Holidays, man! This week Mike and Toni talk about the annual onslaught of holiday overwhelm. Even as we’re Christmas shopping for more stuff, we discuss breaking free of our attachments—be they to physical objects, social media interactions, or information—and avoiding the inevitable disappointment of overly specific expectations.

See you in 2016!

A shortie from the holiday week-that-was. Toni and Mike talk grocery shopping and food delivery before diving into the rich world of ideas—generating them, capturing them, and making room for new ones. The problem isn’t usually too may ideas, it’s which ones to chase. Also: believing in things you can’t see, trusting our instincts, and the difference between stroking and petting (spoiler: one sounds dirty).

Happy Thanksgiving week! Toni and Mike send you into the holiday with a discussion on social media completionism and how early is too early with holiday lights. More seriously, they discuss Toni’s adventures with ADD, how people come back when they don’t get what they want, and how small inroads are the only way to make progress on big audacious projects.

The importance of pauses: it's not a failure if you need a break from everything. Accepting, delegating, and rejecting perfectionism can help you "go pro." Toni and Mike discuss balancing ambition with appreciation, completionism and media overwhelm, and a few minutes on what the hell is wrong with Tumblr (and, frankly, all social networks).

The all-new second season of Serious Business begins with Halloween and cosplay shenanigans before taking on Dan's aspirational chaps purchases. We also talk spoilers, anticipation and recent sci-fi/adventure movies, including X-Files, Star Trek, Star Wars, Prometheus and The Martian, Jurassic World, James Bond, and the possibilities for a a plea for a Serious Business fan fiction marketplace.

Show Notes

Little free libraries, treemail, bird talk as prelude to talking about Mike's new running habit as a metaphor for starting anything new.

This week focuses on work-life balance – what it means, how it's different for men and women, and how it all boils down to your priorities and what you're okay with.

Toni and Mike talk avoidance vs laziness and our resistance to going deep to do our best work. We discover that, like great customer service, going deep always come back to love rather than disbelief and fear.

Who you were vs. who you are. Lessons in not being a jerk, sports martyrdom, seeing bands you love, and avoiding harmful self-talk. Walk on, friends.

Money consciousness, commencement speeches and the lesson that life is not easy. Fear and our ability to fight it with curiosity. And if that wasn't heavy and personal enough, we explore some end of life issues and the idea of "good death."