Episode 261: The Best of 2023

Love Your Story: Stories and discussions about personal growth, mindset and living with intention

Episode 261: The Best of 2023

Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast!

As 2023 comes to a close it’s time for the annual “Best Of” episode - This is where we look back at which episodes of the Love Your Story podcast were the favorites of the listeners. Which ones did you guys like best?

Tune in for the Top 5 Episodes, a clip from each, and if you’ve missed one of these favs - go back and listen to get all the goods. Coming right up…. the years top 5 favorites…

Welcome to the top 5 Love Your Story Podcast episodes of 2023. Let’s start with #5.

#5 falls to one of our latest episodes. It’s called “Voices of Healing” it’s episode #252. It’s a compilation episode where I pulled in clips from lots of past interviews so we heard from Todd Sylvester, Amanda Grow, Dianne Butterfield, Trevor Lay….and others about their healing journeys. I think this episode was so powerful because we learn from one another, and when we pull in real life healing stories from so many different people, with different experiences, as well as professionals, well…there’s a lot to learn and something for everyone. We all have things to heal from, so we all want to understand this path better. Here’s a clip….

Tune in to hear the clip...

If you want to hear all the stories from this favorite, go back to episode 252, this one launched on Aug. 23 of this year, and take a listen to the whole show.

Ok. Here we are at #4 - the number 4 favorite episode of 2023 was episode 239: my interview with Chris Hawker. This episode was titled: Tools to Magnify our Worthiness. I loved my chat with Chris because he is a man that has been in the leadership of Next Level Trainings - which was where I did a great deal of my work in moving my life forward - learning to reframe my stories. Chris came on the podcast and was honest and vulnerable about his own struggle with feelings of unworthiness. We talked about how these stories of unworthiness happen, how he navigated his, and then we get to hear some of his wonderful suggestion for reframing those erroneous and destructive feelings. I think this one is a favorite because working through any feelings of unworthiness is an important part of really becoming YOU. Here’s a clip:

Tune in to hear the clip...

to hear the rest of his story about his road to truly embracing his real self worth… - again, it’s episode 239 and it aired on February 22 of this year.

Now on to #3 top fav for 2023. It’s none other than What Kindness Can Do with Peter Mutabazi in episode 242.

Peter Mutabazi grew up in Uganda. In this episode we hear his whole story - the brave escape from an abusive father at 10 years old, his subsequent life as a child living on the streets struggling daily to stay alive, and the fortuitous meeting of a man who would change Peter’s life, and in so doing change the lives his siblings, their children, and all the children Peter now helps as a foster parent. This was part 1 of a two part series that was just incredible. One of my favorite interviews because he story is shocking, incredible, and how often do you get to speak with someone who was there to see the Tutsi and Hutu massacre in Rwanda - he talks about that in the second episode in this series, What Hate Can Do. The whole thing was incredible. Here is the beginning of his story.

Tune in to hear the clip...

Again, to listen to the whole episode and the next episode -it’s a 2 part series, for his whole incredible story. He’s amazing.

Now for the #2 favorite of the year….. Episode 244 - Tips on Connecting with Your Man. My interview with Laura Doyle. I found it super interesting that the listeners were wanting tips on connecting in relationships. I guess I should have guessed it - that IS an important part of our lives - so fun that this was a favorite.

Laura Doyle is a New York Times Bestselling Author and the star of Empowered Wives on Amazon Prime, and hosts The Empowered Wives Podcast. On her home page it says, “I show women the proven way to fix their relationships without their man’s conscious effort–even if it seems completely hopeless.” Well - in our interview I was actually really surprised at the tips she shared. Definitely not things I would have guessed. Here’s a clip.

Tune in to hear the clip...

to hear how this tip worked, and to hear her other tips, go to episode 244 and get the whole enchilada.

Now #1!!!! Drum Roll!

The very favorite episode for the year is one of our latest ones - episode 255: Developing Healthy Thinking Patterns. This is part of the Emotional Resilience series I did here in October and November. I’m excited that people are thinking and talking about this topic, because healthy thinking patterns make ALL the difference in our experience with life. It’s the crux of Love Your Story - The stories you create in your mind are your Reality. Learning to nurture healthy thinking patterns will help you bounce back when things get tough. We want the emotional resilience and we want that power in creating our lives every day.

Tune in to hear the clip...

If you want to listen to that entire episode, again, it’s episode 255. It’s a powerful discussion on specific healthy thinking patterns.

A big thank you to all the listeners of the Love Your Story podcast. We have embarked on our 8th year this year and I’m grateful for every one of you. I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to reach out. You can leave voice messages or send notes on the website - www.loveyourstorypodcast.com.

I hope you had a wonderful 2023 and that in 2024 you will find yourself enjoying the interviews and stories we’ll share in the new year. A quick announcement: for 2024 I am introducing a new format - I’ve been loving podcasts that I can tune into for a quick bit of learning. So I’m going to provide the same for you guys. This next year I’m going to switch up between our regular interviews and stories and what I’m calling Love Your Story Quick Chat - one inspirational idea in 15 minutes or less. We do two episodes a month. The first will be our regular format - 30-40 minute interview sharing life stories about triumph and tragedy - usually both in the same stories - and of course what was learned and how they navigated those spaces, and then the second episode for the month will be a Quick Chat where, in under 15 minutes, we’re going to discuss one idea, a healthy thinking pattern, a hopeful concept. Sometimes I’ll have a co-host, sometimes I’ll just dial into why this idea feels important, but it will be a quick bit of inspiration for your day. I hope you’ll love it.

See you in two weeks in 2024.