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The Other Side of Potential
Over time, the conversations we choose to have begin to reflect what matters most.
If you’ve been part of this podcast, you’ve heard me speak about human development, systems thinking, and the ways we make meaning of our lives and work. That work continues—and remains at the core of my coaching and professional practice.
What has changed is the space where I am choosing to have a different kind of conversation.
After the death of my son, Michael, I felt called to create a more personal place—one that speaks directly to the experience of loss, and to the questions that emerge when life no longer looks the way it once did.
That space is now Beyond the Loss.
This podcast is for parents who have lost a child, and for those who support them. It is not about fixing grief or finding closure, but about understanding how we continue to live, to make meaning, and to become—after loss.
If you are looking for my current podcast,
you will now find me there.
I invite you to join me on Beyond the Loss.
You are welcome.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6wqQ8MwCty4eJAiZ8VroUV?si=0b4c5d3bab6a4b64
The Other Side of Potential
Episode 157: The Art of Playfulness, Progress, and Peace with Jan Hoath
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On today’s conversation, we have Jan Hoath, who is a mindfulness meditation teacher, a leadership coach, a speaker, a writer, and a self-described joy mentor. With a goal to help business owners and entrepreneurs approach business and life from a place of authentic joy and playfulness, she has developed a process called the Happiness Prism. Listening in, you’ll hear Jan’s important message and how she came to share it with clients through her work as a mindful joy mentor. She shares the story of the spiritual awakening she experienced at a young age and what it was like to recover from depression through finding purpose in pursuing an exchange program in Germany. Jan also tells us how choosing a career as a ski instructor in Aspen rather than climbing the corporate ladder helped her to establish playfulness as an important element of the Happiness Prism.
Next, Jan explains how she met her husband on the first day of ski school in Australia and the tragedy they experienced that led her to establish the next aspect of the Happiness Prism: progress. We talk about how our culture fails to give us the space we need to properly grieve, and why Jan believes that joy and happiness are within us, and even more so, that they are a divine birthright, personally defined by each person. She believes there are little moments of outlandish joy and humor that can help put you in a higher state of consciousness, even through the most harrowing of experiences and, in this episode, she shares some insights on how to find them, along with a host of other life-altering advice. We hope you tune in today!
What you’ll learn about in this episode:
- An introduction to Jan Hoath and her work as a mindful joy mentor.
- The spiritual awakening she had after an injury meant losing her identity as a swimmer.
- Her acceptance into an exchange program in Germany and how it led her to wean herself off her antidepressants.
- The role playfulness plays in the Happiness Prism.
- Why she chose to pursue a career in ski instructing rather than her corporate job.
- How she met her husband: on the first day of ski school in Australia.
- The story of how her mother-in-law was killed on a bike ride on Thanksgiving.
- What the loss sparked for Jan: another aspect of the Happiness Prism, which is progress.
- Why it was productive for Jan to experience the full extent of her darkness.
- How our culture fails to give us the space we need to properly grieve.
- Why Jan believes that joy and happiness are within us and are a divine birthright.
- The difference between happiness and joy and why it is personal to each person.
- How Jan developed the acronym ‘Just Own You’ to remind us that happiness is an inside job.
- Sharon’s story of her son’s passing and how she chose to be fully engaged in grief.
- Medication as necessary for some to establish a starting point from which to choose joy.
- How there is a peace aspect of the Happiness Prism, which she refers to as ‘prayer in motion’.
- How there are little moments of outlandish joy and humor that can help put you in a higher state of consciousness.
- Jan’s advice for anyone who is grieving: feel it all fully.
- How Sharon chose to use humor in her home during devastating times.
- Why the first step is to integrating the happiness prism is taking responsibility.
- The second step, which is looking for opportunities to be playful.
- Why it is important to take the time to tune into joy and peace.