Code 3: Life. Reinvented.

In this episode, I’m joined by someone who was my very first guest on Code 3 — Dr. Birgit Rauchbauer — and I’m excited to share a big announcement: she’s officially joining MORE as our Head of Research. Together, we dig into the question that’s been driving my work: What actually happens when you live and work in alignment — and what does the science say about it? We break down what people get wrong about purpose (hint: it doesn’t have to be heroic), how I define alignment as when your authentic truth, ambition, and actions are in harmony, and why grounding this work in evidence matters — especially for high achievers who want more than inspiration. We explore key findings from our research, including how alignment is associated with lower all-cause mortality, reduced cardiovascular risk, healthier lifestyle choices, and even increased cognitive flexibility. Then we go into the real obstacle: resistance. Birgit explains what’s happening in the brain when fear and uncertainty take over — the “amygdala hijack” — and how to work with fear instead of fighting it. We close with practical tools for moving toward alignment through small, values-based steps, nervous system regulation (breathing and body signals), and why community support makes change stick. If you’re a high achiever who looks successful on paper but feels something is off inside, this episode is for you. Want the paper we discuss? You can find it at bemorealigned.com or email me at [email protected] with the subject line “paper.”

After my first widowmaker heart attack, I truly believed I had my wake-up call. I changed my diet. I committed to exercise. I followed my doctors’ guidance and told myself things would be different moving forward. For a while, they were. But over time, life quietly pulled me back to normal. The stress returned. Old habits crept in. The environment that nearly broke me didn’t really change — and eventually, eight years later, I had a second heart attack. In this deeply personal solo episode, I share the real story of what happened in the space between my two wake-up calls. The part nobody talks about. The slow drift back to the life that caused the crisis in the first place. This conversation is about why major wake-up calls don’t always lead to lasting change, how environment shapes our behavior more than motivation, and why the real wake-up call isn’t the crisis itself — it’s the moment you realize you’re returning to the life that hurt you. In this episode, I explore: • Why most people don’t maintain lifestyle changes after major health events • How stress and environment quietly pull us back into old patterns • The reality of regression to the mean in real life • Why survival alone doesn’t create alignment • The three questions I now ask myself — and invite you to ask too As I close the episode, I leave you with three questions: What are you calling manageable right now? What signal are you explaining away because everything still works? If nothing forced you to stop, what would you keep tolerating? If you’ve ever told yourself “I’ve got it under control” while quietly ignoring the signals, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Code 3: Life, Reinvented, I sit down with my friend—and MORE® coach—Jonathan Binder, joining us from Lisbon, Portugal, to explore a Joseph Campbell line that keeps resurfacing in both of our lives: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasures you seek.” Jon shares his Code 3 moment: years of terrifying heart palpitations that looked physical on paper, but ultimately forced him to confront something deeper—an emotional and spiritual crisis he’d been trying to “handle quietly.” We talk about what happens when you’ve built a life around being the calm, capable one… while you’re silently suffering inside. We get into identity, success, and the trap of proving yourself—how chasing external validation can keep you performing instead of living. Jon opens up about the fear of being seen, the fear of being judged, and the “Russian nesting doll” reality of growth: you enter one cave, and then there’s another. Jon also shares the leap that changed everything: moving his family from Marin County to Portugal—sight unseen—and what it taught him about trust, timing, and the lie that it’s “too late.” To make it practical, he offers a powerful tool anyone can use: the Vision Letter—writing a letter from your future self describing the life you want as if it’s already real. It’s a simple exercise that helps you reconnect with what your heart actually wants, beyond the conditioning. This is a conversation about courage, trust, reinvention, and why the path to alignment often starts with telling the truth—out loud. If you'd like to explore what MORE® has to offer, please visit bemorealigned.com. Here's how you can connect with Jon.

In this solo episode of Code 3: Life, Reinvented, I challenge the way authenticity has been turned into a vibe, a brand, or a someday project—and make the case for why authenticity isn’t cute or optional. It’s urgent. I unpack what I call urgent authenticity: the decision to tell the truth in time for it to matter. Not oversharing. Not blowing up your life. But refusing to quietly abandon yourself while waiting for certainty that never comes. Building on the idea of numb success, I explore how external validation can keep us stuck on autopilot, postponing honesty with phrases like “I’ll deal with it later.” I explain why later isn’t a plan—it’s a stall—and how authenticity delayed often turns into regret. Drawing from my own experience as a two-time widowmaker heart attack survivor, I share why waiting for a crisis is a dangerous strategy, and how bodies, relationships, energy, and options erode when truth is deferred too long. I offer practical steps to begin honoring your authentic truth now: identifying the truth you’re avoiding, saying it out loud before you feel ready, and making one aligned move within the next seven days. Because clarity rarely comes before courage, it comes after action. If numb success is falling asleep inside your life, urgent authenticity is waking up and refusing to roll over. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to stop pretending you don’t already know. If you'd like to explore MORE and how our platform can help you, please visit bemorealigned.com.

In this episode of Code 3: Life, Reinvented, I sit down with entrepreneur, speaker, and Growth Now Movement host Justin Schenck to unpack what it really takes to reinvent your life, especially when your starting line is stacked against you. Justin shares his early story: a 1.7 GPA, a mother battling opioid addiction, a father in jail, and the heavy belief that his future was already written for him. His turning point came through a sales job that introduced him to personal development and a simple but life-changing idea: you can’t control what happens around you, but you can control what you do next. We talk about failed businesses, grief, and rock-bottom moments, and how launching a podcast became Justin’s “real-world MBA.” He explains how chasing external validation eventually pushed him toward deeper inner work — what he calls self-love, and what we at MORE® call self-compassion. Together, we dig into why pursuing traditional markers of success can leave people feeling hollow, and how redefining success around time freedom, relationships, and alignment changes everything. We also get practical: how to uncover your “superpower,” why consistency matters even when nobody’s watching, and Justin’s three-part framework for breaking through limiting beliefs: get uncomfortable, surround yourself with the right people, and take action. The episode lands on a powerful reminder: you don’t need to wait for a crisis to change your life. But if the wake-up call comes, don’t waste it. Choose the brave step. To learn about MORE®, check out our site: bemorealigned.com. Where to find Justin: Podcast: Growth Now Movement Live Event: Growth Now Summit Live (tickets at growthnowsummit.com) Instagram: @JustinTSchenck