Intentional Performers

Ashley Zaslav is the founder of Integrative Complexity, which is a high-performance coaching firm that works with made career high achievers ready to bet on themselves and test their potential. She’s also on our coaching bench at Strong Skills, and I’ve been fortunate to refer some amazing people to Ashley and hear firsthand about the work that she does with them. Some of her clients include founders of investment firms, newly promoted partners, high potential investment professionals, search fund CEOs, first time CEOs, C-suite leaders, and executive directors. Ashley is an athlete, and she was a two-time captain of the Duke Women’s Soccer Team that was a national finalist in 2011. She was the number five recruit in the nation coming out of high school. So, Ashley is absolutely a competitor, but we talk about her mindset and how it’s shifted over the years from just competing and maximizing and being the best that she can be to blending that mindset with one of wisdom, one of slowing down, one of thinking and being a little more intentional with how she shows up, while still being her competitive self. She competed globally with the US Youth National Team until she finished her career due to injuries. Injuries are a big part of Ashley’s journey; she tore her ACL three times when she was in college, and she’ll talk about her resilient mind and how she thought about injuries, and I think it’s something for all of us to take away from today’s conversation. Her approach to coaching is informed by her experience and expertise in high performance that she developed competing as an elite athlete at the highest levels, as well as working within the finance world. She worked at places like Bridgewater (if you’re unfamiliar with Bridgewater, perhaps you’re familiar with their founder, Ray Dalio, who’s got a TedTalk and has written a bestselling book and is really at the forefront of people and culture as it relates to the finance world), TPG, Brooklyn’s Capital Strategies, and at Spencer Stewart where she worked with all kinds of different elements of people practices within organizations. She received her MBA from NYU Stern and she got her bachelor’s from Duke University. She’s also very proud of being the mother to 3 kids under 5.

Ashley had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“On the outside someone can look one way and then have so many challenges on the inside” (8:45).

“Everybody has a story” (9:00).

“I do think that knowing I had faced these really hard things and gotten through them gave me this inner confidence when things would come my way” (14:20).

“I have to learn how to be when things are good” (18:20).

“I love making patterns of information” (22:45).

“It’s harder to speak up when you don’t have conviction about what you’re saying” (25:35).

“I’m very open and flexible about who I need to be to get better” (28:30).

“For me, what’s felt more organic is to be fluid” (37:45).

“There’s nothing more honest than sitting in a film room watching yourself blow a play that leads to the other team scoring. There’s no hiding from that” (41:40).

“The best companies are always balancing short term and long term” (48:15).

“One of my favorite things about succession planning is to do it well it requires almost going against all of the strong, natural impulses” (50:50).

“That ability to integrate those two realities changed my world so much” (53:55).

“[For me], success [looks] like doing work really well, doing work that I love, being present for the kids, having marriage and partnership, really enjoying life” (1:05:45).

“I do think success 3 to 5 years from now is looking back on these last 3 years and feeling like I wasn’t just striving” (1:12:15).

Additionally, you can connect with Ashley on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much to Ashley for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. We discuss happiness at length in today’s conversation, but we also discuss frameworks, and I think you’re going to find right off the bat that Gretchen sees things in terms of frameworks, in terms of theory. But she’s also known for her ability to convey complex ideas from science, to literature, to stories from her own life, with levity and clarity. So, we bring her into this conversation and we actually bring myself in to today’s conversation, and I think that will make it really come to life. She’s a writer, and she’s going to articulate how much she loves writing and how big of an impact writing has made on her life and how she sees the world. She’s the author of many bestselling books, such as The Happiness Project, Better than Before, and The Four Tendencies, which has sold millions of copies in more than 30 languages. Her most recent book, which we reference in today’s conversation, is Life in 5 Senses. She’s also the host of the popular podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin and the founder of the award-winning “Happier” app, which helps people track their happiness-boosting habits. She’s been interviewed by Oprah, she’s spent time with Daniel Kahneman, she’s walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, and her work has been reported on in a medical journal (which eventually got written up in The New Yorker). So, she’s been in all kinds of interesting spaces; she’s also been an answer on Jeopardy, which is a claim to fame for her. I think this conversation will give you a sense of yourself, which is what I really appreciate about it; it’ll make you think about yourself and hopefully make you a little more aware of how you show up for you and for others.

Gretchen had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“If we want to make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, more creative, one of the things we need to figure out is how to make habits” (6:00).

“Depending on whether we meet or resist outer and inner expectations, that’s what makes us an upholder, a questioner, an obliger, or a rebel” (7:50).

“Upholders are people who readily meet both outer and inner expectations” (8:00).

“Questioners question all expectations; they’ll do something if they think it makes sense” (10:25).

“Obliger is the biggest tendency, for both men and women” (16:00).

“Obligers are people who readily meet outer accountability, but they struggle to meet inner accountability” (16:10).

“If you want to meet an inner expectation as an obliger, you need to create a system of outer accountability” (16:25).

“The way to keep a promise to yourself is to make a promise to someone else” (16:55).

“Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike” (17:35).

“From the practical comes the transcendent” (19:55).

“My behavior follows from my identity” (22:10).

“Allow rebel children to face the consequences of their actions; that is how a rebel learns” (23:20).

“Sometimes these little adjustments in communication can have massive consequences in behavior” (25:05).

“Once you understand the mechanism of what’s going on, it’s a lot easier to address it” (28:10).

“For many people, there’s a sense that they kind of neglect” (30:50).

“Whatever you want to achieve in your life, even if they’re contradictory, the five senses can help you” (35:50).

“I really get tremendous satisfaction out of just being able to explore ideas in all these different ways and exercise my creativity in a lot of different ways” (40:40).

“We want to accept ourselves and also expect more from ourselves” (44:25).

“I think the word motivation is very complicated” (46:25).

“You can’t expect to be motivated by motivation” (47:30).

“I never define happiness” (1:04:45).

“We all can decide for ourselves what it means to be happy” (1:05:00).

“Negative emotions have a very important part to play” (1:06:05).

“If you get interested in something, really try to become a minor expert” (1:15:30).

“The more you know, the more questions you have” (1:16:05).

Additionally, you can find everything you need to know about Gretchen and connect with her on her website, as well as following her on all social media platforms @GretchenRubin. I’d also highly encourage you to check out Gretchen’s podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, wherever you consume your podcasts.

Thank you so much to Gretchen for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Tiffany Thompson is a unique human being. She’s driven by curiosity, and that’s going to come shining through in our conversation today. Tiffany weaves the analytic rigor of her early career as a CIA analyst with the explorative creativity of her recording artist career. So, to say she wears multiples hats or weaves multiple identities is probably an understatement. She is the founder and CEO of Artistic Leadership, which is a creative consultancy that uses the power of art to unlock creativity and connection. Creativity and connection are really what today’s conversation is all about. How can you use a spark of curiosity to improve your ability to innovate, to create, to build something? That is really at the core of Tiffany’s positioning, of her communication, of everything that she stands for.

Tiffany had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I would consider the CIA to be a very creative and artistic place” (6:50).

“People choose to work [at the CIA] because they’re driven by mission” (7:10).

“As an artist [at the CIA], I felt encouraged to explore the things I was curious about” (7:20).

“I have always been somebody who loved creating with my friends” (13:40).

“To have a lifelong friendship, you have to let it change” (20:10).

“I’m never afraid of being the friend who leads the friendship. I actually find that to be an honor” (22:50).

“Let’s not hide the broken fractures, let’s actually accentuate them” (28:40).

“When we’re in fix it mode, it’s about speed and getting something done” (30:55).

“When you shift into mending, curiosity really becomes that tool for understanding what it is you’re trying to create” (31:10).

“Binaries are rarely helpful, or perhaps real” (35:10).

“At its core, [art] is a process” (36:25).

“Novelty is such a powerful stimulant for our brain” (50:15).

“We’re not going to succeed alone. We’re going to have to work together” (53:25).

“Part of being an artist is being a steward of your art form” (57:55).

“Discipline, to me, has two parts: it has commitment, and it has craft” (1:00:40).

“Craft is a word heavy with intention” (1:01:40).

Additionally, click here to learn more about Tiffany’s various offerings. For more information specifically about Tiffany’s music, you can find that website here.

Thank you so much to Tiffany for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

James Lawrence is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for cultivating great workplaces and empowering people. You will be able to tell right off the jump that James is extremely passionate about developing people in the workforce and doing so with intentional leadership. With more than 25 years of being a CEO and founder, James loves to share his insights, not just on leadership, but also on organizational culture and the intersection of technology and the workplace. His mission is to help people love their work and get connected with their teams, because in his words, when people work better, we all win together. He’s the founder of a company called “Happy,” which is dedicated to empowering people and improving how every team works together. He is someone who is passionate about the power of technology to change how we operate, how we develop people, and ultimately, how we perform. So, this conversation dives into what currently he’s doing at “Happy,” but also backs up to some of his journey and what he’s intentionally done to better himself so that he ultimately can serve others as well.

James had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“When you have a really high performing organization, that starts with intentionality” (4:55).

“If you’re trying to lead people, that’s an entire skill that you have to develop” (5:40).

“I’ve made every mistake in the book as a leader” (7:15).

“It takes time to become a leader” (7:15).

“You can be very skilled at knowing how to do things and not be very good at teaching them” (7:50).

“People that actually tell you the current state and are willing to be honest even when it hurts, those are people you want in your corner” (10:35).

“Being a good listener is a really important part of being a leader” (11:20).

“Listening and discarding something is totally different from not listening” (11:40).

“Today, I think true leadership is about making sure that I fully heard someone, that I fully processed everything, and then for me at least it’s now just making sure I build enough time in there to when I do talk to them, I’ve gotten the chance to really think through with some intention what my response is” (16:00).

“Entrepreneurship comes in a lot of flavors” (17:45).

“The manager-employee relationship is the number one driving force in an organization” (24:05).

“We believe in full transparency” (28:00).

“We’re just at the beginning of being able to maximize humans’ happiness” (32:40).

“I love the word happy” (36:50).

“[Happy’s mission] is to make the world at work better” (37:20).

“Happiness is a complex thing… but I like it as a north star” (39:00).

“Your hiring process is incredibly important” (40:00).

“You better be really discerning with who you let in the building” (41:50).

“You’re effective when you combine motivation, capability, and experience” (42:45).

“You have to develop a lot of patience to be a good parent” (46:00).

“I like challenges and I don’t think about risk in the way that some others might” (57:40).

“I have always liked challenges; I like pushing myself” (59:10).

“All we have is time, so where do we want to spend our time?” (59:50).

“I love building things. I’ve always been a builder and that’s where I thrive” (1:02:30).

Additionally, you can find everything about “Happy” here and connect with James on LinkedIn as well.

Thank you so much to James for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Before I get to Micah Hendler’s bio, I want to acknowledge there are things in this conversation, there are themes in this conversation, there are ideas in this conversation, that I don’t agree with. And if you look back to our podcast guests in the past, we have tried to bring a variety of people to the podcast for dialogue and to learn other people’s perspectives. And just because you’re learning it doesn’t mean you have to agree with it. So, as you’re listening to today’s conversation, I would hope that there are elements that you disagree with me on or disagree with Micah on. And that’s okay. We need to continue to have dialogue with people that we may disagree with and we need to find where we do agree. Human beings are meant to find a sense of belonging and often we seek out people that are just like us and we create tribes that then may cause us to be ignorant toward another group. And so, if there are things that are said in this conversation that make you think, great. If there are things in this conversation that you disagree with, great. Listen. And I did my best to do the same. There are times where maybe I’ll push back or maybe I’ll ask questions, but I’ll tell you after this conversation that Micah and I agreed to go get a cup of coffee together and I think that’s the point. And that is really what Micah is all about.

Micah Hendler is someone that believes in the power of using our voices, and specifically around music, to change how we see other people. He’s a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient for his work in the music industry. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Jerusalem Youth Chorus, which is and Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project that he started years ago. Obviously, October 7th of this past year of 2023 impacted their chorus in a variety of ways and he’s going to talk about that in today’s conversation. The chorus has been featured on programs such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and PBS, and they’ve also been featured in media outlets like The New York Times. Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, the chorus empowers young singers from East and West Jerusalem to speak and sing their truths. And that is a big piece of what Micah is trying to create. He wants to create a space where people can authentically show up as themselves and share their perspective. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re always going to agree, but he wants to create spaces where people can share their perspective and create dialogue that hopefully will lead to peace, justice, inclusion, and ultimately equality. In addition to his ongoing bridge building work in Jerusalem, Micah has brought some of his Jerusalem Youth Chorus experience back home and serves as a co-director of music for Braver Angels, which is America’s largest grassroots movement working on political depolarization. And that’s a big piece of today’s conversation. Certainly Israel gets headlines for divides and war and fighting and hate that does exist in that region, but if we look inward and we hold a mirror up to our country, we certainly have our own challenges that we are dealing with on a daily basis. Micah’s work using music to help people see each other as people is essential for the entire world and not just for Israel. During the pandemic, Micah co-founded Raise Your Voice Labs which is a creative culture change company that helps organizations, companies, and communities realign and reengage around a shared vision and builds cultures of resilience, adaptability, inclusive leadership, and supportive accountability. In this time of profound change, Raise Your Voice Labs has helped dozens of groups rediscover themselves, reconnect to one another, and find their musical north star. Micah writes for Forbes, he talks about music, society, and social change, and he actually currently lives in my neck of the woods in Washington, DC, and I’m excited to get to know him better as we continue to learn from each other

.

Micah had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“[It’s vital to make] sure that whatever we’re doing, people feel seen and heard and represented properly in the music that we sing” (14:55).

“Maybe there’s something beyond just fighting about who’s justified or who’s right or who’s suffered more… there’s this other plane of existence where actually all can be” (18:30).

“Maybe my music can do some good” (19:40).

“Balancing [curiosity and conviction] is the key challenge in all of the work that I do” (29:15).

“We do the movement a disservice by basically alienating anyone who hasn’t already arrived at our conclusions” (30:40).

“We’re trying to thread the needle on moving the needle” (32:00).

“One of the things we’ve done to try and navigate this paradigm is to really focus on values” (35:25).

“Everybody is looking for belonging and they find it in different ways” (36:20).

“What the chorus is trying to do, and is doing, is ultimately just creating a space where people can come and be fully themselves and come to really own the space” (37:15).

“Music naturally creates more trust” (38:55).

“Peace, justice, inclusion, and equality: when we sing, we sing for those values” (44:25).

“For me, extremism is not defined by a set of positions but by a way of approaching the world” (49:40).

“People have experienced so much trauma, or reactivated trauma… that it’s so easy for people to become weaponized against each other by these extremist leaders” (57:00).

“We are trying to show that there is an alternative [to extremism]” (1:05:35).

Additionally, you can find the website for the Jerusalem Youth Chorus here and Micah’s personal website here. You can also follow the Jerusalem Youth Chorus across social media platforms @JerusalemYouthChorus.

Thank you so much to Micah for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Melissa Urban is a badass. And we talk about that term badass and why she likes and why she appreciates the label and explains why we may attach that label to women who are doing big things, but we don’t necessarily attach it to men. So, who is Melissa beyond being a badass and what has that baddass-ery led to? It led to her co-founding and becoming the CEO of the Whole 30 brand. She’s also a recovered addict, a New York Times Bestselling Author, a mother, a podcast host, a nature churchgoer (those are her terms), and she also talks about boundaries quite a bit and wrote a book all about boundaries, which is called The Book of Boundaries. If you are in the health space, you’ve probably heard of Melissa and her Whole 30 brand and blog and books. She’s really created quite an empire around that concept. But today’s conversation is not just about all of Melissa’s successes; it’s also about some of the challenges and failures she’s had when it comes to partnership and relationship and her own journey and experience and learning to be vulnerable and learning to share that sometimes she’s not okay and sometimes she struggles just like the rest of us and how she’s thought deeply about what she presents to the world and her willingness to share some of the more vulnerable pieces of herself. So, this conversation hopefully will light you up, will hopefully make you realize that there often are no real gurus out there and we’re all just trying to do the best we can, and even if we’re having some success, we still may be having challenges that we’re dealing with on a moment-to-moment basis that may not be presented on social media. Speaking of social media, she has certainly built quite a following on Instagram, and so we talk about some of the downsides that come with social media and how she’s learned to create some boundaries for herself.

Melissa had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I am always thinking of boundaries… as protecting future me, setting future me up for success” (7:30).

“People don’t like confrontation. People don’t like saying no” (8:50).

“We have this habit of automatically saying yes… because we want to meet other people’s expectations” (9:20).

“We have to create that pause” (12:50).

“In the absence of a plan, the brain is going to do what is easy and what is rewarding” (15:45).

“I love the idea of a 30-day commitment” (18:55).

“Black and white rules are actually easier for the brain to follow” (19:20).

“I like structure. I like routine. They’re very comforting to me” (24:10).

“Over the years, I’ve lost that dogmatism; I’ve lost that [idea that] there is only one right way” (27:45).

“There is no one size fits all. There is no one best way. And my job is to figure out the path that works best for you” (28:25).

“I discovered I loved hanging out with myself” (34:25).

“[Women] are often told that our needs and feelings and comforts don’t matter as much as men’s” (38:50).

“I think I know myself really well and I’m really confident in who I am and what I’m not” (42:00).

“I think there’s an element of badass-ery in any woman who claws her way up to the C-suite, because it’s harder for us than it is for a guy, especially a white guy” (43:10).

“I’m really good at empowering people and helping them make changes that stick” (47:35).

“I think often we extend others a grace and an understanding and a compassion that we are not willing to extend ourselves” (50:50).

“I don’t say things just to be nice” (53:30).

“We are not a weight loss diet” (56:15).

“Social media is such a blessing and a curse” (59:35).

“Social media is a pull, not a push. You always control what comes into your feed” (59:40).

“I have really strong boundaries and I hold them, and that’s how I make social media a place that works for me” (1:01:05).

Additionally, you can find everything Whole 30 related on their website and follow Whole 30 on all social media platforms @Whole30. You can also follow and connect directly with Melissa on Instagram.

Thank you so much to Melissa for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Lauren Sisler is an Emmy Award winning sports broadcaster, a former collegiate gymnast, an ESPN sideline reporter, an author, and a keynote speaker. While those accolades are super impressive and certainly her resume is impressive, this conversation gets into some of the challenges Lauren has faced personally. She lost both of her parents with their hidden battle with prescription drug addiction within hours of each other. I’m going to let her share what that was like for her. This conversation is as much about that watershed moment and tragedy as it is about her talent and her success. She’s vulnerable in this conversation; she’s willing to share her full self with all of us, and that’s what really makes this a really unique conversation. I think you’re going to find Lauren to be joyful, she is upbeat, but she is also not going to sugarcoat some of the things that she has struggled with and some of the challenges she’s faced in her life. And so, this is a conversation about joy, about adversity, about emotion and how we handle emotion and our relationship with our emotions, so it covers the full range of the life experience.

Lauren had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“That was one of the hardest things for me: the milestones that had been missed over the years” (10:00).

“I had this indescribable love for my parents. And that love has continued to grow since they passed” (10:40).

“I feel very fortunate for 18 years of my life to have parents that loved so deeply, unconditional love” (15:00).

“I want to be so transparent with my son because I do believe that transparency and vulnerability is huge” (16:25).

“Lessons can be learned in the way that we navigate life, navigate our experiences” (17:35).

“While I can take some things from my parents, it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing” (18:10).

“Time is fleeting. Time is non-refundable” (21:50).

“I’ve been given this gift of perspective and realizing that, literally, we have this moment in time, and we have to lean into it and grab it and embrace it” (23:10).

“Now those milestones aren’t so much of [my parents] not being here, it’s celebrating all the memories of them and also the new memories that have been created since they’ve left us” (24:35).

“No matter how hard you work to make someone happy, it’s not your responsibility to determine what the end result will be and their response to it” (27:35).

“The healing process and everything we go through is not linear” (31:45).

“I will make it my job to make sure [my son] understands what addiction is and how it can literally get its claws inside of you and never let go” (36:05).

“The shackles of shame were so tight around my wrist” (40:00).

“My parents aren’t defined by how they died, but by how they lived their lives” (40:20).

“I could not face the truth of what was inside those toxicology reports. I was so fearful of what I would see and what I would learn” (41:40).

“We are going to continue to experience loss, we are going to continue to experience those struggles” (43:15).

“Shame is 1000% going to be woven throughout your life” (44:40).

“Fall in love with your story” (45:20).

“Instead of running from adversity, you attack it” (46:55).

“When I started leaning in, I found purpose in what I do” (47:50).

“A lot of times, I was so afraid to speak about how I really felt” (54:50).

“We sometimes have to be more of advocates for ourselves” (57:20).

Additionally, you can find Lauren’s website here where you can find out everything you need to know about her, her new book, and sign up for her newsletter. You can also connect with her on all social media platforms @laurensisler.

Thank you so much to Lauren for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Ruben Gonzalez is going to inspire you with our conversation today. He is 61 years old and he is still attempting to make it to the next Olympics in the sport of luge. If you know anything about luge, you’ll know that it is a difficult sport that’s hard on the body that comes with danger. And Ruben knows a lot about the sport of luge. He’s competed in 4 different Olympics in the 3 different decades. He’s currently attempting to become the oldest Olympian to ever compete. He has experienced a lot in the sport of luge, but he’s also run with the bulls in Spain, he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa), he was a torch bearer at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, he has written books, he’s a keynote speaker, he is really a unique soul who is passionate. He really reminded me a lot of the people that I studied and wrote about in my book, Shift your Mind. A lot of today’s conversation is going to focus on Ruben’s mindset; what he’s done to create a mindset to help him in preparation and in performance. I think even more so than those two places and spaces, you’re going to learn about how Ruben sees life, then lens through which he sees it, and how much he always wants to continue learning and growing and reading and studying and researching. He is someone who is not going to stop developing himself in order to be the best version of him.

Ruben had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I was always looking for my adventure” (6:00).

“What drew me to the Olympians, it wasn’t their athleticism, it was their spirit, their heart” (7:00).

“If you study the lives of great people, you’ll figure out what works and doesn’t work in life” (7:40).

“Belief gets you started… [and] desire keeps you going” (10:05).

“The harder it is, the easier it is for me. Because I’m not a quitter; I’m a bulldog” (14:25).

“The luge is my vehicle, and it’s probably the only vehicle that’s going to get me to that destination: [the Olympics]” (20:00).

“I had a different motivation for each [Olympics]” (25:05).

“I can live with not making it, but I can’t live with not trying” (25:10).

“If I make it [to the Winter Olympics and set the record as the oldest athlete to compete ever], I actually hope someone will break it at the next Olympics because that means I got old guys out of the woodwork and got them working out (27:00).

“I’m 61 years old. I’m sliding better and more consistently than ever before” (32:45).

“You’ve got to have perseverance, but you’ve got to be coachable. You’ve got to be humble” (33:15).

“[Legacy] means a lot [to me]” (49:20).

“On the sled, you’ve got to be calm, cool, and collected” (52:55).

“If you change your focus, the fear will disappear” (56:10).

“I don’t want the fame. I want to be under the radar” (1:11:35).

“Keep on keeping on and hopefully things will work out” (1:14:25).

Additionally, you can find Ruben’s website here and connect with him on Facebook as well.

Thank you so much to Ruben for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

If you live in the Washington DC area, Lindsay Czarniak is a name that you’re probably familiar with. She’s an Emmy Award winning broadcaster who spent several years as the sports anchor and reporter for NBC Washington. Also, if you’re familiar with NBC Washington, you’ll know that they have become somewhat of a factory for talent in the sports broadcasting world. That really traces back to the days of legendary broadcaster and sportscaster George Michael, who started the George Michael Sports Machine, and it really was one of the first pioneer sports shows. George Michael called Lindsay the best hire he ever made, which is pretty high praise coming from a legend. After NBC, she decided to move to Connecticut, where she worked at ESPN from 2011-2017. She anchored SportsCenter, Sports Nation, and NASCAR Now. We’ll talk about NASCAR in today’s conversation and how it impacted her journey and how she really loves the sport and all that comes with travelling and also being a mom and having a career. So, this conversation gets into Lindsay’s background, her personal life, she’s married to Craig Melvin who hosts The Today Show so we’re going to talk about his perspective and Lindsay’s perspective and how they’re a bit different, and how Lindsay has had what she calls a zigzag career. She said it’s zigzag, but from my perspective, Lindsay is someone who has range. She loves to look at new things and new ideas and new concepts and create. She’s very creative and very curious as to how she can continue learning and growing and developing. She’s also worked for the NFL on FOX and as a NASCAR reporter. A lot of her roots and her history involve NASCAR. She talks in today’s conversation about working at the Belmont. Currently, she’s a freelancer, so she bounces around from different sporting events. You may be familiar with Lindsay, but if you’re not, this is just a real genuine conversation that gets into interviewing, that gets into growth, that gets into mindset, and I think you’re going to love learning with Lindsay on the podcast today.

Lindsay had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I’ve become obsessed with interviewing two people at the same time because I find it such a challenge and there’s such an art to trying to do it well” (7:55).

“I do think I have a certain amount of shyness. I know I do. And I worry about what people think” (13:25).

“[When you’re interviewing someone], you are setting [them] up to have this internal video of what they’re talking about” (15:45).

“It’s a special thing if you can give someone the opportunity to do something and talk about something that they don’t normally get the opportunity to do” (19:55).

“More often than not I never even look down at my paper [during an interview] because you’re just in it” (23:15).

“If I’m holding it lightly, it’s usually because it is something I really want to ask” (26:25).

“[I try to think a lot about] who is my audience, who is really listening to this?” (29:40).

“It’s a complicated place to be all of a sudden freelancing” (42:30).

“I really think there’s other stuff within this sports broadcasting thing that I would love trying” (43:25).

“At some point, freelance is scary” (44:20).

“You have to give stuff up if you want to be there with your kids” (46:15).

“You can’t do it all, but you also have to say yes to some stuff you might not want to do if you want to follow that trajectory” (46:20).

“Loyalty is valued” (46:40).

“The work I’m doing now is some of the most fulfilling stuff I’ve ever done” (50:40).

“I love live TV. I love interactions with co-hosts” (56:45).

“It’s so important in those jobs (like sideline reporting and broadcasting) that you’re taking your time to get to know the players, to get to know the coaches” (1:03:25).

“Sometimes it’s okay to just love what it is that you’re doing” (1:05:05).

“You can’t fake the amount of work you put into it” (1:10:55).

“Things change for no reason” (1:11:45).

“If you see it, go be it” (1:12:20).

“One word to define success: camaraderie” (1:13:25).

“Camaraderie and human connection to me are so big” (1:17:10).

Additionally, you can connect with Lindsay on Instagram and Facebook. Also, when you tune into the Olympics, make sure to watch Lindsay’s broadcast on USA Network.

Thank you so much to Lindsay for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

Dr. James Doty, or as he wanted me to call him, Jim, is a Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University. He’s also the Founder and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, which is an affiliate of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. So, you’re going to learn pretty quickly in today’s conversation that Dr. Doty has been on the neurosurgery side and on the neuroscience side of studying the brain. He is obsessed with research and science, and he also blends in this sort of artistic way of thinking about how we can show up in the world. He’s the author of a self-help book called Into the Magic Shop, which is a neurosurgeon’s quest to discover the mysteries of the brain and the secrets of the heart. I think that best describes how Jim shows up. He very much values the brain, but he also values the heart. His most recent book, which is a big part of our conversation today, is called Mind Magic, which is all about the neuroscience of manifestation and how it changes us and helps us evolve and impacts how we show up in the world. He has been very philanthropic with Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He’s one of the largest donators of any graduate or faculty member at the school. He endowed the Chair of the Dean of the School of Medicine at Tulane University as well following Hurricane Katrina and helped refurbish its library, in addition to setting up a scholarship for socioeconomically disadvantaged students to commit to a career of service. He cares deeply about giving back, helping people, and being part of something bigger than himself. The other word that is really important to remember when you listen to Dr. Jim Doty talk is disadvantaged. He came from a disadvantaged upbringing; he’s going to reference that in today’s conversation. And so, you’re going to hear him talk a little bit about capitalism and some of the downsides that may come with that structure and that system, and how he struggled in his early days as well. He’s also a CEO; he’s the founder of Happi AI, which is a new mental health app which uses emotion detection with AI to really help people on their journey and be able to regulate their emotions. He’s served as a CEO for many different bio companies through his career, including Accuray, which ended up IPOing for $1.3 billion in 2007. He served in the 90’s as their CEO. So, he’s got this leadership background, but he’s also been in surgery centers and has been operating on people, and on the research side. So, he has these intersections that make him a really fascinating human being and I loved my conversation with him. It’s about much more about simply his successes, it’s also about the challenges and the failures Dr. Doty has had along the way. So, I think you’re going to find him to be vulnerable, open, and he also knows who he is. He’s very comfortable in his own skin and doesn’t mince words and is convicted on a lot of his beliefs based on the curiosity that he’s had previously.

Dr. Doty had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“So many people are so afraid of being judged, or accepting themselves, or being authentic” (7:25).

“[We have] programs that are training people to be more compassionate towards themselves” (7:55).

“In the modern world, many people feel uncomfortable talking to another human” (9:20).

“Nowadays we’ve created a narrative of a minimum wage, not a living wage” (15:40).

“Massive economic inequalities is a fundamental aspect of [the growing need for mental health treatment]” (19:35).

“That’s what many of us need in this world: an empathic listener” (23:15).

“When children grow up in an environment [where they face many adverse childhood experiences], it’s like a warzone; it’s traumatizing” (23:50).

“Post-traumatic stress disorder doesn’t have to be from war” (24:05).

“I no longer had anger and hostility towards my parents, because they did not have the toolset to take care of themselves” (25:40).

“When I changed how I interacted with the world, it changed how the world interacted with me” (26:05).

“Manifestation is the ability to embed an intention into your subconscious so that, by doing so, it increases the likelihood of whatever it is you wish to happen to occur” (27:45).

“I was seeking to get external affirmation to tell me I was worthy, to deal with my shame. And of course, it did none of those things” (31:50).

“As a species, we are not wired to have complete self-focus” (32:30).

“We have a genetic imperative to care” (32:45).

“What people don’t realize is that many of the thoughts they have don’t actually have to do with them” (44:50).

“All of us are manifesting all the time. It’s just what are we manifesting?” (46:00).

“We create the limiting beliefs that stop us from believing in the unlimited possibilities that each of us have” (48:35).

“The greatest way for you to imbed an intention is through defining your goals or your intent” (51:35).

“Our purpose in life is to care for others” (52:10).

“Let go of outcomes” (53:05).

“You need to choose a path that is respectful towards yourself” (54:50).

“Your subconscious is always listening” (1:01:15).

“Medical school beats your empathy and compassion out of you” (1:04:15).

“Many people get so attuned to helping others that they don’t do self-care, nor are they compassionate to themselves to create boundaries, that allow them to be their best selves and then they burn out” (1:08:10).

“Every one of us, every day, has the ability to improve the life of at least one person” (1:15:30).

Additionally, you can find Dr. Doty’s website here, where you can learn more about him and also purchase both of his books. You can also find the website for Happi AI here. You can also reach out to Dr. Doty via email at [email protected].

Thank you so much to Dr. Doty for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.