Good Life Project

In 1986, at the bottom of a ten-year spiral into depression, Byron Katie woke up one morning to a state of constant joy that has never left her. She realized that when she believed her stressful thoughts, she suffered, but that when she questioned them, that suffering gave way to truth and then joy, and that this is true for every human being. Over a period of years, she distilled her simple yet p...

In today's GLP Update, we're talking about new research on brain training. And, we're kicking off a series on "cognitive bias," a/k/a the silly ways our minds fool us into thinking we're more rational than we really are. Good Life Riff:  In the first of our GLP Riffs on cognitive bias, we're exploring a quirky, hidden tendency known as "anchoring" or "focalism. What is that? It's how we subli...

Dr. Tererai Trent is an internationally acclaimed voice for women’s empowerment and education. Hailed by Oprah Winfrey as her “all-time favorite guest,” Dr. Trent is an inspiring and dynamic scholar, educator, humanitarian, speaker, author, and the founder of Tererai International. Born in a small village with no electricity or running water in Zimbabwe (then, Rhodesia), she was married in her ear...

As the world goes digital, we yearn for more tactile experiences. And, in our Good Life Science news, if you want to be a human emotion detector, don't look...listen. Good Life Riff:  As the world has gone digital, we feel pain. Sure, there are benefits to an electronic existence, but truth is, we are wired to experience life in a more tactile, touch-driven way. Pinching, sliding and tapping...

Jordan Harbinger is the co-founder of The Art of Charm,  a renowned social dynamics expert and host of the top-rated Art of Charm podcast , where he interviews leading entrepreneurs, celebrities, authors and experts on psychology, human performance, behavioral economics and success.. Harbinger helped develop one of the leading self-development programs in the world, co-created the Mastering S...

In today's GLP Update, we're talking about the rarely-explored downside of being a "yes" person, and another study on why eating bigger breakfasts might help save your life. Good Life Riff:  We hear it all the time, and in fact we've invited people to explore the idea of saying yes to all sorts of things that, on the one hand scare them, but might also add unforeseen beauty to their lives. Bu...

Mark Divine never thought he'd be a Navy SEAL. He was being groomed for the family business. Then, a chance walk by a recruiting office turned his world upside down and offered him a path to claim his warrior calling. Mark graduated as honor-man of his SEAL BUD/s class 170. He served nine years on Active Duty and 11 years as a Reserve SEAL before retiring as Commander in 2011 and stepping int...

Poetry as a tactical device, from a slacker non-poet. And the myth of shiny object syndrome. That's what we're talking about on today's Good Life Update. Good Life Riff:  Poetry. Seriously? Yeah, poetry. What if was the secret sauce for sharing ideas in a way that bypassed defenses and made a beeline to the heart? What if information could be "packaged" in writing that awakened your inne...

In just 72-hours, Vanessa Potter went from sighted to blind, and able-bodied to paralyzed. Nothing would ever be the same. This is the story of brain gone haywire that led to a life transformed. Guest: A married mother of two young kids, Potter spent 16 years as an award-winning broadcast producer in London. Then, in October 2012 fate conspired to turn the lights out on her, and overnight she...

What if melting down after a failure was actually a good thing? Or doing what you love, as a side hustle, was the best way to do it? That's what we're talking about on today's episode. Good Life Riff:  Today, we've got a special guest riff, featuring friend-of-the-pod, New York Times bestselling author, podcaster , world-traveler and entrepreneur, Chris Guillebeau. In his new book, Side Hustl...

What if much of the popular wisdom and even so-called valid research on meditation...was wrong?! According to  Daniel Goleman , it's time for a meditation wake-up call. Best known for his worldwide bestseller Emotional Intelligence , Goleman reveals powerful new truths about meditation, what it really is and isn't, and how only about 1% of the 6,000+ studies done on the topic are what mi...

In today's GLP Update, we're talking about a hidden reason why a to-do list may be your savior (even if you hate them), and a cool study that reveals how focusing intensely on visual tasks just might just make you momentarily deaf to certain sounds. Ah, the old to-do list. Some people love them. Others outright hate them. Some refuse anything but a paper to-do list or a planner, others need an app...

Guest:  Mark Lukach is a teacher and freelance writer. His work has been published in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Pacific Standard, Wired, and other publications. He is currently the ninth grade dean at The Athenian School, where he also teaches history. He lives with his wife, Giulia, and their son in the San Francisco Bay area. His latest book, a heart-wrenching memoir, is called...

In today's GLP Update, we're talking about how to break out of your lane and keep your career, and how physical activity affects accelerated learning. Good Life Riff:  Ever hear the phrase, "stay in your lane?" Yep, us too. It's most often offered as a warning to people who are considering moving away from the thing they've become known for in the quest to do something more interesting. Thing...

G uest:  Gretchen Rubin is the  New York Times  bestselling author of several books, including  The Four Tendencies ,  Better Than Before   and  The Happiness Project. On her weekly podcast  Happier with Gretchen Rubin , she discusses good habits and happiness with her sister Elizabeth Craft. Want to hear more from Gretchen? Listen here to her 2015 conversat...

Good Life Riff: We've talked about happiness before, and it's relationships to a good life. And, we've done a pretty fierce deep-dive into the surprising relationship between money and happiness in a past episode. But, there's something else we've never shared. A little called the ARC of Happiness. Those three letters, A - R - C, are an acronym for three words that will dramatically enhance the ha...

Glennon Doyle is an author, activist, founder of Momastery.com and co-founder of the Compassion Collective and  Together Rising , a non-profit that has raised more five million dollars for women and children in crisis. Her latest book, LOVE WARRIOR is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and the Oprah's Book Club selection. I sat down with Glennon the morning after she had wrapped one of her gather...

Good Life Riff:  Ever hear the story about the guy trapped on his roof in a flood, waiting for a sign from God that he'd be saved? Well, turns out, a lot of us live our lives in a similar way. Waiting for someone or something to give us a sign, to tell us, "it's time." When, in reality, we are that sign. That's what today's riff is about. Good Life Science: And, in our Good Life Science segme...

[Best Of Episode] Elizabeth Gilbert exploded into the public's consciousness in 2006 with the release of her mega-bestselling memoir, Eat Pray Love. Since then, she's published a series of books, given a TED talk on creative genius that's been viewed more than 10 million times, become a leading voice on the pursuit of a creative, connected and vital life. Gilbert's book, Big Magic: Creative L...

Good Life Riff:  We hear a lot of talk about finding your voice. Truth is, it matters, but it's also not enough. Not if you want to stand out, rise above, create impact and make meaning. There's something else that we need to both cultivate and share. And, in today's world, it matters more than ever. What is it? Your point of view. That's the focus of today's riff. Good Life Science:  Sw...

So, how exactly did the global head of marketing for Nike become a podcaster? From studying Comparative Literature and French to becoming the head of marketing at mega-brands like Nike, OWN, National Geographic Channels and Fox International, Liz Dolan has taken the world of big business by storm. But in between these high-profile gigs, she found herself diving into deeply personal endeavors and s...

Good Life Riff:  There's this thing that happens at the end of the day when you're near the water. The breeze settles down, everything slows and there's a window where everything becomes still. It only lasts for 15-20 minutes, but it's a powerful moment. Kind of nature's way of transitioning its environment from the high-pitch, frenetic, creative energy of the day into the ramped-down, chille...

What if most of what we've been taught about success was wrong? That's the question we're asking today's guest,  Eric Barker.  A former Hollywood screen-writer turned blogger, he shares science-based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life with his more than 300,000 subscribers. Barker's content is also syndicated by Time Magazine, The Week, and Business In...

Good Life Riff: Ever wonder why the internet is littered with a bajillion feel-good quotables, when the reality of most people's lives is pretty far from the utopian mumbo-jumbo we so often see hand-lettered all over insta? Ever wonder what might happen if you changed those quotables to something that was a little less aspirational and a little more real? The short answer just might surprise you....

Nilofer Merchant  is a master at turning seemingly “wild” ideas into powerful new realities and showing the rest of us how we can do the same. Over the years, this has taken the form of books, her top-ranked TED talk, strategic advising for some of the largest, most-innovative companies in the world and game-changing startups, as well as being a member of organizational teams responsible for...