How Helping Others Can Help You with Megan Snedden

"Helping someone else makes you feel useful, which makes you feel like what you do matters." - Megan Snedden

Our guest today is Megan Snedden, she is the founder of The Kind Effect, she travels the world performing good deeds for strangers and making videos about heart-warming moments to uplift humanity with the joy of kindness.

Megan lost her father in a plane crash around ten years ago, which also came on the heels of her losing her brother to a car accident when she was younger. The subsequent events and mental health issues brought her to rock bottom, but the adversity didn't destroy her. 

Learning to find happiness in despair led her to random acts of kindness, which she then turned into a movement that has inspired millions of people. In addition to performing good deeds, she helps others create a greater sense of self-empowerment and improved mental health through the power of kindness. She has been featured on KTLA, Roku TV, and Good Morning LA LA Land. 

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Jennifer Pilates, Spiritual Thought Leader has been  transforming clients body, mind and spirits worldwide for over 20-years as a Pilates Expert Trainer,  Empowerment Mindset Coach, World-Renowned Intuitive -Medium Advisor, Writer and Host of the Top-Rated Podcast Host Empowered Within.  Jennifer is a  multi-passionate entrepreneur, detail-loving, stubborn-as-heck achiever, unshakeable optimistic, philanthropic, self-care activist, fur-baby momma and ocean loving intuitive-empath. 

From her coaching to training, from her advising to writing, to her top-rated Podcast: Empowered wit

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Transcript

0:59

Welcome to Empowered Within a Soul Quenching transformational podcast that will set your soul on fire through candid and inspiring conversations. Leading experts, celebrities, healers, and I share our journeys of how we've overcome challenges to living an empowered life from within. I'm your host, Jennifer Pilates. Welcome to another episode of Empowered Within. Hi there and welcome to the show. Today's guest is Megan Snedden. Megan is the founder of The Kind Effect. She travels the world performing good deeds for strangers and making videos about heartwarming moments to uplift humanity with joy and kindness. Megan lost her father in a plane crash around 10 years ago, which also came on the heels of her losing her brother to a car accident when she was younger. The subsequent events and mental health issues brought her to. Bottom, but the adversity didn't destroy her. Learning to find happiness and despair led her to random acts of kindness, which she has turned into a movement that has inspired millions of people. In addition to performing good deeds, she helps others create a self, a sense of self-empowerment and improved mental health through the power of kindness. She has been featured on K T L A Roku TV and good morning La LA Land. Welcome to the show, Megan. I. So excited to have you. Oh, I am beyond excited to be here with you. Thank you so much. Oh, you are so welcome. And first and foremost, I'm so sorry about the loss of your dad and your brother. I know that that was just terrible trying times for you. Thank you. Yeah, it's really strange cuz today is actually the 32 year anniversary of my brother's passing. And when I say 32 years out loud, it just feels so. Because it, there's this weird disconnect between when you go through a loss, when the event actually happened and then present day where it honestly just feels like it was yesterday. So, but it sounds like an incredible amount of time. It, it's very bizarre. But thank you. I really appreciate that. It does. Absolutely. So, after everything that you've been through, how did you find happiness and. Because there's so many people, right, who are in that moment going, really, Megan, but But you've done it. I get it. And you've done it and you've brought this joy to around the world. What brought you to this point? Well, I think that you really have to arrive at rock bottom and say to yourself, where do I go from here? Because when I have multiple times, reach rock bottom and ask myself, where do I go from here? It's kind of. You have two choices. Either you give up and surrender to that feeling and either trudge on in misery or you find a way to develop strength within yourself and use what resources you have to find a way forward. And for me the answer, was kindness. I think because kindness has a forgiveness element to it, which has played a really big role. My recovery from loss. And also it has this component of just being able to reaffirm for yourself that you have a purpose on the planet. I don't know about you, but in the times that I've reached the lowest of Lowe's, there's been this hopelessness or this feeling of like, what is the point of it all? And really I think when we get there, we get the opportunity to answer that question for ourselves and find a reason to be here and we get to create it for ourselves. Totally. What pulled you out of the rock bottom to help you find this incredible movement that you've created? Yeah, I mean, I think when we're talking about pulling ourselves out of rock bottom, I think. you really have to take a multi-prong approach because for me it was like rock bottom, you know? And so I was going to therapy. I was really leaning hard on my close connections to give me encouragement, and I just kind of, I started to go for walks, and walking to me is so helpful because at this lowest of blow, what I would rather do, I think is just curl up and stay in bed and just give. But just subtle movement helped a lot. And when I was on these walks, sometimes I would start picking flowers and then the picking flowers led to me like giving these little b miniature bouquets to people as I was walking. And I kind of noticed that, I guess that's a random act of kindness, right? And um, I noticed that I would just get this subtle. Uplift one of, I would have these positive interactions with people again, and it really helped break me out of the isolation that I was kind of, engaging in. And then before I knew it, giving out little bouquets of flowers led to engaging with store clerks at grocery stores and like buying them candy bars or randomly giving people compliments or randomly checking in with friends or people in my life that I hadn. Checked in with, and so it just over time snowballed into this greater sensation of connectivity with other people, positive experiences with other people, a greater sensation of meaning in life. And it is the sum of the small things on a regular basis that I think that eventually lift us out of the. That's amazing. And gosh, we need so much more of that in this world every day. Like seriously, every day. We do. We do because it does so much for us as individuals and it does so much for other people, and it does so much for the collective society as well. Absolutely. So would you say that those moments when you were picking the flowers and, and giving those to others, is, was that the inspiration behind the kind movement that you've. it was part of it. Yeah. I mean I was, engaging all these random acts of kindness and so some of my friends would like go on walks with me and they would see me have these interactions with people and they would say, oh my gosh, like I didn't know that you did this And, and I always just thought it was really weird and I'm like, oh, I'm not gonna tell anybody about me doing these things cuz I just think it's so bizarre. But then friends start encouraging me. They're like, the world is in need of more positive content. We need somebody putting things up there in the news and content mill that are more uplifting to watch, like you should start making videos about this. And I thought they were crazy at first until I finally worked up the strength to be like, okay, I'm gonna record maybe one video. And I did. I recorded one video about an act of kindness, and when I put it out there, it went viral. Was. Shocking. Absolutely shocking. But what that signal to me was, wow, like the world really does need more of this. And I think I'm nobody, but I guess maybe I could be somebody that's out there doing it. So I, I started with just one video and then I made another, and then I dared myself to make another. And before you knew it, like I was making videos and had come up with a, a title, and then it became like a whole thing. You know, I think the greatest part about life is the stuff that we just don't see coming at all. Like I. Was like, oh, I'm gonna become the founder of a movement and start doing this thing. Like it never occurred to me at all. It just was like something that was my private personal practice that suddenly became public and now I'm on a podcast talking about the impact of kindness and it just blows my mind even still. I bet. So with that, how has this act of kindness, how has this effect and this movement, how has this changed your life overall? It's everything to me really. I have on again, off again, had a struggle with the trauma that I've been through. I don't think you just go through trauma once, grieve it and then it's over. You know, like there are multiple resurgences at different stages of your life and I think that's totally normal. And anytime that I returned to the bottom, I've really found myself again when I've leaned harder on kindness and random acts of kindness. And. Found more compassion for myself and my life than what I'm going through when I lean more on kindness again, and I'm able to look at others through the same lens of like, wow. You never know what is going on in somebody's life, you know? That's so true. So you wrote, have we Made Purpose Unattainable? Yeah. And I would love for you to share what brought you to that sentence when you wrote. Sure. Absolutely. I think, and thanks for bringing that up. That's very nice that you noticed that. I think, you know, I've traveled extensively. I've been to 40 different countries and when you travel a lot, it opens your mind a lot to how other people and other cultures and societies are doing things. And I really do think that in the United. Or maybe in North America, we've put purpose on a pedestal. It's become this really like lofty, elevated thing. Even the word success kind of freaks me out because it's just so big and overwhelming because when I think people hear purpose or success, I think they think of lots of money. Big flashy cars, big giant movements, entrepreneurship at its. And I think that honestly we have put this on this unattainable pedestal that when you're in a down place and you're wondering what is the purpose of my life and what is the purpose of my existence, you can almost end up in a worse state When you look up and you see all these people on social media, like top peak performers. And you compare yourself. But I don't think that purpose has to. the, to the state that we've put it at, where you're just like, wow, I could never reach or attain that. And that's the whole reason why I even promote random acts of kindness because it is the sum of the small things that makes the greatest difference overall to yourself and to others. And that is how you achieve purpose is just. Small things on a regular basis, and I think that you start to see those changes around you and internally as well. I agree. And for someone who goes, well, how, like I get that you started by picking flowers, but what if I wanted to start this today? Maybe if I did something kind for someone else, what is another example that you would give to someone to say, okay, here's this basic thing that you could do and this could make all the difference in your. There's so many, and, and honestly, again, I just wanna emphasize that it's like small, basic things, but kindness more than anything is an intention that we set. It's like I'm going to set 15 minutes aside to actually take action and do something. So, sometimes I love to go to like Trader Joe's where the flowers are really cheap. Buy a bouquet of flowers and then just randomly give them to people. I love going to grocery stores and, buying the grocery store. It's a candy bar in the aisle. I love doing the thought you Rolodex, where I look at my contact list and I'm like, who could I reach out to today? Either by like text or phone call, not social media and say, Hey, I've been thinking about you. I know that you had X going on in your life, and I wanted to follow up on like how that's going for you. You know, like more intention around checking in with each other. I love handing out compliments and just seeing how people light up around that. I think that the possibilities are really endless. They truly are. And I'm glad that you shared those cuz those are all really fun things that, you know, anyone can really do. And it's, it's the little things. I mean, letting someone out in front of you in a red light, like, you know. Exactly. I personally love leaving my house like 15 minutes before I think that I'm going to, so that I give myself an extra space. so that I can either let people in front of me, or if someone's in a hurry, just being like, oh, I'm not in a rush. They can do their thing, you know, so that I can show up as a better P person for other people. That's really cool. I love that. So I really wanna hear about this aha moment of learning that kindness and self-love fit together. And I wanna hear about how it happened, where it happened, when it happened. Yeah. I think the aha moment that my life needed to change was, I was very deep in the Greek process of my dad. my go-to was honestly like baking a plate of brownies and like popping a Xanax and I, and just having a cry fest. And I caught a glimpse in the mirror when that was happening once and I was like, wow, this is like the lowest that you've been, the lowest that you've ever been. And this. This needs to change, you know, like something needs to change. And in therapy, I've constantly had the reminder that just again, like subtle things start the shift. And if. for example, exercise is very good for our mental health, but I've been so depressed in certain times of my life that that was going to, the gym was just off the table. And so just going for these little meditative walks was very, very helpful. And in these walks I would just, you know, think through things a little bit and I would try out different positive affirmations, or I would relive the things that I learned in therapy. I would notice, you know, for as much as I am showing grace and kindness to other people, like that's how I need to show up for myself, to allow myself to get messy and for that to be okay, for me to, you know, if I'm gonna be kind to others, then I need to intentionally go out of my way and like ask myself the questions of like, what do you need right now? What would really serve you? Because ultimately, I learned that like the more you fill up your own cup and are more loving toward yourself, like the more energy and power that you have to get back to get back to other people. Because when I've been empty and depleted, like I just can't show up for others as well. You know what I mean? Totally, totally. Besides some of the things like, let's just take today for instance, because today is a really big day for you. Yeah. So, Is Megan going to do to take care of herself today? Because you take care of everyone else with all of your beautiful kindness, what are you gonna do for you today? Sure. I already had a moment where I just kind of stepped outside and had some quiet, you know, I, the sun came out after the rain, which I think is really symbolic and I. This kind of meditation that I learned in therapy as well, that's been really helpful, which is about, it's a very like sensory focused meditation. So stepping outside and like turning my face toward the sun. And, you go through all the sensations, so you ask yourself like, what do I feel right now? And you tell yourself like, oh, I feel this, the warmth of the sun, and I can see the sun through my eyes. And like, what do you smell and what do you taste and what do you feel? Would you also feel like emotionally and just kind of like paying attention to yourself? And I think even just calling our awareness to our feelings and just taking a moment to acknowledge it is, is really helpful. any days like today where I might be in a little bit of like emotional pain, like I do feel sad. Just being able to put a name to feelings, I think helps. So I'm trying today to just mix in like little moments where I think about my brother and the time that we spent together. I think about my, my feelings and I might even go on a beach walk later. You know, just trying to find the simple things that bring. And honoring yourself is so important. Yeah. And honoring how you feel. I love that you shared that sensory meditation, that's a beautiful, beautiful way. I'm a huge walker myself, and I use that as meditation at least once, twice a day. I love that. And again, some of the things that I share, I think it's just about the small things, you know? None of this is. Work, but you really could do your yourself a tremendous benefit by taking five minutes to step outside to breathe and to like feel and just notice your feelings. I think that's just the best place to start. I agree wholeheartedly. Tell me about when you were Spending time with monks? A monastery. A monastery. There we go. Yes. That was wild. I had the opportunity to travel to Myanmar with a friend. And I guess always when I'm traveling, I'm trying to think of like, what is something kind that I can do for the people that live in the place that I'm visiting that also resonates with. And in Myanmar there's this specific monastery where there are thousands of monks that live. And a lot of times, monks in other countries turn to monasteries because they just are unable to support themselves and get their basic needs met. And if they stay at the monastery, then they're able to get food, water, shelter, clothing, the things that they need. Also your dollar goes very far. So spending$35 on a huge bag of rice feeds hundreds of people. So a girlfriend and I went to a rice shop. We bought a huge bag of rice. And we wrote a to, took over to this monastery and we're able to deliver it to them. And we, met some of the, the higher monks that did like a blessing ceremony over the. as we donated it and it was just this really beautiful thing and it was really meaningful to know that, you know,$35 could go such a long way to support other people. Absolutely. What an incredible experience. Yeah, it was really unforgettable. I, it's really unable. So through everything that you have been through, what do you feel to date? Because you have plenty more coming. is your biggest like, wow, I just had no idea moment out of everything that now that has come to life for you. Yeah. You know, when we're talking about grief, in the phases of grief. I never knew that depression would be part of my journey, I think because it's so stigmatized and it's like nobody wants to say the D word, you know? And I really, when I finally went through that myself, I never knew how, just how hard it was to get out of it, because it's not, you just wake up and you're depressed. It is a downward spiral into the muck. And in order to get out, you really have to take this multi-tiered approach, incorporating a lot of different things, in order to get out of it. And I never knew that. It wouldn't be just the things that you might hear about, like you need to exercise, you might do therapy or include medication in your journey in order to be doing those things at the same time. And I never imagined that kindness would be the thing that would save me from that. That engaging in regular random acts of kindness would help to lift me out of that little by little because it. that question like, what am I doing here on earth? Do I matter and what is my purpose? And little by little as I engaged in more acts of kindness, I was able to get the message that I needed. Reinstilled for me that like what I do matters, my life matters. The little things that we do make a big difference and we can really go farther together. That is so beautiful. thank you for sharing that. That is so beautiful and so important, and I love how you intertwined that. Yes. Depression is real. Sometimes it does take medication and therapy and everything to get out of it, but the key is that you fought. the good fight to get out of it and found what works for you, and someone else can find something that may work for them. And maybe this is the key. Maybe they've tried everything and they're like, well, I'm gonna give this kindness thing, or I'm gonna, I'm gonna give it a shot. And maybe that Sure. That's what saves them today. Yeah, maybe. I think when you get to that point, you really need to be able to save yourself. Right. Exactly. Do you think that that would be considered like saving yourself through helping others, like saving yourself? Yeah. Through that kindness. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Megan, we are getting to this point in the show where I asked this one question, are you ready? Yes. Yes. Okay. Absolutely. What is one thing that maybe no one knows about Megan? Oh, oh my gosh. One thing. gosh, that I like travel because it is so hard. I think the way that we convey travel on Instagram and look really bright, flashy, and fun, but. I mean, to me, travel is all about growth and self-development. And I think when we put ourselves out there into the unknown, we learn new things about ourselves in new contexts. We learn about the world and we have to really come to terms with our biases and our prejudices and confront those things in real time. We have. like find the strength in ourselves to overcome really complex challenges. And that's what I really love. I love being a little problem solver and wandering around the world and finding my way through problems basically. That's a fabulous. So tell me, where is your next wandering adventure going to take you? Portugal. How amazing. Portugal. I don't know if you've ever been to Portugal or I have not. It is a beautiful and amazing. I've seen pictures and I know a lot of people from Portugal, but I've never been myself. So when are you headed and, and why? What do you plan on doing when you're there? I am leaving in probably four days, so very, very, very soon. I'm so excited. I think I am just really evoked by. Sensory details. And Lisbon is one of my favorite cities in the world. It's very, very sensory. It's so colorful and I think what I plan to do is just walk around and enjoy it. They have these little pastries called pastel deta. They're like little pies. Uh, so I lived my best life when I just walked the cobblestone streets. listen to the trolleys rolling by taking in the multicolored buildings and just eating a pastel de. I think that's, that's the sweet spot for me. That sounds pretty sweet. Yeah, I'm excited. Oh my gosh, how amazing. Megan, this has been so much fun. I'm so honored that you are here today and I'm so honored that you have been willing to share your journey, the ups, the downs, and bringing us back to what truly matters, which is love and kindness for ourselves. So thank you so much for. I appreciate that. You've been a great listener. Thank you. And will you please tell our audience where can they connect with you more? If you go to the kind effect.com, I have a bunch of freebies on there. I have a free kindness challenge. I also have a free ebook called The Changemakers Action Plan. and if not, you can also watch kindness content on the kind. On Instagram. How fun. Well, as we close out the show today, what is one last piece of inspiration that you would like to leave with us? I will, I think just say that you are stronger than you imagine. Perfect. Well said. Well, as always, all of Megan's contact information will be over in the show notes over on jennifer pilates.com. Thank you again so much, Megan, and I'm wishing you safe. Amazing. uh, appreciate that. Thank you so much. You are so welcome. Well, as we say, until next time, may you live an empowered life from within. Thank you so much for tuning into another episode. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to Empowered Within with Jennifer Pilates. Your feedback is important. It helps me to connect with you and gives me insight into who you are and what you're enjoying about the show. For today's show, notes and discount codes from today's. Head over to jennifer pilates.com. Until next time, may you live an empowered life from within.