How do you go about seeking inner peace for yourself?

We've spent many past episodes diving into mental health and self-growth. But as we strive to improve ourselves, how can we also embrace all that we currently are - the good and the bad?

We individually found frameworks that helped us cope with the stresses of everyday life. Jesse found his calming mantra through a session on Calm, while Angela discovered "The Work" by Byron Katie*. Both frameworks help to process turbulent thoughts, by slowing down our thought processes to be both kinder and more objective.

As with many other growth related topics, seeking inner peace is work done over a lifetime. Although we are far from perfect at practicing this calmness, we work towards it every day.

Listeners, how do you work towards emotional balance? Let us know in the Spotify Q&A section or in the comments on our social media!

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*Podcasters' Note: in the episode we mistakenly refer to the author as Katie Byron. "The Work" is by Byron Katie.

What's it like to not only have an Olympic gold medalist mom but also have the chance to play her in a movie in China alongside the likes of Gong Li?!

In this episode, we speak with Lydia Bai, a former Stanford volleyball star turned investment banker, now life coach, who had the rare opportunity to completely shake up her life and fly to China for this rare opportunity. *Her mom is legendary volleyball icon Lang Ping and the movie we're talking about is called "Leap" (2020)!*

Through the process of learning how to act (in Mandarin, nonetheless!), Lydia was able to push through her own negative self talk and finally realize that the only person holding her back in life was herself.

With this newfound realization, Lydia was inspired to forge a new path for herself as a life coach focused on helping women in tech overcome their own limiting beliefs in order to thrive in their careers.

If you'd like to connect with Lydia, you can find her at https://www.lydiabai.com and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiabai/

Listeners - what did you resonate with most in this episode? Let us know in the Spotify Q&A section or in our comments on social media!

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As the pandemic recedes, the dream of remote work forever has also shrank. But for those who can still telecommute, the allure of planting roots elsewhere has become "the writing on the wall."

Reports of Americans moving abroad have historically centered on an older demographic looking to stretch their retirement savings. However, this new cohort of high paid telecommuters has come into focus - a group that seeks to achieve the American Dream while living abroad.

With the economics, safety, and livability of their home nation in decline, living abroad has become a rational choice for this group. But as more Americans seek their dream life abroad, only time will tell how well their assimilation into their destination countries will fare.

We'd love to hear from our existing digital nomad listeners and those who aspire to live life abroad! Have you considered planting roots abroad instead of settling in your home nation? Let us know in the Spotify Q&A section or in the comments on our social media!

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Our relationship with grief changes as we get older. The range of loss we learn to absorb over time is so large - so where do we learn how to cope?

In evaluating ourselves, we find that most of our responses to loss are unique, individual responses. Growing up with families that did not necessarily express much emotion, we weren't able to learn a model of grief from a young age.

And yet when we look at our parents' emotional reactions to tragic life events, we can't help but consider the difference. Our life contexts are certainly not the same, but the commonality of grief runs through it - maybe just expressed differently.

How were you taught (or not taught) to handle grieving? Let us know in our Spotify Q&A section or in our comments on social media.

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Family structures have changed throughout time and vary depending on which part of the world you're from.

Recent surveys done by Pew Research in the US suggest that prevailing attitudes towards the institutions surrounding families have changed. The importance of family and marriage have dramatically transformed over the last few years.

Some of these changes are more inclusive and benefit family structures that have traditionally sat outside the norm. Single parents and married gay parents have seen positive shifts in perception.

But do these changes reflect the attitude of all of America? What kind of family structure do you belong to? Do you feel your family structure is largely accepted? Let us know in our Spotify Q&A section or in our comments on social media!

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We've talked about the culture shocks & challenges we've faced being American-born kids visiting the motherland (in our case, Taiwan), but all of those experiences have only been in the context of short-term vacations.

What's it like trying to do "real" things like applying for health insurance, opening a bank account, and other "grown up" things in the motherland? In this episode, Angela shares exactly what that was like when she navigated these activities recently. Let's just say it was a humbling experience!

While she and many of you may be lucky enough to have parents and other older relatives around who can help you through these mundane adulting activities now, they won't be around forever to help you. That's why, especially if you're looking to have options in the face of an ever-changing global climate, investing in developing these societally-functioning skill sets now is not such a bad idea.

How about you listeners? Have you ever had to navigate "adulting" activities back in the motherland? Any tips & tricks? Let us know in the Spotify Q&A section or in the comments on our social media!

Follow us on Instagram at @whereareyoufrompod and on TikTok at @butwhereareyoureallyfrom