Ep 63: A Maker’s Journey to a Good Life with Jonathan Fields

I’m so thrilled to bring you this full circle, Father’s Day special with someone whose podcast, community, programs, and even summer camp, have impacted me deeply, Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project.

Each Father’s Day, I interview one or two men for a change for the Mother’s Quest Podcast. So, I recently asked on Facebook which father, in their wildest dreams, my community members would most like to hear from.

Jonathan’s name came up again and again… alongside Dax Shepard and Obama!

Jonathan is dad, husband, award-winning author, and the executive-producer/host of the top-ranked Good Life Project® podcast, hailed by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top self-development podcasts and featured recently by Apple on-stage during its legendary annual event. The podcast is beloved by listeners world-wide, including myself, who appreciate the intimacy and depth of his interviews, with inspiring guests that in recent weeks alone have included Elizabeth Gilbert, Stedman Graham and Abby Wambach.

An innovator in the field of human potential, Jonathan is also the chief architect behind the world’s first “purpose archetypes”–what he calls the Sparketypes™–tapped by tens-of-thousands of individuals, companies and institutions, along with some Mother’s Quest members, seeking to amplify purpose, expression, performance, and flow.

In this conversation, Jonathan and I went to all the deep, reflective places across each E.P.I.C. guidepost, talking about everything from our Sparktypes to the influence of his mother, a “maker” like himself, how he really feels about the hero’s journey and living a good life, lessons we’ve learned about letting go of expectations with our children, and how to be creators but not to be defined by the things we create.

I’m so excited to bring you this conversation and Jonathan’s beautiful, powerful challenge for all of us, which he shares at the end. The whole interview, for me, felt like one amazing “epic snapshot moment” with a generous guide on a similar quest for meaning and connection. I hope you receive as much as I did.

Much appreciation,

This Episode is Dedicated by:
Sara Brannin-Mooser

Sara is a Mind + Body Connector, a Soulful Adventurer, a Constant Learner, an Athlete, Mom, Partner, and Friend. She is the Chief Stillness + Strength Officer at Stoking Radiance and Director of Integrated Strength at Smash Gyms.

She ignites men and women to build strength and stillness to minimize anxiety and navigate loss on their road to radiance. She provides tools to strengthen the body and mind: full body strength training tied together with meditation and celebration.

www.saramooser.com
www.smashmountainview.com

Connect with her on Linkedin

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Jonathan’s upbringing in the town of the Great Gatsby, influenced by the maker energy of his mother and the elements of water  

• Critical thoughts about the hero’s journey, the reasons Jonathan doesn’t think it’s for everyone, and his current metric for a life well lived

• How Jonathan is approaching the last summer home with his daughter before college and why we can’t try to short-cut our children’s journey to happiness by installing it

• The Sparketypes Assessment and the way that learning about my own Sparketype solved a piece of the puzzle for me

• Why Jonathan set aside Revolution U and the importance sometimes of letting go of the things that we create

• How Jonathan invests in himself through his daily practice

• The lessons learned from taking a weekly journey to an Amishcommunity where he made a guitar with his own hands

• What Jonathan said when I asked him to share a conversation on his podcast that deeply transformed him

• Jonathan’s perspective about building community and his own evolution to bringing guests on his podcast with not only shared values but also with diverse backgrounds and life experiences

Resources and Topics Mentioned:

• The Good Life Project

• The Sparketypes Assessment

• The Good Life Project Episode with Milton Glaser: Certainty Is A Closing Of The Mind

• Ep 00: Planting Seeds for Mother’s Quest – An Introduction

• A Mother’s Quest Podcast Encore: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten

This Week’s Challenge: 

For seven days, before getting out of bed, put one hand on your heart, put one hand your belly, close your eyes and just ask yourself, what do I most need today?

Give yourself a minute, 30 seconds, or whatever time you need without looking at a device. Just breath into that and make a commitment that at some point before you rest your head on the pillow at night, you will do at least one thing that helps you give yourself that need.

Learn More About Jonathan:

Jonathan Fields is a national bestselling author and the founder of Good Life Project®, one of the top-ranked podcasts in the world with a giant global, mission-driven community. The Wall Street Journal hailed Good Life Project as one of the top self-development podcasts, and Apple recently featured it on-stage during its legendary annual event.

An innovator in the field of human potential, Fields is also the chief architect behind the world’s first “purpose archetypes”–the Sparketypes™–tapped by tens-of-thousands of individuals, companies and institutions in the quest to amplify purpose, expression, performance and flow.

Jonathan’s latest book, How to Live a Good Life, became an instant national bestseller and #1 audiobook on Audible and his prior book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel For Brilliance, was named #1 Personal Development Book by 800-CEO-READ. He is currently at work on a forthcoming book on the Sparketypes. Jonathan and his work have been featured widely in the media, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, FastCompany, Entrepreneur, Forbes and Inc.

When Jonathan takes the stage as a keynote-presenter or program facilitator, he brings a rare ability to not just captivate with ideas and stories drawn from his own experience and years interviewing global visionaries, but also to tap into an expansive, international data-set derived from the Sparketype Assessment that reveals powerful insights about purpose, meaning, performance, expression and what it takes to truly to come alive and step into your fullest potential in work and life.

Connect with Jonathan & The Good Life Project on

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Instagram

Subscribe to The Good Life Project Podcast

Announcements:

Announcement for the First Spark Your E.P.I.C. Life Group Program

This summer, I’m excited to invite you to join us for the first group program version of the signature Spark Your E.P.I.C. Life series that I typically do in one-on-one coaching or in the Mother’s Quest Circle. The Group Program will bring you the same powerful sequence, in community, at a more affordable rate and at an accelerated pace, meeting weekly on Thursdays, beginning the second week of July.

 If you want to be added to wait list to receive the link to all the details and the registration application as soon as it goes live, sign up here. Hope you may join us, and that together, we can help you clarify your future vision, assess your present along the E.P.I.C. Guideposts, and then move into action to more fully live your E.P.I.C. life.

Mother’s Quest Manifesto Give-Away

My guest today, Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project was instrumental in the creation of the E.P.I.C. Life framework, the foundation for all things Mother’s Quest. Living my version of an E.P.I.C. Life has really become my manifesto. And having this as a guiding light has been so helpful to me that I wanted to support you to create your own. Continuing through the month of June, join us in the free Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, where you’ll find a series of reflective prompts and live videos from other members to help spark your own.

Create and share on social media with the hashtag #oneminutemommanifesto before the end of the month, and you’ll be entered into a Give-Away to win fabulous prizes from Mother’s Quest members. If you are discovering this episode another time, don’t worry, the prompts will all still be waiting for you in the group. I hope you’ll join us. Now, onto the show.

Spark Your E.P.I.C. Year

Anyone else feel like they need a spring reset to their year? 

A few months ago, we declared February the new January and facilitated a Mother’s Quest Workshop/Virtual Milestone Hike experience to help us all start again.

Using photos from my favorite local hike, I took a small group on a virtual journey to:

Reflect on our last chapter (as we ascend) 
Decide what we want to release (using an image of a big bad bonfire!) and what we want to carry forward
Then, set intentions along the E.P.I.C. guideposts for our new chapter. 

There’s a special planning sheet we created to guide you and help you document the whole process. 

Truthfully, we can start fresh any time we choose.

If you decide you want to reset and begin again, today, this afternoon or this weekend, using this experience and worksheet to support you. Just sign up here.

Spark Your E.P.I.C. Life or 90 Minute Clarity Coaching Session

If you’re feeling a desire to press “pause” on the busyness and reflect on your vision for this year, what’s working and what needs to shift, and what key guidepost would help you move forward more intentionally, I’d love to support you with a one-on-one 90-minute clarity coaching session.

If you are interested in the Spark Your E.P.I.C. Life Series or another way of working with me, please send an email to [email protected] for a complimentary 30 minute discovery session.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Sara Brannin-Mooser

Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at [email protected]

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/