Good Life Project

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Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher, activist and multi-time New York Times Best Selling author.

She's been teaching about A Course in Miracles for three decades, founded LA meals-on-wheels program for homebound people with AIDS, Project Angel Food in 1989, and serves on the Board of Directors of RESULTS, an organization on a mission to end hunger and poverty.

Marianne Williamson also speaks every Tuesday evening in New York City, at the Marble Collegiate Church live and via live-stream. Her upcoming event, SISTER GIANT, held in Washington DC on Feb. 2-4, 2017, will bring together a diverse gathering of thinkers, from politics to faith to philosophy and activism, in a quest to incubate ideas and build a conversation around a more enlightened path for society.

In today's episode, we dive into Marianne's personal journey, exploring everything from growing up in Houston to the relationship between fear and love, compassion, activism, politics and spirituality and her current quest to inspire people to rise up, participate and be intentional about the societal and political path we are all on.

In her words...

"We are not here to ignore the illusion, we are here to transform the illusion." [Click to tweet]

Be sure to subscribe to our weekly Good Life Updates and listen on iTunes to make sure you never miss an episode!

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Abandoned by her alcoholic dad when she was five, out of cash and evicted from their NYC apartment, Claire Hoffman, her mom and seven-year-old brother found themselves dropped into a small town in Iowa.

But, not just any old town, this was a sacred enclave, Heaven on Earth, established by Transcendental Meditation founder, Maharishi Mahesh. For Claire’s mother, Transcendental Meditation and the cloistered culture around it became a source of salvation and calm. But, over time, Claire began questioning the teachings and traditions. She eventually fled the town, the practice and community and moved back in with her father.

Decades later, a now established journalist and teacher and parent, and looking for answers, Claire found herself drawn back to Iowa, to reexamine her spiritual upbringing in an attempt to resolve unanswered questions rediscover a bit of lost magic.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Claire and dive into this powerful, raw and revelatory journey, detailed in her memoir, Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood. 

photo credit: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Be sure to subscribe to our weekly Good Life Updates and listen on iTunes to make sure you never miss an episode!

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Success is not just about knowing what to do. It is about doing it.

All the information in the world, the best laid plans, the clearest, most-defined, measurable and attainable goals will not deliver the outcomes, results or resolutions you want.

There is something missing. In order to succeed at anything worth the effort, you also need to put in place critical changes in environment, culture, mindset and community that enable the consistent action that, over time, delivers astonishing results.

I call this "Success Scaffolding." And, I've been diving into, experimenting with and refining the key elements for years, across a wide array of domains, from health and fitness to art, innovation, careers and entrepreneurship.

In today's episode, instead of our usual long-form conversation with a special guest, I am doing something different. I'll be sharing what I call the 7P Success Scaffolding™ framework.

Every element, every step, nothing held back. Why? Because it is that time of year when millions commit to big, new, deeply-meaningful goals, only to walk away or fail by the time we hit February. Not because we don't want it badly enough. Not because we're not smart enough. But, because we do not have our Success Scaffolding in place.

This is my New Year's offering. It is about helping you make 2017 different, bridging the gap between hope and reality.

You may want to grab a pen. Or, if you'd like a PDF mind-map of the entire 7P Success Scaffolding framework, just be sure to sign up for our Weekly Insider Updates. I'll include a link to a free downloadable PDF in our next dispatch.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Gretchen Rubin's Quiz: The Four Tendencies
• My Good Life Project Journal
• Snapshot360™ Online Quiz
• Join our Good Life Project Community
• Jonathan's new book, How to Live a Good Life
• Sign up for our Weekly Insider Updates to get Jonathan's mind map of The Seven P's.

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On September 17, 2009, Simon Sinek stepped onto a small stage for a local gathering...and proceeded to blow away the world.

The event was TEDx Puget Sound. He had no slides, no fancy presentation. Just an idea and an easel. For 18 minutes, he spoke about an awakening. Something he called "the golden circle," and the need to know your "why." The audience was captivated.

But that's just the beginning...

The event was filmed and posted to Youtube 11 days later. So powerful was Simon's presentation and idea that it was quickly pulled onto the main TED site. There it exploded into the world's consciousness, becoming one of the most-watched TED talks of all-time with nearly 30 million views. A book called Start With Why soon followed, becoming an instant hit.

Funny thing is, Simon doesn't really care about all of that. What he does care about is the Idea. The opportunity to inspire people to wake up to the possibility in their own lives. The ability to serve from a deeper, more humble yet powerful place. And to act.

Simon's transformative ideas continued to evolve with his book, Leaders Eat Last. This week's episode features a "Best Of" conversation with Simon, where we explore his remarkable journey, his extraordinary lens on the world (though he'll likely tell you it's anything but) and his deep desire both inspire and to serve those who serve others.

Simon is also a master storyteller. As our conversation unfolds, he shares a stunningly powerful story about a trip to Afghanistan with the military that went bad, and how it became a flight he'll remember for the rest of his life. By the time he was done, I was near tears and had trouble speaking, let alone continuing the conversation. Listen all the way through, it will be so worth the investment of time and energy.

Some quick quotes from the conversation:

"Great leaders see money as fuel, not a destination."

"Serve those who serve others."

"Never sacrifice the people to save the numbers, sacrifice the numbers to save the people."

"The responsibility of the leader is to look after the sons and the daughters of the parents who have given us their children to help us build our companies with the same love and tenderness and care that their parents gave to them."

We first aired this conversation in October 2013. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

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Debbie Millman is a creative, design and storytelling force of nature.

Millman was drawn into the world of news and print in her early twenties, cultivating an appetite for artful communication, storytelling and news. By her early thirties, though, life had dealt a series of challenges.

In quick succession, she found herself without a job or a sense of purpose, bound by her own self-loathing. Unlocking and even mining that negative cycle, though, was the key to her turnaround.

She started down a path of discovery that would lead to a series of serendipitous adventures, eventually becoming a leading voice in the world of design, branding and media, and co-founding and chairing the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She's also hosted the acclaimed Design Matters podcast for 11 years, which was a major inspiration for our show.

As Debbie shares in this conversation, you "have to create your own happiness."

On this "Best Of" episode of Good Life Project, Debbie Millman gets real about living with uncertainty, creativity and freedom, diving into the world of design, art and media.

And, as we reflect on the year behind us, and think about the year to come, she reminds us to imagine immensities, then make them happen.

We first aired this conversation in April 2014. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

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How did a kid who grew up on a farm in Alberta, Canada end up an elite performance coach to Olympic athletes and CEOs?

This is the story of today's guest, performance savant and founder The 90 Day Year, Todd Herman.

Did Todd get an advanced degree? Nope. Did he write a bestselling book? Again, no. Was he hyper-connected to high-level gatekeepers and influencers? Not unless you consider horses and other farm animals to be conduits to greatness.

Then how did he end up the go-to person at the highest levels of sport and business? The answer lies in the same relentless drive that let him launch a packed consulting practice from a cold start by talking his way into speaking 68 times in 90 days.

Todd is one of the most focused and productive people we've ever met. He honed his skills over nearly two decades working with many of the top performing athletes in the world, before making a pretty radical shift to online education with the creation of his accelerated productivity training, The 90 Day Year.

In this week's conversation, we dive into his upbringing on a ranch in the middle of Canada, with thousands of acres to roam. We explore his jones to leave the ranch at a very early age and his more recent awakening to an unshakeable connection with the land. We talk about his lens on performance and deconstruct that whole 68 talks in 90 days strategy. We also talk about the interplay between elite performance, happiness, preparation and fulfillment.

For anyone who has wondered about closing the gap between reality and potential, this is a don't miss an episode!

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This week's guest, Mark Nepo, is a renowned poet, philosopher, author, master storyteller and spiritual teacher.

He has appeared numerous times on Oprah, his Book of Awakening was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Mark originally appeared on the show about a year ago, where we explored his bigger life story, how cancer forever changed him, physically, psychologically and spiritually and his relationship with faith and spirituality.

In this episode, we invite Mark Nepo back to explore a different topic; living in a rapidly changing world, poetry as truth and life, not just words and how we're called to live and lead. This year is also a special year as Mark has released two books, The One Life We're Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart and the three-part collection of 20 years of his original poems and essays, The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting.

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Emily McDowell is a writer, illustrator, and entrepreneur who specializes in chronicling the human condition.

In 2012, she left a successful career in advertising to launch her greeting card line, making cards for the relationships we actually have. Now a multimillion-dollar stationery and gift company, Emily McDowell Studio products are sold online and in nearly 2,000 stores worldwide.

In 2015, Emily’s Empathy Cards, designed to help people connect around serious illness and loss, struck a nerve around the world and gave people a way into conversations that seemed brutally hard to begin and deepen into.

Her first book, There Is No Good Card For This: What To Say and Do When Life Gets Scary, Awful, and Unfair To People You Love, will be released in January 2017.

In today's conversation, we take a step back in time, explore the experiences in her younger life that were defining moments, revealing who she really was and how Emily began to connect with an irreverent blend of art and humor that touches so many.

We explore what happened when she was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age and watched friends struggle to figure out how to be there for her. We dive into how she compartmentalized this experience, seeking to not let it define her, both as a person and, soon enough in art and business. We also track the launch and growth of her company and her recent move to rework the business in order to not just serve a "customer" need, but also give her what she needs, the ability to do the work that most lights her up.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Dance Neurosis Resume by Emily
• Emily's famous quilt-making mom, Ruth McDowell
• Emily's talk at World Domination Summit 2016
• Emily's Awkward Dating Card
• Hand Letterer Mary Kate McDevitt
• Stupid Cancer :: The Voice of Young Adult Cancer
• Brené Brown - Researcher + Storyteller

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The 108: Conscious Business Collective - Entrepreneurship is lonely. To build what you're here to build, not just in business but in life, you need people. Nobody does it alone. The 108 is a conscious business collective of entrepreneurs helping each other rise. Move into 2017 with a powerful new family of allies, mentors, champions and collaborators as you work to build a living and a life on a profoundly different level. Learn more now.

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Gabrielle Bernstein is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Universe Has Your Back and numerous other books.

She's been featured on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday as "next-generation thought leader" and leads talks, retreats and meditations for sold-out audiences around the world, embracing her role one of the voices of an emerging generation of spiritual teachers.

Gabby is a also certified Kundalini yoga and meditation teacher. GShe is trained in the Emotional Freedom Technique, is a student of the metaphysical text A Course in Miracles, and practices Transcendental Meditation as taught by the David Lynch Foundation.

In today's conversation, we take a step back into Gabby's personal story, exploring her relationship to faith and how feelings of isolation as a kid led to her become an organizer and leader at a young age. We dive into her year's long struggle with addiction and then work, and her more recent awakening to the role of childhood sexual trauma in her life's journey and the choices she's made.

We dive into her approach to transparency as a spiritual teacher, how she dances between public and private, how opening to the fear in others can serve as a bridge to understanding and so much more.

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Today's guest is Radhanath Swami, a Vaishnava sanyassin (a monk in a Krishna-bhakti lineage) and teacher of the devotional path of Bhakti-yoga.

He is author of The Journey Home, a memoir of his search for spiritual truth. His latest book is The Journey Within: Exploring the Path of Bhakti. 

His teachings draw from the sacred texts of India such as The Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Ramayana, and aim to reveal the practical application of the sacred traditions, while focusing on the shared essence which unites apparently disparate religious or spiritual paths.

Born Richard Slavin, on December 7, 1950, in his teens he came to confront a deep sense of alienation from suburban Chicago life and the civil injustices of mid-century America. At the age of nineteen, while on a summer trip to Europe, his internal struggles culminated in a commitment to search for God wherever it might lead him. Meditating on the Isle of Crete, he felt a supernatural calling and the next morning set off alone to find spiritual India.

The Journey Home documents his odyssey as a penniless hitch-hiker though Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and finally India. There he lived as a wandering ascetic, first amongst the forest dwelling Himalayan yogis and later amongst a wide variety of gurus and spiritual practitioners throughout India and Nepal. Ultimately, he was led to the holy town of Vrindavan, where he found his path amongst the Bhakti-yogis.

In Vrindavan he found the teacher he was searching for in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), and representative of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, (the Krishna-bhakti tradition stemming from the 16th century mystic avatar Sri Chaitanya). In choosing Bhaktivedanta Swami, as his guru, Radhanath Swami felt compelled to shear his matted locks and reenter Western society with a mission to share the sacred wisdom he had received.

This return exemplifies the form of devotional yoga which is at the heart of Radhanath Swami’s teachings, a spiritual practice expressed as tangible action meant to bring about personal fulfillment and benefit the world. At the the age of 31 he took the monastic vows of a Vaishnava sanyassin and became known as Radhanath Swami.

Today Radhanath Swami travels regularly throughout India, Europe and North America, sharing the teachings of Bhakti-yoga. He resides much of the year at the Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai. For the past twenty-five years he has guided the community’s development and has directed a number of acclaimed social action projects including Midday Meals, which daily serves more than 260,000 plates of sanctified vegetarian food to the children of the slums of Mumbai. He has also worked to establish missionary hospitals and eye camps, eco-friendly farms, schools and ashrams, an orphanage, and a number of emergency relief programs throughout India.

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Orly Wahba is a teacher, entrepreneur, and community activist passionate about inspiring and motivating people to make the world a kinder place.

Orly began her career as a middle school teacher, empowering children to embrace unity, build self-value, and use their power to influence the world for good. Trying to reckon with the death of two kids in her school, and guide her students through it in 2011, Orly founded Life Vest Inside (LVI), a non-profit organization with a mission to empower and unite the world with kindness.

Through LVI, Wahba encourages people to embrace the incredible power of giving and recognize that in times of hardship, kindness, like a life vest, keeps the world afloat. LVI gained international acclaim when Orly’s award-winning film, Kindness Boomerang, went viral, receiving over 100 million views and eventually landing her a spot to speak at TED2013 on the magic of kindness.

OWe got curious about where Wahba's unrelenting devotion to kindness and respect came from. What were the foundational experiences and stories, the moments of both struggle and revelation? How to did she write, film and produce her Kindness Boomerang video on her own, and why does she believe it resonated so widely?

Turns out, Orly's earlier life was filled with polar opposites, deep familial love, and also profound social isolation and loss. This led to a years-long spiral after a fire in her childhood home splintered the family into different locations. Emerging from this dark window, she felt compelled to help others, especially kids, experience the world from a place of acceptance and generosity. We go deep into this journey in today's episode.

Orly's forthcoming book, Kindness Boomerang, is available for pre-order now. As Orly's global community grows by the thousands, more people are experiencing the grace and connection of kindness with activities, events and more. Their 5th annual Dance for Kindness Worldwide Flashmob is happening November 13, so you still have time to get involved!

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Order your copy of Jonathan Fields’ new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom, today! It’s available at booksellers everywhere. And, you can download the first chapter and invest in your copy now.

Also, big news - the book is now available as an audiobook! Get it here.

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This week's guest, Panache Desai, is a contemporary spiritual teacher, author of Discovering Your Soul Signature, and recent guest of Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday.

Desai's connection to spirit, to something bigger than him or any one being, arrived as a child. Embracing it and allowing it to move through him came easily. But, because it also came so early in life, he'd not yet developed the seasoning to be able to understand and apply this wisdom in the most constructive way.

It would take years of grappling, growing and even stumbling, often in the public's eye, to begin to forge a deeper wisdom and a more capable channel that would allow him to fully step into, understand and share his gift.

TThe catalyst for this rapid evolution, though, would be something Panache Desai never saw coming, his daughter's devastating diagnosis of heart failure. Hours after we spoke with Panache, he would be on a plane to the hospital to join his wife and daughter, who had just been placed on a list for a heart-transplant.

He was in a process of reckoning. This is where our conversation began. We dropped into the deep end of the pool very quickly and never really came out. The conversation was powerful, emotional and it will challenge your idea of meaning and connection and remind you of the importance of staying open, leading with love, being forever a student and owning our impact on those around us. We wish Panache and his family love and healing, grace and ease.

Get your free guided meditation from Panache to change the energy that surrounds you and access the greatness that has always lived inside you.

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Order your copy of Jonathan Fields’ new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom, today! It's available at booksellers everywhere. And, you can download the first chapter and invest in your copy now.

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Glennon Doyle Melton is an author, activist, and founder of Momastery.com and Together Rising, a non-profit that has raised close to five million dollars for women and children in crisis.

Her brand new book, LOVE WARRIOR is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and the most recent Oprah's Book Club selection.

Today, I sit down with Glennon the morning after she's wrapped one of her gathering at the legendary BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in New York City, where she was joined by a multi-denominational collective on-stage, including Alicia Keys who was so moved she couldn't help but belt out an impromptu song before leaving.

In this conversation, we dip into her new memoir. But that's more of a jumping off point that leads us into some very different waters, from leading as an introvert, her feelings about faith and how it informs what she's creating to how she's moving into a season of her life where the line between public and private, art and service, love and leading is shifting in profound and intentional ways.

We go deep into some provocative territory here, and there are more than a few invitations to reconsider how you move into the world and what you choose to focus on. Agree or not, this is a conversation that'll leave you lifted, challenge your assumptions and also make you think and feel.

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Order your copy of Jonathan Fields’ new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom, today! Download the first chapter and invest in your copy now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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How does a fearful kid from the midwest with severe social anxiety and a struggling self-image end up on the cover of magazines and teaching women how to love themselves?

That's the story in today's episode of Good Life Project, featuring Lori Harder. Growing up in Michigan, Lori found herself increasingly anxious about more and more things, from the size of her body to her ability to fit in. Not surprising for a young teen. But, add to that being born into a faith with an ethos of separation from outsiders, and you've got a perfect recipe for amplified struggle.

In her early teens, though, something changed that began to bring Harder out of her shell. And, that was just the beginning. She eventually transformed herself into not just a fit and confident woman, but a cover model and an advocate not just for fitness, but for a more complete approach to wellbeing. She now teaches and speaks on this in her workshops and keynotes and retreats.

As she writes in her manifesto, "Beauty is a way of being. Strength means showing up. Fierce self-love is our only choice."

In today's episode, we dive into this journey, especially the early years and explore how family, faith and culture mixed together to create an experience that, looking back, she's grateful for as she emerges into her own path.

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Today's guest, Rhodes Scholar, Box of Crayons Senior Partner and bestselling author, Michael Bungay Stanier, has a bone to pick.

It's about coaching.

But, he's not just talking about coaches, he's talking about every person who finds themselves in regularly helping others move forward, from parents to friends to colleagues and, yes, actual coaches.

In his latest book, The Coaching Habit, he makes a bold proclamation, maybe it's time to spend less time talking and more time listening and asking the 7 simple questions that'll unlock a stunning amount of connection, revelation and elevation.

But, here's the thing, Michael and Jonathan are old friends, so it takes them a while to get to these ideas. Along the way, they dive deep into Michael's personal journey, the wacky world of self-help/personal-development, and Michael shares a "technology" that incites accelerated growth and change that's remarkably powerful and has used and validated in giant organizations.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• 5 unspeakable truths about coaching.
• The 7 questions that change everything.
• How we live a good life, show up and do meaningful work, and transcend the self-help yadda yadda.
• Two types of envy and how to use the good type as motivation.
• How to get clear on the question – 'What do you want?'
• When to fire cannon balls and when to fire bullets.
• What the boldest coaching question is that a coach can ever ask.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Michael: Box of Crayons | LinkedIn | Twitter
• The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun
• Chip and Dan Heath
• Unmarketing.com
• Peter Block

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The day Megan Devine's partner died started like any other.

The sun was shining as they walked to a favorite spot by the river. Matt waded in, as he'd done countless times before. Minutes later, he was gone. No warning, no time to prepare, no chance to say goodbye.

Megan is a psychotherapist. She trained for years to help people through moments like this. Now, being on the other side of the experience, she was faced with a daunting reality. None of it worked. And, heaped upon this realization was a mountain of judgment about "how" she grieved and what that must have said about who she "really" was.

Megan realized, she'd have to find a new way to not only move through that window, but also through a life that was almost unrecognizable from the one she'd been forced to leave behind.

What emerged was not only a profoundly different approach to loss, but also to life. How could it be any other way? Megan is no longer the person she used to be. Her journey and the set of tools she built are detailed in Everything is Not Okay: Practical Tools to Help You Stay in Your Heart & Not Lose Your Mind.

In our conversation, Megan pulls no punches when questioning our culture's approach to grief: Why do we offer platitudes to those grieving, rather than nonjudgmental companionship? How can we better support each other when experiencing tragedy? How do these lessons apply to everyone? We dive into this deeply moving journey in this week's conversation, and come full circle to explore how she's found a new place of grace in the world.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• How people use blame in an attempt to distance themselves from death.
• How Megan got through the days when she felt angry to wake up.
• Why a solid spiritual practice won't make you safer from death or grief, and why that's okay.
• Why it’s more important to be a companion to a grieving person than to try fixing their pain.
• How Megan appreciates the beauty and awe of life differently now than she did seven years ago.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Megan: Refuge In Grief | Twitter
• Audiobook: Everything is Not Okay: Practical Tools to Help You Stay in Your Heart & Not Lose Your Mind by Megan Devine
• The Dalai Lama
• Modern Loss
• Erin Moon: Walking the Path Back to Life on Good Life Project

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Have you heard? My new book - How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom - is available for pre-order now! It's a joyful, story-driven, engaging and eye-opening deep dive into what really makes a difference in your pursuit of a meaningful, alive and connected life. 

Click here now to download and read the first chapter for free.

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A child of the 80s, Lisa Sugar grew up obsessed with pop-culture. Little did she know, her childhood fascination would become her career.

Graduating college, Sugar headed into the world of media, and then advertising. She was working her way up the ranks on the media planning side. But a little voice kept calling her to write. So, she started a little website, POPSUGAR, on the side.

At first, she was writing in the evening and weekends, then pretty much any break she could get. What happened next took her breath away. Turns out, her obsession wasn't just her own. And, her voice was landing in a way that had people reading, sharing and coming back for more.

Within a year, more than a million readers were coming to her website, so she quit her job and made POPSUGAR her full-time pursuit. Six months later, with the company now exploding, her husband left his tech-job and joined her. POPSUGAR is now the leading lifestyle brand in the world, with more than 85-million visitors a month and 1.5 billion media impressions/month.

Lisa's journey is detailed in her book, Power Your Happy: Work Hard, Play Nice, & Build Your Dream Life. In today's episode of Good Life Project, we dive into her story, how she made the shifts in career, when she knew it was time to ditch the full-time gig and go all-in on POPSUGAR, why she believes in work-life blend, not balance, and so much more.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Lisa: Power Your Happy | POPSUGAR | Instagram
• Darren Star
• ShopStyle

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Quick note - be sure to listen to the end, we've got a live, acoustic performance by this week's guest that will rock your world!

Ali Handal grew up loving music but packed up her guitar and dreams of becoming a professional musician in order to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology. Eventually, though, music called her home.

She spent years mastering her craft, becoming a lead-guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, and entrepreneur, eventually co-founding Triple Scoop Music which helps artists license their projects. Ali has also released three albums, toured across four continents, and worked with artists such Neil Young, Janet Jackson, and Paul Williams. Her training book, Guitar for Girls, was written to help students at all levels gain the self-confidence needed to master new challenges so they don't settle for less.

And, a little more than three years ago, she was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer.

In this episode, we dive deep into her remarkable journey from student of human behavior to student and eventually teacher of music, performer extraordinaire, successful entrepreneur, author, then patient and wholehearted embracer of live as it comes.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• The multiple streams of income Ali can leverage which allow her to pursue an authentic career as an artist.
• Why performing for free can be a valuable experience and expose opportunities.
• Alternatives for starving artists to earn a living while developing their craft.
• How intentional practice can improve weak areas.
• Why her diagnosis of a rare form of incurable Lymphoma has not stopped her thriving career and pursuit of goals in life.
• Tips to stick with your passion while you suck.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Ali: AliHandal.com | YouTube
• Guitar for Girls by Ali Handal
• Gutsy Girl by Caroline Paul
• "Not a Pretty Girl" by Ani Difranco

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first time I stumbled upon Mark Manson's writing, I didn't know what to do. It was a complete pattern interrupt.

The issues were raw and real, the ideas were rich and his lens was so contrarian and refreshing it made me think. Really think. But, then, there was the language. This particular essay was wall-to-wall F-bombs.

I was having trouble reconciling the depth of thought with the width of profanity. I found myself diving into more of his work, and discovered that I wasn't the only one. Some 2 million people read him every month. Waiting for his next philosophical provocation.

When I heard Mark had a new book out, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to sit down with him and dive into his bigger story. To get to know the person behind the writing. In this week's conversation, Mark and I take a meandering road through everything from global travel and which country emotes more than others to a more nuanced conversation of pain, possibility, writing and exactly how, when and why he began to insert profanity into his work, what it's done both for and to him.

His latest book is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living A Good Life. As you might guess from the title, the first few chapters are a pretty in-your-face setup, but as the book continues, Manson settles into a deeper, you might even say gentler voice. He explores ideas like choosing the pain you want to live with, rather than the outcome you want to attain. Just like his essay before, it made me think. I hope it'll do the same for you.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Mark: Mark Manson| Instagram
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck article (with epic cat photo)
• Why I Have a Potty Mouth
• Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru documentary
• George Carlin - 7 Words You Can't Say On TV
• American stand-up comedian Bill Hicks

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My new book - How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom - is available for pre-order now! It's a joyful, story-driven, engaging and eye-opening deep dive into what really makes a difference in your pursuit of a meaningful, alive and connected life. 

Click here now to download and read the first chapter for free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to optimize your career for money and meaning simultaneously? Or does one always take the lead?

We explore this and more in today's conversation with author, career and business strategist and international speaker Jenny Blake.

Jenny helps people organize their brains, move beyond burnout and build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. Her latest book, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One dives deep into how to methodically make your next career move by doubling down on what is already working. With two years at a technology start-up as the first employee, five years at Google on the Training and Career Development teams, and over five years of running her own business, Jenny combines her love of technology with her superpower of simplifying complexity to help clients through big transitions — often to pivot their career or business.

We talk through her own personal pivots that lead her to leave the clout of Google, write her first book, find herself in NYC with a dwindling bank account and what she did about it when confusion, uncertainty and fear crept in. She even turns the tables on me to share some behind the scenes pivoting happening in Good Life Project.

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My book - How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom - is available now! It's a joyful, story-driven, engaging and eye-opening deep dive into what really makes a difference in your pursuit of a meaningful, alive and connected life. 

Click here now to download and read the first chapter for free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February 2006, Sir Ken Robinson stepped onto the TED stage and delivered a scathing indictment of the modern educational system, entitled "How Schools Kill Creativity."

That talk exploded into the public's consciousness and has since become the most watched TED Talk in history, with more than 32 million views and more than 250 million people estimated to have seen it. While it may not have started the conversation on education, it brought a level of global attention to the problem like never before.

In the intervening 9 years, Robinson has continued to speak and evangelize a different approach to education built not around order and conformity, but passion and personalization. And he's written a series of bestselling books with his newest, Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution that's Transforming Education, featuring inspiring "schools done right" case-studies to both learn from and build around.

Even more remarkable than Robinson's fierce intellect and provocative ideas is where he came from. Growing up in post-World War II Liverpool, he was stricken with polio at the age of four, forever changing the course of his life and exposing him to the profound injustice that awaits so many kids labeled as "different."

In this week's conversation, Sir Ken and Jonathan sit down for a rare conversation about not only Robinson's ideas, but where those ideas came from, his childhood battle and then lifelong experience with polio and his extraordinary will to make a difference.

He reminds us to ask not "how intelligent are you?" but rather, "how are you intelligent?"

We first aired this conversation in April 2015. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we move into these final weeks of August, we'll be airing two extraordinary "Best Of" episodes, featuring powerful conversations from the last year.

First up, Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert exploded into the public's consciousness in 2006 with the release of her mega-bestselling memoir, Eat Pray Love.

Since then, she's published a series of books, given a TED talk on creative genius that's been viewed more than 10 million times, become a leading voice on the pursuit of a creative, connected and vital life.

GIlbert's latest book, Big Magic, takes you deeper into what it means to live a creative life, offering a wonderful blend of wisdom, unabashed magical thinking, amazing stories and a whole lot of unexpected myth-busting and contrarian insights.

I had a chance to sit down with Liz and, as often happens with these Good Life conversations, we ended up going all sorts of places I'd never planned. We touched on the power of curiosity and the fallacy of passion, where creativity comes from, what stops us from doing the thing we're here to do, the importance of caring for your vessel, what happens when you think you've reached the end of your capacity and her powerful lens on what it means to life a good life.

This is deeply moving, revealing, insightful and sometimes pretty funny conversation. In fact, we begin with a hard-hitting reveal of a relationship that Gilbert had kept secret for more than four decades. And, along the way, this beautiful thought came tumbling forth:

"When you come to the end of yourself is where all the interesting stuff starts." Tweet this.

If you've ever wondered how to step into a creative life, how to get that thing in your head and heart out into the world, this is an absolute "do not miss" conversation.

We first aired this conversation in September 2015. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facing a tough period in his life, this week's guest, Ruben Chavez, turned to books to both reconnect with curiosity and rekindle the spark of possibility. As he read, he began to take voracious notes, and write down quotes he connected with. Around the same time, he discovered Instagram. So, he began sharing bite-sized wisdom distilled from his favorite books on his ThinkGrowProsper Instagram account.

People took notice and a community began to form. That community has now grown to more than two million people around the world, and allowed Ruben to build a business and his career around his passion for learning and sharing wisdom, and work with everyone from authors to large brands along the way.

We cover a lot of ground in this conversation as Ruben shares his backstory, his deeper motivation for growth, the steps leading to the popularity of his account, and the opportunities and lessons that came with it. We discuss the reluctance many of us feel when sharing our imperfect, in-progress work with the world -- a fear that Ruben debunks by trusting in the compassion and encouragement of community.

Ruben also touches on the importance of considering your desired lifestyle when weighing career opportunities. In his experience, one can live an equally fulfilling life with less than you might think -- and sometimes, even more so.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Ruben: ThinkGrowProsper | Instagram | MotivationMafia
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
• How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Tim Ferriss - Solopreneur

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you think of masculine and feminine, do you naturally think "man" and "woman" respectively?

Our guest today believes everyone can harness both masculine and feminine energy to achieve greater success in business and, ultimately, life.

In this episode, Jess Lively unpacks how masculine and feminine, intuition and ego play together effectively. She explains why Oprah is the quintessential example of a woman who's exploited both the masculine and feminine energy and how we can replicate that approach.

Jess now helps people live from values-based intentions through LifeWithIntentionOnline.com and The Lively Show podcast. She began her entrepreneurial journey making jewelry at the side of the pool at the age of 15. Jess JC was born and cemented the notion that a business at its core is a process of creating something from nothing and finding customers who will buy it.

After completing her MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2007, Jess grew her accessory business into a successful full-time career in Chicago. Later, she transitioned into business coaching.

Knowing that her mission is to help people become more peacefully fulfilled by shifting their approach to life, she started her blog in 2009 to share that message and eventually a popular podcast, The Lively Show.

Jess Lively shares a simple process for liberating an astonishing source of guidance available to us all - our intuition. According to Jess, when we listen to and allow that intuition to guide our decisions, we'll experience opportunities for growth and adventure others will ignore.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• What the basics of building a business entail.
• How Jess’s “mess becomes your message” experience led to her current business success.
• Societal changes that impact how women relate in the marketplace.
• How entrepreneurs exist in a state of high ego and high intuition to create success in business.
• How we can liberate and tap into our intuition to make better business decisions.
• Jess’s step-by-step process for having a conversation between your ego and intuition.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Jess: LifeWithIntentionOnline.com | The Lively Show | Twitter
• When Everything changed by Gail Collins

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.