The Courageous Life

Professor Stephen G. Post , one of the world’s leading scholars on altruism,  love, compassion, and the science of giving, has a beautiful new book out:  Pure Unlimited Love: Science and the 7 Paths to Inner Peace . In it, he writes: When the happiness, security, and well-being of another feels as meaningful and real to us as our own, or perhaps more so, we love that person. This love, which Steph...

Between the relentless uncertainty—political, environmental, societal—in the world  and our own personal challenges,  We are living through one of the most anxious periods any of us can remember. Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, and out of control. As a result we may find ourselves falling into unhealthy patterns that we struggle to change— worrying,  stress-eating,  constantly scrolling on soc...

Dr. Jud Brewer is an addiction psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center.  Jud is passionate about understanding how our brains work,  and how to use that knowledge to help people make deep, permanent change in their lives —  With the goal of reducing suffering in the world at large. This conversation, which we originally recorde...

Americans today are leaving religion in record numbers.  For many, the faith, practices, and institutions that once provided comfort and guidance no longer fit their beliefs and values.  Today’s guest, Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren , a psychologist scientist who engages big existential questions to promote human flourishing,  And author of the powerful book: Done: How to Flourish After Leaving Religion c...

Lee Johnson likes to say that he’s as ordinary as dirt but as complex as soil.  A former Course Director for the Colorado Outward Bound School and Certified Holistic Management Teacher,  Lee has also managed ranches in Nebraska, Tennessee, and New Mexico.  I first met him on a retreat at the Modern Elder Academy in Santa Fe. The Academy, which has been called "The World’s First Midlife Wisdom...

What do you feel when you gaze up at the Milky Way,  take in a beautiful sunset,  stand at the base of a mountain that seems impossibly high,  or witness an extraordinary act of courage, kindness, or love? Often, it's a profound sense of awe -  the overwhelming feeling we experience when we encounter something  vast that transcends our understanding.  In his book Awestruck ,  clinician, resea...

In her beautiful book: Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground ,  Bestselling author, translator, and celebrated spiritual teacher, Mirabai Starr  Invites us to let go of the limiting belief that spiritual life exists only in traditional places of worship.  She shares: You can visit an ashram in the Himalayas, Or kneel in a church pew to connect to the spirit or examine life’s big questions...

In her beautiful book, The Power of Wonder , Monica Parker, writes: “Wonder purls its way through our lives from first cry to last gasp -  Moments that engage us, surprise us, take our breath away, And give us the gift of viewing the world, and our place in it, In an entirely different way. But something happens as we move from the wonder-filled days of childhood to obligation laden days of adulth...

Success in virtually every aspect of life― career, friendship, love, and family― is determined mainly by one thing: how we deal with emotions.  In your most challenging moments, how did you respond?  Did you fly off the handle?  Were you paralyzed by indecision?  Did you engage in behaviors that undermined your best intentions?  Or did you exhibit grace under pressure and flourish?  How you respon...

When Sean Brosnan arrived at Newbury Park High School in 2016,  their cross country team hadn’t so much as qualified for a California state  championship in twenty-five years.  Brosnan himself had never coached high schoolers,  though he was no stranger to the sport.  A collegiate All-American, he had spent years trying to chase his ambitions of  becoming a professional runner,  along the way lear...

How do you define “growing up”?  Does it mean achieving certain cultural benchmarks—a steady income, paying taxes, marriage, and children?  Or does it mean leaving behind the expectations of others and growing into the person you were meant to be?  When we find ourselves in a career,  place,  relationship,  or crisis we never foresaw,  or that seems at odds with our beliefs about who we are,  it o...

How are some people so much smarter than the rest of us?  Where do visionary creatives and savvy decision-makers like  Vincent Van Gogh, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Maya Angelou, Warren Buffet, and William Shakespeare, get their extraordinary mental abilities? In 2021, researchers at Ohio State’s Project Narrative ,  the world’s leading academic think-tank for the study of how stories work,  and...

Many of us think of the arts as entertainment or a luxury of some kind.  But In their New York Times Bestselling Book: Your Brain on Art ,  authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross invite us to open our minds and  consider a breathtaking expansion of this limited view of what the arts are,  and the power they hold to transform our lives both individually and collectively.  Ivy, who serves as Chief Desi...

Drawing from the science of cognitive bias,  Author, and digital product designer for some of the world’s leading tech companies,  Vicki Tan, has written a beautiful new book intended to help us find wisdom and confidence in the face of life’s biggest questions.  In today’s conversation we’ll dive deeper into her work around the art and science of decision making,  Which in Vicki’s words:  Is less...

In his book Stoicism and the Art of Happiness , author, therapist, and stoic philosopher, Donald Robertson, writes: "The Sage conquers his passions by becoming stronger than them not by  eliminating all traces of emotions from his life.  The Stoic ideal is therefore not to be ‘passionless’ in the sense of being ‘apathetic’,  ‘hard-hearted’, ‘insensitive’ or ‘like a statue’ of stone or iron. ...

As a professional baseball player, Jim Murphy’s sense of worth revolved around results.  He was focused on achievement but also afraid of failure.  When he started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, he often encountered the same mindset.  So he became obsessed with learning how the best in the world performed with peace and confidence under pressure. After years of research, two revelator...

'What is this moment calling for?' At the heart of Dr. Jacob Ham’s approach lies this profound question.  The simplicity of it can be disarming.  Yet to answer it skillfully requires the capacity to be present - To notice what is arising moment by moment.  Not only in you,  But in those around you,  As well as what is arising in the space between. That sacred ground we like to call conne...

Is there just one “you”?  This evocative question lies at the heart of Dr. Richard Schwartz’s groundbreaking work as both a therapist, and a researcher. Over 40 years he’s pushed back against convention Challenging what so many of us have been taught to believe -  That we have a single identity. And to feel fear or shame when we can’t control the inner voices that don’t match the ideal of who we t...

Since 2018 The Courageous Life Podcast has invited many of the world’s leading thinkers, researchers, creators, writers, poets, athletes, healers, and teachers to explore how we can find the courage to live an authentic life, to derive purpose and meaning, and to meet ourselves, others, and the world around us with an open heart - as we navigate the complexity and the beauty of what it means to be...

How do we engage with one another at work in ways that foster more authentic professional relationships?  And that ultimately lead to more equitable workplaces? Today’s guest is Dr. Rosalind Chow -  A leading organizational expert, professor at the Tepper School of Business, and author of the new book: The Doors You Can Open . Rosalind argues that sponsorship is an important part of the answer to...

In 2018 I sat down with one of the great spiritual teachers, authors, and poets of our time.  During that conversation Mark Nepo asked a question that shook me: " When my heart begins to close, how do I open it again?" My life, my work, and the trajectory of the podcast shifted as a result. The question was presented not as a simple one, with a static answer, But rather as an inquiry to...

“Is the life I am living the same as the life that wants to live in me?”  This searching question is one that bestselling author, legendary teacher and activist Parker J. Palmer has been exploring for decades.  His practice of living this question,  resulting in the type of wisdom that can only come from the crucible of one’s direct experience.  And Parker being the celebrated teacher and leader t...

What leads us to live divided lives that defy our own sense of identity and integrity?  When we do, what price do we and the world pay?  How can we recover the wholeness that is our birthright?  Today’s guest, legendary teacher, activist, and author Parker J. Palmer ― has helped people in every walk of life rise to the challenge of living “divided no more.” In his book, A Hidden Wholeness , now in...

What if the time is never coming when you’re ‘on top of things’, or finally feel like you know what you’re doing? For years, New York Times Bestselling author Oliver Burkeman has dared to ask provocative questions like these. The sort of questions that invite us to examine popular cultural views about what it means to work and live well. In his beautiful and brilliant books, his longtime column in...

To care, to love, and to be human, Means we will inevitably experience heartbreak.  Whether its the loss of relationship, The end of a job,  The death of a loved one, A natural disaster, infertility, a financial crisis, or any shape that loss may take. Heartbreak sends us reeling― Leaving many of us feeling alone and adrift.  After her own experience of serial heartbreak over the span of five year...