School For Good Living Podcasts

Hello my friends today, my guest is Donald Robertson. Donald was born in Irvine, Scotland, and he became a specialist in teaching evidence-based psychological skills. Known as an expert on the relationship between modern cognitive behavioral therapy and classical Greek and Roman philosophy. Who merges those two things? And if that wasn’t enough, he was also interested in eastern studies and found a common thread perhaps to all of those a common root in stoicism. His most recent book is called How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius published this year in 2019. Part of what I love so much is that he brings to life these figures from antiquity, from ancient history, and helps us understand who they were, how they lived, and what lessons they have for us that are still relevant. In fact, maybe more timely than ever. I hope that you enjoy this storytelling, this learning, this biography of sorts. And by the way, when we get to the end of this interview and I ask him for his insi

Wally Hines is the Director of Standards for JETPUBS Inc. His background includes a B.S. in Aeronautical Studies from the University of North Dakota, followed by various flying positions ranging from flight instruction, traffic reports, aerial photography, and fire patrol for the Department of Natural Resources. He has flown for two regional airlines and, since 1996, has been a pilot for Sun Country Airlines (flying the B727, DC10, and currently, the B737NG). He has been at JETPUBS since 2001 and is one of its founders. JETPUBS provides manuals services and training materials to over 400 airlines and training centers worldwide. Wally discusses the writing process for his yet to be released book on fighting against false accusations from the government and his years-long battle to clear his name. SUMMARY 00:46 – Belly of the Snake.02:00 – JetPub08:08 – Being accused of abuse.22:16 – Why isn’t the book finished yet?32:13  – Deadline. LINKSLinkedin ProfileJETPUBSAP story discussing Wally’s case.The post 36

Hello my friends today my guest is Commander Mark Divine. Mark is an amazing human being whose nickname when he was in the Navy SEALs, was Cyborg. In his class of 185 participants, 19 graduated and he was the number one of those 19 earning the Honor Man. He’s unquestionably a leader and a warrior and he teaches leaders and warriors. We talk about how to transmute desire into certainty, how to achieve peace and contentment, how to live one day, one lifetime as a philosophy. I had the chance to hear first at a Tony Robbins event a few years back in San Diego. He later came and spoke to executives at our company and as part of that event he took us outside and had us all engaged in some PT, some physical training, and we went for a run and we did some of the stretching and some of these movement and breathing exercises, and I realized how much I’d missed that. Mark has written The Way Of The SEAL, Kokoro Yoga, Unbeatable Mind, and 8 Weeks to SEALFIT. I hope you’ll hear something in this interview from a man

Ian Manuel is a truly inspiring soul. He’s a spoken word poet who’s messages is the impossible is obtainable. When I first met Ian, he was on stage delivering some of his spoken word poetry, and when I talked to him afterward, he shared with me something that I could see in his delivery. He said, “God has given me the gift to compose words in ways that move people.” He had plenty of time to practice cultivating that gift while he spent a 26 year prison sentence, 18 consecutive years in solitary confinement, for a crime he committed at 13 years old. He received life in prison without the possibility of parole. In this interview, we talk about the crime that landed him there, how he confronted his victim, and why, what she said and did and continues to do. Very, very remarkable. And the final thing here, and we talk about this briefly toward the end, but it’s a theme I think that runs throughout, is this idea that our traditional justice system is oriented toward punishment where a restorative justice syste

My guest is Scott Harrison. Scott is the founder and CEO of charity:water. He’s also the author of a book called Thirst: A Story of Redemption, compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World. Scott describes himself in this interview as having become at one point in his life early on, the most degenerate, hedonistic, sycophantic person that he knew. What is so awesome about Scott and his story is the fact that it is possible to change, and you’ll hear his transformation from a nightclub promoter and a party promoter. The more effective he was at that, the more money he earned. He was able to turn his life around a complete 180 and created a completely new model of how charities and philanthropies operate. Please enjoy this conversation with Scott Harrison. SUMMARY00:02:37 – What’s life about?00:04:24 – Why he wrote the book.00:11:20 – How it all began to change.00:26:36 – A billion people without water.00:37:06 – The mystery of faith.00:45:29 – Business models.00:48:02 – Lightning round.01

Today my guest is Adam Piore, author of The Body Builders, Inside the Science of the Engineered Human. This is a fascinating book that explores the cutting edge of science and technology as it relates to the human body and explores things like advanced prosthetics, the regeneration of lost limbs and lost digits, technologies that help the blind to see, quadriplegics who are able to drink milk by thinking, and many things that I hadn’t even thought about until I read about them in this book. Adam is an award-winning journalist based in New York, a former editor and correspondent for Newsweek magazine as well as writing for Conde Nast Traveler, GQ, Discover Magazine, Mother Jones, and Playboy among many others. If there’s one thing that you take away from this interview, perhaps it’s this idea that we all have things we can be better at. We all have areas to learn. It’s easy to look at somebody who’s where we want to be, who’s doing what we want to do and think, man, they are there. They are probably amazing, b

Bryan has recently launched the School for Good Living. Within the School, Bryan has created an online group coaching program called Life’s Best Practices Breakthrough Coaching. The promise of the course is to help participants create a life of happiness, meaning, and contribution. Many want to make a difference, they want to contribute, and they think they can – but they are held back by not knowing how. Life’s Best PracticesBreakthrough Coaching provides the principles to guide participants and instill in them the faith to believe: I can. I do. I am.This 36-week online group coaching course is divided into three sections:SECTION 1 focuses on powerPower: Live with clarity about who you are, what you want, and why you’re here.SECTION 2 focuses on productivityProductivity: Do more, in less time, with less stress and more fun.SECTION 3 focuses on peacePeace: Appreciate and enjoy every moment of every day; love fully and live well.Learn more about the School for Good Living here. This 36-week online group coa

Today my guest is Dylan Ozmore. I’m thrilled to have him on my show because I love talking to Dylan and he has so many fantastic insights and perspectives. He’s the first poet I’ve had on this School for Good Living Podcast and he’s written a book called Words to Dance to: A Book of Poetic Meditations. He’s already written his followup called And the Lights Came On: A Book of Zen Parables and Poetic Meditations. He reads one of these zen parables in this podcast. We talk about how to know when something’s really a hell yes, when something really is a part of your calling, the willingness to give up, and everything to pursue your truth. We also explore this idea that everything is sacred and the space from which his books have been written and spaces in general, metaphysical, perhaps spiritual, emotional spaces as places from which we create. SUMMARY00:02:42 – What’s life about?00:11:05 – How do we really know something?00:21:56 – Advice to others hearing the whisperings.00:34:32 – Initial writing experie

Today I have a conversation with a really amazing indigenous healer, Arkan Lushwala. Arkan is a Peruvian ceremonial leader who was adopted by a Lakota Elder named Basil Brave Heart. Arkan has written a couple books, one called The Time of The Black Jaguar: An Offering of Indigenous Wisdom for the Continuity of Life on Earth. And more recently, Deer and Thunder: Indigenous Ways of Restoring the World. One of the things you’ll hear is that he is a very humble man. In fact, he’s the only podcast guest I’ve had who, when I asked him to describe himself, says, “First, as a farmer.” Please take anything you hear in this interview with some caution, particularly some of the rituals and ceremonies that he talks about. Some of these things are potentially dangerous and not to be played with. There’s a real concern there, so taken care for your safety, making sure that anything you might do along these lines is under the guidance of someone who has experience and is looking out for your well-being. SUMMARY00:04:11

Today, my guest is James Altucher. James is an amazing human being, a next level thinker, an investor, entrepreneur, author, stand up comedian, and former hedge fund manager. James is also a podcaster ranked in the top 100 podcasts who has interviewed just about everyone. In this conversation he shares his perspective on trying to be 1% better each day, as well as strategies he’s used to be a great interviewer. James also opens up about giving away everything he owned and living only in Airbnb’s for over 3 years, while also sharing some of the best advise I’ve ever heard about marketing your creative work. SUMMARY00:03:13 – What’s life about?00:06:45 – Improving yourself 1% every day.00:15:58 – The conception of Choose Yourself.00:29:17 – Interrupting your guest.00:30:49 – Making and losing lots of money.00:36:20 – Spirituality and meditation.00:50:10 – Death.00:53:53 – Reading.01:04:02 – Personal mission statement.01:07:01- Lightning round.01:18:00 – Airbnb01:22:10 – 10 ideas every day.01:35:12 – Micro loan

Hello my friends today, my guest is Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu. He is a psychologist and has training and clinical and community psychology, Yoga, meditation, and Chinese medicine. He holds a Doctorate from Harvard University. He’s been a teacher and counselor in Japan and the United States working with all ages from daycare to medical school. His current research is in the assessment of mindfulness and promoting personal wellbeing, leadership and social transformation. I was privileged to find Stephen’s book in the basement of the Strand bookstore in New York City. In it, he uses his personal experience to expand concepts that help us to transform ourselves, ultimately help us transform society using compassion. Stephen talks with me about the power of listening and how to be a more effective listener, what it really means. He also talks about actually seeing others and being seen, why it matters how we can do it. Stephen talks a lot about this duality, this tension between serving our ego, which of cours

Today, my guest is Colin Beavan, author of No Impact Man, the Adventures of a Guilty Liberal who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process. Colin has also written a book called How To Be Alive. Now, I found Colins’s book used at a second-hand bookstore. This book is printed on post-consumer waste paper printed with soy ink. It’s very environmentally friendly, which is no surprise given that it contains the stories and experiences of a man who lived a year without producing any trash except for compost. Purchasing no goods except for food and that food had to be grown within a 250 mile radius. He used no carbon-emitting transportation, no airplanes, no buses, no cars for a year. He didn’t even use elevators, taking the stairs. Now, all of that with a family living in New York City. Oh, and no paper products either including no toilet paper. He’s appeared on the Colbert Report, Good Morning America, Nightline, just about every morning show in the c

Today my interview is with Mark Gober, author of An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth that the Brain Produces Consciousness and the Implications for Everyday Life. Mark explores many different areas of life that we don’t often talk about even though we have some personal experience with them. Things like psychedelics, remote viewing, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, communications with the deceased, and children who remember previous lives. It’s not, in my opinion, woo woo or out there. Instead, Mark takes a very level look at this, looking at the science and the research. Decades, 70 years or more in some cases, things that have been taking place in respectable laboratories, places like Princeton or Stanford by well respected scientists and researchers. Things that show there’s something strange going on in the universe more than we often realize. SUMMARY00:02:19 What’s life about?00:06:11 Marks’ background.00:11:22 Consciousness.00:16:16 Spiritual tradition

Today, my guest is Kenji Williams, a composer and director for multimedia live theater, mixed reality, and interactive data visualization. What does that mean? Well, I met Kenji at an event in San Francisco where he showed me through VR a view of the planet earth that just blew my mind. It helped me to experience not only the beauty but the interconnectivity, the fragility of planet earth, and I was absolutely blown away. Since that time I have learned more from Kenji and this conversation was awesome. He talks about his journey as a multidisciplinary artist beginning at age six as a classically trained violinist, the son of a Buddhist and a Quaker. As he was raised, he pursued film. He also became a DJ, was in the rave culture, made a documentary about indigenous rituals, lived for a while in the psychedelic culture, did an artistic production with artist Alex Gray. You will find this conversation useful, interesting, inspiring. So with that, please enjoy this conversation with Kenji Williams. SUMMARY00:02:

Today my guest is Paul Hawken. Paul is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, and activist. Paul is the author of at least eight books, many articles, blog posts. President Bill Clinton called his book, Natural Capitalism, one of the five most important books today. Paul’s latest book is called Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed To Reverse Global Warming.  Although Paul didn’t write this book Drawdown to give hope, he calls hope the pretty mask of fear. Saying instead that we must be fearless, not hopeful. I think you’ll find something in Paul’s interview here, something in Paul’s writing, that will help you to live more fully, more fearlessly. SUMMARY00:02:01 – What is life about?00:16:50 – People feeling powerless.00:26:37 – Drawdown introduction.00:33:19 – With what’s going on in the environment, is retirement planning necessary?00:49:47 – What will the planet look like 50 years from now?01:07:54 – Lightning round.01:12:48  – Paul recommends libraries and used bookstores.01:18:52 – Ti

My guest is Raj Raghunathan, a professor of marketing at the McCombs School of business at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the author of, If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? And he is the author behind one of the most popular, massively open online courses ever created. A course on Coursera called A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment that has been participated in by more than 250,000 students. It’s available to you online at no cost right now. Raj explains consumption behavior through themes from psychology, behavioral science, decision theory and marketing. He talks to the smart and successful, that’s who he’s writing for. People who have already accomplished a lot, people who are intelligent but maybe don’t yet experienced the level of happiness that they want or they don’t experience it as easily and as often as they’d like. We go deep on the topic of gratitude, something that can be trite, feel like something on a hallmark card. But Raj gets into the how and why it works, why it matters

Today my guest is Smiley Poswolsky, a millennial workplace expert, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough and The Breakthrough Speaker. Smiley is somebody that I met through friends. It turns out I’ve got three or four friends, who aren’t friends with each other, who all know Smiley. In our conversation today, we talk about the qualities of a good prank, the value of making the ask, not waiting for permission, the gatekeeper is often yourself. Smiley talks about writing the book you need, writing about whatever people are asking you. And then he gets into a few tips about public speaking. So, if sharing from a stage is something that you’re interested to do, Smiley’s a good guy to know. One of the things I love about this conversation is Smiley talks about his lifestyle. It made me think about the healthy writer’s lifestyle as opposed to maybe the unhealthy writer’s lifestyle. Where Smiley’s not fueled all the time by caffeine or alcohol or amphetamines or some of these thin

Today I am thrilled to talk with Alan Weisman. He is an author who’s worked on seven continents and more than 50 countries. He’s written six books and the book that I talked to him most about is The World Without Us. It’s a book he published about a decade ago. It began as a thought experiment about what would happen if humanity disappeared from the planet. How long would it take for nature to rejuvenate, or would it at all? He’s a journalist, who wanted to be a scientist as a kid and had so many passions and curiosities that he decided he would write about them all. That inquiry, that spirit of discovery has taken him around the globe and caused him to talk to some really, really interesting people. I hope that what you take away from this interview, and if you read his books, is a greater understanding and appreciation of the beauty and the delicate nature of the planet that we’re all a part of. SUMMARY 00:02:40 – What is life about? 00:03:50 – Alan’s background. 00:13:23 – Concerns about the planet. 00:17

Tasha Eurich has helped thousands of leaders around the world to become more self-aware and successful. Her first book, Bankable Leadership, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. Her latest book, Insight, delves into the connection between self-awareness and success. Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist, researcher, and New York Times, bestselling author. She’s built a reputation as a fresh modern voice in the business world by pairing her scientific grounding and human behavior with a pragmatic approach to professional development. In this interview, Tasha and I talk about a lot of things, including the work she’s done and the things she’s learned in more than 15 years of being a scientist. I hope you enjoy it, and if you listen all the way to the end where we talk about writing, she shares some things about writing that, if you’ve tried it, I think will resonate with you. Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Tasha Eurich. SUMMARY 00:02:00  – What’s life about? 00:02:32  –

Today my guest is Jeff Eggers. I don’t even know where to start introducing Jeff. He retired from the Navy in 2013 after a 20-year career as a US Navy SEAL. He served in the White House for six years, most recently as President Obama’s special assistant for national security affairs, he also served under President Bush. He earned an award, the Samuel Nelson Drew Award for Distinguished Contribution in Pursuit of Global Peace. That award was given to him by President Obama for his role in mediating the political crisis following the 2014 Afghan presidential elections, which I’m sure you were following closely. We talk about leadership and the book that he’s just written with four-star general Stanley McChrystal and with Jason Mangone. The book is Leaders, Myth and Reality. In this book, he profiles 13 leaders from all walks of life. We talk about some very practical things that you can do to increase the quality of your leadership. I think it’s fascinating. I think if you want to take your ideas and to transl