What would you do if you knew today was your last? As a nine-year-old, this wasn't just a hypothetical question to consider, but a reality I faced daily. Because of my weakened condition, the additional stress of surgery and blood loss presented the very real prospect that the next surgery could be my last. With this in mind, my parents would make the evening before surgeries extremely special. They'd bring me a gift, my siblings would visit, we'd eat pizza, down milkshakes, and stay up late. We...
Apr 18, 2022•6 min•Season 13Ep. 455
To celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month, I'm honored to welcome Kevin Eubanks, one of the most accomplished jazz musicians of his or any generation. As a prolific guitarist and composer, Kevin is frequently recognized for his role as former Music Director of The Tonight Show band, appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 18 years. Yet it's what led up to this iconic role that is most intriguing. Today, Kevin shares about growing up with a strong musical influence, what it was like to hitchhi...
Apr 14, 2022•48 min•Season 13Ep. 454
For three decades, Parkinson's disease has robbed my dad of his ability to work, type, write, drive, walk and speak... and yet every day he chooses gratitude. Today, on World Parkinson's Awareness Day and in honor of my dad and the millions of others impacted by Parkinson's, I challenge you to make the choice to fill your heart with gratitude. Learn more about the Live Inspired Podcast with John O'Leary at JohnOLearyInspires.com.
Apr 11, 2022•7 min•Season 13Ep. 453
David Sipress is an iconic cartoonist for The New Yorker . Since 1998, he's published nearly 700 cartoons largely based on perceptions of shared human experience, rooted in his life-long love of history. With humor, creativity and vulnerability, David shares stories about his complicated family, the day he decided to pursue cartooning professionally and the 25 years of rejection that followed. Don't miss today's intimate and engaging conversation with an artist who understands that personal thou...
Apr 07, 2022•52 min•Season 13Ep. 452
Join me as I share the most powerful five-word lessons I've learned after more than 400 episodes of the Live Inspired Podcast. To get links to each episode I mention, visit JohnOLearyInspires.com.
Apr 04, 2022•11 min•Season 13Ep. 451
Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee is regarded by many as the greatest female athlete of all time. After retiring, Jackie chose to return to her impoverished hometown with a greater purpose: empower youth in her community to dream, and have the drive and determination to succeed. Today, hear Jackie share the pivotal moments in her life when she chose to never give up, why she refuses to let her environment define who she is and what that means for you.
Mar 31, 2022•52 min•Season 13Ep. 450
How do you respond when tragedy strikes? As we face storms in life, we have a choice. We can choose anger, yell about it, and remain negative about what happened and all we've lost. Or we can choose to accept it, make the best of it, grow from it and realize that in spite of those unwanted changes that the best of life remains in front of us. Learn more at JohnOLearyInspires.com.
Mar 28, 2022•7 min
There are about 7,000 languages in the world, all with different vocabularies, sounds, and alphabets—but how do these structural differences influence how we interpret the world? Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive scientist recognized for studying how the languages we speak shape the way we think. After emigrating to America from Belarus, Lera learned English and began to recognize how differences in languages can shape an argument and exaggerate the differences between others. Today, Lera shares ho...
Mar 24, 2022•53 min
To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day today I wanted to share a story of a family who received a diagnosis they didn't desire…and ultimately a gift far greater than they could have imagined. Learn more about today's episode at JohnOLearyInspires.com.
Mar 21, 2022•8 min•Season 13Ep. 447
Michelle Hord is no stranger to tragedy. She started her professional career as a producer on America's Most Wanted, where she came face to face with the unthinkable on a daily basis. But when her own beloved 7-year-old daughter Gabrielle Eileen was murdered by her ex-husband, Michelle's entire life crashed down around her. Today, with compassion + insight, Michelle joins us for a raw and powerful conversation about resilience, hope, and defiant faith and how it can lead to powerful transformati...
Mar 17, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 13Ep. 446
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -William James As we race through this day, and read about tragedies overseas, challenges in our nation, difficulties in our region, and feel discouragement that there is little we can do to influence positive change, be reminded that your one life is a sacred gift. While big numbers might grab headlines, the most important number recognizes that what you do matters, that the words you speak influence, that the dreams you cast impact the path ...
Mar 14, 2022•10 min•Season 13Ep. 445
Mark Victor Hansen co-founded Chicken Soup for the Soul in hopes of sharing motivational stories with people all over the world. But it wasn't always the successful publishing franchise we know today. Despite originally being turned down 144 times by publishers, Mark persisted. To date, Chicken Soup for the Soul has now sold more than 500 million books and had 57 different titles on the New York Times bestseller list. Today, Mark joins us to share the four principles to which he credits his succ...
Mar 09, 2022•40 min•Season 13Ep. 44
In a world filled with many individuals concerned primarily with taking care of themselves, the courage of the Ukrainian people to fight for their home, their neighbors and their freedom has been humbling and inspiring to observe. To be reminded of the beauty of showing up for others- even when our commitment to doing so is tested beyond imagination- look no further than Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska. Today, be reminded of the strength and resiliency borne from showing up for someone we lo...
Mar 07, 2022•6 min•Season 13Ep. 443
Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist who has appeared on PBS, the BBC and NPR's Tell Me More , Talk of the Nation , and All Things Considered . With over 25 years of on-air radio experience, Celeste has a unique perspective on what makes for a good conversation. Today, Celeste joins us to illuminate the path forward in having conversations ( even difficult ones! ) that actually matter. In a time when there seems to be an abundance of talking at rather than talking with, today's convers...
Mar 03, 2022•59 min•Season 13Ep. 442
"I've discovered that a person begins aging only when they stop learning and stop loving." For nearly a century, Pat Hyndman showed us how we could live our lives with childlike awe. He knew that life was a gift, that every person matters, and that each day was packed with limitless possibilities. My friends, in the midst of the chaos in our journey forward, the foundation is firm, the headwind may be real but the best is yet to come. Learn more at JohnOLearyInspires.com....
Feb 28, 2022•6 min
Top career adviser Laurie Ruettimann has spent more than 20 years advocating for better employment experiences to increase retention rates and improve job satisfaction. After a season as a young professional, Laurie was uninspired and blaming others for her unhappiness, until she decided to take hold of life—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—in order to transform her future. Today, Laurie shares the framework to approach work in a smart and healthy manner and the tactical advice to champ...
Feb 24, 2022•54 min•Season 13Ep. 440
My sweet Mom passed out in the shower last Friday evening. After fainting, she fell backwards, landed hard on the floor, and broke her wrist. As it turns out, she collapsed as the result of anemia and low hemoglobin, which required a few days of observation in the hospital to elevate. In a surreal coincidence, her room is on the exact same floor as --and stunningly just three doors away from-- the entrance to the Burn Center where I was treated 35 years earlier. My friends, we often cheapen our ...
Feb 21, 2022•7 min•Season 13Ep. 439
Did you know... Two-thirds of Americans report feeling lonely, and that's even before the pandemic. The average American hasn't made a new friend in the last five years. Loneliness is as toxic as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Today, psychologist and friendship expert Dr. Marisa Franco shares her research in the science of friendship and the powerful benefits platonic friendships have on our overall wellbeing. In a season of social fragmentation and rampant loneliness, join us as we provide the to...
Feb 17, 2022•51 min•Season 13Ep. 348
What can we gain in living from a place of unconditional love? On this Valentine's Day, whether you are going on a hot date with your special someone, heading out with dear friends, or longingly waiting for the phone to ring, be reminded of the overwhelming demands true love requires and the profound blessing it delivers in return. Ultimately, the way we discover the love we seek is to let go of our needs, remain absolutely vulnerable in the face of fear, say yes to serving others, allow our hea...
Feb 14, 2022•6 min
Three-time Olympian Devon Harris has achieved his greatness. Starting as a barefoot boy trying to win a track race, Devon became a member of Jamaica's first Olympic bobsled team. SHOW NOTES: As a young boy living in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica, Devon would stand near a light post to see the people living well-off in the distance and it motivated him to see a brighter future. Your biography is not your destiny. The whining, the complaining the justifying, until you stop that you remain powerle...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr 10 min
After our region was dumped with as much as a foot of ice and snow, I was surprised when a client moved forward with a live, in-person event last week -- although I shouldn't have been. The name of this fearless organization derives its name from a fearless dog that raced through a blizzard to save lives. My friends, too often we ignore our potential for significance. Because we don't have the same talent as others, or lack the position in the organization to directly impact outcome, or lack cha...
Feb 07, 2022•7 min•Season 13Ep. 435
For 18 years, Daniel Jones' mission has been to publish honest personal essays about contemporary relationships in his popular New York Times column Modern Love. It has spawned a podcast and a TV series by the same name, all focused on love. Love lost, love found and love reclaimed. Love that's romantic, familial, platonic and unexpected. Most of all, stories celebrating love as it exists in real life. Today, Dan shares the genesis of Modern Love , some of the most memorable essays and what he's...
Feb 03, 2022•52 min•Season 13Ep. 434
When we've experienced the sharp disappointment of being let down by others, when is the right time to accept what happened, embrace what is and move forward into what could be? Although debating exactly how long holding onto righteous anger is understandable, the example of Hiroo Onoda demonstrates the dangers of clutching it for too long. What do we do with the sharp disappointment of being let down by others? When is the right time to accept what happened? And when is it appropriate to embrac...
Jan 31, 2022•6 min•Season 13Ep. 433
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist and author of the New York Times bestselling book My Stroke of Insight . As irony would have it, at 37 years old, Dr. Jill experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain. Within hours, she lost the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Today, Dr. Jill passionately shares her 8-year-long journey to rebuild her brain and recover all physical, emotional, and thinking abilities, in a...
Jan 27, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 13Ep. 432
What if the very thing we worry about making us somehow unattractive or unworthy is in reality the very thing that makes us most beautiful and loveable? In a marketplace that celebrates physical perfection and individual accomplishment, one of the last lessons taught by Mother Teresa reminds us what matters most. Learn more about Bill McKendry on Live Inspired Podcast ep. 430 here .
Jan 24, 2022•6 min•Season 13Ep. 431
Growing up with parents who were deaf, Bill McKendry has a unique perspective on communication and the power it holds. In fact, it's what ignited his passion to be a voice and communicator for those who need help. At the height of his successful 35-year career in advertising and marketing, Bill left a large advertising agency to launch non-profit DO MORE GOOD. Using his expertise from iconic brands including American Express and Target, Bill focuses on magnifying the missions of non-profits to m...
Jan 20, 2022•51 min•Season 13Ep. 430
"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." - Maya Angelou Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays are obvious dates to celebrate. Bake a cake, light the candles, sing a song, gather together, toast to life. But what do we do with the dates that remind us not of what we have, but of all we lost? How should we treat those anniversaries? For my family and me, one such date is January 17th. On that date 35 years ago, I was burn...
Jan 17, 2022•6 min•Season 13Ep. 429
Mattie Jackson Selecman dreamt of being an author, yet she never expected her first book Lemons On Friday would be about the tragic + unexpected loss of her beloved husband of 11 months. Daughter of country megastar Alan Jackson and New York Times bestselling author Denise Jackson, Mattie became a widow at 28 years old and was forced to navigate a future drastically different from the one she had planned. Relying on her faith, she embarked on a deeply personal journey through devastating loss an...
Jan 13, 2022•58 min•Season 13Ep. 428
When I was just nine-years-old laying on what was expected to be my deathbed after a house fire, my mother guided me with a question that changed the trajectory of my life: John, do you want to die? That day we made a commitment to faithfully, courageously and collectively fight on. We had no idea of what tomorrow might hold. All we knew was the fight was on.
Jan 10, 2022•7 min•Season 13Ep. 427
After narrowly escaping the devastation of 9/11, Kushal Choksi recognized he had been so consumed in pursuing the "American dream" that he had forgotten to pursue his own. From being a Wall Street trader immersed in the material world, Kushal embarked on a quest to find answers to life's biggest questions. Today, hear Kushal share how he explored his doubts with spirituality, the peace he ultimately found and what it means for you. SHOW NOTES: Kushal grew up in a densely populated small town in ...
Jan 06, 2022•55 min•Season 13Ep. 426
