Want to get better at work? At managing others? Managing yourself? Gayle Allen interviews experts who take your performance to the next level. Each episode feat...
It’s tempting to believe that the self is a constant. That it’s a core component of who we are from the time we’re born.
But social psychologist and Stanford Professor Brian Lowery has a different view. He believes the self we are today is a product of our social relationships – our friends, our families, our communities, our technologies, even our geography. That as our circumstances change, so does the self we believe ourselves to be. In this interview, we talk about this and more from his book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You.
Brian’s argument explains so much about how we operate in the world, and he gives us another reason to prioritize social relationships in our lives.
Episode Links
A Provocative Theory of Identity Finds There is No ‘You’ in Self
Brian Lowery on the Myth of Rugged Individualism and What This Means for the America of the 2020s
Interview with Gregory Burns
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
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42:23
CM 278: Lorraine Besser on Living a Richer Life
We need pleasure in our lives. We also need meaning. Pleasure gives us joy and delight. Meaning gives us purpose and a set of goals to work toward.
But have there ever been times in your life when you’ve experienced meaning and pleasure, yet felt something was missing? Turns out, you’re not alone.
What’s missing, according to recent research, is something called psychological richness. Think of it as mental stimulation. A combination of curiosity and wonder. Lorraine Besser writes about this in her book, The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It. She also shares what she and her research colleagues have learned about how to get it.
This is a book that takes something we know we need – mental challenge and stimulation – and calls it out as a key component for living a good life.
Episode Links
What If You Pursued What's Interesting Instead of Happiness?
How Novelty Positively Impacts Your Brain
Interview with Rainesford Stauffer
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
Support the Podcast
If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show.
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35:48
CM 277: Emily Austin on a Recipe for Happiness
When we’re looking for insights on how to make friends, manage our anxiety, or just live a happier life, we rarely look to the past. Instead, we tend to focus on what today’s thinkers have to say.
But what if the recipe for happiness lies in the past, specifically the 2000-year-old past? What if the ancient writings of Greek philosopher Epicurus hold the answers?
That’s what modern-day philosopher, Emily Austin, argues in her book, Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life. She teaches us what Epicurus really thought about pleasure and why he made it a cornerstone of his life. She also points out the advantages of an Epicurean mindset over a Stoic one.
Emily’s book is proof that we still have much to learn, for our work and our life, from the ancient Greek philosophers, especially Epicurus!
Episode Links
The Good Life is the One Where Anxiety Falls by the Wayside
The Epicurean Search for Happiness and Serenity
Interview with Tali Sharot
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
Support the Podcast
If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show.
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53:35
CM 276: Mary Anderson on Success without Stress
We often assume that stress and anxiety are the price we pay for success. Yet these feelings can lead to burnout and self-doubt, two debilitating outcomes that can get in the way of the very achievements we’re striving for.
This is a pattern psychologist Mary Anderson often sees in her high-achieving clients: their very success has left them so scarred that they can’t enjoy it, let alone build on it. The good news is that Anderson has developed a set of research-backed strategies to get us unstuck. Anderson shares these stories and strategies in her book, The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success – without Losing Your Edge.
I walked away from the book – and our conversation – with tools to rethink some of my own limiting beliefs. I bet you will, too.
Episode Links
Perfectionism Is Not Healthy or Sustainable. Here’s What to Strive for Instead
5 Ways to Find Relief in a Moment of Overwhelm
Staying Determined on the Way to Achieving Your Goals
Interview with Michael Gervais
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
Support the Podcast
If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show.
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50:01
CM 275: Mithu Storoni on Working Smarter
As a knowledge worker, you face two challenges. First, you need to take in staggering amounts of information to stay current. Next, you're expected to convert that information into innovative solutions that benefit your team and your company.
While expectations for consuming and processing information have changed, most of our mental habits harken back to factory model days. Yet we’re ignoring the tremendous power of our human biology, namely, our brains.
What if we designed an optimal work style built around key features of the human brain? That’s the question Mithu Storoni works to answer in her book, Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work. She likens brain function to a car engine with multiple gears. Then she shares how to best put those gears to work for us, and how best to shift them as circumstances change.
It’s just the right book – with just the right information – for the age we’re living in.
Episode Links
Uncertainty is Uncomfortable, and Technology Makes It Worse. That Doesn’t Have to Be a Bad Thing
Help! It Turns out Breaks Make You More Productive
Interview with Ayelet Fishbach on the Science of Motivation
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
Support the Podcast
If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show.
Subscribe
Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.
Want to get better at work? At managing others? Managing yourself? Gayle Allen interviews experts who take your performance to the next level. Each episode features a book with insights to help you achieve your goals.