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The Difference Between an Aha Moment and a Full-Blown Epiphany (PM Talks S3E8)

The Difference Between an Aha Moment and a Full-Blown Epiphany (PM Talks S3E8)

Episode 670 · · 44:12

This month's PM Talks starts with a confession: I've had an epiphany, and I don't use that word lightly. Somewhere between an "aha, I get it now" moment and what I can only describe ...

Why Logic Alone Can't Explain the Human Mind (with Tom Griffiths)

Why Logic Alone Can't Explain the Human Mind (with Tom Griffiths)

Episode 669 · · 38:34

Logic is beautiful and it's also almost never enough. That's the tension running through this entire conversation — the idea that we want our decisions to be purely logical because i...

Why "Life Is" Might Be the Only Sentence You Need (with Gary John Bishop)

Why "Life Is" Might Be the Only Sentence You Need (with Gary John Bishop)

Episode 668 · · 38:47

There's a two-word sentence that's been sitting with me since I finished this book, and I haven't been able to shake it: life is. Not life is hard, not life is good, not life is anyt...

The Goal Was Never Inbox Zero (It Was a Quiet Mind)

The Goal Was Never Inbox Zero (It Was a Quiet Mind)

Episode 667 · · 22:01

Inbox zero was never about the number. That's the part almost everybody forgets. When Merlin Mann coined the term in the early 2000s, "zero" wasn't a count of unread messages — it wa...

Why Procrastination Is Emotional, Not a Discipline Problem (with Robin J Emdon)

Why Procrastination Is Emotional, Not a Discipline Problem (with Robin J Emdon)

Episode 666 · · 52:25

We tend to treat procrastination like a willpower leak — something we could plug if we just tried harder, planned better, or bought the right system. Robin J Emdon makes the case tha...

Within Tolerance (PM Talks S3E7)

Within Tolerance (PM Talks S3E7)

Episode 665 · · 44:15

Patrick Rhone joins me again for the latest installment of our monthly PM Talks series, and this month we landed on a word that does a lot more heavy lifting than most people realize...

Why You Can't Outwork Bad Sleep (with Shimin Ooi)

Why You Can't Outwork Bad Sleep (with Shimin Ooi)

Episode 664 · · 40:35

We tend to treat sleep like the thing we'll get to once everything else is handled — the line item we trim first when life speeds back up. But sleep isn't the reward for a productive...

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 ...