Ep 428 F Happiness with Shawn Leon Nowotnik
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
Release Date: 02/14/2025
Ep 515 They Are Lying to You. The Self-Help Delusion with Federico Malatesta
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
They Are Lying to You. The Self-Help Delusion Federico Malatesta spent fifteen years in the energy business, the last four running operations in Russia, before he walked away to do something nobody who knew him expected: coach people through the parts of life no protocol can fix. His argument is that self-help never had the tools for the job it promised to do, because it treats a human life like an engineering problem instead of a question of wisdom and judgment. If you have ever finished a routine, a protocol, or a book that was supposed to fix something and quietly blamed yourself...
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Ep 514 Achievement Addiction with Dr. Jack Groppel
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
Achievement Addiction Dr. Jack Groppel spent decades filming elite athletes, briefing Congress, and building a company he eventually sold to Johnson and Johnson, all without a single business or speech class. But the accomplishment that mattered most to him, a standing ovation in front of 20,000 people with his father in the crowd, got answered with a compliment about someone else on the program. This conversation names what was actually driving him, and what finally let him put it down. Most people who have built something real have, at some point, worked hard for approval that never...
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Ep 513 Your Bank Account Is Your Subconscious with Lillian Eve Moore
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
Your Bank Account Is Your Subconscious Lillian Eve Moore spends her days telling successful people the same uncomfortable thing: your bank account is not a record of bad decisions. It is your subconscious, printed out in numbers. She has spent two decades helping people heal trauma fast, and she keeps finding the exact same law running underneath grief, chronic illness, and the finances people are most afraid to look at. If you have ever noticed a pattern in your bank balance, your relationships, or your health that you can't quite explain, this conversation gives you a way to actually...
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Ep 512 Navigating Crazy: How to Live and Work Sanely in an Insane World with Mike Staver
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
Navigating Crazy: How to Live and Work Sanely in an Insane World Most people trying to lead and live well are doing it without an anchor. Mike Staver has spent decades inside the rooms where leaders admit what they will not say out loud anywhere else, and he has reached a blunt conclusion: people do not rise to the level of their intentions. They live at the level of their behavior. If you have ever explained yourself instead of fixing what actually happened, or if your own anxiety has become so normal you stopped noticing it, this conversation names both patterns and gives you a...
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Ep 511 Escaping Optimization Culture to Restore Health, Meaning, and a Life That Fits with Ramona Roemer & Andreas Heigl
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
Escaping Optimization Culture to Restore Health, Meaning, and a Life That Fits with Ramona Roemer & Andreas Heigl Some of the healthiest-looking patients Ramona Roemer and Andreas Heigl have ever treated were also the most quietly falling apart. Two decades of running a private longevity clinic taught them something the wellness industry doesn't advertise: chasing perfect numbers can make people feel worse, not better. If you've ever tracked every metric you could find and still didn't feel like you had answers, this conversation names exactly what's missing. Ramona and...
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Ep 510 He Almost Hit His Biggest Goal. Then Felt Nothing with Mike Brcic
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
He Almost Hit His Biggest Goal. Then Felt Nothing. Mike Brcic built a mountain bike adventure company toward a goal of operating in a hundred and fifty countries, and got close enough to see himself crossing the finish line. Then he felt nothing. What came after: selling the company, sitting with a therapist, and building a new career that takes entrepreneurs into the wilderness to meet the parts of themselves they have spent years avoiding. Most people who build something real eventually hit a version of Mike's morning: the goal in sight, the champagne imagined, and an emptiness nobody...
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Ep 509 The Belief That Built His Empire Nearly Broke Him with Art Blanchford
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
He was lying in a hospital bed as one of the most senior executives at a public company, wealthy by any measure, when the first thought that crossed his mind was whether he could survive on food bank groceries. Art Blanchford had already built a fortune, lost it, and built it again. The fear never checked his bank statement before it showed up. Art grew up inside a religious cult where love and safety were conditional on performance. That belief followed him into a corporate career where he ran multibillion-dollar divisions of a global company, and it was still running the show even after he...
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Ep 508 You Already Have the Life. You're Reading It Wrong with Dr. Michael Glock
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
Dr. Michael Glock spent seventy years earning the right to say something simple. Twenty-eight startups. Two marriages. A doctorate in depth psychology. Talks at Yale, Princeton, and the University of London. And the thing he keeps coming back to with clients is not a strategy. It's a sentence a client said to him days before this recording: standing on a beautiful plot of land, deciding what to build next. Most people chasing the next milestone assume it will finally quiet a low-grade unease they stopped noticing years ago, because it's been there so long it feels like personality....
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Ep 507 I'm Still Here: Told Six Months to Live, Three Times with Tom LeNoble
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
I'm Still Here: Told Six Months to Live, Three Times Tom LeNoble has been given six months to live three separate times. He has lived with metastatic cancer for fourteen years. In this conversation, he explains why none of that made him slow down, and why the real work after a crisis is not recovery. It is deciding what you are going to do with whatever time is left. If you have ever scome through a hard stretch and gone right back to operating exactly the way you did before it, this conversation names why that happens and what it costs. What was covered: Why Tom's father kept...
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Ep 506 He Made the NFL. He Always Saved His Dad a Seat in the Stands with Corey Parchman
Richer Soul, Living A Life on Purpose!
He Made the NFL. He Always Saved His Dad a Seat in the Stands Every game Corey Parchman played, in any city, he got to the stadium early and found a seat in the stands. That's where his father was sitting, in his mind. His dad died of a heart attack at thirty nine, when Corey was ten. Corey has spent his career proving he can figure things out alone: five seasons in the NFL after going undrafted, a real estate portfolio he built by never over-leveraging, and now a business acquisition company built to buy small-town companies from retiring owners before they disappear. This...
info_outlineF Happiness
In this episode of Richer Soul, we welcome Shawn Nowotnik, a therapist, author, artist, and filmmaker. After the devastating loss of his son to suicide, Shawn embarked on a deep exploration of mental health, addiction, and the pursuit of meaning. His insights challenge the conventional idea that happiness is the ultimate goal in life. Instead, he encourages people to focus on finding purpose and personal fulfillment.
Shawn’s book, Fck Happiness: The Search for Meaning in a World Gone Mad Chasing Happiness*, delves into these themes, questioning why our culture is obsessed with chasing fleeting moments of joy instead of building meaningful lives.
This conversation dives into the myths around happiness, the impact of trauma on mental health, and how society needs to redefine success. Let’s explore key takeaways from our discussion with Shawn Nowotnik.
Key Takeaways:
- Happiness is Overrated—Seek Meaning Instead. Many people believe that happiness should be their ultimate goal, but Shawn argues that this pursuit often leads to disappointment and anxiety. True fulfillment comes from embracing a life of meaning, even when it involves struggle and discomfort. He suggests that rather than avoiding pain, we should learn to navigate it in a way that helps us grow.
- The Role of Trauma in Mental Health and Addiction. Shawn discusses how unresolved trauma can manifest in destructive ways, from addiction to self-sabotaging behaviors. His work focuses on helping individuals reframe their past experiences and find healthier coping mechanisms. He emphasizes that society needs better mental health education and more holistic treatment approaches to address these deep-rooted issues.
- Society's Narrative on Success is Flawed. People often define success based on external achievements—money, status, or material possessions. However, Shawn believes that a more sustainable and fulfilling success is found in personal development, authentic relationships, and a sense of contribution to something bigger than oneself. He challenges listeners to redefine what success means on their own terms.
- Art, Writing, and Film as Therapy and Advocacy. Beyond his clinical work, Shawn is an artist and filmmaker who uses creative expression as a healing tool. He believes that storytelling—whether through books, movies, or visual art—can help normalize conversations around mental health, grief, and addiction. His upcoming projects aim to raise awareness and challenge social stigmas around these critical issues.
Money Learnings:
Shawn's first lessons about money came from his grandfather. Growing up in a tough Chicago neighborhood, he learned the basics of commerce and money exchange by helping at his grandfather’s fish market. His early experiences showed him that money is a tool for survival and opportunity, but also that financial education was largely missing from both his home and school life. This lack of structured money education made him realize the importance of financial literacy, especially in the mental health field, where many professionals and clients struggle with money-related stress. Shawn emphasizes that financial stability plays a significant role in mental well-being, and more open discussions about money are needed.
Shawn Nowotnik's Bio:
Shawn Léon Nowotnik, MSW, LCSW, is a therapist, author, artist, and filmmaker based outside of Chicago. After experiencing the devastating loss of his son to suicide, he dedicated his life to understanding and addressing mental health, addiction, and trauma. He has developed holistic treatment programs and is an advocate for improving mental health care. His new book, Fck Happiness: The Search for Meaning in a World Gone Mad Chasing Happiness*, challenges traditional notions of happiness and offers a more purpose-driven approach to life.
Key Discussion Points:
- Shawn's early experiences with money and business.
- How the loss of his son changed his approach to life and mental health.
- Why the pursuit of happiness can be counterproductive.
- The role of trauma in addiction and mental illness.
- How creative expression (art, film, writing) can be a healing tool.
- Why financial stability is a crucial yet often overlooked part of mental health.
- How to shift from chasing happiness to creating a meaningful life.
Conclusion:
Shawn Nowotnik’s journey is a powerful testament to resilience and transformation. His perspective challenges the mainstream obsession with happiness, urging us to seek deeper fulfillment through meaning, connection, and personal growth. His work is a reminder that pain and struggle are part of the human experience, and by embracing them, we can build a richer, more purposeful life.
Links:
Website: https://www.shawnleonnowotnik.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shawn.nowotnik
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-l%C3%A9on-nowotnik/
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@richersoul
Richer Soul Life Beyond Money. You got rich, now what? Let’s talk about your journey to more a purposeful, intentional, amazing life. Where are you going to go and how are you going to get there? Let’s figure that out together. At the core is the financial well-being to be able to do what you want, when you want, how you want. It’s about personal freedom!