Episode Summary – WANT MORE HAPPY IN YOUR LIFE? YES! In Episode 70 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show (links in the comments), titled “STEP IN TO HAPPY”, my dear friend and fellow author joins me to share her ten-year process to finally publish her book that was inside her as an elementary school teacher. A simple ABC book for loving your life and focusing on what matters to you. Also, she is a certified Passion Test Facilitator to find out how to bring more joy to your life and others with gratitude, intentionality and kindness. Come download, listen, share and review this amazing show and be HAPPY!
Mentioned Resources -
Amazon:
About the guest –
Marian Edvardsen is an Empowerment and Mindset Coach, Leader and Wellness Advocate with dōTERRA International, Certified Passion Test Facilitator for Adults, Kids & Teens, and an EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Practitioner. Marian mentors people committed to living happy, healthy, and fulfilled lives but who sometimes struggle with overwhelm, stress, or limiting beliefs that keep them stuck and hold them back from living the vibrant lives they want and desire. Her straightforward approach to stepping in to happy incorporates simple steps that are easy to implement. Her work with dōTERRA essential oils and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) since 2012 has become two of the most effective and powerful yet down-to-earth tools in helping people find natural solutions to feel better fast on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. Marian is passionate about empowering others to dare to dream, reach for the stars, and live the life they love. That is the core vision of her “Step In To Happy” philosophy. Her mission is to create a legacy of impacting positive change in the world. Marian lives in Connecticut with her husband George, their sons William and Brendan and their rescue dog Molly.
About the Host:
Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.
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Http://www.shiningbrightly.com
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LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown
Instagram - @howard.brown.36
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Go. Hello. It's Howard Brown. It's the Shining
Brightly Show. I got another great one for you today. This is
absolutely incredible. Marian Edvardsen. Welcome. How are you?
I'm great, Howard, thank you so much for
having me be your guests. I'm really honoured.
Well, I've got to share. And we're going to give a
big shout out to Bobby get bonus. Because we just spent
time a couple of weeks back on the reinvention retreat on a
cruise, we were both speaking on the cruise. And it was so
fantastic to meet you and hear about you. And I just enjoyed
it. And so I said to you on the cruise, I want you on my show.
So here you are today. And you're here. And that was an
amazing learning experience for us all. And I enjoyed the
cruise. I hope you did as well.
I sure did. Good, good. Good.
Let me tell you a little bit about Marian here.
And I've got a short bio to read now I'll basically improvise so.
So Marian edvardsen is an empowerment and mindset coach,
leader and Wellness Advocate. With a doTERRA international
she's she's basically those are the essential oils. You're a
certified Passion Test facilitator, we're going to talk
about that just a little bit as well. And you do that for
adults. But especially with kids and teens and emotional, you
provide this emotional freedom technique as a practitioner, you
mentor people are committed to living a happy, healthy and
fulfilled lives, who sometimes struggle and are overwhelmed,
stressed out, or limiting their beliefs that's keeping them
stuck and holding them back. But you want them to achieve vibrant
lives and all their desires. So your straightforward approach of
stepping into happy incorporates these easy to implement steps.
And I love that. And you also incorporate the essential oils,
and the EFT techniques of that as well. But you didn't always
do this. And we're going to talk about your history as well. And
doing that. You're passionate about empowering others that
dare to dream reach for the stars, and live the life that
they love. And the conversion of stepping into happy as a
philosophy. And it's your mission to create a legacy of
impacted positive change in the world. You live in Connecticut
with your husband, George sons, William, Brandon, and rescue
dog, Molly. So this is awesome. Tell me two questions top of
mind is that tell me something that people may not know about?
Yeah, something you haven't shared before?
Well, I am, I've always had the philosophy
of never let go of your dreams. And I was probably having come
from a family of seven children, you know, probably voted most
likely to be the first out of high school to get married and
have kids. Because I just was around kids so much. Well, that
took a lot longer, but you know, never let go of your dreams. I
had my twins at 49 which I consider a wonderful miracle and
and they are just the best boys. They're juniors in college right
now. And they make me really happy.
I love it. I love it. Tell me this week or today?
How did you shine? How do you shine brightly?
Well, I have to say, being invited to your
podcast is just absolutely making me shine. And I've been
telling so many people about it. I can't wait to share it and
share more about you because you are such an inspiration on the
ship. You are our first you know, in our in our keynote
speaker and I was inspired right from the start. So I I'm so
grateful that we connected and you know, Elon, look at us now.
I love it. I'm very humbled by that. So thank
you. Well, I the reason that you're here today is that, who
doesn't want to shine brightly, and who doesn't want more happy
in their life, everyone needs to have that. So that's why you're
here. But I want to just take us back a little bit because it's
very interesting how you came about and evolved because you're
a school teacher. And then you did a lot of years on Wall
Street. So share that a little bit and then we'll dive into the
book.
So I graduated with a degree in elementary
education, and went back home the first year and taught
kindergarten in my hometown school and loved that. My
boyfriend at the time was going to law school in New York City
and so his school was in the Wall Street area. You pursue
what you think you're good at I didn't really want to teach in
the public school system. You know, that's a tough that's a
tough market. Right. The you know, the New York City schools
having been a small town, Country Girl in the Catskill
Mountains of New York State, right. So I started going to
employment agencies, and I was good in math and science. And so
I landed on Wall Street to interview. I always said that if
he was going to law school in Midtown, I probably would be an
advertising because I minored in studio art. So you know, I'm,
I'm good with going with the flow. I'm very adaptable. So I
landed on Wall Street, started out in the accounting department
of a major Wall Street firm, and literally worked my way through
as a research associate an equity market strategist, and
associate portfolio manager, I just, I just went with the flow,
right, no MBA, and it just worked. So you know, people who
think that they have to follow a certain path in life. No, it can
be a very circuitous and it's all relatable. I mean, that
would be a three hour podcast show. But towards the end of
that, and I merged my way through, you know, a lot of
firms, you know, where finally, I was not with the acquiring
firm. So my position on the totem pole started going in the
wrong direction. And so I realised I couldn't serve my
clientele in the way that I did for so long. And the teacher
started coming out in me again, and I started to I always love
the personal development industry. And so I got my
coaching certification. At that time, when I was let go in 2010,
I think the teacher came out in me and this book, some I'm
trying to think, where it came from, but I, I like to live a
simple life. And of course, the alphabet is so simple. And it
just came to me these action steps that got me to where I am
today. So each chapter from A to Z is an action verb, that can
just turn your day around, right? We do believe that. You
know, we have skills and we have habits. But in order to get
results, we have to take action. So so each chapter is an action
step.
Show the book. And so I want to I want to I want to
make a comment right now. I don't think you learn this about
me. But there's a cover for those that are looking and step
into happy and it's purple, and it's beautiful and shiny. And
it's I love it. And so, growing up from age eight to about 18,
my sister, my twin and I, okay, and my cousin's Michelle and
Douglas, we would go pick them up in Long Island, and we would
drive to the Catskills and try out all the different hotels
there. And it's changed a lot but But growing up that was a
big deal to drive with my grandparents and to go up there
every year for about 10 straight years. It was an amazing, and my
parents, they continue that tradition, but not in the
Catskills but Ogunquit Beach, Maine, the Catskills that are a
very special place for our family, because we visited there
every Memorial Day for 10, maybe even until 12 or 13 years. So I
thanks for sharing that. Also three decades on Wall Street,
you paid your dues. And the big thing that I was curious about
is that you had this book in you, okay, I it took me three
years and I spoke my book, and then it became a manuscript and
then then then a book. So but it was in you, the teacher was in
you, but you didn't publish for a decade. Tell us that. That's
that's that's the thing. That's amazing that you knew you had it
in you. But it took you a while to actually get it out and get
it done.
Well, you know, it's so easy to help
someone else, right. But to help yourself sometimes takes a
little bit more work, right? The book was written. And in fact, I
have my original version. And this was our first dog. This was
Maggie. And I did this on on Shutterfly. And so you know, all
the letters are there, the skeleton of the book was there,
and I have the copyright 2010. So of course, I never published
that. But we know our limiting beliefs can hold us back in big
ways. Right? A coach once asked me same thing. You know, what do
you really want? And we know that people and especially right
now there's so so much struggle, right? And if you ask, I think
one of the other speakers asked Wayne asked on his presentation.
When when you ask people what they really want, most of the
time, their responses, they want to be happy. I think John Lennon
actually said that to one of his teachers when he was four Five
years old, and his teacher said you don't know that you don't
understand the question. And he says, Well, I think that you
don't understand life and other quarters in my book. That's not
a perfect quote. But that's what it is about. And, and, you know,
Gallup has done studies where, you know, two thirds of the
people in the more than two thirds of the people in the
world are not happy with their work, and probably thus their
life, right. So we, we want to improve that. But what stopped
me for so long? Well, 10 years long, was my own limiting
belief. You know, surviving all the bad stuff that happens. And,
you know, from, you know, the Sandy Hook tragedy that happened
45 minutes away from me, to COVID, to, you know, so many
people having so many losses in their life, it's like, who wants
to read a book unhappy. And then something switched in me one day
and, and said, This is the time people need happy, that's not a
frivolous thing to, to put out a book about stepping into happy,
you know, it's not about putting on your happy face shirt and
thinking that that's going to fix everything, and everything
will be all right, it's about that we can choose to take one
little step. And I have 26 of them. That's the alphabet. And
it and it makes it fun. And it makes it simple. And I don't
know one person who hasn't said this is we need simple.
So I agree. And so the book is got quotes off to
the side, it's really easy to read, you can just pick a letter
and go there or you can read the whole book. It's, it's, it's
very manageable. I actually just opened up and I wrote through
the whole book, by the way, my wife and I read this book, very
quickly, we have notes through the book, and I end up to end
power and you have just a little picture of a star, okay? to
energise, engage, exercise, educate and envision, it's that
direct, but it's that simple. And I love the simplicity of it.
It's actually actionable. And that's, that's the beauty of
this book. And they're all components of it. And you're
absolutely right, coming out of COVID, the number one thing that
actually came out was loneliness. Right? People were
not happy, okay, we were restricted in our daily lives.
And so we're all rediscovering ourselves, you know, coming out
of that loneliness. Now, Zoom is you know, and we're still
lonely. We're digital, though we're seeing each other. And I
love that you can just open the book and be able to pick a
letter, or you can read through all the way through it, which I,
which I have, and and it also becomes a journal, I love that
you thought of that, to be able to write down your thoughts of
what you're doing in the book as well. It's the simplicity of
this book is what I love. And everybody needs more happy. It's
really great. So I'm glad that you actually did bring it out.
What's the feedback that you're getting now? And, I mean, it's
really tough, because I know you're speaking and talking
about this in your coaching as well. Right?
You know, it's interesting that you bring,
bring up the stars in that we're talking today. And you're,
you're all about shining brightly. And that star in the
book, is, you know, if you look at the cover of my book, it's
covered with stars, through, you know, from an ice that's how I
start the book from gazing at the stars in the Catskill
Mountains where it was, you know, not a lot of lights, you
know, that just got to me and that, when you think about the
people who have inspired you in your life, those are your stars,
to that star within you, that that shining light, that's,
that's always been there, and we just have to allow it to come
out. And by just picking one letter from the book can help to
bring that out.
It's absolutely, that's the beauty part of it.
It's really amazing. Now, I teased about this in your
introduction, and people may not know about this, but you are a
certified Passion Test Administrator or facilitator for
kids and teens and you also do adults as well. I will tell you
on the ship we started with the Passion Test, and I had never
done that before. And I found out that it's really your a
process of elimination to be able to find out what is really
important in your life. And it's it was really not about the how
but the what. And so it was the first time I ever went through
that. So explain a little bit did I know if I did it justice,
but explain what the Passion Test. You know how that helps
people.
The Passion Test so I discovered the Passion
Test back in 2012 and I know people, since the cruise have
bought that book. And when you start to read the book, you just
don't want to put it down it, it does something to you, because
it, it really validates what you're passionate about. And the
fact is, we have so many things swirling around in our head that
sometimes we don't get anything done. And the Passion Test is a
process that Janet and Chris Atwood, who are the co authors
of the book, created this process to focus on what
matters. So it's, it's, it's a way of putting one against the
other we know that in life, you know, the universe wants us to
have it all. And we want to have it all. And that's how we're
meant to live is to just live an effortless, that's, you know,
that's the book, right? It's to live an effortless life. But,
and I've done a lot of work in the area of neuroscience, we
know that our brains can only focus on three to five things at
any given time. That's why I love the five points of the
star. You know why I came up with those funny that you pick
that chapter. So what it does is you can take all your passions
and go through the process. And I love working with people to do
that. And they always have always have amazing AHA has that
come out of just going through that process with me. So that
you know that you can focus on one of them. Or it just helps us
to, to look at those five things, and not to judge them.
But to see where we're living them now, you know, on on a
scale of one to 10. And if it's a four, that's fine, it means
that we can put more attention on. So the the, this the formula
of the Passion Test it is intention. So by writing down,
say your top 10 passions, you're setting that intention. That's
one of the chapters of my book actually is write it down,
because it's important to put that pen to paper and know what
matters to us. The second is attention. So what you put your
attention on grows stronger in your life. That's one of the
quotes from the Passion Test. And the third is no tension. And
that's the hardest one because once we set that goal, we know
that we can't push the result we need to let it go. Right? It's
not about knowing the how, because we never know quite how
something unfolds, right? You know, all of a sudden, I went
from kindergarten teacher to you know, Wall Street. But it all
had a meaning it all had a reason took me 30 years to get
off Wall Street. But that's okay. Because now I can teach
that to people. One of my coaches said your your tagline
should be 30 years or 30 minutes. So that was the way I
could introduce, you know, a free 30 minute consultation to
help you some of the tools that I've learned like the Passion
Test. And also, I use the Clifton Strength Finders, you
know, so when we talk about. So my first chapter is always say
thank you, it's all about gratitude. And that hung me up
for a long time too, because I tried to name I wanted to name
my book, always say thank you. Because that's how important
gratitude is in your life. No matter what's going on in your
life, to be grateful for a moment, be grateful for what you
have, instead of what you don't have. Being grateful brings more
of things to you that you can be grateful for. The second chapter
is belief. So it's working on those limiting beliefs. It's
having the knowing what your strengths are, it gives you the
confidence to really go at your life the way that you want to.
You know, we talked about affirmations, sometimes, oh, I'm
healthy. I, you know, I am great. I am rich, and your brain
is saying to you, yeah, right. You know, because that might not
be the case. I learned something called F formations. Noah St.
John wrote a book on F formations. And if you ask the
question, like, why am I so happy? Or why am I so rich, then
your brain starts to think of what's in your life right now
that is abundant or that is rich. And then we get to realise
what we do have and that can move us to, you know, the next
chapter is Connect which is where I introduced the Passion
Test with my clients. Because when you can really connect with
one It matters to you, and go through the process, then you
can start taking really specific action that allows you to dream,
which is my next chapter, dare to dream. You know, we don't
dream. We don't dream, and if we don't allow ourselves to dream
or to have fun, and to really live life effortlessly, right,
so there is a process to this book. And I realised that the
first eight chapters following some of the, you know, the
thought leaders out there that the first eight chapters are
qualities that are often found in happy and successful people.
Right.
So, man, it's not magic, but you just teased ABCD
and I gave E. So we're gonna have to, you have to get the
book right, or contact you for that as well. So I really liked
the fact that gratitude and kindness and looking at yourself
is as important because, you know, the Passion Test of
finding more joy, and stepping into happy can can lead you down
that path. And again, it doesn't have to be overly complex, it
doesn't have to be that's the thing is that we put a lot of
pressure on ourselves. These are actually simple ways that, and I
think I took you guys through it, looking in the mirror each
day, and what do you really see and most people don't really
like themselves? Well, I actually could just pick a
letter and look in the mirror and repeat that and actually
start my day on a whole different level. And you can't
do and I really love that. So this is so amazing. Well, I want
what I want to do now, okay, is that we're nearing the end of
the show. So I'm gonna have you put on your sunglasses. For
those that are listening, we're going to shine so brightly
because it's the shining, brightly spotlight. And so we're
putting on our sunglasses, and we are shining in Connecticut in
Michigan were shining, it doesn't matter if the sun's not
out or not. And I want people to tell I want you to tell people,
how best to get a hold of you and to get get your book, your
journals, and even the essential oils first and then I'll I'll
end with a final question for you.
Okay, you picked the right chapter again,
the easiest way to remember my email is empower your life at m
e.com. So if you just email me at Empower your life@me.com. If
anything that you heard today interests you, I would love to
talk to you more about that. The second thing that you can do is
go to my website, which is www.stepintohappy.com And that
gives you a link to my book. It tells you a little bit about an
upcoming masterclass that I will be teaching. So if you scroll to
the bottom, there is one link to download a poster of the first
eight chapters. So it's a nice downloadable poster that you can
put up on your wall remind you of the first eight steps that
are like I said characteristic of happy and successful people.
And you because you are that too. So you can shine brightly,
right? And when you put in your email, I will get notification
of that I can reach out to you let you know when my next
masterclass is, that's
awesome. So I'll take the glasses off for a
second. And I because this is I want you to share with me a
quote or some inspiration or a story and then kick the show for
clothes back to me. We're going to shine brightly with some
inspiration.
So I was a kindergarten teacher. And there
was a little book called all I really need to know, I learned
in kindergarten. And that's in my my chapter on value what's
right in front of you. It's all right there. It's all inside you
already you don't have to go find it. Maybe sometimes you
just need someone to help you bring that out of you. But when
you start to live an empowered life, then you can't help but
inspire others. And so my final quote, which is in my book in
the Inspire chapter, I'd love to read it to you. It's by Wayne
Dyer who's one of my absolute favourites. And he says that
when you are inspired by a great purpose, right so if you take
the Passion Test if you start to get clear, that's clarity is all
about the Passion Test on why you're on this earth why you
matter, and that you do matter. You can help but help others
matter also and inspire them so when you are inspired by a great
purpose. Everything will begin to work for you. When you feel
inspired, what appeared to be risky, becomes a path you feel
compelled to follow. The risks are gone, because you are
following your bliss, which is the truth within you. This is
why inspiration is such an important part of the fulfilment
of your intention to live a life on purpose. Your children will
see what you're all about, by what you live, rather than what
you say. And that's Dr. Wayne Dyer.
Wow, wow. Awesome. So we've shared a lot of cheeses
from the book. So thank you for that. That's, that's amazing. I
love it. And we're going to put all the links to get in touch
with you on the show notes and also in the social posts and all
that so everyone will be able to find you. It's going to be quite
easy. Really incredible. We tried to lay it out make it
simple for people to allow a little happiness and, and I
really appreciate you so much for me, shining brightly.com You
can get a hold of me and talk to me about the book we can talk
about speaking opportunities. We can talk about the this podcast
and also my advocacy work in entrepreneurship and in cancer
and interfaith relations as well. Big shout out to my
publisher front edge publishing, read the spirit magazine, and my
podcast shop, the amplify you network, just incredible support
and sponsors for me as well. So just remember, if we each shine
brightly, a little bit each day for ourselves, then go lift up
others, and then all we're shining brightly with glasses
back on. And in our communities and neighbourhoods, the world
would become a better place, Marian, thank you so much.
Awesome show and it's great to see you. I'll have you back
another time and we'll go deeper. Thank you so much.
Thanks, Howard. This was wonderful.