My perspective is that we are the most divided culture ever right now. Every issue is a trigger for everyone and you are required to stand on one side or the other or be deemed negligent or ignorant. And if someone aligns with a differing side or perspective, you need to distance yourself from them. To me it feels like we’ve fallen into the most strict, religious culture ever. Everyone has their set of beliefs according to the religion of their perspective, and if you believe differently, you are judged and sentenced to crucifixion. I think it’s toxic and poisoning our society. So a book came across my desk from someone…I would not normally have on my show. But doing so, I feel, beautifully represented the point. Why is it a threat to sit and have a discussion with someone who may have differing values and perspectives? Who lives a different lifestyle? My guest is Kat Timpf. Kat is a writer, comedian, and libertarian commentator. She’s currently the co-panelist of “Gutfeld!” on Fox News weeknights at 10 p.m. and a Fox News analyst. She’s also the author of the New York Times bestseller "You Can’t Joke About That: Why Everything is Funny, Nothing is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together." Her new book is what got my attention, I Used To Like You Until…:How Binary Thinking Divides Us. Kat’s life and lifestyle couldn’t be further from my own. But I found our views on cultural division are very similar, and I was honored to sit and have this discussion with her. I think there is a lot for all of us to learn.

Talking about a good life feels like speaking to success. What makes it up? And we generally say that we must define this for ourselves. Agreed. However, my guest has been studying this for a long, long time, and to have a good life he’s found it boils down to three buckets. Categories if you will. Jonathan Fields has come to be known as “the good life guy.” He has a wildly popular podcast called The Good Life Project. I’ve had Jonathan on my show twice and often reference his profile that looks at what makes us come alive in our work, which you can find at sparketype.com. This conversation happened years ago when I sat down with Jonathan just to dig into what he’s found really makes up a good life. He had written a book called The Good Life Project that really put him on the map. I also just dug into Jonathan himself and what got him to the point to embrace this movement and become the leader he’s become and is becoming to so many people pursuing a good life. I found the conversation incredibly intriguing and believe it will give you a lot to think about in regards to how you are living, loving and leading.

Sometimes an analogy comes along that just clicks. It takes information you may have heard before and helps drive it home. That is what happened with my guest in this show regarding the brain chemicals that fuel our drive and motive. TJ POWER is a neuroscientist and innovator in the area of mental health. His work focuses on providing easy-to-adopt, scientifically backed teachings that empower people to take action towards healthier lifestyles. He has a really big following and when I got his book, I understood why. The book is, The DOSE Effect: Optimize Your Brain & Body By Boosting Your Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins, and in it, TJs explanations helped me see how I am increasing or depleting the brain chemicals I rely on to do the important work in my life. Most of us have heard much about dopamine, but do we really understand how we increase and decrease it? Then also, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Now the point isn’t to understand each one fluently, but to understand how they help us and what we are doing in our everyday lives that help or hurt them. I was most interested in what I learned about how I’m depleting some of these chemicals early in the day, and then later it feels like I’m lacking drive and motivation. I trust in listening to this conversation, you will be able to understand what these chemicals do for us and like me, now understand how to far better leverage them to do the things you truly want to do. You can find TJ Power on Instagram @tjpower.

In the world of personal development you hear a lot of stories of people making huge changes. Rags to riches, zero to hero, and massive life turn-arounds. It makes for a great story, but is it relevant for us? In 2003 I was at a critical juncture in my life where I'd bit off more than I could chew. I abruptly quit my cycling career and business, moved my wife and three kids cross country and started a new life. It was needed. Since then, most changes have not been quite so massive. We tend to look at the circumstances to guide, if not force us to action. But now I pay attention to where my heart is. With that in mind, I bring you a story that I feel will help you consider where you are. Rich Roll. The guys is famous for his story, and today, his gigantic podcast, the Rich Roll show. Years back I sat down with Rich to dig into his story. Here are the highlights; Rich was 39 years old with degrees from Stanford and Cornell. He was a corporate lawyer, married with three kids living in a dream house he'd built. Then one evening he finds himself at home, it's 2am and he's spent hours watching TV and eating junk food and he's winded after walking up eight steps in his home. An image of his wife and daughter at her wedding in the future, and he wasn't there. He'd died from ill health. He looked in the mirror and saw a fat, out of shape, very unhealthy man, depressed, self-destructive and utterly disconnected from who he was and what he wanted to be. He said, “In that precise moment, I was overcome with the profound knowledge, not that I needed to change, but that I was WILLING to change. And I understood that any true or lasting lifestyle change would require rigor, specificity, and accountability. Vague notions of “eating better” or maybe “going to the gym more often” just weren’t going to work.” And, the rest you're about to hear more about. He became an ultra endurance athlete and now is a brand, in and of himself, of healthy living and life transformation. Find him on your podcast player, just search for Rich Roll.

Most everyone has heard of the twelve steps concept associated with Alcoholics Anonymous. I bring it here for all of us, whether you think you are addicted to anything or not, which is an arguable claim for anyone. Ian Morgan Cron is the bestselling author of The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, which has sold over one million copies. He’s a psychotherapist, Enneagram teacher, Episcopal priest, and the host of the popular podcast Typology. I had Ian on the show before to talk about the message in his book, The Story of You: An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self. Since he was on my show, Ian, this leader of so many, relapsed. It’s not an incredibly sordid story, but he has a past history of substance abuse. All these years later, he found himself reliant on some substances and questioning himself in significant ways. In this episode we talk through his story. We talk about what Ian calls, “the great human ache.” We discuss what addiction is, the need we all have for community to keep us on a healthy path, and how the 12 steps are relevant for anyone seeking well-being. Ian breaks down how the 12 steps covers making peace with God, making peace with self, making peace with others and cultivating a healthy and fulfilling life. Ian has captured all this in a brand new book, The Fix: How the Twelve Steps Offer a Surprising Path of Transformation for the Well-Adjusted, the Down-and-Out, and Everyone In Between. I hope you’ll join us in this conversation.

I don’t think any of us chooses to wear a mask. But creating and wearing them is taught to us from early on. And in some cases, it’s a necessity to survive. Now here we are. Are we wearing a mask? More than one? I’m bringing an incredible show back from the archives. Lewis Howes is the host of the podcast, The School of Greatness, one of the biggest podcasts alive at this point. Lewis is a big, strapping looking guy. A former pro ball player. He looks like the definition of “all-American.” But few know that he began life with a learning disability, which led to being alone and bullied in school, to being sexually abused as a child. Years back he took on the topic of masculinity. Lewis’ research looked at the majority of stress, anxiety, and pressure men feel is due to the masks they wear. Now, if you’ll listen in, I feel the concept pertains very much to women too. Think of masks as certain personas we fall or buy into, and get trapped in. Then live from in a limiting life construct. Do you have any stress or anxiety? Do you feel any pressure? Would you like to be free of it? Let’s look at the masks you may find out you are wearing. You can connect with Lewis at “The School of Greatness” podcast, which you’ll find at the top of the podcast charts. You can get his book, The Mask of Masculinity, wherever you buy books, and find Lewis anywhere at Lewis Howes.

The catalyst for writing my book, What Drives You, was realizing what I most wanted for my children, was for them to know what they truly want, and wrap their lives around it. From this inspiration I realized that while I had always been driven, I had often been unclear what I wanted, and what I was driving toward. As time goes on, I continue to perceive that truly, clearly knowing what one wants is one of the most elusive things of life. And getting clarity on one wants, may just be the ultimate success. So in this show, I bring on another expert on discovering what you want. Tracey Gee has also devoted herself to this quest for helping people understand what they truly, authentically want. Tracey is a leadership coach and consultant who has done extensive research in workshops and personal coaching with individuals seeking to discover what they want. She has a new book that caught my attention, The Magic of Knowing What You Want: A Practical Guide to Unearthing the Wisdom of Your Desires. We sat down to discuss how unaware people are of what they really want, and then talked through methodologies Tracey uses to help people, that I am very intrigued by. You can find Tracey’s new book, The Magic of Knowing What You Want, at Amazon, and find her at traceygee.me.

I get to have deep conversations with people who have had great influence in the lives of so many people. Dr Henry Cloud became synonymous with the term boundaries after his groundbreaking book, Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life, and has influenced millions of people in doing just that, taking control of their lives. I was a mere 21 years old when Dr Cloud’s Boundaries book published and wouldn’t become aware of boundaries for another 21 years, and wouldn’t truly implement them in my life till much later. Today, 33 years later, as I record this, the book is ranked #256. Incredible. I got the chance to sit down with him and Tom Ziglar a few years ago when Henry brought his focus and insight into leadership and influence. We began talking about boundaries, then got into leadership and influence. Influence is one of my favorite topics, as we all want influence. Without it, we can’t help anyone. I think you’ll get great insight from our discussion. You can find all Dr Cloud has to offer at his website, drcloud.com. And I don’t know anyone who would not benefit from reading his book on Boundaries.

Following is a story of…drive. It’s one of those stories of someone who turned their life around. But the story is not about them. It’s about you. My intent is that it gives you ideas, inspiration, and alters your perception to help you consider your own capacity. Not a capacity to do more. Most of us need to do less. But do more of what matters. My guest is world-record mountain climber, entrepreneur and mom of seven, Jenn Drummond. In 2018 she had a car wreck that should have ended her life. But it didn’t. It did, however, change her paradigm on life. Her epiphany was, “You don’t get to choose when you leave this life, but you sure can choose how you live it.” Strengthened by this awareness, she set out to live in a more authentic and adventurous way. Inspired to climb a mountain for her birthday, her son raised the stakes by suggesting Mount Everest. She accepted the pursuit. During her training, her coach upped the ante and proposed that she go for a Guinness World Record and become the first woman to climb what is called the 7 second summits. The pursuit matched her desire to live a life of significance, not just success. Today, Jenn is a world record holder who elevates others to master their own summit in life. Jenn is Host of the Seek Your Next Summit podcast, who’s focused on inspiring others to go beyond success to a life of significance. Her new book and my muse for this conversation is, Break Proof: 7 Strategies To Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals.