School For Good Living Podcasts

Dr. Joshua Mezrich is the author of When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon, a book where he shares insights that he derived from his life as a surgeon. Joshua is a graduate of Princeton University and completed his Doctor of Medicine degree at Cornell University.  In addition to his profession as a transplant surgeon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Joshua is the co-founder and inventor of MezLight, the sterile surgical headlamp that he conceptualized in his quest to find alternatives to wearing a headlight during surgical procedures. Joshua joins me today to discuss the act of organ donation as a gift of life that can help families cope with death. He illustrates his beginnings as a doctor, from the first patient who died on his watch to meeting the family of an organ donor for the first time. He shares a brief history of surgery and transplanting and imparts his love of reading literature. He also underscores the value of empathy and humility not only in the medical field but als

BJ Fogg is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. BJ is the Founder & Director of the Stanford University Behavior Design Lab and has dedicated his life to teaching and sharing his insights about behavior change. Using his Fogg Behavior Model and methods in behavior design, BJ trains Fortune 500 companies and guides industry innovators in creating products that help people become healthier and happier. BJ joins me today to share his insights on behavior design and habit formation. He emphasizes the role of emotions in creating habits and explains the power of simplicity in cultivating behaviors. He reveals some of the biggest myths about habit formation and describes some factors that make it difficult for people to change their behavior. He also shares the Fogg Behavioral Model and discusses how self-confidence can help individuals form new habits. ” Emotions create habits, not repetition. Design for positive emotions: you change best wh

Martha Alderson is the best-selling author of Boundless Creativity: A Spiritual Workbook for Overcoming Self-Doubt, Emotional Traps, and Other Creative Blocks and Writing Blockbuster Plots: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering Plot, Structure, and Scene. She is a plot and transformational consultant whose clients include best-selling authors, editors, and Hollywood movie directors. Martha, widely known as the “Plot Whisperer,” has written several books, led workshops, and created an award-winning blog to help creatives express themselves and tell their stories. Martha joins me today to explore the creative process and define what the universal story is. She discusses the ubiquity of opposition in all artistic pursuits and outlines how creatives can overcome them. She reveals the three major emotions with which all creatives face and explains how we are all in the world to heal. She also emphasizes the importance of forgiveness, its relationship with creative endeavor, and how we can give it to ourselves and e

Annie Duke is the author of How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices and Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts. As a decision strategist and consultant, Annie coaches on the behavior of decision making, decision fitness, and emotional control. She is also Co-Founder and Board Member of the Alliance for Decision Education, a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to empowering students with essential decision-making skills. Before her work as an author and consultant, Annie was a professional poker player who won more than $4 million in tournament poker before retiring in 2012. Annie joins me today to explain why making a pros and cons list is an ineffective method to make decisions and outlines her six-step process for powerful decision-making. She discusses why people get stuck in analysis paralysis, describes how we can move past it, and defines the “resulting phenomenon.” She also emphasizes using happiness as a tool to measure the value

Tyson Yunkaporta is the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World. He is an academic, art critic, poet, and researcher who belongs to the Apalech clan in Queensland, Australia. A senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University, Tyson looks at global systems through an Indigenous lens. Much of society’s problems stem from our worldview, from how we think and relate to how we behave. Through Sand Talk, Tyson offers a template for living and perspectives on how we can make better sense of the world. Tyson joins me today to discuss how Indigenous knowledge and ideas can help change the world for the better and describes what makes a person or knowledge Indigenous. He explains why we need to have an agency in violence and describes how western civilization has subjugated women and femininity. He also highlights the importance of cultivating a connection with the land, defines Indigenous concepts – such as the Dreaming, totemic relationships, and songlines – and discusses how

Houston Kraft is the author of Deep Kindness: A Revolutionary Guide for the Way We Think, Talk, and Act in Kindness. He has spent the last decade visiting more than 600 schools and events worldwide to speak about empathy, compassion, and kindness. Houston is the Founder of CharacterStrong, an organization that teaches leadership through the lens of compassion. Together with his team at CharacterStrong, Houston has created curriculums and training that serve more than 2,500 schools across 50 states, nine countries, and over a million students. Houston joins me today to explore the skills we need to develop to create a more compassionate world. He discusses the factors that hinder us from being kind and how we can overcome them. He highlights the importance of bringing empathy into acts of kindness and shares his “To Be List.” He also defines what deep kindness is, differentiates it from what he calls “confetti kindness,” explains why the distinction matters, and discusses how we can develop deep kindness fo

Mark Gober is an international speaker and author of An End to Upside Down Living: Reorienting Our Consciousness to Live Better and Save the Human Species. Mark is the host of the Where is My Mind?Podcast, where he interviews leading researchers on consciousness, such as the physicist and Nobel laureate Brian Josephson. Through his work, Mark explores areas that are not currently accepted by the scientific community, including psychic phenomena, near-death experiences, and, ultimately, elevating humanity’s consciousness. Mark joins me today to share the concept of how matter and the biology of the universe arises from consciousness and explain why understanding this idea matters. He defines what the materialism or physicalism philosophy is and its implications on how we live our lives. He differentiates non-attachment from detachment and discusses how we can be more aligned with the stream of consciousness. He also explains how leaders, educators, and mentors can help elevate the world’s consciousness and

Morgan Housel is a Partner at the Collaborative Fund and author of The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness. He is a former columnist for The Motley Fool and The Wall Street Journal and has received several accolades, including the New York Times Sidney Award. In addition to his authorship, Morgan has presented at over 100 conferences in different countries, using storytelling to explore behavioral finance and history, how investors deal with risk, and how we can think about risk in a more productive way. Morgan joins me today to explore the highest form of wealth and the psychology that drives how we spend our money. He defines what a savings rate means and explains how one can build wealth without having a high income. He differentiates making reasonable financial decisions from making rational ones and describes our emotional relationship with money. He also illustrates the economic and social dynamics that occur underneath challenging events in the United States and rev

Jan Jones is the author of The CEO’s Secret Weapon: How Great Leaders and Their Assistants Maximize Productivity and Effectiveness, a book regarded as ‘the Bible’ for executives and assistants worldwide. Over her 20 years of experience working as an executive assistant, Jan has represented high-level leaders and executives such as Tony Robbins and Michael Gerber. In addition to championing the high-performing executive assistant – a role for which she advocates through her writing – Jan is also a consultant and Founder & President of Jan Jones Worldwide Speakers Bureau, an international speakers bureau that connects inspirational speakers to their worldwide audience. Jan joins me today to discuss what it takes to be an extraordinary executive assistant. She shares ideas she learned from renowned leaders such as Elon Musk on finding, interviewing, and hiring the right executive assistant. She underscores the monumental role executive assistants play in supporting executives, leaders, and businesses and

Philip Goldberg is a public speaker, spiritual counselor, and the author of Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Clarity, Calm, and Courage and The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru, among numerous others. Philip is a meditation teacher and ordained interfaith minister who has spent over 50 years studying Transcendental Meditation. In addition to his books, Philip also regularly contributes writing to the Elephant Journal and Spirituality & Health and co-hosts the Spirits Matters Podcast. Philip joins me in this episode to share his spiritual journey. He illustrates the turning point in life that set him off in his spiritual path to find truth and wisdom. He imparts some of the lessons he learned from practicing Eastern spiritual traditions and explains what turiya, or the Fourth Mode of Consciousness, means. He also shares the practical benefits of spiritual practice and highlights the relevance of cultivating spirituality in today’s w

Jennifer Louden is a coach, speaker, and best-selling author of Why Bother: Discover the Desire for What’s Next. Jennifer is a pioneer in personal growth and development who helped launch the concept of self-care with her first bestseller, The Woman’s Comfort Book: A Self-Nurturing Guide for Restoring Balance in Your Life. For over 26 years, Jennifer has helped millions of creative women create extraordinary lives through her books, communities, and writing retreats. She has appeared on several television, radio, and podcast shows, and has been cited in Brene Brown’s books, Daring Greatly and Dare to Lead. Jennifer joins me today to explore our fear of being undefended and explain what an emotional immune system is. She shares her experience with depression and loss and the lessons she learned from them. She explains what “why bothers” are, how they work, how we can use them, and the role that desire plays in it. She defines the difference between signature themes and life purpose and explains how the latt

Gavin Edwards is a journalist, nonfiction writer, and New York Times best-selling author of 12 books, including Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever and The World According to Tom Hanks. Gavin is a veteran writer who has penned magazine cover stories on celebrities such as Jared Leto and Travis Barker and has written for several publications, including The New York Times, Wired, and Rolling Stone. In addition to his work as a writer, Gavin is also a public speaker who has appeared on NBC’s Today, NPR’s All Things Considered, and VH1’s Behind the Music. Gavin joins me today to discuss the life and philosophy of Fred Rogers. He explains what led him to write about Mr. Rogers and shares some of his favorite stories about him. He describes his process of selecting personalities, icons, and topics and how he approaches the people he writes about. He also underscores the power of research in making interviews engaging and explains why the act of writing is valuable unto itself. “I

Nicholas Webb is the author of What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint and The Innovation Mandate: The Growth Secrets of the Best Organizations in the World. Nick, widely regarded as an innovation evangelist, is a speaker and entrepreneur who founded LeaderLogic Management Consultants, an organization dedicated to driving strategic excellence, innovation, and customer experience design. He was honored with a Doctorate in Humane Letters by the Western University of Health and Sciences, where he also serves as an adjunct professor and Chief Innovation Officer. Nicholas joins me today to discuss how to foster innovation in companies. He reveals the three key trends that drive disruption as well as the critical risks to companies. He explores the idea of improving and evolving yourself every day, serving a mission that matters, and the importance of living life consciously. He also explains why legacy is an insidious problem in an organization, why spoken comm

Gary Taubes is the author of five books, including The Case for Keto: Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating and The Case Against Sugar. He is the co-founder of the Nutrition Science Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of nutrition research. As an unconventional thinker and investigative & science journalist, Gary questions established thought and prevailing wisdom on obesity, nutrition, and how scientists do their work. Gary has been awarded numerous recognitions for his journalism, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research, among many others. Gary joins me to explore the history of obesity research and the dangers of dogmatic thinking in the scientific community. He describes the physiology of obesity, including the roles of hormones and enzymes in the body’s ability to accumulate and store fat. He explains how carbohydrates can lead to obesity and how a low-carb, high-fat diet can addr

Jill Heinerth is a cave diver, underwater explorer, filmmaker, author of the memoir, Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver, and producer of the documentary, We Are Water. She is the first Explorer in Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and for over 30 years, she has worked in film, photography, and exploration. As an explorer, Jill documents deep ocean environments and other places where humans have never been, making fascinating contributions to climate change and geology. Jill is a recipient of the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration, granted by the RCGS for her lifetime achievement. Jill joins me today to explore the role of cave divers as the hands and eyes of scientists. She shares some of the biggest fears she faced in her life and explains how fear can be transformative experiences. She illustrates the experience of cave diving and how she prepares for a diving mission. She underscores the importance of water and describes how we’re already fighting wars over water s

Mark Charles, the author of Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, is a dual citizen of the United States and the Navajo Nation running as an Independent candidate for the U.S. presidency. Mark is a thought-provoking writer and public speaker whose mission is to create a country where the words “We the People” means “all the people.” Together with his family and supporters, Mark advocates for a path of common memory and healing for the nation through a Truth + Conciliation Commission. Mark joins me today to share his experience living in the Navajo Nation and what he realized about the marginalized and disenfranchised. He explores how the enduring social issues of today are institutionalized and deeply rooted in history. He explains what the Doctrine of Discovery is and how it perpetuates white supremacy. He also reveals how trauma and the lack of knowledge on American history hinders racial dialogue and emphasizes the importance of agreeing as a nation on the mea

Adam Ward is a visual artist whose forthcoming book, Brick x Brick, will be available in 2021. As an artist and master builder, Adam works with LEGO pieces as his medium. He is the creator and host of Brick x Brick, a YouTube video series for which he was dubbed the “Bob Ross of LEGO” and where teaches his audience how to unleash their creativity through building with LEGOs. Through his studio, Peace + Bricks, Adam has worked with and created major LEGO builds and installations for organizations such as Zappos, Tumblr, and many others. Adam joins me today to share how his love of LEGO began, why he set it aside during his teenage years before picking it back up, and how he started a business around his passion for LEGOs. He shares the lessons he learned about earning money, residual income, and sharing your creativity with the world. He highlights the importance of taking action when it comes to starting a business and illustrates the path he is treading in writing his book. He also explores the intersecti

Mark Silverman is a speaker, leadership coach, and the Amazon #1 best selling author of Only 10s: Using Distraction to Get the Right Things Done and the upcoming book, Mastering Midlife: How to Thrive When the World Asks the Most of You. He is also the host of the Mastering Midlife podcast,  where he speaks with high-performance leaders of all walks of life and discuss their secrets for mastering the stress, burnout, and hardships they have faced throughout their life and career.Prior to becoming the resiliency expert that he is today, Mark built a successful 15-year career at fast-moving, fast-growing companies in the tech world where he generated over 90 million dollars in sales and garnered numerous awards. Mark joins me today to share his journey from using drugs at the age of 13 and being homeless to getting sober and building a successful career. He defines what Only 10 means and discusses what inspired him to write his book. He shares his morning routine and describes how meditating consistently ove

Karla McLaren is a social science researcher and award-winning author of Embracing Anxiety: How to Access the Genius of This Vital Emotion and The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You. Karla is a pioneer in the study of empathy whose trailblazing approaches and unifying theory of emotions – including the Dynamic Emotional Integration and Six Essential Aspects of Empathy – open new pathways to self-awareness, communication, and empathy.  In addition to her research on empathy, Karla is also the CEO and Founder of Emotion Dynamics and developer of the Empathy Academy online learning community. Karla joins me today to discuss the genius that comes with emotions, the lessons they try to teach us, and how to work with them. She explores how we can embrace anxiety and illustrates how we can treat it as our friend instead of a problem. She discusses the 17 emotions and the four families they belong to and explains how the belief that there are positive and negative emotions impact our e

John Perkins is a speaker, activist, and author of Touching the Jaguar: Transforming Fear Into Action to Change Your Life and the World and Confessions of an Economic Hitman. In addition to having worked as Chief Economist who advised the IMF, World Bank, and the United Nations, John worked with many shamans from six different continents, studying with them as their apprentice. John draws from this diverse experience in economics and shamanistic work to build the foundations of his writing. He is also the Founder and Board Member of Dream Change and Co-Founder of Pachamama Alliance, two non-profit organizations dedicated to creating a better world for the next generation. John joins me today to share the wisdom and the lessons he learned from his journey in shamanism and his work in economics. He defines what the death economy is and differentiates it from the life economy and explains how we can help the world move toward the latter. He shares his experience as a shaman’s apprentice and illustrates how sh