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I have been preaching for years to individuals dealing with mental health issues that “ you are NOT your diagnosis !” But I heard this concept said in a much more eloquent and universally applied way today. Brian R. King, who has MS, cancer, ADHD, and dyslexia, said of his “ issues ” this: “ Those illnesses I deal with day to day are not my headline; they are simply articles or even paragraphs o f who I am .” What a f*cking awesome way to look at yourself as so much more than

Everything I do is about helping people get unstuck. Why? Even though I have spent most of my life researching, teaching, and applying the principles of empowerment, I’m very human and imperfect and have found myself stuck numerous times. And it’s a crappy place to be. Anxiety, self-doubt, regret, shame, aloneness, and hopelessness kick in like a whirlwind from Hell. So, when I teach the martial art of Aikido, I show students how to relax and use their intrinsic strength to d

Many of us are going to be manipulated into feeling like sh*t because we are single this Valentine’s Day. So, I am dedicating this post on why NOT to feel like sh*t, and actually feel fantastic. And just for the record, I am a hopeless romantic. I LOVE being in love, but I also love myself, enjoy my own company, and work on my own passions when I’m not in a relationship. Anyway, here’s my post about Valentine’s Day: “I never found a companion that was so companionable as soli

So, I was working with one of my coaching clients yesterday who was having an agonizing week filled with anxiety and deep sadness " out of nowhere ." He is a young man who has never experienced much in the way of mental health type issues. When we first started talking this afternoon, he told me that he was going to get an MRI of his brain to check for a tumor and have his heart checked to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with him. I'm not a doctor, so I said if he

We do NOT have to be prisoners to life. I was talking to someone yesterday who feels stuck in several ways – financially, relationship, and educationally. I kept pointing out the things she DID have available, how far she’d already come, and the considerable benefit of rediscovering where she wanted to go. For everything I said, she had a defensive answer for why those things didn’t mean anything and wouldn’t work to help her move forward. These conversations are the most f*c

For the folks out there who do any kind of writing. I heard a fantastic quote today! The person said “ don’t be afraid to bleed on your keyboard .” Meaning, don’t be scared to be vulnerable, to show people who you really are, what you have been through and what you believe in. And this can be applied to those of you who speak or teach or paint or whatever. I think the world needs more of us to be fearlessly open, to share our stories, to have REAL conversations about less tal

To get unstuck, you HAVE to challenge your “ story .” Challenge your supposed identity. All my clients have a negatively skewed sense of who they are. They have been taught by their parents, friends, teachers, and eventually by themselves that they are someone far less than who they really are. Their stories are abundantly filled with their mistakes, flaws, failures, and f*ckups. If they have spent ANY time in our “ wonderful ” mental health system, then they have recited the

When I was a kid, I lived in a house on a very short, dead-end street. Walking past my house, one would enter a wooded field. In the middle of these woods was a water tower in the shape of a flying saucer. The top half was metal down to a five-foot drop onto the middle to bottom half, which was all grass. During the winter, dozens of kids, including me, would sled down the water tower, which was now covered with snow. We’d trudge up to the top, then fly down, take the substan

By Lacey Severins: Flip on an action film of the '70s, '80s, or '90s, and you are likely to see the high-flying, acrobatic martial arts moves of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, or any number of talented martial artists that impressed the Western world with their unique style of defense and fighting. Whatever forms of martial arts we, the audience, were witness to, the physicality was undeniable. Their movements' pure athleticism and ferocious nature were, and continue to be, excitin

“ Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes ?” Joseph Campbell If you are one of the many people stuck in the mental health system of “professionals” telling you that you are weak, unstable, need to keep coming to treatment for years, not to stress yourself out with a job, a relationship, your own apartment… p lease read the quote above over and over, play the ga

Because I turn 60 on November 24, 2025, I’ve reflected on some of the lessons I have learned over the last 6 decades. Some are things I wish someone had taught me earlier in my life. Some are things I wished I had applied more often. All the ideas are concepts I fully believe in and try my best to aspire to daily. 1. Learning is important – read, attend workshops, go to school, and listen to podcasts – BUT it is worthless without taking some kind of action. 2. If you have you