Marissa Schneiderman, the Senior Editor of the podcast and collaborator on the newsletter, joins the conversation about risk-taking and experimentation. She shares insights from previous guests, emphasizing the significance of embracing discomfort for personal growth. The discussion includes the creative process behind the podcast's new format, exploring vulnerability and the balance between ambition and service. With personal anecdotes and reflections on learning from mistakes, it's an enlightening dive into the art of experimenting.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Seek Discomfort, Embrace Mistakes
Seek discomfort and put yourself in situations where you might fail.
Differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable mistakes, balancing excellence with "good enough".
question_answer ANECDOTE
Newsletter Soft Launch
Dan Harris and Marissa Schneiderman soft-launched a newsletter as a minimum viable product.
They iterated based on feedback, a more satisfying approach than traditional media.
insights INSIGHT
The Sitar Story and the Middle Way
The "sitar story" illustrates the middle way: not too tight, not too loose.
Strive for balance and continuous evolution rather than perfection.
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In 'Foolish', Sarah Cooper shares her journey from lip-syncing in church to becoming a viral sensation with her presidential lip-syncs. The book delves into her experiences with family dynamics, marriage, divorce, and identity, offering a blend of humor and self-reflection. Cooper's narrative moves from her tech background to her career in comedy, highlighting the challenges and triumphs she encountered along the way.
Daring Greatly
How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Brené Brown
In 'Daring Greatly,' Brené Brown delves into the topics of vulnerability, shame, and courage. The book, inspired by a quote from Theodore Roosevelt's 'Citizenship in a Republic' speech, argues that vulnerability is essential for living a wholehearted life. Brown discusses how vulnerability is often misunderstood as weakness, but it is actually a sign of courage. She provides insights from her research on how vulnerability affects men and women differently and offers practical advice on overcoming shame and embracing vulnerability in personal and professional life. The book emphasizes the importance of connection, shame resilience, and the distinction between guilt and shame[3][4][5].
How We Live Is How We Die
Pema Chödrön
The Creative Act
A Way of Being
Rick Rubin
In *The Creative Act: A Way of Being*, Rick Rubin distills the wisdom he has gained from a lifetime of working with artists across various genres. The book is not just about music production but about the broader creative process and how it applies to everyone's life. Rubin emphasizes the importance of reconnecting with a state of innocence, being aware of the world, and tapping into what he calls 'Source'—an infinite and constant flow of ideas and inspiration. The book is structured around 78 areas of thought, providing practical wisdom, philosophical insights, and encouragement for anyone seeking to enhance their creative expression.
Hidden Potential
The Science of Achieving Greater Things
Adam Grant
In 'Hidden Potential,' Adam Grant dismantles the myth that success is primarily due to innate talent. He argues that potential is not fixed but can be cultivated over time through effort, persistence, and continuous learning. The book emphasizes the development of 'character skills' such as proactivity, determination, and the ability to embrace discomfort and learn from failure. Grant uses compelling stories of late bloomers and underdogs who achieved greatness through sheer determination, highlighting the importance of support systems, motivation, and the willingness to push beyond comfort zones. The book offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations, applicable in various domains from education to the workplace and beyond[2][4][5].
To celebrate this new endeavor, we’ve put together a whole episode about risk taking and experimenting. We thought this would be helpful and educational while also giving you a fun peek behind the scenes (and also allowing us to be blatantly self-promotional in the process—a win/win!). In fact, this episode itself is experimental in its format, because we don’t have a typical guest.
I sat down with the show’s Senior Editor Marissa Schneiderman—who has been collaborating with me on the newsletter—to talk about how we’ve been putting into practice the wisdom from some of our best guests, including Brené Brown, Adam Grant, Rick Rubin, Sarah Cooper.
10% Happier with Dan Harris 
