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“This was the deepest surrender I’ve ever had to give way to a medicine.” - Nick Onken Today I am excited to share with you some takeaways from my personal plant medicine journeys in 2023 and to explain in-depth my most recent recent experience with a new plant medicine for me: the Tree of Light plant medicine. I just got back from this amazing trip to Peru and in this episode, I explain the ceremonies I took part in and talk about managing ego deaths. You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And please leave me a Rating and Review! “It was very subconscious. What I learned, I don’t even know; it was very in the body.” - Nick Onken Some things we learn in this podcast: Nick’s 2023 plant medicine recap [1:46] What is the Tree of Light medicine [13:52 ]Takeaways from the Tree of Light ceremony [18:22] How to manage ego death [29:33] Links Mentioned: Connect with Nick on Instagram Get your Nick Onken original hat at Onken Made

“In this moment, are we bridging our own gaps?” - Rev. Briana Lynn Today I continue my conversation with Reverend Briana Lynn. Last week we discussed unraveling religion from society and culture and how to avoid the pitfalls of leadership. In this episode, Briana shares how she came to be at peace after having spent so much of her life trying to escape her own body. She argues that art is anything we interact with or participate in. She and I also discuss the importance of both celebrating the kink in each of us and avoiding the guru-fication of the self.  Listen in as we talk about learning to be okay with things as they are while also striving for personal growth. You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And please leave me a Rating and Review! “The battle or the journey that we all have…is about bridging the persona and the person.” - Rev. Briana Lynn Some things we learn in this podcast: How does Briana define identity alchemy [4:00] What are the dangers of adopting a persona to mask your personhood [5:54] How to close the gap between persona and person [14:29] When is judgment healthy [22:27] How does Briana Lynn define narcissism [30:08] Ways to work through Narcissistic Personality Disorder [33:31] Can judgment be a good thing [39:58] How to create from a place of self-expression [42:17] Final takeaways from Briana [45:49] Links Mentioned: Listen to Onken Radio Episode 222: Burning Religion and the Witches with Rev. Briana Lynn Sign up for the Free Masterclass for Entrepreneurs: Go from Invisible to Influential Connect with Reverend Briana Lynn on Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Orgasmic Oracle Mystery School

“Our greatest joy comes when we are giving our purpose for the highest good of the most people that we can.” - Rev. Briana Lynn Today I talk with Reverend Briana Lynn about the journey of getting to a place of self-expression. Briana is a coach, mentor, and ceremonialist and the Founder of the Orgasmic Oracle Mystery School. We talk about treating ourselves like a piece of art and how to use our angst as fuel. We also touch on the ideas of bottling of our ecstasy and mastering energy. Listen to this episode to learn more about burning witches, unraveling religion from society and culture, and how to avoid the pitfalls of leadership. You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And please leave me a Rating and Review! “The more I stepped away from the church, the more hungry I was for spirituality and actual experiences of God.” - Rev. Briana Lynn Some things we learn in this podcast: Briana’s journey [6:17] What is Briana’s work [11:24] How do people get in the way of their full self-expression [12:50] What is Briana’s religious background [24:12] How to avoid the pitfalls of leadership [33:00] What do people get out of religion [42:14] How to unravel religion from society and culture [50:05] What is the history of the witch [55:37] Are witches relevant today [1:02:49] Links Mentioned: Sign up for the Free Masterclass for Entrepreneurs: Go from Invisible to Influential Connect with Reverend Briana Lynn on Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Orgasmic Oracle Mystery School

“Your identity is a blank canvas for who you want to be.” - Nick Onken Today I share some of the identity alchemy that I have been working on and go into detail about what it means to master ourselves. These past few years I have been going through some major changes that I talk about. I have been doing some serious work to grow as a person and I've been searching for a partner who is on the same path. Identity alchemy and the five C's of self-mastery are helping me to get where I want to go. What do commitment, containers, and celebration have to do with becoming who are meant to be in this world? You can learn all of these things in your head, but if you’re not practicing them, they don’t get integrated into this vessel that we call our earthly body. In this episode, I define what self-mastery actually is and share a list of the five C’s that you can implement in your own life. I also explain how to use containers and introduce my upcoming Identity Alchemy course. You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And please leave me a Rating and Review! “Self-mastery is something you have to care about.” - Nick Onken Some things we learn in this podcast: What does it mean to master oneself [3:37] What are the five C’s of self-mastery [5:23] How is Nick working towards mastering himself [7:05] What are containers [7:52] What is Nick’s Identity Alchemy course [12:33] The Five C's of Self-Mastery: Care and awareness Commitment Containers Consistency Celebration Links Mentioned: Listen to Onken Radio Episode 215: The Statistical Importance of Building Your Personal Brand with AJ Vaden Connect with Nick on Instagram

“Like a lot of men, I was convinced that nothing would change until I hit rock bottom.” - Connor Beaton Today, serial guest Connor Beaton and I discuss what it means to be a good, healthy, grounded, and responsible man. In this episode, Connor opens up about his own personal journey to manhood and explains how he reconciled his relationship with men. We also unpack men’s complicated relationship with porn and talk about the roots of that relationship.  Listen in as Connor and I explore the shadows of men’s psyches, break down the patterns of arousal, and discuss his new book. You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And please leave me a Rating and Review! “When we are in some kind of pursuit of developing ourselves we are more fulfilled.” - Connor Beaton Some things we learn in this podcast: What is men’s work [4:29] How does work spill over into relationships [6:56] What is the end goal of men’s work [10:46] Connor’s journey with men’s work [13:40] What are some key takeaways from Connor’s book [20:26] Is Connor’s new book also for women [33:05] Which topics are covered in Connor's new book [35:25] What effect does porn have on men [43:06] How to understand male arousal [48:14] What does sexual mastery look like [59:13] Links Mentioned: Listen to Onken Radio Episode 129: Connor Beaton – How Personal Growth Catalyzes Your Creativity Listen to Onken Radio Episode 200: Creating Together in Partnership with Vienna Pharaon and Connor Beaton Get your copy of Men's Work by Connor Beaton Learn more about Onken Made Connect with Connor Beaton on Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | ManTalks

“I’m really interested in activating a collective sovereign awakening in this lifetime for humanity.” - Kaia Ra Hello, my friends! Welcome to another episode of Onken Radio (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It’s my goal to help you take your divine creativity, business, and life to the next level. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey! Today, I’m excited about my special guest Kaia Ra, the author and channeler of The Sophia Code, a fantastic book on activating your higher self and consciousness through the works and knowledge of the ascended masters. I'm excited to talk about channeling divine creativity and getting out of the way for even more creativity to flow through you.  This podcast is all about consciousness, creativity, and exploring their intersection. Here’s a quick taste of what’s to come from my interview with Kaia Ra: “I discovered at an extremely early age that creativity is a state of mind. It's not about an artifact. It's not even about an action. It's about tuning into how your consciousness can download solutions in any moment, whether it's traumatic or blissful — and everything in between.” - Kaia Ra I’m excited to have her on the show to discuss her teachings, the various courses she offers, and even her activated pieces of jewelry she creates with the different ascended masters. As a multidisciplinary creative, I’m excited to share her wealth of knowledge and unlock the spiritual tools to tap into our divine creativity with you.  Let’s jump straight in! Who Is Kaia Ra? Kaia Ra started life in perhaps the most traumatic way: Human trafficking at an elite level.  She and other children were trafficked for their talents, psychic gifts, and creativity. So began a very painful journey of recovering from slavery to sovereignty of what divine creativity could be for her. “I believe a lot of compassion was generated along that healing journey for anyone that's ever struggled with creativity because I know what it's like to feel so painfully vulnerable in accepting the gifts of my own creativity and being seen in them. I believe that's a pretty universal feeling for a lot of people that have survived being on this planet. … The pain that I've personally experienced during creativity, I feel, is a universal pain that we're all collectively transmuting together.” - Kaia Ra Kaia Ra spent about seven years in seclusion and training with ceremonial elders during her thirties as part of her healing journey. She spent her time listening and getting hyper-focused on her mission. It was around ten years ago at Mount Shasta where she had a larger-than-life experience. “All the physical reality melted down. I was [home] and went to sit on my couch to channel some stuff for a book I thought I was writing. The book got downloaded in that moment where I was taken into the light — and it was just light. I watched the physical house melt down, [and] I watched the atomic structure of reality dissolve. In that light, I was asked to channel The Sophia Code as a declaration of humanity, sovereign divinity given to us from the ascended masters.” - Kaia Ra Thus the Sophia Code® book, which became an international bestseller within four days of publishing and became a phenomenon in 32 countries, was born.    Her journey didn’t end there; while doing much healing around artistry, Kaia also started designing a jewelry line. Ascended master Isis told her she would create jewelry someday, which felt crazy because she had no idea how. After a trip up Mount Shasta, a holy mountain, Kaia Ra was contacted by her now business partner about jewelry work. The timing was incredible; years later, all their jewelry is hand carved in Bali, a country where channeling is a part of their culture.

“How we feel, move, and be in life directly affects our business.” - Nick Onken Hey guys, welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the creative entrepreneur's body, mind, and soul. It’s my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey! Today, instead of interviewing someone, I have decided to share 11 tools that I use as a creative entrepreneur to scale my business — and look after my mental health, too, as I’m my own boss! You might not have your own business yet, but what I’m sharing can help you start your journey and figure out how you can become an entrepreneur.  So wherever you are on your journey with entrepreneurship, I hope my 11 tools for entrepreneurs resonate and help you. Let’s get started! 1. Personal Development I find personal development essential in the journey of entrepreneurship because how we feel and move in life directly affects our business. I've interviewed successful people like Scooter Braun, Usher, Donna Karan, AJ Vaden, and Gary Zukav to name a few — and the biggest thing for them is a growth mindset.  Personal development makes you a better human being and positively affects your business. That growth helps you weather storms — all the ups and downs and challenges that come with being your own boss as a creative entrepreneur.  Personal development can come in different ways from books to courses. Some examples of courses I’ve done are MITT, which is Mastery In Transformational Training, a a course geared explicitly toward emotional intelligence and leadership training. I was able to apply what I learned to my business and how I run it now.  I’ve also attended the ALA (Ascension Leadership Academy), run by my friends Brad and Jenna, which helped me develop a better and bigger space of possibility for my business and life.  Personal Development is one of the biggest keys, and the tools that I've acquired over the last few years while building my own business have helped me weather all the ups and downs. 2. Morning Routine This tool is crucial to creating the best platform for personal development and productive days. Developing a healthy morning routine has been essential for me, especially as I’ve learned to create discipline to get the morning started right and to build healthy habits for my mental health. Creating a consistent morning practice or routine helps get the train on track for the rest of the day.  My morning routine starts as soon as I wake up, and I don’t check my phone (no messages, emails, or anything). I meditate for 20 minutes, followed by a gratitude practice for a couple of minutes before I move into my movement practice of working out. That usually takes about an hour, at least.  Some people like to journal as part of their morning practice, and there is no right or wrong way to do that — so try different things to find the right routine that works for you.  3. Meditation I practice Ziva meditation, taught by Emily Fletcher. Meditation teaches you to stay centered and keep inner peace for moments when chaos unfolds. I find it useful as a way to look after my mental health. It's a mantra-based meditation to de-stress the mind and remove the monkey chatter to balance me out. I can wake up with my mind starting to chatter constantly, and Ziva meditation helps me align myself, get the stress out of my body, and clear my mind.  I include the gratitude practice as part of the meditation practice. Gratitude shifts your emotional makeup and way of being, and we all have something to be grateful for — especially because we’re alive! Gratitude sets a wonderful vibration for the day ahead to ground me in what I have instead of foc...

“We can all be polyamorous.” - Meleza Morris Hey guys, welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It’s my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey! Today, I’ve got an extra special guest for you to discuss elements from our sexuality that can help us build our Identity Alchemy. It’s essential to establish trust with your partners, and finding an expert to help us navigate the awkwardness that can surround sexuality, sex, tantra, polyamory, gender-bending, and love with meaningful relational communication is not that easy. That’s why today’s guest is an intimacy coordinator expert. I wanted to have her on the podcast because my own sexuality is currently something that I've been exploring. Here’s a taste of her wisdom: “There is a deeper psychological plane that is required to understand before being able to integrate many of the BDSM kink world or the tantra world, the sacred sexuality world, or just sex in general. If we are not understanding of our agency, of our sovereignty, it's very challenging to lead a life where we're gonna find happiness, in the way that can actually break down all of the little sticky parts that have stuck to us because of our early childhood development, because of our little-t and our big-T traumas.” - Meleza Morris Wherever we are along our journey to unpack our deepest loves or avoid overstepping the line of safety, communication is the key. That’s why I wanted to talk to Meleza today, and she speaks about how it’s all about creating the space to explore these things.  Let’s jump right in! Who Is Meleza Morris? Meleza Morris is a Certified Intimacy Coordinator for TV & Film, a devoted consultant in the Queer lifestyle community, and Sacred Sexuality Architect. Meleza is fluent in English and Spanish and can help others as a certified Health Coach, trauma-informed sex educator, facilitator, and kinkster.  Meleza is committed to being a part of a movement that helps to create impactful solutions — a Sexual and Consensual Awakening. They desire to connect through creative and pioneering conversations, lay pathways to defeat adversity with folks representing large demographics, and continually build bridges around gender, erotic empowerment, body positivity, consent, and cosmic evolution.  Meleza currently resides in Miami and travels for work frequently. They recently decided to ask clients to put the cash they wished to pay them inside something fun — one was a baby Yoda blanket — and although such a small shift, it creates excitement every time for her now because one of her love languages is gifts. Now, she gets more excited to see what people put the money into than she does to get paid! Meleza’s sexual awakening started at a very young age. They were always very curious about sexuality, so their Barbies were having sex. Meleza felt attracted to boys and girls and remembers their dad catching them naked with others in the closet. It was the first and only time their dad laid hands on them. Still, that experience shifted their whole life because that moment was when something curious and pleasurable became taboo, stigmatized, and something to be disciplined. Thus their journey started with constantly trying to decipher what's okay and what's not okay.  It wasn’t until they were 24 that Meleza embraced what they now know as polyamory. It was the first time they had heard the term polyamory. Still, they realized that throughout their relationships in their teenage years, yes, they were wholly invested in their boyfriend and loved them dearly, but they still wanted to have sex with other people.  “When I realized there is a community of people...

“It takes courage to be able to do plant medicine.” - Nick Onken Welcome back for another episode of ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio), folks! Our purpose is simple: to help you explore the world from creativity, consciousness, and everything else in between to help you optimize your life to its fullest expression.  I am grateful to have you here to learn from yet another crazy experience in my journey. Today, I want to share about the plant medicine retreat that we recently concluded in Tulum, Mexico, called the Metamorph. It was the first time I ever co-hosted a retreat, which I did with my cosmic counterpart, E11even, while also experiencing a personal metamorphosis through the guided use of plant medicine. It was such a thrilling and surreal experience at the same time! This short retreat helped attendees transform who they were into the next version of themselves, which is the identity alchemy that I talk about a lot — connecting people with yourself by telling your story. The inner alchemy,  and the identity alchemy piece of it, is really who are you on the inside, and all these things, including plant medicine, are mere tools to help you go through that process of finding yourself. The metamorph plant medicine retreat we just did was a process to help us actualize more of who we were, and unleash who we're supposed to be in this world. The impact we’re meant to create sometimes gets hindered by all the negative stories we tell ourselves, so if we can free ourselves, that will make the most significant impact. Now that you have a little brief about today’s topic, I can’t wait to share my beautiful spiritual experience with you all. Plant medicine is a fantastic tool that helps us identify ourselves by working through past trauma if done under the watchful eyes of the right mentors and with the right intention. I hope this inspires you to get one step closer to transforming yourself into the best YOU! My Private Session: An Eye Opener Before the retreat began, I got a chance to do a private session that lasted for about 5 hours and was truly eye-opening. It started with a micro dosage of peyote, which helped me drop into my body, opening up the way for energy work.  One of the mentors has extraordinary power to see this energy field and identify where trauma is blocking your myofascial tissues. She started by moving through my body, finding the blocks, and pushing that energy out, and was also able to tap into my guides and see who they are, which too was a unique experience. In the middle of it, she pulled me back, and we started talking about the things she found and asked me about what I had gone through in life.  Then she connected me to my guides: a white male puma, a female black hawk, a peacock, a female dragon, and a monk! It was crazy to have them articulated because I've definitely felt them come through in my life in the form of interactions or personality and character traits. So it was really resonant for me. We then did some more bodywork and finished with some Rapé, a tobacco-based shamanic snuff that is forcefully blown through the subject’s nose. In most cases, including mine, it causes the users to purge and helps release the toxins and dark energies that don’t serve you. It Takes Courage to Trigger Your Transformation Bravery is a tool to take you to your own place of self-expression on plant medicine journeys. We have all these traumas, and the dark and negative energy loops around us, the weight of which leads us into self-doubt, paving the way for fear and trauma.  Spiritual journeys like these are about breaking free from those constructs, but facing your demons is not easy. Only 5% of our brain is conscious, while 95% of our brain remains untapped,

“People are following people more than companies more than ever before.” - AJ Vaden Hey guys, welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It’s my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey! Today, I’ve got an extra special guest for you to discuss critical elements that help us build our identity alchemy by focusing on building a solid personal brand. To do that these days, it’s essential to establish trust with your audience.  I met both AJ Vaden and her husband Rory through our mutual friend, Lewis Howes, who many of you might know from this podcast. Here’s a taste of some of her wisdom: “60% of Americans said the number one most important thing that dictates who I purchase from is testimonials. What do other people have to say [about] working with you? That is the cheapest, fastest thing you could do to grow your business. Testimonials are by far the most important thing.” - AJ Vaden I wanted to have AJ on the show to speak more about the strategies for building a personal brand. If you are interested in doing a personal brand photoshoot with me as I did with Rory and AJ, you can visit here to get more information and submit a form to see if we're a good fit.  But right now, let’s jump straight in! Who Is AJ Vaden? AJ Vaden started a company called a Brand Builders Group with her husband, Rory Vaden, and is an international speaker, million-dollar producer, and co-host of The Influential Personal Brand podcast. As a personal brand strategist, she challenges and inspires people to reinvent themselves as part of building and monetizing their personal brand. AJ has personally worked with thousands of individuals to help them focus their expertise, expand their reach, build their reputation, and brand the one thing no one else has — their name. Over the last ten years, she has been a part of the founding, launching, and building of a very successful 8-figure coaching business, a multi-million-dollar consulting business, and a 7-figure speaking business. Along with her company, Brand Builders Group, AJ was featured in a 3-page spread in Success Magazine on the impacts of personal branding and recently being named one of the Top 5 Personal Branding Speakers of 2019.  Her client roster includes working with top-level executives from organizations such as Bridgestone, Verizon Cellular Sales, Home Franchise Concepts, and DirecTV as well as working with well-known speakers, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs, and online influencers such as mega podcast host Lewis Howes and original “shark,” creator of the infomercial and serial entrepreneur, Kevin Harrington. AJ has taken 25 years of setbacks, successes, and tragedies and distilled them into simple yet powerful lessons that will help anyone become better than ever. What People Care About Brand Builders Group recently conducted a study in the United States using a third party, The Center for Generational Kinetics, which is free to download here. From their six months of gathering research, AJ shares the number one thing people highlighted as important when evaluating a personal image and brand. “The number one thing is: It's all about the authenticity of the human connection. One of the biggest things that we've learned and what we buy into is that people don't care much about what you sell and what you do — they care more about who you are. We've been doing these own studies with our own set of audiences, and we will post something about our study, a podcast, or some piece of original content, and it gets a third of the engagement of posting a video playing tee-ball with my two boys.” - AJ Vaden I wasn’t expecting to hear that.

“Are psychedelics the Google Maps to the kingdom of heaven?” - Brian Muraresku Hello and welcome to another episode of ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey because it’s my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level.  Today, my special guest is a good friend of mine, Brian Muraresku. He is the author of the book The Immortality Key. — This is a topic that I've been quite fascinated with recently because I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, but over the last few years, I've been diving down the rabbit hole of plant medicines, and this book unveils a phenomenal storyline. Brian went to the Vatican and spent some time there with the elders in the library, and he shared in this book his discoveries about how ancient people were tapping into the divine and discovering transcendent portals into the universe. In this episode, Brian and I discuss what was in ancient wine, what they drank at the last supper, and when Christianity became mainstream. He also shares some of the research he came across while writing his book that points to early psychedelic use within the communities that gave rise to Christianity. While looking into the historical records of mysticism and the birth of religion as we know it, Brian found examples of people seeking out the meaning of life by bringing about experiences of “mini deaths” and coming out on the other side understanding their true identities. Who Is Brian Muraresku? Brian Muraresku is a lawyer who has been practicing globally for more than fifteen years. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit. He is also a member of the New York Bar and an alumnus of Georgetown Law. In 2016, Brian Muraresku became the founding executive director of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, and their works were featured on ESPN and CNN as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post.  Brian has appeared on several media platforms including CNN, Goop Podcast, The Jenny McCarthy Show, Vice Magazine, the Tom Hartman Show, Reddit Ask Me Anything, and more. His debut book is The Immortality Key, which aims to uncover the ancient wine, what they drank during the last supper and the connection of wine to the birth of Christianity. The Ancient Wine and the Role of Women It's no secret that wine is a big part of many cultures around the world. In fact, wine has been around for centuries and played a major role in ancient civilizations. Wine continues to be an important part of contemporary culture, and it's fascinating to explore its history, how it has evolved over time, and the role of women in the preparation of wine for religious rituals. “There were many women mentioned in Paul's letters … consecrating wine. So whether that was a proper Eucharist or a hybrid of something pagan, Christian women were typically in charge of mixing these potions, both in early Christianity and all those ancient Greek cults that I was mentioning and probably deep into prehistory. Now, women are gathering the herbs. Women are mixing these potions, and these are the same women like Circe in Homer's literature who become our witches much later on. It's always women who possess this really deep, drug expertise.” - Brian Muraresku Ancient wine is believed to be significantly far off from the wine we know today. Tracing back to the time of Homer and the Roman Empire, wine was considered like a psychedelic spiked with toxins, herbs, plants, and potentially lethal substances that produce hallucinogenic and intoxicating effects. Also, ancient wine has been at the core of many rituals, including Christianity. Wine and the Beginning of Christianity

“Create your moments.” - Nick Onken Hello, my fellow alchemists! Nick Onken here for our last solo episode of 2021 on ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the soul, mind, and body of the creative entrepreneur. Today, I'm going to recap 11 things that I learned this year.  2021 has been another crazy year,  but life is always a learning process. It’s important to keep on learning new things as we face the new year, and I think having that attitude of either winning or learning is essential. Every year, we go through different pieces of our life’s journey, and this past year was quite a journey — it's been a different space of life, a different space of creation for me. I’ve been diving into new modalities and new mediums, especially the medium of music, learning how to DJ, and now I'm learning music production. Just following where my joys and passions are and the things that I'm interested in is a huge piece of growth. That’s why I am sharing with you my stories and the lessons I’ve learned this year. Eleven Things I Learned From the Past Year Every day, we are exposed to new information, perspectives, and opportunities that can help us become a better version of ourselves. Sometimes these lessons come from our own experiences. Other times they come from the people and things around us. For 2021, these experiences served as lessons we can learn from, and I’m sharing with you the eleven things I’ve learned from this past year. 1. Health Optimization Is Important There is no question that optimal health is important. After all, if we're not healthy, we can't enjoy life to the fullest extent possible. Fortunately, there are things we can do to keep ourselves in our best shape, from eating a healthy diet to getting enough exercise. Being able to dive into health and wellness has been something that's become an actually bigger passion of mine over the last couple of years. I’ve learned that by taking steps to improve our health, we can boost our energy levels and feel better overall. So don't wait — start optimizing your health, and you'll be glad you did. 2.  Identity Alchemy Is Never Ending and Is a Personal Growth Process We all have moments in life where we feel like we need to change but just don't know how. We want to become something new but struggle with figuring out who that is and where to start. This is natural! It's a sign that you're growing, evolving, and becoming more yourself. Transformation is never easy, but it's always worth it.  The journey of self-discovery is an endless one, and there's no wrong way to do it. So let go of your doubts and fears, and just dive in! Identity alchemy is a process that I've been developing over the last couple of years, primarily oriented toward creating a personal brand that aligns with who you are from the inside out. But the identity alchemy process deconstructs and curates, and it is becoming something that I continue to go through over and over in my life. As we grow, we let go of old identities and create new ones. 3. Uncomfortable Conversations Are Growth Life is all about growth. If you're not growing, you're dying. It's as simple as that. One of the best ways to grow is by having uncomfortable conversations. Yes, those conversations make your stomach churn and your heart race. However, if you want to grow, you have to face them head-on. So get out there and have those uncomfortable conversations!  4. The Universe Has Bigger Plans It's easy to get bogged down by the small stuff. The day-to-day grind of work, bills, and household chores can be overwhelming at times. However, it's important to remember that we're all a part of something much bigger. The universe has big plans for us. This is an interesting one because my mom passed away this year from cancer. She's been battling it for a couple of years,