Good Life Project

The tiny moments you ignore may hold the key to it all. New research in neuroscience and attachment science reveals that your brain is constantly monitoring your relationships through small, everyday interactions, and the signals it picks up quietly shape everything from your self-esteem to your sense that life has meaning.

Most of us pour energy into the big relationship gestures, the long conversations, the grand repairs. But the seemingly insignificant exchanges, a returned text, a warm nod, a moment of simply being seen, may matter far more to your brain and your sense of security than you ever realized.

Amir Levine, M.D. is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University who trained in molecular neuroscience under Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel. He is the coauthor of the international bestseller Attached, which has sold over two million copies in more than 30 languages, and his newest book is Secure, The Revolutionary Guide to Creating a Secure Life.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The brain science behind why even brief moments of exclusion can erode your self-esteem, sense of control, and feeling that life is meaningful
• A 5-part framework (with a memorable acronym) for building the foundation of every secure connection, one you can start practicing today
• Why your attachment style isn't something to "fix," and the hidden superpower built into your specific wiring that you may be overlooking
• Two simple rules for navigating conflict that keep even heated moments from damaging the bond
• An overlooked relationship practice that works like two-factor authentication for trust and deeper connection

If you've ever wondered why certain relationships feel effortless while others leave you anxious, guarded, or drained, this conversation will change how you see every interaction in your day. Hit play and discover how small, consistent shifts can help you build the kind of secure, connected life your brain has been searching for.

You can find Amir at: Website | Take the Attachment Quiz | Episode Transcript

Next week, be sure to tune in for an episode with me about the 'Unbusy Manifesto' and the six daily practices that will help you reclaim your time and your sanity.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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Stop the cycle of chronic pain by fixing the signals in your brain. We’ve been told for decades that pain is purely a physical problem, born of bones and body parts. But the latest neuroscience proves that’s only one piece of the puzzle.

Dr. Rachel Zoffness is a pain scientist, assistant clinical professor at UCSF, and author of the new book Tell Me Where It Hurts. She lectures at Stanford and is revolutionizing how we treat chronic suffering by moving beyond the outdated biomedical model.

• The 65-year-old neuroscience secret that proves how pain is generated by your brain.
• A specific biological "recipe" that allows you to lower the volume of your pain signals in real-time.
• Why 96% of medical schools are missing the most critical tool for treating chronic conditions.
• The surprising link between your social life and the actual physical inflammation in your joints.
• A simple pacing strategy to return to the activities you love without triggering a flare-up.

If you’ve been told you just have to "live with it," this conversation provides the roadmap to take your power back. Play the episode now to discover the whole-person solution you’ve been searching for.

You can find Rachel at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Dr. Amir Levine about the tiny moments in your relationships that are secretly shaping your confidence, your sense of meaning, and how safe you feel in the world.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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If you feel like the world is crashing down, you are not alone in that darkness. This moment of global contraction isn't necessarily the end of the story, but perhaps the beginning of a difficult birth.

Today we sit down with Valarie Kaur, a renowned social justice leader, lawyer, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. A graduate of Harvard and Yale, she is the author of the book, Sage Warrior: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory.

Together, we explore:

• The "Womb vs. Tomb" Frame: A simple mental shift that changes how you view global and personal crises.
• The Power of "Breathing and Pushing": Why pacing your effort is the only way to sustain long-term change without burning out.
• A New Definition of Victory: How to feel invincible and successful based on your faithfulness to values rather than immediate outcomes.
• Why Pleasure is Essential: The ancestral secret to using joy and sensory experiences as a shield against despair.
• How to figure out how to stand in your conviction in a way that honors your truth and circumstance

In a time when many feel breathless and afraid, this conversation offers a practical way to reclaim your power. Play this episode to discover how to move from paralyzed fear to courageous action.

You can find Valarie at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Rachel Zoffness about why pain isn't just physical, and how we can literally retrain our brains to find relief.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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Most of us think oversharing is the problem. It's not. New research from Harvard reveals that the bigger threat to your relationships, your health, and your sense of belonging may be all the things you're choosing not to say.

How many times today did something cross your mind that you chose to keep to yourself, a feeling you swallowed, a compliment you almost gave, a truth you pulled away from? That habit of holding back is doing far more damage than you realize, to your closest relationships, your wellbeing, and even your body.

Leslie John is the James E. Burke Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, whose award-winning research on self-disclosure has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. In her new book, Revealing, she makes a compelling, science-backed case that most of us are dramatically undersharing, and it's costing us the very connection, trust, and intimacy we crave.

In this conversation, you'll discover...

• A simple daily audit that reveals how much you're silently holding back, and why becoming aware of it alone can transform your closest relationships
• The surprising research behind why revealing uncomfortable truths makes people trust and respect you more than staying silent
• A critical distinction between two types of openness that determines whether sharing at work builds your influence or puts you at risk
• One easy, low-risk form of sharing that almost always deepens connection and takes just a few seconds
• Why feeling confident that you truly "know" your partner might be the very thing keeping you from real intimacy

If you've been sensing a quiet distance in your relationships, or wondering why your closest bonds don't feel as deep as you'd like, this conversation will reshape how you think about everything you've been holding back. Hit play now.

You can find Leslie at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Valarie Kaur about why the darkness we feel in the world today might not be the darkness of a tomb, but actually the darkness of a womb. It’s a powerful new way to look at fear and find your breath again.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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Humor won't cure depression. But it might save your life. That's not a metaphor for Jenny Lawson. It's the hard-won truth of more than two decades of living with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and the kind of dark seasons that make getting out of bed feel impossible.

Most of us hide when we're struggling. We perform wellness for the world and suffer in silence behind closed doors. Jenny took the opposite approach, writing about her darkest moments with such radical honesty and unexpected humor that thousands of people have written back to say those words kept them alive. This conversation explores how she does it, and what the rest of us can learn about finding light and meaning in the hardest places.

Jenny Lawson, known to millions as The Bloggess, is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, humorist, and the owner of Nowhere Bookshop, a beloved indie bookstore and bar in San Antonio, Texas. Her books include Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Furiously Happy, You Are Here, and Broken. Her upcoming book, How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay (Tips and Tricks that Kept Me Alive, Happy and Creative In Spite of Myself), arrives March 31, 2026.

You'll discover...

• The single phrase Jenny returns to during every depressive episode that stops her from believing the darkest lies her brain tells her
• A simple "easy mode" approach to work and daily life that gives you full permission to do less without guilt, and why it often leads to better results for everyone
• Why sharing your struggle honestly can create an unexpected ripple effect of connection and healing for people you've never met
• A powerful reframe of what success actually means that has nothing to do with money, status, or bestseller lists
• How to find "your people" and build real friendship even when you're deeply introverted, anxious, or terrible at texting back

If you're navigating a hard season right now, or you love someone who is, this conversation is full of practical warmth, unexpected humor, and real tools for getting

through it. Hit play and let Jenny remind you that you're not alone, and that finding joy in the middle of the mess isn't just possible, it might be the very thing that keeps you going.

You can find Jenny at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Harvard Business School professor Leslie John. We’re diving into the science of disclosure—specifically, why that cringey feeling of 'oversharing' might actually be holding you back from your best relationships. We’ll discuss how to find the sweet spot between being a closed book and TMI.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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You’ve reached a point in life where you thought you’d feel different. You’ve checked a lot of the boxes of achievement, happiness, even success. And, still, something is missing. It is a quiet restlessness that age or achievement cannot seem to quiet. What you’re missing is meaning.

Our guest today is Arthur Brooks. He is a Harvard professor and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The myths we tell about how to find meaning, and how they delude us. 
• The neurological reason why your phone is blocking purpose
• The 3 real keys to meaning and mattering, and finally feeling alive
• The arrival fallacy that explains why winning is not the same the meaning
• How to use a specific morning protocol to program your brain for mystery and wonder
• The counterintuitive reason you actually want suffering in your life

If you are tired of the hustle and still feeling empty, it is time to look at the science of the soul, and learn how to bring more meaning into your life, starting with practical tools today.

You can find Arthur at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Jenny Lawson. She's a #1 New York Times bestselling author who has made millions of people laugh with her writing, and she also lives with treatment-resistant depression and anxiety. This conversation is one of the most honest, funny, and unexpectedly hopeful we've ever had on the show.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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

Stop blaming willpower and start building the skill of making change stick for good. Pretty much every person wants to change something, about themselves, their lives, or situation. But, so few ever succeed at creating change, let alone sustaining it.

In this conversation, we explore why real transformation is a learnable process rather than a test of grit. We look at the emotional hurdles that stop us and how to navigate the "alphabet" of success.

Our guest today is Eric Zimmer, the host of the award-winning podcast The One You Feed and author of the new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. Eric has spent decades studying behavior change, transforming his own life from addiction to becoming a leading voice in personal growth.

Together, we explore:

• The Three-Part Direction Rule: A specific strategy that ensures your small efforts actually accumulate into big results over time.
• The Still Point Method: A practical tool to interrupt negative thought patterns before they ruin your day.
• The Truth About Value Clashes: Why your inner conflict between security and freedom is the secret culprit behind your procrastination.
• Neutral Thinking: A critical mindset shift that allows you to bypass the emotional drama that usually makes you quit.
• The 90 Percent Rule: Why most of the change process happens before you ever take a single action.

If you are tired of the cycle of starting and stopping, it is time to change your approach. Play this episode to learn the practical, science-backed steps to finally becoming the person you want to be.

You can find Eric at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing our conversation with Arthur Brooks about The Meaning of Your Life and practical, science-backed ways to find purpose and discover your deepest calling.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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

Turns out, "good vibes only" might be making you feel worse. Today, we’re exploring why the "good vibes only, stay positive, look on the bright side," movement is often more harmful than helpful and how to build a deeper, more resilient form of optimism and hope that is truly capable of making your life better.

Our guest, Dr. Deepika Chopra, is a clinical health psychologist known as The Optimism Doctor® and author of The Power of Real Optimism. With postdoctoral fellowships at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai, she specializes in the science of hope, resiliency, and visual imagery.

We talk about:

• The 7/10 rule for affirmations - why the traditional approach to affirmations is broken, and a different way that ensures your brain actually believes what you’re telling it instead of rejecting it as bunk.
• How to schedule "worry time" to contain anxiety so it doesn't leak into and paralyze your entire day.
• A specific 12-second practice to "clock" joy and physically rewire your brain’s neural pathways for better problem-solving.
• The distinction between hope and false hope, and how to find the "crack of light" when you’re in your darkest hour.

If you've ever felt the pressure to "just be happy" while struggling through a difficult season, this conversation offers a grounded, science-backed alternative. Click play to learn how to build the muscle of real optimism and navigate life's challenges with more curiosity and ease. 

You can find Deepika at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Eric Zimmer about the 'Little by Little' method for making meaningful life changes that actually stick. Be sure to follow the GLP wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss it!

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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Want a deeper, more secure, fiercely connected relationship? Then, you’ll want to check out the power of relationship agreements. 

In this episode, we sit down with Krista and Dr. Will Van Derveer. Will is a psychiatrist and author of the book Psychedelic Therapy, and Krista is a Relational Leadership Educator who helps partnerships move from the "I Operating System" to a "We Operating System."

We explore:

• How to craft your own sacred relationship agreements that keep bringing you back to love, no matter how much friction your find yourself in.
• The wildly surprising "Couch Time" technique that uses mammal-to-mammal co-regulation to stop a heated argument in 60 seconds.
• A simple shift in perspective that allows you to stop seeing your partner as a "fixed object" and start seeing them with fresh eyes.
• The "Abundant Repair" protocol for ensuring you never go to bed with tension still lingering in your body.
• Why most "implicit" agreements fail and how to write down the 24 sacred guardrails that protect your connection.

If you are tired of the same old arguments and want a relationship that actually empowers your individual potential, this conversation is for you. Click play to learn how to transform your partnership into a powerhouse of growth.

You can find Krista & Will at: The Art of We | Get the Top 10 Relationship Agreements | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a really meaningful conversation with Dr. Deepika Chopra about toxic positivity and how to be optimistic without tipping into delusion, distraction, or even harm.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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

Being a super-communicator isn’t a gift, it’s a skill anyone can learn.

Ever wish you were the person who could talk to anyone with ease? Like anyone you came in contact with became instant friends, confidantes, or trusted allies and collaborators. Turns out, this superpower is not something you’re born with, it's something you can learn. 

This episode shows you how. Our guest is Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and the best-selling author of The Power of Habit and his book, Supercommunicators.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• The "Matching Principle" that determines if a conversation succeeds or fails
• 3 distinct types of conversations and how to identify which one you’re actually in
• The "Heard, Hugged, or Helped" framework for navigating emotional conflict with ease
• A secret CIA recruitment strategy for building instant trust with complete strangers
• The power of "deep questions" to bypass small talk and reach the heart of any matter

If you've ever walked away from a conversation feeling disconnected, it's time to learn the rules of the game. Listen to this episode to transform your relationships and become a supercommunicator today.

You can find Charles at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a conversation with Krista and Will Vanderveer. We’ll be talking about how to make the 'invisible' rules in your relationship visible so you can stop walking on eggshells and start leading together.

Check out our offerings & partners: 

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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