Power in the Pain Podcast

STP Productions
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Join bestselling author, NLP trainer, and transformation coach, Greg Pihs, as he explores the powerful journey of turning adversity into triumph. In this raw, honest, and inspiring podcast, Greg shares his own personal stories of overcoming trauma, self-doubt, and fear, alongside practical NLP techniques that can help you do the same. With the help of his co-host, Catherine, Greg dives deep into the transformative power of the mind, providing listeners with tools to break free from limiting beliefs, reprogram their minds, and create lasting change. Whether you're facing tough challenges or seeking to unlock your full potential, The Power In The Pain Podcast offers powerful insights and actionable advice that will inspire you to embrace your pain, heal, and step into your true power. Each episode blends personal stories, expert knowledge, and transformational techniques, leaving you equipped to make meaningful shifts in your own life. This is more than just a podcast – it's a movement of transformation, healing, and empowerment.

  1. 9h ago

    "Wait Till Tomorrow": A Navy Veteran's Mission to Give Heroes a Reason to Live

    Content note: This episode includes frank discussion of suicide, combat, violence, and cancer. If you are struggling, call or text 988. Veterans can press 1, or text 838255. "If you're thinking dark thoughts, wait till tomorrow." Greg Pihs sits down in the Spread the Positive studio with his friend Richard [LAST NAME], Navy veteran, podcast host, and founder of the nonprofit Minutes Wisely. Greg was one of the first guests on Richard's show five years ago. This time Richard is the one telling his story. It started with his grandfathers, both World War II combat veterans. One was a Purple Heart recipient with the 30th "Old Hickory" Division who cried every time Richard asked about the war. That question, what does a teenager carry for the next sixty years, became a podcast. In the first year, guest after guest told him about the night they almost ended it. One relative put the rifle down and said, "I'll do it tomorrow." The next morning a battle buddy was gone. A shipmate mailed Richard a $1,000 check he didn't ask for, and Minutes Wisely was born: "Minutes are worth more than money, so spend them wisely." The nonprofit sends veterans, first responders, and Gold Star family members to once-in-a-lifetime events with the red carpet rolled out. The goal is to give them something to look forward to and a spark to make it to the next day. Richard goes deep on his own story. He was a kid so quiet a relative said he never spoke a word. He lost a daughter he didn't meet again until she was 25. He asked his wife out a hundred times before she said yes. Then his mother died at 52, and he spent five years in a depression that wrecked his health, until a doctor told him to start living the way she would want. That night she came to him. You'll want to hear the rest in his words. He also shares his own cancer fight, the moon over the hospital door, how that changed the mission to include families facing childhood cancer, and the day a little boy named DJ Daniels got a police escort down an empty Detroit interstate. 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • Minutes are worth more than money. Spend them wisely. • Giving someone something to look forward to can be the spark that gets them to the next day. • Take care of the people who take care of us: veterans, first responders, and the Gold Star families left behind. • Grief can wreck your body. Start living the way the person you lost would want you to live. • Give the heavy stuff to God. Either way, you win. • If you're thinking dark thoughts, wait till tomorrow. Guest: Richard [LAST NAME], founder of Minutes Wisely Web: minuteswisely.org (nominate a veteran, first responder, or Gold Star family member) Podcast: Minutes Wisely: Tomorrow Needs You, on YouTube and all major platforms Watch the video version on YouTube: Success After Trauma If this episode made you think of someone, share it with them. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #SuccessAfterTrauma #MinutesWisely #TomorrowNeedsYou #Veterans #FirstResponders #GoldStarFamilies #SuicidePrevention #CancerSurvivor #SpreadThePositive

    "Wait Till Tomorrow": A Navy Veteran's Mission to Give Heroes a Reason to Live

  2. Sep 22

    Ending Sex Trafficking Starts With Community: Alexandria Dean Returns (Part 2)

    Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse and sex trafficking. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 (text BEFREE to 233733) or 911. "I prayed. Nobody came. I don't want that to be an empty prayer for somebody else." Alexandria Dean is back in the Spread the Positive studio for Part 2. In Part 1 she shared her testimony. This time she and Greg Pihs talk about the mission that came out of it: eradicating human sex trafficking by rebuilding community. Alexandria is the author of From Heaven to Hell and Back a Few Times, now moving from self-published to a publisher, with a second book on the way. She traces trafficking not to "the oldest profession" but to the breakdown of community, the moment we stopped taking care of the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the single parent. When people don't know where the next meal or bed is coming from, they do the unthinkable, or they are tricked into it. She goes somewhere most conversations don't. She was in fifth grade when trafficking began. Her teacher saw. Police, nurses, doctors, and lawyers saw. Nothing happened, and she wore that silence as oppression: every adult who said nothing was agreeing with what was being done to her. Greg builds on it with the flame that costs nothing to share and the mountain we're willing to see for the bystander but not for the victim. The back half is practical. Why narcissists' charisma makes it easy to believe the lie. Why the average age of exit is 26 to 32. Why "that's none of my business" is the wrong answer when children are being harmed next door. And a direct message to anyone listening who doesn't yet recognize themselves as a victim: if someone is selling you or trading you for sex, that is trafficking, and you are not alone. Alexandria is hosting a community meeting on October 15 in the morning, likely at the Dapper Owl. Details on her YouTube channel, AD Redeemed. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00   Intro 0:24   A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:15   Welcome back, Alexandria Dean 2:17   From Heaven to Hell and Back a Few Times 2:48   The second book: building community 3:51   Trafficking is not the first profession 5:02   The poor will always be with you 6:48   A discarded group is an easy group to exploit 8:11   "Why can't you get over it?" 10:22  The flame that costs nothing to share 11:33  Fifth grade: the teacher who saw 12:49  Wearing the silence as oppression 14:22  Isolation can only exist in isolation 16:09  We see the bystander's mountain, not the victim's 17:36  Trauma lives at the cellular level 20:05  How you respond the first time sets the tone 22:34  The October 15 community meeting 23:59  "The only way it continues is if you allow it" 25:14  Awareness first, then action 27:13  Translation between two childhoods 29:11  Who controls the narrative 30:50  Charisma and the lie 32:14  Average age of exit: 26 to 32 32:54  "My mother trafficked me" 34:34  The kid climbing out of the building 36:53  Curiosity and critical thinking 37:02  "Is it none of your business?" 38:27  "I prayed. Nobody came." 39:13  How to get involved: resources beyond money 40:36  AD Redeemed on YouTube, adredeemed.com 42:24  Understanding trauma and triggers 44:42  Trust is earned by walking together 47:33  If you don't recognize yourself as a victim 48:56  "You are not alone" 49:14  Outro 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • Trafficking grows where community breaks down. Caring for the vulnerable is the prevention. • Silence is agreement. The victim wears the oppression of every adult who did nothing. • No one wakes up wanting this. People arrive in a situation, or are tricked into it. • Awareness creates choice, and choice creates freedom, but awareness has to come first. • Believing the charismatic lie is easy. Critical thinking and simple curiosity protect the vulnerable. • It is your business. If you'd pray for someone to step in, be the one who steps in. Guest: Alexandria Dean, author of From Heaven to Hell and Back a Few Times YouTube: AD Redeemed | Web: adredeemed.com | Email: lexie@adredeemed.com Catch Part 1: Alexandria's Testimony: Surviving Trafficking and Choosing Forgiveness Watch the video version on YouTube: Success After Trauma If this episode made you think of someone, share it with them. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #SuccessAfterTrauma #AlexandriaDean #ADRedeemed #HumanTrafficking #EndTrafficking #SurvivorStory #Community #TraumaHealing #SpreadThePositive

    Ending Sex Trafficking Starts With Community: Alexandria Dean Returns (Part 2)

  3. Sep 15

    Infinite Life: What If You Had to Live It All Again?

    =========== Content note: Greg references childhood abuse in this episode. Please listen with care. "I did protect you until you could protect yourself." Back in the Spread the Positive studio, Greg Pihs takes on a question that stopped him cold: what if the moment your life ended, it started over, exactly the same, on an infinite loop? Greg went down a rabbit hole with the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, sat with that question, and came out with two takeaways that reframed his entire journey. First, most of us would want to change something. Greg walks through why that instinct misses the point. Without polarity there is no good, no meaning, no purpose in serving anyone. Our darkest moments hold our greatest gifts, and if the loop were infinite, he already knows he makes it through every one of them. Second, you're still here. That means you still have time to make new decisions. If you knew you'd live this life over and over, how would you choose right now? From there Greg goes deep on free will, using his 11-year-old son and the choice between fruits and vegetables or candy to explain why he believes the opposition exists at all. He shares what he took from Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil, why "processing is learning," and why the goal is not to get rid of the darkness but to expose the light. He closes with the moment in meditation when, years after being angry at God for abandoning him as a child, he heard an answer. The same childhood that used to sit on him like a boulder is now the platform he stands on to serve others. If this is an infinite loop, he'd do it all again. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00   Intro 0:24   A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:15   Back in the Spread the Positive studio 2:05   "I'm healing. I'm not healed." 3:47   Nietzsche's infinite loop question 4:34   Takeaway one: we'd all want to change something 5:23   The law of polarity: without bad, good isn't good 7:04   "I already know I make it through all of them" 8:13   Takeaway two: you're still here, you can still choose 9:54   Making decisions based on infinity 11:45  Free will requires good and bad 12:41  Why God gave us the opposition 13:36  Fruits and vegetables or candy: giving a child real choice 15:27  Fear as control, and what the punishment really is 17:07  Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil 20:34  Don't let the enemy have a seat at your table 21:41  Processing is learning 23:22  Darkness can only exist because light exists 25:03  Every experience holds light: this is the power in the pain 25:52  Childhood, ages zero to fourteen, and the imprint years 28:43  "God, why didn't you protect me?" 29:46  "I did protect you until you could protect yourself" 30:47  From boulder to platform 31:54  I'd do it all over again on infinity 33:33  Sit with this: how would you choose differently? 34:15  Outro 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • We don't get to "healed." We stay healing, and life keeps happening while we process it. • Polarity gives everything its value. Remove the dark and "good" stops meaning anything. • Your darkest moments hold your greatest gifts, because you already know you survived them. • You are still here, so you still get to choose. Decide like the loop is infinite. • The punishment for choosing the candy is the candy. God isn't baiting you. • No amount of darkness can extinguish any amount of light. Don't fight the dark. Expose the light. Books mentioned: Outwitting the Devil (Napoleon Hill, annotated by Sharon Lechter), Think and Grow Rich, The Law of Success, Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. Watch the video version on YouTube: Success After Trauma If this episode made you think of someone, tag them and send it their way. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #SuccessAfterTrauma #InfiniteLife #Nietzsche #EternalRecurrence #Polarity #FreeWill #TraumaHealing #OutwittingTheDevil #SpreadThePositive

  4. Sep 8

    Childhood Programming: How Trauma Wires Your Brain and How to Rewire It

    Content note: This episode includes a first-person account of childhood abuse. Please listen with care. "Your behavioral strategy is not the problem. The only problem you're facing today is a lack of awareness and the capacity to choose a different pathway." In this solo episode of Power in the Pain, Greg Pihs breaks down childhood programming: how trauma in early life, whether physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual, writes deep neural pathways that run on autopilot for decades. As an NLP trainer, Greg explains neuroplasticity in plain language: neural pathways are built by repetition and intensity, and the more intense the experience, the fewer repetitions it takes to carve the path. He uses one image for the whole episode. Picture a field of waist-high grass. Walk through it once and the path fades in a week. Drive heavy machinery over it every day for years and you have a road you forget you built. That road is your survival strategy, and it worked. You're here. Greg gets personal about his own programming: perfectionism that showed up first as procrastination, then as an overachiever who slept in the restaurant overnight so nobody would find a mistake. He tells the story of being forced to smoke, and then eat, a carton of Newports as a child for something he didn't do, and how that one night taught him he had to fix everyone else's mistakes to stay safe. He's honest about the cost: silent judgment of others, judgment of himself for judging, and never having done enough to relax. The way out starts with awareness. Awareness creates choice, and choice creates freedom. That's why Greg built Archetype Intelligence, a map of the five behavioral patterns every human runs, influenced by Maslow, Clare Graves, and Carl Jung. It's the map he wishes he'd had when his journey started in January 2011. If you experienced trauma as a child and feel stuck, unseen, or like something is wrong with you, this one is for you. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00   Intro 0:24   A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:15   Welcome: childhood programming and childhood trauma 2:03   What a neural pathway actually is (your shoes, every morning) 3:06   Repetition and intensity: "neurons that fire together, wire together" 4:04   The path through the field 6:16   Survival strategies: your strategy isn't the problem 8:00   Perfectionism as a trauma response 9:43   The other face of perfectionism: procrastination 11:20  Sleeping in the restaurant so no one would find a mistake 12:11  "I wish I had what you have" / "I can't turn it off" 13:51  The cigarette story 17:15  Learning to fix everyone else's mistakes 19:08  Judging others, judging yourself, and the burden 20:48  Why Greg created Archetype Intelligence 22:38  Reading books written by dead people 25:06  Awareness creates choice, choice creates freedom 26:43  The map of five pathways 27:47  Your darkest moments hold your greatest gifts 28:44  Stop talking to not your people 30:20  Outro 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • Neural pathways are built by repetition and intensity. Childhood trauma carves the deepest ones. • Your survival strategy worked. The problem isn't your behavior, it's the lack of awareness that another path exists. • Perfectionism shows up two ways: overachieving and procrastination. Both come from the same fear of catastrophe. • Discipline and trauma response can look identical from the outside. The difference is whether you can turn it off. • Awareness creates choice. Choice creates freedom. You don't know what you don't know until you have a map. • Some people will never understand your journey, which means some people will. Find your tribe. Have a story to share? Greg wants you as a guest on Power in the Pain. Reach out. Watch the video version on YouTube: Success After Trauma If this episode made you think of someone, tag them and send it their way. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #SuccessAfterTrauma #ChildhoodTrauma #Neuroplasticity #NLP #Perfectionism #TraumaHealing #ArchetypeIntelligence #SpreadThePositive

    Childhood Programming: How Trauma Wires Your Brain and How to Rewire It

  5. Sep 1

    The Domestic Violence Nobody Talks About: A TEDx Speaker's Story of Healing

    "There are five different types of domestic violence — and physical is just one of them." That's the sentence that reframes this entire conversation. When most people hear "domestic violence," they picture bruises. Kat Polsinelli — a survivor, TEDx speaker, and coach — walks Greg Pihs through the four other kinds most of us never name: the emotional, the psychological, the financial, and the slow erosion of self that keeps someone in a relationship for years. In this episode, Kat shares her story with remarkable honesty: a strict Catholic upbringing and a desire to "check every box," a first relationship that turned controlling, five years she couldn't fully account for, the debt and isolation, having her ex arrested — and then surviving the stalking that came after. She talks about the moment that became her TEDx talk: standing "eye to eye" with her teenage son and, for a split second, not recognizing who she'd become. That was the wake-up call. From there the conversation turns to the rebuild. Kat and Greg — two people who've each done the work — dig into presence, self-worth, and the small daily disciplines of healing: learning to actually accept a compliment, the power of "let me think on that and get back to you," and why so many of us (girls especially) are quietly conditioned to "be nice" until we let people run us over. At the heart of it is a belief Kat lives by: no emotion is inherently negative unless it's left unresolved. Fear, sadness, guilt — they're information, not enemies. It closes on a hard, freeing idea borrowed from Tony Robbins: if you're going to hate someone for the bad, you have to hate them for the good, too — so you might as well choose to love the growth that came from the pain. Healing, Kat suggests, isn't a finish line you cross. It's a practice you keep choosing. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00    Intro 0:17    A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:08    Welcome — meet Kat (Real Chats with Kat, TEDx, coaching) 3:26    The 5 types of domestic violence — physical is only one 3:42    Kat's backstory: a strict Catholic upbringing 4:43    The first relationship, and how control creeps in 8:09    Isolation, lost jobs, and quiet debt 9:18    Having her ex arrested — then surviving the stalking 11:42   Five years in: "eye to eye with my kid" (her TEDx moment) 13:13   "What you went through isn't what your life has to be" 15:05   Rock bottom, back to college, and wanting to help others 20:29   Peeling the onion: where is the center? 24:11   Learning presence and quieting the thoughts 27:17   Why presence isn't taught in our society 31:44   Building self-worth and not taking things personally 35:30   The power of the pause — building boundaries 41:25   Learning to actually accept a compliment 45:57   Honesty, respecting people's time, and saying the hard thing 56:48   How girls are conditioned to "be nice" 1:00:39 "No emotion is negative unless it's left unresolved" 1:02:01 Why men are taught not to cry 1:09:55 Is healing ever really "finished"? 1:17:27 Tony Robbins: hating the bad means hating the good 1:21:23 The book that was too intense to finish 1:23:29 Where to find Kat: The Lotus Effect & The Dragon Reclaimed 1:25:16 Outro 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • There are five types of domestic violence and physical is only one. Emotional, psychological, and financial abuse are just as real — and often invisible from the outside. • Getting an abuser arrested isn't the end of the story. Kat is also a survivor of stalking — "a whole other realm of turmoil" that came afterward. • Your past isn't your destiny. "Just because you go through things and experience something doesn't mean that's what your life has to be." • No emotion is inherently negative unless it's left unresolved. Fear, sadness, and guilt are information you're meant to feel and move through — not enemies to suppress. • Boundaries beat "being nice." Many of us are conditioned to be polite until we let people run us over. Even a simple "let me think on that and get back to you" rebuilds your footing. • Healing isn't a finish line. You keep meeting your limiting beliefs and choosing differently — and, as Tony Robbins puts it, if you'd hate someone for the bad you'd have to hate them for the good, so choose to love what you became. 💜 If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you're not alone. In the U.S., the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 — call 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE), text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. Guest: Kat Polsinelli — domestic violence & stalking survivor, TEDx speaker, and coach/facilitator; host of the podcast "Real Chats with Kat"; founder of The Lotus Effect (the-lotus-effect.com) and the community The Dragon Reclaimed. Host: Greg Pihs — Greg's YouTube channel: Success After Trauma Greg's book: "The Power and the Pain" (available on Amazon) If this episode made you think of someone who needs to hear it, please share it with them. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #DomesticViolenceSurvivor #DomesticAbuseAwareness #Healing #Boundaries #SelfWorth #TEDx #TraumaRecovery #MentalHealth #SuccessAfterTrauma #SpreadThePositive

    The Domestic Violence Nobody Talks About: A TEDx Speaker's Story of Healing

  6. Aug 25

    8 Years Sober, $170K Saved: A Combat Marine's Case for Stoicism

    "Discipline equals freedom — and you know who said that before Jocko did? Marcus Aurelius." Eight years sober. Around $170,000 saved. A walk across 1,200-degree coals and a 14,000-foot skydive in the same month. Andrew Farrer packs a lot of living into a life — and in this episode he traces all of it back to a 2,000-year-old operating system: Stoicism. In this wide-ranging conversation, Greg Pihs sits down with Andrew Farrer — Marine Corps combat veteran, classical-studies major, and lifelong student of Stoic philosophy — for a two-Marine deep dive that runs from boarding-school Latin to Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations," Seneca's letters, Zeno and the Stoa, Aristotle's golden mean, and the four cardinal virtues. At the center of it is the one idea Andrew credits with changing his life: the dichotomy of control — that the only things you truly govern are your response, your actions, and your thoughts. From there it gets personal and practical. Why "the easier, softer way" is rarely easier. How discipline equals freedom, and why that's a Stoic idea long before Jocko put it on a book cover. What free fall at 400 miles an hour actually feels like. And a closing riff on Homer's Odyssey that reframes the whole thing: the guy trying to get home is you. Featuring: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Zeno, Epictetus, Socrates, Aristotle, Jocko Willink, Ryan Holiday, Homer's Odyssey, and a Warrior Weekend to Remember. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00   Intro 0:24   A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:16   Welcome, and meet Andrew Farrer 3:08   How it started: boarding-school Latin 3:56   Marcus Aurelius and "Meditations" 5:15   Where "Stoic" comes from: Zeno and the Stoa 6:29   Firewalking and a 14,000-ft skydive 9:22   Warrior Weekend and meeting Medal of Honor recipients 12:14  What 400 mph free fall actually feels like 16:16  Gratitude for the firewalk and GP Mind Growth Academy 19:28  Eight years sober — and the $170K math 20:12  The dichotomy of control 21:16  Worry, the RAS, and "self has no enemy to self" 24:37  Aristotle's golden mean: virtue between excess and deficiency 25:51  The four cardinal virtues of Stoicism 27:40  Seneca's letters and "the good life" (Vita Bonum) 28:57  Socrates, the symposium, and the Socratic method 30:30  The law of polarity: day, night, and the whole 33:38  "The easier, softer way" isn't — do the hard things 38:00  Discipline equals freedom (Jocko → Marcus Aurelius) 42:19  "Nothing about me is original" 43:56  Planning a Part 2 45:32  The Odyssey: "the guy trying to get home is you" 47:06  Xenia: how the Greeks treated strangers 48:57  Wrap-up and where to find more 50:06  Outro 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • The dichotomy of control: you can't control other people or their opinions — only your response, your actions, and your thoughts. Peace and sobriety both start there. • Sobriety compounds. Eight years without alcohol didn't just change Andrew's health; by his own math it saved him roughly $170,000 — money that now goes to simply living like an adult. • "The easier, softer way" usually isn't. Doing the hard thing on purpose — getting sober, changing yourself — is the path that actually works. • Discipline equals freedom. Governing yourself to do the things you don't want to do is the most freeing habit you can build — a Stoic idea from Marcus Aurelius, popularized by Jocko Willink. • Your attention is a filter. The mind processes ~2 million bits of information a second but you're consciously aware of ~126; focus on worry and your RAS keeps finding more to worry about. "Self has no enemy to self." • We are compilations. "Nothing about me is original — I'm a compilation of the books I've read and the people I've met." Choose your inputs. This is a conversation the guys plan to continue — Andrew returns for a Part 2 to go even deeper on Stoicism. Guest: Andrew Farrer — Marine Corps combat veteran Host: Greg Pihs — Greg's YouTube channel: Success After Trauma Greg's book: "The Power and the Pain" (available on Amazon) If this episode made you think of someone who needs to hear it, please share it with them. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #Stoicism #MarcusAurelius #DisciplineEqualsFreedom #Sobriety #MarineVeteran #Mindset #SelfImprovement #SuccessAfterTrauma #SpreadThePositive

    8 Years Sober, $170K Saved: A Combat Marine's Case for Stoicism

  7. Aug 18

    Alexandria's Testimony: Surviving Trafficking and Choosing Forgiveness (Part 1)

    Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse and sex trafficking. Please listen with care. "My voice was silenced before. It's not going to be silenced anymore. I'm going to be heard." In this deeply moving episode of Power in the Pain, Greg Pihs sits down with Alexandria, a survivor of childhood abuse and sex trafficking who now shares her testimony so that others who have suffered can find meaning, healing, and a way forward. This is Part 1 of her story. Alexandria opens not with her trauma but with her message: listen, hear, look. She walks through the faith that carried her through the loneliest years of her life, a profound moment of healing in her thirties, and the hardest work of all, forgiveness. She offers one of the clearest definitions of forgiveness you'll ever hear: acknowledging that a wrong has happened, and choosing to surrender judgment for it. And she's honest that forgiveness is not acceptance, and it doesn't erase boundaries. Greg and Alexandria, both veterans, talk about resilience as a decision rather than a feeling, the difference between love and lust, taking every thought captive, and why belief is a choice you make moment to moment. As Viktor Frankl wrote, "Suffering ceases to be suffering the moment it finds meaning." If you or someone you know is struggling, this conversation is offered as a message of hope. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00   Intro 0:24   A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:16   Welcome, and introducing Alexandria 2:35   "Before my story, let me share my message" 3:24   Viktor Frankl: suffering that finds meaning 4:18   The grief of being silenced 10:24  Coming to faith, and a moment of healing in the shower 15:19  The hardest years 16:55  Feelings change like the wind; truth is what you stand on 32:53  Wrestling with the Fifth Commandment 34:41  What forgiveness actually means 52:58  The tree of forgiveness and its fruit 54:35  The 2 AM phone call: "I forgive you" 63:37  Holding a boundary in love 65:55  Forgiveness is not acceptance 76:35  Taking every thought captive 80:25  Belief as a moment-to-moment choice 81:42  Where to find Alexandria 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • Suffering finds its power when it finds meaning. A story can become a testimony. • Resilience is a decision, not a feeling, something you choose internally. • Forgiveness is acknowledging a wrong and surrendering judgment. It is not acceptance, and it does not remove healthy boundaries. • Feelings are real and worth acknowledging, but they shift like the wind. Truth is the only ground you can stand on. • Belief isn't one-and-done. It's a choice you make over and over. This is Part 1. Alexandria returns in future episodes to share more of her story. Guest: Alexandria — YouTube channel "Success After Trauma" If this episode made you think of someone who needs to hear it, please share it with them. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #SuccessAfterTrauma #TraffickingSurvivor #Forgiveness #Faith #Testimony #Healing #SpreadThePositive #Resilience

  8. Aug 4

    Resilience Isn't Getting Back Up. It's Refusing to Quit.

    Everyone thinks resilience is getting knocked down and getting back up. Greg Pihs says that definition is holding you back. In this episode of Power in the Pain, Greg reframes resilience as something that starts long before the knockdown: the decision to stay in the fight well past the point where a prudent person would call it logical to quit. By that definition, you don't need to get knocked down to be resilient, and every time you choose to stay in, even when it's hard, you're building the skill. From there he gets practical and raw. Why "trying" something quietly guarantees you'll quit the moment it hurts. Why your pain threshold is a warning light, not a stop sign, and how much runway you actually have left past it (the gas-light metaphor will stick with you). And how discipline, governing yourself to do the things you don't want to do, is the most freeing thing you'll ever build. Featuring Mike Tyson, Will Smith's treadmill, Arnold in Pump Iron, and Greg's own honest struggle with the 4 AM alarm. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00   Intro 0:24   A word from our sponsor (Bryan Nale) 1:16   Welcome 1:37   Today's topic: resilience 4:31   Redefining resilience (it starts before the knockdown) 8:50   Which fights do you stay in? Trust yourself 13:21  Discipline equals freedom 21:27  Why "trying" robs you of resilience 24:17  Mike Tyson: everyone has a plan until they get punched 25:37  Will Smith and the treadmill 28:16  The gas-light metaphor 30:17  Your pain threshold is a warning, not a stop sign 35:13  Building resilience: govern yourself to do hard things 38:42  The 4 AM commitment (let it suck) 41:52  Pump Iron and the dopamine of hard work 44:50  Greg's ideal schedule 49:06  Recap 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS • Resilience is the decision to stay in the fight past the point a prudent person would quit. You don't have to be knocked down first. • Every time you stay in past the logical quit point, you increase your resilience, even when the experience doesn't feel like it's serving you. • "Trying" something signals your nervous system to bail the moment it hurts. Commit instead. • Pain (physical, emotional, spiritual) is a warning light, not empty. You usually have far more runway than you think. • Discipline equals freedom. Govern yourself to do the hard thing, add one habit at a time, and let it suck at first. If this episode made you think of someone who needs to hear it, share it with them. 🌱 Spread the Positive is shedding light on what's going right in the world. Greg's YouTube channel: Success After Trauma 👉 Like, subscribe, and we'll see you next week. #PowerInThePain #GregPihs #Resilience #MentalToughness #DisciplineEqualsFreedom #Mindset #SelfImprovement #Motivation #SuccessAfterTrauma #SpreadThePositive

    Resilience Isn't Getting Back Up. It's Refusing to Quit.
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Join bestselling author, NLP trainer, and transformation coach, Greg Pihs, as he explores the powerful journey of turning adversity into triumph. In this raw, honest, and inspiring podcast, Greg shares his own personal stories of overcoming trauma, self-doubt, and fear, alongside practical NLP techniques that can help you do the same. With the help of his co-host, Catherine, Greg dives deep into the transformative power of the mind, providing listeners with tools to break free from limiting beliefs, reprogram their minds, and create lasting change. Whether you're facing tough challenges or seeking to unlock your full potential, The Power In The Pain Podcast offers powerful insights and actionable advice that will inspire you to embrace your pain, heal, and step into your true power. Each episode blends personal stories, expert knowledge, and transformational techniques, leaving you equipped to make meaningful shifts in your own life. This is more than just a podcast – it's a movement of transformation, healing, and empowerment.

Information

  • Creator
    STP Productions
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    61
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    Power in the Pain Podcast