Lynn Lyons (@lynnlyonsmsw) has been a psychotherapist for 27 years and is the co-author of Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children and its companion book, Playing with Anxiety: Casey's Guide for Teens and Kids. "If you're uncertain and uncomfortable, you're probably on a good path to some sort of discovery or success or meeting some challenge that's in front of you." -Lynn Lyons The Cheat Sheet: What's the difference between anx...
Aug 10, 2017•55 min
Daniel Levitin (@danlevitin) is a cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, musician, record producer, and author of Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era. "Your brain clings tenaciously to beliefs that it's held, even when the evidence has been found to be bogus or untrue." -Daniel Levitin The Cheat Sheet: The most important quality for anyone who wants to be an evidence-based, critical thinker. Why even society's smartest people fall victim to misinformation. The first s...
Aug 08, 2017•49 min
Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. This time we examine why being an amateur sometimes works to your advantage when you're tackling a problem that all the experts say is unsolvable. Let's get to it! The Cheat Sheet: When you're an amateur trying to solve a problem, you don't know what doesn't work. Contrast this with an expert who approaches that same problem a...
Aug 07, 2017•10 min
Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: Are you being overprotective, or does your sibling need more help than you can offer? How should a personal trainer respond to someone who wonders if they're obese -- without giving them a fat prescription of excusamine? How does a relative unknown in the entertainment industry hungry for meatier projects successfully...
Aug 04, 2017•36 min
Linda Carroll (@Lovecycleslinda), author of Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love, revisits the show to talk some sense into us about first love fantasies, knowing the difference between good and bad relationship advice, and why she considers the concept of closure a myth. "Falling in love is not about relationship compatibility." -Linda Carroll The Cheat Sheet: Breaking away from first love fantasies. Why falling out of love is not a reason to leave a relationship. Four good re...
Aug 03, 2017•42 min
Jay Mohr (@jaymohr37) is a comedian, actor, Emmy nominee, bestselling author, and host of Mohr Sports from Los Angeles and Mohr Stories. "Desperation has a very distinct scent." -Jay Mohr The Cheat Sheet: How Jay Mohr dealt with panic attacks while working on Saturday Night Live (and how panic differs from fear). Jay's secrets to being a better impressionist. What it's like to start out as a stand-up comic at age 16. The power of sincerity and real storytelling in comedy. How Jay copes with impo...
Aug 01, 2017•1 hr 11 min
Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. In this Minisode Monday, friend and former guest Cole Hatter of Thrive (September 29th-October 1st, 2017 in Las Vegas -- use promo code AOC at checkout for a big, big discount if you're planning on going) joins us to explain how we can ensure we're making the best decisions by using absolute truths to guide us. Let's get to it...
Jul 31, 2017•13 min
Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: Does the conversation often move on before you've had the time to formulate a response? Is the perfectionist inside of you too restless to enjoy how good you've really got it? How can you tell legitimate coaches apart from the money-grubbing shysters? Do you consume so much information that it's hard to make any of it...
Jul 28, 2017•44 min
Bill Nye (@billnye) is a lifelong champion of science who is determined to teach you something today that you didn't know yesterday -- whether it's from a television screen or next to you at a dinner party. His latest series is Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix, and his most recent book is Everything All at Once: How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap Into Radical Curiosity, and Solve Any Problem. The Cheat Sheet: Why denying proven science -- like climate change and the efficacy of vaccination -...
Jul 25, 2017•48 min
Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. Never let it be said that The Art of Charm would discourage you from being the best you can be. But have you considered the merits of lowering the bar? Let's get to it! The Cheat Sheet: Setting your bar for success too high can result in the opposite of the desired effect. Rather than putting yourself in the path of a disempow...
Jul 24, 2017•6 min
Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: Does Jordan still use any skills he learned in law school? How can you get rid of uptalk and vocal fry? Interesting feedback: Quite a few Russians and Ukrainians wrote in to agree with recent guest Timothy Snyder's take on tyranny. How do you break the news to your religious, conservative family that you've got diverg...
Jul 21, 2017•28 min
Tim Grover (@ATTACKATHLETICS) is the legendary trainer called upon by athletes like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant when they want to be at the top of their game. He's the CEO of Attack Athletics and author of Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable. "Unless you have that mindset, skillset does not matter." -Tim Grover The Cheat Sheet: Putting aside inspirational Internet meme bromides, What does it really mean to be relentless? Why does every team need cleaners, closers, and coolers? Relen...
Jul 20, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Jack Barsky (@DeepCoverBarsky) joins us to discuss his book Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America. This is part two of a two-part episode; listen to part one here! The Cheat Sheet: We continue Jack Barsky's story that began in episode 633. Make sure you start there! How Jack handled a double life -- complete with two families. Why the once-powerful allure of Soviet-style communism began to wane over time for Jack. Why Jack decided to stay in the United S...
Jul 18, 2017•52 min
This Minisode Monday, we examine how even the most reliable news sources and documentary makers skew the facts or present half-truths when reporting -- often unintentionally -- we just don't notice it unless it happens to be about something with which we're already familiar. It's a reminder to always consider multiple sources if we want to be truly informed on any subject. The Cheat Sheet: We all get news from somewhere. But how do we know our sources are reputable? The truth is, even with the b...
Jul 17, 2017•3 min
Liz Dolan (@SSLiz) and Larry Seal (@IHateMyBossShow) from the I Hate My Boss podcast join us for this Fan Mail Friday to answer your work and career-related questions, so let's cut to it! In this episode: Company loyalty vs. personal goals when a change in ownership is pending. Have you outgrown your "negaholic" friends at work when they're always complaining about the job you love? Hey, ambitious but unfulfilled intern! Should you stay or should you go? How do you reasonably cope with an unmoti...
Jul 14, 2017•49 min
Christian Picciolini (@cpicciolini) is an Emmy Award-winning television producer, reformed extremist, co-founder of peace nonprofit Life After Hate, and author of Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead. "Hatred is born of ignorance. Fear is its father, and isolation is its mother." -Christian Picciolini The Cheat Sheet: How the marketing of extremism has evolved to become more palatable to the masses. How identity, community, and purpose drive extremism -- not ideology. Why extremism...
Jul 13, 2017•56 min
Jack Barsky (@DeepCoverBarsky) joins us to discuss his book Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America. This is part one of a two-part episode; stay tuned for the second installment next Monday! "The only advice I can give young people is the following: 'It always takes longer, and it always costs more.'" -Jack Barsky The Cheat Sheet: What Jack Barsky's childhood was like in postwar East Germany. The stickiness of Soviet-style communist ideology and how it ap...
Jul 11, 2017•49 min
Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. Are there any benefits to suppressing emotions vs. acknowledging them? Here's an exercise to ensure you're doing the right thing. Many thanks to recent guest and How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain author Lisa Feldman Barrett (hear her full show here) for helping put this one together! The Cheat Sheet: Suppress...
Jul 10, 2017•4 min
Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. In this episode: As a "nice guy," how do you let go of an ex -- who attempted suicide when your relationship ended -- without feeling heartless? Listener feedback for Nouveau Tech (from FMF 119) about how to respond next time the opportunistic entrepreneur ex makes contact. Listener Sweet Cheeks weighs in on what she does when male coworkers dismiss h...
Jul 07, 2017•37 min
Chase Hughes (@thechasehughes) teaches interrogation and behavior science on a tactical level for the US military, created The Behavioral Table of the Elements for behavior analysis in interrogations, and is the author of The Ellipsis Manual: Analysis and Engineering of Human Behavior. "Instead of trying to figure out what a person's good at, try to figure out what they want to be seen as being good at and you'll get ten times the results." -Chase Hughes The Cheat Sheet: What is the Behavioral T...
Jul 06, 2017•1 hr 7 min
Aaron Walker (@VFTCoach) has almost four decades of successful entrepreneurship under his belt; he rejoins us to talk about his new book, View From the Top: Living a Life of Significance. "I'm always looking for a way to make it happen, not excuses why it won't work." -Aaron Walker The Cheat Sheet: Aaron grew up with nothing; discover what significant mindset shifts along the way changed his own results. Understand why we should fear missing opportunity more than we should fear failure. The impo...
Jul 04, 2017•53 min
Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. Vanessa Van Edwards (check out our full episode with her here) rejoins us to talk about value languages -- the motivations we have for entering into relationships with each other. Let's get to it! The Cheat Sheet: Ever wondered how to hack motivation? It begins by understanding what people really want out of a relationship. If...
Jul 03, 2017•10 min
Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: Is the clock ticking on your window for big adventures? Consider mini-retirements. How do you tell your conservative religious family that maybe you've decided to go a different way -- especially when being disowned is a possibility? Is there a cure for 21st century millennial loneliness? Is there a cognitive differen...
Jun 30, 2017•37 min
Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) is the Housum Professor of History at Yale University and author of Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. "Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, and communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience." -Timothy Snyder The Cheat Sheet: Democracy has to be an ongoing activity -- not a waiting game for the next election cycle....
Jun 27, 2017•56 min
Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. This week, we're taking a little friendship audit to determine if we're hanging out with people by default or if we're actually enriching each other by association. Let's get to it! The Cheat Sheet: Personal development giant Jim Rohn famously said that we are the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time. Ho...
Jun 26, 2017•9 min
Time for Fan Mail Friday, where we'll be answering your questions and dropping some knowledge and feedback to help you kick the weekend off right. Let's cut to it! In this episode: How much eye contact is just right? How do you spend meaningful time with friends before going away for a long time? Have you tried the StoryCorps app? (From listener feedback -- not an advertisement!) Is selling insurance the right job for someone who's "too nice?" Can you handle more than one life crossroads at a ti...
Jun 23, 2017•25 min
Brian Brushwood (@shwood) has spent the last twenty years performing onstage, on TV, and on the Internet, entertaining and teaching people how to harness the deceptive (and self-deceptive) skills of scientists, spies, criminals, and con artists. "The moment a magician says, 'Now we begin,' you're already screwed!" -Brian Brushwood The Cheat Sheet: Why being interesting isn't a gift -- it's a practice. Fixed action patterns and how they help us get others to do what we want them to do. (Important...
Jun 22, 2017•1 hr 2 min
David Buss (@ProfDavidBuss) is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is considered the world's leading scientific expert on strategies of human mating, and his most recent book is -- appropriately enough -- The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating. The Cheat Sheet: Why does mating matter? The mating crisis among educated women. How to select a good long-term mate. What leads to mating disasters. What we can do to become better long-term mates. And so much ...
Jun 20, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Commander Chris Hadfield (check out our full episode with him here) was the first Canadian to walk in space, but the experience went far from smoothly. In this Minisode Monday, he explains how he went temporarily blind but still managed to finish the task before him -- and what we on Earth might learn from his ordeal. The Cheat Sheet: Humans didn't evolve in zero gravity; you can never overtrain for life in orbit. If you can't navigate to the bathroom in the middle of the night, imagine trying t...
Jun 19, 2017•7 min
Norm Pattiz (@PodcastOne) is a legendary broadcasting entrepreneur who founded radio syndication company Westwood One in the '70s and the PodcastOne network in 2013. He's a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame and one of the most successful and influential businessmen in Los Angeles. "If you don't know the rules, you can't be limited by them." -Norm Pattiz The Cheat Sheet: Success often depends on spotting opportunity in adversity -- Norm knows this better than most. Discover what modern po...
Jun 18, 2017•57 min
