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David Kessler is a grief and loss expert and the author of several bestselling books, including two he co-authored with Elizabeth Kubler Ross. He’s worked with thousands of people on the edge of life and death, helping them to find happiness and fulfillment after experiencing life’s gravest tragedies. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, David joins Leah to discuss the role of meaning and how we make it after experiencing a loss and the grief that accompanies it. He describes the process of ‘excavating’ one’s pain – a crucial step in the grieving process that must precede meaning-making. He also offers advice for talking to your coworkers about grief, stressing the importance of simply being present for those who are in the midst of grieving as opposed to offering solutions. 

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To learn more about the meaning-making process, check out David’s new workbook, The Sixth Stage of Grief: Tools for Releasing Pain and Remembering with Love.

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

This week, in honor of World Mental Health Day, Everyday Better host Leah Smart is sharing her story of living with anxiety – and how she’s learned to manage it. 

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Additional Resources:

Anxiety and Depression Association of America

A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

Anxiety Rx by Dr. Russell Kennedy

Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Dr. Martin Seif and Dr. Sally Winston

The Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner

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

Bonnie Wan is a brand strategist and author of The Life Brief: A Playbook for No Regrets Living. She’s passionate about helping people uncover their true desires and believes deeply in the power of intention to propel personal and professional growth.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Bonnie joins Leah to explain the concept of a life brief, which is a tool for getting clear on what you want and how you’re going to get it. Bonnie highlights the importance of wanting when it comes to personal growth, as well as the role privilege plays in shaping our desires.

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To learn more about Bonnie’s work, check out her book The Life Brief: A Playbook for No Regrets Living.

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

Corey Keyes is a sociologist and professor emeritus at Emory University. He studies how people find satisfaction in their lives, and why achieving a sense of well-being is no easy feat. 

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Corey joins Leah to discuss his research on languishing, flourishing and how to move from one to the other. Corey argues that good mental health isn’t just the absence of mental illness but the presence of well-being. He also explains the concept of “functioning well” and why working towards that is more important than chasing happiness. 

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For more tips on how to move out of languishing and into flourishing, check out Corey’s book, Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down.

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

Anna Sale is a journalist, author and host of the award-winning podcast Death, Sex & Money. On her show, Anna has intimate conversations with people about life’s toughest yet often under-discussed moments – infidelity, bankruptcy, aging and illness to name just a few.

On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Anna joins Leah to discuss what it was like when her podcast was unexpectedly canceled after nearly ten years on the air. Anna talks about how she transformed a moment of major career uncertainty into an opportunity to clarify her purpose. Anna and Leah also explore the evolution of ambition and what happens when we mine deep meaning from our work.

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To hear more from Anna, listen to Death, Sex & Money wherever you find your podcasts.

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.