But Do You Need Trauma To Grow? Adam Bruderly And Justin Castelli on Just Press Record

But do you need trauma to grow?

Adam Bruderly, BCC® was at ground zero on 9/11. He was in Tower 2, at work. And, he - miraculously - got out alive. It’s a day that changed him. A single day, with other days and weeks and years around it, but a single day that's now intertwined with layers upon layers of stories.

Justin Castelli, CFP® was in a college classroom on 9/11. When a friend asked, “Hey, have you heard the news,” he assumed the news in question must be Michael Jordan’s return to the NBA. In a pre-smart phone era, Justin’s reaction probably resembles most people’s. But still - Justin’s got his own single days intertwined with his own stories too.

I came into this conversation genuinely wondering about trauma and growth. How they're connected. How they change our stories, over time.

Was Adam’s experience somehow heavier than what Justin has said, numerous times, that nothing truly terrible has ever happened to him?

That’s a BIG question. And I know a lot of us wonder it too. Especially next to people who have lived through events like what Adam lived through.

I wondered if getting Adam and Justin together might shed some perspective, especially if I could ask them to work through the question of "do you really need trauma to grow?" I wondered what further questions it would spawn. I mostly wondered what questions they’d have for each other.

And I left this conversation feeling that all you need is resistance.

Yes, bigger stuff can trigger bigger reactions. I don’t doubt that for a moment. But size, magnitude, and how we’re shaped - they’re deeply personal and they don’t require literal life-threatening insanity so much as they require reflective moments to choose how we reshape our own identities.

This is why we Just Press Record.

Adam Bruderly, BCC® is a wonderful man and the Head of Learning and Development at Journey Wealth. There’s a reason he has that “My Life in Weeks” picture behind him in the video (look close, you'll see it). All of his stories, 9/11 big and fast food dollar menu small, they move me.

Justin Castelli, CFP® is a good friend, co-founder of The AGC™ - and, I think he’s the Michael friggin’ Jordan of Maktub reflective journaling. He’ll get that reference. You can look it up if you’re curious or better yet - ask him what it means yourself. He feels things in his stories you've never even considered. There's a reason he's evolved into such a successful coach.

Watch/Listen on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel (or look this one up on Spotify, etc. too): The Ingredients for Personal Growth with Adam Bruderly and Justin Castelli | Just Press Record Ep. 6