Kristoffer Carter: Permission to be a Unicorn

In this conversation with dad, yogi, meditation teacher, and entrepreneur KC Carter, you get spiritual truths, self-deprecating humor, brilliant social and political insights, and lines like: We’re all pieces of jagged glass in a turbulent sea and we’re all just trying to end up with some beautiful piece of seaglass eventually.

We know that relationships are a key aspect of the Practice of Being Seen so we asked KC for his ideas and insights about relationships. Listen in as KC discusses how people are drawn to those who will share the messy, uncomfortable parts of their lives. They need to see that humanness in order to make a connection.

A strong meditation practice is fundamental to KC’s personal and professional success.

We talked about how sobriety plays a key role in KC’s life. You can learn more about his program, New Sobriety, to help you shift e your relationship with “the drinks”: http://www.thisepiclife.com/the-new-sobriety-join-us-today/

When we explored how the KC’s devotion to meditation and spiritual development influenced his life, he says: “The loneliness of the spiritual path becomes a razor’s edge. The slightest wind can take you off. It’s a brutal fall and a long climb back up.” And he talked about how relationships support you when you’re on the razor’s edge. Relationships are responsible for everything including what resources are available and what resistance you encounter.

KC also describes the first among his spiritual principles: “don’t try to convert the people around you.” And yet, in subtle ways, you help one another soften all the edges. Influence doesn’t happen when you’re trying to be too overt about it.

When it comes to the meditative practice, KC says Meditation helps you “discerning between the signal inside yourself and giving into the static.”

The reality of meditation is that you start with a messy, failure ridden process. You need to just start with five minutes of clearing your mind. Visit www.thisepiclife.com/30 to get help launching your daily 15-minutes per day practice.

KC merges his depth of business experience with his spiritual work, improving workplace culture and introducing mediation to the office.

When it comes to succeeding at entrepreneurship and any other task worth doing: “It’s about the long game… it’s not about the next webinar and the next speedy step. People who have attained mastery have been doing it for 10 - 20 years.”

KC paraphrased Jon Acuff’s Wisdom 2.0 speech: “being brave feels like being scared sh*tless.”

The “lens statement” is very important to KC and he talked about how his own lens statement has evolved over time. “We live in a dynamic universe and things require upgrading. That’s why businesses also require upgraded mission statements.”

His advice: “Check in with your lens statement once a day. It becomes very clear when you’re not in alignment with it.”

KC left us with some big ideas about how important anchoring into yourself is in this unsettled time. And gave us some ideas around reframing failure and the willingness to publicly fail and the practice of being seen. We all have a fundamental need to be seen and heard. If we’re passionately pissed off about something, it’s because we feel like we’re not being seen and heard.

KC dives right in and talks about how we tend to equate materialistic values with being seen or “making a splash.” In reality, “what people really need is to see your heart and to show that you care, to look them deeply in the eyes, to pause, and to make time.”

KC also shares the current dragon on his path: impatience. He also describes how he sees this as part part of being a “white, entitled American male.” We love how KC is willing to talk about something that’s so much a part of the contemporary experience: privilege.

And yes, this episode closes with KC chanting the Romper Room finale because it means so much to really be seen in the Magic Mirror.

Official Bio:

Kristoffer Carter (“KC”) inspires individuals and organizations to thrive in the face of relentless change. He has been featured in Business Insider, onstage at Wisdom 2.0 and for many Good Life Project events.

A devout Kriyaban Yogi with Self-Realization Fellowship, KC is a disciple of guru Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi. KC is passionate about creating the transformative habit of meditation through daily practice. Join his online community of thousands, and access free trainings and guided meditations at www.kristoffercarter.org

He lives in Akron, OH with his wife and three children, where they dream of one day flying in a blimp.