Daniel Z. Lieberman is the author of The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity?and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. He is a professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University,  a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a recipient of the Caron Foundation Research Award. In addition to writing science books, he works with patients, teaches medical students, and does behavioral research.

Highlights

All of our wealth comes from new ideas, so it helps to understand how the brain works.
Lieberman talks about the basics of why dopamine is so important.
Dopamine is so much more than just the pleasure molecule.
Dopamine is not about contentment or satisfaction because those emotions don’t stimulate us to seek more. Dopamine is the transmitter of anticipation.
People who have highly active dopamine systems are more likely to be entrepreneurs, artists, and to suffer from mental illness.
Dopamine leads to pleasure, but not happiness or satisfaction. That comes from other brain chemicals.
We talk about the reward prediction error and how it can lead to disappointment.
Some people go into things with low expectations. With low expectations, you are apt to get more positive feelings when things work out well.
If you always expect the best, you are bound to be disappointed.
Dopamine always pushes towards more.
People have to decide what they want out of life.
People who are highly dopaminergic aren’t happy or satisfied, but the rest of us profit from their dissatisfaction.
Artists are driven more by meaning than happiness.
We talk about entrepreneurs and their constant desire for more.
It’s not true that you can have it all. You have to make choices.
Once we understand how our brains work, we can make better choices.
We talk about addiction, the power of cravings, and how to overcome cravings.
Understanding how brains work helps you understand and tolerate others.

Links
www.DanielZLieberman.com

www.TheMoleculeOfMore.com

Herb “Flight Time” Lang is an 18-year former player and coach with the World-Famous Harlem Globetrotters who is now a speaker, entrepreneur, motivator, and author. Throughout his travels, to nearly 90 countries with the Globetrotters, some of Herb’s most memorable

moments include meeting Pope Francis, President Obama, and appearing on numerous national television commercials and reality TV shows—most notably CBS’s “The Amazing Race.” He currently resides in Sacramento, California, where he is the proud father of two, and continues to make a difference through kindness and his life experiences, which he believes are the keys to maximizing what we get out of life. He is a true believer in that we are all rich with love and kindness. “Kindness Is Free!”
Highlights

Herb tells us how he was surrounded by kindness as a child and how that affected him.
He also shared what he went through physically to become one of the Harlem Globtrotters.
We talk about how his background taught him how to survive being a celebrity. He said it was important for him to never forget where he came from.
Some of the things that have given me the most pain are the things I’ve learned the most from. It taught me resilience.
“The feedback I get from others is what keeps me going.”
Herb’s positive mindset has inspired others. Being around a bunch of older people is what helped him develop the positive mindset along with his high-school basketball coach.
With the work he’s doing now, Herb is trying to teach young people how to develop kindness.
Look into a young person’s eyes and feed them all the things that you’ve learned along the way.
Things aren’t as bad as you think they are.
It takes support for us to achieve our dreams. Reach out to others.
I asked him how he deals with “the downs”. Now, he meditates and goes for daily walks. He also takes his mind back to “the kid me” where he had all his dreams.
We talk about “the wall” that often surrounds people of wealth and celebrity. Herb doesn’t have that wall.
Kindness is within all of us. We just have to let it out.
It bothers me when I see people who had a difficult childhood and now they’re doing the same things to their kids. I can only understand it and show them another way.
We are all children at heart.
The world is not a bad place.
My purpose is to do the best I can while I’m here.

Links
Herb’s book: Projects Popes and Presidents: An Inspirational Journey That Shows How You Can Overcome Life’s Obstacles and Achieve Your Dreams

Herb’s Website: www.Herblang.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/herbertflighttime.lang

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/themotivationalspeaker/

In this episode, I share a recent experience that led to a major AHA. I recognized a habitual emotion that has been with me and has affected my life for a very long time. I think a lot of you will relate to this.

Highlights

I review my basic theory about how habitual emotions are the creative force behind our life stories.
Once I realized that I had a habit of feeling sorry for myself, I looked at all the times in my life it had affected decisions I had made even though I wasn’t aware that I was feeling sorry for myself.
I have learned not to judge myself because of things I have done in the past and decisions I have made.
It takes time and practice to develop a facility with recognizing your emotions and how they affected you in the past.
Along the line, I came to understand that in order to get healthy I had to change my persona – without realizing how long that would take.
I think that the best way to get to the core of why you do what you do is to understand not only the thoughts and beliefs that go into your decision-making but also to understand the emotions behind every decision you make.
One of the things I decided to do was to learn how to let go of negative self-talk.
How often do you feel sorry for yourself?
Comparing yourself to others will often allow you to feel sorry for yourself.
Lots of successful people never reach the levels they think they ought to and even though they have a lot, they still feel sorry for themselves.
It’s not that easy to make the necessary changes by yourself.

Links
Hacking the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Robert H. Lustig

If you’d like help moving your life in a more satisfying direction, click here to set up an appointment to talk to me.

Having built a 7-figure business without sales calls and as a former dominatrix, Dana Pharant knows all about owning her power and being unique. She has worked with clients for over 25 years, helping them keep their head out of their ass so they can scale with ease. She is the author of five books, winner of multiple awards and a woman who treats her own personal development like an extreme sport.

Highlights:

Dana Pharant was brought up in a cold and also went through all kinds of abuse. When she left the cult at 18, she went on a healing journey. She explains how her time as a dominatrix was part of her healing journey.
In the work that she does now, Dana uses her experience to help empower her clients.
We talk about how women can often have the fantasy of dominating, although Dana says that many men and women want to let go and be submissive.
A dominatrix is a high-level service position. Dana explains.
We talk about the difference between power and control and the different ways that leaders express their power. It’s about ‘power with’ rather than ‘power over’.
Power comes from letting go. In order to be able to let go, it’s essential that you understand why you need to be in control.
For the women that Dana works with, there can be a real fear of letting go of control. Dana talks about the shift in mindset that women have to go through in order to let go.
I asked Dana to explain how she helps people understand the difference between feminine and masculine power. Making the shift is a matter of reprogramming the brain.
Dana shares some techniques she uses to help people trust their intuition including how to ask your body what it needs.
When you let yourself be who you really are, you get a sense of profound freedom.
We talk about the value of letting your intuition guide your creative process.
Men and women access their intuitive inspiration differently.
People are becoming more accepting of some of the “woo” ideas about energy.
Dana is very grounded and uses the term “practical woo”.
We talk about letting go and allowing our businesses to take shape rather than pushing to make things happen.

Links:
Dana Pharant’s Site

For a free download of Dana’s book, go to www.BadAssIntuition.com

Facebook Page

Dana Pharant on LinkedIn

During these uncertain times, it’s difficult for people to experience a sense of equanimity – where you can maintain calm no matter what’s going on. Our brains are wired to warn us of danger when things are uncertain. In this episode, I talk about how you can develop some calm in the midst of the chaos.

Highlights

It’s possible to train yourself to maintain calm during times of chaos if you’re willing to listen to your inner voice and follow its instructions.
We can do better in our business and financially if we let go of our attachment to the outcomes.
If I’m setting goals based on what I know from the past, I’m not leaving room for new information and opportunities to come to me.
If you are skeptical and don’t trust others or yourself, it’s going to be hard for you to be able to draw in what you want and need.
Letting go and trusting is important if you want to find your true pathway.
If you’re trying to get back to what we had before Covid, it’s not going to happen. So much in our lives is changing – and will continue to change as the story evolves.
It’s important to develop ways of centering yourself and bringing yourself back to the current moment.
The idea is to minimize your fear and wait to see what shows up – and there will be some scary moments as we move towards the new reality.
How willing are you to believe that what’s happening now is to your advantage?
Are you prepared to die? If you take care of all the details, then you can let go of some of your fear of death.
If you are afraid of getting Covid or afraid of dying, then you need to do something about it so the fear doesn’t take up a whole lot of your thinking time.
Fear of not having enough money is actually the fear of dying.
I talk about how to deal with the fear of running out of money.

To be peaceful all the time, there are certain skills you have to develop.
Links
If you would like some guidance about how you can reach a point of inner peace, set up an appointment to talk to me by clicking here.