Good Life Project

On September 17, 2009, Simon Sinek stepped onto a small stage for a local gathering...and proceeded to blow away the world.

The event was TEDx Puget Sound. He had no slides, no fancy presentation. Just an idea and an easel. For 18 minutes, he spoke about an awakening. Something he called "the golden circle," and the need to know your "why." The audience was captivated.

But that's just the beginning...

The event was filmed and posted to Youtube 11 days later. So powerful was Simon's presentation and idea that it was quickly pulled onto the main TED site. There it exploded into the world's consciousness, becoming one of the most-watched TED talks of all-time with nearly 30 million views. A book called Start With Why soon followed, becoming an instant hit.

Funny thing is, Simon doesn't really care about all of that. What he does care about is the Idea. The opportunity to inspire people to wake up to the possibility in their own lives. The ability to serve from a deeper, more humble yet powerful place. And to act.

Simon's transformative ideas continued to evolve with his book, Leaders Eat Last. This week's episode features a "Best Of" conversation with Simon, where we explore his remarkable journey, his extraordinary lens on the world (though he'll likely tell you it's anything but) and his deep desire both inspire and to serve those who serve others.

Simon is also a master storyteller. As our conversation unfolds, he shares a stunningly powerful story about a trip to Afghanistan with the military that went bad, and how it became a flight he'll remember for the rest of his life. By the time he was done, I was near tears and had trouble speaking, let alone continuing the conversation. Listen all the way through, it will be so worth the investment of time and energy.

Some quick quotes from the conversation:

"Great leaders see money as fuel, not a destination."

"Serve those who serve others."

"Never sacrifice the people to save the numbers, sacrifice the numbers to save the people."

"The responsibility of the leader is to look after the sons and the daughters of the parents who have given us their children to help us build our companies with the same love and tenderness and care that their parents gave to them."

We first aired this conversation in October 2013. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

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

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

Debbie Millman is a creative, design and storytelling force of nature.

Millman was drawn into the world of news and print in her early twenties, cultivating an appetite for artful communication, storytelling and news. By her early thirties, though, life had dealt a series of challenges.

In quick succession, she found herself without a job or a sense of purpose, bound by her own self-loathing. Unlocking and even mining that negative cycle, though, was the key to her turnaround.

She started down a path of discovery that would lead to a series of serendipitous adventures, eventually becoming a leading voice in the world of design, branding and media, and co-founding and chairing the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She's also hosted the acclaimed Design Matters podcast for 11 years, which was a major inspiration for our show.

As Debbie shares in this conversation, you "have to create your own happiness."

On this "Best Of" episode of Good Life Project, Debbie Millman gets real about living with uncertainty, creativity and freedom, diving into the world of design, art and media.

And, as we reflect on the year behind us, and think about the year to come, she reminds us to imagine immensities, then make them happen.

We first aired this conversation in April 2014. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now.

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

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

How did a kid who grew up on a farm in Alberta, Canada end up an elite performance coach to Olympic athletes and CEOs?

This is the story of today's guest, performance savant and founder The 90 Day Year, Todd Herman.

Did Todd get an advanced degree? Nope. Did he write a bestselling book? Again, no. Was he hyper-connected to high-level gatekeepers and influencers? Not unless you consider horses and other farm animals to be conduits to greatness.

Then how did he end up the go-to person at the highest levels of sport and business? The answer lies in the same relentless drive that let him launch a packed consulting practice from a cold start by talking his way into speaking 68 times in 90 days.

Todd is one of the most focused and productive people we've ever met. He honed his skills over nearly two decades working with many of the top performing athletes in the world, before making a pretty radical shift to online education with the creation of his accelerated productivity training, The 90 Day Year.

In this week's conversation, we dive into his upbringing on a ranch in the middle of Canada, with thousands of acres to roam. We explore his jones to leave the ranch at a very early age and his more recent awakening to an unshakeable connection with the land. We talk about his lens on performance and deconstruct that whole 68 talks in 90 days strategy. We also talk about the interplay between elite performance, happiness, preparation and fulfillment.

For anyone who has wondered about closing the gap between reality and potential, this is a don't miss an episode!

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

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

This week's guest, Mark Nepo, is a renowned poet, philosopher, author, master storyteller and spiritual teacher.

He has appeared numerous times on Oprah, his Book of Awakening was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Mark originally appeared on the show about a year ago, where we explored his bigger life story, how cancer forever changed him, physically, psychologically and spiritually and his relationship with faith and spirituality.

In this episode, we invite Mark Nepo back to explore a different topic; living in a rapidly changing world, poetry as truth and life, not just words and how we're called to live and lead. This year is also a special year as Mark has released two books, The One Life We're Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart and the three-part collection of 20 years of his original poems and essays, The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting.

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

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

Emily McDowell is a writer, illustrator, and entrepreneur who specializes in chronicling the human condition.

In 2012, she left a successful career in advertising to launch her greeting card line, making cards for the relationships we actually have. Now a multimillion-dollar stationery and gift company, Emily McDowell Studio products are sold online and in nearly 2,000 stores worldwide.

In 2015, Emily’s Empathy Cards, designed to help people connect around serious illness and loss, struck a nerve around the world and gave people a way into conversations that seemed brutally hard to begin and deepen into.

Her first book, There Is No Good Card For This: What To Say and Do When Life Gets Scary, Awful, and Unfair To People You Love, will be released in January 2017.

In today's conversation, we take a step back in time, explore the experiences in her younger life that were defining moments, revealing who she really was and how Emily began to connect with an irreverent blend of art and humor that touches so many.

We explore what happened when she was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age and watched friends struggle to figure out how to be there for her. We dive into how she compartmentalized this experience, seeking to not let it define her, both as a person and, soon enough in art and business. We also track the launch and growth of her company and her recent move to rework the business in order to not just serve a "customer" need, but also give her what she needs, the ability to do the work that most lights her up.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Dance Neurosis Resume by Emily
• Emily's famous quilt-making mom, Ruth McDowell
• Emily's talk at World Domination Summit 2016
• Emily's Awkward Dating Card
• Hand Letterer Mary Kate McDevitt
• Stupid Cancer :: The Voice of Young Adult Cancer
• Brené Brown - Researcher + Storyteller

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

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