Good Life Project || Inspiration | Motivation | Happiness | Meaning | Success

This week, our in-depth conversation features Cathy Burke, speaker, author, and global change maker has served as CEO of The Hunger Project Australia for nearly two decades, and has traveled extensively across the villages of Africa and South Asia in her work of ending hunger.Cathy has been profoundly changed by what she has experienced. The women and men she has met have given her the most enduring lessons in life and leadership, resilience and the power of the human will.She is the author of the book, Unlikely Leaders: Lessons in leadership from the village classroom, These stories are captivating and moving, providing a roadmap for personal and social change.In This Episode, You'll Learn:How Cathy awakened to both the truth of world hunger and her role in helping to end itWhat her first trip to Ethiopia taught her that she (and her group) never saw comingHow harnessing the power of women to lead is the ultimate catalystHow her work has forever changed herMentioned in This Episode:T

There are times it makes sense to throw money at a problem, and times when that's not only the worst thing you can do, it's also the least effective.When we think about performing better, whether it's at work, in sport, even relationships, we often focus first on the things that are easiest to "tweak."Without fail, those things are less about the "core of the matter" and more about 'optimizing the margins." And, if we can do it by buying our way to better, investing in higher-end gear, apparel, equipment, supplies, materials or technology, we try to replace work with money.Thing is, that's often the least effective way to get where we so desperately want to go.What if, instead of spending all of your time, work and money optimizing the margins, you focused instead on optimizing the core? Not by purchasing your way into it, but by working your way into it?That's what we're talking about in this week's Good Life Project Riff. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today's Good Life Project Roundtable™ features guests-in-residence Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, MAPP and and Bob Gower.Emiliya is a leading voice in the world of positive psychology and the science of flourishing, and is the founder of the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology program, which is the largest in the world. In a past life, she was a party entertainer and knows pretty much every group dance ever invented.Bob is a deep systems-thinker, author of Agile Business, organizational-dynamics consultant to some of the largest companies in the world. He's also an ex-cult member, and that comes out in interesting ways in the conversation. They'll be our guests-in-residence for the next two weeks, so buckle up.This is week two in their residency, to be followed by their third and final week next week.Our three topics in this episode:Making time for unadulterated joy and play.Is it getting easier to fly your freak flag without being rejected?How can you hac

Today’s guest, Eric Zimmer, is the host of the wonderful The One You Feed podcast.Growing up in Ohio, his life took a hard turn and began to spin out of control. He eventually found himself addicted to heroin and alcohol, living in a van and struggling to make sense of the world. After years living in an ever-darkening place, though, he was able to tap into a hidden well of strength, get help, get clean and rebuild his life.But, his journey into addiction was not yet over. Believing he could go from clean and sober to casual use, he found himself spiraling back into that place of despair. But this time realized he'd have to make bigger, longer-lasting change, accept certain truths about who he was and create a way to perpetually "feed his good wolf, not his bad one."Along the way, he rebuilt his life, relationships, and career and found solace and fulfillment in, believe it or not, podcasting. He now hosts and produces the hugely popular, The One You Feed podcast, with his childhood friend, Chris Forbes.In th

This week's Good Life Project Riff is a reply to a question from one of our wonderful listeners.You've spent your whole life working at something that pays the bills, something that gives you time to be with family. Life, on the whole, is pretty good. But the thing you're doing to put food on the table and a roof over your head is emptying you out.You'd love to wake up feeling like the way you contribute to the world lights you up. But you have no idea where to start. And, you're not excited about the prospect of disrupting the rest of your life to make it happen.So, what do you do? What's your first step?I've written recently about first working to make things as good as you can get them, before blowing anything up. Whether you decide to eventually leave or even launch something on your own, the starting point is deepening your self-knowledge. Discovering who you really are and what matters. That's what this week's short and sweet Good Life Project Riff is all about. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt

Today's Good Life Project Roundtable™ features guests-in-residence Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, MAPP and and Bob Gower.Emiliya is a leading voice in the world of positive psychology and the science of flourishing, and is the founder of the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology program, which is the largest in the world. In a past life she was a party entertainer and knows pretty much every group dance ever invented.Bob is a deep systems-thinker, author of Agile Business, organizational-dynamics consultant to some of the largest companies in the world. He's also an ex-cult member, and that comes out in interesting ways in the conversation. They'll be our guests-in-residence for the next three weeks, so buckle up.Our three topics in this episode:Is anger always bad or is it all about how you work with it?What's the deal with vibrations and energy, Is it real? Can we feel it? Can we harness it?Warmth and Competence, which matters more and why?It's fast-paced, fun, utte

For most of us, dealing with change is tough. We're wired to avoid wading into the abyss where we don't know how things are going to end.Even tougher, though, is leading others through change. Today's guests, Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez know this. Nancy is the co-founder of her eponymous firm, Duarte, the top presentation design firm in the world. Patti is the Chief Strategy Officer, and a lifelong storyteller and communications savant.Nancy has been on the show before when we filmed a powerful conversation about her "origin story." Today's focus is on the deep collaboration Nancy and Patti have formed, leading the firm through a disruptive, yet transformational reorganization, while simultaneously co-writing a book on leading through change, Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies and Symbols.In today's conversation, we talk about the simultaneously visionary, yet often brutal process of creative destruction in the name of building something better and how to tell the story of what

There's a somewhat ironic relationship between willpower and thinking. They don't play nicely with each other.The more you tax your brain with what we'd call a "cognitive load," the more your ability to regulate your behaviors craters.So, if you're working on a complex problem under deadline or trying to innovate or create, there's a good chance that, while you're in that hyper-thinking, innovating, creating mode, you'll be more susceptible to temptation. Big time!And, interestingly, even the slightest increase in demand for thinking and working memory can shut down your willpower plant. As we'll talk about in today's GLP Riff, the difference between having to hold two or seven numbers in your memory can be the difference between making healthy choices or chowing down on cake!Most people deal with this by just trying to "be a better person" and "digging deeper" to resist the siren call of the cookie jar.But, there's another approach that is far more likely to keep you on the right track. It's about altering y

Today's episode is part 3 of our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.Our three topics in this episode:Can you find the good in everything, or are some things just bad?Money, media and bias, what's the deal (and why do you care)?Crazy cons, has it ever happened to you?It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always g

What if you could take an idea and turn it into a website with more than 12 million visitors a month and a powerful global community?That's exactly what today’s guest, Jason Wachob, did. He is the founder of Mind Body Green, one the web's top wellness websites, featuring thousands of articles, a growing catalog of courses, contributors that include many of the top voices in medicine, nutrition and movement, and a huge global community.This is the second time Jason has been a guest on Good Life Project. He first appeared on the web-series in October 2013. At that point, he shared his powerful story of leaving a career in finance to reclaim his health and found his company. MindBodyGreen was just starting to break out in a big way. Since then, it has exploded.The team has grown in size, they inhabit new offices and Jason's had the chance to dive deeper into not only what it takes to build a company, but also a culture that walks its own content talk, a community around wellness and a good, vibran

I don’t like following, never have.Other peoples' rules and procedures and constraints and processes often don't sit quite right with me.I prefer to take my own path, follow my own rules.It’s why I was the “Lemonade Stand Kid” in my neighborhood—I wanted my own money, own responsibility. It's why I've been an entrepreneur the better part of my adult life. I enjoy figuring things out on my own, then leading rather than being led by others.But what I’ve discovered as I’ve gotten older is there are very real, very important lessons to be learned from being led by others, before you step in to lead yourself.Maybe my biggest awakening to the power of following before you lead came when I was rock climbing with a few partners in Rocky Mountain National Park, and various other destinations in Colorado. As the relative newbie in our group, I spent the entire time following my guide's lead.During the entire weeklong climbing adventure, I never once led a pitch (a ropes length of the climb that was many rope's len

Today's episode is part 2 of our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 or 4 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ (and next week as well) are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.Our three topics in this episode:The three manifestations of God.The Hero's Journey, through a feminine lens.Can video games help ease pain?It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always good-natured and very real. Enj

Originals are the non-conformists who drive creativity and change forward—the ones who help us progress as both independent cultures and a unified species. They're Steve Jobs' "crazy ones."Yet in spite of this, humanity has always had a fascinatingly dysfunctional relationship with originality—we simultaneously venerate and scorn it, particularly in the workplace. Originals may eventually come to be loved, but they’re almost always met with cynicism and resistance first. Because they don't fit in.It’s a fascinating duality, and it’s one of the many things we discuss with today’s guest, Adam Grant—author of two New York Times bestselling books (Originals, Give and Take), and—at 34—the youngest tenured professor in the history of the Wharton School.As Grant shares, thanks to shifts in social and cultural norms, it’s never been easier to be an original, but so many of us still resist the call. In this wide-ranging conversation, we go deep into how originals think and act.We explore how we're often the worst judg

Every large scale creative endeavor, from writing a book to building a body of work, creating a collection or a company, is made up of dozens, maybe even hundreds or even thousands of smaller scale benchmarks, along with the "pushes" it takes to hit each.Every time you hit a benchmark, it feels great. You get to ease off the push and check a box that takes you one step closer to your ultimate quest.But, then, there's also a potential dark side to hitting these micro-goals. There's a break in the momentum. You have to rally yourself to start the push toward the next one fresh. To write the next chapter, start the next canvas, produce the next song, build the next piece of your entrepreneurial greatness.And, the closer you get to end of the bigger endeavor, the more the voice of internal Resistance, as Steve Pressfield described it in The War of Art, rises up and tries to derail you from your work.I've experienced this while writing books in the past. So, when I was working on my next one, I decided to try a mo

Today's episode is our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 or 4 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ (and the two weeks to come) are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.Our three topics in this episode:Great leaders - are they always doubting and what's the deal with self-doubt?What's the deal with westerners reaching east for their spirituality?Is mindfulness always a good thing or can it sometimes do harm as well?It'

Imagine you're on stage, charged with holding the attention of a thousand people. Knowing that, as soon as you stop talking the free cocktails begin. Your job is to keep the audience rapt for a solid 60-minutes. It's you against the taunt of free partying.That's often the speaker's worst nightmare. But, this week's guest, Jon Acuff, loves those moments. A New York Times bestselling author of 5 books, including his latest Do Over, he relishes the challenge to win over his audience and keep them hanging on his every word.What's so interesting is that he doesn't do it by telling them he has everything figured out, then endowing them with his omniscience. He does it by sharing his own humanity, his vulnerability, his not knowing, and then tying it all together in stories that leave people crying with laughter and inspiration. And, he pretty much does the same with his books. Everything he does comes from a place of truth, humor, humility and craft.In this week's conversation, we go behind the scenes, ex

Here’s a great question from one of our listeners, David: If your work is truly cutting edge, how do you effectively market if people don’t even have the distinctions yet to “get it,” and you need to get their attention AND it takes a longer conversation to really open it up? The art of conveying […]The post Conveying the Cool: How to Sell an Idea That’s Ahead of it’s Time appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Imagine you're an actor. You work your entire life to generate a magic moment. A call, offering you the role that could open the door to your dreams. But, there is a cost.The gig will require you to cancel the trip of a lifetime with the one person in the world who leaves you breathless. And, on a deeper level, it represents a choice you've vowed not to make, picking craft over love.What would you do?That's the choice this week's guest, Erika Napoletano grappled with just days before we sat down to record this week's conversation. And, in many ways, it's a choice she and many of us have been forced to answer many times over the course of our lives.This is actually the second time Erika has been on the show. We first sat down a few years back in Boulder, Colorado, where she was deep into her writing career. Since that time, her world has changed in profound ways. Now in Chicago, with a deep focus on speaking and acting, I was curious about this evolution, so I when I heard she'd be passing through New Yor

Last week, Jonathan shared a GLP Riff about how he prioritizes major projects.He talked about his move away from "batching" tasks and parallel creation to taking a longer view and adopting a Serial Creation approach to getting big projects done better, faster and more humanely.Apparently, that spurred a lot of conversation. And, it led to a lot of questions, one of which was...With between 3 and 10 substantial projects that are calling us at any given time, how do we choose what to work on, and in what order?That made us think. How DO we choose? Turns out, there is a bit of a step-by-step process involved. Whether it's right for you, only you'll know. But, in this week's GLP Riff, Jonathan responds to the question of one awesome listener with some specifics about how he prioritizes what to work on and when.In his answer, he also references the work of productivity savant, Charlie Gilkey, along with the 4 Tendencies developed by The Happiness Project and Better Than Before author, Gretchen Rubin. You shou

Today’s guest, Elena Brower, dedicated her life to the practice and teaching of yoga nearly 20 years ago. She rose to acclaim, becoming known first as a wonderful teacher on the New York yoga scene, and then a teacher of teachers on a larger stage.But she also had a secret. Actually, not so much a secret as an addiction. And there came a time where she felt she not only had to get sober, but also share the journey in a very public way. With her students, her community of teachers, and her son.It became one of the most empowering journeys of her life. This is just one of the many paths our conversation takes in today's episode.We explore Elena's early years, her career in textile design and what led her to leave it behind and make yoga her "thing." We talk about the path to becoming a teacher, then eventually developing an authentic voice, a treasured lens and emerging as a teacher of teachers. We explore the power of awareness and mindful attention.We also dive into what it's like to run your own studio,