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Plenty with Kate Northrup

Episode 119: Running in the Dark: Akshay Nanavanti on Finding the Gifts in the Struggle

Plenty with Kate Northrup

Kate Northrup

Personalfinance, Self-improvement, Entrepreneurship, Nervoussystemhealing, Education, Womensempowerment, Wellness, Pleasure, Metaphysics, Spirituality, Abundance, Embodiment, Productivity, Timemanagement, Business

4.8697 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2019

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s guest is fascinating person with a tremendous story to tell. Akshay Nanavanti came to America at a young age, overcame drug addiction and then joined the Marines. He left his corporate job to drag a 190 lb. sled 350 miles across the world’s second largest polar icecap, swam through underwater caves, was almost killed by a falling boulder while glacier calving – and a whole lot more! As you’ll hear, Akshay’s greatest struggle came when he was diagnosed with PTSD and struggled with depression and alcohol addiction, which drove him to the brink of suicide. He spent years studying neuroscience, psychology and spirituality to figure out not only what would heal his brain, but what it really takes to live a happy, successful and meaningful life. Akshay created Fearvana, which he defines as “the bliss that results from engaging our fears to pursue our own worthy struggle.” His book of the same name has been endorsed by the Dalai Lama, with sales from it going to support his foundation. A lot of what he talks about in this episode has to do with struggle, and you’ll discover why he actually seeks it out. Akshay shows us how we can all live our lives the way that we want to, and we’re blown away by his enthusiasm and how he’s gone after life, especially experiencing circumstances that would have stopped so many people. Would you, or a company you know, be a good fit to sponsor The Kate & Mike Show? If so, let’s talk! You can email [email protected] regarding current sponsorship opportunities. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at http://www.katenorthrup.com/podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Kate Northrop.

0:03.3

And I'm Mike Watts.

0:04.5

And we're partners in life, love, and business.

0:07.7

Welcome to the Kate and Mike Show, where we share insights and interviews on entrepreneurship,

0:12.3

relationships, parenting, self-actualization, and making a life not just a living.

0:21.5

Hey there, welcome to the Kate and Mike show. This is Kate. This is Mike. Today we are

0:25.9

joined by Akshay Nanavanti, who we had the pleasure of meeting last year in New York City

0:32.2

when we flew down for about 14 hours to be on a live stream with Marie Forleo talking about being a B-schooler.

0:40.9

And Akshay and I sat on the couch next to each other at Marie TV's studio. And I was ginormously

0:47.4

pregnant. And he was such a cool guy. And he told me about his work. And he told me that his book

0:52.0

had been endorsed by the Dalai Lama, which we should

0:54.2

have asked him on the podcast how that happened. But he's, yeah, do you want to talk a little bit

0:59.1

about his background, Mike? Yes. So he actually was born in India and then came to New Jersey.

1:05.6

No, Texas, Austin. Was it Austin? Yeah. But he lives in Jersey. He goes in Jersey now.

1:10.9

No. Yeah. And then he, so. He goes in Jersey now. No.

1:11.4

Yeah.

1:12.0

And then he, so his family came over when he was 14 years old, I believe.

1:17.3

And he is a fascinating guy.

1:20.0

That's all I have to say.

1:21.5

This is a fascinating interview.

1:23.6

Some of the stuff that he has done, he over, he was addicted to drugs.

1:27.9

He ended up being a Marine. Like, he was one of the stuff that he has done, he was addicted to drugs. He ended up being a Marine.

...

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