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

A child of the 80s, Lisa Sugar grew up obsessed with pop-culture. Little did she know, her childhood fascination would become her career.Graduating college, Sugar headed into the world of media, and then advertising. She was working her way up the ranks on the media planning side. But a little voice kept calling her to write. So, she started a little website, POPSUGAR, on the side.At first, she was writing in the evening and weekends, then pretty much any break she could get. What happened next took her breath away. Turns out, her obsession wasn't just her own. And, her voice was landing in a way that had people reading, sharing and coming back for more.Within a year, more than a million readers were coming to her website, so she quit her job and made POPSUGAR her full-time pursuit. Six months later, with the company now exploding, her husband left his tech-job and joined her. POPSUGAR is now the leading lifestyle brand in the world, with more than 85-million visitors a month and 1.5 billion media impres

What if we could tap into the hidden superhero, savant or performer that lays buried deep inside us to do things we could normally never do? Not as a way to hide or put on a mask, but as a way to mine a secret wellspring of latent boldness and often creativity and energy that […]The post The Power of Personas: Unlock Your Inner Boldness appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Quick note - be sure to listen to the end, we've got a live, acoustic performance by this week's guest that will rock your world!Ali Handal grew up loving music but packed up her guitar and dreams of becoming a professional musician in order to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology. Eventually, though, music called her home.She spent years mastering her craft, becoming a lead-guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, and entrepreneur, eventually co-founding Triple Scoop Music which helps artists license their projects. Ali has also released three albums, toured across four continents, and worked with artists such Neil Young, Janet Jackson, and Paul Williams. Her training book, Guitar for Girls, was written to help students at all levels gain the self-confidence needed to master new challenges so they don't settle for less.And, a little more than three years ago, she was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer.In this episode, we dive deep into her remarkable journey from student of human beh

When you’re looking to build something real, something that matters, from a family or community, to a business or any other mission-driven endeavor, skills matter. So do people. Thing is, there’s also something bigger that’s important. It’s about the sweet spot between cultivating a powerful, well-defined and articulated ethos or culture, then matching that ethos […]The post When Ethos Meets Ability, Magic Ensues. appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The first time I stumbled upon Mark Manson's writing, I didn't know what to do. It was a complete pattern interrupt.The issues were raw and real, the ideas were rich and his lens was so contrarian and refreshing it made me think. Really think. But, then, there was the language. This particular essay was wall-to-wall F-bombs.I was having trouble reconciling the depth of thought with the width of profanity. I found myself diving into more of his work, and discovered that I wasn't the only one. Some 2 million people read him every month. Waiting for his next philosophical provocation.When I heard Mark had a new book out, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to sit down with him and dive into his bigger story. To get to know the person behind the writing. In this week's conversation, Mark and I take a meandering road through everything from global travel and which country emotes more than others to a more nuanced conversation of pain, possibility, writing and exactly how, when and why he began to insert profa

You may have heard, I have a new book coming out. It’s called How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom. You can download the first chapter free here. What you have not yet heard, though, is the odyssey that unfolded behind the scenes. The twists and turns and struggles and […]The post The Making of a Book: How to Live a Good Life appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is it possible to optimize your career for money and meaning simultaneously? Or does one always take the lead?We explore this and more in today's conversation with author, career and business strategist and international speaker Jenny Blake.Jenny helps people organize their brains, move beyond burnout and build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. Her latest book, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One dives deep into how to methodically make your next career move by doubling down on what is already working. With two years at a technology start-up as the first employee, five years at Google on the Training and Career Development teams, and over five years of running her own business, Jenny combines her love of technology with her superpower of simplifying complexity to help clients through big transitions — often to pivot their career or business.We talk through her own personal pivots that lead her to leave the clout of Google, write her first book, find herself in NYC with

How does someone spend over five decades of their life fundamentally doing the same thing and still be so madly devoted and passionate and in love with what their doing that they show up and rock it out? I’m talking about Bruce Springsteen. The man. The myth. The legend. What drives that astonishing experience? What leads […]The post Work as an Act of Devotion and Expression (and, gulp, love). appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In February 2006, Sir Ken Robinson stepped onto the TED stage and delivered a scathing indictment of the modern educational system, entitled "How Schools Kill Creativity."That talk exploded into the public's consciousness and has since become the most watched TED Talk in history, with more than 32 million views and more than 250 million people estimated to have seen it. While it may not have started the conversation on education, it brought a level of global attention to the problem like never before.In the intervening 9 years, Robinson has continued to speak and evangelize a different approach to education built not around order and conformity, but passion and personalization. And he's written a series of bestselling books with his newest, Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution that's Transforming Education, featuring inspiring "schools done right" case-studies to both learn from and build around.Even more remarkable than Robinson's fierce intellect and provocative ideas is where he came from. Growing u

We are constantly surrounded by imperfect circumstances that we perceive as barriers to our ability to act at the highest level. So, what do we do? We wait for the stars to align. For a sign from God that “now is the time.” Never realizing, with rare exception, that sign is our own willingness to act. […]The post There is no perfect moment beyond the one you create. appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As we move into these final weeks of August, we'll be airing two extraordinary "Best Of" episodes, featuring powerful conversations from the last year.First up, Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert exploded into the public's consciousness in 2006 with the release of her mega-bestselling memoir, Eat Pray Love.Since then, she's published a series of books, given a TED talk on creative genius that's been viewed more than 10 million times, become a leading voice on the pursuit of a creative, connected and vital life.GIlbert's latest book, Big Magic, takes you deeper into what it means to live a creative life, offering a wonderful blend of wisdom, unabashed magical thinking, amazing stories and a whole lot of unexpected myth-busting and contrarian insights.I had a chance to sit down with Liz and, as often happens with these Good Life conversations, we ended up going all sorts of places I'd never planned. We touched on the power of curiosity and the fallacy of passion, where creativity comes from, what stops us from doi

*** Camp GLP Final Call: Come join us next week! *** Why do we hammer ourselves with life-stifling, defeatist absolutes attached to negative expectations all the time? I always get rejected… I always get knocked down… I always lose… I always… I call this the “tyranny of always,” and it is a form of false self-talk that is immensely destructive, […]The post The Tyranny of Always appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Facing a tough period in his life, this week's guest, Ruben Chavez, turned to books to both reconnect with curiosity and rekindle the spark of possibility. As he read, he began to take voracious notes, and write down quotes he connected with. Around the same time, he discovered Instagram. So, he began sharing bite-sized wisdom distilled from his favorite books on his ThinkGrowProsper Instagram account.People took notice and a community began to form. That community has now grown to more than two million people around the world, and allowed Ruben to build a business and his career around his passion for learning and sharing wisdom, and work with everyone from authors to large brands along the way.We cover a lot of ground in this conversation as Ruben shares his backstory, his deeper motivation for growth, the steps leading to the popularity of his account, and the opportunities and lessons that came with it. We discuss the reluctance many of us feel when sharing our imperfect

What does it ACTUALLY take to be great? Over the last decades, we’ve learned that practice, alone, isn’t enough. You need to make your practice “deliberate,” with a fierce focus on assessing and improving. In this sense, becoming mesmerizingly good might have more to do with being purposeful than obsessed. Thing is, this type of […]The post Why the Best of the Best Always Have Teachers appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When you think of masculine and feminine, do you naturally think "man" and "woman" respectively?Our guest today believes everyone can harness both masculine and feminine energy to achieve greater success in business and, ultimately, life.In this episode, Jess Lively unpacks how masculine and feminine, intuition and ego play together effectively. She explains why Oprah is the quintessential example of a woman who's exploited both the masculine and feminine energy and how we can replicate that approach.Jess now helps people live from values-based intentions through LifeWithIntentionOnline.com and The Lively Show podcast. She began her entrepreneurial journey making jewelry at the side of the pool at the age of 15. Jess JC was born and cemented the notion that a business at its core is a process of creating something from nothing and finding customers who will buy it.After completing her MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2007, Jess grew her accessory bus

Srinivas Rao was following the typical life path for an American kid. Raised in a family steeped in high-expectations of professional success, he ended up pursuing an MBA at Pepperdine. He figured, when he got out, like most MBA grads, he’d be minted. Except for two things. He graduated in the worst time in the […]The post How to be unmistakable (even when you’re falling apart): Srinivas Rao appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mary Fons knew she wanted to be a writer from a young age, and was pursuing that path when a catastrophic illness nearly took her life, leading to surgery and changing her future forever.As she recovered and started to stitch her life back together, she began working with her mom, Maryann Fons, a legend in the world of quilting and author of what has become known as the "Quilter’s Bible."Simultaneously rebuilding her health while building her own name as a leading voice in the massive quilting world, she began speaking, writing books, designing textiles and producing media and appearing regularly on television with her mother. Still, she knew deep down that quilting wasn't her dream. Writing and spoken-word began to call her back to a more deeply ingrained destiny.We recorded this conversation at a major point of inflection for Mary. She was about to make a huge move, and in a way, this conversation is her announcement. As we wrap up, Mary also reads a powerful spoken word piece that landed her writing a

Have you ever thought about leaving everything behind and traveling the world? Of cashing out your savings to hit the road and create lifelong memories and new experiences?This may sound like an impossible dream to most, but our guest today did just that. Alastair Humphreys was poised to accept his dream job when he made the decision to spend the next four years of his life biking 46,000 miles around the world.Alastair lived for four years traveling on just under $10,000 without taking any other jobs or earning any other money. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? That was just the beginning of an incredible life of adventures.Alastair has become a documentary filmmaker, author, speaker, and blogger while continuing to pursue his passion for adventuring. Today, he shares why he continues to go on these adventures and what he gains from them. Alastair’s extraordinary experiences are some that I know many of you may envy and wish to emulate, and he shares the steps you can take to start your incredible journey.In Thi

Today’s guest, Chris Daze Ellis, is a born-and-bred New York artist with a fascinating origin story. Although he began his prolific painting career in the gritty New York subways of the mid-70s, Daze is one of the few artists from that initial group to have successfully transitioned from the underground to the studio, then the galleries and […]The post Chris “Daze” Ellis: From Street Artist to Museum Collections appeared first on Good LifeProject. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How did an Australian woman who wanted to be the next Olivia Newton-John become the voice of SIRI and the confident giver of directions in than 400 million GPS and smart-enabled devices?Also known as “GPS Girl,” today’s guest, Karen Jacobsen, never saw her device-enabled voice-future coming. It happened entirely under a shroud of secrecy, when Karen took a job that required spending days cloistered in a studio, reading tons of phrases, but never being told why. It wasn’t until a friend called years later and said “you’re on our GPS” that she finally learned what’d happened!Behind her golden voice, though, is a much bigger story. At heart, Karen is a songwriter and singer. Her dream was always to become the next Olivia Newton-John in the United States. To take the pop music world by storm.That dream has since led to a career not just as the voice of SIRI and GPS devices, but in music, including gigs singing the national anthem in front of massive stadiums on TV, having songs featured on hit shows, an