"Be you. Be you, and be cool with it. There is nobody else you can be better."
—Neil Pasricha, The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything
Neil Pasricha's writing is like a cup of hot chocolate, or as he would describe it in Awesome Thing #119, like watching butter melt on a hot piece of toast. It is comforting and delightful. His latest book is about what he learned along his own roller coaster ride of reaching smashing success with his 1,000 Awesome Things blog and books, then realizing he still wasn't happy. We break down topics like The Saturday Morning Test, the three time buckets, and many more. Enjoy!
More About Neil Pasricha
Neil Pasricha is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Happiness Equation and The Book of Awesome series, which has been published in ten countries, spent over five years on bestseller lists, and sold over a million copies.
Pasricha is a Harvard MBA, one of the most popular TED speakers of all time, and after ten years heading Leadership Development at Walmart he now serves as Director of The Institute for Global Happiness. He has dedicated the past fifteen years of his life to developing leaders, creating global programs inside the world’s largest companies and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. He lives in Toronto with his wife and sons.
Topics We Cover
Feeling trapped by extrinsic motivators, ever-escalating goals
Achieving massive success—multiple bestsellers, TED talk—then feeling trapped by the never-ending search for more
Overcoming compare-and-despair
The Success Triangle: sales, social, self
The Meat Grinder of marketing, stress from emphasizing sales
"The goal is not to be perfect, it's to be better than before."
What the healthiest 100-year-olds in the world can teach us
Ikigai, a Japanese term for the reason you wake up in the morning
Retirement is an arbitrary, relatively new concept; many of the world's healthiest places to live don't even have a word for stopping work
The Saturday Morning Test
Advice is irrelevant; "When we are looking for advice we are usually looking for an accomplice."
How he decided when to leave his job as Director of Leadership Development at Walmart
Why having a side hustle for so long as an author allowed him to take big risks at work and in his writing
Three Bucket Model of the Week: Sleep, Work, Free/Creative/Fun (56 hours each)
Resources Mentioned
Neil on Twitter
TED Talk: The 3 A's of Awesome
Previous Pivot Podcast: The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
Neil's Books:
Check out other episodes of the Pivot Podcast here. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen, and if you enjoy the show I would be very grateful for a rating and/or review! Sign-up for my weekly(ish) #PivotList newsletter to receive curated round-ups of what I’m reading, watching, listening to, and new tools I’m geeking out on.
Are you tuned into radio station WRRY, playing your "downer mind's" favorite hits? If so, Jeffrey Davis is here to help you shift from worry into wonder. Today we're talking about his new book, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity (Sounds True, November 2021).
Ask yourself instead each morning: What am I devoted to? What am I curious about today?
![[Best Of] Trip Report—Oprah's Vision Tour: Your Life In Focus](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54414faee4b03de3b679d82a/1518802175302-07RF5VNCG9WPVBNRCIB3/Audiogram_NoGuest.jpg)
Aired 3/8/20 — just before the pandemic hit! This is the last major event I attended live . . . replaying now for some thought-starters to help shape our 2021 new year visioning :)
This week’s Pivot Podcast is a field report from seeing one of my heroes live! I attended Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour: Your Life in Focus in Brooklyn in early February, and I was so curious going into this event that I thought you might like to hear about the experience and key takeaways.
Oprah is inviting a different headliner from each stop on the tour (ours was Michelle Obama), so if you want a peek into other cities and guests, listen to her Super Soul Conversations podcast — she’s had equally wonderful conversations with Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Kate Hudson, Tracee Ellis Ross, and more.
Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/158.
Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call where you can ask me anything, and discuss the latest books, tools and topics I’ve shared in recent episodes. Next up: We’ll be kicking-off the new year together on January 13 and I’d love for you to join us!
This is a quick reflection episode, recorded on-the-go on my iPhone while throwing the frisbee for Ryder in the park. Although it’s a bit noiser than usual, I hope you enjoy the New York City soundscape.
So many of us were feeling incredibly hopeful and optimistic heading in to this new decade. In keeping with the theme of radical reimagining, my hope is that this episode helps you reflect not just on the theme you set at the start of this year, but what theme has chosen and shaped you.
Key questions: What are you secretly relieved has dissolved or disappeared this year? What are the different permissions granted, that you might not have had the courage to do on your own?
Heart-Based Business Owners: Join us in the private Momentum Community
❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider
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💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey
🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts: https://pod.link/1054817076
📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/253
This episode kicks off with a listener “note of encouragement” from Andrei in LA on the spiritual awakening under way, and the off-and-on dopamine cycle we’re experiencing as we continue practicing trust, faith, and surrender.
I read passages from one of my favorite authors, Tosha Silver (if you haven’t already read them, get your hands on Outrageous Openness, Change Me Prayers, and It’s Not Your Money ASAP!). I talk about protecting our energy with a whole-body yes, and a clear no—and how this plays out in my current cranky curmudgeon mode of “no new friends” (as odd as it to say that out loud!).
Key questions: What is the one next step I can take toward a big decision? (Then surrender) How has 2020 already shaped you? Looking back on the year, where were you resisting this change or grasping to how things should be? How are you being shaped, reimagined, by this time?
Heart-Based Business Owners: Join us in the private Momentum Community
❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider
💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter at http://pivotmethod.com/pivotlist
💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey
🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts: https://pod.link/1054817076
📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/252
Solo episode on a sanity-saving strategy for #2020 on the perks (and quirks!) of staycationing in the city you live in . . . especially when hotel rates are at record lows :) Pardon the mic noises — it’s a travel mic and therefore part of my #PerfectlyImperfect audio that gets the episode out at all.
Key questions: What makes your soul sing? What is most important to your spirit? Remember, Radical Reimagining means everything is up for grabs.
HotelTonight: Use my code JBLAKE9 to get up to $50 back after your first HotelTonight booking.
Heart-Based Business Owners: Join us in the private Momentum Community
❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider
💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter at http://pivotmethod.com/pivotlist
💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey
🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts: https://pod.link/1054817076
📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/staycation
What’s your job today? It might not be what you think . . . and you get to decide anew every day, especially for sanity and health preservation in #2020. In this solo episode, I’m riffing on perfectionism, streaks, and combinatorial questions to create possibility.
Peloton—If you're in the US, Canada, or the UK, use referral code 7ED7VQ to receive $100 towards accessories at purchase.
❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider
💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter at http://pivotmethod.com/pivotlist
💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey
🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes at http://pivotmethod.com/ask
🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts: https://pod.link/1054817076
📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/246
![[Best Of] Penney & Jenny 11: Pivoting Out of Toxic Situations (December 2019)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54414faee4b03de3b679d82a/1519166582514-8DP1YR6BTM1OM9FUNO1T/Audiogram_NoGuest.jpg)
Happy summer, friends! I’m taking a short break to pause and design what’s next for the podcast content-wise. Please enjoy this series with Penney Peirce, released M/W/Fri in keeping with my latest experiment.
Penney is consistently named as a listener favorite when I get feedback notes, and after our first interview together we jokingly started naming these follow-up conversations “The Penney & Jenny Show.” Until now, these interviews were spread out over the last four years — now they’ll be bingeable as a consecutive series :)
🗣 Want to help shape what’s next? Take the listener survey if you haven’t already! http://pivotmethod.com/survey »
📝 View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/penney11 »
***
Original air date: December 15, 2019
The Penney & Jenny Show is back! The latest installment (PJ Show #11!) answers a listener Q&A about pivoting out of toxic situations at work. Penny and I discuss how we evaluate when to stay vs. go, discerning normal ups and downs from true toxicity, and the highest emotional state that acts as a tuning fork and compass to pull you forward into a new direction and a new lease on life.
Enjoying the podcast and want to support the show? Become a Pivot Insider for as little as $8 each month and get access to a live monthly Q&A call—you’ll get six months of archived calls, a slew of bonus resources, including a two-hour Upgrade Your Energy workshop. Our next call is Wednesday, January 8—join now as a powerful way to kick-off this next decade!
Have a question related to this episode, or any in our Penney & Jenny series? Ask us here in a quick voice note. We look forward to rolling all of your questions together and creating a listener Q&A show soon :)
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/148.
Happy summer, friends! I’m taking a short break to pause and design what’s next for the podcast content-wise. Please enjoy this series with Penney Peirce, released M/W/Fri in keeping with my latest experiment.
Penney is consistently named as a listener favorite when I get feedback notes, and after our first interview together we jokingly started naming these follow-up conversations “The Penney & Jenny Show.” Until now, these interviews were spread out over the last four years — now they’ll be bingeable as a consecutive series :)
🗣 Want to help shape what’s next? Take the listener survey if you haven’t already! http://pivotmethod.com/survey »
📝 View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/penney10 »
***
Original air date: August 11, 2019
Why do we hesitate when it comes to being more of ourselves? In this episode, which happens to be released on Penney’s birthday (woohoo!) we discuss why we fears and limitations that hold us back from our fullest expression.
In this conversation, we talk about the cultural pressure to fit in, self-entertainment as spiritual practice, setting big goals and going too big or too small, willingness to be a “misfit,” why transparency attracts more joyful friendships, and what’s behind comparison to others—how noticing a quality in someone else means that you have that quality somewhere within you.
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/129.
Enjoying the podcast and want to support the show? Become a Pivot Insider and get access to Jenny’s Monthly Q&A call—the next one is coming right up on August 14!
Have a question related to this episode, or any in our Penney & Jenny series? Ask away here in a quick voice note. We look forward to rolling all of your questions together and creating a listener Q&A show soon :) Read the full transcript here.
Happy summer, friends! I’m taking a short break to pause and design what’s next for the podcast content-wise. Please enjoy this series with Penney Peirce, released M/W/Fri in keeping with my latest experiment.
Penney is consistently named as a listener favorite when I get feedback notes, and after our first interview together we jokingly started naming these follow-up conversations “The Penney & Jenny Show.” Until now, these interviews were spread out over the last four years — now they’ll be bingeable as a consecutive series :)
🗣 Want to help shape what’s next? Take the listener survey if you haven’t already! http://pivotmethod.com/survey »
📝 View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/penney2 »
***
Original air date: July 14, 2019
Penney and I are back in action, with the 9th (!) installment of our Penney & Jenny show. If you missed last week’s episode (#124) on liminal space and embracing the in-between, check it out here.
This is installment is all about discriminating truth, just rightness, and making good choices. How do you trust your truth and anxiety signals? How do you know when it's time to Pivot? What's the difference between authenticity, honesty, and humility versus hiding, avoidance, and apathy?
As poet David Whyte says, some beautiful questions need to be lived. We explore how the body is the first level of knowing in the physical world, and how we can better trust and tune into our bodies to know if something is true or not.
For full show notes, visit http://pivotmethod.com/125. Have a question related to this episode, or any in our Penney & Jenny series? Ask away here in a quick voice note. We look forward to rolling all of your questions together and creating a listener Q&A show soon :) Read the transcript for this episode here.
Pivot Podcast is listener supported: Contribute as a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A with Jenny, with access to the recordings in case you can’t make it live.
Happy summer, friends! I’m taking a short break to pause and design what’s next for the podcast content-wise. Please enjoy this series with Penney Peirce, released M/W/Fri in keeping with my latest experiment.
Penney is consistently named as a listener favorite when I get feedback notes, and after our first interview together we jokingly started naming these follow-up conversations “The Penney & Jenny Show.” Until now, these interviews were spread out over the last four years — now they’ll be bingeable as a consecutive series :)
🗣 Want to help shape what’s next? Take the listener survey if you haven’t already! http://pivotmethod.com/survey »
📝 View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/penney12 »
***
Original air date: March 2020
I’m delighted to have Penney Peirce back on the podcast to unpack her essay in conversation together, on How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency.
Since the pandemic started, I have been wondering what Penney’s take would be. Longtime listeners know she needs no introduction, as people often remark to me that the episodes with her are their favorite! We have 11 conversations in the Penney & Jenny show so far, and in the previous episode (167) I read her essay on the crisis directly, How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency.
View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/168 » and http://pivotmethod.com/169