Episodes

An unscripted episode during an unscripted time. An unprecedented time, a difficult time. And yet, I still want to bring you a few thoughts that I am encouraging you to write out. In this strange time I don't find it so easy to just read or learn a language, as so many people now recommend. Its normal to be worried. What helps me is to write my worries out, and then give them a time limit each day. And then, I try to shine, in whatever way I can. The connection with others is critical now that w...

Meet Monk and be ready to get uncomfortable. He shows us how only the hard work pays off. When we stay with our fears, our weaknesses, and our excuses, we will not discover what we are made of.

These are uncertain times, when its easy to get lost in worry and become stressed out about the future. But with this episode, I want to help us get centered and focused on the one thing we can control - our inner state. And with just a few shifts in our thinking and our daily actions, we can get back on our path, despite the turmoil we are facing. This is a much-needed episode for many of us who are struggling to find meaning in everything that is happening at the moment.

This is a time of great concern and with this episode I want to bring you the critical facts I believe we need to know to be proactively prepared. We don't need to panic, but we also cannot ignore this virus. And even if it disappears tomorrow, we need this dress rehearsal to be prepared for future epidemics, which are guaranteed to come. Take basic precautions and be safe.

We love our devices and depend on them. But they can give us a false sense of connectedness. Especially social media makes us feel like we belong to a larger group of people. But real connection happens one on one. Those are the humans we interact with in their entirety - not just via words on a screen. We don't show who we are on our devices, we only express ourselves. To establish meaningful connections, we need to put our phone away and speak to the person next to us on the bus.

Cathy Luchetti is an author who published 10 books, and is now working on the 11th one which we touch on in the episode. Her focus for most of those works has been the stories of the people of the American frontier, a term she defines in this episode. She has chronicled stories of women and men, their daily lives and struggles in a way that had not been done before and even caught the attention of former First Lady Laura Bush. But what fascinated me the most was everything we shared. Here I am, ...

Conditioning our mind is training our brain like we train our biceps in the gym. We direct our thoughts repeatedly into the direction we want them to go. We envision an end goal like we do with our bodies. Often we are not aware where our mind is at. This may have us focused on areas that are not necessarily a major priority. We need to be clear what we want and then we need to dedicate time daily to focus. Even though we have dreams and hopes - if we don't think about them, they are are not lik...

We all are not born with talents. But we all can develop the drive to acquire new skills and the courage to take risks. Often we hide behind the fact that we lack talent. We allow it to hold us back from going after our ideas and our dreams. When all we really need is drive and some courage.

Rafael is one of those courageous humans that doesn’t settle with the status quo. He is not afraid of discomfort. And in this wonderful conversation which took place on a warm Sunday afternoon here in Oakland, you will discover what others do to challenge themselves. We both share a love for the spoken word but Rafael really works hard on developing this skill both through Toastmasters and by taking improv classes. He talks about how especially the improv practice has enriched his day-to-day int...

After over 500 episodes released, its time to talk about my vision. What is Quest For You, some of you may wonder. Quest For You is a journey to yourself. It involves getting to know yourself, from the inside out. Who are you? What makes you tick? What do you like? What do you dream about? During the course of our lives, we have tuned our inner voice out and follow the beat of the outside drum - family advice, marketing and advertising, what others do, media, what looks good, sounds good, seems ...

I spent a recent weekend without major plans and went with the flow. And it turned out to be a wonderful weekend, where I felt present and alive. Sometimes we become overly focused on one or two endeavors only, and we neglect the other parts of our life that also bring us joy. Its important to change up the routine once in a while to see if there is something else that may need our attention.

Nancy has travelled the world and thereby became a person that looks at life with a more open mind. Today, when she faces challenges, she takes a step back and is not afraid to experiment with techniques and approaches, some of which she shares with us. Nancy pays close attention to herself and the way she shows up i the world. Her thoughts have inspired me to be more mindful and I hope you have similar takeaways from this enlightening conversation with my friend.

We need more of those rare friends. What makes them rare is not that they barely exist, but that we don't see them. Because they are different from us, we don't notice them. Yet, we need them. They may not make us feel warm and fuzzy like our other friends, but they challenge us and make us feel better about ourselves in the long run.

Meet my friend Susie Wyshak and learn how to connect with people. We spent a wonderful afternoon talking about everything from chocolate to money, Toastmasters and how to talk to strangers. Susie is full of ideas, insights, and got me thinking about different approaches on how I connect with others. Allow yourself to be inspired to step a little bit outside of your comfort zone. You can find Susie at foodstarter.com and connect with her there. Enjoy.

My conversation with Dave Conley (@davecconley) was packed with practical advice to jumpstart your new year and your best life yet. Dave has faced major obstacles in his life and he shares how returning to the basics, those that we often forget or ignore, has helped him become who he is today. He has turned his entire life around, starting from his health, his mindset to his profession. If you want to establish the habits that will help you accomplish those long-awaited goals, then listen closel...