108. Jennifer Louden – Why Bother?: Remaining Open to Life’s Possibilities

Jennifer Louden is a coach, speaker, and best-selling author of Why Bother: Discover the Desire for What’s Next. Jennifer is a pioneer in personal growth and development who helped launch the concept of self-care with her first bestseller, The Woman’s Comfort Book: A Self-Nurturing Guide for Restoring Balance in Your Life. For over 26 years, Jennifer has helped millions of creative women create extraordinary lives through her books, communities, and writing retreats. She has appeared on several television, radio, and podcast shows, and has been cited in Brene Brown’s books, Daring Greatly and Dare to Lead. Jennifer joins me today to explore our fear of being undefended and explain what an emotional immune system is. She shares her experience with depression and loss and the lessons she learned from them. She explains what “why bothers” are, how they work, how we can use them, and the role that desire plays in it. She defines the difference between signature themes and life purpose and explains how the latter can harm us. She also shares her ideas and processes on writing and explores how a teacher’s highest calling is to live her lessons. “Life wants to carry you down the river with no forcing or holding back. You need to open yourself up to it.” – Jennifer Louden This week on The School for Good Living Podcast: The experience of being alive and what is life about for JenniferWhy it took 12 years to write Why Bother and for whom Jennifer wrote itWhat our emotional immune system is and how we can expand itHow we impart meanings to our circumstances and our “why bother” periodsDesire as the flow of life and how it plays into our “why bothers”What a signature theme is and how it’s different from a life purposeHow the idea of a life purpose can stop and hurt peopleShadow comforts, time monsters, and how we close off ourselves to the feeling of alivenessJennifer’s definition of self-improvement and how they may not help us find what we want most out of lifeThe Four Conditions of Enoughness and learning to stop in the gaps of lifeWhy Jennifer chose to work with the publisher, Page TwoThe most significant influences on Jennifer’s writingWriting in the morning with a latte in hand and other writing routinesHow to avoid procrastinating as a writerThe importance of planning a writing project and how Jennifer organizes ideas for her booksHow Jennifer deals with self-doubt when writingWhy we’re all great writers and how we can develop great sentencesResources Mentioned: Why Bother: Discover the Desire for What’s Next by Jennifer LoudenThe Woman’s Comfort Book: A Self-Nurturing Guide for Restoring Balance in Your Life by Jennifer LoudenThe Life Organizer: A Woman’s Guide to a Mindful Year by Jennifer LoudenThe Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael SingerThe Book of Longings: A Novel by Sue Monk KiddThe Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay StanierThe Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life by Priscilla LongDaring Greatly: How the Courage Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene BrownDare to Live: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brene BrownScrivenerConnect with Jennifer Louden: WebsiteJennifer Louden on TwitterJennifer Louden on FacebookJennifer Louden on YouTubeJennifer Louden on InstagramJennifer Louden on PinterestJennifer Louden on LinkedInSubscribe, Rate & Share! Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the School for Good Living Podcast, with your host, Brilliant Miller. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave us a rating and review. Don’t forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. And be sure to share your favorite episodes with your friends and colleagues on social media to inspire others to improve their lives and reach their full potential.The post 108. Jennifer Louden – Why Bother?: Remaining Open to Life’s Possibilities first appeared on School for Good Living Podcasts.