Dr. Yeager is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Much of his work focuses on facilitating the advancement of meaningful dialogue surrounding the subject of race and racism.

He also serves as the therapist for the Detroit Pistons professional NBA basketball team. 

He’s the author of a new book called How Am I Doing: 40 Conversations to Have With Yourself. In it, he describes questions we can all ask ourselves to increase self-awareness. 

Some of the things he discusses in today's episode are the specific questions we can ask ourselves to increase our self-awareness, the tools that can help us improve our mental health, and how we can begin to identify specific patterns in our lives.

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There’s more than one way to tackle the same problem — especially when it comes to mental health problems. 

Some therapists focus on problems and all the things that contribute to emotional pain and suffering. Their goal is to help people gain insight into their problems so they can create positive changes.

Solution-focused therapists focus on solutions only. These therapists don’t explore old childhood wounds, and they don’t talk about past mistakes. They keep the conversation about the 'here and now' and the steps someone can take when moving forward.

That’s why a lot of them ask "the miracle question." It’s a question that helps people start imagining a more positive future.

And when people imagine a positive future, they often start taking helpful action.

Just talking about a positive future can remind people of their inner strength and the resources they can use to make their lives better.

You don’t have to go see a solution-focused therapist to start thinking about a more positive future for yourself. You can answer "the miracle question" for yourself right now.

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Ryan Holiday is a #1 New York Times Best-Selling author and media strategist. He’s written more than a dozen books, including Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, The Obstacle Is the Way, and Stillness Is the Key.

He’s also the host of a popular podcast called The Daily Stoic.

His newest book, Discipline Is Destiny, is part of a series he’s written on The Stoic Virtues. 

Some of the things he talks about today are why a lack of discipline leads to unhappiness, the areas of your life where you can start developing more discipline, and the biggest misconceptions about living a disciplined life.

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We all make poor decisions sometimes. But we often blame those bad decisions on not having enough information. And while that may be a factor, there’s another factor that often comes into play–we aren’t balancing our emotions with logic. 

Emotions should play a role in our decisions. But, if they play too big of a role, we’ll make poor choices.

Logic should also play a role in decision making. But if we base our choices on logic alone, we’ll also make mistakes.

We make our best decisions when we balance logic with emotion. That can be tough to do though.

Fortunately, this is a skill that everyone can learn. And as we sharpen our skills, we get better at making wise decisions.

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Kelsey Crowe, Ph.D. heads Empathy Bootcamp, a company that trains people to be more empathetic. She's also the author of There Is No Good Card for This. She's an expert in helping people find the best words to say to someone going through a tough time.

Some of the things she talks about today are why it's so difficult for us to know what to say to someone who is in pain, the one phrase you can use in almost any situation, and the things you can do for someone who is going through a hard time. Whether someone you know has lost a loved one or they've been diagnosed with a serious illness, Kelsey will help you find the best words to say to them.

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We all imagine catastrophic things happening sometimes. Maybe whenever a loved one doesn’t reply to a text message, right you automatically think something terrible has happened to them. Or perhaps every time your boss asks you to meet, you assume that you’re about to get fired.

Not only do catastrophic thoughts overestimate how bad things are going to be, they also underestimate our ability to cope if something bad does happen. You might tell yourself that you’d be completely destroyed if you got laid off or that you’d never recover if your love interest broke up with you. 

Catastrophic thoughts cause us to feel awful. And they can keep us from taking productive action if you let them.

While you can’t stop them from happening, you can choose how you respond to them. 

It’s a common issue we address in the therapy office — skills for managing catastrophic thoughts. Here's my favorite strategy for dealing with them.

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Nick Viall is best known for his role on The Bachelor TV series. He starred in The Bachelorette for two seasons before starring as "The Bachelor." He also appeared on Bachelor in Paradise.

He has since started a podcast called The Viall Files where he talks about relationships, and he wrote a book called Don’t Text Your Ex Happy Birthday: and Other Advice on Love, Sex, and Dating.

Some of the things he talks about today are the difference between expectations and boundaries, how your ego can interfere with your ability to have healthy relationships, and why it's our natural tendency to choose pain over boredom.

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We all act tough sometimes. There are times when acting tough can serve a purpose. There will be times when you need to set your feelings aside and push through something difficult. 

It’s OK to acknowledge that you feel uncomfortable, to ask for help, and to be vulnerable with other people. In fact, it often takes more strength to acknowledge your feelings or to admit to your mistakes.

It can be helpful to stop and ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing right now an example of being strong, or am I just acting tough?”

Once you recognize the difference, you can choose to start doing the things that help you grow mentally stronger.

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Dr. Mark Goulston is a psychiatrist, best-selling author, and executive coach.

He spent many years of his career working with patients who were experiencing thoughts of suicide. He learned that one of the best things he could do for people who were in pain was to sit and listen to them. 

Some of the things he talks about today are the truth about why people experience suicidal thoughts (it's not always depression), how to talk to a loved one if you're concerned about them, and what you can do if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide.

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We're celebrating our 200th episode by sharing the top mental strength lessons we've learned so far on the podcast. I discuss some of my favorite lessons I've learned from guests like Matthew McConaughey, Nikki Sixx, and Chrissy Metz. I also share the mental strength exercises that our listeners talk about the most from the Friday Fix episodes!

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