Episodes

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What You're Not Measuring Is Costing You (with Dr. Henry Cloud)

What You're Not Measuring Is Costing You (with Dr. Henry Cloud)

Episode · · 49:05

Most of us have convinced ourselves that the problem is effort. We're not working hard enough, moving fast enough, or checking enough boxes. But what if the real problem is that we'r...

Paying Attention to Your Attention

Paying Attention to Your Attention

Episode 663 · · 50:10

Most of the conversation around focus starts in the wrong place. We talk about distraction as if it's the problem — the notifications, the open tabs, the interruptions — when distrac...

The Art of Pacing: Why Slowing Down Is a Long Game Strategy (with Elizabeth Svoboda)

The Art of Pacing: Why Slowing Down Is a Long Game Strategy (with Elizabeth Svoboda)

Episode · · 40:50

We spend a lot of time talking about how to do more. What we talk about far less — and what might matter far more — is the question of how to pace yourself while you do it. Not as a ...

The Principles You're Already Overlooking (with Heather Jo Kennedy)

The Principles You're Already Overlooking (with Heather Jo Kennedy)

Episode 662 · · 41:22

Most productivity conversations start with systems, tools, and tactics. This one starts with something more fundamental: the quiet principles sitting right beneath the surface of you...

Letting Go of "Normal" to Finally Try Again (with Steve Kamb)

Letting Go of "Normal" to Finally Try Again (with Steve Kamb)

Episode · · 42:59

There's a loop most of us know well, even if we've never named it: feel behind, find the thing that's going to fix everything, go all in for a few weeks, get derailed by life, and st...

The Wisdom in Waiting: Rediscovering Prudence (PM Talks S3E6)

The Wisdom in Waiting: Rediscovering Prudence (PM Talks S3E6)

Episode 661 · · 53:22

This episode marks the latest installment in PM Talks, the monthly series I do with my longtime collaborator Patrick Rhone. We've been doing this for a few years now — closing in on ...

Sometimes Wrong, Never in Doubt: The Confidence That Comes From Doing the Work (with George Barrios)

Sometimes Wrong, Never in Doubt: The Confidence That Comes From Doing the Work (with George Barrios)

Episode · · 56:19

There is a difference between confidence and bravado, and most people have never really had to find out which one they actually carry. Confidence — real confidence — is built in the ...

Why Playing the Odds Beats Beating the Odds (with Kyle Austin Young)

Why Playing the Odds Beats Beating the Odds (with Kyle Austin Young)

Episode 660 · · 30:46

Most of us have been told that success is about mindset — stay positive, visualize the outcome, trust the process. But what if that advice is quietly working against you? What if the...

Intention or Inertia: What Intentional Living Actually Looks Like in Practice

Intention or Inertia: What Intentional Living Actually Looks Like in Practice

Episode 659 · · 47:26

The word "intentional" has been hollowed out. It's on coffee mugs, in Instagram bios, and attached to productivity advice that treats it like a personality trait rather than a practi...

Why Speed Is a Byproduct, Not the Goal (with Dawna Ballard)

Why Speed Is a Byproduct, Not the Goal (with Dawna Ballard)

Episode 658 · · 58:57

We've built entire systems around moving faster — faster responses, faster workflows, faster outputs. But speed isn't something you pursue. It's something that shows up when you've b...

Making Space for Grace (PM Talks S3E5)

Making Space for Grace (PM Talks S3E5)

Episode 657 · · 54:07

Patrick Rhone is back, and so is PM Talks — the monthly series where Patrick and I take our time with one idea and actually see where it goes. This is Season 3, Episode 5, and Patric...

Max McKeown Talks About SuperAdaptability, Metaplasticity, and Thriving in an Age of Overwhelm

Max McKeown Talks About SuperAdaptability, Metaplasticity, and Thriving in an Age of Overwhelm

Episode 656 · · 46:45

Overwhelm isn’t new. It’s human. That idea sits at the heart of my conversation with Dr. Max McKeown—strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and author of SuperAdaptability: How to Trans...

The Backwards Law: Why More Self-Improvement Might Be Making Things Worse (with Mark Manson)

The Backwards Law: Why More Self-Improvement Might Be Making Things Worse (with Mark Manson)

Episode 655 · · 35:57

There's an assumption buried inside almost every productivity system, self-help framework, and optimization routine: that you're not enough yet. That the gap between who you are and ...

The Subtle Problem with Productivity

The Subtle Problem with Productivity

Episode 654 · · 29:19

We've turned busy into a badge of honor. The fuller the calendar, the longer the to-do list, the more people seem to think we're crushing it. But after more than a thousand conversat...

From Routines to Rituals: How to Stop Living on Autopilot and Start Living on Purpose (with Erin Coupe)

From Routines to Rituals: How to Stop Living on Autopilot and Start Living on Purpose (with Erin Coupe)

Episode 653 · · 42:02

Most of us aren’t burned out because we’re doing too much. We’re burned out because we’re doing too much of the wrong things — on autopilot, running inherited scripts, and mistaking ...

Why Doing Nothing Might Be the Most Human Thing You Can Do (PM Talks S3E4)

Why Doing Nothing Might Be the Most Human Thing You Can Do (PM Talks S3E4)

Episode 652 · · 50:26

We spend a lot of time trying to fix things—our schedules, our systems, our lives. But what if that instinct, that constant push to optimize, is actually pulling us away from somethi...

Why "I'll Try" Is the Most Dishonest Thing You Can Say (with Carla Ondrasik)

Why "I'll Try" Is the Most Dishonest Thing You Can Say (with Carla Ondrasik)

Episode 651 · · 40:30

Most of us have been taught that trying is virtuous — that saying "I'll try" signals good intentions and a willingness to show up. But what if trying is actually a way of opting out?...

Why Procrastination Persists Even When You Care Deeply (with Jon Acuff)

Why Procrastination Persists Even When You Care Deeply (with Jon Acuff)

Episode 650 · · 45:10

Procrastination is often framed as avoidance of what we don’t want to do. But in this conversation, it becomes clear that it shows up just as often in the things we do want to do—the...

How to Stop Managing Everything and Start Leading What Matters (with Rich Czyz)

How to Stop Managing Everything and Start Leading What Matters (with Rich Czyz)

Episode 649 · · 38:43

There’s a quiet trap many of us fall into when the pace picks up: we start reacting instead of leading. The inbox fills, the interruptions stack, and before long, the day is no longe...

Why Practice Matters More Than Results (PM Talks S3E3)

Why Practice Matters More Than Results (PM Talks S3E3)

Episode 648 · · 56:15

The latest episode in our monthly PM Talks series explores a deceptively simple idea: practice. It’s a word we hear constantly—in sports, work, and creative pursuits—but we rarely st...