Forcing Function Hour

In this special edition of Forcing Function Hour, Chris Sparks is interviewed by Justin Peters of The Struggle is Real. Chris shares the key inflection points of his poker career, illustrating how to install systems for continuous improvement.

By listening to this episode, you’ll learn how to recognize a good bet, be more decisive, and unlock the compounding returns of a process-oriented life.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/the-struggle-is-real.

This is the “Best of 2022” episode, highlighting five of our favorite moments from the past year. Lots of stellar guests on Forcing Function Hour this year so it was really tough to limit down to just five. 

Listen for insights from a World Champion Gymnast, the author of Kindle’s Most-Highlighted book, one of the foremost experts on nonverbal communication, an Emmy-Nominated director of Chef’s Table, and the Artist Manager for one of the highest-paid hip-hop artists in the world.

Eric Lewis, known as ELEW, is a multi-talented artist with a career that spans the worlds of music performance, composition, and film production. Eric started his music career as a jazz and concert pianist playing with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. Reinventing himself as ELEW, he pioneered the crossover musical techniques Rockjazz, Counterbop, and Piano Turntablism. Among many other accolades, Eric has opened for Josh Groban, produced tracks for Lil’ Wayne, appeared on America’s Got Talent, spoken at TED, and performed at the White House for the Obamas.

In this conversation, Chris Sparks takes you inside the mind of a musical genius as ELEW shares the strategy, mindset, and principles required to put on an epic performance. You’ll learn how to reverse-engineer a creative vision, the keys to reinvention as an artist, why preparation seeds adaptability, how to overcome perfectionism, career lessons from the world of blitz chess, and much more.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/elew.

Blake Eastman is the founder of The Nonverbal Group, a long-time professional poker player, and the creator of "Beyond Tells," the largest behavioral study ever conducted on poker players. Blake’s passion is using visual feedback to teach leaders and teams how to better interpret nonverbal signals and monitor the information that their body gives off.

In this conversation, Blake and Chris demonstrate how to master your communication, on and off the poker table. You will learn how to read the nuances of human emotion, have deeper awareness in social situations, and create greater alignment between your presentation and your intended message.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/blake-eastman.

Frank Lantz is a game designer, writer, and educator. Frank co-founded the experimental game studio Area/Code which was acquired by Zynga. His games span genres and include favorites such as Hey Robot, Drop7, Babble Royale, and Universal Paperclips. Frank has taught game design for over two decades at New York University where he helped to create the NYU Game Center. His new book, The Beauty of Games, is coming out from MIT Press in 2023.

In this conversation, Frank joins Chris Sparks to share how a leading game designer sees the world. What do games have to teach us? Can studying game theory and game principles make us better humans? Learn how to make sure you play the right games and become aware of the games you are playing without even realizing it.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/frank-lantz.

Eric Jorgenson is the author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant and an early-stage investor as a GP in Rolling Fun. Currently, Eric teaches the Life of Leverage course, hosts his podcast, Jorgenson's Soundbox, and is writing his second book, The Almanack of Balaji Srinivasan.

In this conversation, Eric Jorgenson and Chris Sparks share how to recognize and amplify leverage points in your life and career. You’ll learn how to set your aspirational hourly rate, discover previously underutilized assets, and start reclaiming your time by doing the work only you can do.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/eric-jorgenson.

Cameron Schiller is an award-winning content & brand marketer, Founder of RYOT Media, co-chair of the Young Leadership Council of the Brooklyn Museum, and an elite skydiver and wingsuit flyer. Cameron recently became a competitive triathlete, going from zero experience to making Team USA in just one year, and will represent the US at the World Championships in 2023.

In this conversation, Cameron Schiller and Chris Sparks discuss the training methods of elite athletes, overcoming mental barriers, and leveraging data to reveal hidden dimensions of performance. You will also receive a crash course on elite skydiving including techniques to heighten your proprioception, confront your fears, and stay calm in the face of unforeseen challenges.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/cameron-schiller.

David Eldar is a real estate investor better known as Australia’s top-ranked Scrabble player, a title he has held since 2014. David was the 2017 Scrabble World Champion and the 2019 World Runner-Up and is consistently rated among the top five Scrabble players in the entire world.

In this conversation, we explore the underlying principles of strategy, language, and gameplay through the lens of Scrabble. Pay attention to David’s approach to dominating the meta-skills of Scrabble to discover hidden dimensions in the games you choose to play.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/david-eldar.

Daniel Scrivner is an award-winning designer working with many brands such as Apple, Nike, Square, Disney, and Target, and is the host of the podcast Outlier Academy. Today, Daniel is a design-centric venture capitalist, serving as General Partner at Ligature and an angel investor in over 100 companies.

In this conversation, we distill the lessons Daniel learned from his experiences as a designer, operator, and investor. You’ll learn the keys to a successful company turnaround, strategies for getting access to competitive investment deals, and how to unlock the superpower of design for your brand.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit https://forcingfunctionhour.com/daniel-scrivner.

Kenny Arnold is a multidisciplinary industrial designer exploring the intersection of play and sustainability. Kenny is most known for his award-winning designs of toys, playgrounds, and other educational tools. When he’s not tinkering, Kenny teaches workshops on design principles and creative thinking.

In this conversation, Chris and Kenny show how to apply design-thinking principles to day-to-day problem-solving. Listen to improve your ability to adapt on the fly, and transform your ideas from concepts into reality.

For the video, transcript, and show notes, visit forcingfunctionhour.com/kenny-arnold.