When you watch kids create something, it's like watching an artist who is given complete permission to explore, experiment, and express. There's no sense of censorship or fear of judgment...at least not until we're a bit older.Working with your hands just plain does something to you. It drops you into a place of pure creativity and consciousness. You become the process, you get lost in it. And that sensation is pure bliss.But, as we get older, we tend to go to that place less and less. We leave our artist maker side behind. And, in doing so, leave a part of us behind as well.This week's Good Life Project Riff shares a story and an invitation. To reconnect with your soul through your hands. Jonathan offers up a near-tactile story about how, with no workshop and a modest NYC apartment, he started building tables as a way to not only express his jones to "make," but also reconnect with that primal experience of pure creative consciousness.And, in case you're interested, here is one of the finished products, a little 150-pound table known as the Concrete Behemoth. If you want to read the full story (and see pictures) on Jonathan's blog, you can at http://www.jonathanfields.com/god-in-grain/Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. 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?"Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much of your life are you living in your head?If you're like most people, an awful lot. It's great to have a rich inner life, but when that noggin-talk stops you from engaging with the world around you, it's time to stand up and say, "I've got a problem!"This week's 6-minute Good Life Riff is a wake-up call.I'm known among my friends as a straight-shooter. In part, because I've seen far too many brilliant would-be entrepreneurs, artists, authors, world-changers, etc. keep themselves in analysis paralysis while their incredibly important ideas go to waste.So I'm calling out the over-thinker, the inner-debater and the cranium critic in each of us.Get out of your head, and into your life!Read the print version of this episode on Jonathan's blog at http://www.jonathanfields.com/life-is-a-contact-sport/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"One of the biggest struggles we deal with as parents is making decisions for our children that feel safe for US."I have been interested in getting to know today's guest for months, ever since I interviewed her husband Rich Roll for Good Life Project a couple of years ago. If you haven't watched that interview, I definitely recommend it for an amazing story of transformation and re-birth.The conversation in today's episode is equally inspiring and fascinating as I talk with Julie Piatt, the plant-based chef, healer, wife, mother, and artist who has created a remarkable health movement with her husband and co-authored the fantastic new book - The Plantpower Way.One of the things I loved about Julie, her plant-based philosophy and book, is that she defies all stereotypes, keeps it beautifully real and absolutely accessible and inclusive. Put another way, there are no "shoulds," only invitations to explore. In this wide-ranging conversation, we delve into her childhood in Alaska being raised on game meat and salmon, her journey through raising 4 children with an ultra-endurance, plant-powered athlete husband, and her extraordinary story of healing an "un-healable" cyst in her neck by changing what she ate. We also take an unexpected, yet eye-opening look into the world of homeschooling, and the power of supporting children in finding their own paths, and then moves into the vibrant plant-based lifestyle Julie and Rich have created both in their home and in the world.No matter what your ideas about food are, this conversation will open your eyes to think in ways I'd venture you haven't before.Follow Julie:Website | Instagram | Facebook"You have to be the healer of your life."Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Will you step into purpose and connection and expression, or leave them for dead?"There's nothing quite like getting up on stage in front of a crowd to share something creative you made.It's terrifying for most (if not all) of us.But sometimes we feel compelled to do it because we know that facing THAT fear will open the door to purpose and potential.On today's GLP Riff episode, I share the story of one of our GLP Immersion members, Barry Solway, how he literally and figuratively faced his fear of being a writer on stage at Camp GLP last year. And how the incredible GLP community rallied around him to help turn his poem into a published illustrated children's book in a matter of weeks.This story is about more than facing fears however. It's about making the choice to either stay in your comfort zone, locked down by self-imposed stories, or to step outside of that and shine the light onto what you are capable of.Here's an excerpt from the blog post where I tell Barry's story:I love Barry’s story.Not just because he’s part of our GLP family. Not just because he’s bringing a wonderful story into the world and stepping into his craft as a writer.But because his journey has been a beautiful example of what can happen when you commit to a process of discovery and openness and vulnerability. When you allow all the assumptions about what you should be to fall away and step into what you are. When you’re willing to share your voice with the world, hold yourself out to be on the one hand, judged, but on the other, embraced and lifted.If you'd like to read this full story, it's written on Jonathan's blog at http://www.jonathanfields.com/courting-monster/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Creativity [happens] not necessarily because we have no limits, but because we have found ways to solve problems within limits."Growing up in China, Jia Jiang dreamed of coming to the United States to make his mark as an entrepreneur. But his first attempt found him living with criminals in small-town Louisiana as an exchange student.Jia didn't give up, though. He found a new family who cared, then devoted everything he had to build his career. Until he came face to face with a crippling fear of rejection.If you're human, you're probably not all that different. To overcome this fear, Jia mounted a stunning and very public 100-day rejection adventure that not only "cured" his fear, but also turned him into a viral video phenomenon, speaking and author of the new book, Rejection Proof.This story is both inspiring and vulnerable as Jia Jiang takes us behind the scenes of what it looks like to stare rejection down.Follow Jia:Website | YouTube | TwitterCheck out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So many people head into the world of entrepreneurship with high hopes, only to end up miserable and running back to a J.O.B. We call this "entrepreneurial failure to thrive."It doesn't have to be that way.We had great feedback on our first short and sweet Good Life Riff, so we're teeing up a new 7-minute piece about a huge miss in the world of startups and entrepreneurship One that leads to misery-infused money.We also share 11 critical questions for every entrepreneur, business-owner and aspiring entrepreneur, oh heck, every living human with a pulse, to consider when trying to build something that both serves a need and also serves your own desire to craft a fantastic life.Here's a quick excerpt:Entrepreneurship is not about building a great business, it’s about building a great life!But, you will never get what you want from the way you contribute to the world until you learn how to align your actions with your essence. And you cannot do that until you know who you are.If you’d like to read the entire essay, read and answer the 11 questions offered, you can find it here on Jonathan’s blog. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Rather than making perfection the goal, make improvement the goal."If your work environment and culture empty you out, it will make it near impossible to live a good life. Along the way, it'll make the business you're working for grind to a halt. And, if you happen to own that business, then you end up in a personal and professional world of hurt.So, what makes for a great work culture and environment?We point to companies like Google as a shining example of incredible performance based on a creative culture, a beautiful campus and innovative and engaging projects with plenty of time to do crazy things.But, what's really going on there? Turns out there's science behind it.Today's guest, Ron Friedman, is a genius in this realm. He has spent years of his career researching, coaching, and writing about the actual levers that aid in creating the best places to work.In our conversation, he breaks down the academic studies into layman's terms, cites fascinating examples from real companies who are changing the norm, and shares nuggets from his new book The Best Place to Work. We even talk about video games and how we should structure work progression like them.No matter if you're an entrepreneur, working in a large company, or preparing to enter the workforce, this episode is so important to understand what is changing in our work methods and what still needs to change.Some questions I ask:Is having meetings outside scientifically supported as being more productive?How do you deal with managers who are the problem with the company culture?Is it possible to grassroots a cultural change in a company from the bottom up?What have you seen around the culture of failure?What surprised you the most about what benefits work in your research for this book?Follow Ron:Website | TwitterCheck out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a Good Life Project "Riff."What's that? A short, punchy riff on one particular topic that matters to a life well lived. Generally no more than 5 to 10 minutes.As always, these won't replace our weekly in-depth conversations, but if you like them, we may produce more and add them in as supplements to the weekly conversations. So let us know if you want more over on Facebook or Twitter.This week's Good Life Riff is entitled - The Killer App is You. It's about the mistake we've all made when we try to make a mad grab at success by doing the wrong things and relying on delusion and illusion.Here's a quick excerpt:The best of the best, the people who are now and will in the future eat you for lunch, build themselves, through fierce effort and expert guidance, into unstoppable human engines of intelligence, creativity, intuition, compassion, service, expression and heart. Then, they build a culture that empowers the people they bring into their endeavors to do the same.They exalt self-knowledge, personal growth and meaningful expression as the heartbeat of success.And they are hyper-aware that they, on an individual level, are both the keys to the castle and the sand in the machine. Equally capable of fueling acceleration and impact or delusion and collapse."If you really want to invest in something, invest in you."If you'd like to read the entire essay, the story was originally told on Jonathan's blog. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Nothing about them without them."Sometimes you hear stories about the horrors of what people go through in other parts of the world and it just seems hopeless.Who are you to help change traditions and practices that have existed for centuries?And why would people listen to you as an outsider?These questions and challenges have not deterred today's guest from making an incredibly important impact in places like Africa and India.Jane Mosbacher Morris spent years working in the US Department of State, the McCain Institute, and with organizations around the world learning about the actual issues that surround practices like early childhood marriage and violence against women. And then she made an important discovery.No matter how much you give aid to a woman who is a survivor of these kinds of trauma, you can't give her freedom without helping her become economically independent.Jane founded a company to do just that last year, To The Market, and in our moving conversation, she explains how it helps women survivors gain income and freedom.We talk about her experiences meeting women and girls in the red light districts of India, her work with the UN, and her vision for what this company can become.This is a powerful and raw conversation that will inspire and educate you about what you can do to share what you have where it matters most.Some questions I ask:What is a woman's life actually like in the parts of the world you are working in?How do you bridge the gap between the rules on the books and the deep-rooted beliefs of the culture?How do you tell the stories of these survivors while still honoring their humanity?What's your greatest hope for the survivors?Links we mention:UN WomenTo the MarketMcCain InstituteTomsFollow Jane:Website | Twitter | FacebookCheck out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.