Good Life Project

Today's episode is part 2 of our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.

What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 or 4 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.

In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.

My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ (and next week as well) are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.

Our three topics in this episode:

• The three manifestations of God.
• The Hero's Journey, through a feminine lens.
• Can video games help ease pain?

It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always good-natured and very real. Enjoy! And let us know if you like this format, over on social media.

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

Originals are the non-conformists who drive creativity and change forward—the ones who help us progress as both independent cultures and a unified species. They're Steve Jobs' "crazy ones."

Yet in spite of this, humanity has always had a fascinatingly dysfunctional relationship with originality—we simultaneously venerate and scorn it, particularly in the workplace. Originals may eventually come to be loved, but they’re almost always met with cynicism and resistance first. Because they don't fit in.

It’s a fascinating duality, and it’s one of the many things we discuss with today’s guest, Adam Grant—author of two New York Times bestselling books (Originals, Give and Take), and—at 34—the youngest tenured professor in the history of the Wharton School.

As Grant shares, thanks to shifts in social and cultural norms, it’s never been easier to be an original, but so many of us still resist the call. In this wide-ranging conversation, we go deep into how originals think and act.

We explore how we're often the worst judges of our own good ideas and what do to about it. We debunk the myth of the need to go "all in" and share how the founders of Warby Parker, one of the most innovative companies in the world, kept their days jobs.

We talk about our almost inherent willingness to underestimate ourselves and our creative capacities and what to do about it, and the importance of creating a vast volume of work in order to become an original. We dive into what happens when you try to exert power, before you have status and how that effects your ability to create change. And, so much more.

Join us as we dive headlong into originality—how it works, how it’s changed the world we live in, and why more of us need to embrace it.

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

Every large scale creative endeavor, from writing a book to building a body of work, creating a collection or a company, is made up of dozens, maybe even hundreds or even thousands of smaller scale benchmarks, along with the "pushes" it takes to hit each.

Every time you hit a benchmark, it feels great. You get to ease off the push and check a box that takes you one step closer to your ultimate quest.

But, then, there's also a potential dark side to hitting these micro-goals. There's a break in the momentum. You have to rally yourself to start the push toward the next one fresh. To write the next chapter, start the next canvas, produce the next song, build the next piece of your entrepreneurial greatness.

And, the closer you get to end of the bigger endeavor, the more the voice of internal Resistance, as Steve Pressfield described it in The War of Art, rises up and tries to derail you from your work.

I've experienced this while writing books in the past. So, when I was working on my next one, I decided to try a momentum hack that I learned from none other than Ernest Hemingway.

Stop when you most want to go.

I share the details and the powerful results in today's short and sweet GLP Riff.

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

Today's episode is our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.

What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 or 4 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.

In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.

My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ (and the two weeks to come) are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.

Our three topics in this episode:

• Great leaders - are they always doubting and what's the deal with self-doubt?
• What's the deal with westerners reaching east for their spirituality?
• Is mindfulness always a good thing or can it sometimes do harm as well?

It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always good-natured and very real. Enjoy! And let us know if you like this format, over on social media.

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

Imagine you're on stage, charged with holding the attention of a thousand people. Knowing that, as soon as you stop talking the free cocktails begin. Your job is to keep the audience rapt for a solid 60-minutes. It's you against the taunt of free partying.

That's often the speaker's worst nightmare. But, this week's guest, Jon Acuff, loves those moments. A New York Times bestselling author of 5 books, including his latest Do Over, he relishes the challenge to win over his audience and keep them hanging on his every word.

What's so interesting is that he doesn't do it by telling them he has everything figured out, then endowing them with his omniscience. He does it by sharing his own humanity, his vulnerability, his not knowing, and then tying it all together in stories that leave people crying with laughter and inspiration. And, he pretty much does the same with his books. Everything he does comes from a place of truth, humor, humility and craft.

In this week's conversation, we go behind the scenes, exploring why Jon left a hugely successful corporate career to take a risk on writing and speaking. We learn how Jon's deep devotion to being honest (but not radically honest), to always working to connect with, rather than separate himself from his readers and listeners, and his devotion to craft and deep study not just of writing and speaking but also of comedy, has become the center of who he is. We explore how he dances with both the maker and the helper in him and reconciles his desire to create with his commitment to serve.

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

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

Imagine you're an actor. You work your entire life to generate a magic moment. A call, offering you the role that could open the door to your dreams. But, there is a cost.

The gig will require you to cancel the trip of a lifetime with the one person in the world who leaves you breathless. And, on a deeper level, it represents a choice you've vowed not to make, picking craft over love.

What would you do?

That's the choice this week's guest, Erika Napoletano grappled with just days before we sat down to record this week's conversation. And, in many ways, it's a choice she and many of us have been forced to answer many times over the course of our lives.

This is actually the second time Erika has been on the show. We first sat down a few years back in Boulder, Colorado, where she was deep into her writing career. Since that time, her world has changed in profound ways. Now in Chicago, with a deep focus on speaking and acting, I was curious about this evolution, so I when I heard she'd be passing through New York, I invited her to take me deeper into her transformation.

And, as is her style, Erika got very real, very fast. We explore Erika’s climb from the darkest of depths of suffering and loss to rediscovery joy, returning to her long-held passion for acting, becoming an award-winning author, acclaimed speaker, TedX Editor’s Pick 2012, columnist for both American Express OPEN Forum and Entrepreneur Magazine.

We also talk about what it means to live a messy, truthful life, the power of establishing sacred commitments, and why the biggest risk you’ll ever take is simply not taking one.

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

Last week, Jonathan shared a GLP Riff about how he prioritizes major projects.

He talked about his move away from "batching" tasks and parallel creation to taking a longer view and adopting a Serial Creation approach to getting big projects done better, faster and more humanely.

Apparently, that spurred a lot of conversation. And, it led to a lot of questions, one of which was...

With between 3 and 10 substantial projects that are calling us at any given time, how do we choose what to work on, and in what order?

That made us think. How DO we choose? Turns out, there is a bit of a step-by-step process involved. Whether it's right for you, only you'll know. But, in this week's GLP Riff, Jonathan responds to the question of one awesome listener with some specifics about how he prioritizes what to work on and when.

In his answer, he also references the work of productivity savant, Charlie Gilkey, along with the 4 Tendencies developed by The Happiness Project and Better Than Before author, Gretchen Rubin. You should check them both out, tons to be learned from these wizards of optimal living.

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

Today’s guest, Elena Brower, dedicated her life to the practice and teaching of yoga nearly 20 years ago. She rose to acclaim, becoming known first as a wonderful teacher on the New York yoga scene, and then a teacher of teachers on a larger stage.

But she also had a secret. Actually, not so much a secret as an addiction. And there came a time where she felt she not only had to get sober, but also share the journey in a very public way. With her students, her community of teachers, and her son.

It became one of the most empowering journeys of her life. This is just one of the many paths our conversation takes in today's episode.

We explore Elena's early years, her career in textile design and what led her to leave it behind and make yoga her "thing." We talk about the path to becoming a teacher, then eventually developing an authentic voice, a treasured lens and emerging as a teacher of teachers. We explore the power of awareness and mindful attention.

We also dive into what it's like to run your own studio, to travel the world, speaking and teaching. And, we talk about how becoming a mom has changed her and her world in a profound way.

The emergence of digital practice and online yoga classes and education, something Elena has embraced, finds it way into the conversation as well. And we explore Elena’s latest ventures, Teach.Yoga, a global hub of content and inspiration created by yoga teachers, for yoga teachers and her beautiful self-practice guide, The Art of Attention.

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

The process of creation breathes me. Always has, always will. I wake up every day thinking about what I am going to create, from business to art and health to relationships.

The bigger challenge for me has never been about having enough ideas, it's been about process. How do I get the most important things done AND pursue my creative quests in a way that both lets me create my best work and feel good along the way?

When it comes to completing these projects, I’ve long adhered to the principle of "parallel creation" and "batched" my time. I pursue anywhere from 3-10 major projects at the same time, then segment each day into distinct chunks dedicated to a specific task and projects (three hours to write, two hours to work on web development, one hour for fitness, etc.) and work away accordingly.

But after years of doing it this way, I’m starting to think this might not be the best approach.

A few months ago, I decided to experiment with a new strategy—serial creation.

Unlike parallel creation, serial creation isn't about batching your work during a working day. It's about zooming the lens out to 3 months, looking at what needs to happen with each major project in that window, then apportioning entire days or weeks to focus on one and only one project at a time, during that season.

No other projects. No distractions. No excuses.

I ran my first experiment like this while finishing the manuscript for my last book. The results were incredible. And, that's what I'm talking about on today's short and sweet GLP Riff.

It'll take me the better part of winter and spring to entirely transition from parallel to serial creation. But, it works so much better for me on every level, I'm committed to the goal.

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