Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement

Mark Manson was a full-time professional dating coach for men from 2008 until 2011. In 2011, sick of the industry, he wrote his first book, Models: Attract Women Through Honesty, and changed the name and focus of his business to address broader self-development topics for men. The book took off, selling tens of thousands of copies. As he branched out into deeper issues of masculinity, self-worth,...

Leon Logothetis narrates an excerpt from his book, The Kindness Diaries, which became a series on Netflix. Episode 504: An Excerpt from The Kindness Diaries by Leon Logothetis of The Netflix Series (Autobiographical Book Clip - Living on Less). Leon Logothetis is a global adventurer, motivational speaker & philanthropist. It wasn't always that way. He used to be a broker in the city of London wher...

J. Money is a 6’1, hyperactive, rock a ‘hawk who loves drinking beer, blaring hip-hop, talking about money, and now playing with his two adorable baby boys. He also has a podcast: M.O.N.E.Y. He tracked his expenses for 3 months, made a budget, read some books, and stumbled into personal finance blogging and idea sharing, randomly turning BudgetsAreSexy.com into his full time “real job” a few short...

Kristin Wong of TheWildWong.com was laid off in 2013. She took on some freelancing gigs to earn extra cash while she searched for a new, full-time job and over time, her freelancing gigs increased. She started writing for sites that she loved reading and produced videos for new clients. Her side gigs began to bring in more income than any potential full-time jobs. She launched a blog all about fru...

Angel and Marc Chernoff are professional coaches, full-time students of life, admirers of the human spirit, and have been recognized by Forbes as having “one of the most popular personal development blogs.” Through their blog, book, course and coaching, they’ve spent the past decade writing about and teaching proven strategies for finding lasting happiness, success, love and peace. The site has at...

Optimal Living Daily: Reading you the best content on personal development, productivity, and minimalism. Episode 500: Jeena Cho Interviews Justin Malik of the Optimal Living Daily Podcasts (The Big Idea, Social & Performance Anxiety). Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 275 - Dane's Phone Message Episode 099 - Dr. Chris Patti on The Flip-side of Love Jeena Cho is the co-author of The Anxious Lawye...

Originally a professional musician and circus clown, Derek Sivers created CD Baby in 1998. It became the largest seller of independent music online, with $100M in sales for 150,000 musicians. In 2008, Derek sold CD Baby for $22M, giving the proceeds to a charitable trust for music education. He is a frequent speaker at the TED Conference, with over 5 million views of his talks. Since 2011 he has p...

PTMoney.com is about helping you make extra money, save more money, and spend your money wisely--all in an effort to help you fix your finances so you can build the life you want. It was started by Philip Taylor, a CPA, entrepreneur, and blogger who started the site in 2007. He also created FinCon, the popular conference for financial nerds. Episode 498: How to Keep TV from Stealing Your Money and...

Tammy Strobel is a photographer, writer, teacher, and founder of RowdyKittens.com. She loves morning views, tiny homes, reading, and everyday adventures. She started Rowdy Kittens to share her story and help you go small, think big, and be happy. Every week, she shares new photos, writing, and a roundup of happy links on the blog. Episode 497: From Large to Little: My Tiny House Saga by Tammy Stro...

Mindset coach, yoga teacher, and writer, Kate Hanley, helps busy people stop stressing about the things that don't matter. She is the author of A Year of Daily Calm and The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide and is a veteran journalist whose work has appeared in dozens of publications. Episode 496: Stress Less: 100 Mindfulness Exercises for Calmness and Clarity by Kate Hanley (Meditation & Slow Living)...

Joshua Becker and his family decided to live with fewer possessions after a conversation with his neighbor in 2008. As a result, they found a better way to live, centered on more important pursuits. Their story has been seen on the CBS Evening News, NPR, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal and countless media interviews around the world. Their books have sold in the tens of thousands. Becomi...

James Altucher is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and podcaster. He has founded or cofounded more than 20 companies and says he failed at 17 of them. He has published 11 books, and is a regular contributor to The Financial Times, TechCrunch, and The Huffington Post. USA Today named his book Choose Yourself one of the 12 Best Business Books of All Time. Episode 494...

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus write about living a meaningful life with less stuff for 4 million readers. As featured on: ABC, CBS, NBC, BBC, TODAY, NPR, TIME, Forbes, The Atlantic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and National Post. They live in Missoula, Montana. Episode 493: Nightmares of a Perfectionist by Joshua Fields Millburn of The Minimalists Podcast (OCD, Minimal...

Ramit Sethi wants to use money to say YES. He knew there was a better way to live a rich life—if we could use psychology to focus on what actually works. Not just for personal finance, but all aspects of life: money, careers, relationships, business, fitness and more. Since then, he's been testing and sharing his findings with the world via I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He's also written a New York...

As he was going through an expired relationship, John Kim created a blog on Tumblr called The Angry Therapist and started to document his journey post divorce. He blogged about his short comings, revelations, and his views on relationships, the self help business, and the world, and started coaching people in unconventional ways, even as a licensed therapist. Through this process, he came up with...

Marc and Angel Chernoff are professional coaches, full-time students of life, admirers of the human spirit, and have been recognized by Forbes as having “one of the most popular personal development blogs.” Through their blog, book, course and coaching, they’ve spent the past decade writing about and teaching proven strategies for finding lasting happiness, success, love and peace. The site has at...

Marc and Angel Chernoff are professional coaches, full-time students of life, admirers of the human spirit, and have been recognized by Forbes as having “one of the most popular personal development blogs.” Through their blog, book, course and coaching, they’ve spent the past decade writing about and teaching proven strategies for finding lasting happiness, success, love and peace. The site has at...

Cait Flanders started Blonde on a Budget to document her debt repayment journey. After paying it off, she adopted a minimalist lifestyle, tossed 75% of her stuff, and is currently doing a two-year shopping ban. She shares stories and lessons learned every week. Episode 488: How I'm Living Small in a Not So Tiny Home by Cait Flanders (Slow Living & Minimalism). The original post is located here: ht...

Amy Blankson has consulted for over fifteen years with businesses, foundations, and nonprofit organizations around the country about how to create positive and productive leaders. She received her BA from Harvard and MBA from Yale School of Management. She was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the board of directors for the Corporation for National Service (which oversees AmeriCorps), and...

Mary Jaksch is an authorized Zen master (Diamond Sangha lineage), psychotherapist, and author. She has two nationalities,--English and German--and lives in New Zealand. She's the mother of a grown-up son and lives happily ever after with her partner David. She's been awarded an MA in Religious Studies, holds a 4th Dan Blackbelt in karate, started professional life as a flautist and loves dancing A...

A professional author and international speaker, Colin co-founded a publishing company, and travels full-time, moving to a new country every four months or so--that country determined by the votes of his readers! He also blogs. Colin's a minimalist in that he owns very few things and is careful in how he consumes. He tends to buy less, but invest in quality when he does, and trends toward the same...

Courtney Carver was stopped in her tracks with a scary MS diagnosis after decades of debt, discontent, and trying to do it all. She had to slow down, prioritize her health, and figure out what was really important in her life. She discovered what mattered most by getting rid of everything that didn’t matter at all. In the end it all came down to love and health. She went from a busy, overwhelmed a...

Leo Babauta created Zen Habits, which is about finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness. Episode 483: Why We Overplan by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits (Productivity & Simple Living). The original post is located here: https://zenhabits.net/overplan Please Rate & Revi...

David Cain is a writer and entrepreneur living in Winnipeg, Canada. On a particular boring day at his office job in 2009, he started Raptitude. His interest has always been human society and the internal human experience, and Raptitude became his megaphone for his thoughts about those things. It found an audience rather quickly and it’s been central to his life ever since. In 2013, he left his day...

Cal Newport is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, who specializes in the theory of distributed algorithms. He previously earned his Ph. D. from MIT in 2009 and graduated from Dartmouth College in 2004. In addition to studying the theoretical foundations of our digital age as a professor, Newport also writes about the impact of these technologies on the world of wo...