Half-Finished to Done Podcast with Cristina Roman, Productivity Coach for Ambitious Business Owners

Trigger warning: This episode contains graphic description of sexual assault. 

In 2015, I was sexually assaulted. In this episode, two of my close friends come on the podcast to digest the experience with me. We talk about the experience itself, the aftermath, the shift in my perspectives, and how to show up for those who have been sexually assaulted.

It’s a story about more than just sexual assault -- it’s about hope, friendship, perspective, and knowing yourself. 

If you or someone you know is looking for someone to talk to about being sexually assaulted, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). 

Resources mentioned:

• Books: Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle, Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer

• Pique Podcast episode: Infertility, marriage, + pain with Sara Rose Whaley

Are you the type of person who Googles “productivity tips” on a regular basis? Do you sign up for freebies via email, but never open them or take action? Are you afraid to invest in something in case it doesn’t work for you? This episode is for you. 

Those who opt in to my email list have the option of answering an additional question: “What is the #1 challenge in your life right now?” 

Those who come in through my deep work freebie have mentioned that they struggle with constantly shifting priorities, putting out work fire, dealing with overwhelming amounts of work, and finding balance, amongst other things. 

In this episode, I’m sharing how to deal with these challenges. 

Resources mentioned: 

• How to get into a deep work state in 15 minutes 

• The first step in every decision making process

Trigger warning: We cover parental death, suicide, cancer, and grief in this episode. 

I’ve been wanting to talk about death and dying on the podcast since the very beginning, so I was thrilled when Danielle Strouse, a licensed therapist, reached out to me to offer herself up as a guest.

• Danielle’s integrative counseling work with her clients -- including existential therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

• The benefit of facing your mortality and finiteness head on 

• The ways in which we avoid the reality of death by overdrinking, using drugs, or overworking

• How Danielle’s personal experience with grief has influenced her work as an existential therapist 

• How to work with -- not against -- our death anxiety by asking “What scares me about death?” 

• How Danielle has made unconventional life choices driven by her awareness of her finiteness  

• Why it’s so important as practitioners to face our own darkness

• A beautiful story about rippling -- which “refers to the fact that each of us creates—often without our conscious intent or knowledge—concentric circles of influence that may affect others for years, even for generations.” 

I am so struck by Danielle’s vulnerability and immersive storytelling, and I know you will be, too. 

Resources mentioned:

• Book: Staring at the Sun by Irvin D. Yalom

• The Pique Podcast: Acceptance, commitment, + mindfulness with Holly Moses + Holly Yates

• Death over Dinner

All content provided is protected under applicable copyright, patent, trademark, and other proprietary rights. All content is provided for informational and educational purposes only. No content is intended to be a substitute for professional medical or psychological diagnosis, advice or treatment. Information provided does not create an agreement for service between Danielle Strouse and the recipient. Consult your physician regarding the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your symptoms or medical condition. Children or adults who show signs of dangerous behavior toward themselves and/or others should be placed immediately under the care of a qualified professional.

 

In this episode, I’m bringing my amazing podcast manager, Keli Marks, out from behind the scenes to join me on the mics. 

Working with Keli since season one of the podcast has been a gift, and I think you’ll understand why. Not only is he talented technically, he also brings his calming presence and deep spirituality into his freelancing work. 

We dive into the following topics:

• 00:00: Getting in touch with your soul through a variety of methods, like Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness, Bhakti yoga, and mantras. 

• 14:42: Finding harmony in life, even in suffering, and positioning ourselves correctly in the world. 

• 19:29: How to view the world through the lens of karma -- even if you don’t believe in it -- to empower yourself. 

• 25:20: Buying a tiny house: composting toilets, conscious minimalism, mobility, and more.

• 34:09: How to KonMari your physical life -- and your heart. 

• 42:41: How to streamline your business (and life) with agile project management and gamification, and how to choose a tool and stick to it for maximum productivity.

• 56:20: How to use morning pages for increased focus, higher-quality outputs, and idea generation. (One of Keli’s jobs came directly from an idea that sparked during his morning pages!) 

• 58:10: Debating and defining manifestation as it relates to your identity and ego. 

• 1:05:08: Keli’s closing thoughts and a quote to carry into your day: “And every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, “This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!” And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, “No. This is what’s important.” - Iain Thomas

Resources mentioned: 

• Enneagram personality test

• How to change your limiting beliefs

• International Pure Bhakti Yoga Society 

• Vedabase.io

• Books: The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Alan Singer

• Greywater recycling

• The Pique Podcast episodes: More self-awareness, focus, + creativity with morning pages and The overlap between behavioral economics + coaching with Nate Andorsky

• Pique Coaching emails: Free up your mental space with these two tricks (the “hold” tip mentioned in the episode)

• Tools: Trello, Notion, ConvertKit, Habitica, The Pomodoro Technique

• Bullet Journal for making plans and tracking habits

• How to get into a deep work state in 15 minutes

• Abraham Hicks

• The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master 

Connect with me and download the Pique Coaching Workbook at www.piquecoaching.co

Recently, I asked my email subscribers what they’d like me to write about. I received multiple requests for related topics: “How can I change my limiting beliefs once I’ve identified them?” “How do I form an identity and reinforce it through habit?” “How do I stop believing something I don’t want to believe?”

So I put on my thinking hat (just kidding -- I never take it off) and got to work. Boy, did I get to work. Apparently, I had a lot to say on this topic. 2,600 words later, here's some of the feedback I got:

"...I started your identity thing and am loving it -- it's so much more comprehensive than I expected."

(To which I replied: "It's bigger and better than I thought it would be too, hahaha." Modesty for the win?)

In all seriousness, this is the most comprehensive how-to guide I've ever written and I'm so excited for you to dive in. It's chockfull of practical strategies, coaching techniques that I use with my clients every day, exercises to work through, case studies, and a list of potential pitfalls to stay alert to.

Head to piquecoaching.co/identity for the written version of this podcast. 

 

In this episode, I chat with a former entrepreneurship classmate, Nate Andorsky of Creative Science about where behavioral econ and life coaching overlap. 

We dive deep into a handful of behavioral econ concepts -- like present bias, paradox of choice, social market theory, loss aversion, and ambiguity aversion -- and how they can be understood and hacked by you to change your life. 

Some key takeaways:

1. Remember that up to 95% of our thoughts and decisions are happening subconsciously. Behavioral economics and coaching both seek to bring more awareness to what’s happening below the surface of our minds. 

2. Surround yourself with supportive communities that reflect where you want to be. Things that are alike in nature attract each other.

3. Start being the Watcher of your emotions and how they affect your actions. (They always do, whether you’re conscious of it or not.)

4. Apply the theory of Ikigai -- finding the overlap between what you’re good at, what the world needs, what the world will pay for, and what you love to do -- for more career fulfillment.

5. Counteract self-imposed limitations by always creating new goals. As cliche as it sounds, it really is about the journey rather than the shiny reward at the end of the tunnel. 

How are some of these behavioral econ principles affecting your life currently? How might you use them to positively impact your life moving forward? 

Resources mentioned:

• Creative Science website (sign up for the email list at the bottom of the page)

• Books: Effectual Entrepreneurship by Sara Sarasvathy, Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and 21 Questions for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harrai, Behave by Robert Sapolsky, and Indistractable by Nir Eyal

• Freebie: How to get into a deep work state in 15 minutes

• The Pique Podcast: More self-awareness, focus, + creativity with morning pages

• The Pique Coaching Workbook: Nine prompts designed to help you harness the combined power of your logical brain and your intuition

• Pique Coaching article: The value of breaking down successes, not just losses 

• TEDTalk: The Surprising Science of Happiness

• Photography series: Photographer Removes Phones From His Photos To Show How Terribly Addicted We’ve Become

 

Season two of the podcast launches 11/5! 

In the meantime, grab The Pique Coaching Workbook: 9 prompts to get your creative wheels turning, so that you can move forward in your life.

Here's what's inside the workbook:

1. Blurts: Use when you want to uncover your self-sabotaging beliefs

2. Empowering questions: Use when you want to build confidence + creatively problem solve

3. Intuitive prompts: Use when you want to know what the real you thinks

4. "I don't know" replacements: Use when you're in need of a solution but feel stuck 

5. Wouldn’t it be nice if: Use when you want to dream big without attachment

6. Non-binary decision making: Use when you want to expand your creative decision making

7. Do, dump, delegate, delay: Use when you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do

8. Why x 3: Use when you want to understand your real motivations so that you can fulfill them now

9. Financial Life Planning™ questions: Use when you want to realign your finances with your values

10. Resource page

 

Download it now at piquecoaching.co/workbook. 

 

Connect with me and download the Pique Coaching Workbook at www.piquecoaching.co

And with that, season one of The Pique Podcast is a wrap! Thank you so much to everyone for listening and giving feedback along the way. It was an adventure (*cough* massive undertaking *cough*), to say the least.

As we wrap up the first season, I'd love to get to know you. Shoot me an email (hello @ piquecoaching.co) and let me know: What are you looking to accomplish in the next six months and what's standing in your way? 

It's a win/win -- you give me insight into what's going on in your life, and in return, I can create more targeted, relevant content for you in season two.

Additionally, I'd love your help in preparing for season two. I'm looking to cover an insane number of fascinating topics -- if you know anyone (IRL or just know of online) who might be willing to join me on one of the topics below, would you include that in your email response to me? ⁣

Connect with me and download the Pique Coaching Workbook at www.piquecoaching.co

In this episode, I chat with Sarah Von Bargen, someone I’ve learned from online for years. Sarah helps people spend their time, money, and energy on purpose, and her work covers everything from personal finances to habit formation to food waste reduction. 

I mention to Sarah at the very beginning of the episode that I brought her on the podcast for her easy-to-implement, actionable tips -- and she doesn’t disappoint.

As it always does on the podcast, the conversation goes in many directions, but we cover three main topics:

• Forming new habits that stick: Strategies like bookmark habits and “Indiana Jones”-ing your habits, myths about habit formation, and the common pitfalls when forming a new habit (like being too virtuous).

• Adopting the no-grocery challenge: Simple, practical ways to cook great meals while reducing your food waste at home, and why it might be of interest to you. (Hint: it saves you money and time, and decreases your environmental impact.) 

• Boosting your bank account: A systematic approach to increasing your income and decreasing your expenses “without feeling deprived, overwhelmed, or coupon-obsessed.” 

Sarah and I also riff on one of our shared philosophies: discomfort on purpose. In Sarah’s words, “...In life your success correlates directly to how uncomfortable you’re willing to be. You’ll be amazed at how getting comfortable with discomfort affects every area of your life!” Amen. 

Find Sarah over on Yes and Yes and Instagram.

Quotables:

• “When you fail, you will reinforce the narratives that most of us have -- ‘I can’t do this,’ ‘I’m not good at it,’ ‘Nothing ever sticks.’”

• “The average American spends $1,500 [per year] on food they don’t eat and throws out up to 40% of the food that they buy.” 

• “Stop shopping for the person you wish you were.” 

• “A lot of my work starts with understanding what makes you happy.” 

Resources mentioned:

• Sarah’s posts: What seems obvious to you could help someone else via Tiny Buddha and How to figure out what makes you happy via Yes and Yes 

• Sarah’s programs and ebooks: Make It Stick Habit School, The No Grocery Challenge Guidebook and Cookbook, and Bank Boost

Books: Deep Work by Cal Newport, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte, and Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin

Connect with me and download the Pique Coaching Workbook at www.piquecoaching.co

I really struggled to record this episode for several reasons. First, because values feel like such a “squishy” (read: intangible and abstract) topic and second, because I wanted to do justice to a concept that every single guest in season one of the podcast mentioned in some way, shape, or form.

So, I took the lazy way out: Asking my inner voice to do this episode for me :) Luckily, it delivered. When I asked what values are, I got a few responses that I loved: “Raison d'être,” “Reasons for getting out of bed,” “Where mind, body, and spirit meet,” and “Our life-force.” 

And when I asked the importance of knowing our own values, I heard: “[Knowing] where to direct your attention in a chaotic world.”

If you feel a nagging sense that you might be living a life out of line with your own values in at least one area of life, I encourage you to give this episode a listen. 

Resources mentioned: 

• Raison d'être (“the most important reason or purpose for someone or something’s existence”)

• The Pique Coaching secret menu

• All Pique Podcast episodes 

• The Life Coach School Podcast: Ep #251: Two Types of Discomfort

• Books: Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer

• The Pique Coaching Workbook: Nine prompts designed to help you harness the combined power of your logical brain and your intuition