Pivot with Jenny Blake

Nobody knows the daily grind of competition and mental game better than athletes and coaches. Today I’m thrilled to share a conversation with basketball and performance coach Alan Stein Jr. on how we can apply these hard-fought principles to building better businesses.Alan first blew me away with his networking skills — he joined a private group we’re both part of and quickly became an integral member, after I’d been mostly wall-flowering as the hidden introvert that I am. We talk about his strategies for building relationships and ditching unhelpful compare-and-despair for mindsets that are far more helpful and empowering.📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/121 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the difference between affirmations that feel fake and those that actually work? How can you move your body in a way that also transforms your mind? What falls under the category of spiritual bypassing versus actual transformation? Join me for a conversation with one of my favorite New York friends, Erin Stutland, as we discuss her new book: Mantras in Motion: Manifesting What You Want through Mindful Movement. Happy happy new year everyone! I’m thrilled to be jumpstarting the podcast again with this episode :) 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/120 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As I get up to speed in my first semester at Union Theological Seminary, I’m re-launching a few of my favorite podcast episodes from four years of archives: I hope you enjoy some of these oldies but goodies, particularly if you missed them the first time around! Here’s a conversation I loved with Cal Newport from April 2016. When was the last time you were in the zone?There’s nothing I love more than working with time flying. The sun rises and sets and I barely notice because I’m so engrossed in my work. Cal Newport calls this deep work, and says that contrary to what many assume, it is a skill, not a habit. That means it takes deliberate practice, and is a cognitive muscle that can atrophy with disuse—something we are all prone to as we get sucked into network tools like social media and email. I loved this conversation and I know you will too! Enjoy 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Vanderkam is a productivity tour de force: she has written four books in the last several years, launched a podcast, and given talks all over the country—all while running a household with her husband and four children.I’d tell you that I truly don’t know how she does it, except that she already wrote a book to answer that question called, what else, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time. One of my other favorites was her runaway bestseller among the Fast Company crowd, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings--and Life.The focus of this week’s podcast conversation is her newest book, Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Laura reveals the counterintuitive principles the most time-free people have adopted, and teaches mindset shifts to help you feel calm on the busiest days.📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/119 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Welcome to Holy Hogwarts,” my fellow first-year Ariel said to me with a smile, as I walked through the Union campus entrance into the school’s small courtyard for my first day of orientation. I was grateful for his warmth and levity, a brief reprieve from my nerves about what to expect from my classes and fellow students.After those three days of orientation I felt like I was on a rickety, upward-climbing rollercoaster, ticking up toward a crescendo before the rush of adrenaline and momentum to follow from the big drop. Am I making a huge mistake? I wondered. Will I fit in here? What if I can’t juggle school, work, speaking travel, and the new commute? Did I really think this through enough?📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/118 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I had the great fortune of sitting behind Marcus Glover on a bus ride to Wallkill Prison for a Defy Ventures business mentoring day, and time flew as we talked about everything from him teaching yoga and meditation at Rikers, to criminal justice work, to his mission of funding minority-owned businesses through disruptive venture capital. I can’t wait for you to listen in on this conversation and get your own powerful dose of Marcus magic! You’ll hear about his passion for well-told stories, practicing empathy (rather than the misguided savior complex), cultural competency around dismantling privilege, and much more. 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/117 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you getting sucked into endless scrolling in Infinity Pools like email, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook? It's okay, we all do. We all know these apps are designed to be addictive. After all, tech is the only industry other than drugs that calls its customers "users." It's so easy to look back on the day and wonder, "Where on earth did the time go?!" We've drained ourselves of all energy and yet often come up empty, feeling we have nothing to show for it. At least I'll speak for myself and say that's how I feel when inadvertently taking a ride on what John Zeratsky calls the "Busy Bandwagon."📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/116 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Rufino is a social worker and audio engineer who works with adults with developmental disabilities and their families. However, even the term "developmental disability" or "intellectual disability" is becoming a misnomer. Mark is part of a growing movement of people who believe it's time we upgrade our old way of thinking "that we need to fix you to fit into our society."The term neurodiversity is growing in popularity, and implies that there is no “normal” way of thinking and “autistic” way of thinking, for example; we are all wired to do different things. I think you'll love this conversation around exploring what's behind behavior, Mark's emphasis on deeper listening (in surprising and novel ways), and his reference to a book that states "the opposite of anxiety is not calm, it’s trust.”📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/115 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is one of my favorite interviews, and a conversation that is crucial for understanding and revealing the hidden influences that shape many of our views on society, wealth and power. I have heard terms like white privilege (which applies to me), but I hadn't thought to look into the notion of invisible privilege until earlier this year. You may think it doesn't apply to you (as I used to), especially if you're not in the "Top 1%."📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/114 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So many of us are on a seekers journey—looking for greater knowledge, wisdom, healing, insight and transformation. And may even the ever-elusive holy grail of enlightenment, whatever that means. If you ask me, I believe we have three primary purposes on this planet: to learn, to love and to serve. And of course, to enjoy life along the way :) Daniel Aaron is a fascinating fellow seeker who describes his own journey as guided by a divine power, as he explores all variety of mystical and practical practices and shares them with thousands of others through yoga, sangha (community), and coaching. His mission is "to bring in a new era, where the new-normal is love and truth – kindness, authenticity and radiance – for all beings, of every species." I hope you enjoy the this week's conversation! 📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/113 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices