Everyday Better with Leah Smart

Ali Abdaal, author and productivity expert, shares tips on overcoming productivity blockers like uncertainty, fear, and inertia. He discusses building self-confidence, finding joy in work, and reframing self-improvement as enhancing a system. Strategies include using intentional actions, adopting alter egos to combat fear, and leveraging small adjustments for increased productivity.

Marc Champagne is a philosopher, podcaster and the bestselling author of Personal Socrates: Questions That Will Upgrade Your Life from Legends & World-Class Performers. An expert in what he calls “mental fitness,” Marc teaches daily practices designed to enhance creativity, clarity and focus.On today’s episode of Everyday Better, Marc and Leah ask each other a challenging question: when it comes to the work of personal development, can you ever reach a stopping point? Through sharing their personal stories of growth, Marc and Leah discuss the challenges that brought them to this work – and then, years later, what sparked their curiosity around taking a sabbatical from personal development. They also share their favorite tools and non-negotiable self-care practices for whatever season of life they find themselves in.Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.Follow Marc Champagne on LinkedIn.To learn more about mental fitness, listen to Marc’s podcast Behind the Human with Marc Champagne.And don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg discusses the science of effective communication, offering strategies for deeper connections. He highlights asking thoughtful questions, active listening, and addressing controversial topics. Duhigg explains the mental and physical benefits of meaningful conversations, emphasizing the importance of connecting with others for overall well-being.

Known as “Nurse Hadley” to her nearly 2 million followers on TikTok, Hadley Vlahos is a hospice nurse, content creator and New York Times bestselling author. Her first book, The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments, is a collection of stories and lessons she’s learned from 12 patients she cared for in their final months on earth.On today’s episode of Everyday Better, Hadley reflects on how an unexpected life pivot led her to her dream career as a hospice care nurse. While hospice care nursing is viewed as a tough job by many outside of the profession, Hadley shares lighthearted, poignant, humorous and mystical experiences she’s had caring for patients in hospice. She discusses the importance of getting comfortable talking about death, and offers advice for how to get better at having those conversations. She also shares what she’s learned about what it means to live a meaningful life, and how work can play such an essential role in making life meaningful, no matter what kind of work you do.Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.Follow Hadley Vlahos on LinkedIn.To learn more, check out Hadley’s book The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments.And don’t forget to sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

This week on Everyday Better, we’re featuring an episode from a new bonus series from our sister podcast Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel. “Hello Monday Master Class” is a distillation of hundreds of Hello Monday conversations, broken down into five essential rules for navigating and thriving in an ever-changing professional landscape. The first episode in the series is all about defining your values. Tune in each Thursday through the end of June for more actionable insights and collaborative exercises to elevate your career. And for more from Jessi, join the Hello Monday Group on LinkedIn by clicking here.

Professor of Psychology Thomas Curran discusses the harmful effects of perfectionism and how to break free from societal pressures. They explore the rise of perfectionism in younger generations, the balance between high standards and self-acceptance, and the importance of embracing imperfections in personal and professional growth.

Myisha Cherry is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UC Riverside and a self-proclaimed “public defender of anger and proud withholder of forgiveness.” In her second book, Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better, she argues that forgiveness – a much-lauded moral good in American culture – rarely achieves what we think it does, and that in reality, forgiveness often does more harm than good. She puts forth her own, broader definition of forgiveness that holds space for anger, repair and accountability for the wrongdoer.On today’s show, Myisha and Leah dive deep into forgiveness to understand its role at work and in society, as well as how race and gender complicate the act of forgiving. Myisha explains why withholding forgiveness can actually be a moral good, both for the wronged and for the wrongdoer. She also shares her revised definition of forgiveness and explains how to get better at asking for and receiving it.For more on forgiveness, check out Myisha’s book Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better.Sign up for Leah’s weekly newsletter to get practical tips on how to level up with small steps every day.

Dr Tara Swart is a neuroscientist, leadership adviser and best selling author. She works with executives and leaders all over the world to help them achieve mental resilience and peak brain performance, helping them to manage stress, regulate emotions and retain information. Her scientific knowledge and expertise helps people optimize their brain health and achieve their full potential.Tara joins Leah to discuss the brain-body connection and the importance of emotional well-being. She explains how chronic stress can impact the brain and body, leading to physical and mental health issues, and emphasizes the power of intention and visualization in shaping our brain's interpretation of reality. Follow Leah Smart on LinkedInFollow Dr. Tara Swart on LinkedIn

Dr. Casey Means, a physician passionate about metabolic health, discusses the interconnectedness of symptoms and diseases stemming from metabolic dysfunction, offers strategies for optimizing metabolism through sleep, movement, stress management, toxin reduction, and light exposure. She emphasizes the importance of adopting a metabolic framework for cellular health to live happier, healthier lives.

In part II of our conversation with Stephanie Harrison, author of New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That's Got It Wrong, we explore what it looks like to apply Stephanie’s New Happy philosophy to personal and work areas of our lives. We discuss strategies for setting and achieving your big goals, what the research suggests about the role of helping others in the context of happiness and how privilege and oppression shift our approach to and experience of happiness. We also contemplate the notion of the “best self” and take a hard look at wellness culture to better understand how mainstream ideas of happiness and well-being hold us back from achieving true contentment. Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.Follow Stephanie Harrison on LinkedIn.To learn more about Stephanie’s philosophy on happiness, check out her book, New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That's Got It Wrong.