Smart People Podcast

Heather Gray, executive coach and corporate therapist These days you can’t go two minutes without being reminded that there are really successful, rich, beautiful, happy people out there…and you are not one of them. BUT – if you work hard enough, make more money, and buy more stuff, ONE DAY you just might become that person! Just kidding. We all know that is a lie. We know it in our bones. But if you’re anything like me, you still look at those people and say, “I know it’s a lie, but those people seem to have it all, maybe they DO have it all figured out.” This week we are speaking with an executive coach who works with those seemingly “perfect” people and she’s here to tell you that nothing is as it seems. In fact, often times people reach the societal ideal of perfection only to find out that it’s not at all what it seems and the price paid to get there was too high. So instead of chasing someone else’s dreams, it’s time to define your own – and trust me, it’s not easy. Our guest this week is Heather Gray, a therapist and coach who is a master at helping anyone repair broken relationships, rediscover passions, and heal from ignored and fractured parts of their lives. She helps her clients learn how to be present for themselves and for those they care about so that they can truly have it all. Learn more about Heather and her work at ChooseToHaveItAll.com. The post Episode 266 – Heather Gray – How To Stop Compromising and Have It All appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Andy Molinsky, author of, ‘Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge and Build Confidence’ Do you feel comfortable delivering bad news? Do you look forward to speaking in public? Do you enjoy networking? Is it easy for you to speak your mind and be assertive with friends and colleagues? If you answered no to any of these questions, this episode can help! In this show we speak with a true academic, Andy Molinsky as he discusses his brand new book, REACH; A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge , and Build Confidence. Andy is a Professor at Brandeis University’s International Business School with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology. Andy received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and M.A. in Psychology from Harvard University. He also holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. in International Affairs from Brown University. Andy helps people develop the insights and courage necessary to act outside their personal and cultural comfort zones when doing important, but challenging, tasks in work and life. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, Psychology Today, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, NPR and Voice of America. Andy was awarded as a Top Voice for LinkedIn for his work in education. http://www.andymolinsky.com/ The post 265 – Andy Molinsky – NOW Is the Time to Change, Here’s How appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Leanne Jacobs, author of, ‘Beautiful Money: The 4-Week Total Wealth Makeover’ Most of us know what it feels like to chase success and money. We believe that pounding our way through our days is the only way to prosperity and success. We sacrifice time with our loved ones, our weekends, our vacations, and perhaps even our sanity, in exchange for a paycheck. We want to have it all, but don’t find satisfaction in any of our achievements. Instead, we find ourselves sitting in our offices and big houses feeling unhappy, broke, burnt out, and unfulfilled… This week, our guest Leanne Jacobs explains how to break this cycle and achieve wealth in all the right ways, including money. Leanne has created a four-week wealth plan shows you how to stop chasing money and start creating wealth. Rather than surrender to the busy and the broke, you will learn how to purposefully align with joyful, powerful, and meaningful wealth. Leanne Jacobs is an internationally recognized holistic wealth expert who helps clients around the world cultivate the daily habits that lead to optimal wealth and wellbeing. She is also the author of the new book, Beautiful Money: The 4-Week Total Wealth Makeover. http://leannejacobs.com/ The post 264 – Leanne Jacobs – How To Achieve Real Wealth appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Yuval Noah Harari, author of, ‘Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow’ and ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ With the international sensation, critical favorite, and New York Times bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari unleashed a global phenomenon. His electrifying debut resonated with notable public figures: the book was lauded by President Obama, Bill Gate, Sebastian Junger, and Mark Zuckerberg. In this episode we discuss Sapiens, as well as his newest endeavor, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. In Sapiens, Harari showed us how the human race came to rule the planet. In Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, he offers a spellbinding glimpse of the (near) future. A future in which the zeal to upgrade humans into gods could threaten humanity’s supremacy, meaning, and very existence. And not even rabid science fiction fans will be prepared for Harari’s vivid, original, and endlessly surprising vision of tomorrow. This is the shape of the new world as Harari envisions it, where the gap between those who get onboard and those left behind will be bigger even than the gap between Sapiens and Neanderthals. This is the next stage of evolution. Dr. Yuval Harari has a PhD in history from the University of Oxford and now lectures at the Department of History, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in world history. His first book, Sapiens, was translated into over 40 languages and became a bestseller in the US, UK, France, China, Korea, and numerous other countries. For additional information, please visit his website (

David Hoffeld, author of, ‘The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal’ The ability to sell impacts many parts of our lives. Until fairly recently, selling tactics have been left to the “gurus” who rely on experience, anecdotes, and guessing games. Advice ranges all the way from “always be closing” to “always be prospecting”, and everywhere in between. But this week on the show we have found the guy who put science behind selling, to really see what the latest neuroscience tells us about how to sell. In this episode, leading sales trainer, researcher and CEO of Hoffeld Group, David Hoffeld blends cutting-edge research in social psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, to show you the best way to sell. He explains how to align the way you sell with how our brains naturally form buying decisions, dramatically increasing your ability to earn more sales. Hoffeld’s evidence-based approach connects the dots between science and situations salespeople and business leaders face every day to help you consistently succeed. David Hoffeld is the CEO and chief sales trainer of Hoffeld Group.  He’s pioneered a revolutionary sales approach based on neuroscience. social psychology and behavioral economics that radically increases sales.  In fact, if you are looking for someone who bases sales strategies on scientific evidence, David literally wrote the book on it.  He is the author of the groundbreaking book, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal. The post 262 – David Hoffeld – Using Neuroscience to Sell appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Sam Weinman, author of, ‘Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains’ Our guest this week is an award winning sports journalist and Golf Digest’s digital editor. So naturally, we start off the episode talking about digital content, the future of writing and publishing, and of course…golf. But the main focus of the interview is the essential life skill of “learning to lose”. Whether it’s the Olympic Games, a political election, or even a school spelling bee, society has told us that winning is everything, making a loss very hard to deal with. And these losses can be a defining moment that either lead to misery and shame, or growth and success. Which way do you tend to go? How do you want to respond in the New Year and beyond? Our guest this week is the author of the brand new book, Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains. To write this book, Weinman interviewed some of the biggest “losers” ever including pro athletes, business executives, politicians, and Hollywood stars, learning along the way that being a good loser is exactly what we should all aspire to be. Sam shares with us what he uncovered in his interviews and all of the tips to being a good loser, and therefore a real winner. The post 261 – Sam Weinman – How to Win at Losing appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Lawrence Levy, author of, ‘To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History’ In this episode we discuss the never-before-told story about Steve Jobs and the improbable success of Pixar. The story is revealed by our guest this week Lawerence Levy, author of the brand new book, To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History. Levy is the former CFO of Pixar and a close friend of Jobs who has never spoken publicly about their relationship. After Steve Jobs was unceremoniously dismissed from Apple, he turned his attention to a little-known graphics art company that he owned called Pixar. One day, out of the blue, Jobs called Lawrence Levy, a Harvard-trained lawyer and Silicon Valley executive to whom he had never spoken before, in the hope of persuading Levy to help him get Pixar on the right track. What Levy found in Pixar was a company on the verge of failure. In this episode we discuss how Levy, working closely with Jobs and the Pixar team, produced and implemented a highly improbable roadmap that transformed the sleepy graphics art studio into one of Hollywood’s greatest success stories. We get to hear a first-hand account of Pixar’s stunning ascent, how it took risks, Levy’s enduring collaboration and friendship with Jobs, and how Levy came to see in Pixar deeper parallels that apply to all aspects of our lives.ALSO – stick around to the end as we learn how Lawrence has shifted gears entirely and left corporate life to study Eastern philosophy and meditation and cofounded Juniper Foundation to pursue this work. Lawrence is a Silicon Valley lawyer and executive hired by Steve Jobs in 1994 as CFO and member of the Office of the President of Pixar Animation Studios. He was responsible for Pixar’s business strategy and IPO and guided Pixar’s transformation from a money-losing graphics company into a multibillion-dollar entertainment studio. He later joined Pixar’s board of directors. He then left corporate life to study Eastern philosophy and meditation and their relevance to modern life. He now writes and teaches on this topic and cofounded Juniper Foundation

Dr. Richard Wolff, author of, ‘Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism’ Our guest this week believes capitalism is broken, and he makes a pretty good argument to support this. He explains how capitalism as a system has spawned deepening economic crisis alongside its bought-and-paid-for political establishment. Neither of these outcomes serves the needs of our society. Our guest this week believes he has the solution – a cure for capitalism. In this episode, world renowned economist, Dr. Richard Wolff, offers a fair critique of capitalism and advocates for a worker cooperative based economy. This solution requires the institution of genuine economic democracy, starting with workers directing their own workplaces, as the basis for a genuine political democracy. According to Dr. Wolff, what most people don’t realize is that worker cooperatives are actually larger than conventional businesses, survive at least as long as other businesses, and have more stable employment. Tune in and get your smart people economics fix! Dr. Richard D. Wolff is professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is currently a visiting professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. Wolff is the author of many books, including his newest, Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism. He is also the founder of Democracy at Work, a 501(c)3 organization that conceives, creates, and distributes content aimed at demonstrating why, and how, democratizing the workplace is a feasible solution to a new and better economic system. http://www.rdwolff.com/ The post 259 – Dr. Richard Wolff – Capitalism is Broken. Here is the Solution. appeared first on Smart People Po

Jerome Hardaway, Executive Director of Vets Who Code This week we welcome to the podcast Jerome Hardaway, Executive Director of Vets Who Code. Jerome is an Air Force veteran, alumni/Opportunity Fund recipient of General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive Program, and Panelist on the Ruby Rogues podcast. Vets Who Code is a non-profit dedicated to filling the wide chasm between technical expertise needed and available to America’s best. Vets Who Code is looking to close the digital talent gap and ease career transition for military veterans, through software development training. Vets Who Code prepares veterans to enter society with new skills for exciting careers. If you’d like to help our veterans through Vets Who Code, please donate here. Check out Vets Who Code on Twitter! The post 258 – Jerome Hardaway – Supporting Veterans Through Vets Who Code appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Doug Hensch, author of, Positively Resilient: 5 1/2 Secrets to Beat Stress, Overcome Obstacles, and Defeat Anxiety’ Numerous recent studies have shown that Americans are currently less happy and more stressed than ever before. We are overworked, under paid, sleep deprived, and disengaged. And this is completely understandable. We face scary issues such as unemployment, political unease, terrorism, and health concerns on a daily bases. This is exactly why it is perhaps more important now than ever before that we all work on building our resilience.  In this episode we interview consultant and executive coach, Doug Hensch, and we discuss his brand new book, Positively Resilient: 5 1/2 Secrets to Beat Stress, Overcome Obstacles, and Defeat Anxiety. Doug shares with us lessons learned over 20 years of experience that can help you increase your resilience, so that you can grow in the face of change, and thrive in the midst of adversity. Doug Hensch is a certified executive coach, consultant, and corporate trainer. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of education degree from Temple University. Dr. Martin Seligman, Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, referred to Hensch as one of his “most talented young colleagues.” Dr. Seligman and Hensch worked together to develop a website that helped thousands increase their resilience and well-being. Hensch has created workshops that focus on resilience, strengths, well-being, and goals. He lives and works in Leesburg, Virginia. The post 257 – Doug Hensch – How to Build Resilience appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Jonathan Levi: SuperLearner, Entrepreneur, Lifehacker, Author, Podcaster This week we welcome back former guest, Jonathan Levi. Jonathan is an entrepreneur, and an expert in speed reading and advanced memorization.  His online course is ranked as one of the top selling of all time on Udemy and has been personally recommended by the CEO. Jonathan appeared on Smart People Podcast nearly 2 years ago in Episode 167 where he explained how to become a super learner and a speed reader. We have decided to have Jonathan back on the show for 3 reasons. First, the last time he was on the show over 500 listeners bought his online course and gave rave reviews! Second, he’s going to go deeper this episode into how to optimize your memory, the first skill you must master before you become a super learner and a speed reader. Third, and perhaps most important, he’s going to give us the details on his newest course that can help you take your knowledge and learning to the expert level. If you’ve ever wanted to learn a language, read more books, get better with names, or just retain all of the information you hear on Smart People Podcast, Jonathan’s new course is for you. Get a free trial of Jonathan’s new course (and 10% off if you purchase) at jle.vi/spp. The post 256 – Jonathan Levi (Part 2) – How to Optimize Your Memory appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Dr. Jessica Tracy, author of, ‘Take Pride: Why the Deadliest Sin Holds the Secret to Human Success’ Many of us know pride as one of the seven deadly sins. We know pride can compel acts of apparent insanity and spectacular self-destructiveness, causing some people to seek status not through hard work but through intimidation, deception, and self-aggrandizement. But what we don’t often hear about is the good side of pride that is called authentic pride. Authentic pride is essential for helping us become our best, brightest selves. By making us care about how others see us and how we see ourselves, pride makes us strive for excellence. In the right doses and the right contexts, it has been proven to boost creativity, motivate altruism, and confer power and prestige on those who display it. Avoiding the bad kind of pride while nurturing the good kind might just be the secret to success. Today on the show we speak with leading psychologist, Dr. Jessica Tracy. Dr. Tracy is professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she also directs the Emotion & Self Lab and she is also the author of the brand new book, Take Pride: Why the Deadliest Sin Holds the Secret to Human Success. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, in 2005. Her research focuses on emotions and emotion expressions, and, in particular, those emotions that are most intricately intertwined with our sense of self: pride, shame, and guilt. The post 255 – Dr. Jessica Tracy – How Pride Can Help You Achieve Your Goals appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Chris Bailey, author of, ‘ The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy’ In this episode we speak with productivity expert Chris Bailey and learn the best ways to transform our life by getting done the things that are most important. Chris turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream—to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research and interviews with some of the world’s foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen. Among the experiments that he tackled: Bailey went several weeks with getting by on little to no sleep; he cut out caffeine and sugar; he lived in total isolation for 10 days; he used his smartphone for just an hour a day for three months; he gained ten pounds of muscle mass; he stretched his work week to 90 hours; a late riser, he got up at 5:30 every morning for three months—all the while monitoring the impact of his experiments on the quality and quantity of his work. The Productivity Project—and the lessons Chris learned—are the result of that year-long journey, and we are going to share them with you today. Chris is the author of the book, The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy. You can find more of him, his writing, and his recommendations at his website, http://alifeofproductivity.com/. The post 254 – Chris Bailey – A Life of Productivity appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Dr. Susan David, author of, ‘Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life’ Dr. David exposes how our emotions hold us back or carry us forward in our goals depending on how well we confront—not control—them. Science shows us that it’s not possible to smother your emotions with affirmations espoused by the latest positivity movement.  It’s equally unrealistic to set your mind to a rigid “grit” goal that might not be working for you. Like it or not, your emotions are there, and the more honest and agile you are with them, the more you can overcome the demands of work and life to thrive. The antidote to emotional rigidity is emotional agility—being flexible with your thoughts and feelings so that you can respond optimally to the increasingly unpredictable challenges of business. Dr. Susan David is a Harvard Medical School scientist whose work revolves around the science of emotions. Hailed as a “Groundbreaking Idea of the Year”,  her brand new book is titled Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive In Work and Life. Susan David has a PhD in psychology (clinical) and a post-doctorate in emotions research from Yale. She is on faculty at Harvard Medical School and is co-founder and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate. The post 253 – Dr. Susan David – Control Your Destiny by Understanding Your Emotions appeared first on Smart People Podcast.

Alan Iny, author of, ‘Thinking in New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity’ We’ve all heard the cliché “think outside the box”. It’s a rallying cry to get the corporate troops to be creative, and it’s not a terrible one at that. However, the truth is that the brain requires some sort of box to function optimally. The brain likes structure, mental models, theories, and examples. It doesn’t mean that we have to be stuck in the same old mentalities, but they aren’t exactly useless either. So that is why we need to start thinking in NEW boxes. This week we speak with author and innovation expert Alan Iny about his book, Thinking In New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity. Thinking in new boxes is a way to provide that structure and analysis that the brain craves, while also fostering massive amounts of creativity and new thinking. It is a process that comes directly from the experts at the most respected consulting group in the world (where Alan is the global innovation expert). Here is a case study Alan provides to explain the idea of thinking in new boxes: When BIC, manufacturer of disposable ballpoint pens, wanted to grow, it looked for an idea beyond introducing new sizes and ink colors. Someone suggested lighters. LIGHTERS? With an idea that seemed crazy at first, that bright executive, instead of seeing BIC as a pen company—a business in the PEN “box”—figured out that there was growth to be found in the DISPOSABLE “box.” And he was right. Now there are disposable BIC lighters, razors, even phones. The company opened its door to a host of opportunities. IT INVENTED A NEW BOX. The post 252 – Alan Iny – A New Paradigm for Creativity appeared first on Smart People Podcast.