"Feel the feelings"

If we could use one word to describe our guest this week, it would be generous. For Austin Church, life is about giving everything he can give rather than taking everything he can get. That might mean freely sharing the lessons he’s learned in business or simply giving someone the benefit of the doubt.

Throughout his journey, Austin has learned a lot about himself, the importance of play, the power of relationships, and how to approach life with a mindset of abundance. You’ll get to hear these lessons, plus easy ways to discover the same things about yourself.

Austin would be the first person to tell you that he doesn’t have it all figured out, but we know you’ll learn just as much as we did from everything he so generously shares!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why relationships, not money, are the part of his career that he’s most proud of.
2. Austin’s internal scorecard for evaluating his life and what led to this value-driven perspective.
3. How he moved from serving out of guilt to letting love and generosity motivate everything he does.
4. The truth about leading with skepticism and the benefits of assuming positive intent instead.
5. About self-acceptance and how loving yourself helps you love others too.
6. Plus, practical tips for understanding who you are, what you need, and when you’re not in a good place.
7. To have fun in play through toys, books, and anything else that brings you joy.
8. That resilience isn’t denying your needs but finding strategic ways to prop yourself up in your weaknesses.
9. How recognizing the end of his control and the start of his limitations helps Austin recenter himself and enjoy life more.
10. About the people he depends on and the ways they’ve helped him along his journey.

Find Austin on his website, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

More on the book Austin is writing in public here.
Austin references Peter Kaufman, CEO of Glenair and his thoughts on reciprocity. You can read/hear more in this speech of his.
The podcast episode that had Austin in tears with Jim Dethmer is from this episode of Shane Parrish's podcast The Knowledge Project.