Kevin Polky - The Journey

The Pain and Secrets Lead to the Edge of Darkness and the Light gave her Freedom Jeri knew at the early age of 8 something was wrong. She did not believe she could tell anyone. So, she tried to fit in and act “normal”. Her secret lead to failed attempts at college, career and marriage. The “pain” lead to numb out with drugs and the darkness of suicidal thoughts. After breaking the silence, her life began changing but the pain did not immediately go away. Two specific spiritual experiences were life changing and has helped her to face the grief of losing her loving partner and different health issues. This powerful conversation is a must listen to.

What Will Be the Story you Will Tell During these uncertain times and the disorder of our normal day, we have choices. We can follow directives by our leaders, we can focus on family and friends and we can focus on self-care. The story we writing currently is the story we will tell when the storm calms.

Part of life is suffering. It is not if setbacks happen, it is when they will happen. And more importantly what will you do. Developing resilience in self and others maybe the most important conversation. Check on these steps to develop resilience.

Young Business Leader Who is Getting Involved Rob is inspired to be a servant leader. He wants to make Rockford a great place to live. He has some direct and basic ideas he wants to put into action. During this episode, he shares about his involvement with ending domestic violence and educating the underprivileged. Listen as he shares his desires to make an impact at Winnebago County Board level if elected.

An Actor, Mom Playing an Important Role as a Mom Katie has always loved acting and the theater. It has always been her safe place. Katie shares the ups and downs as an actor and the importance of theater has served her. Katie goes into the behind the scenes of her latest role as Jessie in “Cry it Out” by Artists' Ensemble. The show is brilliant. It is hilarious as it authentically tackles the tough aspects of being a new mom in the pressure of a modern world.

Lessons from the Wrestling Room: More than the Mat Dalton shares about his vision to resurrect his alumni wrestling program. In two years, the Belvidere Co-Op wrestling went from under .500 to undefeated in dual meets and second in both conference and regional tournaments. Dalton shares about the vision, the leadership team he created and modeled the desire to win. With timing, inspiration and hard work he showed Belvidere what it could be.

Stress is not bad. Actual stress and resistance are essential for growth. Distress can be toxic for the body and needs to be managed. Listen to for some basic steps to managing your distress.

Wife and Mom finds Her Passion in the Second Half with Yoga Nancy was a farm girl. Daddy’s favorite. She rebelled and went to the big city, Milwaukee to be a hairstylist. After getting married, she had four children in four years. Loving being a wife and mom she was set until they grew up. In the midst of being the care-giver for her aging parents, she needed to do something for stress release. She discovered yoga. She faced her fears and became an instructor. Now at almost 70 years old, she is loving life instructing and running her yoga studio.

Over the past 30 years, the mental health industry has changed quite a bit. My perspective has changed just as much. The keys to transformational change is making sure the person is able physically to be the mental emotional work. Therapy is essential to transform from the wounds to victory. And a healthy lifestyle is the final key to transformation being lasting change.

Working to Help Individuals Come Out of Ashes I had the opportunity to present to a group of parents at the Rockford Rescue Mission on developing resiliency. Teresa Reeverts is the director of support services and she shares about the importance of resiliency in helping these individuals transform their lives from survival to thriving. She shares some great stories of how individuals went from homeless to master level therapists by hardworking and persevering.

The Pizza Guy becomes The Community Guy Brian loves pizza and everything about the industry. He also loves to connect with and help people. Listen to this fascinating conversation about how Brian bringing pizza to a small community lead him to his current passion to change a school district and community.

Transformation from the Mat Dalton and I have an in-depth conversation about how athletics specifically can be a platform for transformation. He shared how the exercise of setting audacious goals are essential to start the journey of transformation. We discuss the importance of what is learned on the journey is more beneficial then the outcome. If you are a coach or a leader this one is for you!

It’s natural to pick sides. Actual allows us to build loyalty and learn more about the tribe. But when does it become a detriment? When does our tribal loyalty become a blind spot? Check out my continued thoughts on dualistic vs. non-dualistic thinking.

He uses his Business to Make a Difference Chad grew up around his father’s auto service business. He saw his father treat the customers with integrity and fairness. Chad took these virtues into his business endeavors and continued to stay true since 1981. Listen to this conversation as Chad shares about the different lessons he learned over the years and the relationships he has created in the community.

His Love for Baseball Set a Platform for Changing Lives Randal has always loved sports and specifically baseball. Also, he loved the art of business. He combined the two and is impacting youth not only on the field but off. He started teaching business classes to the little league players he was coach and they became mesmerized. This birthed the nonprofit K-Cancer organization which provides support for youth and their families who are affected by childhood cancer. Great story for anyone interested in wanting to make difference.

Everything is Connected I had the opportunity to know and spend time with a great man, Joe “White Feather” Massey. Joe was my spiritual mentor in the 90’s. He taught me Lakota traditions and ceremonies. It was an amazing opportunity. One of the many lessons he taught me was that everything is connected.

The Rise and Fall of a Professional Boxer and Rebounding as a Minister One of the more powerful conversations on The Journey. Patrick shares openly about his career, the highlights and the distractions. He candidly talks about the love for boxing which resulted in turning professional at 19 and rising to the top and then finding himself at the mercy of addiction and later in prison. Patrick shares what he learned and how he is driven to give back to others and what he is doing with his gifts today.

Making a Real Change Why do diets fail? He is just “white knuckling” not drinking! Real change is more than behavioral it has to do with changing your thinking. Real change is more about going through the transformational process. It moving from dieting to healthy lifestyle. Sobriety verses recovery. Transformation is changing your actions as a result of changing your perspective.

I always enjoy when I have a guest on the show when I can learn more about my profession. Steve was born an identical twin and had mirroring traits with his twin. Steve was adventurous and out-going, his brother was more reserved and timid. They were inseparable growing up and during their first year at college there was undeniable change. Nick returned home and later was diagnosed with a mental illness. Listen to Steve share his story being a twin of someone who struggles with a chronic mental illness. Very powerful story!

As you are starting the year with goals for change, there are some critical things to keep in mind. First, make a plan. Then, break your goals into smaller milestones. Picture what it will be like when you achieve the goal. And when setbacks happen know that these are learning opportunities for ensuring your success.