Category Archives: Podcast

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476: Choosing Greatness and Achieving Exceptional Outcomes with Christina Curtis

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Today’s guest is not only a podcast guest, she’s also the first guest expert inside the new premium tier of my online Read to Lead Community called Read to Lead+.

christina curtis

Her name is Christina Curtis, and she’s a thought leader on motivation and goal attainment, and regularly contributes to the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Psychology Today.

Her new book, released earlier this month, is called Choosing Greatness: An Evidence-Based Approach to Achieving Exceptional Outcomes.

I read it from cover to cover and nearly ran out of ink in my highlighter while doing so.

Christina asks questions like, “Do you yearn to achieve more? Do you want to make more? Do more? Well, you are not alone. We are all drawn to the irresistible sensation of accomplishing great things and succeeding mightily.

Yet despite our best efforts, ultimate success and joy can seem so elusive. Why? All too often we are running on autopilot, repeating past behaviors, and achieving the same results.

In Choosing Greatness, Christina combines her decades of practical experience in business psychology and her conversations with some of the greatest leaders of our generation—Richard Branson, CEO of the Virgin Group; Javier Rodriguez, CEO of DaVita Inc.; Jonathan Johnson, CEO of Overstock.com; Teena Piccione, executive at Google; Lara Merriken, founder of LÄRABAR®; and more—to teach you how to unlock the full potential of the greatest change agent imaginable: your own mind.

In the space between instinct and outcome, between reflex and reflection, between ordinary and extraordinary, lies choice, she says. Her book provides clear, easy direction on how to live more consciously in that space so you can push your brain to operate with peak efficiency and precision.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Christina and her work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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475: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most with Adam Alter

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You may recall that in the first episode of 2023, I spelled out the six books I was most looking forward to in the first half of this year.

adam alter

Today, I’m thrilled to be able to feature the fourth of those six books. That book is Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most.

Adam has spent the past two decades studying how people become stuck and how they free themselves to thrive. Here he reveals the formula he and other researchers have uncovered. The solution rests on a process that he calls a friction audit—a systematic procedure that uncovers why a person or organization is stuck, and then suggests a path to progress.

The friction audit states that people and organizations get unstuck when they overcome three sources of friction: HEART (unhelpful emotions); HEAD (unhelpful patterns of thought); and HABIT (unhelpful behaviors).

Despite the ubiquity of friction, there are many great “unstickers” hidden in plain sight among us and Alter shines a light on some exceptional stories to share their valuable lessons with us. Getting stuck, Adam says, is a feature rather than a glitch on the road to thriving, but with the right tweaks and corrections we can reach even our loftiest targets.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Adam and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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474: How to Talk About Your Work Using Purposeful Self-Promotion with Lisa Bragg

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I love speaking with authors who also happen to be former broadcasters, as is the case today. Why? Because they’re excellent communicators, and today’s guest is certainly no exception.

Lisa Bragg

I’m talking about Lisa Bragg, whose new book comes out in two days called Bragging Rights: How to Talk About Your Work Using Purposeful Self-Promotion.

Tell me if you identify with this: We’ve long been told, “Put your head down, do good work, and eventually someone will notice you.” But that limiting and diminishing advice doesn’t hold up in the noise and pace of these transformative times. The reality is, no one cares about your future the way you do. If you want to achieve remarkable results, it’s up to you to talk about your successes and accomplishments.

In the book, Lisa shows you how to get comfortable with sharing your strengths. Drawing on proprietary research, consultations with high-performing leaders, and her own rich experiences as a journalist and entrepreneur, she examines why so many people are afraid to speak up about their work, illuminates why bragging is a catalyst of positive change, and offers practical advice on embracing and applying the art of authentic self-promotion.

With proven tools, techniques, and insights, Bragging Rights will help you understand and tell the world about your true superpowers, so you can access new opportunities and, along the way, elevate others.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Lisa and her work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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473: How to Make a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity with Miriam Schulman

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Today, I owe a special thanks to former podcast guest and author Michael Schein. He’s the one who introduced me to today’s guest. And a great guest (and author) it is!

miriam schulman

Her name is Miriam Schulman, and she’s written a new book called Artpreneur: The Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity.

Whether you’re a musician, photographer, painter, writer, dancer, singer, or any other creative with aspirations of making a living from your art, this is the perfect time to turn your creative ideas into a sustainable business. With gatekeepers no longer controlling the market, Miriam says, anyone with a laptop and a dram can make a thriving living from their creativity.

Miriam, who hosts the Inspiration Place podcast, breaks down the five core elements in the “Passion to Profit” planning framework to help you develop your art business—so that you can have the time and freedom to do what you love.

After twenty years of selling art as well as coaching other artists, she knows that now is the time to leave the rat race behind and pursue your highest dreams. It’s time to gamble on yourself.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Miriam and her work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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472: Arguing for the Good in Bad English with Valerie Fridland

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If you’ve ever wondered if I geek out over anything besides books, today you get your answer.

valerie fridland

It’s a related topic, as it involves a form of communication. Language.

Mind you, I was not a particularly strong language student in school (though I could diagram a sentence pretty well). But I scored a measly 405 on the language side of the SAT (okay, so I also got a 405 on the math half). Yep, a whopping 810. Yikes!

But my love for language, or at least learning about it as an adult, dates back at least 20 years when I read a book by John McWhorter called Doing Our Own Thing.

I remember thinking to myself at the time, “I don’t personally know a single other person who would enjoy this book the way I have.” 🙂 Us language nerds are weird that way, I guess.

But if you’re anything like me—and I’m guessing you because you enjoy this show—you’re in for a real treat today. My guest is Valerie Fridland. She’s written a book called Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English.

Language change, Valerie argues, is natural, built into the language system itself, and we wouldn’t be who we are without it. Her book celebrates the dynamic, ongoing, and empowering evolution of language, and it will speak to anyone who talks, or listens, inspiring them to communicate dynamically and effectively in their daily lives.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Valerie and her work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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