Meikles & Dimes

The first step to happiness, according to world-renowned happiness researcher Tal Ben-Shahar:

“Allow in unhappiness.”

When Maya injured her finger she was devastated because she identified as a violinist. But when she looked more broadly at her motivations, she realized connection, growth, & contribution were underlying motivations. And she could satisfy those w/o the violin.

Excited to post this new episode with
, where he describes farming & water with as much ease & insight as he describes literary fiction & film. Fantastic episode! Can’t wait to see what 2026 brings, including Josh’s book about
and his cameo in the film .

High school principal David Beck describes how his school increased graduation from 70 to 170 students in just a few years. Educators everywhere will benefit from hearing Davids approach. And credit to the Heath Brothers’ Power of Moments for inspiration.

If you want to be healthier, listen to this episode. Bryan motivated me to get into the best shape I’ve been in for 20 years. The interview is PACKED with insight, education, and inspiration.

How can we get more lucky? Wharton Professor Judd Kessler has written a great book about it. And he also shares some excellent tips in this brief interview.

“Do you actually want his job? Or do you just want other people seeing you have this job?” Great stuff from NYT bestselling author of The 5 Types of Wealth,

Great leaders are great readers. To be a reader is to lead a thousand lives. Every book is a simulator, whether we’re learning resilience from The Old Man and the Sea or leadership from the Godfather.

Great stuff from Harvard Instructor Margaret Andrews, who teaches the most popular professional development class at Harvard (MYLO). To successfully lead others, we need to manage ourselves. Full interview here: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JwILSB52x2C98i3c2H0qP

There is power in using our identity to reach our most ambitious goals.

There are no simple solutions when it comes to energy policy. Only trade offs.

We all have multiple identities, but being thoughtful about the identities we adopt and create can help us become the best versions of ourselves.