“Seek self-mastery in your own way.” In this episode, Nick reflects on The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show reaching 200 episodes. He shares personal growth, lessons learned, and insights on self-awareness, trauma, purpose, and authenticity. Some of the biggest topics we’ve discussed over these 200 episodes are that self-awareness is the most important part of growth and healing, trauma from childhood influences adult life and success, and aligning with your purpose leads to fulfillment. And lastly, how consistency and authenticity build a meaningful podcast and that incremental steps lead to significant change About Nick McGowan I’m Nick McGowan, an entrepreneur, podcaster, and mental health advocate, and I’ve been on a 20+ year journey of personal development, learning to master my mindset, emotions, and the art of living with purpose. As a Mindset and Self-Mastery Mentor, I work with ambitious men and women who want to live their most authentic and joyous lives by helping them master their mindset, emotional awareness, and authentic communication. My mission is to empower people to lead lives that feel aligned, grounded, and truly their own. Throughout my career, I’ve built teams, streamlined systems, and improved client experiences across SaaS, media, marketing, and personal development spaces. Whether I’m leading cross-functional projects, optimizing SEO, Podcasting, designing strategies, or guiding clients through transformation, I bring a hands-on, solution-focused approach to everything I do. I’m also the host of The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show, where my guests and I unpack the stories that shape us, challenge us, and ultimately guide us back to who we are at our core. On this show, we uncover the secret gems others have discovered through trial and error and breakthroughs, so you can fast-track your growth and master your mindset in your pursuit of self-mastery. Check out the latest episode here. With years of podcasting and two decades of marketing experience, I’ve mastered the storytelling, interview flow, strategy, and technical production that elevate a podcast from “just content” to something truly impactful. Whether you’re a leader looking to amplify your message, a seasoned speaker and podcast host looking to sharpen your edge, or even a beginner who is wondering how to share their message, I mentor thought leaders through every step of having the conversation they’re here to have on this planet. So, what message are you here to share?! https://nickmcgowan.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenickmcgowan/ Resources: Check out some of the episodes from the past 100 episodes of the podcast. Exploring The Hidden Links Between Shame, Sexuality, And Religion With Ann Russo Understanding The Five Simple Steps To Achieve Self-Mastery With Utkarsh Narang The Ripple Effect Of Courage: The Story Behind Scare Your Soul With Scott Simon Stop Trying: A New Approach To Success With Carla Ondrasik How To Begin Your Human Optimization Journey With Wei Houng Curiosity As A Tool For Better Relationships With Patrick Boylan And check out some of my favorite books for your journey toward self-mastery. Interested in starting your own podcast or need help with one you already have? Learn how I can help! Learn more about our host, Nick McGowan https://nickmcgowan.com/ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe to the show on iTunes and give us a 5-Star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-and-self-mastery-show/id1604262089 Listen to other episodes here: https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/ Watch Clips and highlights: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1tCM7KTe3hrq_-UAa6GHA Guest Inquiries right here: podcasts@themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show” https://youtu.be/MV1a2BTTtaE Click Here To View The Episode Transcript Nick McGowan (00:00) I’ve learned that self-awareness is the most important part of this. People ask me at times, what does mindset mean? What does self-mastery mean? What does transformation mean? Like, what are all those things mean to you? They don’t really mean anything if you can’t see them, if you are not self-aware of them. Nick McGowan (00:26) Hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self Mastery Show. I’m your host, Nick McGowan. Today on the show, I’m going to talk about this being my 200th episode of the podcast. When I first started, I had no idea I would get, I don’t know, 40 episodes in, let alone 200. It’s kind of nuts what has happened over the past few years. I’ve had the show now as I record in June. I’ve had the show for four and a half years and I started to plan it maybe Nick McGowan (00:55) a little over five years ago, because it took me about, I don’t know, maybe six, seven months to actually get into this and do it all. But when I really think about it, it actually took me six years, like six whole years to do the podcast. I’d thought about starting a podcast back in probably 2013, 14, something like that. I had a social media marketing company with my ex-in-laws at the time and thought maybe this would be a cool thing to talk about social media. Nick McGowan (01:24) or something, I don’t know. I looked at it as a way of hopefully trying to bring in leads for the business that I had. I’m glad I didn’t start the podcast at that point because getting the leads isn’t what a podcast is all about. Really the whole point to a podcast in my mind and in my opinion is to be able to share the message that’s on your heart with the ideal people who want to hear it and who can benefit from it. People you can impact with the words you say. I think it’s really cool to put it in a nice and Nick McGowan (01:55) kind of silly way that I have anybody that listens to this show, that there’s anybody like you specifically, that you listen to this and you come back for my wit or my sarcasm. I hope that you really keep coming back and tuning in to be able to hear how these conversations go. Not only with my solo episodes, which there’s going to be more of those coming up, but also with the guests. Because what I understand and what I’ve really learned over the past two and a half years is that Nick McGowan (02:24) The people who listen to the show are leaders in what they do. You either own a business or you’re a leader in whatever job you work in, or you’re a leader at home. And maybe it’s all the above. And you know that you’ve done a lot of work, but there’s still more work to do. It’s not about grinding or hustling, but it’s about actually being healthy and aligned with what you’re all about. Over the past two and a half years of doing these past hundred episodes. Nick McGowan (02:54) There’s been so much growth personally. And I like doing these milestone episodes. It’s a little bit of a recap. If you go back and you listen to episode 100, I literally had clips from different episodes that I pulled in. There were a lot of great episodes over the first 100 that I’d done. I gotta be honest, last 100 I’ve done have been so much better than I thought they were going to be. There were only a couple episodes that were recorded or partially recorded that I bailed on or… Nick McGowan (03:22) for stuff that happens. And if you really want to know those stories, shoot me a message. I can share some of that stuff. Some of those things should never have been aired and I’m glad that they weren’t. But I’ve really gotten specific in the people that I bring onto the show because I understand that the core of the show, are three core topics that I talk about. It’s mindset, self mastery and transformation. When I first started the show, I thought mindset, self mastery were the main topics because I was having mental health problems and struggling. Nick McGowan (03:52) because I’d gone through a divorce right before that, before I started the show and was just trying to have these conversations. I felt like there was a conversation on my heart that needed to be had. And I wasn’t sure exactly how it needed to go about it, but it felt right for me to start a podcast. If you have a podcast of your own, you probably get it. If you don’t have a podcast and you’ve been kicking around the idea of it, then explore that. In fact, if you need help or you want some help or want some guidance, Nick McGowan (04:20) Reach out to me. I’ve been doing this for almost five years and have learned an immense amount. And heck, over the past two and a half years with the amount that I’ve learned from the podcast itself, just doing the mechanical podcasting thing, not only just having the conversations with people, the stuff that I learned about the podcasting has been critical in where I’m at now. I have a business where I actually help people who are thought leaders, mission driven and purpose driven business owners who have a mission and purpose on their heart. Nick McGowan (04:49) They’re trying to figure out how to best go about these things. But the podcast itself, I’m going to give you a bit of a behind the scenes in a sense. When I first started the show, I tried to do everything I could. All the social media, the website, the newsletters, like every single thing. And if you’ve been around since then, you know, you saw a lot of that stuff. And if you’re on the show at that point, you probably saw I was making like 10, 15 clips per episode. Some of them are really in context and some of those weren’t because I thought I was playing the game right. Nick McGowan (05:19) by getting all this information out there. I’ve learned over the past two and a half years that that’s not really right. In fact, those of you who don’t know this are gonna know now. So after the first year, maybe a little after the first year, like a couple months or so, I actually had a bit of an existential crisis. I moved fr
