There’s this idea out in the world that if you want to make a real difference, to make meaning, you have to go big. Be massively public. Take the giant risk. Build something vast and complex. You’ve got to be the wave that crashes on the shore. That is, indeed, one approach to leaving your […]The post You Don’t Have to Go Big to Make a Big Difference. appeared first on Good LifeProject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 impressions/month.Lisa's journey is detailed in her book, Power Your Happy: Work Hard, Play Nice, & Build Your Dream Life. In today's episode of Good Life Project, we dive into her story, how she made the shifts in career, when she knew it was time to ditch the full-time gig and go all-in on POPSUGAR, why she believes in work-life blend, not balance, and so much more.Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Lisa: Power Your Happy | POPSUGAR | InstagramDarren StarShopStyle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 behavior to student and eventually teacher of music, performer extraordinaire, successful entrepreneur, author, then patient and wholehearted embracer of live as it comes.In This Episode, You'll Learn:The multiple streams of income Ali can leverage which allow her to pursue an authentic career as an artist.Why performing for free can be a valuable experience and expose opportunities.Alternatives for starving artists to earn a living while developing their craft.How intentional practice can improve weak areas.Why her diagnosis of a rare form of incurable Lymphoma has not stopped her thriving career and pursuit of goals in life.Tips to stick with your passion while you suck.Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Ali: AliHandal.com | YouTubeGuitar for Girls by Ali HandalGutsy Girl by Caroline Paul"Not a Pretty Girl" by Ani Difranco Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Manson, bestselling author known for thought-provoking and contrarian ideas, discusses topics including cultural differences in emotional expression, the pursuit of happiness and social media exhaustion, redefining success, and the tactical use of language and profanity in communication.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 a dwindling bank account and what she did about it when confusion, uncertainty and fear crept in. She even turns the tables on me to share some behind the scenes pivoting happening in Good Life Project.+++My book - How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science and Practical Wisdom - is available now! It's a joyful, story-driven, engaging and eye-opening deep dive into what really makes a difference in your pursuit of a meaningful, alive and connected life. Click here now to download and read the first chapter for free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 up in post-World War II Liverpool, he was stricken with polio at the age of four, forever changing the course of his life and exposing him to the profound injustice that awaits so many kids labeled as "different."In this week's conversation, Sir Ken and Jonathan sit down for a rare conversation about not only Robinson's ideas, but where those ideas came from, his childhood battle and then lifelong experience with polio and his extraordinary will to make a difference.He reminds us to ask not "how intelligent are you?" but rather, "how are you intelligent?"We first aired this conversation in April 2015. I'm so excited to share this "Best Of" episode with you now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.