Your Won Life

In this episode, I interview Bill Burnett, co-author of the bestselling book "Designing Your Life" and Executive Director of the School of Life Design at Stanford University. Bill shares insights on applying design thinking principles to create a more meaningful and fulfilling work life. We talk about the following topics

• The key mindsets of Life Design thinking
• How to combine your life view and work view to guide you in designing your life
• How to do the 'good time journal' to discover what you love
• Creating Odyssey Plans to picture what your life could be like in the future
• How to do informational interviews and how to prototype experiences to find your way forward
• How curiosity will help you find meaningful work
• And much more!

To check out their upcoming book 'How To Live A Meaningful Life' click here

To give me feedback on the episode or connect otherwise, here is my email and my Instagram

In this episode, I challenge you to make 2026 a year of action rather than regret by joining groups and organizations, starting your own, and becoming a producer instead of a consumer.

In this episode, I talk about

• Joining groups aligned with your interests (and checking out company ERGs)
• How joining groups increase your social life
• Start something new if it doesn't exist—use technology to organize
• "Scratch your own itch" when building—start what you need and others will join
• Adopt a producer and problem-solver mindset: problem solvers and producers get paid and change the world
• End 2026 with pride, not regret for what could have been

Resources mentioned in this episode

Kick The Ladder Film Group

Join Philly

Join ATL

Atlanta National Parks Enthusiasts Facebook Group

• Upcoming event: Atomic Habits workshop, Wed. January 28th at Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee - Spring Street - ticket link

2025 was a heck of a year for myself and this podcast! From interviews with great guests, to being sponsored by Lamborghini Atlanta, to solo episodes on important books like 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius, 2025 was a wild ride! I took some of the best clips from different episodes and brought them together in one episode. There were a lot of clips I had to cut for time's sake, but I'm proud of each episode I released this past year.

Here are the full episodes from the clipped segments in this episode, in order of appearance.

How To Talk To Anyone, Anywhere

Bill Burnett: Co-Author- Designing Your Life

Four Thousand Weeks- By Oliver Burkeman- A Synopsis

Mac Prichard: Career Expert and host of 'Find Your Dream Job' podcast

J.L. Collins: Author- The Simple Path To Wealth

Dr. Deepa Halaharvi- Breast Cancer Survivor and Breast Surgeon

Meditations- By Marcus Aurelius- A Synopsis

Lynnette Khalfani Cox- The Money Coach, NY Times Bestselling Author

The Social Dilemma- A synopsis on a groundbreaking documentary

Pete Davis: Co-Creator of the documentary 'Join Or Die'

Lamborghini Urus Activation Event Episode- Craig Arthur Von Schroeder

Have an amazing holiday season and a Happy New Year!

The holidays are great, but also can be stressful, depending on your family dynamics. This episode is to help you get along with your relatives and have a peaceful time at your family gathering. The episode is based on online resources full of advice from pyschologists, therapists, and other experts in related fields.

Here are the sources used in this episode:

Care.com

Self.com

Jezebel.com

Here is the episode I made on 'How to talk to anyone, anywhere'

Here is Jefferson Fisher's website

Here is the blurb on how to approach a family member who is critical, to communicate a request of not focusing on your faults during the family gathering.

"I'm not feeling very good about the holidays this year, and it seems like you're kind of looking at the things that I'm not doing. Maybe this year you could focus on what I am doing or just not even focus on me at all, because it's really a time when I'm wanting to be with people who love me and wanting to be in a nurturing, positive environment."

Let's connect on Instagram! Here's my profile link

Pete Davis is the co-director and co-producer of the documentary 'Join Or Die' (now streaming on Netflix) He teamed up with Rebecca Davis (his sister) and created this groundbreaking documentary, based on the work of Harvard political science professor Dr. Robert Putnam. The film shows how important joining a club or organization is to individuals, but also to communities and democracy as a whole. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The community crisis and its impact on our health, social connection, and democracy

• The question you should ask yourself to figure out what club or organization you want to join

• Amazing practices that different organizations around America use in their meetings

• Inspiring stories of ordinary individuals who have created change in their communities

• The personal habits that keep individuals from joining clubs

• The 'ecosystem' metaphor that gives us hope that rejuvenation is possible

• Interesting behind the scenes info of how a documentary is made

• Great parts of the documentary that he wanted to keep in, but ultimately had to cut

• Ideas that each of us can use to make our communities better

• How joining an organization prepares you to make change in a broader context

• And much more!

Resources:

Watch the preview of Join Or Die

Visit the 'Join Or Die' Website (you can even host a screening!)

Connect with Pete Davis:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Connect with Rebecca Davis:

Website

Instagram

Dr. Deepa Halaharvi is the American Dream! She immigrated to the United States at the age of 16, acquired 3 different medical degrees and became a breast surgeon. Soon after her surgery fellowship, she was diagnosed herself with breast cancer. In our conversation, we talked about breast cancer, cancer prevention, and general healthy living. Here are some of the topics discussed:

• Paying attention to your body and symptoms in general
• Breast self-exam monthly: Check for lumps, discharge, lymph nodes, skin changes (1 week after period)
• Under 40: 15% of cases. Clinical exam every 3 years
• 40+ Women: Annual mammograms
• Family history: Start screening 10 years before relative's diagnosis age

1. Strength training 2x/week + cardio
2. Max 2 drinks/week alcohol
3. 7-8 hours sleep + morning sun
4. Social connection (isolation = 25% higher mortality)
5. Follow screening guidelines

Mediterranean: nuts, legumes, fish, olive oil. Meat 1-2x/week. Avoid processed foods, BPA plastics, pesticides.

Get tested if you have a family history. Also, talk openly with your family about cancer history.

• It's OK to question your doctor, and get a second opinion
• Change doctors if they are dismissive of your concerns
• Keep all records

DO: Listen, provide meals/childcare/cleaning, stay present after treatment DON'T: Share death stories, toxic positivity, "I know how you feel"

• 50% of cancers are preventable
• Early detection = better outcomes
• You're the CEO of your health
• Focus on what's in front of you now

Connect: DrDeepaHalaharvi.com | Tik Tok | The Breast Cancer Podcast | We Rise Together Event Nov. 15, 2025

In this episode, we explore the book 'The Secrets of Adulthood' by Gretchen Rubin (Author of 7 New York Times bestselling books) I go over some of the most powerful ideas shared in the book for navigating adult life with more wisdom and intention.

Some important learnings include

• How to use your environment to improve your lifestyle
• How to care for yourself in a very simple way
• How to navigate conversations, including difficult ones
• How to have difficult conversations in an easier way
• How to make friends more easily
• How your language shapes your perspective
• Making changes that actually change your life
• How to be at war with your vices and win
• How to make decisions that expand your life and future
• And much more!

Resources

Check out the previous episode on Kevin Kelly's "Excellent Advice for Living"

Connect with Gretchen Rubin on her website

Lynette Khalfani-Cox is a 16-time author, founder of TheMoneyCoach.net and the Financial Influencer Network. She has been featured on Good Morning America, Oprah, The Today Show, and various other nationwide TV programs. She is a former Wall Street Journal/CNBC reporter and has been creating personal finance programming and content for the past 22 years.

Financial knowledge from a New York Times best selling author, Lynnette gives a masterclass on financial recovery strategies, credit hacks, budgeting wisdom, and entrepreneurship lessons. She shares how she went from $100K credit card debt to a massive business success.

The Ten "Dreaded D's" Downsizing, Divorce, Death, Disability, Disease, Debt, Damaged credit, Disasters, Dollar Deficits, Discrimination.

Self-Care First Poor physical and mental health = poor financial decisions. Address your mental/physical well being before engaging in tactical fixes.

Lessons from being Laid Off Important steps to take once you're laid off and key self reflection questions to guide you towards choosing what's next for you.

Entrepreneurship Test hobbies as paid work. Confirm you can sell, not just create. Expect income cycles.

Credit Hacks

Rapid rescoring: Fixes errors in 48 hours (mortgage applicants only)

Credit cards damage scores most—pay them down first

Payment history = 35% of score

Large mortgages/student loans don't hurt if paid on time

Credit Cards

Systemic issues exist (predatory rates, discrimination)

Regardless you must own your choices. Read terms, understand costs, opt out of offers.

Budgeting

Never spend more than you earn

Budget for personal spending to prevent resentment

Align your spending with values

Mentorship

Show reciprocity and bring good energy.

Execute on advice. Mentors help those who help themselves.

Connect with Lynnette: AskTheMoneyCoach.com | LinkedIn

Books: Bounce Back, Perfect Credit, Zero Debt and more!

Great Minds Lynnette recommends: Sandra Davis (Sage Financial), Dr. Benjamin Hardy

The documentary 'The Social Dilemma' is one of the most important films made in the past five years. It uncovers the truth about social networking platforms, big tech, and their massive negative impact on society. It's a must watch!

In this episode, I overview many of the important talking points of the documentary. I highly recommend watching this film on Netflix and joining in the conversation.

Watch a preview of the documentary here

Learn more about the movement here

Kevin Kelly is a legend and savant! He's the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, author of numerous books, including 'What Technology Wants', conservationist, and a brilliant thinker with a lot of great life wisdom. In this episode, I share a small fraction of the 450 great life insights and truths that he shares in the book 'Excellent Advice For Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier' and added my own commentary on the advice, and of course a few jokes :)

To learn more about Kevin, you can check out his website

You can purchase a copy of the book here

Shout out to the musical sponsor: Angel City Fiddle Squad! Here is their Spotify and Instagram

If you want to connect online, here's my Instagram