Soon after starting a new company, Oliver's father became critically ill. Oliver talks about keeping the business going while the family held together, and the new closeness that came out of it.
Oliver's mom told him it was time. He told her he would much rather move in and be with her than have her be gone in half an hour. The full conversation with Oliver Christen is on The Life Shift. #shorts
Oliver tells the story of a childhood competition that shaped his mother for the rest of her life. It taught her to work twice as hard and to put family first, even under heavy pressure.
The full conversation with Oliver Christen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EgymlUVA94 Oliver brought his family home to Switzerland so his kids could know where he came from. It was supposed to last a year. Then a gut feeling told him to stay and keep the family close, and he talks about the hard conversation…
Oliver talks about the conversations with his mother that changed how they knew each other. She told him she felt like she was only just getting to know him. It's a good reminder that we don't have to wait to say the true thing.
Nobody prepares you for loving someone through addiction. This mom doesn't sugarcoat any of it. If this is your story too, you're not alone. #addiction #parenting #shorts
Oliver describes a guided meditation his family used to say goodbye to someone they loved. It gave a gentle way through grief, and it's something I'd never heard about before.
Oliver talks about letting go of expectations and trusting where the journey was taking him, one present moment at a time.
The full conversation with Oliver Christen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EgymlUVA94 When his mother said it was time, Oliver told her he supported whatever she chose. He also told her honestly that he would never choose it himself. He talks about holding both of those things at the same kitchen table.
Near the end, Oliver's mother told him everyone was on their way, she was happy, and it was enough. She spent her whole life feeling she had to work harder, and she got to say those words out loud. Oliver shares what it was like to hear them.
Oliver and I talk about end of life choices and why the conversation so often gets put off. His family had it long before they needed to, and he says that's what freed everyone to be present when the time came.
Oliver's mother looked back on her life and said it was enough. He was there to hear it. The full story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAdDxtQQY8c
Please note: this story includes a chosen end of life and the death of a parent. Oliver Christen's mother sat down with him after lunch, over a cup of tea. She said, "I think it's time." She had been a member of Exit, a Swiss organization that supports assisted dying,…
Oliver's mother let go of her life in layers. A last ten kilometer ski at 82, and then letting go of her identity as a skier. Her favorite soup one more time, a toast, one more sunset. Oliver says that's when letting go finally made sense to him.
Oliver talks about being with his mother as she let go, and how the fear of the unknown slowly turned into curiosity. He says his default is curiosity, because he is about to learn something. I told him to sign me up.
Oliver explains VSED, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, and why his mother saw it as a spiritual path that gave her agency and choice. He talks about sitting beside her through all of it.
Oliver talks about an out-of-body experience, and the feeling of being pure energy inside a space that felt loving and unlimited. It's one of the more surprising moments in our conversation.
Oliver Christen shares a profound end-of-life decision that changed his family's story forever. Oliver spent two decades building businesses across Japan, the UK, and Australia before returning to Switzerland to care for his father. What was meant to be a short sabbatical turned into an extended season as a family…
Oliver's mother said goodbye to his children three times. The first time she cried. The second time she cried a little less. The third time she simply said goodbye. Oliver talks about watching her let go one small piece at a time.
Have you ever wondered what you would say if someone you love told you they were ready to go? Most of us put that conversation off, and it waits for us anyway. Oliver spent about twenty years far from Switzerland, in Japan, the UK and Australia. He came home for…
How do you keep living when your worst fear actually happens? Hard to hear, and worth hearing. If someone in your life is walking through loss, send this their way. #griefsupport #lifeshiftpodcast #shorts
A friend kept negotiating with Charu over a weekend plan, and she finally told him she didn't have the capacity. She'd practiced that line in the mirror first. Afterward she felt happy and relieved, like she'd done something for herself, and her confidence started growing from there. We also got…
Charu says learning to say no was one of the hardest skills of her life, and she calls it a skill on purpose. As a lifelong people pleaser she kept saying yes to everything. So she wrote out lines and practiced them in front of the mirror, one sorry, I…
I asked Charu what a friend who knew her at twenty would say is the biggest difference now. She thinks they'd say she's more confident, because she didn't like herself back then and she loves herself now. She's also honest that some people won't like this version of her, and…
