Productive Flourishing Podcast

What do we do when we’re feeling guilty about not being productive? Today’s episode is a discussion on the topic of productivity guilt. Charlie and Angela discuss some of the different ways productivity guilt can manifest itself, as well as provide some perspective and encouragement about whether we’re truly not being productive. These guidelines can help determine whether a change needs to be mad...

The decision to go all in can be a big one. Today’s guest, Ronen Gafni, founder of Fresh Biz and co-author of The New Entrepreneurs, joins Charlie to discuss the importance of going all in and betting on yourself. In addition to discussing some misconceptions about what it means to go all in, they also talk about some of the counter-intuitive truths about entrepreneurship, especially how it relate...

Ishita Gupta is a leadership and business strategist who was the head of media of the Domino Project for two years, and is a sought-after speaker. She joins Charlie today to talk about rebuilding her life and business. After a confluence of major life transitions, Ishita went home to refortify herself with her parents, only to realize her parents were in a health and business crisis that she neede...

Today’s guest, best-selling author Vanessa Van Edwards, joins Charlie to talk about human interaction and succeeding with people. You might think that someone who writes about people is a raging extrovert, but that’s not always the case. Vanessa refers to herself as a “recovering awkward person.” In today’s episode, she and Charlie talk about how much they actually prepare and set themselves up to...

In today’s episode, Angela joins Charlie to talk about personal change. Most of the work that’s done at Productive Flourishing is around personal transformation and self-mastery. In Angela’s new coaching role, she’s been doing more and more of this with others. Charlie and Angela share some of the changes they’ve made in their personal lives over the last year, and how their relationship fits into...

Michael “Gebbs” Gebben joins Charlie on today’s episode. Michael founded Gebbs TV only to realize he was building something that was making him miserable. After reconfiguring his business to work for him, he realized that he had a major problem: his use of credit cards disguised his understanding of the success of his business and led to debt. The conversation today centers on the prisons we make...

Jeffrey Davis is the founder of Tracking Wonder, a consultancy that mentors entrepreneurs, creatives, and brands to have influence with integrity. In his third appearance on the show, he and Charlie discuss why it’s so hard for leaders to stand for something, even after they’ve figured out what it is they stand for. It’s not just the fear of failure or being wrong. This episode is a continuation o...

Michelle Jones, founder of the Wayfinding Academy, joins Charlie on the show to talk about the college experience for students at the Wayfinding Academy. Instead of spending two to four years taking classes and then figuring out who they want to be in the world, students learn to live life on purpose and then use that knowledge to sculpt their learning experience. One of the members of the first g...

Larry Robertson, author of two award-winning books, joins Charlie on the show today to talk about growth, creative edges, play, uncertainty, and how our relationship with our work changes the longer we do it. This episode is a bit of an extension of a post Larry wrote for Productive Flourishing. Key Takeaways: [2:12] - What do we do when we come up to a growth edge when we’re out in creative explo...

In this episode, Angela joins Charlie to discuss how they are balancing service work and volunteerism within their personal and professional lives. Both Charlie and Angela have taken on new commitments with various organizations, and they’ve been examining how much time they’re giving to service and volunteerism, as well as making some important decisions about what those boundaries look like. Key...

Patricia Bravo runs “Bravo for You,” a consultancy that accelerates leader capability through the use of empathetic leadership. She joins the show today to discuss empathy and leadership, and to share why it can be so hard to weave empathy and leadership together, even though it seems they should be natural partners. Key Takeaways: [2:10] - Even though it seems like empathy and leadership should w...

In today’s episode, New York Times Best-Selling author of eight books and creator of the Open Heart Project Susan Piver, joins Charlie to talk about the links between mindfulness and creativity. During the discussion, both Charlie and Susan share some of what they’ve learned in their own practices that help them go back in when they get distracted, lost, or afraid. Key Takeaways: [2:57] - In her p...

Meighan is a digital strategist who previously ran My Love For You, and was recruited by Yahoo! to work as a social media strategist. On today’s episode, she shares some of what she’s learned during her years in the digital trenches of creative work. Meighan and Charlie cover topics like the role of her community in her online work, the importance of starting and continuing to make things online,...

In this episode, Angela joins Charlie to talk about tipping points in your career or business that require you to change something. These tipping points could be changing in family arrangements, burn out, or a number of different things. They look at these periods of time when you’re going through something and you can’t do “business as usual,” how to recognize those times, and what to do to deal...

Today’s guest is Bryce Bladon, author of Hell to Pay 2: Everything a Freelancer Needs to Earn Good Money, and editor-in-chief of Clients From Hell. He joins Charlie to discuss the differences between being an entrepreneur and a freelancer. So many creative professionals get stuck and confused because they are unsure about what type of business they’re building, and why they’re choosing that kind o...

In today’s episode, Cory Huff joins Charlie to discuss how to think through whether to start a new business, to jump to another project, or to not grow your business as you consider dimensions of your life that you’d like to advance. Cory’s advice comes after a year of deciding to scale his business and the trials he learned from along the way. Key Takeaways: [4:11] - Both Cory and Charlie are “ac...

In today’s episode, Fiona Dawson and Charlie talk about fluid identities in sexuality, the role that the US military plays in social change, and what happens on the other side of success. Fiona is the director of the New York Times short-opinion documentary “Transgender, at War and in Love.” Her other projects elevate stories about transgender people in the military and she has been recognized for...

In this last episode of the Creative Giant Show, we discuss why we’re ending it and what comes next. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe

This episode is a requested reading of a previous post on Productive Flourishing named “12 Simple Ways to Be Present.” This post shares twelve simple ways to be more present in your day-to-day life, and to take a pause when life wants to push you headlong. Key Takeaways: [0:53] - Learning to be present helps us refrain from thinking about what we could’ve or should’ve done, and worrying about the...

In this episode, fathers/entrepreneurs Mike Bruny and Jeremie Miller join Charlie to talk about how they’ve learned to balance entrepreneurship and fatherhood. In addition to being fathers, both Jeremie and Mike have been pursuing entrepreneurial projects. In this episode, they talk about some of the challenges of being a dad, being an entrepreneur, being a hyper-creative, and juggling multiple di...

In the 11th question and answer episode, Angela and Charlie answer questions from the Productive Flourishing Community and the Campfire. The answers focus on habit stacking, how to focus on important but not urgent projects, and a few tips on Medium. [1:17] - The first question from the Campfire: Are there any resources, links, or suggestions Charlie can offer about habit stacking? What teachables...

We may think creativity and grief wouldn’t normally go together, and yet, creativity and grief are very much related. Cath Duncan and Kara Jones join Charlie to talk about how grief and creativity are related, and why it’s important to do our grief and creativity our own way. Key Takeaways: [3:34] - Cath introduces herself and how she moved from her previous work to grief work. She had her own exp...

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing. The article shows how using the lens of cash flow, opportunity, and visibility is useful for sorting through complex business decisions to determine your most relevant next step. In this reading, Charlie talks about how working through each of the lenses can help enhance the other two in turn. Key Take...

A lot of people have a love-hate relationship with systems. On one hand, they can help clear up a lot of mind chatter and resolve frustrations. On the other hand, they’re not that fun. Many creative people tell themselves they just don’t get systems. In today’s episode, Marina Darlow joins Charlie to discuss the relationships between systems, being creative, and emotion, as well as some of the rea...

In this Q&A, Angela joins Charlie to answer questions from the Campfire about why they have a no electronics rule in the bedroom or dining room area, how to determine if your current focus block isn’t going to work and how to switch to something else, and how to conduct a mid-month review. Key Takeaways: [1:02] - Angela and Charlie have a no electronics rule in the bedroom/ at the dining room...