This Sustainable Life

Why do I think about the United States Constitution when my pressure cooker finishes cooking? Or when I leave a room? The U.S. Constitution guides my environmental behavior and has since I learned it in elementary school. Today is U.S. Constitution Day since today in 1787 the delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia and that's why today I'm sharing why I love...

Neither the environment nor your life responds to your awareness. They respond to your behavior. People who speak the truth say, "I'm telling the truth." People who lie say the same thing. People who are aware say they are aware. People who are unaware say the same thing too. Only we're all unaware of what we're unaware of. Saying we're aware only reveals our ignorance of our unawareness. That's p...

Going car-free is beautiful Daniel got rid of a car! He chose to from Texas! And he thanks me for inspiring him. Would you think losing a car would cripple your life? Listen on to hear how it brought him joy and happiness. Yes, that's right. Getting rid of what Americans associate with freedom and independence brought him more freedom and independence. Daniel discusses enjoying not having a car. B...

Geoffrey West's work beautifully and elegantly ties biology to how we interact with our environment. Amazingly, his unique views lead to the same conclusions as mine, though coming from totally unrelated directions. You've never seen work like his. If you love nature and science, you'll love Geoffrey's approach. You'll see life and death in new ways. I hope you'll also catch my enthusiasm for his...

Alisa shares what happens behind the scenes to everyone, including world-ranked coaches and speakers. Listening to a podcast with leadership in the title means you've probably read many gurus' books and watched their videos, which are all edited and produced to make them look perfect. We know they aren't perfect. Alisa is humble, open, and generous enough to share what few top leaders do. I bet yo...

Ben Feder is a high level executive who realized he was losing the things that were important to him due to his pursuit of success -- until then defined by others' values.  We talk about him taking a year sabbatical with his whole family in Africa, Asia, and Bali, and how it transformed his life and his family. I share how much I’m enjoying his book and how even though he wrote it for his fam...

I met Jonathan at the World Science Festival and recorded a  podcast interview of him  that changed my approach to leadership—in principle and in practice. I seek more opposing views. I listen more. I look to learn their intent and the beliefs and values motivating that intent. I challenge myself more. As he colorfully  said to me : We are going through an extraordinary time in whic...

Happier Now Nataly starts by sharing her personal story of her family escaping Russia to America, navigating life with immigrant parents. She shares some vulnerable and raw experiences. Even so, she shares feeling blessed to be living in Detroit projects. Listen for why. She talks about taking many wrong turns, decades chasing happiness through achievements and success, trying to hide from feeling...

I met Andrew Revkin through the World Science Festival this year, then recorded at my visited me in my New York apartment. I wish I could have brought you the whole conversation. You get the highlights. We covered global warming, pollution, history, relevant people, and why he is hopeful, even seeing the challenges he sees from the vantage point of National Geographic and the New York Times. Andre...

People seem impressed when people don't pollute. They say, "That's so good of you!" If not polluting is good, doesn't that mean polluting is normal? I don't think we should see not polluting as special. Let's view it as normal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes what looks like a hurdle activates your team. Scott details how he launched his book---last I checked at 96% 5-star reviews. He tells it from the trenches, so if you lead, hope to lead, or want to write a book, you’ll want to tune into this episode. We also go into his challenge of saving electricity. He found that he was probably the biggest offender in the house. So he had to be humble...

Which is more common - an athlete becoming a leading political figure, or a political figure becoming an athlete? After talking to Marquis Flowers of the New England Patriots, I still say that leadership lessons from sports stars are some are some of the best I hear. Listen in to this episode to hear about teams, commitments, riding highs, and getting through lows. As Marquis puts it, what's going...

Even leaders need to remember to check-in and communicate with their closest friends. In RJ's third conversation here, he shares what integrity, listening, and communication mean for leaders. He acts with these skills in his professional and personal life. From running mentorship camps to sticking to his values on something so seemingly small as a disposable cup at a bus station, RJ puts actions b...

Scott takes on a three-part challenge in this episode . . in the middle of a book launch! We discuss how Scott is bringing his experience running multibillion dollar companies within Proctor and Gamble to helping people make sense of how they see work . . . and to create meaning and purpose in a world that doesn't do it for them any more. We discuss the life of a leader, speaker, and leadership sp...

Jared and I have deep, engaging conversations, starting from before my appearances on his podcast a year before we recorded this one. You’ll hear we quickly get deep on this one. It follows an earlier conversation a topic that many won't talk about or listen on, but that we consider essential, at least to talk about. We discuss resources per person as our populations grow. Some societies controlle...

(Spoiler alert: Daniel takes on the biggest challenge so far. You could argue his circumstances make it easier than it sounds, but he's coming from Texas!) Leadership education and practice can begin in school. Sadly, in most systems it doesn't. My K-12, college, and graduate school nearly completely lacked training in the social and emotional skills of leadership, and I went to some of the world'...

Jordan and I got to be friends over a decade ago before he moved to California. We'd get burritos around the corner from my place. In the meantime we toured North Korea not once but twice together and I've seen him in Los Angeles. This time I hosted him and his wife for my famous no-packaging vegetable stew. You get to hear from him how it tasted (spoiler alert: he says it tastes great). He shared...

This short recording is a teaser for my full interview with Seth Godin, who needs no introduction. It begins and ends with messages from Seth, sandwiching my top-level impressions from meeting with him at his home and talking at length. He talks about his new book, This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See , in our conversation so the full recording will come out when the book do...

2 minutes and 53 seconds to show you the trends people are following back to what used to be normal and healthy. Fight against clean and pure all you want. You'll follow eventually. Why not start now and lead? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tensie and I talked about wine, creating and changing habits, and eating bugs, which happens when you work with the Rainforest Alliance. We also talk about dealing with people when you change, influencing them, and perspectives that make these things work. The people she influences run multi-billion dollar companies. Tensie described and lives the point of this podcast: a lifetime of acting on you...

John Lee Dumas took on one of the biggest and longest-term commitment of any guest. Six months in and he's only half through it. He also inspired me back as much as any guest, which is probably related---not to think about things or talk, but to action. As with all environmental action, I expect I'll enjoy it after the initial challenge. I like running as I always have, so trying running how I tal...

Dorie shares about the six-month habit she committed to---one of the longest of any guest. Wait, can you just decide one day to start or stop a habit? Isn't that supposed to be impossible? Listen to Dorie's results. She's a master of habits: how to create them, start them, and teach others to do so. She shares how she works. With some guests you feel like they're always conscious of the microphone...

This podcast continues to break ground. Jeff Brown returns for an unprecedented 4th time. We dive deeper into his work with his home owners association (HOA)---how he created a team of people from his community, how he's making things happen, and his results. We talk about how it need only take a simple decision, a few conversations, and some work---but work you enjoy that creates community---to c...

Does sacrificing something you love mean a worse life? Balint shares his enthusiasm to experiment and find new recipes, tastes and experiences---I would say not  despite  but  because of  his choice to act on his values. What you value is better for you.. In his words: "The world is more colorful." His experience shows the difference to your life between  talking  abo...

If anything marked the beginning of the industrial revolution, it was James Watt’s steam engine. It wasn’t the first steam engine, but was more efficient than any before. More efficient means using less energy and less pollution, right? Wrong. Each engine, yes, but more people used engines, so Watt engines used more energy and polluted more than anything. They drained mines, which helped collect m...