“Your past shapes your present. It doesn’t have to define your present.” 

In this episode snippet, psychotherapist and Frame Co-founder Sage Grazer illuminates the impact of the stories we tell ourselves and how to rewrite them to serve our wellbeing. 

In this episode snippet, author and renowned life coach Martha Beck illuminates how we can awaken to our inner freedom and live in integrity to sustain it.

We often hear that awareness is the greatest agent for change. Our guests teach me it’s also a gift of understanding. 

Insight around how dopamine influences our behavior is one I carry with me from Dr. Anna Lembke, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford and Chief of their Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. Her description of dopamine deficit states offers a moment of clarity when I find myself engaged in a habit I know doesn't serve me. 

Habits can be a source of stress or sustenance. In this episode snippet, Dr. Lembke illustrates the pain-pleasure balance that drives them and how we can harness them for good. 

When Maggie Doyne was 18 she saw a young girl breaking stones to sell in a dried riverbed in Nepal. She was taking a gap year until Hima stopped her in her tracks.

All she could think was: “What am I supposed to do? In this moment, in this life? What are we, as a human family, supposed to do and be?”

Maggie’s initial calling to send Hima to school was the seed of a mission that soon became the BlinkNow Foundation, which now encompasses a thriving children's home, school, women's center, and more. It’s also the place where she became a mother to over 50 children and supports the flourishing of hundreds more.

Maggie devotes herself to her calling through love —“not in a rose colored glasses kind of way. In a way of: How do we use love as a tool for peace and joint humanity? It is a powerful restitution.”

We gain a glimpse into what love makes possible in our conversation about her stunning memoir, Between the Mountain and the Sky.

This week, we’re illuminating life’s most beautiful moments with an exercise from Dr. BJ Miller, Mettle Health Co-founder and hospice and palliative medicine physician… 

“Close your eyes and think about this last week. Where — even for a millisecond —  did you get the feeling that everything was okay, even if it's falling apart? 

Oftentimes, it's an aesthetic moment — a sunset, a meal, laughing with a grandkid — some connection to the world where time melts away. There's no need for a past or future. You're just present in that moment. 

Now, we're paying attention in this more subtle way. Let’s work with that. Keep an eye out. Take a picture. Then, we can explore stringing together these moments.” 

Dr. Miller’s question isn’t just an invitation to savor these moments. It’s a calling not to miss them. 

In this episode snippet, we discuss opening our hearts and daring to be moved. 

What beautiful moments can you string together this week? How might you fully appreciate them? 

In leadership, as in life - there’s no greater currency than Trust.  Without it, no relationship, let alone team or organization can endure.

Reflect for a moment on the last time someone in your inner circle betrayed your trust - How did it make you feel?  Likely not great - and regardless of the emotion, it’s a feeling that won’t easily be forgotten.  On the flip side, think about a relationship where trust is unequivocal -  and the influence that has on your sense of self and the relationship with the other individual and/or company?

Each of us has stories that reflect our experiences with Trust - both positive and negative; still, the widening trust gap in society begs an urgent call for reexamining the very essence of Trust in business and in life.  I was excited to have this conversation with Stephen M. R. Covey because few have had the global access to leaders and leadership as he has.  Having worked with leaders in fifty-five countries, he has a strong grasp of what   distinguishes elite leaders, and why the “Trust and Inspire” model is in complete alignment the leadership demands of today.

“There’s deep interdependence that is a biological reality…When we cultivate healthy habits of mind, it actually changes our brain and our bodies. So, when we show up with another person and we’re kind, it’s not only affecting our biology. It’s going to affect the biology of the person with whom we’re interacting.” 

Dr.Richard J. Davidson studies human flourishing as the Founder of the Center for Healthy Minds and Healthy Minds Innovations as well as a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His team illuminates that well-being doesn’t need to be left up to chance. It’s a skill we can cultivate, for ourselves and each other.  

In this episode snippet, we’re exploring two practices to do so. First, an exercise to strengthen our compassion muscle; Followed by a morning ritual to set an intention for each of our daily interactions. 

Who is one person you’d like to grow closer to? How might these practices deepen your connection? 

Growing up, Kathryn Schulz and her sister’s favorite nights were the ones their dad narrated his own stories about the adventures of Yana and Egbert from Rotterdam; A town he chose because he knew it'd make them laugh. The intentionality behind Isaac’s stories are representative of the abundance of love he aspired to share with his daughters — The love Kathryn now shares with her own.

This is where Kathryn’s memoir, Lost & Found, begins and ends. In chronicling her experience losing her father and simultaneously falling in love with her wife, she illustrates our capacity to find beauty in life’s duality.

“It is helpful to remember that beauty exists and beauty persists; And, that we can choose to side with it, champion it, and protect it."

Kathryn shares her journey grieving her father, from experiencing grief as a thousand tiny heartbreaks to acknowledging that acceptance and longing aren’t mutually exclusive. Then, beginning in the midst of his illness, her relationship showcases love’s capacity to enrich the totality of our lives.

Lost & Found is an invitation of healing and hope. Perhaps most importantly in the recognition that while love and loss are often marked by beginnings and endings, it’s savoring the middle that truly matters.

“If we really used good intentions behind everything we did, we would make the world a better place. But, that world can't be a better place and we can't have completely good intentions if we don't know who we are.”

Shantell Martin invites us to embark on this journey. Acclaimed visual artist, philosopher, and facilitator, Shantell’s art utilizes questions to inspire self-discovery and the freedom to grow individually and together.

We explore how having a pure intention enables our art to come through us like a dance and the journey of trusting yourself as an artist. A deep believer in the process, Shantell illuminates how embracing it expands time and engages us in a circle of reciprocity where we’re inspiring each other’s art.

Image Credit: Vitra

Having worked with admired leaders and well-established organizations for 33+ years, one thing I’ve learned {about individual & organizational excellence} is that there’s a fundamental difference between what it takes to be a good company and what it takes to be a great company. And, an even greater disparity between what it takes to be a great company and one considered amongst the world’s best. The latter prioritize people and design the type of workplace environments where greatness can flourish, meaning can be multiplied, and the powerful forces that cause human beings to retreat to the comfortable and conventional can be eliminated. 

Daniel Coyle has built a magnificent career thinking about, writing and contributing to many high-performing organizations; including Google, Microsoft, the Navy SEALS, and MLB's Cleveland Guardians. His two bestselling books - The Culture Code and The Talent Code - have had great influence on how I approach talent evaluation and culture design; particularly when it comes to team building.

Our latest conversation will highlight the key insights from Dan's latest book - The Culture Playbook:  60 Highly Effective Actions To Help Your Group Succeed - and will go behind the scenes with the leaders of the San Antonio Spurs, The Cleveland Guardians, The Navy SEALS, and Pixar to understand how their leadership embodies the culture that powers their respective organizations.