Everyday Better with Leah Smart

This week on Everyday Better, we’re featuring the first episode of Let’s Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn and iHeartPodcasts. Each week on the show, co-hosts Gianna Prudente, LinkedIn’s early career development editor, and Jamé Jackson Gadsden, a LinkedIn community manager, will answer your questions about what it takes to thrive in the early years of your career – without sacrificing your values, sanity or sleep.

Listen to Let’s Talk Offline wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here.

Oliver Burkeman is a journalist, author and former “productivity geek.” His bestselling book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals outlines a saner approach to managing your time in a world of never-ending demands and distractions. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Oliver explains why all of the tools and techniques meant to save us time and maximize our productivity ultimately make us feel more stressed and short on time. Oliver argues that the only time management technique that works involves recognizing that you’ll never feel on top of things. Once you accept that, you can actually start crossing things off of your to-do list – and he has strategies for how to do that as well.

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To learn more about how to actually get stuff done, pre-order Oliver’s new book Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts.

We’d love to hear from you! Take our listener survey here.

Dr. Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist, Zen master and director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running longitudinal studies on human happiness ever conducted. His TED Talk on the major takeaways from the study has received over 43 million views since 2015 and is one of the most-watched TED Talks of all time.

Today, Robert joins Leah to discuss the most significant – and surprising – findings from the study, as well as how we can use these insights to build a healthy and happy life.

To learn more about the Harvard Study of Adult Development, check out Robert’s latest book The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

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Tim Tamashiro is a jazz singer, radio broadcaster and the author of How to Ikigai: Lessons for Finding Happiness and Living Your Life's Purpose.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Tim joins Leah to explore the concept of Ikigai, an ancient Japanese philosophy that encourages us to live our “life’s worth.” After explaining what his Ikigai is and how he discovered it, Tim guides Leah through the process of uncovering her own. He also shares his perspective on how to achieve lasting happiness, and offers tips for when you get stuck in the process of identifying your own Ikigai.

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To learn more about Ikigai, check out Tim’s book, How to Ikigai.

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of neural science and psychology at New York University and the author of Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion. In 2022, she was appointed Dean of NYU's College of Arts & Science.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Wendy joins Leah to discuss strategies for turning our anxiety from a weakness into a superpower. She digs into the evolutionary purpose of anxiety and explains why the feelings of anxiousness we all experience don’t have to hold us back from achieving success.

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For more anxiety-transforming techniques, check out Wendy’s book, Good Anxiety.  

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

John and Julie Gottman are world-renowned relationship researchers and psychologists who have been happily married for the past 37 years. They’ve authored more than 40 books together, including Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict Into Connection. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, the Gottmans join Leah to share their perspectives on conflict resolution in relationships. They explain how disagreements, whether at home or in the office, present opportunities to strengthen bonds and deepen connections. They also discuss the three main styles of conflict management in couple relationships and propose a new method for voicing dissatisfaction that moves from criticizing to complaint-making. 

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For more on conflict resolution in relationships, check out the Gottmans’ latest book, Fight Right.

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

Dr. Michael Gervais is one of the world's top high performance psychologists. He’s worked with professional athletes, sports teams and executives, helping them to thrive in the most high-pressure of situations. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Michael joins Leah to unravel what he calls “FOPO” (Fear of Other People's Opinions), and to teach practical strategies for reducing our fear of external judgment. He also discusses the principles of high performance and the importance of developing your own personal philosophy.

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For more on Michael’s work, check out his book The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What People Think of You.

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

Personal growth educator Amanda Hilton says that when it comes to decision-making at work and in your personal life, there is never one ‘right’ answer. Instead of fretting over a list of pros and cons, Amanda offers a clearer path — one that uses our core values to center what matters most. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Amanda and Leah demystify the concept of core values. Amanda gives practical tips and offers provoking questions to help us define our core values and apply them to the decision-making process.

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For more on Amanda’s work, visit The Simply Well’s website.

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

In part two of our conversation with psychotherapist and Enneagram expert Bea Chestnut, we explore how the Enneagram can be used at work. As an Enneagram coach, Bea has more than two decades of experience helping organizations strengthen their teams and workplace cultures.

With attention to each Enneagram type’s particular strengths and blind spots, Bea describes how each of the nine types shows up at work as a colleague and as a leader. She also explains how the Enneagram can be used to help us develop our communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the people we work with. 

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For more on the enneagram at work, check out Bea’s book The 9 Types of Leadership: Mastering the Art of People in the 21st Century Workplace

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

Bea Chestnut is a psychotherapist, consultant and globally-recognized expert on the enneagram, a personality typing system based on ancient spiritual traditions. For the past 27 years, Bea has studied, written about and taught the enneagram in both therapeutic and business settings. She uses it as a map for guiding her clients towards a deeper understanding of themselves and others.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Bea and Leah dive deep into the enneagram – what it is, where it comes from and how it can be used to raise your level of awareness. Bea describes each of the nine enneagram types, including each type’s growth path for reaching a higher level of consciousness. She also shares how she discovered the enneagram and explains why she thinks it’s one of the most powerful personal development tools in the world.

Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

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For more on the enneagram, check out Bea’s book The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up: Find Your Path, Face Your Shadow, Discover Your True Self.

And, don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.