I came across Chris Guillebeau when I stumbled across his terrific (and free) ebook, A Brief Guide to World Domination. Since we recorded this interview, he’s released another fantastic (and free) ebook 279 Days to Overnight Success and continues to write a great blog on his website, The Art of Non-Conformity. But what’s most impressive is that Chris is absolutely clear about what a good life means to him – and stands as an impressive role model on how to live that authentic, exciting and generous life.
I’m totally chuffed that Chris wrote an original piece for Do More Great Work.
In this interview you’ll hear:
- How the crisis that sparked his Great Work set the foundation for future success
- What Chris learned about focus from the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami
- What Chris’s bad habit is – and how he manages it
- An approach for setting goals
This interview is approximately 25 minutes long.
Posted on February 12, 2010
One of the giants in the self-development world, Leo Babauta. His blog Zen Habits is read by over 150,000 people, and with good reason. It’s practical, wise and committed to helping people create a better life for themselves through simple productivity. He’s also the author of The Power of Less, a best-selling book which helps de-clutter your life on every possible level.
I’m thrilled to say Leo has contributed a piece to my new book, Do More Great Work.
In this interview Leo and I talk about:
- How he balanced two jobs (and a family with six children) to launch Zen Habits
- Leo’s core planning tool – and it’s about having fun
- Why starting small is the most powerful way for getting big
- The secret to leaving behind a bad habit and taking up a more positive, new one.
You can follow Leo on Twitter at @zen_habits and read his work on his blog.
If you enjoyed this interview, you’ll also enjoy my conversations with:
Posted on February 8, 2010
Marcia Wieder is a force to be reckoned with. She is America’s Dream Coach, and is one of the on-going pioneers of the coaching profession. Her work is entirely focused on helping people connect to their passion – that’s Great Work right there – and to bring their dreams to life. She’s been a frequent Oprah visitor, has run a PBS special and written a number of books, the best-known of which is Making Your Dreams Come True. And just in case you were doubting her bona fides, she is Jack Canfield’s coach too. Not bad.
In this interview Marcia talks about
- The moment of truth when the seed for the Dream Coach University was planted
- How to find the right balance between strategies and possibilities
- Why intention is nothing without integrity
- Why uncertainty is such a powerful force to connect with Great Work
You can also pick up 10 free eBooks from DreamUniversity.com, courtesy of Marcia (and worth $150). Just click here to go to her web page [dreamcoach.com/gifts] to pick up your free resources.
If you enjoyed this interview, you’ll also enjoy my conversations with
Posted on January 11, 2010
It’s a sad anniversary for me today – a year since the wonderful Jerry Sternin unexpectedly died. Jerry’s the founder of the Positive Deviance Initiative, and his insights on positive deviance open up a powerful and tested way to create change is large systems. I first came across his ideas in a Fast Company magazine article at a time when I was a consultant in a change management organization. They were inspiring and sobering – inspiring because of the impact the PD approach was having, sobering because it seemed to be a far cry from what I was (not) achieving in my work. Jerry and his team did fabulous work with Save the Children in Bangladesh and other countries around the world, and the PD approach is being used to tackle challenges from infection in hospital to female genital mutilation.
In our conversation we:
- learn about the origins of PD in Vietnam in 1990 – and how a crisis gave birth to a new approach to change
- cover the broad principles of PD – simple and powerful
- dig down into some of the counter-intuitive genius of PD – including how you look for people least likely to succeed to find the seeds of future success
- how accountability was a positive force for change and success
Jerry’s death was a sad day indeed, and I’m delighted to be able to share this interview with you.
The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.
If you enjoyed this interview, you’ll also enjoy my interviews with:
- Clay Shirky
- Sir John Whitmore
Posted on December 11, 2009
