Deviate

How to balance a life of artistic ambition with sanity and happiness


Listen Later

“Do not hold on to any one vision of what your life should look like.” – Rachel Friedman

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Rachel discuss perceptions of success (3:15); the upside of failure and non-linear paths to success (13:00); ordinariness and the influence of public validation (23:00); and the reconciling old and new goals and the art of quitting (36:00).

Rachel Friedman (@RachelFriedman) is a traveler, writer, and author of The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost, which was chosen as a Target Breakout Book and selected by Goodreads’ readers as one of the best travel books of 2011. Her latest book, And Then We Grew Up is out now. For more about Rachel, check out https://www.rachel-friedman.com/.

Notable Links:

  • At Eternity’s Gate (film)
  • Vincent Van Gogh (artist)
  • José Ortega y Gasset (philosopher)
  • Malcolm Gladwell (author)
  • The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost (poem)
  • Napoleon Dynamite (film)
  • Black Mirror (television show)
  • This episode is also brought to you by AirTreks, an industry leader in multi-stop international travel. If you’ve ever planned a trip with multiple stops, you know that finding the right flights can be difficult. Between balancing travel logistics and cost, it often becomes impossible to build an itinerary that matches your travel goals.  AirTreks is a distributed travel company with employees working from all corners of the world to help with your flight planning, specializing in complex routes with up to 25 stops. The AirTreks website offers suggested pre-planned travel itineraries to help you get started, but can customize to fit your journey.

    The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

    Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    DeviateBy Rolf Potts

    • 4.8
    • 4.8
    • 4.8
    • 4.8
    • 4.8

    4.8

    161 ratings


    More shows like Deviate

    View all
    Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

    Hidden Brain

    43,778 Listeners

    Zero To Travel Podcast by Jason Moore

    Zero To Travel Podcast

    829 Listeners

    Good Life Project by Jonathan Fields / Acast

    Good Life Project

    3,326 Listeners

    Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

    Making Sense with Sam Harris

    26,365 Listeners

    The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance by Dave Asprey

    The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

    7,235 Listeners

    Ram Dass Here And Now by Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember

    Ram Dass Here And Now

    2,604 Listeners

    On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios

    On Being with Krista Tippett

    10,156 Listeners

    The Science of Happiness by PRX and Greater Good Science Center

    The Science of Happiness

    1,903 Listeners

    The Peter Attia Drive by Peter Attia, MD

    The Peter Attia Drive

    9,128 Listeners

    The Daily Stoic by Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

    The Daily Stoic

    4,912 Listeners

    Deep Questions with Cal Newport by Cal Newport

    Deep Questions with Cal Newport

    1,314 Listeners

    Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

    Huberman Lab

    29,269 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    16,056 Listeners

    All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life by Chris Hutchins

    All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life

    1,613 Listeners

    Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin by Rick Rubin

    Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin

    1,066 Listeners