Your life is a collage of all the experiences you have, people you meet, and what you learn along the way.

Like many collages, even if they begin with a concept or a plan, as you bring them together they may take directions you hadn’t anticipated and show you things even more interesting than what you originally expected.

This was the case for Noemi Beres, whose professional work owning and managing a podcast booking agency involves helping people tell their stories and connecting them to hosts who provide the canvas for their verbal collage.

Growing up as an only child in a small town in Hungary, Noemi had loving, supportive parents as well as an extended family who nurtured her spirit, helped her fulfill her dreams, and saw things in her that she could not see in herself.

When Noemi started school, she was bullied by her classmates. Seeing that Noemi needed something bigger than that little school and town, her parents encouraged her to study abroad for a year in Denmark. After she came back to Hungary, locals barely recognized Noemi – she had become a different person.

The foundation was a level of confidence and clarity far beyond most young women her age. As she began her university studies, she fell in love with and quickly married a young man from her hometown. All these years later, they’re still married and going strong, so everything looks fine in that department.

Noemi finished college, moved to Ireland, and started her career and her family. She and her husband discovered their love of entrepreneurship and built a business together. They built a family when their son was born. And when they decided they preferred a Mediterranean climate, they moved to Cyprus and started their life there. Yep, everything’s fine there too.

But that word… “fine”… Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Just when everything seemed to be going well, Noemi’s father was diagnosed with cancer. He was given a six-month prognosis, but beat the odds and lived two years, passing away in 2019. A few months after that, her paternal grandmother suffered an injury and died as a result. A few months after that, the pandemic hit and Noemi and her husband lost their business and found themselves starting over professionally.

In the midst of all this grief, Noemi reconnected with her flair for art. She had begun weaving collages while sitting with her sick father. This passion took on a life of its own and she now incorporates her love of photography, as she creates collages using family photos with pictures she takes.

In a moment, when you meet Noemi, you’ll see how all the threads of her life experience come together as she plans to publish a book of collages and participate in a very unique pilgrimage!

Noemi’s hype song is "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters.

Resources:

• Noemi Beres’ website: https://www.podcastconnections.co/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noemiberes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noemi.beres
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noemi_beres_/

Invitation from Lori:

Now, let me mention that in my special guide, 5 Easy Ways to Start Living the Sabbatical Life, you can discover, step-by-step, how you can stop settling for “fine” and look at your life with a fresh set of eyes. Even if, like many people in today’s high-speed world, you’re not in a position to take a...

Having compassion for people is generally considered a good thing and a sign that you’re a decent and kind person who makes an effort to make the world a better place by being part of it.

Raised in a religious household, Tara LaFon Gooch learned the value of love and kindness towards others. However, she struggled to extend that same love and compassion to herself.

She came from a home with an abusive, toxic father who disappeared from the picture just when she was beginning to discover the meaning of life from an adult perspective, and she hasn’t seen him since she was 14. You see already the conflict in energies and values.

Confidence was a major issue for Tara, and in so many ways she was down on herself.

On March 16, 2022, she found herself sitting alone in her garage, having just quit a job that featured a highly toxic work environment, contemplating ending her life.

How had everything gone so wrong? Why doesn’t it ever get any better? “If I have a purpose, let me know. If there’s anybody that can hear me, just let me know,” she cried.

Things were not fine at all – and Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Then she heard a voice in her mind that said, “Your life has meaning but you need to give more.”

After hearing that message, Tara discovered some powerful lessons.

One of them was giving yourself radical permission to accept that your memories of past experiences and traumas are YOUR memories – and the simple fact that they may not actually be exactly what happened does not make them less real. Reframing negative experiences can lead to personal growth.

Also, when you have conditions like Tara’s - major depressive disorder and anxiety - you find yourself crying in the shower, screaming into the void, wondering what’s wrong with you and why it has to be this way. Treatments usually involve years of therapy, often combined with medications that make you feel worse, not better.

But then she found a treatment that costs nothing, yet rewires neural pathways and increases dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain.

In a moment, when you meet Tara, you’ll learn all about this “wonder drug”.

Tara’s hype song is “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

Resources:

• Tara LaFon Gooch’s website: https://taralafongooch.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-lafon-gooch
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tara.lafon
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taralafongooch/
• X: https://x.com/Taralafongooch
• Watch Tara LaFon Gooch’s TedX Talk now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuq-HJb_Qds

Invitation from Lori:

In my special guide, 5 Easy Ways to Start Living the Sabbatical Life, you can discover, step-by-step, how you can stop settling for “fine” and look at your life with a fresh set of eyes. Even if, like many people in today’s high-speed world, you’re not in a position to take a month or year-long sabbatical.

You know how you normally hear the disclaimer “Don’t try this at home!” In this case, you CAN try this at home. And not just “try,” DO.

Once you read it, you’ll

✅ Discover a counter-intuitive approach to...

Picture yourself living what seems like a regular life as a parent and entrepreneur, where everything seems uneventful and you have every reason to expect the rest of your life to follow a pretty straightforward path. You know, everything’s FINE.

Then, one day you go to pick up your kids from school and all of a sudden you’re seeing double.

Next thing you know, your life has been turned completely upside-down, your legs are numb and you’re sitting in a wheelchair.

In what version of reality could you picture yourself becoming an Olympic weightlifter just five years later?

This is Kim Rahir’s story of how Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Fortunately, she was raised with two values that would support her through her unexpected midlife journey – always be ready to show up and perform, and conscientiously show respect for people and take them as you find them.

Along with these values, she became a person who did not wallow in self-pity or claim victimhood status. There was no asking “why me?” when faced with adversity.

When she first started seeing double that day when she was 45 and picking her kids up from school, her doctor suggested she might be experiencing a cerebral hemorrhage and urged her to hail the next taxi to the hospital. After a long series of tests combined with the onset of additional health issues, it eventually became apparent she had Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Now wait – five years later she was at the gym training to become an Olympic-level weightlifter?

As you’re about to discover, her doctor discouraged her from doing it in a way that indicated he didn’t want to be involved. She was told to take all sorts of injections that made her feel worse, and ultimately traded them in for some ibuprofen. All of it made her feel disrespected, and she had to find a way to reclaim her power.

This isn’t the outcome you’d imagine for someone who has Multiple Sclerosis - nor would you picture her becoming a fitness coach helping women feel fabulous doing 15 minutes of work each day.

In a moment, when you meet Kim, you’ll be awestruck by her comeback story.

Kim’s hype song is “Far From Over” by Frank Stallone.

Resources:

• Kim Rahir’s website: https://kimrahir.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-rahir/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kim.rahir/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kim.rahir/
• Take Kim Rahir's free Strength and Health Assessment today to find out exactly where you are at and what will be your best next steps: https://link.roasmail.com/widget/survey/GiXtvmtUw9cHkOlCRRLG

Invitation from Lori:

In my special guide, 5 Easy Ways to Start Living the Sabbatical Life, you'll discover, step-by-step, how you can stop settling for “fine” and look at your life with a fresh set of eyes even if, like many people in today’s high-speed world, you’re not in a position to take a month or year-long sabbatical.

You know how you normally hear the disclaimer “Don’t try this at home!” In this case, you CAN try this at home. And not just “try,” DO.

Once you read it, you’ll

✅ Discover a counter-intuitive approach to making intentional changes in mindset and lifestyle.

✅ Learn how to own your...

Here’s a challenge for you: ask your social media followers if they believe money can buy happiness or bring it up at your next social gathering and watch people fight it out.

Some say you can; some say you can’t; others say that money cannot buy happiness like getting a box of happiness at the store, but it solves problems and greases the wheels that make happiness possible and attainable.

But what if you’ve been looking at it in the completely wrong way?

Growing up the daughter of a German immigrant father and a mother whose parents came from Norway, Susan Glusica was raised with what she calls Northern European mores, values, and habits. Like so many of my guests, she was raised with a strong work ethic but lacked emotional nurturing, which influenced her professional and personal relationships.

Out of college, she started on Wall Street and eventually transitioning to financial advising. Her career went well; she moved from one job to another without ever posting a resume. Susan’s values surrounding hard work got her noticed for doing the work of three people, which brought prospective employers calling her, rather than vice versa.

Her husband was also getting his career going, and everything seemed fine, but you know what comes next – Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Susan felt that while she enjoyed her work and was very good at it, she wasn’t creating a legacy for herself. So she started her own business, which she planned to make wildly successful by compressing ten years of development into one. While she built the business, her husband landed a great job so he could take over as breadwinner for a while.

Then the Great Recession hit and he lost his job. Crushed by the burden of debts she had hidden from her husband and unexpected medical expenses, she filed for bankruptcy. Yes – the financial wizard who helped others create wealth filed for bankruptcy.

But then a few years later, she discovered the seven energetic levels of money consciousness. Coming to understand the power of frequency and vibration, and discovering new terminology to replace the entire “money buys happiness” riddle, have since enabled Susan and her husband to create what some would consider an opulent lifestyle.

If you, like so many, are struggling with money, this episode is a must-hear.

Susan’s hype song is “Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow.

Resources:

• Susan Glusica’s website: https://susanglusica.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanglusica/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanDGlusica
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyenergymastery/
• Claim your free copy of “7 Prosperity Keys to Bring in More Money with Ease”: https://susanglusica.com/

Invitation from Lori:

Now, if like Susan was, you’re feeling like an imposter claiming you can help other succeed at something you failed at, the 5 Easy Ways to Start Living The Sabbatical Life guide could be the fresh-eyes look that changes your outlook.

Once you read it, you’ll

✅ Discover a counter-intuitive approach to making intentional changes in mindset and lifestyle.

✅ Learn how to own your feelings and your struggles so you can address them.

✅ Find out how to face fears, step out of your comfort zone, and...

When you hear the word “perfectionist”, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of yourself?

Typically, it’s someone who holds themselves to impossibly and unachievably high standards, driven by fear of real or imagined consequences if they don’t get it (whatever “it” is) exactly right.

Because perfect is rarely possible, they never “measure up,” and they get discouraged and burn out. They’ve given away all their f**ks and feel like they never got any results or recognition for all their work, so they stop caring altogether.

To say the least, that makes them unproductive – which is exactly what Kathryn Mayer is here to change.

Kathryn was raised by a father who was a neurologist and a professor who taught her that your identity comes from the work you do and a homemaker mother who passed on perfectionism – that you have to work hard and if you’re going to do something, you must do it well or not at all.

As a child, Kathryn tried ballet and wasn’t good at it, then gymnastics which didn’t work out because she was too tall. Then she discovered tennis, which she enjoyed and showed real aptitude for. So, her mother put Kathryn in private lessons and then, because they were spending money on the lessons, she had to compete in tournaments.

Until she was 14, she did well in singles tournaments due to her height advantage over opponents her age, but then the other girls caught up in height. So, she switched to doubles, which she was also good at, but she lost her joy for tennis and quit.

When Kathryn went to college, she was Dean’s List level, but she graduated with no idea what to do as a career! So she hired a career coach, which began a three-year process of discovery that included mapping out a forty (yes, four-oh) year plan. Meanwhile, she went through five careers by the time she was 26 before landing what she thought would be her dream job in New York City.

The following years would see her try more careers, plus take a biking vacation with her husband to Cambodia. It was that trip where it struck her that it was actually okay if she rode in the van instead of fighting to ride her bike over the bad roads. It was okay to not do the thing she thought she was “supposed” to do.

Back home, she was “shoulding” all over herself, her career, and her life – which reminds me of the conversation back in episode 2 with Dara Goldberg where we talked about “shedding the shoulds.”

Finally, she had a boss who told her to lighten up because she was constantly frustrated. When his message didn’t get through, he pulled her aside and asked her a curious question: “Why don’t you try going to clown school?”

In a moment, when you meet Kathryn, you’ll see how all these threads came together and inspired her to mesh productivity with perfectionism. If you feel like you’re just not hacking it, this show is for you.

Kathryn’s hype song is “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross.

Resources:

• Kathyrn Mayer’s website: https://www.kcmayer.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryncmayer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCMConsulting/
• X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/GrandSlamCoach
• Claim your copy of “The Productive Perfectionist:

Building your family and your life is like planting, nurturing, and harvesting crops on a farm. You put a lot of effort, a lot of heart, and a lot of energy into it, hoping your knowledge, wisdom, and patience deliver a bumper crop that fills your pantry and allows you a life of comfort, security, and happiness.

You may have heard the expression “Man plans, God laughs.” My version of that, of course, is Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

That’s how things went for Luvyna Mantle, who saw the crops she had patiently planted and nurtured ripped out by the roots just when she thought the harvest was about to come in.

Luvyna was raised with the values of hard work, sacrifice, and frugality by parents who owned a ranch in Kansas. Her father gave up his corporate job and her mother gave up becoming a global journalist to go all-in with the ranch.

In college, Luvyna met a man who, unlike the folksy cowboys and farm boys she was used to dating, showed up driving a sleek sports car and listening to rap music. In contrast to her stable upbringing, his parents were divorced and he received little accountability as he was shuffled between his parents and relatives. On their first date, they barely said 3 words to each other.

Funny, though - they got married at ages 19 and 18 and due in part to Luvyna’s values around money management and avoiding debt, they had a house and a lot more spending money than typical teenagers. Her husband went into the military to become a careerist. This meant following him to his assignment in Germany and giving up her studies – which she was fine doing.

Fine… yes… Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Right before they shipped out, her husband suffered an injury and was unable to get proper treatment due to his responsibilities. Before long, it became apparent that his dreams of a military career would come to naught, and the family, which now included their infant son, would be coming back to Kansas.

But then COVID kept them stuck in Germany. Eventually, Luvyna was able to return to the States, but because of his condition, her husband had to stay longer. So for nearly a year after she returned to Kansas, Luvyna and her husband were separated except for one three-week furlough.

Once he was home for good, her husband seemed an entirely different man. While he got along fine with their second child, he constantly berated and flipped out on their toddler who was acting out with aggressive behaviors. Luvyna was afraid to leave her kids alone with their dad and scared that if she went out and came home, she’d find her husband dead. Something had to give.

The spoiler alert? Luvyna and her husband are still together and are actually happier than they’ve ever been. How does THAT work? What changed? And how has her experience inspired her to help other military families?

Luvyna’s hype songs are "The Man" by Taylor Swift and "Kings & Queens" by Ava Max.

Resources:

• Luvyna Mantle’s website: https://mantleandco.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luvyna-mantle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mantleandco
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mantleandco/
• Get Luvyna Mantle’s interactive cost-comparison that helps you save money marketing and selling...

Today’s solo episode is about ENERGY!

When you look it up, Energy is defined as the capacity or ability to do work.

I’d expand it to include the capacity or ability to have fun too.

If you have no energy, you’re not going to be getting any work done or having any fun.

“Fine” is not fun – it’s a 4-Letter Word!

Tune in now as we cover three key areas:

1) Figuring out your values and why they matter

2) Finding your energetic home and what’s important about that

3) Why it’s essential to honor what’s not a F*CK YES for you!

Thank you for being part of what we do.

I love you, our listeners, and I appreciate that you’ve said F*ck Yes to listening to Fine is a 4-Letter Word!

Resources:

• My Website: https://ZenRabbit.com/
• The F*ck Being Fine Experience: https://zenrabbit.com/f-being-fine-program/
• LinkedIn: https://zenrabbit.com/linkedin/
• Facebook: https://zenrabbit.com/facebook/
• Instagram: https://zenrabbit.com/instagram/

Invitation from Lori:

If, like me, you find yourself ready to get energized and enjoy what life has to offer that, up until now, you may not have known existed, the 5 Easy Ways to Start Living The Sabbatical Life guide is your roadmap.

Once you read it, you’ll

✅ Discover a counter-intuitive approach to making intentional changes in mindset and lifestyle.

✅ Learn how to own your feelings and your struggles so you can address them.

✅ Find out how to face fears, step out of your comfort zone, and rewire your beliefs.

It’s only 7 pages, so it won’t take you long to get through. If you find yourself feeling stuck or stagnant, this could be the energetic catalyst you need to find what you truly need make this an amazing life.

When you’re ready to say F*ck Being Fine, this guide is the place to start. It’s time to look beyond where you are now so you can get to where you are destined to go.

Go to https://zenrabbit.com right now to download it for free.

Now let’s get pumped up with energy and create a new F*ck Yes for ourselves!

From the very first episode of Fine is a 4-Letter Word, where my guest revealed that she did not even know what emotions were until she was in middle age because she was punished as a child for having them, I’ve been sharing stories of what happens from the inside out.

My mission and drive for this podcast is to give you hope, help you find your passion and purpose, and dare you to see the life that’s waiting for you, so you’ll never hear - or say - the word “fine” in the same way again.

Brad Chandler, who was my client/boss when I was the marketing director for his real estate company, brings a level of clarity and understanding to this work that could change your life in just the next few minutes.

See, Brad was created – not raised – with the belief that something was wrong with him and he was never good enough. Note how I phrased this.

His parents didn’t mean for this to happen. It was simply a consequence of how they processed – or failed to process – their own traumas that were handed to them through generational patterns. They handed them down to Brad.

Fast-forward to when Brad was in his mid-40s. He had a successful company and a boat, but he also had two failed marriages, two kids who lived with severe anxiety, a feeling that even though he was wealthy and owned a successful company he had not succeeded, a lack of joy, and a propensity to smoke a lot of weed.

Lots of people get divorced, have anxious kids, question their self-worth, lack joy, smoke a little weed now and then, and they seem fine on the day-to-day.

But you know… you guessed it… Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Looking at all these situations, Brad noticed a common denominator in all these situations – Brad Chandler.

Why didn’t Brad Chandler ever seem to be good enough?

Why wasn’t all that hard work paying off for him emotionally?

He was scared. He was hurt. He realized he was protecting himself from something. What did a wealthy guy who from the outside had an incredibly blessed life need protection from?

In a moment, when you meet Brad, you’re not only going to join him on his journey of self-discovery - that has changed him and made him possibly the happiest guy on earth - you’re also going to get a step-by-step prescription on how to understand and sort your own emotions so you finally come to understand that yes, you are good enough.

If you can’t see that for yourself right now, gift yourself this episode now.

Brad’s hype song is “Roar” by Katy Perry.

Resources:

• Brad Chandler’s website: https://www.bradchandler.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lbradchandler/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.chandler1
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bradchandlercoaching
• X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/lbchandler1
• Take the Self-Love Quiz: https://www.bradchandler.com/quiz/
• Claim the Joy Regenerator: https://unlocklimitlessyou.com/joy-regenerator/

Invitation from Lori:

Now if, like Brad, you just don’t feel like you’re good enough, you’re always...