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

This week on The Good Life Project, we welcome Sharon Salzberg, a renowned meditation and lovingkindness teacher and founder of Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She travels the world teaching people how to become aware and cultivate lovingkindness in their lives.Sharon also recently partnered with Dan Harris to bring her latest venture to life, 10% Happier, an exciting new app that builds on Dan’s book, 10% Happier.Today, Sharon and I dive into her inspiring path to peace and love and her journey to help others achieve the same. A journey that involved a pilgrimage to India, where she's meet not only her teacher, but a small group of students who, along with her, would eventually rise up to become some of the world's greatest teachers.In This Episode, You'll Learn:How Sharon's difficult childhood set in motion a deeper quest.Why Sharon went to India, what she hoped to find, and the surprises that awaited.How Sharon ended up in the town of Buddha's birth with a small group of

This week, my special guest is Dr. Shefali Tsabary. If her name sounds familiar, you may have seen one of her appearances as the resident parenting expert on Oprah.Dr. Shefali is the author of multiple books, including her latest, The Awakened Family. She is a clinical psychologist with an incredibly unique East-meets-West approach to helping adults become who they need to be through a relationship with children.I knew that I needed to have Dr. Shefali on the show to share her incredible insight on the anxiety that many families experience. This anxiety can be present not only between parents and children but also between adults.As we talk today, Dr. Shefali shares her own personal journey, from growing up in Mumbai in a strongly patriarchal society to finally striking out on her own and heading to San Diego and then New York. Her growth is an inspirational story of what you can achieve with supportive parents, a dream and the drive to succeed.Listen in to learn to determine how to help people

What if you had to live your life in the spotlight. With thousands of people watching not just your every move, but the things you said, the way you looked, the state of your body and life?And, what if earning your living depended on it?That's the place today's guest, Petra Kolber, found herself in. A renowned teacher, speaker, athlete and spokesperson in the fitness industry for decades, she lived nearly every waking minute in the public's eye.It was an extraordinary experience, but it also came with a cost. An obsession with perfection, setting the bar at a level that was persistently emotionally and physically unattainable. And, that led to an inner life that was a very different place than her outer life. Her awakening to this led to a heroine's journey that's left her in a very different place, one of renewal, positivity and a willingness to forgive her own humanity.Moving into a new season in her life, Petra remains "exposed," but now she's speaking directly to the issue, and to the near-maniacal and de

What if success was less about mastery and more about sight?Simple truth: Most of us don’t see what is right in front of us.Instead, we see mental models and imprints of what things “should” look like or what we’ve been told to see. And, we miss what's actually happening, along with all the critical details.As entrepreneurs or professionals, it’s extremely difficult to become extraordinary at anything, to serve on the deepest level or build businesses, careers and lives that are tapped into their potential until we first understand how to see what’s in front of us.Today’s guest, Amy Herman, can help. A former lawyer with a dual education in art, she saw how a pervasive inability to both see truth and details and then share them in a clear way was limiting the work of so many people. So, she developed The Art of Perception, a program to teach (non-artist) professionals strengthen their perception skills using classic works of art in a museum setting.The impact has been astonishing. She now works with everyone

How do you go from being a wine newbie to a sommelier at Thomas Keller’s famed French Laundry?That was the journey that our today’s guest, André Mack, took. And that was just the beginning. From there, André became the head sommelier at Per Se, Thomas Keller’s restaurant in New York, before becoming a winemaker and creating his own, provocative wine brand, Mouton Noir.In this episode of the Good Life Project, André shares his incredible journey and his love affair with learning, entrepreneurship, wine and design, as well as the deep insights he’s gained along the way. We talk about his consuming obsession with becoming extraordinary and how it moved him to become an award-winning sommelier, winemaker, designer & author. You won’t want to miss this inspiring episode!In This Episode You’ll Learn:André’s experience growing up as a prototypical military kid and how it opened up his world.Why André and his wife decided to homeschool their kids.The reason why he left the finance world for the service indus

Today's guest is Eileen Flannigan, the Founder and Managing Director of Girls on Fire Leaders, a non-profit that provides young girls in developing nations with personal and community leadership skills through immersive travel, experiential self-learning, authentic self-expression, and global connectivity.Eileen was a successful digital marketing strategist for large tech startups in Silicon Valley. But after two decades in this field, she began listening to the voice inside her that called her to make a bigger contribution to the world.When she turned forty, Eileen went to India and gave herself two guidelines: she would go alone, and she would follow her heart completely. For nearly two months, she hung out with street kids and young girls in brothels. Her time there set her life on a transformational course that blossomed into Girls on Fire Leaders, which now empowers adolescent girls all around the world.Don’t miss this inspiring and insightful look into the life and mind of an entrepreneur who left her f

Today's guest is obsessed with wonder. In fact, it's his vocation.Jeffery Davis is the founder of Tracking Wonder, where he explores how to reconnect with wonder and also help people tell their their stories through books, businesses and beyond.As a kid, he became concerned about paying attention to life and ensuring that he'd never lose his imagination. That led him to become a poet, a teacher, an author and then...everything fell apart.He realized he'd been living entirely "from the neck up," largely disembodied and disconnected from his heart. That awakening launched a years-long quest to rediscover a deeper, more soulful driver. It brought him back to wonder as a driving force in his life and eventually as his career.He has taught his signature approaches to creativity, writing, and branding at numerous universities, conferences, and centers around the world. An author, speaker, and online columnist for Psychology Today, he is in dogged pursuit of what helps creatives thrive amidst constant challenge

Today's Good Life Project Roundtable™ features guests-in-residence Daniel Lerner and Gabra Zackman. This is session 3 in their three-week residency.Dan Lerner is a leading expert on elite performance, excellence and the realization of unique potential, working with musicians, athletes, and numerous Fortune 500 companies and executives. He's on the faculty at both New York University (where he teaches the always waitlisted “The Science of Happiness”) and the University of Pennsylvania, where he works with the graduate program in Applied Positive Psychology. He is currently writing a book about the process and mindset that leads to healthy, uniquely individual excellence.Gabra Zackman is an actress, writer and voice over artist, frequent traveler and lover of adventure. She works regularly in theater, has a parallel and sustaining career in audiobook narration, having recorded over 300 audiobooks to date, and has had great success with her first writing contract,the humorous, romantic, spy-center

Ever hear of the 10,000 rule? The idea that it takes 10,000 hours to become world-class at anything?Well, what if it wasn't true?And, what if the research it was based on actually said something very different? Something that somehow got "lost in translation" when the data went mainstream.In today's conversation, we sit down with K. Anders Ericsson, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Florida State University. He studies what it takes to be the best in the world in domains such as music, chess, medicine, and sports. And it was his research that served of the basis for the now wildly popular 10,000 hour rule that's been cited in some of the biggest books of the last 10 years..Problem is, as you're about to discover, it's a lie. There never was a 10,000 rule. That number, along with the idea of a "rule," is based on a series of misinterpretations of his work.In this new book, Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, and in today's conversation, Ericsson finally sets the record straight.

Today we're featuring a very special GLP Guest Riff with Melissa Ambrosini.Melissa Ambrosini is the bestselling author of Mastering Your Mean Girl, an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and self-love teacher.In her signature straight-talking style, Melissa teaches women how to master their inner Mean Girl, smash through limiting beliefs, and ditch the self-doubt so that they can start truly living the life of their dreams.THer mission is to inspire women across the globe to create a heart centred life that is wildly wealthy, fabulously healthy and bursting with love.By now, there's a pretty good chance you've heard of FOMO or fear of missing out. In today's guest Riff, Melissa offers a provocative reframe, a little something she calls JOMO or the "joy" of missing out. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today, I’m excited to be talking to Emily Heyward, co-founder of white-hot, Brooklyn-based branding phenomenon, Red Antler.While attending Harvard, Emily took a deep dive into the study of pop culture, ethical philosophy, and what drives people at the core. After college, she entered the advertising world where her career began to take off.After realizing she loved being in control, Emily decided to enter the world of entrepreneurship, co-founding the groundbreaking branding agency, Red Antler, which quickly exploded into one of the hottest shops, with a unique business-model. They serve early-stage ventures, often becoming involved on a level that goes way beyond traditional brand-building. Or in their words, they "build brands for startups that are changing how the world works."I invited Emily to the Good Life Project to explore her life and her influences. She shares her thoughts about creating something of your own, as well as helping other visionaries build something that becomes a global brand and

This week's guest: This week, our in-depth conversation features David Burkus, dad, author, speaker, researcher, and associate professor of management at Oral Roberts University.He teaches courses on organizational behavior, creativity and innovation, and strategic leadership and has made it his purpose to facilitate the transfer of good ideas. THe is the author The Myths of Creativity: The Truth About How Innovative Companies Generate Great Ideas and writes regularly for Harvard Business Review, Forbes, PsychologyToday and 99U. He's also the founder and host of Radio Free Leader, a podcast that shares insights on leadership, innovation, and strategy.His new book, Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, draws on decades of research which has found that not only are many of our fundamental management practices wrong and misguided, but they can be downright counter-productive.In This Episode, You'll Learn:How he ended up in a u

Funny thing about competence. With rare exception, we so often look at others and think they've got it so much more together than us.They're more skilled, smarter, more established, more connected, better able to do the thing we most want to do.Except, it's almost always a lie.We're all in that same "looking at the person ahead of us and wishing" boat. Thinking someday we'll get there. Or, maybe giving up and wondering how do we just be okay being okay.When we determine our own self-worth, happiness or sense of fulfillment in comparison to others, we always lose. Because we're comparing our insides to their outsides. And, even if we knew their insides, they're not us.So, here's the thing.This day. This moment. We ARE enough. You Are Enough.That's what this week's short and sweet GLP Riff is all about. And, it's a response to a listener email we recently received. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today's Good Life Project Roundtable™ features guests-in-residence Daniel Lerner and Gabra Zackman. This is session 2 in their three-week residency.Dan Lerner is a leading expert on elite performance, excellence and the realization of unique potential, working with musicians, athletes, and numerous Fortune 500 companies and executives. He's on the faculty at both New York University (where he teaches the always waitlisted “The Science of Happiness”) and the University of Pennsylvania, where he works with the graduate program in Applied Positive Psychology. He is currently writing a book about the process and mindset that leads to healthy, uniquely individual excellence.Gabra Zackman is an actress, writer and voice over artist, frequent traveler and lover of adventure. She works regularly in theater, has a parallel and sustaining career in audiobook narration, having recorded over 300 audiobooks to date, and has had great success with her first writing contract, the humorous, romantic, spy-cente

Today's guest, Amy Koppelman, is a three-time novelist (so far), mom and an incredibly insightful human being. Her latest novel is Hesitation Wounds.Amy's second book, I SMILE BACK, was turned into a movie starring Sarah Silverman that premiered at the 2015 Sundance, Toronto and Deauville Film Festivals.I wanted to sit down with Amy, because I was drawn in by her immediate, visceral writing voice, her willingness to explore places that might scare off many others and also because of her lens on the writing journey and on life.In this conversation, not only does Amy share a bundle of unfiltered advice on the creative writing process, she also takes us, very transparently, into her personal journey and her lifelong dance with depression, becoming a mom and wife and author and how each affected the other.Listen in for some insightful thoughts on traversing the creative writing process to write your best work.  In This Episode, You’ll Learn:Why every creative writer’s process has to

In Buddhism as well as in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, you'll find a conversation about four virtues known as the four immeasurables.These are qualities that we might seek to both cultivate and then embody in the name of service. But, they're also known to have a profound affect on the way we experience challenge, stress, relationships, work and pretty much all of life.Wondering what they are?Loving-kindnessCompassionAppreciative JoyEquanimityThese are four virtues that I try to explore and cultivate in life. But, I was also curious, what might happen if you worked to cultivate the four immeasurables specifically in the quest to craft a meaningful business or career?Exploring this question is what today's GLP Riff is all about. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alec Ross is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and the author of The New York Times bestseller The Industries of the Future.He recently served for four years as Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Prior to his service in government, Alec was a social entrepreneur and served as convener from technology, media & telecommunications policy on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.Much of his interest in tapping technology and innovation to make a better world comes from his career as a sixth-grade teacher through Teach for America in inner-city Baltimore, during one of the most challenging times in the city's history, and also his upbringing in a small mining-turned-chemical town where opportunity was not always easily found.In his book, The Industries of the Future, he explores what he believes will be the major growth industries and also career opportunities for the next few decades, while also shining the light on some of the most fasci

Caroline Paul is the New York Times best-selling author of four books, including her memoir about being a San Francisco firefighter, called Fighting Fire, and the illustrated Lost Cat, A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology. In her latest book, The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure, she shares her greatest escapades—as well as those of other girls and women from throughout history. The Gutsy Girl encourages a new generation to conquer fears, face challenges and pursue the lives they want—lives of confidence, self-reliance, friendship and fun.In This Episode, You'll Learn:Her unlikely path to becoming one of the first women in the San Francisco Fire Department.How she learned that her brother was a secret animal liberation leader for 20 years.Is there such a thing a 'girl books' and 'boy books'?The writing collective that kept her sane.Why she loves flying experimental planes, but not all the fancy gadgets and gear. Mentioned in This Episode:No Boys Allowed: School

I'm not a big surfer, but I grew up on the water and around the water.Over the years, I've noticed a number of powerful parallels between surfing and entrepreneurship. And, sitting at the beach one day, I started to think about what surfing might teach you about launching and growing a venture.I distilled these ideas into a short essay, which I'm sharing as spoken word in today's short and sweet Good Life Project Riff. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today's Good Life Project Roundtable™ features guests-in-residence Daniel Lerner and Gabra Zackman. This is session 1 in their three-week residency.Dan Lerner is a leading expert on elite performance, excellence and the realization of unique potential, working with musicians, athletes, and numerous Fortune 500 companies and executives. He's on the faculty at both New York University (where he teaches the always waitlisted “The Science of Happiness”) and the University of Pennsylvania, where he works with the graduate program in Applied Positive Psychology. He is currently writing a book about the process and mindset that leads to healthy, uniquely individual excellence.Gabra Zackman is an actress, writer and voice over artist, frequent traveler and lover of adventure. She works regularly in theater, has a parallel and sustaining career in audiobook narration, having recorded over 300 audiobooks to date, and has had great success with her first writing contract,the humorous, romantic, spy-center