Permission To Be You

My special guest today is Dan McNerney, a former government lawyer and retired judge that has created a whole new life of meaning, adventure and awe for himself. Dean is an usually gifted man. Not only did he reach the top of his profession he is now returning to, among several other things, a life of playing music professionally. Something he once did in college for beer money, he now does out of love. Dan is special, and unusual, in that he prior to retiring, He developed a plan for his future that would allow him to immerse himself in creative activities such as writing, art, and music. And by doing so, he has begun to fulfill his dreams that got put on hold during his years of raising a family and pursuing a career in public service. Today… Dan performs country music in local clubs, is writing a novel, and spends as much time possible in their second home in the mountains of Oregon, where his talents as a handyman are put to full use. Dan devotes his life keeping busy doing things he loves and helps other

Show Notes  Keith Page is a natural entrepreneur. He may have started more than a dozen groups, ministries and churches because of a serious need that required his vision and passion. Keith Page began his career in youth ministry, and later moved onto large church planting as well as other social entrepreneurial projects. He has worked in Orange County, CA for the last 30 years and is the grateful father to two high school age daughters, one a ballerina and one an indie musician. So creativity does not drop far from the tree in Keith's family. Today, I am most interested in Keith's newest project: it is what he labels an "all inclusive spiritual community." It will be called "Homecoming Church" and opens Easter Sunday 2017 in the Costa Mesa, Newport Beach area. What I'm curious about is discovering the heart and driving forces that moved Keith to start in new church in a county with hundreds (or thousands) already in existence In this interview we delve deeply into Christianity and its relationship to th

Sadly, this is the final episode of Permission to Be You in which Charlie will wrap up the series. But this is only a transition to the new Podcast, The Next Chapter with Charlie, which will go live on Monday August 15th. The podcast has been surprisingly popular, but life-changes have forced us to take a new direction. Right Things is being converted to The Next Chapter with Charlie in which we will deal with transition and life-change in general. Although Baby Boomers are a significant target, the episodes nevertheless will be relevant to anyone desiring change in their lives. I am looking forward to the new direction with great anticipation.  Please enjoy this last episode and be sure to tune in to the new shows about to come.

In this episode Charlie and Terry talk about the feelings of bored or useless after the loss of a job in some form of transition.  Be sure to check out Charlie and Terry on their extensive websites: blogs, videos, courses, and Sabbath Moment. You can find… Charlie: www.rightthings.com Terry: www.terryhershey.com Until next time, remember you are "Free to be You!"

Alan Jones once wrote: "Most of us have "second-hand beliefs." We simply believe, without thought or investigation, ideas and values preached to us by influential people like parents, teachers, peers, and pastors. In this episode Charlie and Terry will break down "beliefs." You know, those things we base our lives upon. Alan Jones really challenges how we have come upon those beliefs. We talk about "erasing" what we currently believe and then reevaluate what we genuinely believe personally. UnKnowing is a close relative to Curiosity.  This may be one of our most important episodes yet. It's all about replacing our current beliefs with fresh and reconsidered thoughts, beliefs and actions. Links and Resources: Journey into Christ, Alan Jones Krista Tippett Interview with Elizabeth Gilbert Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert              Be sure to check out Charlie and Terry on their extensive websites: blogs, videos, courses, and Sabbath

In this episode Charlie interviews Michael Sitton, CEO of Sitton Flooring, about The Power of Adversity. It is widely believed we learn more from failure than we do success. Maybe yes, maybe no. BUT, there is no better teacher than adversity. Charlie and Michael delve deeply into the subject, including their common adversity of alcoholism. Michael began work in his family-owned company as a 17-year-old carpet layer. A little more than decade later he was running the company and built the business to revenues that exceed $13 million. All without a high school diploma—until he got his GED. This interview really gets into the nitty gritty of our lives. Be sure to catch it. Links and Resources: Neil Gaimen Commencement Speech—A Must See           Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Be sure to check out Charlie and Terry on their extensive websites: blogs, videos, courses, and Sabbath Moment. You can find… Charlie: www.rightthings.com Terry: www.terryhershey.com Until ne

In this episode Charlie and Terry talk with Jason Barger about "intuitive" career transition. You know, the kind of transition you feel in your gut that it is time to move on to something new. It can be scary. Especially, when you do it like Jason… by faith. He simply believed in himself when he moved from a successful career in ministry to creating a fulfilling career as a speaker and author. Jason Barger is a motivational keynote speaker who is committed to engaging the minds and hearts of people. He also is an Author, Leadership Consultant, and Creator of the Step Back from the Baggage Claim Movement – featured by the New York Times, ABC News, and many more. Links and Resources: Contact Jason at info@jasonvbarger.com Check out Jason's insightful book: Step Back from the Baggage Claim Be sure to check out Charlie and Terry on their extensive websites: blogs, videos, courses, and Sabbath Moment. You can find… Charlie: www.rightthings.com Terry: www.terryhershey.com Until next time, remember you ar

In this episode Charlie and Terry talk about The Myth of Closure. No, you'll never get closure on life's difficult issues. In fact, if by closure you mean erasing your past troubles from your mind, then you would miss out on important memories or life lessons that will make you a deeper and richer person.   Links and Resources: The Myth of Closure: Dr. Pauline Boss Be sure to check out Charlie and Terry on their extensive websites: blogs, videos, courses, and Sabbath Moment. You can find… Charlie: www.rightthings.com Terry: www.terryhershey.com Until next time, remember you are "Free to be You!"

Your brain is a "Curiosity Machine." You are hard-wired to be curious. In this episode Charlie and Terry talk about The Power of Curiosity. Charlie says, "One of the most frequently asked questions by kids is, "Why?" I remember "losing" my son at Disneyland for about 3 -4 minutes when he was 5 or 6 simply because he "wandered off," curiously investigating something new. Now I am the one "wandering off" investigating something new in as many ways as I can. Links and Resources: Catch Charlie and Terry on their respective websites, www.rightthings.com andwww.terryhershey.com with any comments, questions, or even just to say hello; they're always happy to respond. Until next time, keep being present! Check out this episode!

The question is not "what is my purpose in life" but "what excites me?" Join Charlie and Terry in their conversation about the Role of Excitement in your life. More than "what you want," you need to be driven to do things that excite you. Life is short and every moment matters. Let's make 'em great! This quote nails it, "People want to have meaning in life and they want to be thrilled by it." How often to we neglect "the thrill of living a life with doses of excitement? You can join Charlie and Terry on their websites: Charlie is at www.rightthings.com Terry can be found at www.TerryHershey,com

In this episode Charlie and Terry talk about the Masks we wear to please other people or to be acceptable to a certain group. We call these masks our Glittering Images. We are so burdened with the need to be accepted by others that we will (most often unknowingly) try to make ourselves to "look good." In doing so, we lose our real self and end up feeling rather empty. Links and Resources: Glittering Images by Susan Howatch Catch Charlie and Terry on their respective websites, www.rightthings.com and www.terryhershey.com with any comments, questions, or even just to say hello; they're always happy to respond. Until next time, keep be present!

During this episode, we discuss inspiration; namely what it is, where it comes from, and why it's an important aspect of allowing yourself to be the "true" you. Our goal is to give you ways to maximize and enjoy your life. One of the ways you can achieve this is by creating opportunities for peace and personal reflection. These opportunities will, in turn, create the perfect conditions for finding your inspiration. Today's Topics Include: A documentary about music and inspiration Creating a space for peace and quiet When and where inspiration strikes Allowing time for creativity/personal pursuits Identifying your muse Links and Resources: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield The Power of Pause by Terry Hershey Catch Charlie and Terry on their respective websites, www.rightthings.com and www.terryhershey.com with any comments, questions, or even just to say hello; they're always happy to respond. Until next time, keep being authentic!

There's no block to expressing yourself and being yourself as you were gifted to be, and we believe it's our responsibility to find the real us.  But the authentic you is sometimes even hidden within yourself, and today we're joined by good friend Ty Rose so he can tell us his story about overcoming it in his own life.   Ty was a children's minister in one of the biggest churches in California who no longer felt fulfilled in his family or his job.  He wasn't happy with anything that he was doing and didn't find any personal fulfillment in his life, causing him to feel like he lacked a reason to exist in that sense. This edition of The Permission to be You tells the story of how he lost his false self to find his destined path. We discussed: Ty's moment of truth: discovering he was a gay, Christian man Why he took up painting and how it helps him stay authentic The two signs that the real you is stuffed down How he expresses himself through his art and teaching Ty's struggle with being a gay ch

Having returned from a successful speaking engagement at the Catholic Conference in Anaheim, Terry has some great thoughts and stories to share. We discuss issues of self-acceptance and how it is still an issue that plagues many people. As such, we chat about different ways we all self-sabotage and how to get past these roadblocks to living a contented life. Today's Topics Include: The need for mercy Unnecessary apologizing The guilt involved in not following "rules" People of sincere and genuine wholeheartedness The difficulty of self-acceptance Catch Charlie and Terry on their respective websites, www.rightthings.com and www.terryhershey.com with any comments, questions, or even just to say hello; they're always happy to respond. Until next time, keep being authentic!po8y

Often times, people assume that you will become the authentic you only after getting rid of all the bunkum in your life. Today's episode goes to show that that's the furthest thing from the truth. In this edition, we want to continue with Cynthia's evolutionary growth and journey into becoming the fabulous artist that she is today, which has not been an easy task.     Today's topics included: How Cynthia learned to compartmentalize her life The story behind her painting, Memento Mori Charlie's number one goal in life and how it came to be The beauty in the hardships of life Tactics for being yourself and discovering the real you Being instinctual about your work Charlie and Terry's answer to the ultimate question   Cynthia currently works and lives in Southern California. She received her MFA in drawing and painting from the Laguna College of Art and Design in 2015. Working as a figurative realist painter, Cynthia explores emotional and psychological narrative themes that are part autobiograp

Today is a very special day because we are talking to Charlie's wonderful long-time friend, Cynthia Sitton. Cynthia belongs to a special tribe of artists, but she's changing the rules as we speak. She's a very famous painter, and is actually considered one of the best representational artists in Southern California. First of all, she's breaking the rules through her representational painting. And now, she's adapting representational art and putting her own spin on it. Talk about someone who gives herself permission to be authentic! Today's topics include: How Cynthia began with narrative art Getting rid of the voices in your head How to discover your true form of expression Allowing yourself to go against the rules How she found her voice as an artist Cynthia currently works and lives in Southern California. She received her MFA in drawing and painting from the Laguna College of Art and Design in 2015. Working as a figurative realist painter, Cynthia explores emotional and psychological narrative themes

Thank you for joining our conversation today about how to begin living a truly authentic life. In this edition, Charlie and Terry chose to expand on a quote that Terry said at the end of one our most recent episodes: “Expectations only have power if you empower them.” Expectations have power and can impact you greatly. But in terms of identity, it can only have power if you feed it. Any kind of expectations that have a script typically come with a label, as well. But today, Terry shares the story of a very special woman, and the  man that changed her life forever by giving her  parents permission to reframe the label and the script they had imposed upon her. Today’s points included: Living in the now The true definition of a difficult child Empowering expectations the right way The scary truth about false expectations How to discover your true identity Bringing the real you to what you’re doing so you can finally start to have fun There are always going to be more expec

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode six. Last time we talked about the impact of expectations on childhood, and also went a little bit in depth in Charlie’s personal story. This week we’re talking about parental expectations, because there is probably no expectation that is more influential. There’s no doubt that a parent wants what’s best for their child. But there’s a point where you have to let them individuate. The power of parenting is in when you let the child go, and accept that it’s now their wings that make them fly, instead of your own. First, Terry felt compelled to share a really great quote directly in line with today’s focus, by famous psychiatrist and writer, Alice Miller: In therapy, the small and lonely child that is hidden behind her achievements wakes up and asks: “What would have happened if I had appeared before you sad, needy, angry, furious? Where would your love have been then? And I was all these things as well. Does this mean that

There's a sound that only you can make and there's a light within you, but it can be buried under a bushel because of clutter and the expectations. It's within us but it's somehow hidden. On this episode we continue to share some of our personal stories where the truth about expectations and their framework comes clear. Charlie was pawned off from relative to relative at a very young age, starting with his mother. The story takes place from four to seven years old. He found himself being moved around from home to home, with no explanation. As you can probably imagine, he had a couple of takeaways from that. First, he learned that he gave great first impressions.  Later, what he concluded was that he may give a good first impression, but that after that he's a piece of crap who's really not worth living in other people's homes. He had this real acceptance problem; he didn't feel accepted in love. It's an extraordinary thing that even at the age of four, we feel like we're responsible for these things and

Welcome to episode four of The Permission To Be You. As your hosts, Charlie and Terry are here to help show you how to enhance your life with more meaning, less clutter and more excitement. As we discuss overcoming the obstacles to becoming the authentic you, we find ourselves drifting to the topic of giving yourself permission to disallow expectations, to release them into the stratosphere and give yourself permission to be the real you, instead. Today we are talking about expectations and how they impact your life. And not any kind of expectations, but the ones that come upon you in early childhood. What we’re asking is that you evaluate those and see which ones are the authentic you. So, what happens in your first seven years on the Planet that so sets your expectations, goals and the way you define yourself? The answer is simple: there’s a lot going on during this time and you’re so very easy to influence. At some point in your life, your may very well have someone put a bushel over y