Grow the Good
Grow the Good, formerly The Sonya Looney Show, is your guide to continual personal growth, meaningful connections, and positive impact in the world. Challenge the idea that you are broken or need fixing. Instead, discover how to cultivate the good that already exists within you and amplify the strengths and potential you may not yet realize you have. Grounded in the science of positive psychology and guided by the pillars of purpose, vitality, resilience, hope, and connection, each episode is packed with tools, stories, and evidence-backed insights to help you create a more authentic and flourishing life.
Grow the Good
How to Move from Survival Mode to Thriving: Jon Rosemberg on Agency, Stress, and Success
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What if the version of “success” you’ve been chasing is actually keeping you stuck in survival mode?
In this episode, I sit down with author and coach Jon Rosemberg to talk about what it really means to move from high-functioning survival into genuine thriving. Jon shares his deeply personal story of growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, living in chronic vigilance, and eventually discovering that achievement and productivity were not the same thing as peace, agency, or well-being.
This conversation hit me on a very personal level. So much of what Jon shares mirrors my own journey of questioning performance-based definitions of success, asking whether external accomplishments actually create the feeling I’m looking for, and realizing that thriving often has much more to do with connection, meaning, and agency than with metrics.
We talk about the body’s role in helping us recognize survival mode, how to challenge the beliefs that keep us trapped in proving and performing, and Jon’s practical AIR framework: Awareness, Inquiry, and Reframing.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the “right” things but still feel off, disconnected, or chronically on edge, this conversation is for you.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Thriving is not the same as success
- Survival mode can look high-functioning
- Somatic awareness matters
- Agency can be practiced
- Connection is essential to thriving
LINKS
Follow Jon on Instagram
Visit Jon's website to learn more about his book
Meaningful Work with Tamara Myles and Wes Adams
Defining and Feeling Success
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.