The Art of Charm

Eric Thomas (@ericthomasbtc) is a motivational speaker, YouTube personality, podcaster, pastor, director of Breathe University, and author of several books, including The Secret to Success: When You Want to Succeed as Bad as You Want to Breathe. "Don't allow the options in your community to be the only options you explore." -Eric Thomas The Cheat Sheet: How Eric Thomas went from homeless to PhD to...

Allan Pease (@AllanPease) is an Australian body language expert and co-author of 18 bestselling books on communication who once taught Vladimir Putin how to read western body language. The Cheat Sheet: Find out how Allan Pease began building his expertise in body language from the tender age of five. While the science might still be in deliberation, what does business say about power poses? How di...

Leo Babauta (@zen_habits) of Zen Habits shares how he's modified his own behavior to conquer bad habits and create good ones. The Cheat Sheet: Find out how an overweight smoker resigned to living in Guam broke a laundry list of bad habits to move to California, work his dream job, and run ultramarathons. Learn how to make daily forays into discomfort that have you welcoming adversity like an old f...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: How do you build a closer, stronger relationship with a parent who's always seemed distant? How do you distance yourself from a terrible stepparent? Are all your friends really self-absorbed? What is the value of networ...

Lewis Howes (@LewisHowes) rejoins us to discuss his latest book, The Mask of Masculinity: How Men Can Embrace Vulnerability, Create Strong Relationships, and Live Their Fullest Lives. "We aren't able to fully heal until we start sharing the things we're most ashamed of, the things we're most afraid of, and the things we're most insecure about." -Lewis Howes The Cheat Sheet: What masks do we wear w...

Paul Gilmartin (@mentalpod) is the host and producer of The Mental Illness Happy Hour Podcast, known for his brutal honesty, authenticity, and transparency. The Cheat Sheet: How addiction works as a frame of mind and what a support group offers an addict on the road to recovery. Why shaming ourselves into becoming better people is a terrible strategy for self improvement. Why someone living a seem...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: How feasible is online dating for someone in the public eye? How do you stay engaged in conversation without seeming like you are working really hard for it? What do you do when you're skilled at helping people overcome...

Akshay Nanavati (@fearvanalife) was on the brink of suicide, but overcame drug addiction, alcoholism, and PTSD from fighting in Iraq with the US Marines. He is the author of Fearvana: The Revolutionary Science of How to Turn Fear Into Health, Wealth, and Happiness. The Cheat Sheet: Why might a Marine veteran be thankful for falling in with the wrong crowd and dabbling with drugs and alcohol at an...

David DeSteno (@daviddesteno) is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and author of Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride. The Cheat Sheet: Why is delaying gratification so hard and why is it important? Why willpower runs counter to our evolutionary programming and often fails. Why developing prosocial emotions -- gratitude, compassion, and pride -- is a...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: What's your first step when you suspect child abuse is going on in your cousin's family? Where's the line drawn between real science and pseudoscience? Should you expect sobriety to interfere with your dating options? H...

Celeste Headlee (@CelesteHeadlee) is the host of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta and has been a host and correspondent for NPR and PRI since 2006. She is the author of We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter. "The attempt to change somebody's mind is the death of good conversation." -Celeste Headlee The Cheat Sheet: Learn why listening in the right way is...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. In this episode: What's wrong with eating pumpkin pie for breakfast? Are long distance, lack of communication, recurring patterns of behavior, and disempowering beliefs good enough reasons to break up with someone and stay broken up with someone? Someti...

Steve Sims (@SteveDSims1) is the CEO and founder of Bluefish, an exclusive, members-only luxury concierge service for VIP and executive clients, and the author of Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen. The Cheat Sheet: What's the chug test and how can it help us trust our stomachs more than our heads when it comes to character assessment? Find out why knowing how to network well and build r...

Christopher Lochhead (@lochhead) is a former entrepreneur, retired Silicon Valley three-time public company CMO, category designer, host of the Legends & Losers Podcast, and co-author of Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets. "People remember different in a way they don't remember better." -Christopher Lochhead The Cheat Sheet: Entrepreneurship is at an all...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. In this episode: What can you do to ensure the TSA won't steal from your luggage? How do you make sure a dating app conversation or first date doesn't just become a string of one-sided interview questions? How do you keep track of -- and prune -- an ext...

Ulrich Boser (@ulrichboser) is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and the author of Learn Better: Mastering the Skills for Success in Life, Business, and School, or, How to Become an Expert in Just about Anything. The Cheat Sheet: What's the number one misconception about learning? What's the thing that most people forget about learning? Learn the one trick that makes everyone lea...

Michele Rigby Assad (@michelerigassad) is an international security consultant, trainer, and author of the book Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What it Taught Me About What's Worth Fighting For. The Cheat Sheet: Is working undercover for the CIA as exciting as it looks in the movies? How does an isolated Florida girl grow up to be a CIA operative in the Arab world? What goes into gat...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. We're trying to keep this a little lighter than last week's episode because we don't have Linda Carroll on deck to help us with the heavy lifting. But you should give it a listen here if you missed out because she was amazing, as always. But this is now...

Meg Jay (@drmegjay) is a clinical psychologist specializing in adult development and the author of Supernormal: The Untold Story of Adversity and Resilience. The Cheat Sheet: 75 percent of us have grown up dealing with some form of adversity. Being supernormal is having a better-than-average outcome after coping with this adversity. Resilience is resistance to adversity -- not immunity. What are t...

Kevin Harrington (@HarringtonKevin) is the innovator who invented infomercials, one of the original "sharks" on ABC's Shark Tank, and the co-author of Put A Shark In Your Tank. "If a guy named 'Chubby' walks into your office with a fitness product, you should definitely walk and run the other way!" -Kevin Harrington The Cheat Sheet: What starter businesses could work for an aspiring entrepreneur t...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. As an added bonus, therapist and Love Cycles author Linda Carroll joins us -- and if you haven't caught her on the show before, make sure to check out episodes 480, 512, 580, and 640! Let's cut to it! In this episode: When we feel obligated to help some...

Susan David (@susandavid_phd) is a psychologist on faculty at Harvard Medical School, co-founder and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, CEO of Evidence Based Psychology, and author of Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life. "Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life." -Susan David The Cheat Sheet: What is emotional agil...

Justin Ramsdell is a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of forensic psychology at George Mason University. His current work focuses on law enforcement interactions with individuals with severe mental illnesses, crisis de-escalation, and the psychology of victim experiences. "If somebody tells you that something works for everything, then it probably works for nothing." -Dr. Justin Ra...

Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. If you're new to The Art of Charm Podcast, this isn't a great place to start. Most of our content is more in-depth and longer format. Listen to recent guests A.J. Jacobs and Kevin Rose for a better idea of our regular programming. Also make sure to chec...

Being stuck isn't a barrier to greatness; it's part of greatness. Here are nine things you can do right now to get un-stuck and on your way to greatness. The Cheat Sheet: Losing momentum happens to everyone, no matter the task at hand. Consider it a temporary setback rather than a permanent condition. Understand what you can do to prevent being overwhelmed. Know how to ask for help and gain perspe...