Lessons and Tools From Spy Recruiters, Astronauts, and Mental Masters
We’ve interviewed some incredible guests on The Science of Success. From many walks of life including spy recruiters, astronauts, bestselling authors, and more. Across each of our guest’s from widely different fields, we see many overlapping mindsets, strategies, and practices for achieving goals and a more effective life.
We’ve interviewed some incredible guests on The Science of Success. From many walks of life including spy recruiters, astronauts, bestselling authors, and more. Across each of our guest’s from widely different fields, we see many overlapping mindsets, strategies, and practices for achieving goals and a more effective life.
We’d like to share with you some of these mindset and strategies to help you achieve your goals. Whatever they may be…
Focus On Your Health
Psychology Secrets of Extreme Athletes, NFL Teams, & The World’s Top Performer with Dr. Michael Gervais — Dr.Michael Gervais has spent years and countless hours in the trenches with high performers. From Red Bull athletes and The Seattle Seahawks to everyday civilians, Gervais has been able to unlock the true potential of his clients by utilizing the psychology of high performance.
What’s Life’s Biggest Trap We Fall Into? — In Matt Bodnar’s widely popular and upvoted Quora answer he takes us through some of the biggest traps people fall into in life and how we can avoid each to get out of our own way in 2018.
The Skeptic’s Guide To Meditation with Dan Harris — Learn more about meditation and the science behind the practice. Dan Harris takes you through his personal journey (including a panic attack live on air) that led him to pursue meditation and report of the science behind the sometimes “woo woo” reputation.
The Neuroscience Behind Building A Sustainable Healthy Lifestyle with Foodist Darya Rose — Sticking to a diet plan can be very, very hard. Darya Rose takes us through how we can set the right physical health goals and use neuroscience to actually stick to them.
Overcome Your Fears
How Do You Become Mentally Strong? — In this Medium article Matt Bodnar take us through an incredible framework for developing mental toughness. Compiling and exploring some of the most validated strategies and tactics to push yourself and grow.
How This Astronaut Survived Going Blind In Space & Tools For Crushing Fear with Chris Hadfield — Chris Hadfield is one of the most decorated astronauts in history. On his first spacewalk he went momentarily blind and was able to remain calm and complete his mission. Chris takes us through some practical knowledge for overcoming irrational fears and accepting others.
Your Secret Weapon To Becoming Fearless with Jia Jiang — Most people actively will avoid rejection. How is this fear holding you back? Jia decided to actively seek rejection each day for 100 days and while his journey is very entertaining, the results he saw were very impactful.
Master Your Emotions
Discover Your Hidden Emotional Insights and What’s Truly Valuable to You with Dr. Susan David — Your emotions are there to communicate through your subconscious. By using Dr.Susan David’s framework and research you can begin to learn how listening to these emotions and using them as a compass can help you make peace with them and achieve more.
The Mental Tools Olympians, Traders, and Top Performers Use To Make High Pressure Decisions with Denise Shull — Denise Shull was the inspiration for Wendy Rhodes character on the Showtime show Billions. She’s coached countless high performers through high pressure situations by using their emotions and inner working to guide them. Find out how!
Get What You Want
Simple Strategies You Can Use To Get Anything You Want with The Godfather of Influence Dr. Robert Cialdini — Dr.Cialdini has been doing incredible work on the art of influence for years. Most recently he unveiled a researched backed tactic that you can begin to use today to help you influence anyone and make a great first impression.
How To Use Influence Tactics Like an FBI Agent — In this article from SUCCESS Magazine we highlight some of the key takeaways from all the military influence experts we’ve interviewed. Everyone from hostage negotiators to FBI Spy recruiters. Learn how you can begin to influence like a secret agent today!
Connect With Others
Never Eat Alone — How Relationship Expert Keith Ferrazzi Built His World Class Network — Keith Ferrazzi literally wrote the book on networking. Through his work and research in relationship building, Keith has identified mindsets and frameworks that you should apply to every interaction and relationship.
Proven Practices for Building The Ultimate Competitive Advantage with Todd Davis — Todd Davis is the Chief People Officer at Franklin Covey and wrote much of the company’s award-winning material. Todd takes us through several ways to build better relationships at work from all hierarchies and how to build the ultimate competitive advantage.
Build The Right Habits
Break Your Phone Addiction (and Your Other Bad Habits) with Charles Duhigg — Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and has devoted much of his life and work to discovering why we do the things we do. Specifically how our habits and routines can affect our lives for the better and for the worse. Learn how we can become the masters of our own habits today!
How You Can Use Behavior Design To Create any Habit You Want with Nir Eyal — Nir Eyal has worked with hundreds of companies to make their products more habit forming. From video games themselves to products that pull you back in such as Facebook and Instagram it’s all by design and has Nir’s fingerprints or framework all over it. Learn how you can use Nir’s framework to break your cycle and create the habits you want!
How Abraham Lincoln Turned Struggle Into The Strength To Change The World
History is filled with tales of great men and women and their triumphs. But rarely do we get a look into one of the largest factors that made them great, their struggles. Specifically their internal, lesser-known struggles, that shaped how they saw the world around them and thus, allowed them to approach changing the world in a unique way.
History is filled with tales of great men and women and their triumphs. But rarely do we get a look into one of the largest factors that made them great, their struggles. Specifically their internal, lesser-known struggles, that shaped how they saw the world around them and thus, allowed them to approach changing the world in a unique way.
Dr. Gail Saltz has devoted countless hours to examining some of history’s most prominent figures from the inside out in what is known as a “psychobiography”. Dr. Saltz is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell School of Medicine and a psychoanalyst with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. Her work has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and more! Recently Gail sat down with The Science of Success Podcast with Matt Bodnar and shared some of the results of her “psychobiographies” to give us a look inside some of history’s most well-known figures heads.
“Close to half of Americans struggle with some sort of mental health issue” explains Gail. “In my psychobiography series, we look at iconic figures and sort of what made them tick…what shaped them into the person that they ultimately became.” By studying these figures in this way we get a peek into their view of the world. Not only that but “normal” people can find comfort in the idea that even these great figures were far from perfect. “These struggles, not only did they overcome them, but often what they are remembered for in history that we find so astonishing is in some ways a direct result of the thing they struggled with.”
Many do not know this but one of our country’s greatest presidents Abraham Lincoln waged a lifelong battle with depression. His melancholy and quiet reflective nature is well documented throughout his life. It was this internal battle however that gave him the ability to empathize and be more accepting of others, just as he had had to learn to be more accepting of himself. “The ability to really tap into what other people are thinking and feeling and being very sensitive to that helped Lincoln to be the kind of president that he was,” notes Gail. It was learning to be accepting and forgiving of himself that helped Lincoln guide our country through one of the hardest times in the history of our nation.
Gail points out, “People with depression are often seen as kind of romantic figures, really pondering, really thoughtful…but it really can cause terrible suffering as well. But on the flip side, Lincoln’s ability to tap into what other people were thinking and really be attuned to that allowed him to bring in political partners and work with other groups and not erect a wall but instead extend himself and stand in other people’s shoes in a unique way”
History is filled with figures whose internal struggles in some ways helped them to change the world from Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, and even Leonardo Da Vinci. Gail is quick to point out that while these figures were able to use their struggles to their advantage, they lived in a different time. If you are struggling with something serious be sure to seek medical evaluation and potential treatment.
If you enjoyed this…
I study strategies for evidence-based growth. Sign up below to get a TON of specific evidence-based books, resources, and recommendations on being happy and successful.