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 …

When our good friends encounter challenges, A default response for many of us is often: To have their back To show up fully To be kind To put judgment aside, And to remind them that they are not alone. When we turn this practice, of being for someone, toward ourselves, particularly in the face of: obstacles, hardships, adversity, and failure, it's …

Alison Wood Brooks is a celebrated Harvard Business School Professor who studies the hidden architecture of conversations. Her groundbreaking work shows that while all of us can struggle with difficult conversations, We’re often not very good at the easy ones either (even though we have them all the time). Alison argues that part of the reason for …

Brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor famously once said: “Most of us think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, but we are actually feeling creatures that think.” Whether it’s anxiety about going to the doctor, Boiling rage when we’re stuck in traffic, Devastation after a painful break-up, Joy from the birth of a child, Or peace that arises f…

"It’s not your fault if you are unhappy. You have been told three lies: You’re not good enough; You need to achieve fame, wealth, and power; You need to do it all on your own." These are the words of Stephanie Harrison - author, past Director of Learning at Thrive Global, and expert in the science of happiness. In her new book: New Happy: Getting H…

In a time where the threat of authoritarianism is on the rise, how might we take the next step toward creating truly equitable and thriving societies? This question, for many, may feel increasingly out of reach. And yet for redemptive thinker, and visionary leader john a. powell, it serves as one of the central lines of inquiry in his work. johh a.…

In times of great division, disruption, and uncertainty, how can we find the ability to stay grounded? While each of us may find we have different answers, Here are a few that have been emerging for me recently: The first - remembering, in the words of one of today’s guests: you don’t have to do it alone. Remembering the power (and necessity) of se…

What is it that drives our focus on productivity? That colors our experience of work, life, and relationships? Is the motivation to 'do', to achieve, and to push ourselves driven by a subtle undercurrent of fear? A craving to stay relevant, A whisper in the back of our mind that says: If we don’t optimize our lives, fill up our calendars, and stay …

This past November I had the privilege of going to a leadership boot camp hosted by Jerry Colonna and the extraordinary team at CEO and Executive Coaching Firm, Reboot. For 10 years Reboot has been hosting these gatherings. Immersive experiences where a small group of leaders comes together without pretense. Everyone there to explore the possibilit…

It’s here and then it’s gone. In so many ways this is the through line of our experience. From the sunny day, To a common cold, To time spent with loved ones, Or the experience of our wedding day. Joy, love, heartbreak, and ultimately Life itself - All by nature impermanent. To walk through this life Is to walk hand-in-hand with change. It is simpl…

Things are changing all the time. From the seasons, To the weather, our emotions, and our relationships. We are born, we grow old, and ultimately we die. To walk through life means to walk hand-in-hand with impermanence. It is simply part of what it means to be human. And this season on the podcast we wanted to make these shared experiences of chan…

There are certain threads inescapably woven into our experience of being alive. Simple but profound truths which make up the tapestry of what it means to be human. One of these is impermanence. The fact that everything, by nature, changes. From the seasons, to the weather, our emotions, and our relationships. We are born, we grow old, and ultimatel…

In his new book, Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground, Neuroscientist and Moral psychologist Dr. Kurt Gray argues that for the majority of our evolutionary history, humans were more hunted than hunter. Which might just be the game changing perspective we need for these times. Kurt reminds us that in contr…

In his new book, Original Love, Zen meditation master, award winning author and poet, and renowned spiritual teacher Henry Shukman offers a tantalizing proposition. At any moment there is a powerful possibility available to us. A possibility of piercing the illusion of separateness, And experiencing a profound sense of connection. In these moments …

Today is our final Heroes and Helpers episode for Season 4 on The Courageous Life. This series launched earlier in 2024 and throughout the year we’ve shined a light on stories of everyday heroes, Ordinary people who are navigating life’s challenges and adversities with hope, courage, resilience, and love. These are the remarkable stories of: Our ne…

As we get ready to close out the 4th season of The Courageous Life we are revisiting inspiring stories of everyday heroes and the helpers who walk beside them. These Conversations, which launched this year, shine a light on ordinary people, Our neighbors, friends, colleagues, and members of our communities, who rise up to meet challenges, And navig…

What does it mean to live a 'good life'? For centuries philosophers, theologians, and psychologists have explored this question. Arguing primarily that there are two distinct paths to living well. The first might be casually thought of as sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Choosing pleasure as our primary pursuit - building our life around a simple equ…

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 bea…

Dr. Jonathan Fisher, is a Harvard educated cardiologist, a mindfulness teacher, and an outspoken leader passionate about helping to end the epidemic of clinician burnout in healthcare. In sharing his own story he writes: "I took care of 20,000 hearts before taking care of my own. For years, I hid my anxiety, depression, and burnout behind the facad…

Today's practice features guest teacher Amy Dong. Amy is a talented therapist, and a breath work facilitator, who specializes in helping both individuals and couples to find steady footing through life’s inevitable twists & turns. She’s also the author of a beautiful sub stack called The Softening. Which she describes as a walk through our internal…

Our 20’s are a unique season in our lives. While often romanticized as a decade that should be a high point It’s a time often fraught with major life transitions From leaving the familiar rhythms of school Which so many of us have known since early childhood To (for many of us) entering the work force full time, for the first time To shifts in mean…

This past week clinical psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Meg Jay was back on the show. One of the big themes we explored together was uncertainty, And how we can experience more ease in the face of it. Meg offered a useful reminder that when we experience uncertainty research shows that our amygdala becomes more active. The amygdala being th…

Our 20’s are a unique season in our lives. While often romanticized as a decade that should be a high point, they are an age marked by uncertainty and major life transitions. From leaving the familiar rhythms of school, To (for many) entering the work force full time, for the first time. To experiencing changes in meaningful relationships, friendsh…

To fail is human. It’s built into our experience from childhood. We begin to walk and we fall. We begin a project, we work toward a goal, or we start a business and we may fail. We experience these moments - When we are engaged in learning, When we are moving toward something we care about And we come up short. And in these moments there is an oppo…

“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” -Abraham Maslow What is it that empowers people to make this choice? To be bold enough to step forward into fear as they move toward purpose, and transcendence? These questions are at the heart of today’s…

One of the highlights of this season on the Courageous Life has been expanding the show with a new series that features inspiring stories of everyday heroes and the helpers who walk beside them. One of these helpers conversations featured Amy Dong. Amy is a talented therapist and a breathwork facilitator. During our conversation she offered a windo…

“If we don’t work on our stuff, our stuff will work on us. It will run our lives - and show up in our offices and relationships - until we take the reins of responsibility for our own well-being.” These words were written by today’s guest, Allison Schultz (who goes by Ali). Along with Jerry Colonna and Dan Putt, Ali co-founded Reboot, the widely ac…

In today’s practice you’ll hear a clip from a past conversation with kindness researcher Dr. Kelli Harding. She’ll offer a beautiful reminder about just how easy it can be to make someone else’s day. How little it takes to lift others up. And that when we do, when we offer these little acts of kindness, they generate positive ripples outward. One s…

How might we learn to better negotiate and navigate seemingly intractable issues? And what if it was possible to not only navigate these issues, but to meet all people’s needs in the process? What if it was possible to truly find win-win solutions? In today’s conversation with Rob Fersh and Mariah Levison, two leaders in the field of bridge buildin…

Yesterday we re-released a moving Courageous Life conversation with Juliana Tafur. Juliana is a journalist, award winning documentary filmmaker, and bridge builder. She serves as the Program Director for the Greater Good Science Center’s Bridging Differences Program. During our time together she shared shared some of her story, and insights from he…

How can we more effectively navigate conversations with people who have different values, and beliefs than we do? Neighbors, community members, co-workers, and family members who care deeply about the same issues, but who have widely different views about them. What are the conditions that would be needed in order to have productive conversations? …

When I was first learning to be a coach we had a saying before stepping into a coaching conversation: Leave your assumptions at the door and embrace curiosity. In reality we often know SO little about someone’s experience, and about their story. And when we recognize that, what seems to make the most sense is to get curious. To ask questions, And t…

How can we more effectively navigate conversations with people who have different values, and beliefs than we do? Neighbors, community members, co-workers, and family members who care deeply about the same issues, but who have widely different views about them. What are the conditions that would be needed in order to have productive conversations? …

Always do your best. When I was growing up I heard that a lot. "Just do your best." "Leave it all on the field." Or some similar version of that message. It seemed like a generally positive and empowering message. An invitation to show up fully and give it my all. I was on board. But what I didn’t realize was that this message was incomplete. It wa…

One of the most extraordinary manifestations of human potential is: Our ability to grow and strengthen ourselves in the face of pain, trauma, and those moments where life falls apart. Today’s guest, Dr. Amrita Sen Mukherjee, has not only studied what contributes to this deeply human capacity for post-traumatic growth but has experienced it first-ha…

In yesterday’s Courageous Life episode with psychologist and author, Dr. Jill Stoddard, we took a deep dive into overcoming self doubt and imposterism. Part of which reminded me of a powerful practice for transforming stress. A practice I first learned from Dr. Alia Crum and her team at Stanford’s Mind and Body Lab. I originally created this practi…

Today’s guest identifies as a recovered imposter. For years, she was convinced that the only reason she was accepted into a competitive grad school program was because her father knew the program director. One thing research shows is that Dr. Jill Stoddard, psychologist, and author of Imposter No More, isn't alone in this. Deep down, a majority of …

In the hero's journey, the hero or heroine is called to adventure. Often in the form of a quest, a challenge, or an adversity. And often in unexpected ways. One of the things that’s interesting about the heroes journey is that shortly after the call a helper enters the picture. A mentor, sage, guide, or a coach who helps the hero to navigate the ad…

"It’s very important work to be calm in a storm. To be a center for the people in your life." -Elizabeth Lesser (Courageous Life Episode 112) So often when storms arise in our life they unleash a variety of feelings: Uncertainty Fear Groundlessness When these experiences arise the mind will often will enter into a cycle of trying to find ground, of…

In the more than forty years since she co-founded Omega Institute—now the world’s largest center for spiritual retreat and personal growth—Elizabeth Lesser has been an intimate witness to the ways in which people weather change and transition. In our conversation I shared the question we have been exploring on the show for years. A question that ca…

In the hero's journey, the hero or heroine is called to adventure. Often in the form of a quest, a challenge, or an adversity, And often in unexpected ways. One of the things that’s interesting about the hero's journey is that shortly after the call a helper enters the picture. A mentor, sage, guide, or a coach of some sort. They help the hero: Nav…

After work one evening I met a friend who has been navigating big questions about their career and what’s next. We sat outside and they shared some of their story. A close friend of theirs, whom they care about and deeply respect Had called them up And offered advice about what to do. While well intended it completely missed the mark. My friend lef…

When veteran executive coach, professor, and ultra-endurance champion Urs Koenig signed up to be a NATO peacekeeping commander and United Nations peacekeeper in his fifties, he thought he knew a thing or two about leadership. In his new book Radical Humility he openly shares that what he discovered as he embarked on this journey was a new leadershi…

The blank canvas. The blank page. The big questions: What’s next in my life? What do I want to do for work? How do I want to live? These are familiar moments and seasons of life marked by the unknown. Often filled with feelings of uncertainty, what’s beautiful about these moments, and these seasons is that They are an invitation into creativity. Bu…

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a mindfulness and meditation teacher with a lifelong interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice. She spent her formative years growing up in an ecumenical Christian community where families practiced a new kind of monasticism and worked with the poor. When she turned 25 she entered a Buddhist monastery…

There is a beautiful teaching metaphor that comes out of buddhist psychology about 2 darts. As we move through life we inevitably experience pain. From minor bumps and scrapes, To major injury, loss, heartbreak, and catastrophe. This is the 1st dart. What’s interesting about pain though is that it can often be accompanied by thoughts about the pain…

When I first started coaching I was introduced to the idea of: Meeting the client where they are. This idea being both a cornerstone of coaching, And a practice that involves attuning to the person in front of you in such a way that opens up a possibility of working with them wherever they are in their development or growth journey. While it may so…

In the hero's journey, the hero or heroine is called to adventure. Often in the form of a quest, a challenge, or an adversity, And often in unexpected ways. One of the things that’s interesting about the hero's journey is that shortly after the call a helper enters the picture. A mentor, sage, guide, or a coach of some sort. They help the hero: Nav…

Why can it be so difficult to receive? Whether it’s something small like a compliment, Or something bigger, like receiving help when we are in some form of pain or distress. While the response can vary of course, For many of us the instinct can often be: To brush off the compliment To minimize the recognition To turn down the help Essentially to cl…

When you hear the word provoke what do you think of? What about the word provocative? For many (including myself) This idea, of provocation, often holds a negative connotation. Look it up in the dictionary and you’ll even see one definition that reads: Purposefully stirring up a fight. But as you can imagine there’s a very different form of provoca…