Humans are driven to resolve cognitive dissonance as efficiently as possible. We pay little regard to whether our solutions are accurate or correct, but rather we only seek harmony in our minds. Unfortunately this can mean reinforcing unhealthy thought patterns and incorrect beliefs. However, cognitive dissonance can be turned around and used towards positive gains.

How does learning happen? In one fell swoop - linear? Or is there another path that learning takes? We pass judgment on ourselves and others, designing our attempts in ways that are suboptimal based on the assumption of linearity. Almost nothing is truly linear.

If you don't understand the motivations underlying your goals, you will always deal with brittle, high-stakes situations. If you understand your goals through the lens of your deeper human motivations, you will be more able to see the flexibility and many pathways to success.

We grow up believing there is a continuum from serious to fun, and that as you get older, you traverse towards the serious side. The truth is, the more serious you are, the more fun you need to be able to incorporate in your audacious goals. Throw out the continuum - it's a fallacy.

Your obstacles are not a test of pride or an opportunity to prove yourself. They are in your way. There's more than one way to deal with this - so why do we so often choose a difficult path? Perhaps it is pride, or maybe we like testing our fortitude. But if you care less about proving yourself and more about accomplishing your goals, you need to look at obstacles with more nuance. In this episode, we talk about making your obstacles irrelevant.

Growth and comfort rarely mix. But there's more to growth than getting uncomfortable. Different kinds of growth produce different kinds of uncomfortability; which types are you seeking?

What specific components of your situation have an outsized effect on you? What resonates in a given scenario? This mental model will help us understand and come to accept why sometimes things just "click."

You've hit a plateau - now what? Today we'll discuss two models for reframing your plateaus; perhaps you haven't hit the wall you think you've hit.

In today's episode, we talk about how your baseline perceptions and assumptions are the building blocks of your leverage.

Ethan Kross joins me today to talk about the importance of our inner voices. In his new book, Chatter, Ethan outlines how our inner voices affect us and how we can shape them as a helpful tool.

Ethan Kross joins me today to talk about the importance of our inner voices. In his new book, Chatter, Ethan outlines how our inner voices affect us and how we can shape them as a helpful tool.

Humans have the unique ability to intentionally practice and better ourselves. What makes you grow? Are you inviting those triggers and contexts into your regular schedule? How are you making time for growth?

You have the greatest potential to coach yourself. But first, you need to understand the ground rules, and build your coaching skills. We start that journey in this episode.

How do you determine what is valid, authoritative, useful, and true in your daily decisions and actions?

Ben Franklin used a system of improvement that we can learn from. The idea is simple: focus on one thing at a time.

On today's episode, I interview a personal hero of mine in the podcasting world, Katy Milkman. Katy is the host of Choiceology, a podcast about why and how we make the choices we make. Katy also just released a brand new book, How To Change - be sure to check out both of these incredible resources!

The previous episode's audio had a bit of a hiccup - this one is fixed. Sorry about that! On today's episode, I interview a personal hero of mine in the podcasting world, Katy Milkman. Katy is the host of Choiceology, a podcast about why and how we make the choices we make. Katy also just released a brand new book, How To Change - be sure to check out both of these incredible resources!

Our inside view is not on the outside of others' inside views. In order to think empathetically, we need to develop skepticism about our own perspectives.

Our inside view is made up of invisible, inescapable walls. Can we simulate an outside view?

Uniqueness is not inherently valuable. Our heuristic brains interpret uniqueness as worth paying attention to and possibly valuable, and for that reason we tend to over-index on protecting that value by resisting things that make us less unique. But this can lead to inefficiency or an inaccurate picture of what actually generates value for your venture.