How do you design a life of wonder and love, contribution and meaning, joy and expression? At the end of the day, that’s what we all really want. To know we’ve used our time on this big, blue marble in a way that was worthy, that was wise, that was alive. Which is why I was so excited to sit down with an old friend, Debbie Millman, who just happens to be a legendary thinker and doer in the world of design, branding, innovation and life. Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, she’s an author, educator, curator and host of the iconic Design Matters podcast, where she’s interviewed hundreds of the most creative people in the world over the past 17 years. Debbie is also the author of seven books, and her new book, Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People, is a stunning compilation of her own take on everything from design to branding, business, entrepreneurship and life, mixed in with moments from guests that have, in no small part, collectively designed the world we live in.Debbie co-founded the world’s first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, was the President one of the world’s leading branding consultancies, Sterling Brands, where she worked on the brand identity for everyone from Burger King, Hershey’s, Haagen Dazs, Tropicana, Star Wars, Gillette, to the No More movement.Her writing and illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, and Fast Company. Her artwork is found in private collections, universities and museums around the world. Debbie has a deeply insightful and experienced lens on how we live our lives, how we show up in work and life, and tell the stories that bring it all alive.You can find Debbie at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the conversations we had with Milton Glaser about building a life of meaning and impact.My new book Sparked.Check out our offerings & partners: Peloton: Peloton uses technology and design to connect the world through fitness, empowering people to be the best version of themselves anywhere, anytime. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Sleep Number: Proven quality sleep is life-changing sleep, which starts with Sleep Number adjustability. It's time for Sleep Number's Ultimate Sleep Number Event! Save 50% on the Sleep Number 360® Limited Edition smart bed. Plus special financing, for a limited time. Only at Sleep Number® stores or sleepnumber.com/GOODLIFE.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Good Life Project

Debbie Millman | How to Design a Life

What do you think of when you hear the word “family?” For some, it’s feelings of love, belonging, support. For others, its estrangement, friction, and angst. Especially over these last few years. Which is why the notion of chosen family has become an increasing part of the conversation about who we surround ourselves with, how they make us feel, and how, together, we can expand the idea of family to create a bigger impact ripple in society. This is one of the topics we dive into in today’s powerful Best Of conversation with Mia Birdsong. As the founding Co-Director of Family Story, Mia lifted up a new national story about what makes a good family, and as Vice President of the Family Independence Initiative, she leveraged the power of data and stories to illuminate and accelerate the initiative low-income families take to improve their lives. Mia is a Senior Fellow of the Economic Security Project, was an inaugural Ascend Fellow and faculty member with The Aspen Institute, a New American California Fellow, and Advocate-in-Residence with the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. In her book How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, she examines community life, reimagines family and chosen family, and points us toward the promise of our collective vitality. You can find Mia Birdsong at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the earlier conversation we had with Kat Vellos about her sense of identity, creativity, and expression.My new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: GoodRx: Compare prescription drug prices and find coupons at more than 70000 US pharmacies. Save up to 80% instantly! For simple, smart savings on your prescriptions, check GoodRx at GoodRx.com/GOODLIFE. GoodRx is not insurance but can be used instead of insurance. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mia Birdsong | Reimagining Family & Friendship [Best Of]

When the curator of the longest-running study on human flourishing, the Grant Study, was asked if there was any one factor that most contributed to a life well-lived, his answer was clear - love, full stop. In no small way, love makes a life. And, we’re not just talking romantic love. So, today, we’re bringing you a very special episode drawing upon the deep wisdom of five past guests, each experts in the space of love, relationships, and self-discovery, to share provocative, unique, and valuable insights about how to love and be loved, how to hold relationships with curiosity and allow room for growth, how to create a society-wide container of compassion, then invite everyone in, even those you struggle to like, or be in the same room with, let alone love. You’ll hear from Julie and John Gottman, who’ve been married and also researching love and relationships, both clinically and in the lab for over 4 decades together, and writing mega-bestselling books on the topic. You’ll hear from Diego Perez, who most know from his online moniker Young Pueblo, on creating the space for growth. Rev. angel Kyodo williams will share an expansive lens on love and its connection to compassion, holding the space for difference, and liberation. And, our friend, spoken-world artist, IN-Q, shared a beautiful spoken-word piece, framed by his own experience of falling in love, wrapping with an invitation for us all to find moments to create magic.If you LOVED this episode:You can find Julie & John Gottman at: Full Conversation | Website | InstagramYou can find Digeo Perez (Yung Pueblo) at: Full Conversation | Website | InstagramYou can find Rev. angel Kyodo williams at: Full Conversation | Instagram | WebsiteYou can find IN-Q at: Full Conversation | Website | InstagramMy new book Sparked.Check out our offerings & partners: Outschool: Explore over 100,000 topics and learn in small groups via Zoom. Perfect for ages 3-18. To learn more about all Outschool has to offer and to save $15 off your child’s first class go to Outschool.com/GOODLIFE See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Love & Be Loved

Cole Arthur Riley grew up in a house full of personalities that she describes as loud and funny, but as a kid, as loved as she felt, she kept her voice from others. In fact, Cole barely spoke until she was 7. Still, her dad kept finding ways to, as she described, bribe her to share her voice and nurture her creative impulse, often in writing, from poems to stories and beyond. As she grew into herself, she developed a dual passion for contemplative spirituality, and also the work of writers, like Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, Thomas Merton, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou. Over time, her lens on spirituality yearned for a more expansive expression, one that embodied more of her lived experience as a Black, queer woman, who’d also find herself living with an autoimmune disease that manifested in illness, pain, and uncertainty.Cole was drawn to liturgy and began to write her own blended prayer-meets-poetry, informed by her, unique experience of life, faith, love, creativity, harm, inequity, and justice. She began sharing these modern liturgies on Instagram under the moniker, Black Liturgies, which she describes as a space for Black spiritual words of liberation, lament, rage, and rest. The project quickly grew into a global phenomenon, with deep resonance far beyond her original intended audience, and led to her debut book, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us, which explores some of the most urgent questions of life, identity, and faith: How can spirituality not silence the body, but instead allow it to come alive? How do we honor, lament, and heal from the stories we inherit? How can we find peace in a world overtaken with dislocation, noise, and unrest? In this stunning work, Cole invites us to descend into our own stories, examine our capacity to rest, wonder, joy, rage, and repair, and find that our humanity is not an enemy to faith but evidence of it.You can find Cole at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the earlier conversation we had with Ashley C. Ford about her sense of identity, creativity, and expression.My new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: KiwiCo: KiwiCo delivers science and art projects for kids of all ages. Redefine learning with play— explore hands-on projects that build creative confidence and problem-solving skills with KiwiCo! Get 50% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line with code GOODLIFE at kiwico.com.Squarespace: Squarespace is the all-in-one solution for anyone looking to create a beautiful website. Check Out Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you are ready to launch go to squarespace.com/GLP and use offer code: GLP to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cole Arthur Riley | Reclaiming the Stories That Shape Us

Ever wonder what it would be like to have a near-magical ability to find yourself at peace, to dial in a state of calm, no matter what the circumstances around you?The last few years have been tough. Perpetual groundlessness. High-stakes. Uncertainty. We tend to experience this as spin, anxiety, fear, doubt, unease, an inability to relax. Like calm packed up and left the building. Thing is, our ability to come back to a place of peace is so central to our ability to live good lives. And to also access the state of presence that allows us to notice what is good and true and nourishing, even when much around us is hard.So, how do we access a state of calm, even when the world around us seems to keep ripping it away? In today's episode, we dive into 7 powerful ideas, tools, and practices that can help guide you back to a place of calm abiding. And, at the end, I’m going to share a guided practice designed to bring you back to center. So, be sure to listen all the way, and you may want to tap the icon to save this episode so you can return to it whenever you want to drop into that peaceful place on-demand.You can find the 1-page worksheet for today's episode HERE.Find All Of The Episodes In This Series:How to Bring Purpose & Possibility Into Your Work | The 2022 PlanHow to Feel More Alive | The 2022 PlanHow to Accomplish Big Things | The 2022 PlanHow to Do the Ultimate Year-End ReviewMy new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: Peloton: Peloton makes it easy to take care of yourself during the stresses of the holiday season and start 2022 off on the right foot, so check them out! Try Peloton classes free for the rest of the year. New members only. Visit onepeloton.com/app to learn more. Terms apply. Peloton. When your workout is a joy, it’s a joy to work out.Sleep Number: Adjustable firmness, comfort and support on each side. Proven quality sleep is life-changing sleep, which starts with Sleep Number adjustability. It's time for Sleep Number's Ultimate Sleep Number Event! Save 50% on the Sleep Number 360® Limited Edition smart bed. Plus special financing, for a limited time. Only at Sleep Number® stores or sleepnumber.com/GOODLIFE. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

7 Ways to Find Calm (Even in a Storm)

Ever look at someone who has made an astonishing change in career, leaving behind what seemed like a dream career, from the outside looking in, to start something new that makes them so alive and think, “wow, I’d love to do that, too?” Well, you’re not alone. And this week’s guest, Janine Kwoh, shares how and why she left behind the world of private equity and venture philanthropy to follow her heart into the world of art, creativity, and tapping a very old, very physical printing technology to share images and words that give feeling and emotion to the experiences that are often so hard to share.Janine is now the owner, artist, and entrepreneur behind Kwohtations, a creative studio that offers cards, prints and an array of gifts that reflect and celebrate a diversity of identities and life experiences, as a way to reflect on and honor the lives we actually lead, versus the ones we think we should. Topics range from navigating love and loss, (re)defining family and success, and figuring out what it means to show up honestly and openly in life. In fact, it was the loss of her partner in life at the age of 28 that both dropped her into the experience of grief and also awakened her to a sense of imperative to do what made her truly come alive. What began as a side passion led to sharing her work and eventually grew into her full-time devotion. And, Janine’s lens on grief, in particular, and the way she shares it through her art, led to a deeply meaningful body-of-work that’s seeded her new book, Welcome to the Grief Club: Because You Don't Have to Go Through It Alone, which she offers not as a how-to manual, but more of an offering to let you know, you’re not alone.You can find Janine at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the earlier conversation we had with Lisa Congdon about coming to art later in life.My new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: AquaTru: Countertop reverse osmosis water purifier that's certified to create bottled-quality water. Receive $100 off an AquaTru plus free shipping when you go to AquaTru.com & enter code GOODLIFE at checkout. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Janine Kwoh | Saying Yes to the Call to Create

We’ve all been told, try to live a life without regret. But, what if regret was actually a good thing? That’s the highly provocative question today’s guest, Dan Pink ask. And then answer with a whole bunch of scientifically researched and validated ways that regret can actually be an incredibly valuable experience, and power tool for a life well-lived. In fact, a life entirely without regret, he argues, might even do more harm than good. I’ve known Dan for well over a decade now, and he’s been on the show a number of times over the years. A former White House speechwriter, he left politics and shifted focus to writing books that open our eyes to the human condition and plant seeds to do life better, including New York Times bestsellers A Whole New Mind, Drive, To Sell Is Human, and When. His books have sold millions of copies, been translated into forty-two languages, and have won multiple awards.In Dan's new book, The Power of Regret, he takes on a topic we’ve all grappled with, and gives it a surprising reframe. He draws on research in psychology, neuroscience, economics, and biology to challenge widely-held assumptions about emotions and behavior. Using the largest sampling of American attitudes about regret ever conducted as well as his own World Regret Survey—which has collected regrets from more than 16,000 people in 105 countries—he identifies the four core regrets that most people have. These four regrets, Dan argues, operate as a “photographic negative” of the good life. In it, and through our conversation today, we find out how regret, our most misunderstood emotion, can be the pathway to our best life.You can find Dan at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the earlier conversation we had with Dan about the powerful role of timing in life.My new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: Air Doctor: Capture contaminants and chemicals with a medical-grade UltraHEPA air purifier that’s 100X more effective than ordinary purifiers. Go to airdoctorpro.com and use the promo code GOODLIFE to receive a 35% discount off their classic AirDoctor 3000 purifier. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dan Pink | The Surprising Upside of Regret

So, what might happen if you let go of what you thought your life would or should be, and created the space to let it show you what it truly yearns to be? Then, followed that thread. That’s been the experience of today’s guest, Parker Palmer. Graduating Berkley with a Ph.D. in ‘69, he thought he’d head into the world of academia, but instead found himself heading to DC to become an activist and community organizer for 5 years. But, something else began to call him, and he took what he thought would be a short sojourn to a Quaker learning community that turned into 11 years. Over time, a new sense of calling emerged as a writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. Parker is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal, which offers long-term retreat programs for people in the serving professions, including teachers, physicians, non-profit leaders, and clergy. Along the way, he’s written a series of bestselling books, including A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, The Company of Strangers, and On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old. In this deeply-moving conversation, Parker shares this journey and many of insights, as well as how three seasons of profound depression have shaped his experience of life, and lens on people, compassion, belonging and beyond.You can find Parker at: Website | FacebookIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the conversations we had with Jerry Colonna, who also happens to be a close friend of Parker.My new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: Peloton: Peloton makes it easy to take care of yourself during the stresses of the holiday season and start 2022 off on the right foot, so check them out! Try Peloton classes free for the rest of the year. New members only. Visit onepeloton.com/app to learn more. Terms apply. Peloton. When your workout is a joy, it’s a joy to work out.Sleep Number: Adjustable firmness, comfort and support on each side. Proven quality sleep is life-changing sleep, which starts with Sleep Number adjustability. During Sleep Number's January Sale, save $1000 on the Sleep Number 360® Special Edition smart bed. Plus special financing, for a limited time. Only at Sleep Number® stores or sleepnumber.com/GOODLIFE. Disclaimer: Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Parker J. Palmer | How to Let Your Life Speak

 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Get Unstuck & Finish What Matters | Charlie Gilkey [Best Of]

Imagine walking through life, knowing who you are, but not feeling like you can live as that person? That was how my guest today, Imara Jones, experienced the first half of her life, before making a series of choices that would allow her to feel safe and supported stepping back into her own life, on her terms. Imara is the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning founder of TransLash Media, a cross-platform journalism, personal storytelling and narrative project, which produces content to shift the current culture of hostility towards transgender people in the US. As part of her work at TransLash, she hosts the WEBBY-nominated, TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones as well as the investigative, limited series, The Anti-Trans Hate Machine. In 2019, she chaired the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting on Gender Diversity and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 2020 as part of its New American Revolution special edition. She’s held economic policy posts in the White House and communications positions at Viacom. Imara’s work as a host, on-air news analyst, contributor, and writer has been featured everywhere from The Guardian, The Nation, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR to Mic, and Colorlines, and focuses on the full range of social justice and equity issues. We explore Imara’s experiences growing up in a family and culture where revealing and living her truth felt not just uncomfortable, but unsafe, how that experience is universal to so many, and how she made choices that effectively empowered her to reclaim a sense of agency, identity, and purpose. And, we explore the power of representation in media, stories, and everyday life as a vehicle to open minds, conversation, and cultivate understanding, connection and the sense of shared humanity we all long for, especially now.You can find Imara at: Website | Instagram | TransLash PodcastIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the conversations we had with Thomas Page McBee.My new book Sparked.Check out our offerings & partners: Squarespace: Squarespace is the all-in-one solution for anyone looking to create a beautiful website. Check Out Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you are ready to launch go to squarespace.com/GLP and use offer code: GLP to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.Outschool: Inspire kids to love learning with Outschool classes. It's 100% fun, live & teacher-led. Explore over 100,000 topics and learn in small groups via Zoom. Perfect for ages 3-18. Join for free. To learn more about all Outschool has to offer and to save $15 off your child’s first class go to Outschool.com/GOODLIFEScribd: The world's largest digital library. Enjoy millions of eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, podcasts, sheet music, and documents. Right now, Scribd is offering our listeners 2 months of Scribd for only $0.99. Go to try dot scribd.com/GOODLIFE to get your first two months for less than $1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Imara Jones | On the Power of Representation

Millions of us are re-examining the role of work in our lives, getting more honest about what it needs to give us, beyond a paycheck. And we're realizing the way we're working isn't working. So, how do you know what opportunities will truly fill you with purpose, possibility, joy and connection, and what will leave you disengaged, empty and disconnected? How do you know whether to stay where you are and reinvent the way you do your job, or look for or start something entirely new? The decisions we make now may well change the course of our lives for the better - if we make the right call - but also for the worse, if we choose wrong. That thing everyone's calling The Great Resignation also has the potential to turn into The Regret. So, how do you set yourself up to understand what jobs, teams, projects, companies, roles or opportunities to run toward, and what to run from? That's what we're diving into in today's special 2022 jumpstart episode, with a focus on understanding and tapping your source-code level driver for work that makes you come alive - your Sparketype®. And, remember, every Monday for the entire month of January, we're bringing you these special deep-dive episodes featuring a single topic that is critical to your ability to live your best live, and set up 2022 for growth and possibility.You can find the 1-page worksheet HERE.Find All Of The Episodes In This Series:How to Do the Ultimate Year-End ReviewHow to Accomplish Big Things | The 2022 PlanHow to Feel More Alive | The 2022 PlanMy new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: Zocdoc: Find In-Network Doctors. Choose from the largest directory of in-person & video visit providers in the nation. Search for Doctors based on availability, location, insurance, reviews & more. Go to Zocdoc.com/GOODLIFE and download the Zocdoc app to sign-up for FREE and book a top-rated doctor. Many are available as soon as today.Preply: Preply helps you find your ideal tutor to boost your language confidence. Book a private tutor today at Preply.com/GOODLIFE and get 50% off your first lesson for a limited time.GoodRx: Compare prescription drug prices and find coupons at more than 70000 US pharmacies. Save up to 80% instantly! For simple, smart savings on your prescriptions, check GoodRx at GoodRx.com/GOODLIFE. GoodRx is not insurance but can be used instead of insurance. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Bring Purpose & Possibility Into Your Work | The 2022 Plan

When you think about the word “prayer,” does it repel you, trigger you, or draw you in? My guest today, Agapi Stassinopoulos, offers a way into this sometimes loaded word that is both inclusive and powerful, no matter your beliefs, your background, or relationship with any kind of organized religion. The type of prayer she invites us to invoke operates on a very different level. One that anyone can get behind, and find connection and solace from. And this idea, along with many specific examples, is the focus of her newest book, Speaking with Spirit: 52 Prayers to Guide, Inspire, and Uplift You.Agapi is what I like to call a walking hug. She embodies love, which in fact is the translation of her name. A best-selling author and speaker who inspires audiences around the world, after being raised in Athens, Agapi was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but then shifted direction, focusing her wisdom, words and presence away from the theatrical stage, getting her master’s in psychology and speaking more directly to the hearts and minds of people with intention of inspiring us all to live better lives. She’s authored numerous books, spoken to organizations around the world, from L’Oreal, Accenture, and LinkedIn to Google, Nike, Starbucks, Museum of Modern Art, and hundreds of others. In today’s conversation, we dive deep into what happens we muster the courage to speak aloud a hard truth, a deep need, open to vulnerability, and reconnect with something bigger than ourselves. If there was ever a time to embrace this idea, it’s now.You can find Agapi at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the conversations we had with Agapi in a prior episode that shares more of her personal story, and the experiences that have shaped her.My new book is available!Order Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive today!Check out our offerings & partners: KiwiCo: KiwiCo delivers science and art projects for kids of all ages. Redefine learning with play and get 50% off your first month plus FREE shipping on any crate line with code GOODLIFE at kiwico.comSleep Number: Adjustable firmness, comfort and support on each side. Proven quality sleep is life-changing sleep, which starts with Sleep Number adjustability. It's time for Sleep Number's Lowest Prices of the Season. Save up to $1000 on Sleep Number 360® smart beds. Plus special financing, for a limited time. Only at Sleep Number® stores or sleepnumber.com/GOODLIFE.OUAI: Get healthy hair & soft skin with our nourishing formulas. Does your hair need a Detox? Leave last year’s build-up behind and start the year feeling refreshed and ready with OUAI. Go to theouai.com and use code GOODLIFE to get 15% off your entire purchase. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Agapi Stassinopoulos | How to Speak to Spirit

These last few years have left so many of us feeling drained, stifled, without energy, excitement or well, happiness or joy. At least not consistently. And that’s understandable, it’s been a tough moment. But, what if access to feeling these things was more in your control, regardless of your immediate circumstance, than you thought? That feeling of being alive, of flourishing, of feeling positive and hopeful and connected, it’s so important to our ability to live a good life. And after all, that’s what GLP has been all about, for a decade now.So, today, we’re going to dive into a powerful, science-backed model that comes out of the world of positive psychology, that’ll help you understand how to reclaim those feelings of flourishing or aliveness that, for so many, seem to have gone missing over these last few years, no matter what life has delivered to your doorstep. And, along with each element, we’re including specific actions you can take to start feeling more like yourself, more alive and capable and connected than maybe you have in a long while. A quick reminder, I am not a mental health professional. While the ideas and the framework and specific exercises I’m about to share come from the world of research and clinical application, if appropriate for your unique needs and circumstances, please be sure to check in with friends, family, the many freely available mental health resources, and a qualified mental health professional. Okay, now, so excited to share today’s exploration of how to feel more alive in this new year.You can find the 1-page worksheet HERE.Find All Of The Episodes In This Series:How to Do the Ultimate Year-End ReviewHow to Accomplish Big Things | The 2022 PlanMy new book Sparked! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Feel More Alive | The 2022 Plan

My guest today, Yrsa Daley-Ward, is an author, actor, model, and screenwriter of mixed Jamaican and Nigerian heritage. Growing up in the northwest of England, she found herself quickly exited from her home, being raised by her grandparents at the age of 6, and struggling in many ways to understand what had just happened. Reading and writing became her salvation. A more introverted kid, raised in a strict religious family, in a tradition that no one outside the family shared, being vegetarian, and the only Black person in her school who also happened to stand nearly a foot above her peers by her early teens, she yearned to just fit in. To not stand out. She didn’t want to be different. Yet, something in the order of magic happened when her teacher noticed Yrsa’s gift for language and asked her to begin sharing her poems before the class as spoken words. She came alive. It was like she stepped outside herself and all was as it should be. And that very feeling, though stifled for a time, would come roaring back to life years later when, living in Cape Town, South Africa, she stumbled into a weekly poetry group. Following a weekly prompt, Yrsa wrote a poem entitled Mental Health, then performed it from the stage. The response took her breath away. In that moment, she knew this would be her life. And, it has become just that.Now, three books and many stages in, having cultivated a giant global community, co-written Beyoncé's musical film and visual album, Black Is King, her work has appeared in Vogue, Elle, Harpers Bazaar, and so many other outlets. Her work draws from her own experiences and larger issues affecting our behavior, culture, and life, fusing poetry with theatre, music, and storytelling, while sharing universal, often hard, but honest and real experiences in verse, in a way that draws you in and makes you feel less alone. Yrsa’s newest book ‘The How,’ was written entirely during the pandemic, and we talk about her journey to this moment, explore some of the poems and ideas, and also dive into what it was like to create work that is so close to the bone at a moment like this.You can find Yrsa at: Website | InstagramIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the conversations we had with Cleo Wade, about crafting language, performing and moving people.My new book Sparked! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yrsa Daley-Ward | Meeting Yourself Where You Are

Is there something big that you would love to accomplish in this new year? Something maybe you've been thinking about for a while, something maybe you have tried to figure out, try to succeed at tried to accomplish in the past, maybe something that was a new year's resolution in the past, though, it doesn't necessarily have to be. We live in different times and, very often that affects what we want to accomplish. And this thing that to you is big, it doesn't have to be big to anyone else. It can be something internally. It can be so as important to you as learning how to get really comfortable in social situations, it can be something external, like running a 10k it can be something like finding a new job, or something that is just really deeply personal, like writing a book or pretty using a podcast, whatever it may be.Is there something big that as you step into this new world, you would love to make happen this year, but really can't wrap your head around how to make it happen? Well, if that's you, then this entire episode is going to help you a ton. I'm going to walk you through what I call my Success Scaffolding, introducing you to the eight elements. I call them the eight Ps and each one of these is critical to succeeding at anything that is not sort of, you know, accomplished in the blink of an eye. Anything substantial, anything that will take effort that is sustained over a longer window of time, anything where the stakes are higher and really deeply meaningful to you, anything where maybe you have tried in the past and just it hasn't worked for so many different reasons. What I'm about to share with you may also explain exactly why past attempts have not gotten you to where you wanna be, and also give you a really powerful step-by-step framework to accomplish anything big in nearly any context, any part of your life. That is what I'm going to walk you through today. Success Scaffolding, the eight Ps, and how to accomplish anything really big. So excited to share this framework with you.You can find the 1-page worksheet HERE.My new book Sparked. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How to Accomplish Big Things | The 2022 Plan

<p>What does it mean to live a good life? What's the role of happiness, meaning, work, love, purpose, kindness, friendship, and more? How do status, circumstance, gender, privilege, race, identity, and more play into the quest to live your best life? These are the questions and topics we explore every week in conversation with leading voices in art, science, industry, and culture, from Brené&nbsp;Brown, Matthew McConaughey, &amp; Bishop Michael Curry, to Austin Channing Brown, Glennon Doyle, Julián Castro, &amp; hundreds of others.</p>

What does it mean to live a good life? What's the role of happiness, meaning, work, love, purpose, kindness, friendship, and more? How do status, circumstance, gender, privilege, race, identity, and more play into the quest to live your best life? These are the questions and topics we explore every week in conversation with leading voices in art, science, industry, and culture, from Brené&nbsp;Brown, Matthew McConaughey, &amp; Bishop Michael Curry, to Austin Channing Brown, Glennon Doyle, Julián Castro, &amp; hundreds of others.

hubhopper

Good Life Project

hubhopper