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

Gay Hendricks exploded onto the human potential scene in 2009 with his mega New York Times bestselling book, The Big Leap, where he introduced the concept of the upper limit problems and the zone of genius, which he’s now re-envisioned as a spiral of genius. These ideas, along with tools to help work with them, were based on decades of clinical application and explained so much about why, even when we succeed, we tend to revert back. And it gave us a structure for understanding, then devoting ourselves to the type of work that accesses our fullest potential. Along with his wife, Katie, he’s continued to write, lead workshops around the world, often focused on mind-body practices, cultivating potential and deepening relationships, and he realized something. Without intending it, he’d figured out a methodology to cultivate what he calls conscious luck. Hendricks began codifying this idea years back but got busy with other projects until as luck would have it, just the right person would land in his world t

Starting as an unpaid intern at The Moth when it was still a local storytelling group in New York City, Lea Thau rose up to become the Executive & Creative Director, where she remained for a decade. During her time there, she co-created The Moth Podcast and The Moth Radio Hour, helping to launch the "brand" into a global phenomenon. Thau has since become a Peabody Award-winning producer and director, now hosting her own popular podcast Strangers, which won the 2015 Public Radio March Madness Contest. She is also a storytelling teacher and coach who's worked one-on-one with people like Ethan Hawke, Marc Maron, Gabriel Byrne, Darryll “DMC” McDaniels, Margaret Cho, Suzanne Vega, as well as post-graduate fellows at Harvard, inner-city kids in New York and Los Angeles. Thau also teaches storytelling for businesses like Google, Nike, Intel, and many other companies.You can find Lea Thau at:Website : http://www.storycentral.org/Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/strangerspodcast/-------------Have you disco

Joél Leon is a storyteller, performer, poet, musician, and author. Born and raised in the Bronx, from the earliest age, art, performing and music became both a refuge and a source of creative expression. He’d eventually land a spot at the famed New York High School for Performing Arts, where Joél continued to hone his theatrical chops. But driving it was always a fierce devotion to language and writing that led him to deepen into the craft and become a powerful voice and public storyteller exploring everything from parenting, joy, mental health, creativity, and performance to race, activism, and justice. Leon's work and devotion to revelation, truthtelling, and elevation have led to appearances at the legendary Apollo Theater, TED, TODAY Show, Joe's Pub, Rockwood Music Hall, Columbia University, NYU, Webster Hall, among others. You can find Joél Leon at:Website : http://mydaughtermayhave.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/joelakamag/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet?&n

T Kira Madden is a writer, photographer, amateur magician, and a powerful voice and editor, earning fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Hedgebrook, Tin House, the MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo. She is the founding Editor-in-chief of No Tokens, a journal celebrating work that is "felt in the spine, run entirely by women and non-binary individuals, dedicated to featuring the words and artwork of all voices of the past, present, and future, here to keep stories alive and to make a physical object to hold in your hands." Madden's 2019 memoir, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, dropping you into a wildly colorful and character-filled childhood. She also teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and we explore all of this in today’s conversation.You can find T Kira Madden at:Website: http://www.tkiramadden.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tkiramadden/-------------Have you discovered your Spark

Michael Gervais is a high-performance psychologist working in high-stakes environments with some of the best in the world, training the mindset skills and practices essential to pursuing and revealing one’s potential. His clients include world record holders, Olympians, internationally acclaimed artists and musicians, MVPs from every major sport and Fortune 100 CEOs. A published, peer-reviewed author and recognized speaker on optimal human performance, Dr. Gervais has been featured by NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, ESPN, NFL Network, Red Bull TV, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Outside Magazine, WIRED, ESPN Magazine and others.He is the co-founder of Compete to Create, (http://competetocreate.net/) a digital platform business helping people become their best through mindset training and the host of Finding Mastery, (https://findingmastery.net/) a podcast that takes you inside the rugged and high-stakes environments of those on the path of mastery to explore how they train minds to be at their very best.You can

Arielle Duhaime-Ross is the host of Reset, a podcast that re-evaluates the role of technology in our lives, from Stitcher and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Passionate about a breadth of topics from science and the environment to health and LGBTQ issues, Duhaime-Ross examines technology’s impact on humanity and reveals the ethical pitfalls of our connected lives, the power structures driving, or stalling innovation, and the dubious scientific claims that can creep into our collective psyche. Previously, Duhaime-Ross was the first climate change correspondent in American nightly TV news. She reported for HBO’s VICE News Tonight, an Emmy award-winning nightly newscast, and covered the politics of climate change, life-threatening instances of environmental contamination, and the effect that global warming is already having on communities worldwide. Prior to joining VICE, Duhaime-Ross was a science reporter at Vox Media’s The Verge, and has written for Scientific American, Nature Medicine, The Atlantic, and Quart

Mia Birdsong is a pathfinder, community curator, and storyteller who engages the leadership and wisdom of people experiencing injustice to chart new visions of American life. She has a gift for making visible and leveraging the brilliance of everyday people so that our collective gifts reach larger spheres of influence, cultural and political change, and create wellbeing for everyone. In her book How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, (https://amzn.to/30WJWX9) Birdsong examines community life, reimagines family and chosen family, and points us toward the promise of our collective vitality. Previously, as founding Co-Director of Family Story, Mia lifted up a new national story about what makes a good family. As Vice President of the Family Independence Initiative, she leveraged the power of data and stories to illuminate and accelerate the initiative low-income families take to improve their lives. Her public conversations, like the New America series centering Black women as agents

Dan Heath is the co-author, along with his brother, Chip, of four New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments. The Heath Brothers’ books have sold over three million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages. But, interesting, separated by 10 years, the two weren't super close until they began to collaborate later in life. Their work has transformed not only the lives of millions of readers, but along the way, two brothers as well. Dan’s new book - his first solo release - Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen (https://amzn.to/3hmfMC7) debuted in March 2020 and was an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs who are fighting for social good. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.You can find Dan Heath at:Website : https://heathbrothers.com/books/upstream/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessme

Iconic artist, designer, and New York Magazine cofounder, Milton Glaser's (http://www.miltonglaser.com/) work has been seen everywhere from the halls of global industry to, social movements to local pubs, the Museum of Modern Art and the Georges Pompidou Center. He was the visionary behind the legendary I ♥ NY logo, designed and given for free as an offering to the city he loved when it teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the 70s. The generation-defining, rainbow-haired Bob Dylan poster? Glaser, too. And, thousands of other works that have moved millions of people and defined moments, industries, and generations. Over our 8-year history, Glaser has become the single most-referenced and, arguably, most revered guest. His work changed us, and so did our time with him.Milton Glaser passed away on Friday, June 26th at the age of 91. On his birthday. So, we wanted to share this “Best Of” conversation from our 2013 archives in honor of his life and impact, and as a powerful prompt to nurture the creative impulse

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Ann Patchett is the multi-award-winning and New York Times Bestselling author of eight novels, including The Patron Saint of Liars, Bel Canto, Run, Commonwealth. and The Dutch House, along with nonfiction works, including Truth & Beauty, about her friendship with the writer Lucy Grealy, What Now? an expansion of her graduation address at Sarah Lawrence College, and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a collection of essays examining the theme of commitment. In 2019, she published her first children’s book, Lambslide, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Patchett's work has been translated into more than thirty languages. In November 2011, yearning to stem the flow of great bookstores from Nashville, Tennessee where she lives, Patchett opened Parnassus Books with her business partner Karen Hayes. She has since become a spokesperson for independent booksellers, championing books and bookstores. In 2012 she

Elaine Welteroth is a New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning journalist and a producer and judge on the new Project Runway. She is known for her groundbreaking work at the helm of Teen Vogue, where she was appointed the youngest ever Editor-in-Chief at a Conde Nast publication in 2017, transforming the magazine into a platform for advocacy and social activism. She's now a leading expert and advocate for the next generation of change-makers. Welteroth was recently appointed Cultural Ambassador for Michelle Obama's When We All Vote initiative. Her writing appears in The New York Times, British Vogue, and The Hollywood Reporter. She has written for the hit show Grown-ish and has appeared on-camera for a range of media outlets including ABC News and Netflix. Welteroth released her first book More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are No Matter What They Say (https://amzn.to/30nh8q7) in June 2019. Her debut literary work became an immediate New York Times bestseller and was the recipie

 James McBride is an accomplished musician and author whose books have been translated into 19 languages and sold millions of copies around the world. He's toured with jazz legends, written songs for everyone from Anita Baker to Grover Washington, Jr. McBride also penned the National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling The Good Lord Bird, which Showtime is turning into a television series, authored bestselling American classic The Color of Water, along with Miracle at St. Anna, which was adapted into a film by Spike Lee. Awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Obama “for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America,” McBride is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. His newest novel, Deacon King Kong, (https://books.apple.com/us/book/deacon-king-kong/id1469783511) drops you into Brooklyn, circa 1969, with a fierce interplay between social commentary, immersive storytelling, and wild humor that ultimately lands in the form of awakening, redemption,

Growing up outside Newark, NJ, Judge Victoria Pratt found herself in the role of translator, advocate, and champion at a very young age. That deep desire to serve at the sweet-spot between justice and humanity never left her. Rising up through government and educational institutions, she eventually became Chief Judge in Newark Municipal Court in Newark, NJ. But she was not your ordinary judge. For her, it was all about serving the broader humanity and needs of both those who appeared in her courtroom, as well as those who were affected in the community. Judge Pratt gained acclaim as a champion for criminal justice reform and restorative justice in her Newark courtroom, worked with jurisdictions across the US, and as far as Dubai, Ukraine, Mexico, and England. Her TED Talk, How Judges Can Show Respect, went viral. Now a leading voice in criminal justice reform and restorative justice through her consulting firm Pratt Lucien Consultants, Judge Pratt speaks to corporate and organizational leaders about restoring

In 1987, John O’Leary was a curious nine-year-old boy. Playing with fire and gasoline, he created a massive explosion in his home and was burned on 100% of his body. He was given less than a 1% chance to live. John not only survived but, with the support of an incredible family, friends and community, found a way to reclaim a sense of wonder, joy and service that has led to a stunning career inspiring millions, writing books, while marrying the love of his life and raising four kids together. His #1 National Bestselling book ON FIRE recounts much of this story, and his popular Live Inspired Podcast takes you deeper into lessons learned. John's new book, IN AWE, (https://amzn.to/3dQ1dUO) explores the key elements that allow you to live from a place of awe, no matter what the world throws at you.We recorded a Good Life Project conversation with John in 2016, which you can listen to here: https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/john-oleary-2/You can find John O'Leary at:Website : http://johnolearyinspires.c

Graduating Oberline, Alix Spiegel landed in Chicago and stumbled upon a help-wanted ad that would lead to an internship with soon-to-be-legendary radio producer, Ira Glass. A year later, Spiegel became one of the founding producers of This American Life, where she, Ira, and a small, devoted team would change the face of public radio, storytelling, journalism, and, eventually podcasting. She eventually left to work on NPR's Science Desk for a decade and build more of a life outside radio. Then, January 2015, Spiegel joined forces with journalist Lulu Miller to co-host Invisibilia, a series from NPR about the unseen forces that control human behavior — our ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and thoughts. Invisibilia interweaves personal stories with fascinating psychological and brain science, in a way that ultimately makes you see your own life differently. Her work on human behavior has also appeared in The New Yorker magazine and The New York Times.You can find Alix Spiegel at: Invisibilia : https://www.npr.o

Lance Allred was born legally deaf in a polygamist commune in rural Montana. When he was 13, his family escaped and eventually came out of hiding in Utah, where for the first time, he had to step into a world that he had no experience navigating. Lance had always loved writing, but at nearly 6’4” in middle school, and looking for a new way to belong, his height caught the eye of the basketball coach. The game became his life and he'd eventually become a star athlete that led to college, then years playing all over the world in the pros, including a stint in the NBA. But, underneath it all, Lance never left his love of writing, and he began to share his inner life in print, authoring a number of books and eventually leaving the game to speak to and train leaders. In his newest book, The New Alpha Male, (https://amzn.to/2Ub4d6W) Lance turns his deeply reflective, insightful, and honest lens on the role of masculinity, how his experience of it has changed dramatically since becoming a dad and what he leads

Austin Channing Brown is a writer, speaker and media producer providing inspired leadership on racial justice. She is the author of I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness (https://amzn.to/2X8qyEc) and the Executive Producer of The Next Question: A Web Series Imagining How Expansive Racial Justice Can Be (https://www.tnqshow.com/). Austin started her career in the nonprofit world, focusing on homelessness and housing, youth engagement, and church operations before blazing her own path in speaking, consulting, media and writing. As a leader, educator, and producer, Channing Brown creates programming that centers the experiences of Black women, dismantling the foundations of white supremacy, while interweaving a way forward for all who will listen. Her nationally-celebrated first season of The Next Question included a slate of incredible contributors. Alongside her co- creators, Chi Chi Okwu and Jenny Booth Potter, the hosts examine complex topics affecting social justice while simultan

James Nestor has written for Outside, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Dwell, The New York Times, and more. His book Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves was a finalist for the 2015 PEN/ESPN Award For Literary Sports Writing, an Amazon Best Science Book of 2014, and more. Nestor has appeared on dozens of national television shows, including ABC's Nightline and CBS Morning News, and on NPR. He lives and breathes, surfs and writes in San Francisco. Nestor's new book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art (https://amzn.to/3ekUIJS) is a myth-busting and paradigm-shifting look at how we breathe, what it does to us and how to harness breathing to transform our health and lives.You can find James Nestor at:Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/mrjamesnestor/Website : http://mrjamesnestor.com/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complet

Jameela Jamil an actor, writer, podcaster, and activist. Leaving behind a high-profile life as a host and DJ on two of the UK's most iconic TV and radio shows, a health scare led her to make a radical change that delivered her into a new life in Los Angeles with the intention of shifting into writing. But, fate had a different plan. Never having acted before, she auditioned for and landed a starring role as Tahani on NBC's The Good Place, opposite Ted Danson and Kristen Bell. Seeking to leverage her growing influence to become a voice for change and equality, she launched activism platform, I Weigh. This rapidly became a global movement to mobilize activism, around issues of mental health, climate change, equality for marginalized groups, and what she calls "radical inclusivity." In April, Jamil launched the ‘I WEIGH podcast, where she hosts thought-leaders, performers, activists, influencers, and friends, exploring how they are working through their past shames to find where their value truly lies.You c

Dani Shapiro is a New York Times bestselling author and gifted examiner of life, especially her own. Her latest book, Inheritance, (https://amzn.to/2WOiVT6) drops you into a surprise revelation about who her dad was or, more accurately, wasn’t and the familial earthquake this discovery led to. When the book published, Dani learned something else. She wasn't the only one with big family secrets. That realization became the inciting incident Dani's podcast called Family Secrets (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-secrets/id1441824608). And, she’s now launched a second daily podcast, The Way We Live Now (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-way-we-live-now/id1506782444), that introduces you to the individual stories of people moving through this current global moment together. And, through all of it, Dani would also find herself hurdled into her husband’s - the love of her life’s - cancer diagnosis and treatment, moving through the surreal experience of celebrating, speaking and traveling, then re