If You Only Listen to One Podcast This Week, Make It This Episode

It’s easy to feel like you have to constantly be doing something. Social media declares that to be a good person, you have to pay attention to the right post or cause; you feel like your time is money and you have to constantly use it productively.

Understanding and resisting this mindset is the subject of professor and visual artist Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing. According to Odell, the need to constantly do something derives from capitalism and is harmful to everyone. Using examples from art, history, and her own life, Odell recommends doing nothing—devoting time and attention to “non-productive” activities that deepen your connection with the world.

In this guide, we’ll define the “attention economy” and explain why you constantly feel pushed to be productive. We’ll also show how you can “do nothing” to take back control of your life and engage with the world in a deeper, more satisfying way. Through our commentary, we’ll explore some of the history and philosophy behind Odell’s ideas and offer practical ways you can implement her suggestions.

In Who Will Cry When You Die?, self-help guru Robin Sharma wants to know if you’ll feel happy with the life you’ve led when you’re on your deathbed. Sharma thinks that most people lead lives they’ll regret because they focus on the wrong things—success, money, fame—and none of the right things—family, community, love. If you think you might have end-of-life regrets, Sharma provides a collection of pithy life lessons and advice to help you seize control of your life and turn it into one you’ll look back on fondly.

We’ve grouped those lessons into eight broader tactics that will help you cope with adversity, build self-discipline, spread kindness, and more. You’ll come away with actionables you can implement daily to make your life better and background on the philosophies, ideologies, and science on which Sharma draws.

In today’s hustle culture, many people think the only way to live a productive and rewarding life is to work as hard as possible. This idea is so ingrained in our culture that many work to the point of near-constant exhaustion, sacrificing their mental and physical health. But according to business strategist Greg McKeown, there’s an easier way to get the most out of your time and effort. In Effortless, he expands on this one simple truth: Achieving your goals doesn’t have to be so hard. By simply taking the easiest path, we can be healthier, happier, and more productive.

In our guide, we’ll lay out McKeown’s argument that the easiest path to success is the most viable, and we’ll provide actionable advice on how to implement this idea into your daily life. We’ll also further explore McKeown’s main points by comparing and contrasting them to other ideas in books on productivity and happiness.

Former Vedic monk and award-winning content creator Jay Shetty claims that the route to happiness and fulfillment is to Think Like a Monk. According to him, monks are the calmest and happiest people in the world because they live with a sense of purpose that aligns with their true, inner selves.

Fortunately, you don’t need to cut yourself off from the modern world or shave your head to benefit from this mindset. Shetty draws from his experiences as a monk, ancient spiritual texts, and the latest psychological research to transform abstract concepts into actionable methods you can easily incorporate into your life.

In this guide, we’ve compared and contrasted Shetty’s key concepts with up-to-date psychological research and advice. In addition, we’ve expanded on his methods with actionable ideas from other self-improvement practitioners and psychologists.

In Soundtracks, best-selling author and speaker Jon Acuff offers a set of tools designed to help you stop overthinking and start chasing your goals. Acuff argues that the best way to overcome negative thoughts is to replace them with positive, motivating ones. With candor and humor, he provides a step-by-step procedure for interrupting negative thoughts, generating positive thoughts, and turning those positive thoughts into genuine beliefs.

In our guide, we’ll start by defining overthinking. We’ll examine how overthinking can negatively impact your productivity and consider the biological reasons we tend to focus on negative thoughts. Then, we’ll go through Acuff’s process for overcoming overthinking, providing examples that help illustrate how to apply each step in your own life. We’ll also include commentary that provides psychological context for Acuff’s ideas, as well as contrast those ideas against other notable approaches to self-improvement.

Like many people, Mo Gawdat was trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts and emotions until, after the death of his beloved son, he devised a formula to escape. His background as a software engineer helped Gawdat realize that our brain functions like a computer—so, if we want it to produce happiness, all we need to do is program it with the right code. In That Little Voice In Your Head, Gawdat explains how to understand and program your brain so you can experience the world in ways that produce positive actions and emotions.

In this guide, we’ll start by explaining how your brain functions. Then, we’ll explore the faulty methods your brain uses to process information, causing unhappiness. Finally, we’ll discuss how to replace these methods with new ones that will ensure happiness. In our commentary, we’ll compare Gawdat’s ideas with those of other experts on happiness, psychology, and brain science.

In Good Vibes, Good Life, Vex King argues that the key to living your dream life is to have good vibrations or “good vibes.” When you put out good vibes like gratitude and joy, you attract good vibes back; however, when you put out bad vibes like resentment, regret, or impatience, you’ll attract bad vibes and consequently experience more hardships. The key to minimizing bad vibes and maximizing good ones, King argues, is self-love and acceptance.

This guide will discuss King’s Law of Vibration, how you can raise your vibrations, the things that negatively impact your vibes, and how to use your good vibes to achieve your ideal life. Throughout the guide, we’ll also relate King's concepts to recent scientific research and the opinions and recommendations of psychologists, other spiritual guides, and life coaches such as Eckhart Tolle and Rhonda Byrne.

Join Mel Robbins, the accomplished trailblazer in personal development, in "The Mel Robbins Podcast" as she dives into the intricacies of entrepreneurial triumph and the art of time management. Reveling in the podcast's extraordinary achievements, being ranked among the top globally on premier platforms, Robbins and her all-female team exemplify the power of determination and strategic goal setting. Her journey from a celebrated keynote speaker to a social media influencer and now a podcast phenom frames a success story that's as instructive as it is inspiring.

Robbins offers an arsenal of actionable advice woven through her conversation with Chris Allen at the Entrepreneur Studio. Covering a spectrum that ranges from combatting negative news consumption to the merits and pitfalls of business partnerships, she arms entrepreneurs with the tools needed to foster resilience and growth. Incorporating a mix of personal experience and research, such as insights from Dr. Judith Willis on stress management, Robbins crafts a narrative that intertwines self-care with professionalism, encourages overcoming imposter syndrome, and redefines what it means to be a successful woman in business. This episode is not just a lighthouse for navigating business uncertainties, but a manifesto for personal and professional reinvention.

In Discipline Equals Freedom, Jocko Willink argues that the key to mastering your mind, reaching your highest goals, and discovering your full potential is unwavering discipline. Willink is an author, speaker, and podcaster that shares his lessons and philosophy of discipline acquired from 20 years of service as a US Navy SEAL. Through his military and leadership experience, he’s learned that success depends on disciplined, daily decisions like waking up early and putting off your break until tomorrow.

We’ll examine Willink’s principles of discipline, comparing them to a variety of psychological and philosophical perspectives from books like The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. We’ll also explore what self-improvement experts say to support and challenge Willink’s advice and add effective ways to put his principles into practice.