How many Mondays do you have left?

Statistically, we all get about 4,000 Mondays in our lifetime, so if you're halfway through your life, you might have roughly 2,000 Mondays to go. The good news is that you are in charge of how you spend those days, the question is will you be toiling away at a job that you hate, or will you be creating a career that you love? Will you choose to scroll mindlessly for hours a day, or will you pursue hobbies and travel that light you up? Will you be dreading the inevitable end, or will you be living your life in full in a way that allows you to meet the Grim Reaper with a smile?

These are the existential ponderances in which Jodi Wellman thrives. Jodi is a speaker, author, executive coach, and facilitator of living lives worth living. She founded Four Thousand Mondays to help people make the most of the time they are lucky to be above ground.

Jodi has a Master's of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she is also an Assistant Instructor and facilitator in the Penn Resilience Program. She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. Jodi has been featured in The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Fast Company, CNBC, Forbes, Psychology Today, and The Los Angeles Times, to just name a few. Jodi's TEDx talk, How Death Can Bring You Back to Life, has over 1.3 million views and was the 14th most-watched TEDx talk in 2022.

Her new book, You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets, made Adam Grant's Summer Reading List, is a Next Big Idea Club must-read.

Jodi’s book, work, and life show us all how we can gain a newfound appreciation for our lives and prioritize what truly matters. Her book uses a blend of research, personal anecdotes, and practical exercises all done with a sharp sense of humor that guides us through self-assessment, habit identification, and action planning, encouraging us to break free from routine, discover our passions, and live a life in full - brimming with vitality and purpose.

I suspect that there are times you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number and complexity of nonstop decisions you need to make. To further complicate matters, you may believe that some decisions require rational (brain) decision making, while others call for you to "go with your gut." But what if you could integrate the two - your brain and your gut - in a way to help you become the calm and steadfast person, and leader, you would like to be. What if you could combine both rational logical thoughts with your more instinctual feelings?

With their combined expertise in both business and medicine, Drs. Geoffrey VanderPal and Randy Brazie have developed an approach to do just that - by taking the latest scientific understanding of the human nervous system, drawing upon the Polyvagal Theory, to understand how the brain and the gut can make decisions together.

In their new book, The Steadfast Leader: Control Anxiety, Make Confident Decisions, and Focus Your Team Using the New Science of Leadership, they provide an approach that shifts away from the tension caused by "either-or" to using "both-and" and how that works better in every situation. Their work provides fascinating research findings along with real-world case studies and relatable examples that demonstrate practical, cutting-edge neuroscientific concepts that can help you stay focused and make better decisions―for yourself, your team, and your organization

Drs. Brazie and VanderPal are pioneers in the application of the Polyvagal Theory’s application in not only leadership and business situations, but also to each of us as individuals as a means to forge deeper and more authentic connections and relationships. In doing so it provides another approach for all of us to use as a way to help us live our lives more fully, and make better decisions.

Life depends on learning. We spend decades in school acquiring an education. We take pride in mastering a craft, or a sport, or a game. The things we do in our careers or even just for fun are enjoyed to a large extent because we feel we are capable of getting better at them.

We yearn for mastery.

But learning can be elusive. We may spend hours studying and still not do well on an exam. Improvement can be fickle - if it comes at all. Sometimes we improve effortlessly, and other times it can be a slog. Many of us can spend years hitting a tennis ball, playing chess, or working at our jobs, and not reliably get better at any of them. Why is that and more importantly, what can be done?

In Scott Young’s new book, Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery, he explores the science of skill acquisition, illustrating the basic principles that can help us get better at the things that matter most.

Scott was a prior guest on the show in episode 37 when we discussed his Wall Street Journal bestseller Ultralearning. He is also a podcast host and, a computer programmer. Since 2006, he has published weekly essays to help people learn and think better. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Pocket, and Business Insider, on the BBC, and at TEDx.

While he doesn’t promise to have all the answers, he does give us a good place to start.

Scott is a wellspring of knowledge about learning and provides a way for us all to be able to live our lives more fully.