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, and a career as a featured keynote speaker. But, it’s also been, at times, a brutally hard road, that’s taken humility and a willingness to “get real” and even head home to recover and recalculate, then rebuild.And, funny enough, Karen and GLP founder, Jonathan Fields, have a fun, intertwined back story that led them both to appear together on the front page of the New York Times Jobs section back in the early 2,000s.Today, Karen takes us on her incredible journey. She shares how taking the voice-over gig completely changed her life and how it eventually reflected back on her life and her career in an entirely different way than she ever expected. And, she also ends up singing us a little something about a good, good life! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The Good Life Project, our guest is social psychologist and professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Kurt Gray. Kurt studies mind perception and morality. In his research, Kurt is trying to answer questions about the true nature of human beings, from good and evil to why we attribute human-like qualities […]The post The Mind Club: Who Is In, Who Is Out and Why It Matters appeared first on Good LifeProject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you go from studying psychology and religion to founding the world’s largest outdoor renegade craft fair, with outposts in nine cities. This week on Good Life Project, my guest is Susie Daly, the founder of Renegade Craft Fair. Susie’s journey was anything but planned. Through a series of exciting turns, she went from being a crafter herself […]The post How One Woman Built a Renegade Craft Movement. appeared first on Good LifeProject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever wonder why the exact same touch by one person will give you the creeps, but by another will make you yearn for more?On this episode of The Good Life, I am excited to bring you David Linden, a Johns Hopkins Neuroscientist and New York Times best-selling author of Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind.The research that David has been conducting on the effects of touch on the human mind is a powerful reminder of the role touch plays in nearly every aspect of human development. Everything from love to intelligence, sex to attachment, orgasm or itch and beyond... basically, anything we touch or get touched by profoundly influences our personality, perception of people and the world.Whether touch is given or withheld at any age can shape the entirety of our beings. Our neurology, psychology and our ability to live functional, good lives is dependent on touch.If you have ever wondered why touch is so important to the development of infants, or why we find touch so vital to our own mental well-being, you are going to want to turn up the volume and listen in. David answers all of these questions and so many more.In This Episode, You'll Learn:The events that led David to write three books on touch.The catastrophic results when loving touch is withheld from infants.How appropriate touch can change the way a patient views a doctor’s effectiveness and care.How incidental sensory experiences can influence our impressions of others.What touch actually is and how we've adapted different mechanisms to experience it.How touch is involved with everything from orgasm to reading Braille.How touch varies across cultures.Why sexual touch is so powerful.Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with David: David Linden | BlogTouch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind by David LindenDacher Keltner | Greater Good Science CenterJohn BarghPresence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy CuddyNational Institutes of Health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

+++Come to Camp GLP: The Ultimate blend of learning and play! +++ Today, on Good Life Project, I have two very special guests joining me. Linda and Charlie Bloom have been together for the better part of 50 years and have been working together for over 30. This husband and wife team of therapists have […]The post When Life Partners Become Business Partners: Linda & Charlie Bloom appeared first on Good LifeProject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine having just about everything you wanted – a great job, making a lot of money, being able to get as much “stuff” as you want – and then, ending up miserable. That’s the plight of today’s guests, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, also known as The Minimalists.What started as an awakening to a different way of life, built around value, rather than accumulation, has now grow into a blog with millions of readers at TheMinimalists.com, a popular Minimalism, book a top-rated podcast and now a fantastic new documentary called Minimalism.This week’s conversation goes deep into Ryan and Joshua’s journey, both personally and as friends, into the exploration of what Minimalism really is and is not and how it can change not only your life, but life as we know it.In This Episode, You'll Learn:Why minimalism is not actually about giving everything up.Ryan and Joshua’s 5th-grade “fat kid bond” that launched their 20+ year-long friendship.How Ryan came up with the "$50,000 Equation" that would (theoretically) help them reach their dreams and set them free.Why reaching that goal made him completely miserable and caused him to lose sight of what life is all about.Joshua’s epiphany after his mother’s tragic passing that set him on the path to minimalism.The true benefits of minimalism (they're not what you think).How Joshua’s 21-day downsizing journey led to creating TheMinimalists.com.How Ryan and Joshua’s brand expanded to different mediums to spread their message.How they define value that an item may add to their lives.Ryan and Joshua’s process for choosing which projects they should take on at any given time.Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Ryan and Joshua: www.TheMinimalists.com | podcast | documentaryMinimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan NicodemusEverything That Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan NicodemusClutterfree with Kids: Change your thinking. Discover new habits. Free your home. by Joshua BeckerExile Lifestyle, by Colin WrightBecoming Minimalist by Joshua BeckerBe More with Less by Courtney Carver Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time on The Good Life Project, I am joined by Jadah Sellner and Jeffrey Davis for a roundtable-style discussion of a few of the burning issues and questions that have been on our minds...and maybe yours, too. This discussion was incredibly fun and full of so much information, I couldn't wait to share it with all of you. Jadah is the cofounder of Simple Green Smoothies and JadahSellner.com. She has developed her groundbreaking life strategy, Love Over Metrics, with the help of her dream-tribe that supports her vision for the future of the world. Jadah’s passion is to help everyone to start and grow their own tribe in order to inspire action that will change the world. Jeffrey Davis is a poet, author, teacher, brand-strategist, founder of Tracking Wonder and author of Coat Thief and The Journey from the Center to the Page: Yoga Philosophies and Practices As Muse for Authentic Writing. We dive into a wide swath of topics today, from the legacy that we want to leave our families and the world to the amount of control the government should have on the hours we work to grit, the infamous “aha” moment and so much more.Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Jadah: Jadah SellnerConnect with Jeffrey Davis: Tracking WonderCoat Thief by Jeffrey DavisThe Journey from the Center to the Page: Yoga Philosophies and Practices as Muse for Authentic Writing by Jeffrey DavisBig Ass FansBJ NovakWorld Domination SummitTreehouseSeth GodinAnders EricssonEdward C BanfieldGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela DuckworthDaniel GilbertTim Cook Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, our in-depth conversation features David Nihill. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, David, like so man of us, had a deep fear of public speaking. But, he found himself having to face this head on, when he reluctantly agreed to host a benefit comedy show he had suggested for a friend, Arash Bayatmakou, who had suffered a severe spinal cord injury (Comedy for a Spinal Cause). He quickly realized the best speakers were also often the funniest. Not because of the one-liners they threw into the audience, but because they knew how to tell a story in a way that made people laugh.In at attempt to learn the craft and also face his crippling fear of public speaking, he spent a year traveling the country pretending to be an accomplished comedian and talking his way onto as many comedy show stages and festivals as possible. Along the way, he not only overcame his fear of speaking, he began to deconstruct the best story-driven comedy and figured out a methodology he could not only bring to the stage himself, but also teach pretty much anyone. Even people who consider themselves to have nearly zero ability to tell stories or be funny.The shared this approach in a book, k, Do You Talk Funny?, then launched a community, writers platform, and conference series under called FunnyBizz Conference: Where Business Meets Humor, with the intention of helping everyone from speakers and executives to content creators tap the power of storytelling, comedy and improv to engage readers and audiences on a whole new level.David realized he had learned something in the process that could be valuable to other businesspeople — most people, with the right techniques, could learn to be funny, (at least on stage) and learning how to structure a comedy routine involves the exact same skills as making a successful presentation. He now also runs an agency that lets anyone from executives to speakers to anyone who wants funnier content tap a team of freelance comedy writers to punch up anything from a keynote or best-man's speech to an article or boardroom presentation.In This Episode, You'll Learn:What it was like faking his way onto stagesHow his Irish heritage played into his ability to tell storiesWhich TED talks have the most laughs per minute.How comedy & copywriting are correlated.That US comedy is a testament to tight TV ready writing.How many laughs per day a baby has compared to adults over 35 years old.That CEOs perceive people with a sense of humor as doing better work.Mentioned in This Episode:FunnyBizz Conference: Where Business Meets Humor80 free tips from his bookDavid's udemy courseArash Bayatmakou's TEDx talk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had chosen another path? Would you have been more successful in your craft? A better writer, artist, musician? Would you have made a bigger impact in the world? My guest today, Jesse Browner, has by all rights been extremely successful. He has a great marriage and family, living in the middle of Manhattan. He is a successful author whose books have been published by some of the biggest houses in New York City and he has a lucrative full-time job.However, as Jesse approached his 50s, he started wondering, "What if?"Jesse spent his 20s in what was known as the heartbeat of Bohemia in New York City (if you have ever seen the movie or the musical Rent, then you know exactly the place I am describing). As he looked back at this time, he realized that although no one he knew was extremely successful or rich, they were all living and breathing their craft.From this reflection came the question, "Is there an untapped wealth of talent just buried within me?"Jesse's exploration of this question over many years led to his latest book, How Did I Get Here?. Today, Jesse guides us through his incredible journey of discovery and letting go. If you have ever been tormented by the “What If?” questions in your life, then this episode is one you cannot afford to miss. So turn up the volume, get comfortable and listen in as we take you on an incredible journey of growth and development. Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Jesse: Jesse Browner | Facebook | TwitterHow Did I Get Here?: Making Peace with the Road Not Taken by Jesse BrownerScenes From The Life Of Bohemia: Scenes De La View De Boheme (1896) by Henri MurgerDaily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason CurreyHappiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill by Matthieu RicardThe Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis HydeLa BohemeRentWhiplashSeamus Heaney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Love and Justice are not two. Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters." – Reverend angel Kyodo williams+++Today's guest on the podcast is author, maverick spiritual teacher, master trainer and founder of Center for Transformative Change, Reverend angel Kyodo williams. She has been bridging the worlds of personal transformation and justice since the publication of her critically-acclaimed book, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace, which was hailed as “an act of love” by Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker and “a classic” by Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield. Her new book, Radical Dharma, explores racial injustice as a barrier to collective awakening.Ordained as a Zen priest, Rev. angel is a Sensei, the second black woman recognized as a teacher in her lineage. She is a social visionary that applies wisdom teachings and practice to social issues. She sees Transformative Social Change as the world’s next great movement. Both fierce and grounded, she is known for her unflinching willingness to both sit with and speak uncomfortable truths with love.In This Episode, You'll Learn:How growing up in New York City profoundly shaped Rev. angel’s life.How moments to awaken are all around us, if we just open to them.How to move closer to a liberated life.How race and the consciousness movement interact with each other.The #1 component contributing to a full, complete life.The difference between grasping and aspiration.Mentioned in This Episode:Connect with Rev. Angel: angel Kyodo williams | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | 27 Days of ChangeBeing Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace by angel Kyodo WilliamsRadical DharmaRichard WisemanZen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.