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Big Life № 2.06 | Aimee Copeland by Ray Waters | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLS2.06/BLS2.06-Aimee-Copeland.mp3 Before her accident in 2012, Aimee Copeland lived to be outdoors. She climbed rocks, and backpacked deep into the woods to camp whenever she wasn’t working two jobs or studying psychology at the University of West Georgia. On a beautiful day on the first of May, Aimee and some friends found a homemade zip-line suspended over the Little Tallapoosa River. The zip-line broke during Aimee’s second ride. She fell on rocks below cutting a large gash in her outer-left calf. Three days later she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis commonly referred to as flesh-eating bacteria. She lost parts of all four limbs due to the infection. Doctors told her she had little chance of survival, but not only is Aimee a surviver, she is a thriver. Aimee’s love of outdoor adventure didn’t go away, but life as an amputee using a wheelchair meant she had to find new ways to do things she loves. She swims, kayaks, bikes, and even water skis. She has two Master’s Degrees, and now works as a licensed master of social work, and a practicing mental health counselor. Her foundation, The Aimee Copeland Foundation is working to make every place, especially public outdoor spaces like National Parks, accessible to everyone. Download the MP3 Search for: Subscribe to the Podcast! Ray Waters’ Speaker One-Sheet(click to download)

Big Life № 2.05 | Overcoming Conflict & Meeting Jimmy Carter by Ray Waters & Neal Campbell | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLS2.05/BLS-2.05-Conflict-Meeting-Jimmy-Carter.mp3 Some people seem to live for conflict, but relatively normal, emotionally healthy people don’t enjoy it. That notwithstanding, we all have to deal with conflict from time to time in life. The first step in moving through conflict to get to the other side is that one side has to make a decision to make the first move. It doesn’t matter if it’s your fault. If you want to get through it, decide to make the move first. It’s important to be prepared. We talk about Gene Griessman on the show a lot because he’s a wise influence in our lives. Dr. Griessman recommends writing out what he’s going to say before the phone call or meeting because that helps us think through our words and our perspective on a more engaged level. If we casually approach the situation, it is easy to make a situation worse. Even if the conflict isn’t of your own making, one key element of reaching resolution is for you to be willing to own your portion of the conflict. Take responsibility for any actions or words that escalated the conflict instead of moving it toward resolution. If you make the conversation about how the other person or people have wronged you, you may have a cathartic conversation, but ultimately that strategy will make it worse before it has a chance to get better. The most important ingredient in conflict resolution is so obvious, but often it’s the hardest thing to do. We have to listen carefully and with empathy to the other person’s side. When they feel heard and understood, rigid positions begin to soften. Rather than putting up a fence, let’s talk to the people on the other side. When we do, everything starts to get better. Truth matters a lot, but it matters far less than kindness. On the other side of resolution, who was to blame matters least of all. A few weeks ago, we had a #BigLifeBucketList Experience. We got up at four in the morning to drive two hours before daylight to get in line to see President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School. It was a fun, beautiful experience that Ray wrote about on the Big Life blog. We both were conservatives in our younger years, but with life experiences, we’ve both grown far more liberal, which is kind of a key factor in how we connected and started working together. After attending Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Class, we decided we wanted to read one of his books, and the one we picked is, A Full Life: Reflections at 90. It’s kind of weird and woo-woo how things just seem to be in the air. At the same time we read the book, Bill Gates read it too, and he wrote a review on his blog. I would never have guessed I’d get a lesson about the power of intention from Jimmy Carter, but it’s right there in the introduction of A Full Life: “I saw the presidency as a way to accomplish specific goals that I considered important, decided four years in advance to be elected, and my entire family joined in the all-out campaign.” I was aware of the highlights of Jimmy Carter’s life, but I didn’t know how the pieces of his background as a peanut farmer, a nuclear engineer, and former governor fit together. When he was five-years-old Jimmy picked peanuts, boiled them, bagged them up and made more money selling them than grown men made working in the fields all day long. After high school, he attended the Naval Academy and joined the Navy where he worked as a nuclear engineer who was an influential part of designing the energy sources that powered the first nuclear submarines. After his father died, much to the disappointment of Rosalynn, he decided to leave the Navy and return home to Pains, Georgia to run his family’s peanut farm. In his early marriage, he was a typical man of is era. He didn’t regard his wife as an equal partner his decision making. He made the decision to leave the Navy and to run for state Senate without ever talking to Rosalynn. His heart began to change when running for Senate when Roselyn volunteered to run the farm business and he recognized she was really good at it. Search for: Subscribe to the Podcast! Ray Waters’ Speaker One-Sheet(click to download) Later in life, Carter renounced his association with the Southern Baptists because of his beliefs in feminism and equal rights. I was shocked to discover Jimmy Carter is a gadget geek! He studied electronics throughout his whole life, and because of his job in the Navy and later his roles in government, he’s always had access to know about cutting edge technology before most people knew anything about devices that would eventually become common in popular culture. He’s also a painter and a poet. The book includes a number of his poems and images of his paintings. He learned to paint during his time at the Naval Academy after a fellow student ordered a painting kit and left school before it was delivered.   One of the reasons we’ve learned from life is how you can have an almost entirely artificial impression of a politician if you experience them primarily through media filters rather than through what they actually do and say. One of my biggest regrets is that I lived a large portion of my life with a false sense of who Jimmy Carter is. The more I experience him without political filters, the more I respect him and want to be more like him. Now when I look back on his presidency, I think about it the way he does. He writes, “I look back on those four years with peace and satisfaction, knowing that I did my best and had some notable accomplishments. Vice President Mondale summarized our administration by saying, ‘We told the truth, we obeyed the law, we kept the peace.’ I would add, ‘We championed human rights.'” Download Podcast Mp3

Big Life № 2.04 | Creativity, Inc. by Ray Waters & Neal Campbell | Big Life with Ray Waters https://ia801506.us.archive.org/12/items/BLSS02.E04/BLS-S02.E04-CreativityInc.mp3 We know that artists are creative. That’s obvious. Artists take enormous risks to try new things because only originality has value in the art world. People who aren’t risk takers are frequently reluctant to identify with artists, but you don’t have to be an artist to discover the unique creative nature that is fundamentally a part of who you are. Every person has within them the capacity to be creative. Planning a meal requires creativity. Writing an original Facebook post requires creativity. Solving a math or science problem requires creativity. Calming an upset toddler requires creativity. As we learn and grow, we constantly create new ways of interacting and relating to other people in our lives. On this episode of Big Life, we talk about creativity and the book Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, the founder and CEO of Pixar. Having an appreciation for animation isn’t a prerequisite for learning from this book. The book tells the history of Pixar, but more importantly, it shares lessons learned as the Pixar creative team failed again and again behind-the-scenes on the way to one public success after another. One of our favorite lessons from the book is how important it is to stop anything that isn’t working and immediately move on to a strategy that does work. Too often we get stuck in life trying to make something work that is NEVER going to work. That can be a relationship, a product idea, a story, a business, or even a religious belief. By evaluating what works and what doesn’t and only giving time to what works, we start to make legitimate progress and move from failure toward success. Podcast MP3 Download

Big Life № 2.03 | From Fear to Fearless & #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso by Ray Waters and Neal Campbell | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLSS02E03FromFearToFearlessGirlboss/BLS-S02-E03-From-Fear-to-Fearless-Girlboss.mp3 Have you ever let fear stop you from doing something you either wanted to do or needed to do? It’s part of being human. Fear is hardwired into our brains from the time we’re born. All babies begin life with two fears: 1. Fear of falling 2. Fear of loud noises Fear can be protective, but it can also be limiting, so it’s important to deal with fear so you understand if your fear is helping or hindering your success in life.   Good parents instill a sense of healthy fear in children with rules like, “Never cross the street without looking both ways.” We don’t always feel a sense of fear and yet live with subconscious fears that govern our actions. Often fear is internalized by lifelong habits of avoiding activity that feels uncomfortable. Unhealthy fear involves a mindset that is based on stories we tell ourselves that aren’t based on truth. We develop irrational fears and allow those fears to govern us up until the point that we get fed up with how fear has limited our potential.   Victory over fear requires a decision to be courageous in the face of danger or difficulty. When we are able to act with courage rather than shrink back in fear, we frequently experience a sense that our fear and apprehension is unfounded. When we fear good things like success and connectedness, it’s not really the good thing we’re afraid of. Those types of fears tend to follow achieving some measure of what we want and then losing it. Fear of what’s on the other side or fear of losing any gains is really the thing we’re afraid of. Fear is sometimes good for a season, but it’s rarely good for very long. It leads to a sense of stagnation and a feeling of frustration. The key to overcoming limiting fear is to take action. Do the thing you fear the most and the death of fear is certain. When you face your fears it proves your fear is wrong about you and your potential. If you are still stuck, find a person who will hold you accountable until you experience your breakthrough. Don’t let fear hold you back. #Girlboss is the autobiography of an entrepreneur who started a company called Nasty Gal. Sophia Amoruso was a young hot mess with no focus, or ambition until she kinds of stumbled upon something she was better than great at. She started selling old vintage clothes on Ebay and without knowing that “margin” is another word for profit, started making killer margins. She’d buy a dress at an estate sale for $8 and sell it for $1000. That’s a killer margin!   #GIRLBOSS “One thing you should know about me is when I hear no, I rarely listen.” As one successful sale followed another, she realized she was good at this way of making money. She invested her heart and mind into being better and better at it. Other people in the vintage space on Ebay started getting jealous that Sophia’s stuff was selling for so much more than theirs that some of them actually worked to sabotage her progress instead of working to do the job as well as she was doing it. She figured out, she wasn’t in the business of reselling old stuff. She was in the business of restyling old stuff to make it edgy, modern, and desirable. Because of the effort Sophia put in, her customers were more than willing to pay more. She says, “One thing you should know about me is when I hear no, I rarely listen.” One of the things I love about people who create outrageously personal businesses is that those are the only people I feel like it would be fun to work with and for. In #GIRLBOSS, Sophia goes out of her way to encourage people who didn’t feel at home in school that they can still achieve outstanding things in life by sometimes following the rules, but often by rewriting them. ___________________ Download the mp3 of this podcast here.

Big Life 2.02 | The "Better Story" Tool for Decision Making & Tribes by Seth Godin by Ray Waters and Neal Campbell | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLSS02E02/BLS-S02-E02-Finding-Your-Better-Story-and-Tribes.mp3 Whenever you’re struggling with the weight of overwhelming life stuff, it can feel impossible to make decisions. When problems loom large, and we can’t see what life can possibly be like on the other side of the struggle, it helps to know how to use tools or techniques that other people have used to get through similar challenges. One tool that is super effective is the concept of a better story. Here’s how it works… Imagine that you’ve survived whatever you’re dealing with. It’s five or ten years later and you’re reflecting on your current life situation and remembering the decisions you had to make. What were the options you had to consider? Looking back as a future survivor of this current catastrophe, which option makes a better story? How can you be the hero and not the villain in your story? This idea comes from a book by Donald Miller called, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. For a story to be good it needs a protagonist who is on a worthy quest. At Big Life, Inc., we talk about this all the time. Life can happen to you or you can happen to life, and the difference is deciding to take action rather than being passive. A great example of how the Better Story Tool works is divorce. Does it make a better story if you try to destroy your former life partner or if you work to honor each other and your time together, and you begin to move in different directions? It isn’t easy because when you’re experiencing loss, the primitive part of your brain takes over the wiser, evolved part of your brain. That’s called the Amygdala Hijack, and it is very literally Your struggles in life are plot twists, and if you can take control of your thinking, and use the tool of a better story, it makes decision-making so much easier, and the decisions you will make will be so much wiser.   Before the Internet, we were stuck with the people we were born around … my family, my neighborhood, my school, my church, and my town. Geography forced homogenization and people with unique personalities, beliefs, and dreams tended to feel out of place. People who grow up in cities have more opportunities, and anyone able to move away for college or to pursue artistic opportunities tended to better find a sense of place and belonging. The Internet changed the world in a radical way by letting people find and connect with people who match.   Heretics “Heretics are the new leaders. The ones who challenge the status quo, who get out in front of their tribes, who create movements.” -Seth Godin, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (p. 11)   Ultimately, Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, is about our brave new world and how we find our tribes, and how people with a clear, compelling visions build tribes around themselves. Seth calls new tribe leaders, “heretics” because they tend to be people who aren’t satisfied with how things are and work to create change. A good example of a heretic is Steve Jobs because Steve was willing to break rules on his quest to make a dent in the universe. The book gives examples of people who are successfully embracing rapid change caused by technology and the availability of unlimited information, and reinventing everything and how everything in both the digital and analogue worlds can be produced, marketed, and distributed. _______________________________ Download the Podcast Mp3 Here

Big Life 2.01 | Work Life Balance Because You Are a Badass! by Ray Waters and Neal Campbell | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLSS02E01/BLS-S02-E01-Work-Life-Balance.mp3 We’re back with Season 2 of Big Life with Ray Waters, and this season we’re bringing a new format that allows us inspire conversation about life design, growth, self-improvement, how our brains work and how people repair brokenness and change to have a bigger life. Ray wrote a parable book called Tightrope Tango about a young couple struggling to achieve balance between their professional ambitions, and their desires to have a happy, healthy family. We recently released the audio version of the book, and we’re proud of how the story helps people remember four principles that should become priorities. We used the first episode of season two to talk about the four priorities that can help with work/life balance. We also talked about the concept of work/life balance with the question of whether or not it’s even a valid idea. After all, life is work and work is life. We have a tendency to dream of days perfectly balanced into three equal parts in which eight-hours is devoted to work, eight-hours is devoted to leisure/family/entertainment, and eight-hours is devoted to sleep. The circumstances of life have absolutely no respect for that sort of balance. The nasty parts of life can happen at anytime. Family emergencies have no regard for our work schedules. Problems at work can happen while we’re at a child’s piano recital. We often sacrifice sleep for both good and bad reasons. Humans who care about living happy, healthy lives are learning how to happen to life rather than allowing life to happen to us. Incorporating practices like mindfulness, meditation, diet, recreation, financial discipline, and self-education can transform life from constant struggle into life that is filled with peace, love, and joy. Work/Life balance should probably just be called Happy Life or something like that because that’s something we can achieve when we get our intentions in order and put in focused effort. If you’re working on developing a happier, healthier way of life, get Tightrope Tango today! It’s just under two hours about $6 from Amazon. It’s a fun listen, and it will help solidify the priorities that matter as you move toward balance. On most episodes of Big Life Season 2, we will discuss a book. The first one is You are a Bad Ass: How to stop doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life, by Jen Sincero. We read a lot of books about growth, personal development, business, life change, and mastery. So many books about life change are filled with promises that never get realized. Jen’s book isn’t like that. She offers real advice that will inspire you to make concrete steps toward fixing what’s not working in your life. We loved her story about being a freelance writer who was barely making it through life financially. She was a skeptic about all things self-help, woo woo, and spiritual. Ultimately, though, she realized, if she wasn’t willing to explore things she had never been willing to explore before, her life would continue to be a struggle. She started reading books that previously would only inspire an eye roll from her. She started opening her mind to ideas about abundant provision being available to anyone who is willing to take steps to do the things required to become successful, fulfilled, happy, and wealthy, and with in a relatively short amount of time, she went from barely surviving to thriving.   One of the things that makes Badass unique is the motivation to take her advice doesn’t seem undoable, or unreachable. It seems possible, and at the very minimum, it seems worth trying. Because I’ve had a degree of financial success, and I understand how I got it and how I lost it, what Jen teaches in the book resonates with my life experience. If your life isn’t working. If all you do is struggle to survive from one day to the next, we highly recommend reading this You are a Badass, and if you don’t read books, get the audio book! Other than any books the Big Life team writes and publishes in the future, , You are a Badass may be the only self-help book you ever need to read. ____________________________ Download the .mp3 of this podcast here.

Big Life with Ray Waters #14 | Katy Richards by Ray Waters | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLS01E14KatyRichards/BLS01E14-KatyRichards.mp3 Katy Richards is a celebrity Jewelry stylist and designer whose jewelry has been showcased on red carpets, fashion runways, music videos, and on networks like JTV and QVC! Her unique designs have been worn by celebrities from India AR EE and KEITH RICHARDS…..to the actresses on the soap opera Guiding Light…. Katy was not always a designer. She but worked in the airline industry before a traumatic brain injury changed everything…. Follow Katy Richards Jewelry on Instagram! and on Twitter Podcast Mp3 Download

Big Life with Ray Waters #13 | Christian Bossert by Ray Waters | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLS01E13ChristianBossert/BLS01E13-ChristianBossert.mp3 Christian Bossert is the founder and head trainer for HomeFront Fitness, an in-home and online personal training business based in Atlanta. He started the business during graduate school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in March 2014. Christian had discovered that there were many people who wanted to lose weight and get in shape, but would never step foot in a gym. He found the most common reason they didn’t like the public gym was a common feeling that they would feel judged and looked down on as failures before ever getting started. In order to help these his clients, Christian knew he had to meet them in a trusted location, and that place is their own homes. Christian believes listening with compassion is the key to unlocking the power within people. He says listening is the MOST powerful tool when is comes to his success in helping people lose weight and feel great. Since starting HomeFront Fitness over 2 years ago Christian has helped hundreds of people become mentally and physically stronger and healthier. Follow Christian on Twitter! Download Mp3

Big Life with Ray Waters #12 | Dr. Debbie Phillips by Ray Waters | Big Life with Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLS01E12/BLS01E12.mp3 Today’s guest is Debbie Phillips, affectionately called…..Dr. Debbie by her legions of fans and friends… Dr. Debbie is a business consultant with more than 20 years of experience specializing in real estate marketing and management. After completing her bachelor’s degree in Consumer Journalism, and then  her masters degree in Housing and Consumer economics…both from the University of Georgia She then earned her PHD from Georgia Tech where her research focused on Customer Satisfaction and Employee Engagement. Prior to forming her own company, The Quadrillion, an international marketing and consulting firm in 1997, Debbie served as Vice President for two of the nation’s most prominent real estate companies. In addition to her academic degrees, Debbie holds several prestigious professional designations, including Certified Marketing Executive (CME), Senior Housing Marketing Specialist (SHMS), and Certified Property Manager (CPM). In conjunction with her private consulting, Debbie serves as Executive Director for the Georgia Apartment Industry Education Foundation. She is the lead instructor for the organization’s college programs in Residential Property Management at the University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology and other affiliated programs. Debbie believes in the philosophy “you can dream, build, and create the most beautiful place in the world, but it takes PEOPLE to make the dream a reality.” In addition to teaching and consulting, Debbie is an author and nationally acclaimed speaker. Follow Dr. Debbie on Facebook and Twitter.

Big Life with Ray Waters #11 | Bou-Cou Jewelry by Becka Cowan by Ray Waters | Big Life With Ray Waters https://archive.org/download/BLS01E11/BLS01E11.mp3 Becka Cowan is the owner of Boutique Couture Jewelry better known as BOU COU. As a young woman, Becka was frustrated with not being able to find the perfect jewelry to compliment her style, So……She, decided to make her own. Her creations were so unique and fashion forward, people fell in love with them. Over the last several years she has become one of the premier jewelry designers in the business and has just recently had her creations on the cover of MArie Claire Magazine. I actually met Becka when she was a teenager but I have only seen her a couple of times in 15 years, and I’m excited to share her story! Check Becka’s designs at http://bou-cou.com and stay up to date with her designs on Instagram!

Jake Rothschild, owner of Award-winning Jake’s Ice Cream, JD Rothschild Gourmet Hot Chocolate, and The Irwin Street Market, has been in the specialty foods business for over 20 years. He is passionate about food from growing it to developing recipes to getting his final product into retail packaging. Perhaps his greatest passion is helping others do the same. In 2009, Rothschild created Irwin Street Community Kitchens and now helps others from concept to market in his 7000 foot facility. ISCK is one of three official shared kitchen concepts sanctioned by the Georgia State Department of Agriculture. Irwin Street Market is an incubator as well, retailing handcrafted, artisan foods from all over Metro Atlanta. Rothschild was born in Chapel Hill, NC and has called Atlanta home for the last 22 years. He resides in College Park in a home he renovated from an old bait and tackle shop and an old cricket hatchery. The property is called Sweet Selma Farms and it specializes in pecans, figs, eggs and herbs.

Jamie Moore is a professional actor. He is a veteran of stage and screen appearing in numerous television commercials, television shows and motion pictures. He also is known as one of the best improv actors working today. He is a writer, director, teacher and dad. And 20 plus years ago I had a front row seat as Jamie made the decision to pursue his life as an professional actor. Jamie is an old friend whom ….I have not spent any time with in years…but when I think of people who followed their dream - I think of Jamie.

Cindy Harter Sims is an award winning photographer with a studio in Cartersville, Ga --- 40 miles outside of Atlanta. Cindy specializes in Wedding and Portrait photography. I believe her greatest gift is in creating an environment where her clients feel emotionally relaxed. Cindy has a unique ability to lead her clients into the space called an intimate connection with the people they love…...and then with her amazing artist eye….she captures that connection.

Darryl Rhodes is a comedian who tours upwards of 40 weeks out of a year. But he is more….He is a musician who has accompanied the likes of Chuck Berry, and Hollywood star Jeff Bridges in His movie Crazy Heart He is an innovator - as the founder of the Hahavishnu Orchestra - Darryl Rhodes was the front man for one of Rock’s truly innovative bands in the middle to late 1970’s. Kurt Loder from Rolling Stone Magazine said, Rhoades as "one of the most savagely gifted writer/performers in the country today". He is rock and roll music historian. He is an avid baseball fan and collector of memorabilia. He is an Atlanta icon. When he is in Atlanta or touring he is in his other home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Darryl is close to finishing his memoirs which will describe his life growing up in Atlanta and his life on the road for the past 40 years.

Dena Rivera has an expansive and rich history of achievements in the entertainment industry. She has been one of the top professional back up singers in America touring with headliners like the Rascals and Jimmy Buffett….. And more than once. while with Buffet she sang on the Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson -- She has appeared in film and on television - in movies like 42 - The Jackie Robinson story -The Last Ride, Scary Movie 5 many more…. She has performed in Musical Theatre in productions like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and the Little Shop of Horrors… She also has written screenplays including the feature film BREAKING NEWS which has been sold to TV ONE NETWORK and will be entering production in the fall of 2016. Dena directed the film VIGILANTE in 2015. The film went on to win an audience choice award at the International Black Film Festival in Nashville. As a DIRECTOR…..Dena has a passion for images that tell a story and is hands-on, taking an active role in writing, participating in edits and most major aspects of her films.