The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Do people still send voice mails?

Well, whether they do or don't, it's the spark behind this week's Last Bad Day Tip. It's #26.

Before he was a Mindset and Resilience coach, Michael led a team of nearly 1,000 people. Before every major US holiday, he'd leave them a voicemail with three parts: gratitude for their hard work, encouragement to connect with the people they love, and an invitation to pause and reflect on where they stood in their own lives and careers.

That third part changed things. A handful of people came back from those holiday weekends and resigned, not because anything went wrong, but because the pause helped them see they'd outgrown where they were. Michael is still friends with every one of them.

In this episode, Michael walks through the full Pause, Breathe, Reflect exercise he used with his team, and how you can use it this Fourth of July weekend.

He touches on gratitude, on checking in with your peloton, and on the story you keep telling yourself about yourself, and whether that story still serves you.

It's a reminder that sometimes the most important career or life move isn't the next big leap. It's the reflection before it.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE in Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

Join me on Substack https://substack.com/@milkshakeswithmichael for more ways to stay resilient and navigate today’s uncertainty with more grace.

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

With Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kintsugi Wisdom, listeners explore mindfulness and resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on building resilience, fitness, and stress management, as well as mindfulness practices and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools such as breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress reduction. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embodies healing as a transformative process, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and overwhelm to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does freedom mean when you've seen what life looks like without it?

I recently sat down with Maggie Mick, a Kentucky-based government affairs leader with MultiState, co-host of The Political Life podcast, and a woman whose family history traces back to the first Welsh settlers of Philadelphia.

She's traveled the world as a soft diplomat, breaking bread with people in far-flung places, and what she came home with every time was gratitude.

But she's also watching something quietly erode: local community. The stickiness, as she calls it, that comes from knowing your neighbor, showing up for a stranger, gathering in shared spaces. Without it, she says, we lose our ability to hold anyone accountable for anything.

And then there's Harry. Her great-grandfather, who survived an orphan train, indentured servitude, and an abusive placement only to escape, join the military, raise nine children, build a journalism career, and become so beloved in southeast Nebraska that there's now a statue of him at the Orphan Train Museum.

Harry is the American dream, and Maggie carries him with her.

You can connect with Maggie via MultiState, The Political Life Podcast, or LinkedIn.

And finally, Maggie's question for you and our next guest in our series, Laura Cross, is:

If you could live in any state other than the one you currently call home, which would it be and why?

Share your answer in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE in Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

Join me on Substack https://substack.com/@milkshakeswithmichael for more ways to stay resilient and navigate today’s uncertainty with more grace.

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

With Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kintsugi Wisdom, listeners explore mindfulness and resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on building resilience, fitness, and stress management, as well as mindfulness practices and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools such as breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress reduction. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embodies healing as a transformative process, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and overwhelm to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of "Born in the USA"?

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael unpacks the lyrical dissonance of Springsteen's most misunderstood anthem, and uses it as a doorway into something much bigger: the Iroquois concept of Long Body, the spiritual and literal connectedness we share with our ancestors, our community, and the earth itself. He contrasts it with Short Body, the Western idea that we end completely at our own skin, that our pain is ours alone to carry.

Michael connects this directly to his own recovery from his Last Bad Day. His healing wasn't a solo act. It was fueled by a peloton of people, near and far, who refused to let him carry it alone. That's Long Body in action.

As America turns 250 this week, Michael makes the case that acknowledging our cracks isn't unpatriotic. It's a deeper form of patriotism. You can turn up the volume and feel the pride, and still let the song ask you something harder.

His invitation before you go: queue up "Born in the USA," actually listen to the lyrics this time, and notice what it stirs in you.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE in Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

Join me on Substack https://substack.com/@milkshakeswithmichael for more ways to stay resilient and navigate today’s uncertainty with more grace.

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

With Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kintsugi Wisdom, listeners explore mindfulness and resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on building resilience, fitness, and stress management, as well as mindfulness practices and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools such as breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress reduction. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embodies healing as a transformative process, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and overwhelm to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and