Empathy is an extraordinary gift, and it must be managed with skill. On the one hand, your empathy allows you to establish deep connections with others, and on the other hand, your ability to feel the emotions of others can feel draining. This is why highly empathetic people (empaths) must understand how to accept the gift and manage the downsides of high empathy. 

In this episode, intuitive life-coach Krista Carpenter joins Matt O’Neill to talk about the struggles and joys of being an empath. They talk about dealing with internal problems that can come with a high level of empathy and how you can still live a happy, empowered life. 

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation: 

• Never give up on yourself. 


• Trust yourself more and do not listen to the outside world. 


• Cut off the toxic and triggering people in your life. 


• Do proactive self-care. 


• Set boundaries and enforce consequences. 

[01:57 ] What Are Empaths? 

Empaths are highly-sensitive people who feel for and pick up other people’s emotions and energies as though they were their own. They often grew up with narcissistic caregiver/s who made them feel unsafe and drove them to become hypervigilant — even with microexpressions. 

[15:32 ] Overcoming Dark Times: 

Never give up on yourself. Instead, follow your bliss. Force yourself to do things you always wanted and haven’t permitted yourself to. And if you do not have the energy to force yourself, just take some time and give yourself space. 

[20:07 ] Self-Love and Self-Compassion: 

Trust yourself more. Do not listen to the outside world — the judgements, opinions, or societal norms. Cut out toxic people in your life. Prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to the people around you. 

[33:41 ] An Empowered Empath: 

People will treat you how you allow them to treat you. Set boundaries, and enforce consequences on people who push past your boundaries. Or even better, surround yourself with people who respect you enough that you won’t need boundaries. 

Notable quotes: 

[27:31 ] “Four quarters is better than 100 pennies. Meaning, if you have four friends that are truly uplifting, it's way more valuable than 100 people that make you feel bad.” [27:47 ] — Krista 

[32:05 ] “Don't wait till you're totally burnt out to do the self-care because then you're just trying to do repair work.” [32:11 ] — Krista 

[35:06 ] “People will treat you how you allow them to treat you. So you have to have some boundaries and consequences if they push past those boundaries.” [35:18 ] — Krista 

Resources Mentioned: 

• The Empath’s Workbook by Krista Carpenter 


• Krista Carpenter’s website 


• Download the Good Mood Toolkit here! 


• THE GOOD MOOD SHOW Podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Anchor, and more… 

About the Guest: 

Krista Carpenter, MS, CLC is a bestselling author and life coach. She is well-known as an expert on helping empathetic people identify unique gifts of living empowered. Krista’s book, The Empath’s Workbook, has over 700 5-star reviews on Amazon.