About Progress

Latest Episodes:

AP 035: Cara Baldwin || Embracing a New Life After Divorce Jul 05, 2017

Show notes

“It’s too easy to give in to the thought that ‘Well, this terrible thing happened to me . . .’ But at the end of the day, you write your own story . . . Your life is what YOU create. And I wanted to create something awesome.”

Cara Baldwin had been a lifelong "overachiever." But at 30 years old, she found herself moving back in with her parents, filing for divorce with four very young children (the youngest being 6 weeks old), and wondering how she could face the humiliation of being this version of herself she never wanted to be.

Beginning with a solo two-and-a-half week camping adventure with all four kids (aka "The Magic Five"), Cara picked up the pieces of her family, plucked up her courage, asked for help, and attended law school so she could support her children.

Cara credits her kids, her family, her friends, her community, her faith, and her grit in rebuilding her life and rediscovering the woman she once was: one who believed in herself.

Show Notes:

Monica's INTERVIEW with Briana from The LifeBeats Project (she's amazing!)

Last week's episode

SURVEY!

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

More Podcasts from About Progress

Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

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AP 034: Sometimes, You Don't Make the Cut Jun 28, 2017

Show notes

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."

~Winston Churchill

We have all been there: you bust your behind trying to reach a goal, you have high hopes, but then you get dismal-at-best results.

It's hard to not take it personally.

I've been there recently and I found myself really questioning why I've been spending all this time doing something that is meeting seemingly lackluster fruit. But then I reminded myself, "Sometimes you don't make the cut." That's life.

Every person who has ever amounted to anything, whether it's in the walls of their own homes or in grand corporations, have faced failures big and small. They have faced those moments where they wonder why the heck they're doing what they're doing and evaluate if it's worth the time, sweat, and tears.

For me, I've decided to tailor back in some areas (the limited writing on my blog will now be non-existent for a time) and to redefine what "success" looks like for me.

In today's podcast, I talk about admirable figures in our times who have didn't make the cut, what they did to overcome it, and what we can individually do when we face similar times.

Show Notes:

Articles referenced: Here and Here

Stephanie's Website, Instagram, and Facebook

Podcast Episode with Mark Lukach

Monica's interview for the Extraordinary Moms Podcast

SURVEY!!!!

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

More Podcasts from About Progress

Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AP 033: Mark Lukach || Navigating Crisis as a Family Jun 21, 2017

Show notes

“We didn’t recognize each other, or ourselves. How do you reconcile this? How do you go and redefine how we work together if who we are has taken some pretty fundamental changes?”

Mark and Giulia fell in love at 18 years old and launched into what looked like would be a lifetime of happiness. Unexpectedly, three years into their marriage, their fairy tale fell apart as Giulia encountered struggles with her mental health that neither of them fully understood or knew how to deal with.

But this isn't just a story about mental illness; it's a story about how a family chose to navigate a crisis and rebuild their lives based on love, not tragedy.

Mark talks about what led to Giulia's first bout with psychosis and her eventual diagnosis with bipolar disorder. He shares how as a result they switched roles within their relationship, what it was like for Mark to battle his own depression just as Giulia started to get better, and how they learned to anchor into their new lives both together and individually.

Both Mark and Giulia hope their son learns from their choice to focus on on love over fear and that life is beautiful, especially when they hold on to each other.

About Mark: Mark Lukach is a teacher and freelance writer. He is the author of a memoir My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Pacific Standard, Wired, and other publications. He is currently the Ninth Grade Dean at The Athenian School, where he also teaches history. He lives with his wife, Giulia, and their son in the San Francisco Bay area.

Show Notes:

Mark's website, Instagram, and where to find his book

Monica's interview for the Extraordinary Moms Podcast

SURVEY!!!!

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

More Podcasts from About Progress

Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AP 032: Seth Adam Smith || Sharing a Light in the Wilderness Jun 14, 2017

Show notes

“Depression loves darkness . . . the only way to fight depression is to bring it into the light.”

I'm sure you read that article "Marriage Isn't For You" that circulated the internet a few years ago. How am I so sure? Because everyone read it, as in 100 million strong all over the world.

Seth Adam Smith is the author of that article, as well as four popular books (including his latest work of fiction!). Seth talks about what it was like to have a VIRAL article and the three years-long mind trip it sent him on as he tried to live up to the internal and external pressure to keep writing pieces to resonate with millions.

Seth is much more than "the marriage guy" his article pegged him to be. He's been writing for as long as he can remember. One of the common themes he writes about is depression, and he's been doing that long before it was the cool thing to do.

Seth has struggled with chronic depression since he was in third grade, and at his lowest low as a 20 year old, he attempted to commit suicide. What has risen from his broken soul is completely transformative. Seth has shifted his intense struggles to instead act as a force for good--or a "light in the wilderness," as he calls it--one that he holds high and proud, calling others to learn that life is worth living, and it is worth living well.

You won't want to miss what Seth says about how we all should want to be "broken," and how he blew my mind with his thoughts on perfectionism. Please share this episode with anyone who you think can benefit. (Hint: it's all of us!)

Show Notes:

Seth's Website, Blog, Instagram, and YouTube Channel

Seth's books: Here, Here, Here, and Here.

Monica's interview for the Extraordinary Moms Podcast

SURVEY!!!!

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

More Podcasts from About Progress

Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AP 031: Lauren Agostinelli-Gessel || Looking For Blessings Despite Chronic Illness Jun 07, 2017

Show notes

"God didn’t take it away, but I have felt so many times that he has sent living angels to help me through, time and time again."

Lauren Agostinelli-Gessel has been through more in her young life than most do in an entire lifetime. One week after getting married, she moved to Italy for months to receive a stem cell transplant and five rounds of chemotherapy. This was a drastic measure to help with her vicious form of Multiple Sclerosis.

Lauren shares what led up to her diagnosis at 27 years old as a single mother of a two year old, how her fear of dying led to a marriage that wasn't right, what it was like divorcing with a little baby and a little boy while battling a debilitating disease, and how she found love again and married shortly before embarking on her intensive treatment in a foreign country.

M.S. is different for everyone. Lauren talks openly about the physical side effects of her disease and how the hardest effects have been the mental and emotional. And yet, Lauren looks for the blessings in spite of the very hard challenges life has dealt with her; she most often finds these blessings in those around her, her earthly angels.

You will not only learn so much, including how being dealt with hard life changes doesn't have to be the end of a happy life--you can look for the good and fight for your happiness.

Show Notes:

Lauren's email: MSIsNotTheEnd {at} gmail {dot} com

Lauren's blog, Instagram, and YouTube videos on her: here, here, here, and here

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

More Podcasts from About Progress

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AP 030: Andy Proctor || Choosing More Happiness May 31, 2017

Show notes

"There are things you can do to rewire your brain. It’s not going to be fun, it’s not going to be easy. But can you choose to do them? Yes. And will they make your life better even in the midst of depression? Absolutely."

Andy is a "happiness nerd" who loves to share what he's studied and put into practice. His specialty is positive psychology, which researches the science of happy people and ways we can apply what they do and how they think.

In the first half of our interview, Andy shares some of his favorite things he's learned about positive psychology and ways we can apply these lessons in our own lives. In the second half, Andy shares how his research has impacted his personal life through very difficult times where he needed all the tools he could get; those times included: divorce, remarriage, his wife's traumatic bouts with mental illness, and the following unraveling of the foundations of their lives, including the development of a Andy's panic disorder.

Andy is a relatable friend and teacher, and he inspires hope for all those who will hear him out, that we are all capable of more happiness in our lives, even in the midst of inner turmoil.

Show Notes:

Andy's Website (where you can learn more about his classes and read his fantastic blog)

Andy's Instagram

Andy's Youtube channel

Andy's book

Referenced theories and books (some affiliate links):

Broaden and Build Theory

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

More Podcasts from About Progress

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AP 029: Fake It 'Til You Make It May 24, 2017

Show notes

"If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." ~Gospel of Thomas

I heard this quote a few weekends ago from Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife's workshop I attended. I had already been working on this podcast and it gave me the lightbulb moment that I so love. (Sidenote: each special podcast that I create, inspiration for that very theme is suddenly all around me. It's pretty nuts!)

If you deny what is within you--your hopes, your dreams, your gifts, your capabilities, even your self-love--you're going to lose yourself. Ain't that the truth?

For me, in order to find those things and dare to reach for them, I've had to use the mantra, "Fake It 'Till You Make It."

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AP 028: Celeste Davis || Owning Our Struggles May 17, 2017

Show notes

"Something I’ve really internalized is that it’s never to late to create the kind of life that you want, or to uncreate the life you’re not cool with . . . It’s never too late to enjoy your life, it’s never to late to feel like you have more control over something, even if it’s just as simple as changing the way you think about it."

By the age of 19, Celeste had already abandoned her modeling career and experienced the ending her first marriage. After these low-lows, Celeste decided that instead of wallowing in her sorrows, she wanted to pick up her life, own her struggles, and move onward and upward. And she did just that.

Celeste shares how owning her struggles helped her find the strength to forgive her ex AND herself through grace, and move forward to finding a new man who helped her learn to trust again. This strength also pushed her through the hard times her life still brought, including her husband's battles with mental health and her own fight with postpartum depression.

Celeste's surprise cure to her depression? She joined a beauty pageant. (No one was more shocked about this move than herself!) You'll love hearing about how the pageant helped her regain her confidence, changed the way she viewed herself, and formed lifelong friendships, but it also taught her the great importance of finding something that was just for her and that provided that self-care she learned was necessary to being the woman she wants to be.

You'll also love to hear how Celeste found natural childbirth helped empower her, what helped her get through two back-to-back miscarriages, what she does for self-care, and the power of good girlfriends.

Show Notes:

Celeste's Instagram

Podcast Episode with Matt Davis (Celeste's husband)

Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link)

Monica's Facebook and Instagram

Contact Monica

Do Something Highlight: Shan'tel's Article and Blog