One of the most powerful habits in the Rise Above Chaos system is surprisingly simple: write things down. In this episode, Erick explains how the act of physically writing your thoughts, goals, and vision can transform the way your brain processes ideas and recognizes opportunities.
Drawing from personal experience—including the moment he wrote down what a meaningful life looked like during a difficult season—Erick shares why putting pen to paper can shift your perspective, clarify your priorities, and activate momentum in your life.
When you write something down, your brain engages multiple regions at once—including language, memory, and motor function. This multi‑sensory engagement strengthens neural pathways and helps ideas become more concrete and memorable.
The brain has limited working memory. When goals remain in your head, they compete with dozens of other thoughts. Writing them down removes them from that mental loop and allows your brain to focus on execution instead of storage.
The Reticular Activating System filters the millions of pieces of information your brain processes every second. When you write down a goal or vision, your brain tags it as important and begins scanning your environment for opportunities connected to that goal.
Writing things down works because it strengthens neural pathways, clears mental space, and programs your brain to recognize opportunities. Sometimes the first step toward clarity and momentum is simply picking up a pen and putting your thoughts on paper.
What is one goal, vision, or idea that has been living in your head that you need to write down today?
The act of writing is more than organization—it’s transformation. When you commit your thoughts to paper, you signal to your brain that this matters. And once that happens, everything begins to change.
Life doesn’t always unfold the way we plan—and sometimes it hits hard. In this solo episode, Erick shares from personal experience and unpacks five practical principles to help you respond when life punches you in the gut.
Whether you’re dealing with sudden bad news, a setback, a loss, or a season that feels unfair, this episode will help you move from shock to stability, from confusion to clarity, and from setback to forward motion.
Erick walks through five principles you can lean on when life takes an unexpected turn. These aren’t clichés—they’re stabilizing moves you can practice in real time.
Before you try to solve the entire situation, slow down long enough to regulate your body and emotions. Don’t make permanent decisions in a moment of panic. Breathe, name what you’re feeling, and give yourself permission to be human.
When life feels chaotic, your mind will race to the worst-case scenario. Erick encourages you to bring your focus back to what you can actually influence: your choices, your attitude, your schedule, and your next action. Ask: “What’s the next controllable step?”
Hard seasons aren’t meant to be carried alone. The goal isn’t to perform strength—it’s to access strength. Choose a few trusted people, tell the truth about what’s going on, and let community do what community is designed to do: help you carry the weight.
There’s a difference between meaning-making and minimizing. Erick shares how to look for what a season is teaching you—without forcing yourself to “move on” before you’ve processed what happened. The question becomes: “What do I want this to produce in me?”
Once the initial shock fades, the real work is rebuilding your life with better systems: clearer boundaries, stronger habits, healthier inputs, and priorities that reflect what matters most. You don’t have to waste the pain—you can let it sharpen you.
When life punches you in the gut, the goal isn’t to pretend you’re fine—it’s to respond with wisdom. If you stabilize first, focus on what you can control, invite support, learn at the right pace, and rebuild on purpose, you can move through a hard season without letting it define you.
What is the “gut-punch” you’re facing right now—and what is one next controllable step you can take in the next 24 hours?
You don’t need a perfect plan to move forward. You need steadiness, support, and one intentional step at a time. Hard seasons can break you—or they can build you. The difference is how you respond.
What if the most powerful podcast you ever create is the one you decide not to launch—until your business model is ready?
In this episode, Erick sits down with podcasting pioneer Cliff Ravenscraft (Podcast Answer Man / Mindset Answer Man) for a candid conversation about building a profitable, sustainable business—without burning out, blowing up your health, or betting your family’s future on wishful thinking.
Cliff shares how a Lost fan theory launched his podcasting journey, what it took to walk away from the family insurance business, and why mindset, pricing, and business-model clarity are the real “first steps” for creators who want predictable income and impact.
Cliff Ravenscraft started podcasting as a hobby in 2005 and it changed his life forever.
In January 2008, he walked away from a lucrative career in his family’s insurance agency, founded by his grandfather in 1937. Though he was next in line to take over the business, Cliff felt called into something deeper. What had begun as a two-year hobby had already grown into a body of work reaching hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
His first year as a self-employed business owner stretched him to the limit. He earned just $11,000 dollars, worked around the clock, and experienced a health scare that landed him in the hospital. That difficult season ignited a lifelong commitment to personal growth and to serving others at the highest level.
Over the following decade, Cliff built a thriving online business and became recognized as the world’s leading authority on podcasting. Through his coaching, courses, live events, and workshops, Cliff has helped more than 40,000 people successfully launch a podcast and share their message with clarity and confidence.
His flagship program, Podcasting A to Z, became one of the most successful and respected training experiences in the industry. It set the standard for quality, depth, and hands-on guidance, and helped creators launch shows that reached millions of listeners around the world.
As Cliff’s business grew, a deeper pattern emerged. More and more clients began asking questions that extended far beyond equipment, workflow, or launch strategy. They were seeking clarity. They wanted confidence. They needed a roadmap for building a business and a life that reflected who they had become. These conversations revealed a common struggle: many aspiring entrepreneurs assumed that launching a podcast was the natural first step to building a profitable business.
In reality, most had skipped the foundational work needed long before content creation.This realization led Cliff to develop his signature 11-Step Formula for Building an Online Business. His work expanded to help clients simplify their direction, establish the right foundations, and create sustainable offers and income streams that supported the future they wanted to build.
Podcast coaching and consulting remains a meaningful part of how Cliff helps people share their voice. His business strategy and mindset coaching work is how he helps them build a thriving business around their expertise.
Grief is unavoidable—but it does not have to have the last word.
In this episode, Erick sits down with grief, trauma, and mental health coach Marcia Earhart, founder of The Sterling Rose Sanctuary.
Marcia shares her deeply personal story—including multiple significant losses—and the practical tools she uses to help people move from being “stuck” in grief to breathing, moving, and living again.
Together, they unpack what it means to give yourself permission to grieve, why “time heals all wounds” is a myth, how boundaries protect the grieving process, and what healthy support looks like for friends and family who want to help.
Marcia Earhart is a certified life, trauma, grief, brain, and mental health coach, mediator, author, and HeartSync minister. Her guidance is both professional and personal.
Having navigated the deaths of two sons within the last eleven years—one tragically murdered—she stands as a testament to God's faithfulness in the deepest valleys of grief, and now leads others in healing.
Her powerful new book, "Gripping Grace in the Garden of Grief," is a raw and vulnerable chronicle of devastating loss. More than a memoir, it is a lifeline, exploring the fragile threads of love and pain that hold us together and revealing the God-given hope that can rebuild a shattered life.
Marcia’s mission extends beyond the page. As the co-founder of The Sterling Rose Sanctuary, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, she is boots-on-the-ground in the mental health crisis. She creates a safe, haven for the grieving to release their trauma and pain so they can Breathe again, Move again, and Live again. Her ministry reaches a diverse community across the United States and six other countries, standing as a powerful reminder that in deep sorrow, no one has to walk alone.
Marcia has been married to her best friend, Scott, for thirty-five years, and together they homeschooled and enjoyed raising their four boys and daughter. Marcia, Scott, and two of their adult children, who live nearby, love spending time together—whether it's making memories at the beach, traveling, playing games, having deep conversations, cooking, supporting their daughter’s businesses, or supporting and listening to their son’s music Rise Above Everything on Apple and Spotify.
As the calendar turns toward a new year, many people hope things will change—yet find themselves repeating the same patterns.
In this solo episode, Erick challenges listeners to move beyond vague resolutions and instead approach 2026 with intentionality, clarity, and purpose.
This conversation centers on three critical considerations that can help you break negative cycles, live more fruitfully, and design a year that actually looks different—in a meaningful way.
In this episode, Erick walks through three foundational questions designed to help you step into 2026 with clarity and purpose. These questions are not about setting more goals—they’re about creating alignment between your values, priorities, and daily decisions so the year produces lasting impact.
A different year does not happen by accident—it happens by design. When you slow down long enough to evaluate what truly matters, eliminate what no longer serves you, and commit to intentional action, you position yourself to experience growth instead of repetition. 2026 can be different—but only if you decide it will be.
If nothing changes in your thinking, habits, or priorities, what will 2026 actually look like—and what needs to change now to ensure it becomes the year you’re hoping for?
You don’t need a perfect plan to move forward—but you do need clarity, courage, and consistency. Let this episode be the starting point for a year defined not by chaos, but by intention and purpose.
In this episode, Erick sits down with Dr. William Haas—an integrative and regenerative medicine physician based in Charlotte, North Carolina—for a practical conversation on longevity that bridges cutting-edge biomarkers with real-world habits.
Dr. Haas explains why many high performers feel “off” long before conventional labs show a problem, and why longevity is less about doing more and more—and more about building a foundation for cellular repair, metabolic flexibility, and nervous-system recovery.
The discussion covers the “detox–redox–repair” framework, why sleep and HRV are powerful feedback loops, when fasting helps (and when it can backfire), and the simplest ways to get measurable wins through movement, sunlight timing, and smarter carbohydrate strategy.
Dr. Will Haas, MD, MBA is redefining what it means to age well. He is the Founder and CEO of VYVE Wellness in Charlotte, NC, where he helps high-achieving professionals reclaim energy, focus, and vitality through cellular optimization.
Board-certified in Integrative and Family Medicine, Dr. Haas blends advanced therapies—IV nutrient infusions, therapeutic peptides, hyperbaric oxygen, and red light therapy—to deliver measurable results that help patients feel decades younger.
Beyond VYVE, he co-founded OvulifeMD, creating natural fertility protocols, and serves as Chief Medical Officer at Infusive, supporting wellness practices nationwide.
His expertise has been featured in Men’s Journal, Daily Mail, Yahoo Life, and Woman’s World Magazine. Passionate about bridging science with practical results, Dr. Haas empowers high-performers who want more than just longevity—they want their best years ahead of them.
In this episode of the Rise Above Chaos podcast, Erick reflects on a recent 72-hour fast and how the experience reshaped the way he thinks about health, longevity, and the body’s natural ability to heal.
This was not about weight loss. It wasn’t a detox. And it wasn’t about proving toughness.
It was about giving the body something it rarely gets in modern life—time and space to repair itself.
Erick walks through the physiological and mental shifts that occurred over the three days, from the initial transition away from sugar dependence to deep cellular repair driven by autophagy and metabolic flexibility. Along the way, he shares both the subjective experience and the objective data that confirmed what was happening beneath the surface.
This episode reframes fasting as a strategic tool for healthspan, resilience, and long-term performance—when done intentionally and sustainably.
“My 72-hour fast wasn’t about deprivation—it was about giving my body time to remember how to heal.”
“You don’t build longevity by doing more all the time. Sometimes, you build it by doing less—and letting biology do its work.”
In this rich and lively episode, Erick sits down with Elysia Skye—speaker, intuitive guide, former L.A. actor, and creator of The Brilliance Method—for a conversation that weaves together Hollywood stories, healing, mindfulness, and purpose.
Elysia shares her journey from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles to Nashville, chasing the acting dream, working in casting on major films, and learning the art of being fully present through improv and performance. She opens up about being diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at 24, how trusting her intuition helped save her life, and how that experience shifted everything about how she lives and leads.
Out of her lived experience came The Brilliance Method—a framework that blends strategy and intuition to help people step into their unique “zone of genius” and live more intentionally. Along the way, Elysia and Erick swap stories about L.A., celebrity encounters, the power of saying yes and figuring it out, and why life isn’t about one big moment, but a series of brave, present ones.
Elysia Skye is a graduate and alumni of the Second City Writing Conservatory, Improv Olympic and The Groundings Writing Lab. Having a background in improv makes her a dynamic speaker and presentation leader.
She is an ongoing Audible voice talent.
Her audiobook credits include The Disappearance of the Universe with author Gary R. Renard’s books (published by Hay House), Your Immortal Reality, The Lifetimes When Jesus and Buddha Knew Each Other, and Love Has Forgotten No One; as well as Ann O’Brien’s A Woman’s Guide to Conscious Love, and Everyone is Psychic.
She has also voiced many commercials and branded digital series. As an actress, Elysia has had so much fun playing roles in Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Confidence with Ed Burns and Rachel Weiz, and many indie films, and commercials.
Elysia is a stage 3 breast cancer survivor, diagnosed at 24, and founded a 501 C3 to raise awareness for young women’s cancers. She wrote and starred in a heartfelt, hilarious one-person stage play about breast cancer called, I Got My Tits Done in Beverly Hills which ran in Los Angeles to sold out audiences.
She is also certified through Andrea Quinn’s QuinnEssentials for Women’s Empowerment and Accomplishment coaching.
In this heartfelt episode, Erick reminds us that gratitude isn’t just a seasonal sentiment—it’s a survival tool. As the holidays approach, he poses a powerful question inspired by his pastor:
“What if you woke up today with only the things you were grateful for yesterday?”
That question sparks a deeper conversation about how easily we overlook the blessings right in front of us. From family relationships to work challenges to long road trips home, Erick explores how shifting from frustration to gratitude can completely transform how we experience the holidays.
As Erick shares stories from his own family and faith journey, he reminds us that gratitude doesn’t erase life’s chaos—it helps us rise above it. So before you dive into the holiday whirlwind, pause to reflect: What are you truly grateful for today?
In this heartfelt and nostalgic episode, Erick reconnects with Jeff Harris, former teammate, friend, and fellow West Point runner.
Together, they revisit the shared experiences that shaped their lives—from growing up in small-town America to competing at the highest collegiate level—and the brotherhood that continues to this day.
Jeff’s story begins in Kentucky, where a simple two-mile soccer tryout changed the course of his life. That run would spark a journey that took him from the fields of Elizabethtown to the hills of West Point, where he learned lessons about grit, leadership, and community that still guide him as a husband, father, and coach.
This conversation is full of laughter, storytelling, and wisdom as Erick and Jeff look back on the days that forged their character and discuss how the lessons of running still influence their lives—and their sons’—today.
Jeff’s reflections remind us that life is a marathon—filled with challenges, setbacks, and triumphs—and that meaning is found not in the miles themselves, but in who you run them with.
Jeff Harris is a 1996 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a member of the storied 1993 Army Cross Country team that finished sixth in the nation.
A consistent top-five runner, Jeff was a three-time All-Patriot League performer and Patriot League 5,000-meter champion as a freshman, with career bests including a sub-24-minute 8k and a 14:18 5k.
He proudly finished second in the infamous “Tour de Beast” during Cadet Basic Training—and equally proudly recorded an “epic failure” in the steeplechase, a personal reminder that humility is a great training plan.
More than individual results, Jeff credits the brotherhood of his teammates as the defining force in his development—men who forged each other through relentless accountability, laughter, and shared suffering in pursuit of something greater than themselves.
After graduating, Jeff served as a U.S. Army officer from 1996 to 2003, earning a Bronze Star
for his service in Iraq.
Today, he leads Business Development for Kellanova, supporting a $1.7 billion business, and is a passionate practitioner of high-stakes negotiation. Trained through the GAP Partnership and the Black Swan Group, Jeff considers negotiation not just a career skill, but a craft and calling.
A native of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Jeff was an individual state champion and captain of the state championship cross country team. Jeff’s Middle School team recently cleaned up at the Cincinnati All City Small School Championships, taking home three trophies.
He is a husband of 23 years, father of three, and deeply committed coach and mentor who believes he was guided at every step of his journey and is now called to help others find theirs. His life philosophy remains simple: “Embrace the Suck—stop complaining and get to work.”