Stay Grounded With Raj Jana

“Even when you’re firing on all cylinders there’s always something falling behind that you can improve on” Edward Bryan is my incredible personal trainer who I work with in Houston, Texas. But rewind to his youth, and you’d never imagine health and fitness would be his path. At the age of 17, Edward weighed 380lbs. He was also diagnosed with hypertension and atrial fibrillation - an incredibly rare condition for a man of his age. So he took the meds he was prescribed and kept partying and ignoring his health. Until he hit 22. It started out as a day just like any other, but ended with a 19 hour stint in the emergency room. Edward was used to his heart playing up, but this episode was different. The medics couldn’t reset its rhythm and he was threatened with heart surgery. After being prescribed two additional meds with terrifying side-effects, Edward realized this was the point his life had to change. And from that moment forward, Edward has taken total responsibility for his hea

“You are the best doctor for your body. You are the best therapist for your mind. You’ve just got to do the work.” Rewind the clock 4 ½ years and today’s guest was recovering from a heart attack. The cumulative effect of a lifetime on the stage had led to everything from diabetes to sleep apnea, to fertility problems, heart disease, and seriously high cholesterol. But there was something about facing death that shifted professional comedian, Matt Kazam’s perspective. He shocked him to realize that despite doing the work he was born to do, he was still unhappy. But in the face of his own mortality he became more open-minded. He didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to pump himself full of medication. Instead wanted to figure out a ‘real’ way to live a life of joy, health, and happiness.  And it was this insight that transformed his life. “If you created a blueprint for unhappiness, it would be how western society lives its life.”  In this episode, Matt shares how

“If I’m going to make a dent in this world, I have only a certain amount of time… So rather than watch that time be wasted away, I’d rather be intentional with it.” Along with his wife Shannon, Bryan Miles is committed to rewriting the workplace mindset. Driven by his manifesto that “the way we work doesn’t work anymore”, Bryan inspires businesses to liberate their employees and transform their culture with remote working. Far from losing control over staff, Bryan argues home-based workers are happier and more productive. With more autonomy over their day, working from home allows people to contribute more to their family life - as well as someone else’s place of work. As a result, they’re more motivated to do their best work for their employer. This is something Bryan has experienced first-hand. With over 600 remote-working employees, Bryan believes working for his company - BELAY Solutions - ruins staff for anyone else! When people experience a culture of trust, autonomy, and f

“Life’s too short to not follow your dreams.” On October 10, 2014 Lauren Raja’s life was turned upside down. After watching her husband, Justin die in a boating accident, Lauren became a widow. She was just 32.  Crippled by grief, Lauren spent hours staring at the wall - not knowing how to live, until memories of ‘Mamma Jean’ gave her the strength to get back on her feet. Lauren realized she had to learn to channel her anger and grief in a better way - so she created Justin Jean Pajamas. Named after two people that she loved and lost, Lauren’s story is proof that hope can come from tragedy and that loss can become a catalyst to inspire others.  “It took me being at my lowest point to really figure outwhat I wanted out of life.”  Thanks to her pajamas, Lauren was inspired to never give up. More than sleepwear, Lauren’s pajamas are a legacy to Justin and Mamma Jean. The logo was crafted from their signatures. Polka dot pajamas were chosen because Justin loved spotty socks

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” - Brene Brown In my search for contagious happiness, I’ve explored a number of practices and strategies. And daily gratitude is one of those simple practices that has fundamentally changed how I feel. That’s because gratitude is a source for instant happiness. Find something appreciate and good feelings fill you instantly. Better still, gratitude is easy to practice because there’s always something to feel thankful for - even something as simple as the feel of the breeze on your skin or an incredible sunset. But here’s what really surprised me… When you make gratitude a daily habit, you’ll find that it helps you cope with hardships. It’s not just a strategy for the good times. That’s why I say gratitude is your cheat code. To find out more, listen in to this podcast. It’s a short one - just over 6 minutes so a perfect coffee break trea

“You are the author of your own story.You can create any reality you want.” Nearing the peak of his Hollywood screenwriting career, Marc Gutman walked away from it all. This decision wasn’t in the life plan! In love with stories and the movies, Marc had a shot most writers only dream about. Working for the likes of Disney and Oliver Stone, Marc rubbed shoulders with some of Hollywood’s greats. But looking down the road, he was shocked at the people further ahead. 30-year-old screenwriters earning millions, living in their big Californian homes - they ‘had it all’, but they weren’t happy. Marc’s Hollywood dream wasn’t living up to his expectations. So Marc came to Boulder - to the mountains - to get clarity on his next steps... and then never left!  Marc realized he wanted to tell real stories, rather than Hollywood fiction. He wanted to write about the things that mattered to him rather than focusing on what would sell.  So he started Wild Story to help entrepreneu

“Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” - Daymond John Last month I had a close encounter with a Shark. It wasn’t in the water and it wasn’t in a tank either. Instead, I was one of four lucky winners (out of thousands of entries in a competition organized by Belay Solutions. And my prize was pretty epic! I got to have a one-to-one mentoring session with the People’s Shark himself - Daymond John. I’m hugely grateful to Belay Solutions for organizing such an epic prize - and of course to Daymond himself for his time and invaluable insights, which are going to catalyse my 2018 plans. In this podcast, I share what it was like to visit Atlanta and be in the same room as Daymond - what I learned from him, and how he’s changed my trajectory for 2018. I promise you’ll hear plenty of ideas to inspire your 2018 too. So why not join me (with your favorite cup of Joe) and discover how a Shark could hold the answers you need to make this year incredible. In this episode I ta

“The best teachers are those to whom the material they teach did not come easily.” Nataly Kogan is a TEDx speaker, the CEO Of Happier.com and a recognised expert on the subject of happiness - so I’m super pumped to be able to get her onto the Stay Grounded podcast. Nataly’s story is an inspiration too. Born in the USSR, Nataly and her parents became refugees when she was just 11. Making her way through numerous refugee camps, Nataly eventually arrived in the USA - excited about her ‘American Dream’. Driven by the belief that she’d be happy if she accomplished a long list of goals, Nataly pushed herself to the top. She achieved huge success in her business and professional life, but after two decades of hustle, she burned out. Worse still, she hadn’t found the happiness she imagined, but instead hit a wall. This was the trigger that made Nataly quit her high-profile executive career and start seeking out the small, micro-habits that when practiced daily, can fundamentally change t

“Putting yourself first is not selfish Quite the opposite. You must put your health and happiness first before you can be of help to anyone else.” - Simon Sinek With the New Year just around the corner, it’s a perfect time to reflect and think about the year ahead and get clear on what you want to leave behind.  You got it! It’s that time for New Year’s Resolutions and goal setting!  But goals can be hard to achieve when you lack foundations that inspire success and enable accomplishment.  In this episode, I reflect on the key success strategies discussed by Allen Brouwer in his podcast interview.  Allen is a high performer and has achieved some incredible successes in a very short space of time. What’s fascinating about Allen’s accomplishments is they’ve been built on the back of some very powerful self-care habits. So in this episode, I reflect on the importance of filling yourself first - to empower yourself with the energy and mindset that enables success.

“There’s no such thing as natural born talent.” Rewind to December 2014 and my guest today was at rock-bottom. With a negative bank account he couldn’t even afford to buy his fiance a Christmas card. But it was in this lowest of places that Allen Brouwer found the clarity he needed to transform his life. Faced with the cold realization that he’d been a ‘wantrepreneur’ playing at business, he decided to stop pointing the finger elsewhere and take 100% responsibility for his life. Now, just three years later, Allen has created remarkable success from nothing. He became a self-improvement junkie who studied the world’s top-performers and frantically implementing everything he learned. His investment in himself paid off. He co-founded BestSelf.Co - a winner of Shopify’s first Build a BIGGER Business competition. He made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2016, and is a sought after scale and growth coach. “Know that anything you want to do is 100% possible. The only limitation you have i

“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” - Frank A. Clark In the search for happiness, you will encounter struggle and challenge. It’s an inevitable, unavoidable fact of life. Struggle and fear is something we inherently want to avoid, because it doesn’t feel good, but by avoiding a core human emotion, we can lose out on the fullness life has to offer.  It’s why I loved chatting with Akshay Nanavati - bestselling author of Fearvana. Akshay’s approach to fear is an absolute game-changer. Instead of avoiding fear, Akshay’s created a revolutionary method that proactively embraces the struggle and uses fear as a tool for happiness and success.  Akshay convinced me that the narrative around struggle needs to change. Rather than being an experience to avoid, struggle can become a North Star for personal growth. Akshay’s insights have had a profound impact on my life and in this Coffee Break episode I share my personal reflections from this po

“If you don’t seek out struggle, it will find you anyway.” Today’s guest persuaded the Dalai Lama to write the foreword of his new book - FEARVANA: The Revolutionary Science of How to Turn Fear Into Health, Wealth and Happiness. Akshay Nanavati is used to living life at the extremes. Akshay has battled with drug addiction in high school, was diagnosed with PTSD after serving as a marine in Iraq, and is now obsessed with all kinds of extreme sports ranging from marathon running to cave diving to skydiving. It means his story is riddled with struggle, pain, and survivor’s guilt. While the demons still haunt, Akshay has manifested a way of life that transforms fear into a powerful tool for growth and happiness. By actively seeking out and immersing himself in the struggle, Akshay has architected a revolutionary path to success and fulfilment for himself while sharing his message with millions around the world. And in this episode he shares some practical strategies that you can use

Welcome To The Stay Grounded Podcast “You measure yourself by the people that measure themselves by you” - Phil Knight Today I’m super excited to let you in on something new that I’ve wanted to do for AGES. One of the driving forces behind JavaPresse is the search for contagious happiness. Now happiness means different things to all of us. There’s no real formula, just different ideas. But those ideas can inspire us, which is why I wanted to start the Stay Grounded Podcast. I think happiness is at the core of our human experience. It’s a feeling we all crave and look for - and it’s also something we’re really good at complicating. (I know I am!) For example, we’ll push off the things we love to another time. We end up prioritizing the wrong stuff because of work pressures and other responsibilities. But when we’re hungry for joy, we dull our perception of the little things. Joy is light - and even in the depths of despair there’s always a glimmer that can pull you