Fulfillment Equation

Season 3 Trailer

Are you curious about the next season of the podcast? You don’t have to wait much longer. I’m excited to share a sneak peek with you in this short episode on what’s coming soon. 
Get ready to take a deep dive into each of the Fulfillment Foundations as we launch into Season 3 of the podcast. This trailer gives you the inside scoop on all of the goodness that’s about to unfold. I think you’ll see why this is shaping up to be the biggest and boldest season yet!

Erin and Josh on Season 2 Reflections

In this special episode, Josh joins me as we once again come full circle - this time to wrap up Season 2! We reflect on the highlights of the season and talk about the themes that emerged across the conversations this time around. We also cover my favourite nuggets from each guest in the series. It's a great way to get a taste for what's covered in each episode so you can pick out the ones you're most interested in listening to.
Wondering what you can expect in Season 3? There's a sneak peak at the end of this episode. I'll also describe the fun that's happening for FE Community members in between the seasons!

Nancy Ho and Erin on Redefining Success and Fostering Fulfillment

In my final guest episode of Season 2, I'm chatting with Fulfillment guru, Nancy Ho, who joins us all the way from Singapore! Nancy's work centres on what she has labeled as the "Professional Paradox", which is the odd duality in which many people who are talented and (by all traditional measures) "successful", often struggle to find personal fulfillment. Why is this? How is it possible to "have it all" and still be depressed?
In our conversation, Nancy talks about the pitfalls of the "outside-in" mindset and the emptiness of chasing happiness highs. We dive into the importance of the "why" behind our dreams, taking an "I choose" approach, and being intentional about identifying what is important and scheduling it accordingly. Nancy gives us tips on how to redefine our own perceptions of success. She also shares some helpful wisdom around understanding your beliefs (e.g. expecting the world to be fair) and creating a healthy balance between what you can control and what you can't. Finally, Nancy walks us through 5 specific strategies we can all use to guide us toward a stronger sense of fulfillment. I love how this episode feels fun and light-hearted on the surface, but the content is deep and hearty. I anticipate it will leave you with a lot to reflect on.
As usual, we finish the episode by building Nancy's equation: 7C + 5e + 4m +7sp + 3d + 2ch

Erin on Checking In and Assessing Progress (Personal Strategy: Step 4)

This week, I cover the final step in Your Personal Strategy practice: Checking In & Assessing Progress. This describes the ongoing work you can do to connect with the progress you are making toward your vision and make adjustments to your strategy and action plan as needed. As much as we may like our strategy to be a “set it and forget it” thing, building fulfillment in our future takes our active participation to occasionally re-energize us and get us back on course.
In the episode, I describe how to reflect on your progress through the occasional vision assessment, and then apply the insights from your assessment to make tweaks to your personal strategy model and update your action plan. All of this is done through an analogy to the famous Apollo spaceflight missions because, let's face it, space travel is super cool!
One of the things I also cover in this episode is the notion of being both present and future-oriented at the same time. This is the sweet spot where your Unique Equation and Personal Strategy intersect! This is important because we want to be careful not to let our pursuit of future fulfillment take away from our fulfillment in the present. However, when working in balance, the two fulfillment practices will actually augment and fuel each other. This episode discusses how to approach keeping one foot firmly planted in each camp in order to embrace that ideal balance that leads us to long-lasting fulfillment.

Charles Achampong and Erin on Worldwide Family Travel & The Power of the Pause

Have you ever dreamed about taking a break from your daily routine and travelling the world with your family? This week’s guest, Charles Achampong, did EXACTLY that - put his regular life on pause and travelled the world for 6 months with his wife and two young kids. Through this experience, Charles learned a ton about himself and the people he loves the most. It also allowed him a chance to shift his perspective and acted as a catalyst for his own personal growth.
In my podcast conversation with Charles, we talk about the power of taking a pause in life to reflect, reset and connect with the people you love. I dig into the details of his trip - the spark that started it all, highlights from specific destinations, and strategies for saving for a big adventure like this - so that we can all learn from his experience. Then we chat about why “your ego is not your amigo” and the importance of being able to think with your heart and not with your head. (We’re all pretty good already at the latter!) Charles describes how deep down inside we all know the things that bring us joy and how fulfillment comes from our ability to pursue those things. As Charles says, “This journey wasn’t just about seeing the world; it was about stepping away from routine to reconnect and find what truly matters".
Finally, we build Charles's equation: 7e + 7o + 7m + 5s + 5k + 3fr + 2v + 7li

Kristy Shen and Erin on Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE)

"Stop Working, Start Living". Those powerful words grace the cover of the life-changing book "Quit Like a Millionaire", expertly written by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung. What I love about Kristy and Bryce's work, beyond all of the insightful financial stuff, is how it challenges us to think differently and question everything.
When I talk to people about their dreams, the topic of financial independence often comes up. While money doesn’t bring you fulfillment, it can bring a form of freedom that you can leverage to live life to its fullest and spend your time the way you want to. If you're dreaming of bringing more financial freedom into your life, then this week's episode is for you! In it, I have the opportunity to chat with Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) guru Kristy Shen about all kinds of freedom - financial freedom, time freedom, freedom from stuff and location freedom.
In our conversation, we touch on strategies such as optimization, the rule of 150 and geographic arbitrage. Then we go deeper to talk about how overcoming the mental hurdles of rewiring your brain, redefining your identity and letting go of outdated views of financial security is often the most challenging part of settling into a financially independent lifestyle. We discuss all that has happened in the 10 years since Kristy retired at the tender age of 31 (economic changes, a global pandemic, having a child) and Kristy shares what she's learned about FIRE since writing the book - primarily a beautiful, complex landscape of gray that exists beyond (and in complement to) the number crunching and black and white analysis. Finally, we talk about how to build "CRAP" (creativity, resilience, adaptability and perseverance) skills in our kids and we bond over our mutual love affair with playgrounds.
Of course, we also build Kristy's equation: 7S + 3WR + 4o + 7fr + 2fa + 1s + T

Crystal Richard and Erin on Entrepreneurship and New Brunswick Travel

In this week's episode, we get to know Crystal Richard (a.k.a. the East Coast Mermaid)! I stumbled across Crystal on our trip to Atlantic Canada when her online blog made it feel like our family had a new best friend giving us a private, guided tour of Grand Manan Island. Crystal's work in promoting small businesses through intentional storytelling and her passion for the magic of her home province of New Brunswick is infectious.
Together, we explore the spark behind entrepreneurship ("I wanted something of my own, not realizing at the time that was entrepreneurship") and navigating through uncertainty by trusting in the universe and yourself ("And then you just say, 'I've got this. It's all going to work out because it always does'"). As a Public Relations expert, Crystal shares advice and ideas for the best way to promote your business. We also touch on how her creativity shows up as storytelling and how her relationship with "stuff" changed after turning 40.
Of course, we also dug into the magic of Atlantic Canada travel! Crystal gives us insider tips on some of her favourite places and hidden gems in New Brunswick, and dispels the myth that it is a "drive-through" province. As our personal guide to the region, she helps us to develop a coastal crush on New Brunswick.
Finally, we build Crystal's equation: 5W + 7wr + 4r + 9s + 4f + 2fr + 7m + 7c

Caroline Paul and Erin on How Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age

What a treat it is this week to welcome Caroline Paul to the podcast! Caroline's most recent book, Tough Broad: From Boogie Boarding to Wing Walking - How Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age, is incredibly insightful when it comes to learning about opportunities to pour into our own fulfillment. This is not just a book; it is a full-blown quest to explore and understand how to live a dynamic life, especially as we grow older.
In this episode, we dig into redefining adventure and why being in nature matters. Caroline shares some of the key findings from her research, including how having a positive view of your own aging can lead you to be happier, healthier and live longer. We also talk about how outdoor adventure builds confidence and why novelty is so important to fulfillment. Plus, we discover how awe helps to rewire your brain, making you more curious and open-minded. Caroline also explains some of the science behind why so many women say their 60's was their favourite decade!
Finally, we build Caroline's equation: 7r + 20w + 12e + 7A + 7O + 2a + 5fr + 5f + 7c. Caroline was the first person to add the concept of "open space" directly into her equation. I love it!

Erin on Putting Your Strategy Into Action (Personal Strategy: Step 3)

We now have a vision and personal strategy that give us clarity and direction when it comes to building future fulfillment. But how do we turn that strategy into action? After all, without action our dreams for the future will remain just that…dreams! Our action is what will ultimately turn those dreams into reality.
Step 3 of Your Personal Strategy focuses on creating an action plan that will help you bridge the gap between your high-level strategy and your day-to-day activities. By celebrating our accomplishments so far, then identifying short-term goals and supporting behaviours for each pillar in our strategy, we can confidently move out of "thinking" mode and into "doing" mode.
In this episode, I take a deep dive into the three parts of your action plan (reflection, goal-setting, behaviours) and provide loads of examples along the way to help you apply this in your own life. By the end of this step, you'll be able to clearly trace how your behaviour and choices today link you directly to getting closer to where you want to be in the future. Just follow the bread crumbs! In knowing this to be the case, we can comfortably set aside our strategy and action plan and focus our energies on the behaviours in our present living.

Parveen Dhupar and Erin on Lovin' It, Livin' It and Finding Your Ikigai

"Lovin' It, Livin' It" is the motto of this week's guest, Parveen Dhupar, and as he explains, the order matters! As Parveen describes so beautifully, "You have to love yourself first, you have to love life first, before you can live it to its fullest". 
Parveen shares a moment of regret in his life that forever changed how he evaluates his priorities and controls his time. He also describes his gentle, mindful approach to starting each day and why it's important in the mornings to not feel rushed. Parveen introduces me to the Japanese concept of Ikigai (a passion that gives value and joy to life) and it's easy to see through our conversation how Parveen lives his values through his own ikigai of contributing towards building a united world. He also continues to reinforce the lessons I've been learning around mindset and positivity with his insightful "I get to do the dishes!" story. 
Finally, we build Parveen's equation: 2m + 2j + 3r + 6e + 15b + 15so + 15f