Josh Kaufman is the bestselling author of books on business, applied psychology, and practical wisdom. His first book, The Personal MBA, is a top-selling business book worldwide, with more than 1 million copies sold. His second book, The First 20 Hours, introduced a universal research-based method of learning fun and useful skills. His third book, How to Fight a Hydra, a "fairy tale for the entrepreneur's journey," debuted at #1 in Modern Philosophy on Amazon.
This week, Barrett and Josh cover a wide range of topics from thoughtful entrepreneurship to heartful parenting. They talk about the profound impact of letting go of assumptions, the trap of pursuing status, and how to live with wisdom and intention. Josh shares his experiences with strategic self-publishing, why he thinks about his books like an investment portfolio, and what it looks like to define success on your own terms. They also discuss how to evaluate priorities, why emotional clarity is necessary for breaking down barriers to creativity and action, the importance of playing the long game, and much more.
In this episode:
- [00:00] - Intro
- [03:04] - The chocolate quality debate
- [08:03] - Developing taste and preferences
- [17:01] - The art of audio and narration
- [30:53] - The business of books
- [41:20] - Building a book portfolio
- [46:27] - Choosing new projects and the paradox of choice
- [01:02:07] - Status games and trade-offs
- [01:15:49] - Setting the right priorities and dealing with trade-offs
- [01:27:44] - The power of questioning assumptions
- [01:34:30] - Parenting insights and reflections
- [01:41:24] - Building a home with intentionality
- [01:47:41] - Josh’s beautiful future
- [01:49:28] - Who Josh is becoming
Get full show notes and links at https://GoodWorkShow.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@barrettabrooks.
