In this episode of the Wisdom & Wanderlust Podcast, Michael and Robyn talk with Mel Miles, a coach, writer and a chief soul officer at Soulcation Coaching and Retreats. Her mission is to give stressed out, overworked professionals the space and information to rewrite their own story and find the freedom they’ve always wanted.

Mel talks about what it took for her to make the transition out of the corporate world into  entrepreneurship and the lessons she gained from a year-long trip around the world. She also discusses how to lean into rest and play as keys to success. Listen as she shares how to build a life you don’t need a vacation from.

Warning: Explicit content

"I just want to speak to anyone who’s listening to this who feels stressed out, overwhelmed, burned out particularly in the time of COVID, that those feelings are so valid." - Mel Miles [11:25]

"No one ever taught me how to actually feel my feelings and that it was safe to be in sadness and grief and pain, which I know are five core emotions that we as humans have to experience." - Mel Miles [13:38]

"I always say when the pain is bad enough that you are finally willing to take action to choose yourself." - Mel Miles [15:55]

"When you’re actually going through a season of transformation, how you change your life is not through picking your next job and going all in to kill it. How you do it is lots of iterations and lots of experiments, and it’s the people who are willing to try on different identities, whether it’d be in their work life or their lifestyle, are the ones that can finally land in what’s true to them." - Mel Miles [24:49]

"I do believe that people with privilege are ambassadors to support the freedom of others." - Mel Miles [37:01]

What You Will Learn:

• [00:01] Intro
• [01:45] Why Playa del Carmen
• [05:28] Melody to Mel
• [10:59] The catalyst for what she’s doing now
• [15:47] Why she took a year to travel
• [18:15] What freedom means to her and Michael
• [22:50] A profound moment that changed her life
• [26:48] Why she remembers the next yellow arrow
• [28:55] The parable of businessman and the fisherman
• [31:19] The top five regrets of the dying
• [36:24] If freedom is a choice & what prevents people from that choice
• [46:27] Some mindsets to adopt while traveling and bring home
• [49:39] Mel’s business, Soulcation
• [51:50] Rapid fire questions
• [56:42] Outro

Resources:

• Mel Miles’ website
• Soulcation Podcast
• Mel Miles on Instagram
• Mel Miles on LinkedIn
• My Ayahuasca Death and Rebirth
• Mel’s 7-Step SOULFUL Framework
• Free masterclass: Five Shifts to Heal Emotional Overwhelm & Burnout
• The Soulcation Planner
• This Book Will Make You Dangerous: The Irreverent Guide For Men Who Refuse to Settle by Tripp Lanier
• The Camino de Santiago
• Small Group Journey: Walking the Camino de Santiago
• The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
• The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks
• The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
• [Travel Better] Lessons from a Lifetime of Travel with Don Mankin (Part 1) (Part 2)