Episode Summary – WANT MORE HAPPY IN YOUR LIFE? YES! In Episode 70 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show (links in the comments), titled “STEP IN TO HAPPY”, my dear friend and fellow author joins me to share her ten-year process to finally publish her book that was inside her as an elementary school teacher. A simple ABC book for loving your life and focusing on what matters to you. Also, she is a certified Passion Test Facilitator to find out how to bring more joy to your life and others with gratitude, intentionality and kindness. Come download, listen, share and review this amazing show and be HAPPY!

Mentioned Resources - 

• Website - www.stepintohappy.com
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianedvardsen
• Facebook - www.facebook.com/marian.edvardsen

Amazon: 

• Step In To Happy - Simple Steps from A to Z for Loving Your Life https://a.co/d/4JZwa0q
• Step In To Happy - Gratitude Journal https://a.co/d/e6eVXYL
• Step In To Happy - Daily Success Planner https://a.co/d/gD16SZv

About the guest –  

Marian Edvardsen is an Empowerment and Mindset Coach, Leader and Wellness Advocate with dōTERRA International, Certified Passion Test Facilitator for Adults, Kids & Teens, and an EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Practitioner. Marian mentors people committed to living happy, healthy, and fulfilled lives but who sometimes struggle with overwhelm, stress, or limiting beliefs that keep them stuck and hold them back from living the vibrant lives they want and desire. Her straightforward approach to stepping in to happy incorporates simple steps that are easy to implement.  Her work with dōTERRA essential oils and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) since 2012 has become two of the most effective and powerful yet down-to-earth tools in helping people find natural solutions to feel better fast on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. Marian is passionate about empowering others to dare to dream, reach for the stars, and live the life they love. That is the core vision of her “Step In To Happy” philosophy. Her mission is to create a legacy of impacting positive change in the world. Marian lives in Connecticut with her husband George, their sons William and Brendan and their rescue dog Molly.

About the Host:

Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.

Website

Http://www.shiningbrightly.com

Social Media

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36

LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown

Instagram - @howard.brown.36

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Go. Hello. It's Howard Brown. It's the Shining

Brightly Show. I got another great one for you today. This is

absolutely incredible. Marian Edvardsen. Welcome. How are you?

I'm great, Howard, thank you so much for

having me be your guests. I'm really honoured.

Well, I've got to share. And we're going to give a

big shout out to Bobby get bonus. Because we just spent

time a couple of weeks back on the reinvention retreat on a

cruise, we were both speaking on the cruise. And it was so

fantastic to meet you and hear about you. And I just enjoyed

it. And so I said to you on the cruise, I want you on my show.

So here you are today. And you're here. And that was an

amazing learning experience for us all. And I enjoyed the

cruise. I hope you did as well.

I sure did. Good, good. Good.

Let me tell you a little bit about Marian here.

And I've got a short bio to read now I'll basically improvise so.

So Marian edvardsen is an empowerment and mindset coach,

leader and Wellness Advocate. With a doTERRA international

she's she's basically those are the essential oils. You're a

certified Passion Test facilitator, we're going to talk

about that just a little bit as well. And you do that for

adults. But especially with kids and teens and emotional, you

provide this emotional freedom technique as a practitioner, you

mentor people are committed to living a happy, healthy and

fulfilled lives, who sometimes struggle and are overwhelmed,

stressed out, or limiting their beliefs that's keeping them

stuck and holding them back. But you want them to achieve vibrant

lives and all their desires. So your straightforward approach of

stepping into happy incorporates these easy to implement steps.

And I love that. And you also incorporate the essential oils,

and the EFT techniques of that as well. But you didn't always

do this. And we're going to talk about your history as well. And

doing that. You're passionate about empowering others that

dare to dream reach for the stars, and live the life that

they love. And the conversion of stepping into happy as a

philosophy. And it's your mission to create a legacy of

impacted positive change in the world. You live in Connecticut

with your husband, George sons, William, Brandon, and rescue

dog, Molly. So this is awesome. Tell me two questions top of

mind is that tell me something that people may not know about?

Yeah, something you haven't shared before?

Well, I am, I've always had the philosophy

of never let go of your dreams. And I was probably having come

from a family of seven children, you know, probably voted most

likely to be the first out of high school to get married and

have kids. Because I just was around kids so much. Well, that

took a lot longer, but you know, never let go of your dreams. I

had my twins at 49 which I consider a wonderful miracle and

and they are just the best boys. They're juniors in college right

now. And they make me really happy.

I love it. I love it. Tell me this week or today?

How did you shine? How do you shine brightly?

Well, I have to say, being invited to your

podcast is just absolutely making me shine. And I've been

telling so many people about it. I can't wait to share it and

share more about you because you are such an inspiration on the

ship. You are our first you know, in our in our keynote

speaker and I was inspired right from the start. So I I'm so

grateful that we connected and you know, Elon, look at us now.

I love it. I'm very humbled by that. So thank

you. Well, I the reason that you're here today is that, who

doesn't want to shine brightly, and who doesn't want more happy

in their life, everyone needs to have that. So that's why you're

here. But I want to just take us back a little bit because it's

very interesting how you came about and evolved because you're

a school teacher. And then you did a lot of years on Wall

Street. So share that a little bit and then we'll dive into the

book.

So I graduated with a degree in elementary

education, and went back home the first year and taught

kindergarten in my hometown school and loved that. My

boyfriend at the time was going to law school in New York City

and so his school was in the Wall Street area. You pursue

what you think you're good at I didn't really want to teach in

the public school system. You know, that's a tough that's a

tough market. Right. The you know, the New York City schools

having been a small town, Country Girl in the Catskill

Mountains of New York State, right. So I started going to

employment agencies, and I was good in math and science. And so

I landed on Wall Street to interview. I always said that if

he was going to law school in Midtown, I probably would be an

advertising because I minored in studio art. So you know, I'm,

I'm good with going with the flow. I'm very adaptable. So I

landed on Wall Street, started out in the accounting department

of a major Wall Street firm, and literally worked my way through

as a research associate an equity market strategist, and

associate portfolio manager, I just, I just went with the flow,

right, no MBA, and it just worked. So you know, people who

think that they have to follow a certain path in life. No, it can

be a very circuitous and it's all relatable. I mean, that

would be a three hour podcast show. But towards the end of

that, and I merged my way through, you know, a lot of

firms, you know, where finally, I was not with the acquiring

firm. So my position on the totem pole started going in the

wrong direction. And so I realised I couldn't serve my

clientele in the way that I did for so long. And the teacher

started coming out in me again, and I started to I always love

the personal development industry. And so I got my

coaching certification. At that time, when I was let go in 2010,

I think the teacher came out in me and this book, some I'm

trying to think, where it came from, but I, I like to live a

simple life. And of course, the alphabet is so simple. And it

just came to me these action steps that got me to where I am

today. So each chapter from A to Z is an action verb, that can

just turn your day around, right? We do believe that. You

know, we have skills and we have habits. But in order to get

results, we have to take action. So so each chapter is an action

step.

Show the book. And so I want to I want to I want to

make a comment right now. I don't think you learn this about

me. But there's a cover for those that are looking and step

into happy and it's purple, and it's beautiful and shiny. And

it's I love it. And so, growing up from age eight to about 18,

my sister, my twin and I, okay, and my cousin's Michelle and

Douglas, we would go pick them up in Long Island, and we would

drive to the Catskills and try out all the different hotels

there. And it's changed a lot but But growing up that was a

big deal to drive with my grandparents and to go up there

every year for about 10 straight years. It was an amazing, and my

parents, they continue that tradition, but not in the

Catskills but Ogunquit Beach, Maine, the Catskills that are a

very special place for our family, because we visited there

every Memorial Day for 10, maybe even until 12 or 13 years. So I

thanks for sharing that. Also three decades on Wall Street,

you paid your dues. And the big thing that I was curious about

is that you had this book in you, okay, I it took me three

years and I spoke my book, and then it became a manuscript and

then then then a book. So but it was in you, the teacher was in

you, but you didn't publish for a decade. Tell us that. That's

that's that's the thing. That's amazing that you knew you had it

in you. But it took you a while to actually get it out and get

it done.

Well, you know, it's so easy to help

someone else, right. But to help yourself sometimes takes a

little bit more work, right? The book was written. And in fact, I

have my original version. And this was our first dog. This was

Maggie. And I did this on on Shutterfly. And so you know, all

the letters are there, the skeleton of the book was there,

and I have the copyright 2010. So of course, I never published

that. But we know our limiting beliefs can hold us back in big

ways. Right? A coach once asked me same thing. You know, what do

you really want? And we know that people and especially right

now there's so so much struggle, right? And if you ask, I think

one of the other speakers asked Wayne asked on his presentation.

When when you ask people what they really want, most of the

time, their responses, they want to be happy. I think John Lennon

actually said that to one of his teachers when he was four Five

years old, and his teacher said you don't know that you don't

understand the question. And he says, Well, I think that you

don't understand life and other quarters in my book. That's not

a perfect quote. But that's what it is about. And, and, you know,

Gallup has done studies where, you know, two thirds of the

people in the more than two thirds of the people in the

world are not happy with their work, and probably thus their

life, right. So we, we want to improve that. But what stopped

me for so long? Well, 10 years long, was my own limiting

belief. You know, surviving all the bad stuff that happens. And,

you know, from, you know, the Sandy Hook tragedy that happened

45 minutes away from me, to COVID, to, you know, so many

people having so many losses in their life, it's like, who wants

to read a book unhappy. And then something switched in me one day

and, and said, This is the time people need happy, that's not a

frivolous thing to, to put out a book about stepping into happy,

you know, it's not about putting on your happy face shirt and

thinking that that's going to fix everything, and everything

will be all right, it's about that we can choose to take one

little step. And I have 26 of them. That's the alphabet. And

it and it makes it fun. And it makes it simple. And I don't

know one person who hasn't said this is we need simple.

So I agree. And so the book is got quotes off to

the side, it's really easy to read, you can just pick a letter

and go there or you can read the whole book. It's, it's, it's

very manageable. I actually just opened up and I wrote through

the whole book, by the way, my wife and I read this book, very

quickly, we have notes through the book, and I end up to end

power and you have just a little picture of a star, okay? to

energise, engage, exercise, educate and envision, it's that

direct, but it's that simple. And I love the simplicity of it.

It's actually actionable. And that's, that's the beauty of

this book. And they're all components of it. And you're

absolutely right, coming out of COVID, the number one thing that

actually came out was loneliness. Right? People were

not happy, okay, we were restricted in our daily lives.

And so we're all rediscovering ourselves, you know, coming out

of that loneliness. Now, Zoom is you know, and we're still

lonely. We're digital, though we're seeing each other. And I

love that you can just open the book and be able to pick a

letter, or you can read through all the way through it, which I,

which I have, and and it also becomes a journal, I love that

you thought of that, to be able to write down your thoughts of

what you're doing in the book as well. It's the simplicity of

this book is what I love. And everybody needs more happy. It's

really great. So I'm glad that you actually did bring it out.

What's the feedback that you're getting now? And, I mean, it's

really tough, because I know you're speaking and talking

about this in your coaching as well. Right?

You know, it's interesting that you bring,

bring up the stars in that we're talking today. And you're,

you're all about shining brightly. And that star in the

book, is, you know, if you look at the cover of my book, it's

covered with stars, through, you know, from an ice that's how I

start the book from gazing at the stars in the Catskill

Mountains where it was, you know, not a lot of lights, you

know, that just got to me and that, when you think about the

people who have inspired you in your life, those are your stars,

to that star within you, that that shining light, that's,

that's always been there, and we just have to allow it to come

out. And by just picking one letter from the book can help to

bring that out.

It's absolutely, that's the beauty part of it.

It's really amazing. Now, I teased about this in your

introduction, and people may not know about this, but you are a

certified Passion Test Administrator or facilitator for

kids and teens and you also do adults as well. I will tell you

on the ship we started with the Passion Test, and I had never

done that before. And I found out that it's really your a

process of elimination to be able to find out what is really

important in your life. And it's it was really not about the how

but the what. And so it was the first time I ever went through

that. So explain a little bit did I know if I did it justice,

but explain what the Passion Test. You know how that helps

people.

The Passion Test so I discovered the Passion

Test back in 2012 and I know people, since the cruise have

bought that book. And when you start to read the book, you just

don't want to put it down it, it does something to you, because

it, it really validates what you're passionate about. And the

fact is, we have so many things swirling around in our head that

sometimes we don't get anything done. And the Passion Test is a

process that Janet and Chris Atwood, who are the co authors

of the book, created this process to focus on what

matters. So it's, it's, it's a way of putting one against the

other we know that in life, you know, the universe wants us to

have it all. And we want to have it all. And that's how we're

meant to live is to just live an effortless, that's, you know,

that's the book, right? It's to live an effortless life. But,

and I've done a lot of work in the area of neuroscience, we

know that our brains can only focus on three to five things at

any given time. That's why I love the five points of the

star. You know why I came up with those funny that you pick

that chapter. So what it does is you can take all your passions

and go through the process. And I love working with people to do

that. And they always have always have amazing AHA has that

come out of just going through that process with me. So that

you know that you can focus on one of them. Or it just helps us

to, to look at those five things, and not to judge them.

But to see where we're living them now, you know, on on a

scale of one to 10. And if it's a four, that's fine, it means

that we can put more attention on. So the the, this the formula

of the Passion Test it is intention. So by writing down,

say your top 10 passions, you're setting that intention. That's

one of the chapters of my book actually is write it down,

because it's important to put that pen to paper and know what

matters to us. The second is attention. So what you put your

attention on grows stronger in your life. That's one of the

quotes from the Passion Test. And the third is no tension. And

that's the hardest one because once we set that goal, we know

that we can't push the result we need to let it go. Right? It's

not about knowing the how, because we never know quite how

something unfolds, right? You know, all of a sudden, I went

from kindergarten teacher to you know, Wall Street. But it all

had a meaning it all had a reason took me 30 years to get

off Wall Street. But that's okay. Because now I can teach

that to people. One of my coaches said your your tagline

should be 30 years or 30 minutes. So that was the way I

could introduce, you know, a free 30 minute consultation to

help you some of the tools that I've learned like the Passion

Test. And also, I use the Clifton Strength Finders, you

know, so when we talk about. So my first chapter is always say

thank you, it's all about gratitude. And that hung me up

for a long time too, because I tried to name I wanted to name

my book, always say thank you. Because that's how important

gratitude is in your life. No matter what's going on in your

life, to be grateful for a moment, be grateful for what you

have, instead of what you don't have. Being grateful brings more

of things to you that you can be grateful for. The second chapter

is belief. So it's working on those limiting beliefs. It's

having the knowing what your strengths are, it gives you the

confidence to really go at your life the way that you want to.

You know, we talked about affirmations, sometimes, oh, I'm

healthy. I, you know, I am great. I am rich, and your brain

is saying to you, yeah, right. You know, because that might not

be the case. I learned something called F formations. Noah St.

John wrote a book on F formations. And if you ask the

question, like, why am I so happy? Or why am I so rich, then

your brain starts to think of what's in your life right now

that is abundant or that is rich. And then we get to realise

what we do have and that can move us to, you know, the next

chapter is Connect which is where I introduced the Passion

Test with my clients. Because when you can really connect with

one It matters to you, and go through the process, then you

can start taking really specific action that allows you to dream,

which is my next chapter, dare to dream. You know, we don't

dream. We don't dream, and if we don't allow ourselves to dream

or to have fun, and to really live life effortlessly, right,

so there is a process to this book. And I realised that the

first eight chapters following some of the, you know, the

thought leaders out there that the first eight chapters are

qualities that are often found in happy and successful people.

Right.

So, man, it's not magic, but you just teased ABCD

and I gave E. So we're gonna have to, you have to get the

book right, or contact you for that as well. So I really liked

the fact that gratitude and kindness and looking at yourself

is as important because, you know, the Passion Test of

finding more joy, and stepping into happy can can lead you down

that path. And again, it doesn't have to be overly complex, it

doesn't have to be that's the thing is that we put a lot of

pressure on ourselves. These are actually simple ways that, and I

think I took you guys through it, looking in the mirror each

day, and what do you really see and most people don't really

like themselves? Well, I actually could just pick a

letter and look in the mirror and repeat that and actually

start my day on a whole different level. And you can't

do and I really love that. So this is so amazing. Well, I want

what I want to do now, okay, is that we're nearing the end of

the show. So I'm gonna have you put on your sunglasses. For

those that are listening, we're going to shine so brightly

because it's the shining, brightly spotlight. And so we're

putting on our sunglasses, and we are shining in Connecticut in

Michigan were shining, it doesn't matter if the sun's not

out or not. And I want people to tell I want you to tell people,

how best to get a hold of you and to get get your book, your

journals, and even the essential oils first and then I'll I'll

end with a final question for you.

Okay, you picked the right chapter again,

the easiest way to remember my email is empower your life at m

e.com. So if you just email me at Empower your life@me.com. If

anything that you heard today interests you, I would love to

talk to you more about that. The second thing that you can do is

go to my website, which is www.stepintohappy.com And that

gives you a link to my book. It tells you a little bit about an

upcoming masterclass that I will be teaching. So if you scroll to

the bottom, there is one link to download a poster of the first

eight chapters. So it's a nice downloadable poster that you can

put up on your wall remind you of the first eight steps that

are like I said characteristic of happy and successful people.

And you because you are that too. So you can shine brightly,

right? And when you put in your email, I will get notification

of that I can reach out to you let you know when my next

masterclass is, that's

awesome. So I'll take the glasses off for a

second. And I because this is I want you to share with me a

quote or some inspiration or a story and then kick the show for

clothes back to me. We're going to shine brightly with some

inspiration.

So I was a kindergarten teacher. And there

was a little book called all I really need to know, I learned

in kindergarten. And that's in my my chapter on value what's

right in front of you. It's all right there. It's all inside you

already you don't have to go find it. Maybe sometimes you

just need someone to help you bring that out of you. But when

you start to live an empowered life, then you can't help but

inspire others. And so my final quote, which is in my book in

the Inspire chapter, I'd love to read it to you. It's by Wayne

Dyer who's one of my absolute favourites. And he says that

when you are inspired by a great purpose, right so if you take

the Passion Test if you start to get clear, that's clarity is all

about the Passion Test on why you're on this earth why you

matter, and that you do matter. You can help but help others

matter also and inspire them so when you are inspired by a great

purpose. Everything will begin to work for you. When you feel

inspired, what appeared to be risky, becomes a path you feel

compelled to follow. The risks are gone, because you are

following your bliss, which is the truth within you. This is

why inspiration is such an important part of the fulfilment

of your intention to live a life on purpose. Your children will

see what you're all about, by what you live, rather than what

you say. And that's Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Wow, wow. Awesome. So we've shared a lot of cheeses

from the book. So thank you for that. That's, that's amazing. I

love it. And we're going to put all the links to get in touch

with you on the show notes and also in the social posts and all

that so everyone will be able to find you. It's going to be quite

easy. Really incredible. We tried to lay it out make it

simple for people to allow a little happiness and, and I

really appreciate you so much for me, shining brightly.com You

can get a hold of me and talk to me about the book we can talk

about speaking opportunities. We can talk about the this podcast

and also my advocacy work in entrepreneurship and in cancer

and interfaith relations as well. Big shout out to my

publisher front edge publishing, read the spirit magazine, and my

podcast shop, the amplify you network, just incredible support

and sponsors for me as well. So just remember, if we each shine

brightly, a little bit each day for ourselves, then go lift up

others, and then all we're shining brightly with glasses

back on. And in our communities and neighbourhoods, the world

would become a better place, Marian, thank you so much.

Awesome show and it's great to see you. I'll have you back

another time and we'll go deeper. Thank you so much.

Thanks, Howard. This was wonderful.