From The Green Notebook

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Oliver Burkeman, the bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals joins Joe to  discuss the problem of people not having enough time and the elusive work/life balance. He shares why most time optimization techniques make our lives worse off and offers a new way to approach time management that will help us live meaningful lives.

Oliver Burkeman is a British author and journalist, formerly writing the weekly column "This Column Will Change Your Life" for the newspaper The Guardian. 

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Award-winning journalist Sally Jenkins joins the Joe to discuss her newest book: The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life.  In this episode, she shares key insights on performance that's she's learned from decades of observing, interviewing, and analyzing elite coaches and playmakers, such as Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and many others.

Sally Jenkins is an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and is the author and co-author of 12 books, including four bestsellers. In 2012 she published the No.1 bestseller Sum it Up with legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt, shortly after Summitt was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. 

Born in Texas and raised in New York City, she is the daughter of legendary sportswriter and novelist Dan Jenkins, who carted her to various championships on summer vacations. She graduated with a degree in English Literature from Stanford University in 1982 and launched a career in newspapers that began with a stint as an assistant to a Hollywood gossip columnist, and later branched out to include coverage of the 9-11 terrorist strike on New York, Hurricane Katrina, and profiles of various political figures for the Washington Post, including Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Howard Dean.

In 2005 Jenkins became the first woman ever inducted into the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame. She is a six-time winner of Columnist of the Year awards from the Associated Press (2001, 2003, 2010, 2011) and the Society of Professional Journalists (2001, 2011). In 2013 she won first place from the Associated Press sports editors for a special investigative project she conceived on the inverted world of medical care in the National Football League, entitled "Do No Harm." Her magazine work has appeared in Smithsonian, GQ, Sports Illustrated, and Parade. She lives in Sag Harbor, New York, for the waters.

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In this special All American Week episode of the podcast, Chloe Gavin joins Joe to discuss the recently published Gavin at War: The WWII diary of Lieutenant General James M. Gavin.  Chloe shares why she chose to publish her father's deeply personal journal and why leaders today can benefit from reading it. They also talk about the legacy of the 82nd Airborne Division, leadership lessons from Gavin's diary, and why leaders need to be okay with making mistakes. 

Lieutenant General James Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division during WWII, is one of the best-known figures of the war. Beginning as the commander of the 505th Parachute Combat Team that spearheaded the American assault on Sicily in July 1943, Gavin advanced to division command and finally command of US forces in Berlin. He kept a wartime diary that starts in April 1943, as the unit was preparing to go to northern Africa and continues through to his final entry on September 1, 1945, during the occupation of Berlin.

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Kevin Kelly, author of Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I'd Wish I'd Known Earlier joins Joe to discuss his latest book and share the lessons he's learned from over seven decades on this planet. Kevin and Joe cover everything from finding lost car keys to goal-setting to the importance of writing our thoughts down to understand what we think. 

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first seven years. His newest book is Excellent Advice for Living, a book of 450 modern proverbs for good living. He is co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, a membership organization that champions long-term thinking and acting as a good ancestor to future generations. And he is founder of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily for 20 years. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a subscriber-supported journal of unorthodox conceptual news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers’ Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. Other books by Kelly include 1) The Inevitable, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, 2) Out of Control, his 1994 classic book on decentralized emergent systems, 3) The Silver Cord, a graphic novel about robots and angels, 4) What Technology Wants, a robust theory of technology, and 5) Vanishing Asia, his 50-year project to photograph the disappearing cultures of Asia.  He is best known for his radical optimism about the future. (Bio Courtesy of Kevin's Website)

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The CEO of MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab joins Joe to discuss ways in which individuals can improve their overall performance through proper fitness programming, nutrition, and sleep.  Dustin also shares his leadership lessons from growing a company, while also balancing his mental well-being and his commitment to his family.

MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab was founded by Dustin Diefenderfer to help individuals become more mentally tough, believing this is the key for them to reach their specific personal and professional goals. “Ever since I was young, I noticed certain people had something others didn’t. I wanted to know how they got it… and how to help other people get it. That’s why I built MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab. To be the best in the world at mental toughness...ultimately, so our customers can have a better life.”

Dustin’s areas of expertise include ultra running and mountain and hunting conditioning. Dustin has completed numerous ultra marathons and marathons, running 12 in one year to support his work in Africa. He has spent his entire life pursuing his passions in the mountains of the Western United States. “Hunting has always been my passion, and backcountry hunting has tested my mental toughness like nothing else. Without a doubt, it has made me a better man."

Dustin is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. His overall philosophy is based on work ethic, grit, and helping his clients learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. “The goal isn't to look fit; the goal is to actually be fit. Endurance and resilience is what we are after, and most importantly resilience of the mind. If you work for it, looking better will certainly happen, but forging an unbeatable mind is the primary objective. It is about training your mind so that it is on your side, not working against you.” (Bio courtesy of mtntough.com)

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Dr. Lisa Miller, the author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain,  joins Joe in this powerful episode to discuss the science behind spirituality. Dr. Miller shares her findings on the neurological effects of spirituality and how it can help combat depression and anxiety,  make us more resilient, and lead us to living more fulfilling lives.

Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Cerebral Cortex, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Miller is Editor of the Oxford University Press Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality, Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the APA journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice, an elected Fellow of The American Psychological Association (APA) and the two-time President of the APA Society for Psychology and Spirituality. A graduate of Yale University and University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her doctorate under the founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, she has served as Principal Investigator on multiple grant funded research studies. Dr. Miller speaks and consults around The Awakened Brain and The Spiritual Child for the US Military, businesses (including tech, finance, HR and sales), personal development, faith based organizations, schools and universities, and for mental health and wellness initiatives. (Bio Courtesy of www.Lisamillerphd.com)

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Melissa Urban, the CEO of Whole30 and author of The Book of Boundaries: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free, joins Joe to discuss the importance of setting boundaries in our professional lives so that we can avoid burnout, be present at home, and show up to work as the best version of ourselves.  Melissa and Joe talk about how to approach boundary setting to include asking your boss not to call, email, or send texts messages after hours and how leaders can model this behavior within their organizations.

Melissa is a New York Times best-selling author who specializes in helping people establish healthy boundaries and successfully navigate habit change. She has been featured by the New York Times, People, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Today Show, and Good Morning America, and, and is a prominent keynote speaker on boundaries, building community, health trends, and entrepreneurship. She lives in Salt Lake City, UT with her husband, son, and a poodle named Henry. Learn more about her and her work at her website.

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Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,  joins Joe to discuss the lessons he's learned about life from spending the last decade giving advice on everything from relationships to resiliency. Joe and Mark talk about happiness, finding purpose, and ways to increase perspective. Mark also shares insights he gained working with Will Smith on his bestselling memoir, Will.  

Mark is the three-time #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, as well as other titles. His books have sold around 20 million copies, been translated into more than 65 languages, and reached number one in more than a dozen countries. In 2023, a feature film about his life and ideas was released worldwide by Universal Pictures. 

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Joe McCormack, author of BRIEF: Make a Bigger Impact By Saying Less, returns to the podcast to discuss his follow-up book NOISE: Living and Leading when Nobody Can Focus. He shares how our electronic devices are hijacking our ability to focus, talks about the concept of infobesity, and offers ideas on how we can be deliberate about where we invest our attention. 

Joe McCormack is on a mission to help organizations master lean communication. In an age of shrinking attention spans, non-stop interruptions, and floods of information, the messages business and military leaders send out are getting lost in a sea of words.

An experienced marketing executive, successful entrepreneur and author, Joe is recognized for his work in narrative messaging and strategic communications. His book, “BRIEF: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less”(Wiley, 2014) tackles the timeliness of the “less is more” mandate. Because even expert communication can be thwarted by an audience that has lost the capacity to pay attention, he follows up with a pragmatic guide to managing a distraction-filled environment in “NOISE: Living and leading when nobody can focus” (Wiley, 2020).

He speaks at diverse industry and client forums on the topics of brevity, storytelling, change and leadership. A passionate leader, he founded The BRIEF Lab in 2013 after years dedicated to developing and delivering a unique curriculum on executive communications for U.S. Army Special Operations Command (Ft. Bragg, NC). He actively counsels military leaders and senior executives on effective, efficient communication and produces a weekly podcast series called “Just Saying”.

The BRIEF Lab’s mission is to help organizations master concise communication to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. His clients include Mastercard, Grainger, Boeing, Harley-Davidson, TransUnion, BMO Harris Bank, DuPont and a variety of U.S. military units. Previously, he served as SVP, Corporate Marketing at Ketchum, a top-five marketing agency in  Chicago, where he directed its corporate marketing practice and introduced new service models to enhance messaging and deepen relationships with market influencers.

He received a BA in English Literature from Loyola University of Chicago where he graduated with honors. He is fluent in Spanish and has broad international experience. He lives in  Pinehurst, NC.

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The extraordinary Seth Godin joins Joe to discuss the importance of focusing on the practice over outcomes, why the process matters, and how we can create buy-in within our organizations. Seth also explains why writing is important habit to develop in our personal and professional lives. 

Seth Godin is the author of nineteen international bestsellers that have been translated into over 35 languages and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. He’s a recent inductee the Marketing Hall of Fame, and a member of the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame, and the Guerilla Marketing Hall of Fame.

In addition to writing and speaking, Seth was founder and CEO of Squidoo.com. His blog www.sethgodin.com is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!