THE THINK GROW PODCAST
Where personal development meets real life.
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Episode Show Notes
Each write-up includes a brief overview of the episode, notable quotes, and a list of resources mentioned, e.g. books, websites, etc. Enjoy!
In this episode, I speak with entrepreneur and former NASA engineer, Harleen Kaur. Harleen is the founder of Ground News, a news platform that helps combat media bias by allowing people to compare how different news outlets from across the political spectrum are covering the same story. The topic of news intersects nicely with other topics I write about here, like confirmation bias and values.
In this episode, I speak with author, Tom-Butler Bowdon. Tom has distilled the most important ideas from hundreds of classic books across multiple genres, including psychology, spirituality, and philosophy into an epic set of books called The 50 Classics Series.
In this episode, I speak with psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Amir Levine. We talk about attachment theory, which is the subject of his best-selling book, Attached.
In this episode, I speak with filmmaker, marketer, and sense-maker, Rob Hardy about navigating the complexity of human values and how this process intersects with culture and politics.
In this episode I speak with friend, former Wildland Firefighter, and author of Rewrite the Rules, Alex Starr about his firefighting (mis)adventures, the value of questioning our assumptions, how to build resilience, and more.
In this episode, I think out loud about values and how they relate to well-being. Understanding our values can give us more clarity and perspective on our behavior and help us act in more constructive ways.
In this solo-episode, I read a short blog post I wrote about how the ways in which perfectionism has limited me.
In this episode I speak with Erick Godsey. Erick describes himself as a student of the psyche, myths, and dreams. He draws on cognitive, evolutionary, and Jungian psychology as well as mythology and dreams to approach the question of how to “be” in the world.
In the spirit of documenting my process, in this episode I share my daily routine and how it has enabled me to write more consistently. Some of you have asked me how I structure my day. In this episode, I share some of that. More importantly, I talk about the principle that explains why having a routine is useful in the first place.
In this episode, my wife and I talk about some of the approaches and frameworks that have helped my wife and I improve and maintain our relationship for nearly a decade. We mostly refer to romantic relationships in the episode but most of the principles we discuss apply to all sorts of relationships.
Rebecca Ray (@drrebeccaray on IG) is a clinical psychologist, author, and speaker. In this episode we talk about some of the more common issues she sees as a psychologist, including low self-worth, crippling fear, and the underlying limiting beliefs at the root of these cognitive distortions…
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Dan Siegel. He is a clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute.
Dr. Siegel has written 16 books and multiple New York Times best sellers, including Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation and The Whole Brain Child (two of my favorites). However, most of our conversation covers topics in his new book, Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence…
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Dan Siegel. He is a clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute.
Dr. Siegel has written 16 books and multiple New York Times best sellers, including Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation and The Whole Brain Child (two of my favorites). However, most of our conversation covers topics in his new book, Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence…
In this episode, I speak with comic book artist and author Yumi Sakugawa. Yumi’s book, Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One With The Universe has made it onto a couple of my book recommendation lists. It’s a gem. It takes abstract and sometimes esoteric spiritual concepts and puts them into simple, playful language.
A good portion of our conversation is centered around one of the ideas in that book: having cake and tea with your demons. This is a metaphor for the spiritual and philosophical idea that, instead of avoiding the dark or undesirable parts of yourself, you should face them…
Farokh (@farokh) is a social media expert and entrepreneur. He was one of the very first people I connected with when I started my Instagram page (@ThinkGrowProsper) in early 2014. Since then, I’ve watched him build a hugely successful social media-based business, working with a diverse range of big name brands, ranging from L’Oréal to Dom Perignon and many others.
In our conversation, Farokh explains how his ability to network has enabled him to get the attention of (and work with) influential and powerful people ranging from business powerhouses like Gary Vaynerchuk to celebrities and rappers like Soulja Boy.
Daniel DiPiazza is the founder of Alpha Mentorship, an immersive training and investment platform for the next generation of entrepreneurs, creators and leaders. He also is the best-selling author of the book Rich20Something.
Since we met and became friends in 2015, I’ve watched Daniel undergo a massive transformation — not just in his business but in his consciousness. Daniel is currently on a world-wide speaking tour, developing the material for his new book, Wielding Power. In our conversation, we talk about some of the ideas in that book.
Jonathan Fields (@jonathanfields) is an award-winning author, serial entrepreneur, and teacher. He's founded a number of game-changing wellness companies and has led workshops around the world on everything from yoga and mindfulness to conscious entrepreneurship and innovation.
This is Jonathan’s second appearance on the podcast and we dive even deeper into doing meaningful work. We talk about the Sparketype framework Jonathan designed for helping you discover the work you’re here to do, the work that is most meaningful to you — the work that sparks you.
In this episode, I explore overthinking (and it's close cousin, anxiety) from an evolutionary perspective and then offer some practical strategies you can apply immediately to help you overcome repetitive, obsessive, non-productive thoughts…
Austin Kleon is the New York Times best-selling author of two of my favorite books on creativity: Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work! These books have had a huge impact on the way I approach my own work — and I’m not alone. They’ve been translated into over two dozen different languages and have over a million copies in print! In this episode, I ask Austin about some of the more personal aspects of his life and work…
In this episode, I speak with clinical psychologist Dr. Rubin Naiman. If you’ve ever wondered about the deeper, psychological aspects of sleep and dreams, this episode is for you.
Dr. Naiman is the sleep and dream specialist at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine and has been studying sleep and dreams for over 20 years…
Having been a student of self-development and other related fields for the past 15 years, I’ve been exposed to a massive amount of ideas. Recently, I’ve been thinking about the best way to organize this information in order to make sense of it all.
In this episode, I attempt to explain these three overarching categories, or what I call “meta-principles.” It’s a simple framework and is still under construction but there does seem to be something to it. At the very least, organizing information helps your brain remember it more effectively…
In this episode, I speak with artist, author and speaker Adam J. Kurtz (aka ADAMJK) about overcoming perfectionism, being an online creative, and what goes into making good art/content.
Adam’s work is rooted in honesty, humor and a little darkness. His latest book, Things Are What You Make of Them, is a handwritten essay collection that digs into the emotional realities of being any type of modern day creative person.
This episode is for you if you’ve ever found yourself at the mercy of perfectionism, are a creative entrepreneur (or anyone who creates anything on the internet,) or if you’d like inspiration for your creative work.
My wife, Vanessa and I recorded this episode just hours before she went into labor with our first child! So if it sounds like we are a bit distracted it’s because we are. I will be doing more Q&A episodes in the future where I cover more ground. For now, enjoy this (sometimes rambling) ask-me-anything episode where Vanessa and I discuss the following questions…
In this episode, I speak with artist, author and speaker Adam J. Kurtz (aka ADAMJK) about overcoming perfectionism, being an online creative, and what goes into making good art/content.
Adam’s work is rooted in honesty, humor and a little darkness. His latest book, Things Are What You Make of Them, is a handwritten essay collection that digs into the emotional realities of being any type of modern day creative person.
This episode is for you if you’ve ever found yourself at the mercy of perfectionism, are a creative entrepreneur (or anyone who creates anything on the internet,) or if you’d like inspiration for your creative work.
In this episode, I speak with entrepreneur, author and philanthropist Marie Forleo about identifying your gifts, doing meaningful work and dealing with criticism.
Marie Forleo is a multi-passionate entrepreneur who was named a though leader by Oprah, host of the award-winning show, Marie TV where she helps people create a life and business they love and she is also the creator of the world-class entrepreneurship training program, B-School.
This episode is for you if you need direction honing in on your gifts and passions, want to learn strategies for dealing with criticism and comparison online, or if you’re a fellow creative entrepreneur who wants resources for creating meaningful work…
In this episode, I speak with positive psychology researcher and author Neil Pasricha (neil@globalhappiness.org) about how (and why) to read more books.
Neil helps people live happier lives. He is a leadership keynote speaker, New York Times best-selling author, positive psychology researcher, and host of the podcast 3 Books With Neil Pasricha, where he is on a mission to discover the 1000 most transformative books.
This episode is for you if you need inspiration to read more, want to learn what makes reading books different other types of media, or if you’re a fellow book nerd who just wants to geek out over why reading is awesome…
In this episode, I discuss four obstacles that keep us from disagreeing constructively, along with several strategies for overcoming them.
In this episode of the Think Grow Podcast, I speak with my wife, Vanessa about a variety of topics including our upcoming transition into parenthood, mental health, my philosophy on creativity and other stuff.
In today’s world, we have so much information at our fingertips, it’s easy to feel like we know things. But there’s a difference between understanding something and just feeling like we do. This is sometimes called “the illusion of competence.”
What’s the point of reading a bunch of books if you don’t absorb the knowledge? The truth is, we can’t recall most of what we consume on a daily basis. So how can we learn more effectively?
In today’s episode, I cover the most important learning principles and strategies I’ve distilled from a variety of sources over the years. They have helped me remember more of what I learn. I hope they help you too…
The internet makes it easy to live inside our own little content bubbles where we are protected from any viewpoints other than those with which we already agree. But this is a big problem. When we aren't exposed to opposing perspectives, we don’t learn how to relate to the people who hold them. I’ve put together a short list of tips for engaging with people who hold views contrary to your own.