There's a somewhat ironic relationship between willpower and thinking. They don't play nicely with each other.The more you tax your brain with what we'd call a "cognitive load," the more your ability to regulate your behaviors craters.So, if you're working on a complex problem under deadline or trying to innovate or create, there's a good chance that, while you're in that hyper-thinking, innovating, creating mode, you'll be more susceptible to temptation. Big time!And, interestingly, even the slightest increase in demand for thinking and working memory can shut down your willpower plant. As we'll talk about in today's GLP Riff, the difference between having to hold two or seven numbers in your memory can be the difference between making healthy choices or chowing down on cake!Most people deal with this by just trying to "be a better person" and "digging deeper" to resist the siren call of the cookie jar.But, there's another approach that is far more likely to keep you on the right track. It's about altering your environment. That's what we're talking about on today's short and sweet Good Life Project Riff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is part 3 of our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.Our three topics in this episode:Can you find the good in everything, or are some things just bad?Money, media and bias, what's the deal (and why do you care)?Crazy cons, has it ever happened to you?It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always good-natured and very real. Enjoy! And let us know if you like this format, over on social media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you could take an idea and turn it into a website with more than 12 million visitors a month and a powerful global community?That's exactly what today’s guest, Jason Wachob, did. He is the founder of Mind Body Green, one the web's top wellness websites, featuring thousands of articles, a growing catalog of courses, contributors that include many of the top voices in medicine, nutrition and movement, and a huge global community.This is the second time Jason has been a guest on Good Life Project. He first appeared on the web-series in October 2013. At that point, he shared his powerful story of leaving a career in finance to reclaim his health and found his company. MindBodyGreen was just starting to break out in a big way. Since then, it has exploded.The team has grown in size, they inhabit new offices and Jason's had the chance to dive deeper into not only what it takes to build a company, but also a culture that walks its own content talk, a community around wellness and a good, vibrant life. He shares his lens on that last question in his new book WELLTH: How I Learned to Build a Life, Not a Resume.In this week's powerful conversation, we explore Jason's unique, culture-focused approach to building not just a company, but a community and a family. We dive into the dance between wanting to do big things and also wanting to be in control of your time, health, relationships and life. We explore the power of love and belief, and what its like to build a life with a partner he also works with. And we talk about his experience growing a venture that exposes him to the top thinkers and practitioners in health, nutrition and fitness and how that's informed his take on the elements of a life well-lived, especially in the context of being a creator, maker, entrepreneur and life-partner.Enjoy the conversation! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I don’t like following, never have.Other peoples' rules and procedures and constraints and processes often don't sit quite right with me.I prefer to take my own path, follow my own rules.It’s why I was the “Lemonade Stand Kid” in my neighborhood—I wanted my own money, own responsibility. It's why I've been an entrepreneur the better part of my adult life. I enjoy figuring things out on my own, then leading rather than being led by others.But what I’ve discovered as I’ve gotten older is there are very real, very important lessons to be learned from being led by others, before you step in to lead yourself.Maybe my biggest awakening to the power of following before you lead came when I was rock climbing with a few partners in Rocky Mountain National Park, and various other destinations in Colorado. As the relative newbie in our group, I spent the entire time following my guide's lead.During the entire weeklong climbing adventure, I never once led a pitch (a ropes length of the climb that was many rope's lengths high). Those days, however, taught me more about how to eventually lead than almost any other experience. And, my classroom came with a 20-mile view and life-and-death terms.That's what we're exploring in today's short and sweet Good Life Project Riff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is part 2 of our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 or 4 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ (and next week as well) are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.Our three topics in this episode:The three manifestations of God.The Hero's Journey, through a feminine lens.Can video games help ease pain?It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always good-natured and very real. Enjoy! And let us know if you like this format, over on social media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Originals are the non-conformists who drive creativity and change forward—the ones who help us progress as both independent cultures and a unified species. They're Steve Jobs' "crazy ones."Yet in spite of this, humanity has always had a fascinatingly dysfunctional relationship with originality—we simultaneously venerate and scorn it, particularly in the workplace. Originals may eventually come to be loved, but they’re almost always met with cynicism and resistance first. Because they don't fit in.It’s a fascinating duality, and it’s one of the many things we discuss with today’s guest, Adam Grant—author of two New York Times bestselling books (Originals, Give and Take), and—at 34—the youngest tenured professor in the history of the Wharton School.As Grant shares, thanks to shifts in social and cultural norms, it’s never been easier to be an original, but so many of us still resist the call. In this wide-ranging conversation, we go deep into how originals think and act.We explore how we're often the worst judges of our own good ideas and what do to about it. We debunk the myth of the need to go "all in" and share how the founders of Warby Parker, one of the most innovative companies in the world, kept their days jobs.We talk about our almost inherent willingness to underestimate ourselves and our creative capacities and what to do about it, and the importance of creating a vast volume of work in order to become an original. We dive into what happens when you try to exert power, before you have status and how that effects your ability to create change. And, so much more.Join us as we dive headlong into originality—how it works, how it’s changed the world we live in, and why more of us need to embrace it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every large scale creative endeavor, from writing a book to building a body of work, creating a collection or a company, is made up of dozens, maybe even hundreds or even thousands of smaller scale benchmarks, along with the "pushes" it takes to hit each.Every time you hit a benchmark, it feels great. You get to ease off the push and check a box that takes you one step closer to your ultimate quest.But, then, there's also a potential dark side to hitting these micro-goals. There's a break in the momentum. You have to rally yourself to start the push toward the next one fresh. To write the next chapter, start the next canvas, produce the next song, build the next piece of your entrepreneurial greatness.And, the closer you get to end of the bigger endeavor, the more the voice of internal Resistance, as Steve Pressfield described it in The War of Art, rises up and tries to derail you from your work.I've experienced this while writing books in the past. So, when I was working on my next one, I decided to try a momentum hack that I learned from none other than Ernest Hemingway.Stop when you most want to go.I share the details and the powerful results in today's short and sweet GLP Riff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is our latest experiment, a new show format we're calling Good Life Project Roundtable™.What is it? A new weekly show that won't replace, but will be added to our long-form conversations and short riffs. Two "guests-in-residence" and I will be hanging out for the better part of a month, usually 3 or 4 weeks. This really lets you get to know them and benefit from their deep interests and lens on life.In each Roundtable, we'll go deep into three specific topics. And, the thing is, nobody knows what the other person's topics will be until they hit the conversation.My guests-in-residence for today's episode of Good Life Project Roundtable™ (and the two weeks to come) are Playing Big author, Tara Mohr and yoga-educator, Erin Moon.Our three topics in this episode:Great leaders - are they always doubting and what's the deal with self-doubt?What's the deal with westerners reaching east for their spirituality?Is mindfulness always a good thing or can it sometimes do harm as well?It's fast-paced, fun, utterly unscripted and at times a bit raw, but always good-natured and very real. Enjoy! And let us know if you like this format, over on social media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine you're on stage, charged with holding the attention of a thousand people. Knowing that, as soon as you stop talking the free cocktails begin. Your job is to keep the audience rapt for a solid 60-minutes. It's you against the taunt of free partying.That's often the speaker's worst nightmare. But, this week's guest, Jon Acuff, loves those moments. A New York Times bestselling author of 5 books, including his latest Do Over, he relishes the challenge to win over his audience and keep them hanging on his every word.What's so interesting is that he doesn't do it by telling them he has everything figured out, then endowing them with his omniscience. He does it by sharing his own humanity, his vulnerability, his not knowing, and then tying it all together in stories that leave people crying with laughter and inspiration. And, he pretty much does the same with his books. Everything he does comes from a place of truth, humor, humility and craft.In this week's conversation, we go behind the scenes, exploring why Jon left a hugely successful corporate career to take a risk on writing and speaking. We learn how Jon's deep devotion to being honest (but not radically honest), to always working to connect with, rather than separate himself from his readers and listeners, and his devotion to craft and deep study not just of writing and speaking but also of comedy, has become the center of who he is. We explore how he dances with both the maker and the helper in him and reconciles his desire to create with his commitment to serve. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here’s a great question from one of our listeners, David: If your work is truly cutting edge, how do you effectively market if people don’t even have the distinctions yet to “get it,” and you need to get their attention AND it takes a longer conversation to really open it up? The art of conveying […]The post Conveying the Cool: How to Sell an Idea That’s Ahead of it’s Time appeared first on Good LifeProject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.