The #POSITIVITY Podcast
by Jonas Cain
The stories we tell ourselves shape our world—and if we want to change our world, we can start by changing the story we tell ourselves. Tune in to The #POSITIVITY Podcast where host Jonas Cain shares fascinating stories that bring to life The 3 Pillars of Positivity, to inspire you with compelling ideas and empower you to put those ideas to work in your own life.Explore more at www.HashtagPositivity.com
Episodes
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Beyond the Sea
Everyone has a unique gift that can be used to help others. Check out this brief story to learn how one woman’s gift to her husband provided comfort to more than 1,500 people—somewhere beyond the sea. Enjoy! #beyondthesea #mindset #purpose #relationships #positivity This Volume 8 Issue 4…
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Court of Public Opinion
Public opinion can create conflict for hairstyles, music styles, and literary styles—but Rick Nelson and the Inuits have a possible solution. This Volume 8 Issue 3 positivity essay originally appeared on the Hashtag Positivity website on May 4, 2025. Retrieved from...
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Making Room for Doubt
There were things I didn’t know I didn’t know, but if I had learned anything, I knew there were questions that were not even on my radar yet. Check out this episode to learn more, and hear the story of how I let go of certainty and embraced doubt after buying the rights to Hashtag Positivity....
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Trash or Treasure?
Who’s the real villain here? The people who abandoned you at the first sign of vulnerability? Or the ones who recognize your worth and raise you up? Check out this episode to learn more, and hear the fascinating story of a ship that sank twice. Enjoy! #positivity, #mindset, #purpose,...
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Give Peace a Chance
When you show up as your authentic self, your mere presence alone can do the talking. Check out this episode to learn more, and hear the story of a jazz musician who stopped a civil war for a day just buy showing up with his trumpet. Enjoy! #positivity, #mindset, #purpose, #relationships, #peace...
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Keyboards, Steamships & The Pot Roast Principle
In the book Typewriting Behavior, August Dvorak discusses what he calls intelligent behavior, referring to the adoption of new technologies and techniques in place of previous de facto traditions—a call for adapting to the ever-changing circumstances of our New World. Check out this episode to...
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Prison (but with cats)
It's been said that a happy life needs only three things: something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for. If lately your heart has felt empty, consider which one might be missing. Check out this episode to learn more, and hear a story about cats in prison and a busker in Covent…
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All Fun & Games
A good game provides the joy of accomplishment, skill-building, and meaning; but these joys don’t just have to be all fun and games—they can also provide encouragement that permeates every aspect of your life. Check out this brief story to explore how. Enjoy! #positivity #opportunity #mindset...
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Experiencing Colors That Are Real
We can wait our whole lives for someday opportunities, or we can make our opportunities for ourselves. Check out this brief story to explore what it means to pursue authentic experiences rather than removable things. Enjoy! #positivity #opportunity #purpose This Volume 7 Issue 7 positivity essay...
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Vibrato of Gratitude
Regardless of what we achieve and regardless of what we gain, everything is temporary, in a constant state of vibrato—whether deep or shallow and whether fast or slow. And how we choose to experience this vibrato is completely up to us. Check out this brief story to explore how we can live with...
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Leading with Yes
That’s the thing about making people wrong: They don’t like it! And instead of being grateful, they can become resentful—preventing positive and productive connections with the people around us, while also losing the opportunity for open communication and collaboration. Check out this brief story...
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Fear or Joy?
Motivation is ever-present. It’s not that we lack motivation; rather, it’s a matter of what we’re motivated by. Are we motivated by what we stand to lose or by what we stand to gain? Check out this brief story to learn about making our joy greater than our fear. This Volume 7 Issue 4 positivity...
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A Simple Misunderstanding
Sometimes, objective reality is replaced by subjective reality, and embracing this complexity and nuance just might open the door to perspective, possibility, and peace. Check out this brief article to hear how ampersand can reframe conversations, enhance communication, and improve relationships....
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How to Lose a Friend (in 10 words or less)
We don’t need to chase people who don’t want us in their lives, for our hearts will be better served spending time with people who do want us around for this game of life. Check out this brief article to hear a story about how our words and actions affect our relationships, for better or for…
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What Happens When You See Your Shadow?
In every moment, we are in a constant current of change—and while we cannot control this current, what we can control is what happens within us. Check out this brief article to learn how our choice to face or ignore our shadow can impact our experience of happiness. This Volume 7 Issue 1…
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Good Deeds in a Weary World
The world can sometimes feel dark and weary—shrouded by nuances of fear, jealousy, and rage. Yet, like the moonshine on a world shrouded in darkness, even the smallest of deeds done with love in our heart can become a beaconing light to guide our way. In this episode, you’ll hear a story about…
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Where One Thing Ends (and another begins)
When we fail to see the beauty around us, perhaps it’s not so much that we lack the capacity to recognize and understand beauty in our world—perhaps this beauty simply lacks the frame that provides a contextual boundary. We pass it by, because it doesn’t appear relevant to us. Check out this…
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This Soul Game of Hide & Seek
I don’t really know anything about anything, but what I choose to believe we are here to Love one another. But I wonder how useful this choice is? This Volume 6 Issue 12 positivity article originally appeared on the Hashtag Positivity website on November 16, 2023. Retrieved from...
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Haters or Helpers?
No one likes to be wrong—and people especially don’t like to be perceived as wrong by others. But in our search for certainty, we would do well to calibrate our certainty to actual knowledge and skills, rather than mere wishful thinking. Check out this story to learn more about the value of...
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The Rich Spirt of Humanity
Every time you meet someone, a part of that person becomes woven into the fabric of who you are—because when two worlds collide, both are transformed. Check out this brief article to learn more about this transformation and how the experience of metamagic can reveal the magic in our everyday…
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Be On the Scene
Anything worthwhile will by definition take a while—likely even much longer than expected—but it will also by definition be worth it in the end. This episode shares a fascinating true story of a how one young actor used patience to launch a lifelong career as a cultural icon. This Volume 6 Issue…
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Remember Who You Are
It can be easy to forget who we are while responding to the demands of the world around us. This can be true whether we’re fighting a literal war or fighting the day-to-day battles of everyday life. This episode shares a poignant true story of a how showing up as your authentic self can help…
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A Fig in Winter
A mere “oops” and a playful laugh is not what you might expect when damaging a brand new vehicle, but that’s just how Dave is—as long as I’ve known him, he has never wished for a fig in winter. This episode share a story that demonstrates how to heal suffering and experience joy. Enjoy! This…
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Raising a Sunken Ship
We cannot go through life without making mistakes—it’s simply an inherent part of the human experience. Yet when we lack the willingness to atone for these missteps, we become discouraged with disharmony and separation from the important people in our lives, while also risking stains to our...
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What Are You Sitting on the Shore Of?
Just as a sports team doesn’t take the field alone, so too can we benefit from worthy coaches, guides, and mentors who know the way, go the way, and show the way. After all, the players on the field are too close to the field to see the bigger picture, which is where the true value of a coach is...
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What Are Your Grateful For?
When compelled to be grateful for what we aren’t grateful for, it can do more harm than good—yet research is still clear that gratitude is nevertheless a valued contributor to well being. This episode explores the secrets of gratitude for true and lasting joy. Enjoy! This Volume 5 Issue 25...
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The Infinite Monkey Theorem
The Infinite Monkey Theorem suggests that any event with a probability more than zero can happen at some point, if given enough time. But as the physicist Max Tegmark reminds us, “really freak events happen only exponentially rarely.” This episode shares the true story of an exponentially rare...
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Finding Your Voice
Everyone has a talent, and if you don’t know what your talent is, it just means you haven’t discovered it yet. Talent can sometimes first present itself as a weakness. And For a talent to be useful, it must be practiced. This episode shares the story of how I discovered these truths and along the...
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The Sailing Opossum
We will never be held responsible for what we are not capable of handling—or at the very least capable of learning. As such, responsibility doesn’t preclude risk; rather, it calls us to understand our strengths, know what’s negotiable, and then boldly step forward to learn and grow, come what…
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The Real Secret of Magic
Magicians are often asked, “How’d you do that?” Many people assume it has something to do with subtle misdirection—a little smoke here or a perfectly placed mirror there—but the real answer may surprise you. In this episode, hear the fascinating story of how I stumbled upon the real secret of...
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Name It to Tame It
Many people seem to suffer from eisoptrophobia—the fear of seeing one’s own reflection. When this happen, they fail to see what’s right in front of them because they don’t like what’s staring back at them. And so, to avoid the discomfort, they simply avert their eyes from the clutter of their...
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How does what you do reflect who you are?
It’s been said that “if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live,” and if this is true then Harry Chapin was certainly a man fit to live—becoming a change-maker—looking...seeing a need—and with compassion taking action to do something about it. This episode...
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How to be a visionary
Despite his lack of experience, Hiroshi was able to succeed through honesty, anticipation, and imagination—and you can use these same principles to likewise empower your own vision. This episode shares the story of how it all worked out. Enjoy! This Volume 5 Issue 18 positivity article originally...
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How to hit a target 6.8 million miles away
It’s been said that the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now. This episode shares the story how process goals can help you achieve success from even 6.8 million miles away. Enjoy! This Volume 5 Issue 17 positivity article originally appeared on the Hashtag...
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How a 12-year-old saved 3,000 Children
A compassionate mission can empower you with the grit to persist even the face of adversity. This episode shares the story of how a courageous 12-year-old saved over 3,000 children from bonded labor with persistent effort, even at the sacrifice of his own safety. This Volume 5 Issue 16 positivity...
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Success vs. Significance
The glitz and glamor of success will always pale in comparison with significance. This episode shares the story of how one man sacrificed personal comfort and financial security to focus on what sincerely mattered most to his journey. This Volume 5 Issue 15 positivity article originally appeared…
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How to Make People Feel invisible
It's easy to respond in kind when others treat you as invisible—but the true test is when they try to get an emotional reaction out of you. To make others invisible under these conditions is a skill reserved for the masters. This episode shares the story of one child's efforts to make others feel...
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The Secret to True & Lasting Joy
Regardless of knowledge, skills, and talent—and regardless of how bad we want it—not everyone achieves their goals. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth pursuing. This episode shares a poignant true story of what’s possible when we seek and take advantage of opportunities worth pursuing.…
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The Meeting of Two Personalities
Carl Jung once suggested that “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” This episode of the Hashtag Positivity Podcast offers five suggestions to encourage the people you serve to be positively transformed....
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Conspiring Together
Some people may never consider giving business to competition, but as one of my mentors, Rick Forgay, taught me: the true value of competition is conspiring together for the benefit of the people we serve. Check out this brief article to here the story of the day I took this lesson to heart.…
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Hanlon’s Razor
The physicist Marie Curie reminds us, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” With a little more understanding, we can perhaps come to find there is far less malice in our world than we might at first assume…
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How to Make Someone’s Life Better
Love doesn’t get to know you first and then decides to love you. Love loves you first, and that’s how it gets to know you. Love starts with ignorance and ends with understanding. Check out this brief article to explore ideas for bestowing the powers of love as an antedate to three poisons...
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Your Unique Power & Authority
Each and every one of us has a unique blend of knowledge, skills, experiences, connections, and temperaments, and when we lean into these unique advantages, we become empowered to excel at the very things that bring us the most joy. Check out this brief article to hear three empowering stories of...
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A Reason to Keep Looking Up
When walking through the wilderness so dreary with a heart so weary, it may be tempting to simply lay down and give up; but even in the darkest of times we can find inspiration to continue looking up—so long as we remain open and engaged observers of the world with fascination, curiosity, and...
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How to Move a Mountain
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones,” says Confucius. For most people, this is just a metaphor, but for Dashrath Manjhi, it was instruction. Check out this brief article for the inspiring true story of a man who turned his pain into passion to move a mountain....
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What Story Are You Telling Yourself?
We can reasonably discern the story Robert was telling himself as he turned his back to the crowd—when his final roll was spent and had nothing more to give. The question is, what story are you telling yourself in your meaningful moments of transformation? Check out the brief article to in the...
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One Thing at Once: The Case for Consolidated Effort
Are you chasing two rabbits? Are you serving two masters? Is your house divided? Check out this brief article for reflections on consolidated effort. This Volume 5 Issue 10 positivity article originally appeared on the Hashtag Positivity website on October 1, 2022. Retrieved from...
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The Three Drivers of Change
What’s moving you today? Pain, knowledge, or support? Check out the brief article to distinguish which driver of change is moving you. Enjoy! This Volume 5 Issue 8 positivity article originally appeared on the Hashtag Positivity website on July 1, 2022. Retrieved from...
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What’s Your Muse?
Whether you’re a teacher creating lesson plans, a sales person creating pitches, a storyteller creating stories, a family creating a home, or a creator of truly any kind, being able to find and harness your muse is an essential element of success. And if you’re looking for it, creative…
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Empowering Your Audience with Stories
Even before you finish speaking, people will have forgotten most of what you said, but with the use of meaningful stories, when you “pull the string” of your throughline tight, you can empower them with an experience that can transfer well beyond the moment. Check out this brief article for five...
About this show
The stories we tell ourselves shape our world—and if we want to change our world, we can start by changing the story we tell ourselves. Tune in to The #POSITIVITY Podcast where host Jonas Cain shares fascinating stories that bring to life The 3 Pillars of Positivity, to inspire you with compelling ideas and empower you to put those ideas to work in your own life.Explore more at www.HashtagPositivity.com
Hosted by
Jonas Cain
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