This week’s conversation is with Dr. Ethan Kross, one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. 

After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, Ethan earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in social-affective neuroscience to learn about the neural systems that support self-control. 

He moved to the University of Michigan in 2008, where he founded the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory.

As an award-winning professor in the University of Michigan’s top-ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, Ethan studies how the conversations people have with themselves impact their health, performance, decisions, and relationships.

And Ethan just published his first book, Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It.

I’d be surprised if anyone listening hasn’t experienced what Ethan describes as “Chatter.”

That process where you have a thought such as, “Why did I screw up this shot or presentation at work?” But rather than just identify how to fix it and move on, you keep getting stuck. 

Our ability to reflect on what we’re doing, learn from our experiences and optimize how we navigate the world is an incredibly powerful tool, but that introspective capacity can also steer us off course.

Ruminating and getting stuck in this cycle of negative thinking can make life miserable, so in this conversation, we discuss what to do when you find yourself stuck in that cycle.

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