Remote Pep Talks with Ryan Millar

Exploring depth means to dive beneath the surface. Too often, we can skirt the surface of things, without giving their full space our full attention. There are a few different ways we can reckon more completely with things in their depth, including ourselves. 
Some of the concepts, ideas and media mentioned in this episode include the notion of a "depth year", Stephen King's "On Writing", Natasha Lyonne's "Russian Doll" (and a piece of wisdom Ryan picked up from her) and more. 

In this summertime easy listening episode, Ryan visits a foosball-filled house party to discuss the value of networking, the mindset shift that can support it, and some tactics for improving our networking experiences.

In this episode, Ryan discusses shitty first drafts, the Losada line, sustaining our craft, bringing your best self to the office and a myriad of other ways that positivity can and does have an effect on our work and happiness.

How important is perspective? Well, it's kinda the only thing. This episode starts with Hamlet before opening up into a world of thoughts on what thoughts can do, and how important it is to get up again, once you've been knocked down.

Ryan's back after taking a long-ass (and well-deserved?) break. Time to discuss the value of taking action. Topics discussed include Greg McKeown's book Essentialism, James Clear's Atomic Habits and being the busiest person, all while by a quaint Dutch harbor town in the early morning.

This is it, your chance to enjoy a relaxing rowboat ride while being reminded of the importance in doing things like... taking a relaxing rowboat ride with a friend, or otherwise just unplugging and taking a break.

Ryan also discusses his book TAKE IT EASY, and the value in approaching your work with a sense of calm readiness. 

Some of the things discussed in this episode include Ferris Bueller's life philosophy, mining your life for meaning using storyteller Matthew Dicks' Homework for Life model, Father's Day, and the value of being tired at the end of the day. 

From making tentative post-COVID social and activity plans to strategies for creating space for deeper connections in your relationships, Ryan opens up on opening up. Subjects that come up along the way include: what was the deal with dinosaurs, and how the Dunbar number can frame your need for connected relationships. 

Well well well, someone has several questions about career path and direction, and Ryan is quite ready to talk about this, and in fact, has recently been doing a whole bunch of thinking on this very subject.

As you'll hear, the idea of career transitions is very relevant to what's going on in Ryan's life at this moment. From assessing and appreciating the destabilizing effects of kids and pandemics on our careers, to thinking how to restart and pivot so that your work is more closely aligned with who you are and what you care about, this episode gets right into a few key principles to keep in mind when life throws you a curveball. 

It's a good talk, this one. Ryan even speaks a little bit of Japanese and Dutch -- insofar as he is able to.

Misinformation and disinformation are all around us. How do we deal with it, and its effects on friends and family, asks Guil. Ryan heads off to a library in Gothenburg, Sweden to address, or at least attempt to address the rampant online misinformation and how it can warp friends and family. From Q Drops to the theme song from 'The Facts of Life', and everything in between, this very thorny and broad issue requires quite some unpacking. There aren't really answers, of course, but maybe we can discover a few strategies to counteract the deluge of confusion.