Good Life Project

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The first time I stumbled upon Mark Manson's writing, I didn't know what to do. It was a complete pattern interrupt.

The issues were raw and real, the ideas were rich and his lens was so contrarian and refreshing it made me think. Really think. But, then, there was the language. This particular essay was wall-to-wall F-bombs.

I was having trouble reconciling the depth of thought with the width of profanity. I found myself diving into more of his work, and discovered that I wasn't the only one. Some 2 million people read him every month. Waiting for his next philosophical provocation.

When I heard Mark had a new book out, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to sit down with him and dive into his bigger story. To get to know the person behind the writing. In this week's conversation, Mark and I take a meandering road through everything from global travel and which country emotes more than others to a more nuanced conversation of pain, possibility, writing and exactly how, when and why he began to insert profanity into his work, what it's done both for and to him.

His latest book is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living A Good Life. As you might guess from the title, the first few chapters are a pretty in-your-face setup, but as the book continues, Manson settles into a deeper, you might even say gentler voice. He explores ideas like choosing the pain you want to live with, rather than the outcome you want to attain. Just like his essay before, it made me think. I hope it'll do the same for you.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Mark: Mark Manson| Instagram
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck article (with epic cat photo)
• Why I Have a Potty Mouth
• Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru documentary
• George Carlin - 7 Words You Can't Say On TV
• American stand-up comedian Bill Hicks

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My new book - How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom - is available for pre-order now! It's a joyful, story-driven, engaging and eye-opening deep dive into what really makes a difference in your pursuit of a meaningful, alive and connected life. 

Click here now to download and read the first chapter for free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to optimize your career for money and meaning simultaneously? Or does one always take the lead?

We explore this and more in today's conversation with author, career and business strategist and international speaker Jenny Blake.

Jenny helps people organize their brains, move beyond burnout and build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. Her latest book, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One dives deep into how to methodically make your next career move by doubling down on what is already working. With two years at a technology start-up as the first employee, five years at Google on the Training and Career Development teams, and over five years of running her own business, Jenny combines her love of technology with her superpower of simplifying complexity to help clients through big transitions — often to pivot their career or business.

We talk through her own personal pivots that lead her to leave the clout of Google, write her first book, find herself in NYC with a dwindling bank account and what she did about it when confusion, uncertainty and fear crept in. She even turns the tables on me to share some behind the scenes pivoting happening in Good Life Project.

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My book - How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom - is available now! It's a joyful, story-driven, engaging and eye-opening deep dive into what really makes a difference in your pursuit of a meaningful, alive and connected life. 

Click here now to download and read the first chapter for free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February 2006, Sir Ken Robinson stepped onto the TED stage and delivered a scathing indictment of the modern educational system, entitled "How Schools Kill Creativity."

That talk exploded into the public's consciousness and has since become the most watched TED Talk in history, with more than 32 million views and more than 250 million people estimated to have seen it. While it may not have started the conversation on education, it brought a level of global attention to the problem like never before.

In the intervening 9 years, Robinson has continued to speak and evangelize a different approach to education built not around order and conformity, but passion and personalization. And he's written a series of bestselling books with his newest, Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution that's Transforming Education, featuring inspiring "schools done right" case-studies to both learn from and build around.

Even more remarkable than Robinson's fierce intellect and provocative ideas is where he came from. Growing up in post-World War II Liverpool, he was stricken with polio at the age of four, forever changing the course of his life and exposing him to the profound injustice that awaits so many kids labeled as "different."

In this week's conversation, Sir Ken and Jonathan sit down for a rare conversation about not only Robinson's ideas, but where those ideas came from, his childhood battle and then lifelong experience with polio and his extraordinary will to make a difference.

He reminds us to ask not "how intelligent are you?" but rather, "how are you intelligent?"

We first aired this conversation in April 2015. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we move into these final weeks of August, we'll be airing two extraordinary "Best Of" episodes, featuring powerful conversations from the last year.

First up, Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert exploded into the public's consciousness in 2006 with the release of her mega-bestselling memoir, Eat Pray Love.

Since then, she's published a series of books, given a TED talk on creative genius that's been viewed more than 10 million times, become a leading voice on the pursuit of a creative, connected and vital life.

GIlbert's latest book, Big Magic, takes you deeper into what it means to live a creative life, offering a wonderful blend of wisdom, unabashed magical thinking, amazing stories and a whole lot of unexpected myth-busting and contrarian insights.

I had a chance to sit down with Liz and, as often happens with these Good Life conversations, we ended up going all sorts of places I'd never planned. We touched on the power of curiosity and the fallacy of passion, where creativity comes from, what stops us from doing the thing we're here to do, the importance of caring for your vessel, what happens when you think you've reached the end of your capacity and her powerful lens on what it means to life a good life.

This is deeply moving, revealing, insightful and sometimes pretty funny conversation. In fact, we begin with a hard-hitting reveal of a relationship that Gilbert had kept secret for more than four decades. And, along the way, this beautiful thought came tumbling forth:

"When you come to the end of yourself is where all the interesting stuff starts." Tweet this.

If you've ever wondered how to step into a creative life, how to get that thing in your head and heart out into the world, this is an absolute "do not miss" conversation.

We first aired this conversation in September 2015. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facing a tough period in his life, this week's guest, Ruben Chavez, turned to books to both reconnect with curiosity and rekindle the spark of possibility. As he read, he began to take voracious notes, and write down quotes he connected with. Around the same time, he discovered Instagram. So, he began sharing bite-sized wisdom distilled from his favorite books on his ThinkGrowProsper Instagram account.

People took notice and a community began to form. That community has now grown to more than two million people around the world, and allowed Ruben to build a business and his career around his passion for learning and sharing wisdom, and work with everyone from authors to large brands along the way.

We cover a lot of ground in this conversation as Ruben shares his backstory, his deeper motivation for growth, the steps leading to the popularity of his account, and the opportunities and lessons that came with it. We discuss the reluctance many of us feel when sharing our imperfect, in-progress work with the world -- a fear that Ruben debunks by trusting in the compassion and encouragement of community.

Ruben also touches on the importance of considering your desired lifestyle when weighing career opportunities. In his experience, one can live an equally fulfilling life with less than you might think -- and sometimes, even more so.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Ruben: ThinkGrowProsper | Instagram | MotivationMafia
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
• How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Tim Ferriss - Solopreneur

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