Today's episode features Mike Erwin - West Point Leadership Instructor, author of Lead Yourself First, and founder of The Positivity Project (a non-profit organization that brings character education to America's youth). In this wide-ranging conversation, Mike and I explored topics like: 

-Handling pressure 

-Emotional mastery in the heat of the moment 

-Solitude and how spending time reflecting and turning inward can promote effective leadership, positive relationships, moral courage, meaning and fulfillment (all of which are themes in Mike’s book Lead Yourself First). 

-Mike’s experiences in the military as an intelligence officer 

-Promoting character education in schools through Mike's non-profit, the Positivity Project. 

For show notes, links to more about Mike and his work, and more, visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast 

Mike Erwin's background: Mike Erwin is the CEO of The Character & Leadership Center and co-founder & president of the Positivity Project - a non-profit organization with the mission to empower America’s youth to build stronger relationships. He is the co-author of Lead Yourself First by Bloomsbury Press (2017). The book focuses on how solitude strengthens people’s character---and their ability to lead with clarity, balance and conviction. Mike is also a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he serves as an Assistant Professor in Leadership & Psychology. Mike graduated from West Point in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He was commissioned as an Intelligence Officer, serving in three combat tours with the First Cavalry Division and 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). Mike earned two Bronze Star Medals from these tours. Following his third deployment, Mike attended the University of Michigan from 2009- 2011, where he studied positive psychology and leadership under the tutelage of the co- founder of positive psychology, Dr. Chris Peterson. While in graduate school in 2010, Mike founded a non-profit organization named Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB). Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity. He volunteered as the Executive Director for 3 years and continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Team RWB has 138,000 members and 212 chapters across the world.

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In this conversation acclaimed writer and journalist Emily Esfahani Smith and I discuss a wide array of topics related to meaning in life including:

-The difference between meaning and happiness 

-Why we should pursue meaning 

-Insights from the science of meaning 

-Leveraging meaning and purpose to overcome adversity and fear 

-Practical ways to build meaning into our lives and ultimately craft a life that matters. 

If you enjoyed this episode check out www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Emily Esfahani Smith is a journalist and the author of The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed With Happiness. Her articles and essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Criterion, and other publications. The former managing editor of The New Criterion, Smith is also an editor at the Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where she advises the Ben Franklin Circles project, a collaboration with the 92nd Street Y and Citizen University to build meaning in local communities. To find out more about Emily visit www.emilyesfahanismith.com

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In this conversation with Rick Hanson we dive into the topic of his new book, Resilient, and explore: 

-Resilience as a skill 

-How to grow inner strengths 

-Keys to accelerating the process of learning harnessing insights from neuroscience 

-Self-compassion 

-Strategies for having difficult conversations 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background on Rick Hanson: Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author. His books are available in 26 languages and include Hardwiring Happiness, Buddha’s Brain, Just One Thing, and Mother Nurture. His latest book, Resilient, is due out in 2018. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, he’s been an invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, and other major universities, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. His work has been featured on the BBC, CBS, NPR, and other major media. To find out more about Rick, his teachings, writings, as well as freely offered resources check out www.rickhanson.net

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In this conversation renowned leadership expert Johann Berlin and I discuss some of his wisdom and perspective about what makes a good leader, how to have difficult conversations, peak performance under pressure, and the importance of letting go, as well as, the role of courage in actually being able to do so. 

Johann provides a number of practical strategies for putting these ideas into practice along the way. 

If you enjoyed this episode please visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Johann Berlin is the CEO of TLEX Institute North America. Working alongside some of the biggest influencers and top leaders in the U.S. and throughout the world Johann is committed to harnessing people's passions by strengthening the connection individuals, teams and organizations have to themselves, to each other, and toward greater shared purpose. He has delivered talks and led workshops at places like TEDx London, GE HealthCare, Stanford Center for Compassion, Microsoft, AMEX, Amazon and the Wharton School of Business (among others). You can also find his writing on leadership and other subjects in places like Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Virgin Unite, Real Leaders, Thrive Global, and the Huffington Post

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In this powerful conversation with Dr. Fred Luskin we unpack forgiveness, talk about what it is, what it's not, the benefits of it, address forgiveness as a skill, and discuss some of our guests biggest insights after decades of work helping people all around the world learn to forgive. 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Dr. Fred Luskin is the author of multiple books, including the bestseller Forgive for Good. He is also the Director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects, an ongoing series of workshops and research projects that investigate the effectiveness of his forgiveness methods on a variety of populations. The forgiveness project has successfully explored forgiveness therapy with people who suffered from the violence in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone as well as the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. In addition, his work has been successfully applied and researched in corporate, medical, legal and religious settings. He currently serves as a Senior Consultant in Health Promotion at Stanford University and offers lectures, workshops, seminars and trainings on the importance, health benefits and training of forgiveness, stress management and emotional competence throughout the United States. For more on Dr. Luskin visit: learningtoforgive.com

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In this passionate interview with Dr. Judson Brewer we explore how our brains learn, how habits are formed, and how people might use this knowledge to create lasting changes, and find happiness in their lives. 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Dr. Judson Brewer is a thought leader in the field of habit change and the "science of self-mastery", having combined over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research therein. He is the Chief of the Division of Mindfulness, Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness and associate professor in medicine and psychiatry at UMass Medical School. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, trained US Olympic coaches, and his work has been featured on 60 Minutes, TED (4th most viewed talk of 2016, with over 8 Million views), Time magazine (top 100 new health discoveries of 2013), Forbes, BBC, NPR), Businessweek and others. A psychiatrist and internationally known expert in mindfulness training for addictions, Brewer has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including both in-person and app-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. He is the author of The Craving Mind: from cigarettes to smartphones to love, why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits. For more on Dr. Brewer visit: www.judsonbrewer.com

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Kevin is the Founder and CEO of Miracle Messages, an award-winning nonprofit that reunites the homeless with their loved ones. To date, MM has facilitated over 100 reunions, with 25% getting a person off-the-streets. Their vision is to reunite 1 million people by 2023. For his work, Kevin has been named a TED Resident, TED Speaker, MassChallenge winner, and "Emerging Innovator" by American Express / Ashoka. Miracle Messages has been featured widely, including in the New York Times, NPR, People, on a Shinola billboard in Times Square, and NowThis, whose video reached 26 million views. For more on Kevin check out kevinfadler.comIf you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more

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Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, is an author, researcher, speaker, and public science communicator who is interested in using psychological science to help all kinds of minds live a creative, fulfilling, and meaningful life. He is a professor of positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and author and/or editor of 7 books, including Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined and Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire). His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, Psychology Today, and Harvard Business Review, and he writes a blog at Scientific American called Beautiful Minds. Kaufman is also host of The Psychology Podcast.If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more

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Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn was a triathlete who passed out during a race, died, and then came back to life. Afterward she wrote a book detailing her journey to recovery, her research on posttraumatic growth, and her trademark rehabilitation process called metahabiliation. In this episode we explore her incredible story and more.Dr. Mikal Flynn received her BSN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing) from University of San Francisco, her FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner) from University of California, Davis, and her MSN (Master’s of Science in Nursing) from California State University, Sacramento. Her Doctor of Education was completed in 2007 at St. Mary’s College, Moraga. She is CEO of Metahab.com and an associate professor at Sacramento State University teaching courses in: Neuroscience and Traumatology. Her system of recovery and rehabilitation, MetaHabilitation©, guides survivors and families toward posttraumatic growth (PTG) and is currently utilized in veteran and oncology programs, individuals with chronic pain, addiction and dependency and in private practices. Her work is presented internationally and nationally. Multiple publications include her book, Turning Tragedy Into Triumph. Metahabilitation; A Contemporary Model of Rehabilitation. For more on Dr. Mikal-Flynn head to www.metahab.com. If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more.

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Cory Muscara is on a life-long journey to understand the causes and conditions that lead to suffering and wellbeing. As founder of the Long Island Center for Mindfulness, Cory's work is primarily in the field of mindfulness meditation. In 2012, he spent 6 months in silence practicing Vipassana meditation as a Buddhist monk in Burma under the instruction of Sayadaw U Pandita. Cory currently serves as faculty at Columbia Teachers College where he teaches mindfulness to school leaders from across the country, and is also an assistant instructor for the Master of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He offers keynotes, mindfulness training and mindfulness-based leadership consulting to businesses, schools and healthcare systems, and is a regular guest on the Dr. Oz show in the topic of mindfulness meditation. You can learn more about Cory at www.corymuscara.comIf you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more.

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