Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement

Mary Jaksch of Good Life Zen 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 an...

Optimal Living Daily: Reading you the best content on personal development, productivity, and minimalism. Episode 229: The Art of Looking Like a Fool by David Cain of Raptitude (Inspirational Living, Power and Purpose, & Motivation for Life). 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...

Steve Pavlina is widely recognized as one of the most successful personal development bloggers on the Internet, with his work attracting more than 100 million visits to his website, StevePavlina.com. He has written more than 1300 articles and recorded many audio programs on a broad range of self-help topics, including productivity, relationships, and spirituality. Steve has been quoted as an exper...

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 227: The Minimalist Way to Declutter by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits (Be Happier Through Power and Purpose & Minimalism). The original post is located here: http://zenha...

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus--The Minimalists--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 226: Excerpts from the Book Essential by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus of...

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists 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 225: Excerpts from the Book Essential by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus o...

Dr. Neal Malik has his degree in public health with emphases in disease prevention and nutrition. He is also a Registered Dietitian, Certified Health Education Specialist, Certified Health Fitness Specialist (personal trainer), and Certified in Adult Weight Management. Dr. Neal has been featured on CBS Local Radio in Los Angeles, CA, WNVR in Chicago, IL, and has been a consultant for eHow.com and...

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...

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...

Colin Wright of the Let's Know Things Podcast and ExileLifestyle.com is a professional author and international speaker who 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...

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...

Derek Sivers, originally a professional musician and circus clown, 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...

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,...

Ramit Sethi of IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com uses money to say yes instead of saying “no” to spending on everything. 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 t...

Kalen Bruce is the founder of MoneyMiniBlog. His story is simple… he and his wife were $24,000 in debt and became a student of finances to get out. They are now debt-free and building wealth. Kalen shares everything he has learned on his blog, writing informative, entertaining, mini blogs to help you with your finances. Finances can be intimidating, so he keeps his posts short, sweet, and simple....

JC Deen is the owner and creator of JCD Fitness. He whips people into shape and helps them learn how to make fitness complement their lives, as opposed to ruling it. While he talks quite the talk, he also walks the walk. The tagline of JCD Fitness is A No-BS Approach To Looking Great Naked. Episode 215: Fitness Meal Plans - Why I Don't Make Them by JC Deen of JCD Fitness (Are Diet Plans a Shortcut...

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...

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 213: Fear is Why We Have Too Much Stuff by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits (Be Happier Through Power and Purpose & Minimalism). The original post is located here: http://ze...

Nikcole Wiles defines herself as a believer, wife, mother, writer, advocate, academic, and minimalist. She's been a passionate lover and student of English and writing for almost 20 years. She supports organizations including TWLOHA, The Reformation Project, and the Lee Conlee House. She's deeply invested in supporting the LGBT Christian community, the massive numbers of individuals struggling wit...

J. Money of BudgetsAreSexy.com 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...

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...

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...

Yogi Aaron, author of “The Autobiography Of A Naked Yogi,” currently serves as the co-owner of Blue Osa Yoga Retreat + Spa on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Aaron has led, and continues to lead international yoga retreats and journeys around the world, as well as leading yoga teacher training and immersion programs at Blue Osa. He is an expert in the yoga community with proven marketing methods...

Steve Pavlina is widely recognized as one of the most successful personal development bloggers on the Internet, with his work attracting more than 100 million visits to his website, StevePavlina.com. He has written more than 1300 articles and recorded many audio programs on a broad range of self-help topics, including productivity, relationships, and spirituality. Steve has been quoted as an exper...

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists 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 206: The Invention of our Discontent by Chase Night with The Minimalists (Simple L...