Discover how to scroll less and live more by taking my Free Smartphone Wellness Audit by clicking phone.

Did you know that stickers are wonderful visual cues to help you create healthy habits? You can get one of my free Pause Breathe Reflect sticker by clicking sticker.

To discover more and sign up for My RIPPLE EFFECT newsletter by clicking Ripple Effect.

We can also connect on LinkedIn. or at Michael@PauseBreatheReflect.com

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am. 

If you feel you need more mental health support, please contact NAMI. 

With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Healing, Growth & Resilience after Physical Trauma through Kintsugi Mindfulness listeners explore resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on stress management, mindfulness practices, and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools like breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress relief. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embraces healing as a process of transformation, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and being overwhelmed to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and holistic approaches to self-care, this podcast empowers listeners to cultivate emotional resilience and live with greater balance and intention.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to Ohio and speak with fellow James Madison University grad, Howard Miller.

What does it really mean to have a choice, and to be accountable for it?

That's the throughline for Howard Miller, a City of Cincinnati sustainability official and geologist by training, in this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union.

Howard's Cincinnati is a city of crossroads, geographically and culturally, and he sees that same tension play out nationally: incredible freedom of choice, paired with a growing unwillingness to own the consequences.

He traces his own shift in perspective back to leaving private consulting for public service, where he found a level of connection to his community he hadn't felt before. It also shows up again in his years coaching youth lacrosse, where the real lesson was never about the sport.

Howard's question for you and our next guest is:

What is your vision of America in 2050?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

Go Dukes!

Discover more about Howard on LinkedIn

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the secret to healing has been hiding inside a 3,000-year-old poem the whole time?

That's the question Michael found himself sitting with as he prepared for Christopher Nolan's new film adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. Everyone is talking about the movie, but almost no one is talking about the one theme in the poem that might matter most right now, a concept the ancient Greeks called xenia.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael shares what he discovered while restudying The Odyssey ahead of seeing Nolan's film. Xenia was the ancient code of guest friendship, a kind of radical hospitality where strangers were welcomed into your home before you even asked their name.

The belief was that any traveler could be a god in disguise, so how you treated a stranger revealed who you really were. Compare that to today, where so much of our social life feels guarded, transactional, and quick to judge before we even get to know someone.

Michael draws the bridge from xenia to the contemplative practice of dana, or generosity of spirit, and to Rumi's poem The Guest House, which teaches us to welcome every emotion we feel, even the difficult ones, as a teacher rather than an intruder.

The idea is simple but not easy. When we practice hospitality internally, welcoming our own feelings without judgment, we get better at offering that same welcome to the people around us.

You will discover:

• The ancient Greek concept of xenia and why it mattered so much to Homer's world
• How radical hospitality differs from the guarded, transactional way we often treat strangers today
• The mindfulness practice of dana, or generosity of spirit, and its connection to presence
• What Rumi's poem The Guest House teaches us about welcoming our emotions instead of resisting them
• A simple question to carry with you about where you could practice more xenia in your own life

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to Oklahoma and sit down with Jessica-Rose Johnson.

She's the host of the Unbreakable Hope podcast and a recent widow, after caring for her husband Andrew through six years and a second brain cancer diagnosis.

Jessica Rose talks about a family lineage of service that traces back to the Revolutionary War, and how Oklahoma's history of hardship, from the Dust Bowl to the Oklahoma City bombing, taught her community to rebuild without asking whose side anyone is on.

But the heart of the conversation is what she and Andrew built before hardship arrived. They had the hard conversations early, so when he became non-verbal for the last three years of his life, they'd already built a way to keep communicating without words.

Her wish for America isn't a thing: it's a way of being remembered. Not for what we built, but for how we loved each other.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and share it with one of your fellow neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the fastest way to shift your mood wasn't found in a lengthy meditation, but in a single breath pattern you can do anywhere?

Stanford researchers recently compared several breathwork techniques and found that cyclic sighing outperformed the rest at elevating mood, and in this week's microdose meditation from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, Michael walks you through exactly how to practice it.

You'll settle into a comfortable position, ground yourself with three slow breaths, then learn the simple pattern behind cyclic sighing: two inhales through the nose, one long exhale through the mouth.

It's a practice you can return to whenever today's uncertainty asks a little too much of you, and a reminder that sometimes the most grounding thing we can do is simply breathe.

You will discover:

• The Stanford research behind cyclic sighing and why it's uniquely effective for mood
• How to practice the double inhale, slow exhale breathing pattern step by step
• A short, guided version you can use anytime you need to reset
• Where to find hundreds more practices like this one, completely free

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What are you doing to steward the gift you've been given?

In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to Connecticut and sit down with Veronica Sommers.

Veronica believes trust in this country has been broken, not by politics, but by a lost moral foundation.

She traces it back to COVID, when friendships she thought were unshakeable fell apart over vaccine status and voting choices. Her answer wasn't to retreat. She gave up her income, her apartment, and nearly everything she owned to pursue a calling around protecting children and restoring what she calls moral clarity in the digital age.

If you've ever wondered what it looks like to bet everything on your convictions, this conversation will stay with you. Veronica doesn't hold back, including a hard truth about what's for sale on Amazon that will make you think twice about your next order.

Veronica has a question for you and our next guest is:

What are you personally doing to steward what you've been given?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can connect with Veronica on LinkedIn and learn about her mission of Sacred Leadership.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the story you've been told about recovery is wrong?

You know the one.

The one that suggests that progress is a straight line, up and to the right, like a slide in someone's PowerPoint deck.

We are up to tip #31 in Michael's year-long series of tips to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of his Last Bad Day.

One year ago, on a normal bike ride, he was clotheslined by a low-hanging, unmarked utility cable. He broke his femur in five places. And in the twelve months since, his recovery hasn't moved up and to the right at all. Some weeks brought real progress. Others brought frustration and what felt like steps backward.

That gap between the story we've been sold, mostly by social media highlight reels, and the messy reality of healing is the focus of this episode.

Michael introduces the R in his GRACE framework: reflecting and reframing. Instead of measuring how far you moved today, he invites you to ask a simpler, truer question. Did you stay in the process?

Whether you're recovering physically, emotionally, or professionally, or chasing a big goal that isn't cooperating with your timeline, this episode offers a different way to measure whether you're actually growing.

You will discover:

• Why recovery and growth are bumpy, not linear, and why that's normal
• The GRACE framework and how the reframe step changes everything
• A simple weekly question to replace tracking progress with trusting the process
• Why extending yourself grace leads to a more connected life, and world

Press play to hear Michael's honest reflection on a year of recovery he didn't expect, and the mindset shift that's helping him trust the process instead of grading each day.

And once you're done, don't miss tomorrow's episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Michael's series of conversations with everyday Americans as the country turns 250.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In our latest episode, we travel to Michigan and sit down with Larry Walsh. He's an Army veteran, cyclist, author, husband, father, and someone who splits his time between Northern Michigan and Williamsburg, Virginia.

Larry pushes back on the narrative that America is hopelessly divided. He's ridden across the country twice, once as a tour and once as a race, and what he found wasn't division.

It was small towns, five-minute conversations, and people who are, in his words, 99.9% good.

He also opens up about what he thinks we're missing as a country: humility and curiosity, the willingness to say "I don't know" instead of pretending to have all the answers.

And his question for you and our next guest:

What is your next adventure?

To discover more about Larry and check out his books, click or head to https://larry-walsh.com/books/.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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One year ago, Michael was lying on the asphalt waiting for EMS, clotheslined by an unmarked utility cable that broke his femur in five places. In this episode, he opens up about the anniversary of that accident and what actually helps us get through the hardest moments, not the highlight reel version, but the quiet work that happens after everyone stops watching.

Michael shares why building a strong personal foundation before the bumpy moments arrive is the key to weathering them when they do, and how two often overlooked qualities, hope and grace, carried him through his recovery.

He also reflects on the difference between the outpouring of support that shows up right after a crisis and the deeper, quieter support we need long after the algorithm moves on.

This is an honest look at resilience in real time, not as a finished story, but as a work still in progress.

You will discover:

• Why building your personal foundation now, before a crisis hits, makes all the difference when one does
• The cornerstones of a strong foundation, including your values, your peloton, and your inner conversation
• The distinction between hope and grace, and why both are essential to recovery
• Why the real work of healing begins after people stop watching, not while they're watching

Press play to hear Michael's honest reflections on foundation, patience, and what it really means to become whole again.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to Texas and visit with Taylor Lopez.

She's a Texas native who spends her days helping brands grow responsibly and her nights writing about mental health, especially in women.

Taylor opens up about breaking her life apart in 2019 and rebuilding it into something more beautiful than she could have imagined. She first learned about Kintsugi from an art therapist during a stay at a behavioral hospital, and it became a cornerstone of her healing.

To Taylor, America isn't a place. It's a feeling. Promise, optimism, and the belief that reinvention is always possible.

She also shares how she and her husband turned their home into a safe haven for their kids and any child who needs one, no questions asked. It's a small, local ripple effect she believes can spread outward.

To connect with Taylor, use this LinkedIn link.

Taylor has a question for you and our next guest is:

Do you think people have enough awareness of the different types of therapy available, or does "therapy" get boiled down to just one thing in most of our minds?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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After the peanut shop owner finished bagging his dad's cashews, she would ask a simple question. And something else? Michael thought it was brilliant.

The whole store suddenly felt full of possibilities. He carried that question into his corporate career, pulling it out anytime he or his team got stuck on the first idea that came to mind.

In this Microdose Monday practice from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, Michael guides you through the same question so you can see that you likely have more options than you first realized.

You will settle into your body, bring to mind something you are working on personally or professionally, and gently keep asking "and something else" until new possibilities rise to the surface.

There is no judging what comes up, just an open curiosity designed to help you get unstuck and move forward.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we stay in Maryland and have our second conversation. Today it's with Ashley Houghton.

I love her question and how it frames her thinking of America: What if we stopped electing boxers and started electing legislators?

Ashley talks about America the way you'd talk about a beloved, frustrating family member, someone you love deeply even when they disappoint you.

She traces her path from national security and civil liberties work to her work today on democracy reform, and lays out her belief that structural fixes like proportional representation and ranked-choice voting could change who we elect and why.

To discover more about Ashley, visit her at FairVote.org

And her question for you and our next guest is: What are some tangible small things you're doing right now to build community and resilience where you live?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this episode, Michael shares Growth Mindset Tip #30 as he celebrates 25 years since his Last Bad Day.

This one comes straight from life with his dog-loving wife: the idea that our energy travels down the leash. Just as our pets can sense when we're joyful or anxious, the people around us pick up on our energy, whether it's at a concert, in a stadium, or as we walk into a room.

Michael revisits the acronym GRACE he created during his hospital recovery and reminds us that, no matter what we're going through, we always have a choice about the energy we bring into any space. And that doesn't mean bypassing hard emotions. Sometimes the most honest thing we can do is feel them fully, maybe with a good snuggle from a fur baby along the way.

You will discover:

• Why your energy travels down the leash, and how your pets (and people) can sense it
• The GRACE framework Michael created in the hospital: Gratitude, Reframing, Awareness/Acceptance/Action, Community, and Energy
• Why choosing your energy doesn't mean suppressing your real emotions
• A simple reminder that you're always at choice, even in hard moments

Press play and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to Maryland and sit down with Heather Wagner.

She runs a nonprofit in DC, works in the anti-human trafficking space, and identifies openly as an autistic ADHD leader raising two neurodivergent kids. She's also been a minister, an executive coach, and a "rail fan mom" chasing trains with her son across Maryland.

Heather shares that her views of America have shifted across different seasons of her life, from the girl who grew up near Seneca Falls believing she could change the world, to someone who now sees the country's story as a bit of a tragedy, one she still holds hope for.

She shares a vivid image from a trip to Italy, sitting near the Colosseum and realizing America is like a petulant teenager, sure it has all the answers but still nowhere near fully grown.

Her prescription for healing isn't complicated. Stop looking for difference. Start anchoring into what we all actually share: grief, love, fear, the wish to be seen and valued.

To discover more about Heather, please use this link to connect on LinkedIn.

And Heather's question for you and our next guest is: If you could sit down and have coffee with one person, past, present, or future, who would it be?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this episode of Whole Again, Michael shares a story from a recent corporate off-site where a team had been running on empty for six months. So they paused and did the thing most of us never do: took a deep breath.

It turns out we take somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 breaths a day, and we're rarely present for a single one. That's the tension at the heart of this episode: we're moving through our days on autopilot, and our energy is leaking out into every space we enter without us even noticing.

The anchor here is a sign Michael found at an Indiana University Health Center years ago, asking people to take responsibility for the energy they bring into a space before they enter it. It's a simple idea with a big ripple effect: when we're reactive, our words and behaviors can cause real harm. When we're intentional, they can do real good.

This episode also builds on yesterday's A Perfectly Imperfect Union conversation with Robina from Maui, who left listeners with a question of her own: Are you breathing deeply?

Before you go, try this: take one deep breath before your next meeting, conversation, or doorway you walk through today.

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to Hawaii and visit with Robena.

We talk about aloha as currency, life on an isolated island where everyone has to take care of each other, and why she believes America is, at its core, an aspirational line of thinking.

She traces her family's roots back to 1600s Virginia and a long westward pull that eventually landed her in Hawaii.

Her prescription for healing the country is simple and hard at the same time: more empathy, more patience, and more deep breathing to calm a nervous system stuck in fear.

And her question for you and our next guest is: Are you breathing deeply?

Visit Robena's Galley via this link.

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with one of your neighbors.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this Microdose Monday practice from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, Michael shares the Ho'oponopono prayer, a healing meditation that originated in Hawaii and carries a simple but profound message: I am sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.

Michael first learned to repeat this mantra while cycling up Mount Haleakala in Maui, and he brings that same spirit of forgiveness and connection into this guided practice.

Rooted in the belief that we are all one and that changing the world begins with changing ourselves, this meditation invites you to place your hands on your heart, breathe into it, and let your higher self offer you the compassion you may be withholding from yourself.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it look like when honesty becomes the foundation for healing?

In our next episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, we travel to the great state of Mississippi and sit down with Jessica Starks, entrepreneur, writer, storyteller, and community builder.

I love how Jessica pushes back on Mississippi's reputation, pointing to a state full of hospitality and accomplished, well-read people that outsiders rarely see.

As a creative, she's candid about AI too, calling it a "frenemy" that can help the process but can never replace the human soul behind real art. And through her genealogy work, she's uncovered a family story that includes both the weight of slavery and the surprise of being welcomed by white relatives she once feared would turn away.

You can discover more about her via this link.

And Jessica's question for you and our next guest is:

If you could build a museum on anything you chose, what would it be about?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Once you're gone, will anyone remember your Strava feed?

We are up to Growth Mindset Tip #29, as I celebrate 25 years since my Last Bad Day.

Fitness apps like Strava can be genuinely useful. They track progress, map new routes, and connect you with other athletes. But Michael digs into the flip side.

These same platforms can quietly pull us into comparison, ego, and shoulding all over ourselves, chasing a version of fitness that has nothing to do with the life we actually want to build. He's honest that his own posts still matter to him, but his happiness can't be tied to them.

Because at the end of it all, no one will remember your mile splits. They'll remember how you made them feel.

If you've ever caught yourself comparing your pace, your body, or your progress to someone else's feed, this one's for you.

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with an athlete you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I sit down with Nelson Wang, a huge NY Knicks fan, at a Capital One Cafe in New York City.

Nelson believes America's real strength is the willingness to be stronger for our differences instead of weaker because of them, and he's watched that play out on the streets of New York every day.

The story that anchors it all is his father's, a man who fled Shanghai for Hong Kong ahead of the Cultural Revolution and eventually built a new life in America, a life Nelson was the first in his family to be born into here.

You can discover more about Nelson via this link.

And Nelson's question for you and our next guest, Jessica, is:

What subject do you wish documentarian Ken Burns would tackle next?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Do you need someone's permission to change?

That's the question a leader Michael coaches recently put to him: before his accident, was he ever given permission to become someone new?

It's a question most of us are quietly asking ourselves too, even if we've never said it out loud. In this episode, Michael unpacks why we don't need anyone's permission to shift, evolve, or outgrow the groove we've settled into, and why staying stuck there creates a quiet, constant tension.

He calls out the corporations that profit from our self-doubt, the ones selling us a fix for a story we were never meant to believe in the first place. He also revisits the rocks in our backpack, the DO HAVE BE trap so many of us live inside without realizing it, and why finding the right peloton matters more than finding permission.

You will discover:

• Why change never actually requires anyone else's approval, including your own past self's
• How to recognize when you're stuck in a groove that no longer fits who you're becoming
• The DO HAVE BE trap and how corporate culture profits from keeping us in it
• A simple set of questions to ask yourself about what still fits and what you've outgrown
• Why surrounding yourself with the right peloton matters more than waiting for permission.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What is something you wish almost everyone truly understood?

That's the question Shannon Ross asks in this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union: Reflecting on America 250.

Shannon is the founder of The Community, a criminal justice reform organization based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, doing work with advocates, impacted individuals, and crime survivors alike.

Shannon spent 17 years in prison, from age 19 to 36. For Shannon, the real fracture in this country isn't politics. It's narrative. It's how we tell our stories, and how quickly we let those stories calcify into ideology before we've paused long enough to actually think them through.

He also shared something essential: we like to believe we live our lives off truth and facts, when really we live off stories. You don't realize you're living inside one until you tell yourself a different story and your life changes.

Here's Shannon's question for you and our next guest:

What is something you have heard in your time that you wish almost everyone you meet understood well?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with a fellow neighbor or friend.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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That's the invitation behind this week's Microdose Monday meditation from Michael's app, Pause, Breathe, Reflect. In a season where uncertainty seems to be everywhere, Michael offers a gentle reminder that joy and worry can coexist. You don't have to wait for the hard things to pass before you're allowed to feel good again.

This short practice walks you through settling into stillness, softening the extra weight we carry (the rocks in our backpack, as Michael likes to call them), and opening space for two simple doorways into joy: gratitude and mudita, the appreciative joy we feel when someone else is thriving. It's a practice designed to meet you exactly where you are, even on your heaviest days.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it mean to keep becoming, even when the road isn't a straight line up?

I recently sat down with John Dye on our Perfectly Imperfect Union Series. He works at the intersection of faith and media, trying to make culture a little more faith-fluent and a little more curious about difference.

He sees America not as a melting pot, but a big salad bowl. Different ingredients, still distinct, still whole, sitting right next to each other and somehow making something better together.

He talks about empathy as the glue, about having bigger ears than mouths, and about a thing called the human library, where you can sit down with a stranger and check out their story like a book.

His wish for the country is that it keeps becoming, unevenly, imperfectly, but always moving toward more freedom and more room for people to be different and still belong.

And his question for you and our next guest is:

What are the three most important characteristics you see in others that you'd like to adopt, for yourself or for society as a whole?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can discover more about John via LinkedIn.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Why does Michael end every podcast and blog post with the same six words from one of his beloved movies?

In this Friday Growth Mindset Tip, tip number 28 in his yearlong series celebrating the 25th anniversary of his Last Bad Day, Michael unpacks the story behind his signature sign-off, "Have fun storming the castle."

He traces the line back to a favorite scene in The Princess Bride, where Miracle Max and his wife Valerie send Westley off on an impossible rescue mission.

You will discover:

• Why Miracle Max's self-doubt, Westley's support system, and Valerie's push all reflect something deeply human
• How this line became Michael's countermeasure to greed, hatred, and delusion, the three poisons at the heart of mindfulness
• Why Michael believes love, and the kindness, empathy, and generosity that come with it, fuels resilience and endurance
• How a lighthearted movie quote became a serious reminder to pursue love in everything we do

Press play to discover the story behind the phrase, and why Michael believes pursuing love, even when it feels like it will take a miracle, is what helps us create a meaningful life.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What are you doing to make someone else's life better?

That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Bill Jollie, a 14-year leukemia survivor, pharma professional, and founder of Interrupt Hunger.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Bill shares how his own cancer battle reshaped his view of the healthcare system, why he thinks AI will amplify who we already are rather than change us, and why that means we need to get serious about being kind to each other.

He also shares how serving in the Marines, marriage, and fatherhood shaped his perspective.

If you've ever wondered whether kindness is still a strategy worth betting on, this conversation makes the case.

Bill's question for you and our next guess is:

What are you doing to make someone else's life better?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can discover more about Bill via his website.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What happens when you can't control the weather, but you still have to keep pedaling?

That's the question Michael is wrestling with mile after mile on the Empire State Trail, as he rides over 400 miles from the Canadian border to New Jersey.

Michael shares a lesson that keeps resurfacing on every long ride he's ever taken, one of the nine qualities of mindfulness: acceptance.

Not passive resignation, not lowering the bar, but the active practice of seeing things as they actually are before trying to change them.

Because arguing with a headwind, or with the rain, or with reality itself, is an argument you will always lose, and every ounce of energy spent resisting is energy you don't have left to move forward.

Michael also opens up about what's ahead: the anniversary of his last bad day, and tomorrow's episode of this summer's series, A Perfectly Imperfect Union, where he's been talking with everyday Americans about hope, division, and what it takes to come together.

His question for you this week is simple.

Where are you arguing with reality instead of accepting it and taking intentional action?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What are you choosing every day: joy or the weight of the world?

That's the question Demetria Sloan leaves us with by the end of this conversation.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Demetria traces her family's tangled American story, including a DNA surprise that revealed their earliest known maternal relative was a Native American woman, alongside deep European and African roots.

"We are as America as America can be," she says, and it shows in how she talks about the country itself: full of oxymorons, messy on purpose, home for better or worse.

Her birthday wish for America is radical empathy, recognizing the pain behind the bravado.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

How are you choosing joy each day?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can discover more about Demetria via her website.

And here's the YouTube link to the interview I referenced.

Finally, a recipe for Key Lime Cake.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Michael kicks off this week with a microdose meditation straight from his own mindfulness beginnings, a box breathing practice he turned to when he first started this journey.

Pulled from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, this guided session invites you to settle into a comfortable position, connect with gratitude for your body's ability to breathe, and move through the steady rhythm of 4-4-4-4 box breathing.

Along the way, Michael offers a gentle reminder that a wandering mind is not a failure; it is simply part of being human, and the practice is in noticing and coming back.

You will discover:

A grounding breath practice to open your week with intention

The 4-4-4-4 box breathing technique and how to follow along

A reminder that losing count or focus is not a setback; it is part of the process

How this small daily practice connects to a greater sense of resilience and calm

Press play and take a few minutes for yourself this Monday.

And if this practice resonates, share it with someone in your peloton who could use a moment to breathe too.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it look like to stay curious instead of certain?

Today we head to Massachusetts and sit down with Ken Lubin.

He believes most of the noise dividing us isn't coming from real conversations at all. It's coming from keyboard warriors and a news cycle built to keep us riled up. His fix isn't complicated, but it isn't easy either.

Take the emotion out. Actually listen to the other side's beliefs instead of just waiting for your turn to talk. He puts it simply: if you focus on the 95% that's good instead of the 2 to 5% everyone argues about, you're better off.

Ken talks about growing up between two identities, athlete and businessman, and how that same integration shows up in how he thinks about the country right now.

He also breaks the "cake streak." When asked what he's serving up for America's 250th birthday, Ken skips dessert entirely and pours a Maine Beer Company IPA instead, because he'd rather sit by the ocean with a friend and share a beer.

Ken's question for you and our next guest is:

What do you believe is coming next for America? More divisive, or more unified?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Have you told the people you love that you love them?

That question sat with a nurse in the trauma room at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, and she brought it straight to Michael the moment he came out of the ICU.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael shares tip number 27 in his 25-Lessons-in-25-Years series, marking the eve of the actual anniversary of his last bad day. It is one of the simplest tips of the series, and one of the most urgent.

A nurse's words in the aftermath of his near-death cycling accident became a lesson Michael has carried for a quarter century: tomorrow isn't promised, so make sure the people in your life know they are loved, today.

This episode is intentionally short, because Michael wants you to spend the time you would normally spend listening doing something else entirely: reaching out. A call. A text. A moment of honesty with someone who matters to you.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it mean to be a land of reinvention?

Today we head to Washington and sit down with Kristen Graham. She brings to this conversation as America turns 250.

Kristen talks about America as a place where you can plant yourself somewhere new and start over, again and again. But she doesn't shy away from the cracks either. She points to the widening wealth gap, what she calls the K-shaped economy, where the top and bottom are pulling further apart every year.

If you've ever wondered whether reinvention and repair can happen at the same time, this conversation makes the case that they have to.

Kristen's question for you and our next guest is:

Which state would you live in if you were to leave the one you're in?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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This is a rebroadcast from the days when Whole Again was known as The Kintsugi Podcast, and it was part of my Rise to Ripple Series aka my cycle across America.

What will you regret if you never do it?

That's the question at the center of this episode of Whole Again, recorded on the road during Michael's cross-country ride.

This month, Michael steps away from the usual conversation format to bring you along for the ride, literally, sharing stories from his journey across America and the lessons found in unexpected places, this time in Wisdom, Montana.

Between a swarm of flies, a too-close encounter with a semi-truck, and a bag of Ripple potato chips, Michael circles back to the theme that shaped this entire trip: being more afraid of not living than dying.

He shares how his accident, what he calls My Last Bad Day, forced him to accept his own mortality, and how that acceptance became the freedom to stop arguing with reality and start living on his own terms.

Along the way, he revisits Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement address and Bronnie Ware's research on the regrets of the dying, and lands on the number one regret: not having the courage to live a life true to yourself, and instead living the life someone else wanted for you.

Michael's invitation is simple. Don't wait. Whatever it is you've been putting off- the book, the podcast, the mindfulness practice, the ask, the leap- treat your time as the finite thing it is.

Before you go, Michael has a question for you:

What is one thing you've been putting off that you're now ready to stop waiting on?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

-------

Today we head to Vermont and sit down with Brian Riordan.

For him, America means open and free public land, caring for your neighbors, and the belief that opportunity is still real if you're willing to put in the effort.

He's gone from a ski bum in Steamboat Springs to a waterless cabin in Fairbanks, Alaska, to now leading mapping for a major tech company, and he sees his own story as proof of what this country can offer.

During our conversation, Brian reflects on his grandfather, a World War II B-17 pilot nicknamed Rip Riordan who flew 51 missions, earned a Purple Heart, and came home from war never speaking about what he saw. He processed it quietly, through stamp collecting. Brian now holds that same collection, and he's waiting for the moment in life when he can finally sit down and add to it himself.

Brian also shares his thoughts on AI, comparing it to the calculator he never had growing up with dyslexia, and on why he believes America's real strength is the balance of two parties pulling toward the middle, not one side drowning out the other.

Brian's question for you and our next guest is: What is the greatest adventure you have gone on, and why?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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How many breaths do you think you take in a day?

The answer is around 20,000, and most of us never think about a single one of them.

In this week's microdose meditation, Michael O'Brien walks you through what he calls the perfect breath, a simple five-count inhale and five-count exhale practice he shares with companies around the world through his Pause, Breathe, Reflect method.

It takes just a few minutes, but it's a powerful way to ground yourself and set the tone for your week.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the problem isn't who we disagree with; it's the labels we place on them?

This is a question that Laura Cross and I discussed. She's a veteran, solopreneur, wellness advocate, host of Mindful Mondays TV, and, yes, a former dirt-track stock car racer.

America's greatest strength, she says, is its people, resilient, compassionate, willing to help others rise. But we keep getting in our own way with all our labels.

Her fix isn't complicated: treat people like the decent human beings they are. Agree to disagree. And if something really bothers you, walk away. What she didn't say, but clearly lives, is that you can hold strong opinions and still leave room for other people to hold theirs.

You can connect with Laura via LinkedIn and Mindful Mondays on YouTube.

Laura has a question for you and our next guest in our series, Brian:

If there's something in your life you don't like and it's within your control to change, are you actually doing something about it, or are you just complaining?

Share your honest answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Do people still send voice mails?

Well, whether they do or don't, it's the spark behind this week's Last Bad Day Tip. It's #26.

Before he was a Mindset and Resilience coach, Michael led a team of nearly 1,000 people. Before every major US holiday, he'd leave them a voicemail with three parts: gratitude for their hard work, encouragement to connect with the people they love, and an invitation to pause and reflect on where they stood in their own lives and careers.

That third part changed things. A handful of people came back from those holiday weekends and resigned, not because anything went wrong, but because the pause helped them see they'd outgrown where they were. Michael is still friends with every one of them.

In this episode, Michael walks through the full Pause, Breathe, Reflect exercise he used with his team, and how you can use it this Fourth of July weekend.

He touches on gratitude, on checking in with your peloton, and on the story you keep telling yourself about yourself, and whether that story still serves you.

It's a reminder that sometimes the most important career or life move isn't the next big leap. It's the reflection before it.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does freedom mean when you've seen what life looks like without it?

I recently sat down with Maggie Mick, a Kentucky-based government affairs leader with MultiState, co-host of The Political Life podcast, and a woman whose family history traces back to the first Welsh settlers of Philadelphia.

She's traveled the world as a soft diplomat, breaking bread with people in far-flung places, and what she came home with every time was gratitude.

But she's also watching something quietly erode: local community. The stickiness, as she calls it, that comes from knowing your neighbor, showing up for a stranger, gathering in shared spaces. Without it, she says, we lose our ability to hold anyone accountable for anything.

And then there's Harry. Her great-grandfather, who survived an orphan train, indentured servitude, and an abusive placement only to escape, join the military, raise nine children, build a journalism career, and become so beloved in southeast Nebraska that there's now a statue of him at the Orphan Train Museum.

Harry is the American dream, and Maggie carries him with her.

You can connect with Maggie via MultiState, The Political Life Podcast, or LinkedIn.

And finally, Maggie's question for you and our next guest in our series, Laura Cross, is:

If you could live in any state other than the one you currently call home, which would it be and why?

Share your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of "Born in the USA"?

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael unpacks the lyrical dissonance of Springsteen's most misunderstood anthem, and uses it as a doorway into something much bigger: the Iroquois concept of Long Body, the spiritual and literal connectedness we share with our ancestors, our community, and the earth itself. He contrasts it with Short Body, the Western idea that we end completely at our own skin, that our pain is ours alone to carry.

Michael connects this directly to his own recovery from his Last Bad Day. His healing wasn't a solo act. It was fueled by a peloton of people, near and far, who refused to let him carry it alone. That's Long Body in action.

As America turns 250 this week, Michael makes the case that acknowledging our cracks isn't unpatriotic. It's a deeper form of patriotism. You can turn up the volume and feel the pride, and still let the song ask you something harder.

His invitation before you go: queue up "Born in the USA," actually listen to the lyrics this time, and notice what it stirs in you.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does America look like when you're willing to question the whole system?

This is a question that Sarah Goble has reflected on. A marketing professional, mom, and founder of the Honest Diagnosis Project

America, she says, was sold to us as the land of opportunity. But right now? It feels more like a country deep in its growing pains, stuck in a two-party system that serves the people at the top while leaving everyone else to sort through the wreckage.

In 2024, after her infant son was misdiagnosed at a children's hospital, the state removed both of her children for six months. What she found when she went public- thousands of families going through the exact same thing- turned a mother's worst nightmare into a nonprofit and a mission. You can read more about her family's ordeal here.

You can also connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Sarah has a question for you and the next guest in our series, Maggie:

What do you think is actually working in the American justice system?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if asking for help was not a sign of weakness, but one of the most courageous things you could do?

Most of us have been taught, somewhere along the way, that needing help means falling short. So we carry more than we should, stay quieter than we need to, and quietly struggle through things we were never meant to handle alone.

In this Monday microdose meditation, Michael O'Brien draws on one of the most memorable scenes in cinema, Jerry Maguire's desperate, heartfelt plea to "help me help you" to explore what gets in the way of asking for support and what opens up when we finally do.

Asking for help, Michael reminds us, is not quitting. It is a declaration that we are still in the game. And it is one of the most genuine invitations to connection that we can offer another person.

The people around you want to show up for you. They just need to know when and how.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the greatest threat to America isn't division — it's disconnection?

That's the tension Kyle Malachowski sits with as a data analytics professional, endurance athlete, and girl dad living just south of Atlanta, Georgia.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Kyle brings a rare combination of analytical precision and hard-won perspective, including time in Afghanistan that showed him firsthand what a world without opportunity actually looks like.

Kyle sees America as a yin-yang. The opportunity is real. So is the pressure. And while his work in data analytics puts him squarely in the crosshairs of AI disruption, he's not afraid. He sees AI the same way he sees a fire: it fuels whatever you're already burning.

What worries him more is the slow drift away from community. From showing up in person. From looking your neighbors in the eye at the grocery store instead of building up personas behind a screen.

And Kyle's question for you and our next guest, Sarah, is:

If America had a spirit animal and it couldn't be the eagle, what would it be?

If you would like to connect with Kyle, you can do so on LinkedIn - You can also find him on Strava.

Share your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Are you confusing patience with passivity?

Many of us do. And in a culture that rewards urgency and speed, patience has gotten a bad reputation, as if staying patient means sitting still and letting life happen to you.

In this Friday growth mindset tip, Michael unpacks one of the most misunderstood words in leadership and in life. Drawing on his rehab after My Last Bad Day and a recent coaching conversation with a senior executive navigating a corporate change initiative, Michael reframes patience not as the absence of action, but as disciplined engagement without attachment to immediate results.

You will discover:

• Why the word "patience" likely doesn't mean what you think it means, and how that misreading costs you
• The critical difference between a passive person and a patient person
• Michael's three-part framework for patience: acceptance, persistence, and trust
• Why a good gardener is the perfect metaphor for how patient leaders actually operate
• How confusing urgency with importance creates a culture of chaos and what to do instead
• A simple one-to-two percent shift you can make this week to start playing the long game

Press play and let Tip 25 meet you right where you are.

And if this episode speaks to you, share it with someone on your peloton who could use a reminder that some things can't be rushed and that's exactly as it should be.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What would it take to just sit down with someone you disagree with and share a meal?

That's the quiet but powerful question at the heart of this conversation with Lloyd Owen Banwart, a Midwestern farm kid turned humanitarian worker, now living in his beloved Minnesota and building a life that holds two very different Americas at once.

Lloyd has spent 20 years in international development, traveled to over 40 countries, and still says his favorite place on the planet is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota — thousands of lakes, no motors, and one of the quietest places on earth.

He believes America's greatest promise is simple: every day, we get to try to be a little better than we were the day before. But he also knows that the promise is fragile.

As a husband to a wife with immigrant parents, a father of boys of color, and someone who received a message that ICE was outside his children's school, Lloyd has lived the gap between what America says it is and what some families experience every single day. He holds that tension with honesty, with grace, and without letting go of hope.

His birthday wish for America? Just the willingness to extend a little grace to each other and then show up in the same room long enough to remember who we're actually talking to.

Lloyd's question for you and our next guest, Kyle, is: When was the last time a real conversation changed your mind or your perspective on something?

You can connect with Lloyd over on LinkedIn, and as his picture says: Do Something Great!

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Can you feel genuine happiness for someone else's win even when your team just lost?

That's the question at the heart of this week's episode of Whole Again.

And it's a harder question than it sounds. Because most of what we call joy in sports, or in life, is actually something much more fragile. It's conditional. It's ego wearing your favorite team's jersey. Real joy, the kind that holds up under pressure, requires something deeper. It requires mudita.

Mudita is one of the four immeasurables within Buddhist mindfulness practice, and it might be the most advanced of all. It's the capacity to feel genuine happiness for someone else's success, no strings attached, no condition that your side wins first.

Michael uses the World Cup and the Knicks championship run as the perfect on-ramp to explore this concept, including a confession about where he still falls short. (Hint: it involves pinstripes.)

He also walks through the important distinction between mudita, its far enemy schadenfreude, and the more subtle fragile joy, the kind that looks like the real thing until your team loses and your whole week falls apart.

You will discover:

• What mudita is and why it's considered one of the highest expressions of mindfulness practice
• The difference between true appreciative joy, its far enemy schadenfreude, and the sneakier trap of fragile joy
• Why conditional joy is really an investment in ego and what that costs you
• How to hold grief and joy at the same time, even when the loss is real
• The Whole Again World Cup Mudita Challenge and how to practice it in real time

Press play and bring your Kintsugi spirit to the beautiful game.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I sat down with Wyomingian Kimberly Coats, who calls America a ragged, hopeful country, and she means that as a compliment. She's seen enough of the world to know that people still come here dreaming. But she's also honest about what's getting in the way right now: misinformation, confirmation bias, and our collective unwillingness to say "I was wrong."

She points to Liz Cheney, looking straight into the camera and owning a mistake, as the kind of moment America needs more of. And she shares the story of sitting in a Las Vegas hospital, surrounded by a Syrian cardiologist, a Filipino nurse, and an African American anesthesiologist, and feeling, in that room, exactly what makes this country great.

You can connect with Kimberly and her work with Africa Rising Cycling and her beautiful ranch, Boyer L Ranch.

Kimberly's question is specific to our next guest, Lloyd, and it's one for you as well: How did you experience what was happening in Minnesota earlier this year?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the most powerful thing you could do today is actually do less?

We live in a world that worships more: more content, more meetings, more hustle, more noise. But somewhere in that relentless accumulation of more, we lose the thing that actually matters: meaning. This Monday microdose meditation is a quiet invitation to step off that treadmill and ask a different question entirely.

Michael guides you through a gentle, grounding practice built around one simple idea: less is more.

Press play, find a comfortable seat, and give yourself permission to do less today.

And when you're done, share this one with someone in your peloton who might need a little more space to breathe.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

Discover how to scroll less and live more by taking my Free Smartphone Wellness Audit by clicking phone.

Did you know that stickers are wonderful visual cues to help you create healthy habits? You can get one of my free Pause Breathe Reflect sticker by clicking sticker.

To discover more and sign up for My RIPPLE EFFECT newsletter by clicking Ripple Effect.

We can also connect on LinkedIn. or at Michael@PauseBreatheReflect.com

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am. 

If you feel you need more mental health support, please contact NAMI. 

With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Healing, Growth & Resilience after Physical Trauma through Kintsugi Mindfulness listeners explore resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on stress management, mindfulness practices, and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools like breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress relief. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embraces healing as a process of transformation, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and being overwhelmed to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and holistic approaches to self-care, this podcast empowers listeners to cultivate emotional resilience and live with greater balance and intention.

Can you hold the good and the hard at the same time?

Recently, I sat down with Wil Davenport, a growth and leadership coach from Knoxville, TN, and we talked about this question. He believes our ability to hold both our greatest accomplishments and our deepest failures is exactly what makes this country worth fighting for.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Wil shares why he thinks the most patriotic thing we can do right now isn't to pick a side; it's to stop avoiding the hard conversations altogether. He didn't vote for the current president.

Wil also carries a family legacy that runs deep — a Revolutionary War ancestor, a founding Methodist minister who stayed at the Davenport home, and a father who grew up in a town of a thousand people where a third of the graduating class went on to earn advanced degrees.

You can connect with Wil via his website or LinkedIn.

And Wil's question for you and our next guest, Kimbererly Coats, is: What is one event that has been pivotal in shaping your identity?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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When was the last time you looked at something you've seen a thousand times and actually saw it?

That's the heart of this week's Last Bad Day tip, number 24 in our yearlong series celebrating 25 years since Michael's near-death cycling accident in the New Mexico desert.

This week, Michael introduces the Japanese concept of shoshin -- beginner's mind -- and explores what it means to approach the familiar as if encountering it for the very first time. From household puzzles to physical therapy after a life-altering crash, beginner's mind is one of the quiet, powerful tools that helped Michael rebuild his life piece by piece.

And just like the Kintsugi artist who looks at broken pottery and wonders what it can become -- rather than what it once was -- beginner's mind invites us to trade the grooves of habit for something more alive.

You will discover:

• Why your brain's love of patterns can quietly steal your sense of wonder and what to do about it
• The Zen teaching from Suzuki that reframes the difference between expertise and openness
• How beginner's mind became a lifeline for Michael during rehab, and why it still shapes the way he leads, listens, and lives
• Three simple, practical ways to bring shoshin into your day, including one that starts with your toothbrush

Press play and discover why the solution you've been looking for may have been right in front of you all along.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What's it going to take for all of us to feel like one country again?

I recently sat down with Rob O'Driscoll, a basketball coach at the University of Maine who grew up in Philadelphia and now calls Hermon, Maine home, and we talked about this question.

He shared that we don't need to agree on everything. We just need to be sympathetic to how the other person feels, even when we don't share the feeling ourselves.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Rob talks about family roots that stretch from Russia and Ukraine to Ireland and Germany, and he shares a story about a packed bar near Madison Square Garden shortly after September 11th, when the seventh-inning stretch hit and the whole room sang God Bless America together in unison.

Rob still gets chills thinking about it. His hope is that we find our way back to that feeling of connection without needing a tragedy to get us there.

And we finish up with a question Rob has for you and our next guest, Wil Davenport from TN: If you could visit one place in America you've never been before, where would you go and why?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does a truly mindful life actually require?

Most of us picture mindfulness as a solo pursuit -- a cushion, a quiet room, an app, a closed-door moment of solitude.

We've gotten good at finding teachers and learning the techniques, but there's a 2,500-year-old piece of the puzzle we keep leaving out. In this episode, Michael takes us back to the Three Jewels of Buddhist practice -- Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha -- and makes the case that the third pillar, community, is the one our hustle-driven, solo-project culture has quietly abandoned.

Drawing on the science of group practice, his own Pause, Breathe, Reflect community, and the peloton mindset that anchors his coaching work, Michael explains why practicing alongside others doesn't just feel good; it changes our biology, deepens our consistency, and makes the whole journey sustainable.

You will discover:

• Why mindfulness has become a "solo project" in modern culture, and what that's costing us
• The Three Jewels of mindfulness practice: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
• The research behind why group meditation creates a measurable shift in connection and brain synchrony
• How Sangha increases social safety, empathy, and your ability to actually stick with a practice
• Why community, not willpower, is the real key to consistency
• How the peloton mindset and Sangha work hand in hand to keep us showing up

Press play to discover why the missing ingredient in your mindfulness practice might not be a better app or more discipline, but the people sitting beside you.

Here's the calendar so you can join our sangha.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if our inability to disagree well is actually what's tearing us apart?

That's the question Becky Schmooke sits with as America turns 250. And she's not just talking about politics. She's talking about the everyday moments when we reach for a false choice, even though the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Becky shares what she sees as the root of our communication breakdown. The subtle mental traps that make us argue in circles, attack people instead of ideas, and believe there are only two options when there are almost always more.

And then there's the moment she describes when you lock eyes with a complete stranger in public, and you both just know. No words. Just that shared, unscripted human laugh. She says AI will never be able to do that.

Becky's question for our next neighbor on the series and for you is:

What's a smell that takes you right back to a positive childhood memory?

Share your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can connect with Becky via LinkedIn, Substack and her website.

And you can get a copy of her book, Choose The Handle That Holds, at fine independent bookstores and Amazon.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the situation overwhelming you right now looks completely different from the way it looks from someone else's seat in the theater?

That's the invitation at the heart of this week's microdose meditation.

When we're in the thick of something -- conflict, stress, worry, anxiety -- it has a way of pulling us under. We lose perspective. We lose the ability to see a path forward. And the harder we stare at it, the more it controls us. This practice gently loosens that grip. By stepping back and watching your situation as if it were a movie, then shifting the seat you're watching from, you begin to access wisdom that the fog of the moment tends to hide.

In this episode, you will discover:

• A simple visualization technique for creating distance from whatever is causing you stress or conflict right now
• How to see your situation through the eyes of someone who believes in you and has your best interests at heart
• What a wiser, older version of yourself -- one with 10, 20, or 30 more years of experience -- might want you to know
• The perspective shift that comes from watching your story from a higher vantage point entirely
• How the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app gives you access to this practice and over 700 others, completely free

Press play, find a comfortable position, and give yourself the gift of a few minutes to see your situation from a new seat. You might be surprised what becomes visible when you stop watching from inside the storm.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

That's the question Ron Gold has been living with for fifteen years. Ron is a cyclist, coach, and fellow New Jerseyan who, on a bright sunny day, was struck head-on by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel. He woke up paralyzed. And somehow, he found his way back.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Ron shares what that journey taught him about agency, letting go of "why me," and focusing on what you can control instead of what you can't. That same philosophy shapes how he sees America right now, a country he still believes in, even as he watches too many people choose performance over purpose. His take on Congress is worth the listen alone.

Ron had a question for Joshua, but he didn't show. So I'll paraphrase: What's one way to make your favorite dish healthier?

I hope you will share our conversation with someone you love.

You can connect with Ron via LinkedIn.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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When was the last time you gave someone your full, undivided attention?

Not half-listening while you scrolled. Not nodding along while your mind drifted to your next meeting. Actually present. Actually there.

In a world engineered to steal your focus, that kind of presence has become one of the rarest gifts you can offer. And in this episode of Whole Again, Growth Mindset Tip #23 makes the case that generosity isn't really about money. It's about where you put your attention.

Michael traces the word "generous" from its roots in noble birth all the way through Buddhist practice, ancient Rome, and Jon Kabat-Zinn's nine qualities of mindfulness to arrive at a simple but radical idea: that showing up fully for another person, for a project, for a moment, is one of the most generous acts available to you right now.

In a culture where the algorithm is designed to outbid every human connection for your eyes, choosing presence is a quiet act of rebellion. And it's one that creates the kind of ripples that matter.

This tip is part of Michael's 25th-anniversary celebration of My Last Bad Day, a series of growth-mindset lessons learned on the long road from that July morning in New Mexico to the person he is becoming.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What do people get wrong about you?

That's the question Linda Cohen brought back from a lunch table in Arkansas and it might be a key question America needs to ask right now.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Linda, a keynote speaker, consultant, and author based in Beaverton, Oregon, makes the case that kindness isn't soft. It's a strategy. And after more than a decade of working with businesses and organizations on what she calls the economy of kindness, she's seen what happens when people actually lead with it.

Linda believes that underneath all our differences, we're all the same. We want to be loved. We want family. And if we could just get curious about the person sitting across from us, the one who seems nothing like us, we'd find out we've been getting them wrong all along.

If you've ever wondered whether the little things really matter, Linda's answer is yes, and she has the stories to prove it.

Before you go, Linda has a question for our next guest and you: What do people get wrong about you?

Share your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can discover more about Linda via her website and connect with her on LinkedIn.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What can a high-stakes NBA Finals game teach you about showing up for the moments that matter most in your own life?

More than you might expect.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael O'Brien takes an unlikely detour through Game 3 of the NBA Finals, where the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs are delivering one of the most electric playoff runs the city has seen in decades. But this isn't a sports recap. It's a masterclass in mindset, resilience, and the quiet preparation that makes all the difference when the pressure is on, and the crowd is loud.

Michael pulls two powerful lessons from the court, starting with Spurs guard Stephon Castle, who stepped to the free throw line in the final moments of a hostile MSG crowd and delivered. That moment didn't happen in an instant. It happened upstream, through consistent mindset training, rest, and the ability to slow the game down when everything around you is moving fast. Sound familiar? It's exactly what Pause, Breathe, Reflect is built for.

Then there's the resilience story of a Spurs team that came back from a 0-2 series deficit and took Game 3 with poise. Michael breaks down the three-step resilience framework that made it possible, and that you can take into your own life starting today.

In this episode, you will discover:

• Why the big moments in life are won upstream, through the small, consistent practices you build long before the pressure arrives
• How to use the Pause, Breathe, Reflect method to slow the game down, whether you're at the free throw line or in the middle of your own defining moment
• The three-step resilience framework from Michael's GRACE model: reframe, accept, and take micro actions
• Why resilience is never a solo sport, and how your peloton shapes your ability to get back up
• What a 0-2 series deficit and a $130,000 front-row ticket have to do with the K-shaped economy and everyday Americans just trying to make it work

Press play. The game is on, and there's a lot more at stake than the scoreboard.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it mean to belong to a land that was always yours?

That's the question Vanessa Bowen carries into this conversation. And as a proud Navajo tribal member from Albuquerque, New Mexico, she's spent her whole life living the answer.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Vanessa — community advocate, cyclist, and former staff member at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center — shares what America means through a lens most of us have never considered. Not nationalism. Not flags. Land. Culture. And the deep, grounding security that comes from knowing exactly where you come from.

Vanessa doesn't shy away from the hard stuff. She talks about selective amnesia, the dirty laundry we keep sweeping under the rug, and why this country can't heal what it refuses to acknowledge. But she also brings something unexpected — humor, forgiveness, and a Hawaiian concept called pono: being in right relationship with one another.

If you've ever wondered what repair really looks like when the wound goes back centuries, this conversation is for you.

Before you go, Vanessa has a question for our next guest and you: What are you doing to be in right relationship with the people and the land around you?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the hard thing you're carrying right now isn't something you need to push through -- but something that's passing through you?

That's the quiet invitation at the heart of this week's Monday microdose meditation on Whole Again.

This episode features a poem by one of Michael's favorite American poets, IN Q -- who graciously allowed a personal reading of his work, "It's Going Through You."

Woven into a brief, breath-centered meditation, the poem reframes one of the most exhausting stories we tell ourselves: that we are stuck inside our struggles.

What if we're not?

What if the struggle is simply moving through us, and on the other side is a new version of who we are becoming?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the thing America needs most right now can't be legislated, engineered, or voted in?

That's where Jayanta Jenkins lands as America turns 250.

And coming from someone who pulled himself up from very basic beginnings to lead creative organizations at Apple, Disney, Twitter, and Starbucks -- who carries both Native American and West African ancestry -- and who spent 14 years at Wieden+Kennedy and TBWA\Chiat\Day learning how stories either bring people together or drive them apart -- he has spent his entire career thinking about exactly this.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Jayanta Jenkins -- Seattle-based creative executive, storyteller, and early adopter of just about everything -- gets to the heart of what's fracturing us. His answer isn't a policy failure or a political one. It's an empathy deficit, supercharged by algorithmic fear bubbles and misinformation moving faster than our ability to think critically.

His prescription? Kintsugi empathy. Slow down. Think before you react. Give people enough space to actually be understood.

Jayanta also shares a take on AI that cuts through the noise in a way few people do. He's not in the doom camp or the utopia camp. He's in a third space: empathy and amplification. Humans are irreplaceable. AI handles the repeatable. Put those two things together right, and something genuinely powerful becomes possible.

Before you go, Jayanta has a question for you:

What are you going to do to ensure AI serves humanity rather than suppresses it?

Drop your thoughts in the comments -- and share this episode with someone who still believes we can listen our way back to each other.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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You walked into yoga class thinking it was just stretching.

Then you were oozing sweat, struggling to hold a pose, and staring at a stack of blocks you were too proud to touch.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael O'Brien shares Growth Mindset Tip #22 -- and it comes wrapped in spandex. Before his accident, yoga was not on his radar. It was not serious enough, not hard enough, not for him. A decade after his recovery, tight scar tissue and a total knee replacement changed his mind in a hurry.

But the real lesson was not flexibility. It was the blocks.

His Peloton instructor Kirra Michel kept saying the same thing: the blocks are there to help you. Use them. And Michael heard something deeper in that -- a question most of us quietly wrestle with. Why is it so hard to ask for support when it is sitting right there in front of us?

Listen to my conversation with Kirra on Whole Again here.

Whether it is yoga props, a coach, a friend, or a moment to pause and breathe, reaching for help is not a sign that you are falling behind. It is a sign that you are still in the practice.

This is a short one, but it lands.

Before you go, here is something worth sitting with:

Where in your life right now are you refusing "the blocks?"

Share this episode with someone who needs permission to ask for help.

They may not know they are waiting for it.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if America was always meant to be a work in progress?

That's the frame Jake Musiker brings to the table as America turns 250.

And coming from someone who shelved his passion for audio production during the 2008 financial crisis just to find work, who spent years in corporate sales and marketing before finally returning to what he loved -- and who is now raising two young kids in Brooklyn while still feeling like a newcomer in his own career -- he understands what it means to keep striving toward a promise that hasn't fully been fulfilled yet.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Jake Musiker -- born and raised New Yorker, audio producer, and the man behind the sound of Whole Again -- gets candid about what ails us as a country. His answer isn't polarization or partisanship. It's the loss of a moral and spiritual center. And the addictions -- to phones, to gambling, to all the things no one wants to talk about -- that are quietly hollowing out communities from coast to coast, regardless of how they vote.

Jake also shares a take on AI that's equal parts skeptical and hopeful. He's not buying the utopia pitch. But he does believe that if technology can give ordinary people back their time -- real leisure, real freedom -- that would be worth something. He just wants to see the disease cures before the meme generators.

Oh, and he shares something he rarely has to do in his line of work: sit in the hot seat himself. His honest reaction to being the interviewee for once is one of the most relatable moments in the series.

His birthday wish for America? Stop burning bridges over things we actually agree on. Find the common ground. Build from there. Simple. Necessary. And long overdue.

Before you go, Jake has a question for you:

If America was a genre of music, which one would it be -- and why?

Drop your answer in the comments, and share this episode with someone who still believes we can find our way back to each other.

You can connect with Jake via LinkedIn.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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She was 16 years old, and she never once kept score.

That's Hope. An English Springer Spaniel who came into Michael O'Brien's life 10 years ago, flew in from Portland, climbed right into his lap while he was driving, and never really left.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael does something he's been trying to do for weeks -- record this episode without breaking down. He mostly doesn't make it. And that's exactly the point.

Hope recently passed away, and grief has a way of arriving on its own schedule, not yours. Michael opens up about what it's like to lose a dog who converted self-proclaimed dog haters, who rode shotgun across America in an RV called Maizie, and who showed up to love without conditions, without a playbook, without ever once keeping track of whether it was your turn.

He also reflects on something most of us try to avoid -- the idea that grief isn't a problem to solve. It's part of what makes a meaningful life. And Kintsugi, the art of golden repair, doesn't ask us to pretend the cracks aren't there. It asks us to let them be seen.

If you've ever loved an animal, lost one, or are quietly bracing yourself for that day, this episode will meet you right where you are.

Before you go, Michael has a question for you:

Who in your life right now needs to know you love them before tomorrow comes?

Drop your answer in the comments. And share this episode with someone who is carrying a loss right now, big or small, recent or old. They need to know they are not alone.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it take to repair a fracture that runs across an entire country?

That's the question John Harrison sits with as America turns 250.

And coming from someone who grew up watching his dad run small businesses that never quite took off, whose great-grandparents crossed an ocean for a shot at something better, and who just launched an AI startup with three partners at this stage of his career -- he's earned the right to ask it.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, John Harrison -- Little Rock, Arkansas resident, longtime business leader, and now first-time entrepreneur -- gets real about what's holding us back as a country. His answer isn't policy or politics. It's civility. And woven right through it, a quiet but urgent plea to stop having individual monologues and start having actual conversations again.

John also shares a gem unrelated to America's birthday: a simple first prompt for anyone who wants to understand AI but doesn't know where to start. It's practical, disarming, and genuinely useful.

Oh, and did you know Arkansas has the only publicly accessible diamond mine in the world? If you find one, it's yours to keep. 403 were found there last year alone.

His birthday wish for America? Bring back civility. Have the honest dialogue. Turn the monologues into conversations. Simple. Necessary. And harder than it sounds.

Before you go, John has a question for you:

What has this conversation helped you learn about yourself that you didn't expect?

Drop your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you'd want to sit around a fire with.

You can connect with John via LinkedIn.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What if the most powerful act of healing begins with four simple phrases?

That's what Michael O'Brien explores in this Monday micro-practice -- a meditation rooted in an ancient Hawaiian tradition that has traveled with him up the slopes of Mount Haleakala and into the lives of the people he coaches.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael shares the Ho'oponopono prayer and meditation: "I am sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you." Four phrases. Centuries of wisdom. And a quiet reminder that the healing we seek in the world has to start within us first.

This isn't a meditation about weakness. It's about reclaiming wholeness. Michael guides you through a gentle practice of breathing through your heart, welcoming the embrace of your higher self, and offering yourself the compassion you've likely been giving to everyone else but you. Whether you're carrying old wounds, a harsh inner voice, or simply the weight of an uncertain world, this practice meets you exactly where you are.

The Ho'oponopono tradition teaches that we are all connected -- and that real change begins at home, within ourselves. That belief sits at the very heart of the Kintsugi spirit: that our breaks, our scars, and even the things we haven't yet forgiven in ourselves are not the end of the story. They are where the gold goes in.

Ready to try it? This practice is available in Michael's free Pause Breathe Reflect app, which is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

If this resonated, share it with someone who needs a reminder that forgiveness is not something you earn -- it's something you give yourself.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What happens when a generation that never asked for social media, smartphones, or AI has to build a life inside all three?

Raquel Borras has been listening to the answer, one Gen Z voice at a time.

And she comes to this conversation with receipts. Last summer, Raquel loaded up a Cruise America RV with two filmmakers and drove through 13 states, sitting down with roughly 30 young people to hear what life actually feels like from the inside of Generation Z.

She also hosts two podcasts dedicated entirely to youth voices.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Raquel shares what she is hearing from young people across the country. And when Raquel asked Gen Z-ers whether they wished they had grown up without phones and social media, the majority said yes.

She also carries a wish for America that cuts straight to the root of so much of what divides us: contentment. The kind that makes you stop trying to tear someone else down because you already feel like enough. She traces it back to a simple idea: when people feel worthy, they treat others well. And that, she says, is a ripple effect worth betting on.

You can connect with Raquel via LinkedIn. Here's the link.

Before you go, Raquel has a question for the next neighbor in this series:

What gives you a really good belly laugh?

Drop your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Who in your life is in your peloton right now?

And are you worth following?

Michael is a Mindset and Resilience coach, meditation teacher, and survivor of a near-death cycling accident that changed everything. For 25 years, he has been translating the lessons of the road into a framework for living, leading, and showing up.

In this Friday episode of Whole Again, Michael unpacks what it means to be a good wheel -- the highest compliment you can give a cyclist, and one of the most honest questions you can ask yourself as a human being. In a peloton, riders in the draft save 20 to 40 percent of their energy. That only works if the person out front is steady, trustworthy, and consistent. The moment they become erratic, the whole group burns more just to stay safe.

Sound familiar?

Michael gets refreshingly honest here. He admits he hasn't always been a good wheel to follow. Stress, overcommitment, saying yes when the answer should have been no -- he has been there. Most of us have. But he offers three concrete things you can do today to show up better for the people riding behind you: know your real capacity (not your aspirational one), communicate with intention, and take your turn out front.

No blame. No shame. Just a quiet look in the mirror and one small shift.

Before you go, here's Michael's reflection for you:

Where in your life are you an inconsistent wheel to follow, and what is one small thing you could do differently this week?

Drop your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone in your peloton who needs to hear it.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does the American Dream look like when you grew up the daughter of a coal miner?

That's the question Susan Snodgrass carries into this conversation.

Born in West Virginia, raised in eastern Ohio, educated at a land-grant college, Susan has lived the version of America that promised: work hard enough, and you can lift yourself up. She believed it. She still wants to. But she's honest about what the data is telling us now.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Susan shares what's quietly dividing us in ways the red-versus-blue conversation keeps missing. Her answer isn't polarization. It's the K-shaped economy. The ultra-rich are pulling further away at the top, and the people at the bottom are falling further behind. The good people back in West Virginia, she says, are simply being left behind.

Her wish for America at 250 is simple and quietly radical: take a minute to find what binds us together. And her personal commitment to get there? Trade the "yeah, but" for "yes, and."

She also shares a moment at Muir Woods, standing beneath ancient redwoods where the United Nations once gathered, which helped her connect with the nature within us all.

You can connect with Susan through LinkedIn. Here's the link.

Before you go, Susan has two questions for the next neighbor in this series:

What is your favorite flower?

And what is your favorite quote?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it mean to truly honor the fallen?

Not just on the day of the parade. Not just during the moment of silence. But the day after. And the day after that.

That's the question Michael O'Brien sits with two days after Memorial Day.

Michael knows something about being saved by strangers. On July 11, 2001, a Ford Explorer crossed the center line and hit him head-on while he was cycling in New Mexico. Roughly 50 people -- people who didn't look like him, pray like him, or come from where he came from -- saved his life that day. Their blood is literally part of him.

In this Wednesday episode of Whole Again, Michael draws a direct line between the soldiers who gave everything for people they never met and the small, daily choice to show up for the person standing right in front of you. His challenge isn't about grand gestures or political declarations. It's quieter and harder than that. It's about whether Memorial Day can change something in us that lasts longer than the long weekend.

Kintsugi teaches us that the cracks don't end the story. The gold poured into the repair. That's where the beauty lives. But it doesn't happen on its own. Someone has to do the work.

Before you go, Michael has a challenge for you:

What is one small act of kindness you can offer this week to someone who doesn't look like you, pray like you, or live like you?

Drop your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone who needs a reminder that connection is our strength.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”