My Instruction Manual: Recent Episodes
Keith McArthur
When Keith McArthur got a second chance at life, he was determined not to waste it. After his little sister gave him a life-saving kidney, Keith set out to learn how to be happier and healthier, have amazing relationships, and achieve his biggest goals and wildest dreams. Learn along with Keith as he interviews bestselling self-help authors, inspiring visionaries, and experts in fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, and much more.
Cure is polarizing. For scientists and rare disease parents, it’s seen it as the holy grail. But in disability politics, it’s sometimes seen as an ablest concept. I speak with disability rights activist Eli Clare about finding the middle ground.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
The notion of curing a rare disease can be controversial. Tom Shakespeare, a bioethicist and disability rights advocate, helps explain why.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Siblings of kids with complex medical needs also have complicated lives. An interview with a rare disease sibling and her father about Aislinn, a child with GRIN Disorder.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Rare Disease mom Kelly Harris talks about her daughter's GRIN Disorder Diagnosis, her biggest fears for Layla, and why it's hard for friends to understand what she's going through.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Adam Bolt, director of the documentary Human Nature, joins Keith for a conversation about the incredible possibilities and risks posed by CRISPR Cas-9 gene editing technology.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Keith chats with Dr. Ronni Cohn, the geneticist who diagnosed Bryson's Rare Disease. Dr. Ronald (Roni) Cohn is a geneticist and the CEO of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Pandemic Life sucks. But there are some silver linings. We explore them here. And Keith shares a trailer for his new CBC podcast Unlocking Bryson's Brain.
[00:00] Welcome and Intro [7:31] Keith talks with Laura, Connor and Bryson about the parts of this "new normal" that we'd like to keep when we get back to "old normal." [20:47] A sneak peak of Keith's new CBC podcast Unlocking Bryson's Brain * Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found * Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter * Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com * Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur * Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook * Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube * Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE * Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
We all want to live better lives. In this special episode, host Keith McArthur brings back 8 of his favorite guests to ask them to share the most important life lesson they’ve ever learned. We’ll hear from Melissa Monte, Michael Levitt, Lara Casanova, Amy E. Smith, Jeff Grace, Karen Mangia, Preethaji and Larry Bilotta.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 86 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:45] Karen Mangia Don't Postpone Joy Karen Mangia is author of Success With Less: Releasing Obligations and Discovering Joy. She calls herself a recovering overachiever. Karen first appeared in Episode 75: Achieve More by Doing Less.
[4:10] Jeff Grace: Hard Work + Self-Delusion = Success Jeff is a Hollywood actor, director, and writer. He’s also the creator and host of the Self-Obsessed podcast. He first appeared in Episode 72: When Self Help Becomes a Cult. He interviewed me on Episode 85: New Year's Resolutions.
[8:20] Melissa Monte: Love Yourself Right Melissa is host of the excellent Mind Love podcast. She also appeared in Episode 66: Escape Your Life's Prisions.
[12:30] Amy E. Smith: Stand in Your Own Shoes Amy is a coach, writer, and speaker and she hosts the Joy Junkie podcast.
Amy’s first appearance on the My Instruction Manual podcast came just a couple of months back in Episode 81: How To Stop Worrying What Other People Think.
[14:50] Preethaji: Nurture Connections with Others Preetha Krishna — better known as Peethaji — is an Indian spiritual and philosophy teacher. She is co-author of The Four Sacred Secrets. She first appeared in Episode 77: Getting Out of Stress and Into a Beautiful State.
[16:36] Michael Levitt: Take Care of Yourself First Michael is author of 369 Days: How to Survive a Year of Worst Case Scenarios and he hosts the Breakfast Leadership podcast. Michael first appeared in Episode 67: Becoming a Winner by Losing Everything.
[17:54] Lara Casanova: Follow Your Heart's Footprints Lara is author of Grief, Grace and Gratitude. She first appeared in Episode 69: The Art of Grief.
[21:10] Larry Bilotta: Until We're Truly Hurt, We're Not Ready to Learn Larry Bilotta is a relationship expert who first appeared on Episode 78: How To Save Your Marriage.
Jeff Grace interviews Keith about his book Winning Resolutions and the secrets of successful resolution setting. Jeff is host of the Self Obsessed podcast.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Mike Carruthers interviews Keith about his book Winning Resolutions and the secrets of successful resolution setting. Mike is host of the Something You Should Know podcast.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 84 Show Notes Mike Carruthers interviews Keith Mike Carruthers is host of the Something You Should Know podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Mike discuss:
- Why so many resolutions fail
- What makes a good resolution?
- Keith's six P's of resolutions
- Accountability Partner
- How to shrink habits for resolution success
It’s time to start planning for 2020. In this episode, Andrea Owen interviews me about my book Winning Resolutions: Achieve Your Biggest Goals and Wildest Dreams Once and For All. We talk about how to plan for resolutions success, what to do if you stumble, and how you can structure your environment for resolution success. This interview first appeared on Andrea's excellent podcast Your Kick Ass Life.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 83 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [3:30] Andrea Owen interviews Keith Andrea is author of How to Stop Feeling Like Sht: 14 Habits that Are Holding You Back from Happiness*. She is a life coach based on North Carolina and hosts the Your Kick-Ass Life Podcast. She previously appeared on the My Instruction Manual podcast in episode 13 and episode 56.
In this conversation, Keith and Andrea discuss:
- Why we put so much pressure on ourselves at the start of a new year and how shame comes into play
- Keith’s take on the “New Year, New You” mentality
- The biggest mistake people make when creating a goal or resolution. Plus, some science-based strategies for achieving your biggest, baddest goals
- How an accountability partner can help you with goals and the science behind finding the right accountability partner
- Some ways to get back on track if you lose sight or abandon a goal, hint: think ahead!
- Taking control of your environment and some ways to structure your environment for goal success
- Gretchen Rubin's The Four Tendencies
Giving Tuesday Please consider making a donation the CureGRIN Foundation to fund research to help find a cure for my son Bryson and thousands of others living with GRIN Disorders.
Where to find Andrea * Website: YourKickAssLife.com * Podcast: Your Kick Ass Life * Instagram: @yourkickasslife
This week's episode is all about food. Host Keith McArthur reads an exclusive excerpt from his book 18 Steps to Own Your Life. And he talks to fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about how to choose the diet that works for you.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 82 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:25] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on How to Choose the Right Diet Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Knowing what kind of diet will work best for your personality
- The Mediterranean diet
- The Paleo diet
- The Whole 30 diet
- Vegan diets
- Where to find Kathleen [x]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[17:45] Excerpt from 18 Steps to Own Your Life * Step 10: Eat Better
Amy E Smith is a coach, writer, and speaker who calls herself the Joy Junkie. In this conversation Amy shares a to of great advice on everything from how to stand up for yourself without being a jerk to how to worry less about what other people think.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 81 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Keith is raising funds to help cure his son's rare disease. You can support GRIN Disorder research by giving here.
[2:40] Featured interview with Amy E. Smith Amy E Smith is a coach, writer, and speaker who calls herself the Joy Junkie
In this conversation, Keith and Amy discuss:
- Keith and Amy play Would You Rather?
- Joy vs. Happiness
- Why we need to stop worrying about what other people think
- How Amy came to accept that her mom doesn't accept her
- How to stick up for yourself without being a jerk
- What it's like to co-host a podcast with your spouse
- Amy's upcoming podcast with Andrea Owen
- Bad communications habit
[40:40] Amy's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Avoid caffeine
- Do hypnosis or meditation every day
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- "Givers must set limits because takers rarely do" --- Irma Kurtz
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- The Kardashians
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- As the catalyst that allowed people to believe in themselves and that their voices matter.
Where to find Amy * Website: TheJoyJunkie.com * Instagram: @TheJoyJunkie * Podcast: The Joy Junkie
When you're ready to make a big change in your life, should you do it fast or do it slow? That depends! Kathleen Trotter joins us to talk about knowing your personality type when it comes to change. And mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson joins us to talk about mindfulness tips for teenagers.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 80 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:30] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Knowing Your Personality Type When It Comes to Change Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- How to know if you work better with gradual change or rapid change?
- Which works best could depend on your goal
- For gradual learners, weekly add-on goals work well
- Where to find Kathleen
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[12:30] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Mindfulness for teenagers Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Kids are good at being mindful and living in the moment but teenagers struggle with this
- How "grounding" techniques can help teenagers
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
This episode is all about mindfulness and meditation. Host Keith McArthur shares an excerpt from his book 18 Steps to Own Your Life on why mindfulness is a superpower. After that, he shares a guided meditation and chats with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 79 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:50] Excerpt from 18 Steps to Own Your Life: "Mindfulness" [7:40] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Guided Meditation and Mindfulness Book Recos Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Who guided meditations are good for
- Joelle shares a guided meditation
- Keith and Joelle recommend the following books:
- Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
- 10% Happier by Dan Harris
- Mindfulness for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
- Self Compassion by Kristin Neff
- Unplug by Suze Yalof-Schwartz
- Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
Marriage expert Larry Bilotta shares his tips on how to save a troubled marriage. Plus host Keith McArthur shares news about his upcoming new podcast.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 78 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Keith announces his upcoming podcast with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The podcast series --- tentatively titled Unlocking Bryson's Brain -- is about Keith's son Bryson who has a rare genetic condition known as a GRIN Disorder. The podcast is scheduled to be released in March of 2020. Keith also speaks about the charitable foundation he started up with other GRIN families. You can donate or learn more at CureGRIN.com.
[3:25] Featured interview with Larry Bilotta Larry Bilotta felt trapped in a loveless marriage. But he was able to turn the relationship around and now he teaches others how to do the same.
In this conversation, Keith and Larry discuss:
- Why clashing values are the mechanics of why marriages fall apart
- Why you don't need to change your spouse to change your marriage
- Changing the "environment of your mind"
- The four "emotional countries" -- Fun, perfect, peace, control
- How to know if a marriage is worth saving
[30:30] Larry's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Think it. Imagine it. Feel it.
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- A Course in Miracles
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- There is Always a Way
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- Larry says those terms don't go well together because pleasure is productive and guilt is destructive.
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- As the guy who helped people get in touch with their minds.
Peethaji is an Indian spiritual and philosophy teacher. She joins host Keith McArthur to talk about her new book The Four Sacred Secrets.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 77 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:15] Featured interview with Preethaji Preethaji is author of The Four Sacred Secrets and co-founder of the O&O Academy.
In this conversation, Keith and Preethaji discuss:
- Why Preethaji grew up experiencing life differently from other kids.
- The two states: a suffering state or a beautiful state
- How a beautiful state is different from enlightenment and different from living mindfully
- How a boating accident led Preethaji's husband to a great discovery -- that suffering arises from people being obsessed with oneself
- Preethaji takes us through the four sacred secrets
- Soul Sync Meditation
[31:55] Preethaji's Instruction Manual
Joelle Anderson joins us to talk about Mindful Listening. And host Keith McArthur speaks with Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about changes to Canada's Food Guide.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 76 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:50] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Mindful Listening Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- What it means to listen mindfully
- How words can replace your breath as anchors in a conversation
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[7:00] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on Changes to Canada's Food Guide Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Why Dairy is no longer a food group
- The food guide as a plate
- The three S-words to avoid
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
Karen Mangia, author of Success With Less, shares how she learned she could achieve more by taking things off her plate. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about building your own health entourage.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 75 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [XX] Featured interview with Karen Mangia Karen Mangia is author of Success With Less: Releasing Obligations and Discovering Joy. She calls herself a recovering overachiever.
In this conversation, Keith and Karen discuss:
- Karen's search for a diagnosis for her mystery illness
- How a relentless doctor finally diagnosed the root cause
- How Karen's will to get better helped her learn to prioritize
- Karen's three-step program: Pause, Ponder and Prioritize
- Why Karen calls herself a "recovering overachiever"
[24:05] Karen's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Start each day with pressed green juice
- Connect at least each day with one of the people in her life that matters most
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses and Relationships that All of us Have to Give up To Move Forward by Dr. Henry Cloud
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- "To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." --- Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- Salty, crunchy snacks
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- Having been a great friend, a great ally and a great advocate
Where to find Karen * Website: SuccessWithLess.net * Twitter: @successwithless and @KarenMangia
[29:20] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Building a Fitness Entourage Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- The importance of building a team of people who have your back
- The three members of a health entourage
- Fitness Buddy
- Accountability
- Nutrition Buddy
- Where to find Kathleen:
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
In this episode, Greg Wells, author of The Focus Effect shares how we can find focus in a distracted world.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 74 Show Notes Welcome and Intro Featured interview with Greg Wells Greg Wells is author of The Focus Effect and The Ripple Effect. Greg is a physiologist who does research at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children. He is also the host of The Be Better Podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Greg discuss:
- Why we're all becoming so distracted
- How an athlete's approach to social media is a good predictor of success
- Work-life balance
- The importance of morning routines
- What businesses can do to help employees improve focus
- The importance of giving the mind time to move from Beta waves into Alpha and Theta waves
Greg's Instruction Manual, Part II
In this episode, Greg Wells, author of The Focus Effect shares how we can find focus in a distracted world.
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 74 Show Notes Welcome and Intro Featured interview with Greg Wells Greg Wells is author of The Focus Effect and The Ripple Effect. Greg is a physiologist who does research at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children. He is also the host of The Be Better Podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Greg discuss:
- Why we're all becoming so distracted
- How an athlete's approach to social media is a good predictor of success
- Work-life balance
- The importance of morning routines
- What businesses can do to help employees improve focus
- The importance of giving the mind time to move from Beta waves into Alpha and Theta waves
Greg's Instruction Manual, Part II
This week I’m sharing two chapters from my book 18 Steps to Own Your Life. These steps are all about planning. I’m going to tell you about what I call the three Ps of planning: Prioritizing, Programming and Pivoting. This is the formula that helps me to plan my days for success. My hope is that they can help you too.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Purchase 18 Steps to Own Your Life HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 73 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:15] Step 17: Take Time To Plan [8:10] Step 18: Permit the Pivot
Jeff Grace, host of the self-obsessed podcast, talks about how self-help organizations become cults.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 72 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:05] Featured interview with Jeff Grace Jeff Grace is a Hollywood actor, director, and writer. He's also the creator and host of the self-obsessed podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Jeff discuss:
- Great self help books with terrible titles
- Jeff's experience with Landmark
- What makes self-help movements like cults?
-
Jeff shares some practical email tips
- Jeff mentions Mailstrom / Chuck and Sane Inbox
[32:09] Jeff's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Makes bed every morning
- Daily task last with gratitude, goals
- Exercise every day
- Writes for first 2-3 hours / day
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- You can fail at what you don't want to do, so you might as well take a chance on what you love
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- Watching Apple Computer YouTube Video
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- As a kind and caring person
Where to find Jeff * Website: JeffGrace.com * Instagram: @JeffGrace * Twitter: @JeffGrace * Podcast: Self-Obsessed
One of the questions I’ve been thinking about lately is where God fits in self help. Do those who believe in God find the self-improvement journey easier? In this episode, I’m excited to welcome back Jenny Blake. She recently enrolled in Divinity School. My own undergraduate degree was in world religions, so I'm excited to have this conversation with Jenny about God, spirituality, and self help.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 71 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:44] Featured interview with Jenny Blake Jenny Blake is author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One.
In this conversation, Keith and Jenny discuss:
- Jenny's pivot into Union Theological Seminary
- How Jenny made the decision to step away from school
- How Jenny realized atheism wasn't for her
- Keith shares his experience growing up in Catholicism
- What does it mean to be agnostic?
- The dogmatism of atheist
- The golden rule
- Do we need religion or spirituality of faith to grow?
Books mentioned in this episode:
- Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead by Tosha Silver
- Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto by Lesley Hazleton
- Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives by Brian L. Weiss
- How to Be, Do, or Have Anything: A Practical Guide to Creative Empowerment by Lawurence G Boldt
- Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao by Wayne W. Dyer
- Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian by Paul F. Knitter
- Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh
- God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Mirabai Starr
- Byron Katie
[42:00] Jenny's Instruction Manual, Part II
Morra Aarons-Mele, author of Hiding in the Bathroom, explains why people suffering from anxiety might make better leaders. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about gut health.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 70 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:40] Featured interview with Morra Aarons-Mele Morra is author of Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert's Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You'd Rather Stay Home). She lives in Boston and runs Women Online, a social media communications firm.
In this conversation, Keith and Morra discuss:
- Why this decade may be remembered as the anxious teens
- How the 2016 election, scarcity, and technology are leading to increased anxiety
- How anxiety can make you a better leader
- Are introverts more likely to be anxious?
- Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos as poster woman of entrepreneurship porn.
- Morra references The Dropout podcast. (Since I interviewed Morra I've listened to the podcast and I highly recommend it, but I couldn't get through the HBO documentary about Elizabeth Holmes)
[21:10] Morra's Instruction Manual, Part II 1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be?
- Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band
2. What's one personal development myth you want to dispel?
- That you'll ever get to a point where you're not working through some major stuff
3. Name one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn't live without.
- Immersion blender
4. What does a "bad day" look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around?
- When she wakes up and feels like there's concrete in her body. Feels sad and low and like she can't move her body. Exercise helps her to make it through the day.
5. What is your biggest goal or wildest dream?
- To triple revenues of her company over the next few years, and to do a podcast with real leaders who will talk about mental health and anxiety.
Where to find Morra * Hidinginthebathroom.com * Twitter: @morraam
[32:10] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on Gut Health Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- How gut health impacts emotional and physical health
- What to eat to promote gut health
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
On this episode of the My Instruction Manual podcast, I speak with Lara Casanova about grieving. Lara lost her own father in 2016, and she's the author of Grief, Grace and Gratitude. I also speak with personal trainer Kathleen Trotter about why measuring, monitoring and tracking are critical to fitness success.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 69 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:03] Featured interview with Lara Casanova Lara Casanova is author of Grief, Grace and Gratitude. She lost her father in 2016. Lara is the author of several books including 2018's Grief, Grace and Gratitude: Transforming Through Your Grief Journey. She lives in Australia.
In this conversation, Keith and Lara discuss:
- What Lara learned from the death of her father
- Lara's five stages of the grief
- Becoming aware
- Taking responsibility
- Feeling the feelings & being present with them
- Forgiving ourselves and any others
- Accepting where our life is at
- Being "pink" as meaning being healthy
- The importance of being grateful for what our loved ones leave behind when they die
- How death can be a catalyst for us to live our own life better
[13:25] Lara's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Mindful Eating
- Practicing yoga
- Spending time in nature
- Drinking lots of water
- Getting lots of sleep
- Doing something every day that connects with heart
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- In the Meantime. Finding Yourself in the Love You Want by Iyanla Vanzant
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- Love, truth and purpose
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- Chips and chocolate
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- To have had a big heart and have been a role model and inspiration for others
Where to find Lara * Website: lifeinthepink.com.au * Facebook: inthepink
[20:14] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Fitness Journals Kathleen Trotter is author of Your Fittest Future Self: Making Choices Today for a Happier, Healthier, Fitter Future You.
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Food journaling is proven to lead to weight loss
- The importance of journaling about feelings for fitness success
- Electronic vs. paper journals
- Where to find Kathleen
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[34:11] Closing words
How do we stop kids from losing their innate ability to be mindful? Why do scientists keep changing their minds about whether or not eggs are good for us? And why is this podcast becoming bigger than Game of Thrones? All that and more in this episode.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 68 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Click here to get a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life on audiobook through a free trial of Audible.
[3:18] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on meditation and meditation for kids Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Teaching kids about mindfulness as soon as they're old enough to start recognizing their emotions
- The four-seven-eight relaxation breath
- Why little kids are more naturally mindful
- Joelle mentions resources available at MindUp.org
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[10:30] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on whether eggs are good for us or bad for us Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- The latest study on eggs and health
- Why we shouldn't overreact to a single study
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
Over the course of a year, Michael Levitt lost his health, his job, his house and his car. Along the way, he found answers about how to live his life better. He joins us this week to talk about his book 369 Days: How to Survive a Year of Worst Case Scenarios.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 67 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:20] Featured interview with Michael Levitt Michael is author of 369 Days: How to Survive a Year of Worst Case Scenarios and he hosts the Breakfast Leadership podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Michael discuss:
- How Michael got everything he wanted by age 40 --- and it was slowly killing him
- Michael's heart attack
- Michael loses his job and car
- Why losing his house made Michael feel fully at peace
- Why Michael feels like he need to lose everything in order to win
- How the right morning routine sets up your day for success
[33:00] Michael's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Get a good night of restful sleep, exercise frequently, eat foods rich in nutrients + triage his calendar
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- Sometimes You Win. Sometimes You Learn by John C. Maxwell
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- "A pessimist is an optimist with experience." --- Chuck Daily
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- The Monte Cristo sandwich from Branigan's Irish Pub
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- As somebody that survived a lot of lousy situations and came out of it better and made the world better by sharing those experiences.
Where to find Michael * Website: BreakfastLeadership.com * Podcast: Breakfast Leadership
Melissa Monte entered her own personal prison when she was sexually assaulted at a party at 15 years of age. She masked the pain with drinking, drugs, bad relationships, and an eating disorder.
She didn’t know how to break free.
But incredibly, the path for Melissa to escape her demons came when was stuck for a week in a physical jail.
Melissa is the creator and host of the excellent Mind Love podcast.
She joins us in this episode of the My Instruction Manual podcast to outline the steps she took to escape from the prisons of her life. This episode also features our nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin who takes us through her own personal instruction manual for life.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 66 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:37] Featured interview with Melissa Monte Melissa Monte is creator and host of the Mind Love podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Melissa discuss:
- How Melissa's life went from sunshine to darkness at 15 years
- What Melissa learned about herself during the eight days she spent in jail
- How asking herself questions helped Melissa to turn her life around
- The importance of feeling our feelings
- Becoming a more positive person by surrounding yourself with positive people
[24:40] Melissa's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Her morning routine, which includes meditation, movement, singing and writing in her gratitude journal
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- I Am The Wordby Paul Selig
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- "If you're not consciously creating, you are consciously deteriorating." - Melissa Monte
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- The Bachelor
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- As someone who helps people realize their power
Where to find Melissa * Website + Podcast: Mindlove.com
[32:25] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin shares her instruction manual for life Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be?
- An eclectic mixtape with songs in multiple languages, because of her interest in different cultures.
2. What's one personal development myth you want to dispel?
- That you can make everything better with positive thinking alone
3. Name one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn't live without.
- Her alarm clock, which slowly lights up and slowly gets louder
4. What does a "bad day" look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around?
- A day where nothing goes right. She turns her day around by making her goals as small as possible.
5. What is your biggest goal or wildest dream?
-
Grow her business to the point where she can hire someone to work for her full time.
-
Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
Two years ago, my kidneys were failing.
Luckily for me, I have two amazing sisters who were both ready and willing to donate a kidney to me.
My sister Fiona was the first to go through the extensive testing process, but she wasn’t a good match. Next, my sister Stephanie get tested and doctors gave the thumb up.
I am so grateful that Fiona and Stephanie were both willing to do this for me.
This episode is all about sisters, and I dedicate it to them.
Our featured guest is Daisy Buchanan. She joins us to talk about her latest book The Sisterhood: A Love Letter to the Women Who Have Shaped Me.
Daisy is a UK-based author, journalist and TV personality.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 65 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:39] Featured interview with Daisy Buchanan Daisy Buchanan is a UK-based author, podcaster, and journalist. Her latest book is The Sisterhood: A Love Letter to the Women Who Have Shaped Me. On her You're Booked podcast, Daisy asks authors about the books on their shelves. She first appeared on My Instruciton Manual in Episode 16, where she discussed her book How To Be a Grown Up.
In this conversation, Keith and Daisy discuss:
- How sisterhood relationships aren't always with biological sisters
- What it was like to grow up in a house with six daughters and no brothers and how her father dealt with it
- How Keith and Daisy were both raised by feminist fathers
- Why Miss Piggy was Daisy's role model when she was growing up
- Gender in advertising
- Famous sister families: The Bennets from Pride and Prejudice vs. the Kardashians
- Whether Bridget Jones was the inspiration for the Millennial obsession with adulting
[30:00] Daisy's Instruction Manual, Part II 1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be?
- Plastic Letters by Blondie
2. What's one personal development myth you want to dispel?
- The idea that quitters never win and winners never quit
3. Name one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn't live without.
- Her bed of nails, which mimics acupuncture
4. What does a "bad day" look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around?
- When she beats herself up for not being productive enough
- Daisy mentions Yoga with Adrienne
5. What is your biggest goal or wildest dream?
- To finish her first novel by the end of the year
Where to find Daisy * Instagram: @thedaisybee * Twitter: @notrollergirl
Laura Vanderkam, author of Off the Clock, talks about her new fable/novel Juliet's School of Possibilities. And host Keith McArthur puts fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on the hot seat with a series of rapid-fire questions.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 64 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:50] Featured interview with Laura Vanderkam Laura is author of several productivity and time management books. Her most recent book is Juliet's School of Possibilities. Her TED Talk on how to gain control of your free time (embedded below) has been viewed more than 10-million times. Laura is also the co-host of the Best of Both Worlds podcast.
Laura first appeared in episode 44.
In this conversation, Keith and Laura discuss:
- Why Laura chose to write a fiction book about productivity
- The importance of "forest time"
- The novel's main lesson: "Expectations are infinite. Time is Finite. We are always choosing. Choose well.
- How to deal with infinite expectations
- The folly of inbox zero
- Every moment is a choice
- Laura's podcast "Best of Both Worlds."
[18:55] Laura's Instruction Manual, Part II 1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be?
- Indigo Girls Greatest Hits
2. What's one personal development myth you want to dispel?
- That getting to "inbox zero" is a worthwhile goal
3. Name one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn't live without.
- Her plug-in griddle for pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches
4. What does a "bad day" look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around?
- A day when there's frustrations with things out of your control like a plane delay.
5. What is your biggest goal or wildest dream?
- To keep writing fiction and non-fiction
[26:20] Where to find Laura * Website: lauravanderkam.com
[27:15] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter takes rapid-fire questions Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why Kathleen packs bell peppers in her purse
- Why the #fitness hashtag makes Kathleen wants to follow someone
- The best places in the world to run
- Where to find Kathleen
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
We all want to live better lives. In this special episode, host Keith McArthur brings back 10 of his favorite guests and asks them to share the most important life lesson they've ever learned.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 63 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:35] Cait Flanders: Don't be Afraid to Fail Cait Flanders is the author of The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store
Cait also appears in Episode 62. Listen here.
[4:51] Kristen Meinzer: Forgiveness is overrated Kristen is co-host of the By the Book podcast. Kristen works full-time in the podcast industry as a producer and host.
Kristen also appears in Episode 45. Listen here.
[8:19] Chris Browning: Bad things get better when you talk about them Chris Browning is the California-based accountant behind the popular Popcorn Finance podcast. He launched the podcast after he and his wife got out from under $27,000 in debt
Chris also appears in Episode 41. Listen here.
[11:54 ] Gretchen Rubin: The biggest failures teach the biggest lessons Gretchen Rubin is New York Times bestselling author of multiple books including The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies.
Gretchen also appears in Episodes 50 and 51. Listen here and here.
[13:49] Laura Vanderkam: Hard work pays off Laura is author of several productivity and time management books. Her most recent book is Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Her TED Talk on how to gain control of your free time has been viewed more than 10-million times. Laura is also the co-host of the Best of Both Worlds podcast.
Laura also appears in Episode 44. Listen here.
[18:00] Shawn Francis: Hold yourself accountable Shaun Francis is author of Eat Move Think: The Path to a Healthier, Stronger, Happier You. He is the CEO of Medcan, a Toronto-based company that provides holistic health services.
Shawn also appears in Episode 42. Listen here.
[21:45] Kerry Rowett: Trust Yourself Kerry is author of Align + Attract: Align Your Energy to Create a Business You Actually Love. She is a Holistic Kinesiologist living in Adelade, Australia.
Kerry also appears in Episode 46. Listen here.
[24:40] Mark Hamade: Don't be happy with second best Mark Hamade is a fitness enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a business coach, a Lebanese immigrant, a former Marine, and a cancer survivor. He set a resolution to lose more than 200 pounds.
Mark also appears in Episode 58. Listen here.
[26:55] Kathleen Trotter: Movement is non-negotiable Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit and Your Fittest Future Self. She is My Instruction Manual's regular fitness contributor, and a Toronto-based personal trainer with a degree in exercise science.
Kathleen also appears in Episode 61. Listen here.
[32:00] Allison Melody: The body is designed to heal itself Allison Melody is host of the Food Heals podcast. By her 25th birthday, Allison lost both her parents to cancer. This led her to explore non-traditional healing methods, including nutrition.
Allison also appears in Episode 43. Listen here.
Cait Flanders gave up shopping (and take out coffee) for a year. It turned out to be the most difficult year of her life - and not for the reasons you'd expect. Cait Flanders is the author of The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store. She joins us today to talk about her shopping ban, and the important life lessons she learned along the way.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 62 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:53] Featured interview with Cait In this conversation, Keith and Cait discuss:
- How Cait got out of debt before the Year of Less
- The rules behind Cait's shopping ban
- How the shopping ban got harder as Cait's life got harder when Cait lerned her parents were getting divorced
- Cait's Black Friday slip
- What Cait learned from the shopping ban
- Why the shopping ban was more of a browsing ban
[32:30] Cait's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy?
- Go for a walk or hike every day
- Go to bed early and wake up naturally
2. What personal development book do you recommend?
- Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote
- "We need much less than we think we need." attributed to Maya Angelou, but source not available
- "What consumes your mind controls your life." Cait adds "and your finances."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure?
- Taking a long epson salt bath
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered?
- As someone who helped people to realize that it's possible to change your life, but it's not always going to be easy.
[38:15] Where to find Cait * Website: CaitFlanders.com * Instagram: @caitflanders
Fitness is about more than exercise. It's also about nutrition and mindset according to Kathleen Trotter, author of the new book Your Fittest Future Self. She joins us in this episode to talk all things health.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 61 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:00] Featured interview with Kathleen Trotter Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit and Your Fittest Future Self. She's a Toronto-based personal trainer with a degree in exercise science.
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Kathleen's three pillars of fitness: nutrition, workout & mindset [2:20]
- The workout pillar is about strength, cardio, and flexibility [12:00]
- Finding your kiwi [16:32]
- The New Canada Food Guide [20:41]
- Mindful eating [28:15]
[34:45] Kathleen's Instruction Manual 1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be? [32:26]
- Britney Spears
- Fight Song by Rachel xx
2. What is one personal development myth you want to dispel [35:24]
- That you're either striving or you're content
3. What is one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn’t live without? [39:20]
- Wireless headphones
- Her slipper collection
4. What does a bad day look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around ? [42:00]
- Doesn't happy as much, but now Kathleen knows what to do including: Going for a run, putting on slippers, putting on the Fight Song.
5. Looking forward, what’s your biggest goal or wildest dream? [45:50]
- Meet and / or work with Tim Ferris, Chase Gordon and Brene Brown and more motivational speaking.
- Love more in the moment and experience joy
[48:00] Where to find Kathleen * KatheenTrotter.com * Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness * Twitter: KTrotterFitness * Facebook: KathleenTrotter
Why do we set resolutions at New Year's? Scientists have uncovered a psychological phenomenon known as the Fresh Start Effect. It's the idea that big events like the start of the year, the first day of school, or a milestone birthday encourage us to make positive changes in our lives. One reason? These so-called temporal landmarks allow us to relegate mistakes to a past imperfect version of ourselves, and imagine a better version beginning with the temporal landmark.
In this episode, we're joined by Hengchen Dai, a researcher at The Anderson School of Management at UCLA, who was part of the team that identified the fresh start effect. Later in the episode, we're joined by mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson. She says the positive emotions that arise during meditation can be challenging, and offers tips on how to cope.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 60 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Keith explains the research that led to the concept of the Fresh Start Effect. [4:45] Featured interview with Hengchen Dai Hengchen Dai is an professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
In this conversation, Keith and Hengchen discuss:
- Hengchen explains "temporal landmarks" and the "fresh start effect" [5:25]
- The psychology behind the fresh start effect [9:10]
- How upcoming temporal landmarks affect current motivation [10:45]
- Are people more likely to keep goals set at temporal landmarks? [13:40]
- Is a fresh start always a good thing? [18:00]
- Where to find Hengchen.
- UCLA website
- Personal website
[23:50] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on coping with positive emotions Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Mindfulness doesn't create emotions, it helps us to feel the emotions that are already inside us
- Why happy emotions can be difficult to deal with
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
What exactly is willpower and how do we get more of it? Willpower researcher Michael Inzlicht joins host Keith McArthur to talk about his research into self-control, and why the best way to master willpower might be to avoid having to rely on it.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 59 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Keith discusses:
- Walter Mischel and the Marshmallow test [2:15]
- Roy Baumeister and Ego Depletion [4:55]
[7:40] Featured interview with Michael Inzlicht Michael Inzlicht is a professor of social psychology at the University of Toronto with a focus on the study of self-control. He is co-host of the Two Psychologists, Four Beers podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Michael discuss:
- How Michael got into researching willpower [8:00]
- Is glucose the "limited resource" that leads to ego depletion? [12:30]
- Inzlicht's research into self-control and emotion [18:00]
- What can we do to boost self-control? [22:00]
[31:30] Where to find Michael * Twitter: @minzlicht * Podcast: Two Psychologists, Four Beers
[34:00] Closing words
This week's guest set a resolution to lose weight. And he did - more than 200 pounds. And dropped his waist size from 58 to size 30. Mark Hamade is also fitness enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a business coach, a Lebanese immigrant, a former Marine, and a cancer survivor.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 58 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:10] Featured interview with Mark Hamade Mark Hamade is a fitness enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a business coach, a Lebanese immigrant, a former Marine, and a cancer survivor. He set a resolution to lose more than 200 pounds.
In this conversation, Keith and Mark discuss:
- Mark's immigration to the United States when he was 10 [2:30]
- Mark's back injuries [6:40]
- How Mark made a decision to lose weight [9:25]
- How Mark broke his big resolution into smaller steps [22:00]
[33:15] Mark's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [33:30]
- Mediate for 2-3 minutes each hour
- Each night write down what did well and didn't do well
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [34:43]
- Willpower Doesn't Work by Benjamin Hardy
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [36:00]
- Without people problems, you have no problems
- Your heartaches and misfortunes will turn by never giving up
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [37:25]
- Nutella
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [38:20]
- That he was able to make a difference in people's lives for the better
[39:00] Where to find Mark * Website: MarkHamade.com * Twitter: @markhamade
[39:30] Closing words
Christine Hamilton took her first puff at age 13, and was a pack-a-day smoker by the time she was 17. Some family members warned her about the dangers of smoking, but Christine responded with the language she’d picked up from the relatives who smoked: “We all gotta die from something.”
By the time she married a non-smoker, however, reasons to quit were starting to pile up. In this episode, Christine talks about the steps she took to quit smoking once and for all.
And nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin joins the podcast to talk about three nutrition myths she wants to see busted in 2019.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 57 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:34] Featured interview with Christine Hamilton Christine Hamilton lives in western Tennessee. Her successful resolution to quit smoking is featured in my new book Winning Resolutions.
In this conversation, Keith and Christine discuss:
- Growing up surrounded by smokers [2:45]
- Why Christine finally decided to quit smoking [5:20]
- Christine's final cigarette [10:15]
- Why Christine decided to blog about her effort to quit smoking [11:30]
- Christine's advice for people trying to quit smoking [18:15]
[28:49] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on nutrition myths she wants to see retired in 2019 Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- The Keto diet [29:10]
- The plant-based diet [31:40]
- Gluten free [32:00]
- Why coconut oil isn't a health food [33:20]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[36:45] Closing words
If you're going to achieve your biggest goals and wildest dreams, you need to believe in them. And you need to believe in yourself. But we all have an inner critic that tries to sabotage our success. In this episode, author and life coach Andrea Owen joins us to talk about how to prevent our inner critic from killing our dreams. And author and fitness trainer Kathleen Trotter joins us to talk about whether rest days as part of a fitness routine are a bad idea or a good excuse.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 56 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [5:10] Featured interview with Andrea Owen Andrea is author of How to Stop Feeling Like Sht: 14 Habits that Are Holding You Back from Happiness*. She is a life coach based on North Carolina and hosts the Your Kick-Ass Life Podcast. She first appeared on the My Instruction Manual podcast in episode 13.
In this conversation, Keith and Andrea discuss:
- Her book Stop Feeling Like Shit has been translated into 16 languages [5:10]
- Why Andrea sets new goals in the Spring [8:00]
- What is your inner critic? [9:10]
- How sexism and racism feed the inner critic [11:30]
- How our inner critic kills our biggest goals and wildest dreams [14:15]
- Andrea's three-steps for managing the inner critic. [17:15]
- Andrea references the book It's Not About the Food
- How negative self-talk gets in the way of setting goals [24:00]
[27:30] Andrea's Instruction Manual - Part 2! 1. If you had to pick one music album as the soundtrack to your life, what would it be? [28:00]
- Can't pick one album but one artist is Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine
2. What is one personal development myth you want to dispel [28:30]
- 1) Time Heals All Wounds
- 2) You can change your life with positive affirmations
3. What is one unusual or surprising gadget you couldn't live without? [29:20]
- Voxer app. Voice messaging app
4. What does a bad day look like to you and what are the steps you take to turn it around ? [30:00]
- When Andrea has been triggered in her relationship with her husband. To turn it around, she owns it and apologizes.
5. Looking forward, what's your biggest goal or wildest dream? [33:40]
- To reach 1-million women through the Your Kickass Life Community
Where to find Andrea * Website: YourKickAssLife.com * Instagram: @yourkickasslife
[35:20] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Rest Days Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why rest and recovery matters
- The four components of recovery: Sleep, diet, rest days, recovery workouts
- Where to find Kathleen
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
Is New Year's the best time to set resolutions? Why are most resolutions health and fitness related? How do we ensure we're successful with resolutions? We answer these questions and more in this special New Year's edition of the My Instruction Manual podcast.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 55 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:50] Audio comment from Sarah Warsi [7:10] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on New Year's Resolutions Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Is New Year’s really the best time for resolutions?
- How Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies can help you with your resolutions
- Where to find Kathleen
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[12:25] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on New Year's Resolutions Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Why are health-related resolutions so popular?
- Michelle explains the “false hope syndrome”
- What should people do if they’ve already fallen off track with their resolutions?
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
I've always loved year-end countdowns. Somewhere in my basement, I have a still have a set of cassette tapes I recorded with the top 84 songs of 1984 from a local Toronto radio station. It includes Madonna, Van Halen, and songs from Footloose. So in the final days of this year, I bring you my own countdown: The top 19 ways to achieve your New Year’s resolutions in 2019.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 54 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:45] 19 Ways to Keep Your Resolutions in 2019 * 19) Schedule forest time * 18) Set precise resolutions * 17) Re-frame negative resolutions into positive language * 16) Set peaceful resolutions * 15) Set resolutions for a season not a year * 14) Take time to plan * 13) Anticipate pitfalls * 12) Track your resolution * 11) Go public * 10) Buddy Up * 9) the Best offense * 8) A Good defense * 7) Do delay * 6) Get willpower contagion * 5) Leverage friction * 4) Precommit * 3) Piggyback your habit * 2) Shrink your habit * 1) Make a vow
[23:45] Closing words
If you want to keep your resolutions, you need to start by setting them right. In this excerpt from his new book Winning Resolutions, Keith McArthur explains the 6Ps of setting resolutions. They need to be precise, proximal, practical, positive, peaceful, and promised. Later in the episode, Keith chats with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
- Purchase Winning Resolutions HERE
Episode 53 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:50] Excerpt from Winning Resolutions: Achieve Your Biggest Goals and Wildest Dreams Once and for All In this excerpt, Keith outlines the 6 Ps of planning your resolutions:
- Precise – you need to know exactly what success looks like for your resolution and when you’re going to get it done
- Proximal – In general, short term goals work better. I recommend resolutions of 3 months, not the full year
- Practical – Your goals need to be realistic so you truly believe you will accomplish them
- Positive – replace words like quit and never with a focus on what you’re doing to do instead
- Peaceful – your resolutions need to align with each other and your core values
- Promised – Treat your resolution like a promise to yourself
[19:50] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on New Year's Goals and Resolutions Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Looking back to review previous year's goals [20:55]
- The importance of framing goals in the positive [21:31]
- Michelle's 2019 Goals [25:00]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[27:00] Closing words
Is your resolution to lose some weight in the new year? Resolutions related to fitness and weight loss are the most commonly set. In this episode, we continue our series on winning resolutions with an interview with Brian Tao. He set a resolution one year ago to lose enough weight to go from obese to healthy. Brian shares the steps he's taking to achieve his resolution, how he still eats whatever he wants, and why he weighs himself several times each day.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 52 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro * Winning Resolutions will be released on December 11, but it's available for pre-order now. * Order on Amazon * Order on Kobo * Order at Barnes & Noble * To get a pile of pre-order bonuses, go to MyInstructionManual.com/resolutions
[2:35] Featured interview with Brian Tao Brian Tao is a portrait photographer who set a goal to go from obese to healthy on the body mass index.
In this conversation, Keith and Brian discuss:
- Why Brian decided he wanted to make losing weight a priority [3:50]
- Calories in vs. calories out [7:00]
- What changes did Brian make to his diet? [11:25]
- Why Brian decided to weigh himself several times a day [15:45]
- Weight gains at Chinese New Year's [23:00]
[33:00] Closing words
Gretchen Rubin is back! In this episode we talk about why it's important to know if you're a moderator or an abstainer when it comes to setting habits and resolutions. Gretchen also reveals her own personal instruction manual for life - the Gretchen Rubin recipe for success. I ask her to reveal her guilty pleasure, and how she wants the world to remember her when she's gone. Later, we're joined by mindfulness expert Joelle Anderson. I ask her why meditation isn't more relaxing.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 51 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro * Winning Resolutions will be released on December 11, but it's available for pre-order now. * Order on Amazon * Order on Kobo * Order at Barnes & Noble * To get a pile of pre-order bonuses, go to MyInstructionManual.com/resolutions
[2:53] Featured interview with Gretchen Rubin: Part 2 Click here for Part 1 of the interview.
Gretchen Rubin is New York Times bestselling author of multiple books including The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies.
In this conversation, Keith and Gretchen discuss:
- Abstainers vs. moderators: Why some people need to go cold turkey and others do better with moderation [2:53]
- Gretchen's four foundational habits [7:59]
- The controversial science of clean vs. messy desks [10:30]
[16:00] Gretchen's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [16:15]
- Go to bed between 10:30 and 10:45 and get up at 6am
- Go for a short walk with dog every morning and a long walk in Central Park when she can
- Work every day
- Read every day
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [17:27]
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [18:28]
- Be Gretchen
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [19:10]
- Drink immense amounts of caffeine.
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [19:55]
- As someone who helped other people to find happiness.
[20:46] Where to find Gretchen * Website: GretchenRubin.com * Four Tendencies quiz: Quiz.GretchenRubin.com * Instagram: @gretchenrubin * Twitter: @gretchenrubin * Podcast: Happier with Gretchen Rubin
[22:09] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on why meditation isn't always relaxing Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- It's a common misconception that mindfulness is supposed to be relaxing [23:20]
- If meditation isn't going to make us feel better, why bother? [25:05]
- Where to find Joelle []
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
Gretchen Rubin is one of the biggest names in self-help, but she's also special to me on a personal level.
After my little sister gave me a second chance at life last year, I read everything I could get my hands on about how to be happier and healthier.
One of the first books I read --- and the one that made the biggest impact on me --- was Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project.
Over the past few months, I’ve been getting to know Gretchen’s work in even more detail as I researched wrote my new book Winning Resolutions: Achieve Your Biggest Goals and Wildest Dreams Once and For All.
Gretchen Rubin joins me on this episode of the podcast to talk about her four tendencies framework and how it can help you keep your resolutions. And fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter shares what she says are the three pillars of a balanced fitness routine.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 50 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro * Winning Resolutions will be released on December 11, but it's available for pre-order now. * Order on Amazon * Order on Kobo * Other retailers coming soon * To get a pile of pre-order bonuses, go to MyInstructionManual.com/resolutions
[4:02] Featured interview with Gretchen Rubin Gretchen Rubin is New York Times bestselling author of multiple books including The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies.
In this conversation, Keith and Gretchen discuss:
- The TV program This Time Next Year (see YouTube clip below) [5:35]
- How Gretchen discovered the Four Tendencies [7:09]
- Gretchen provides an overview of The Four Tendencies [8:04]
- Upholders, obliger, rebels, questioners
- Outer + inner expectations
- quiz.gretchenrubin.com
- Gretchen and Keith are both upholders [11:06]
- Obligers [13:20]
- Questioners [18:50]
- How the tendencies overlap [23:07]
- Rebels [28:00]
[34:33] Where to find Gretchen * Website: GretchenRubin.com * Four Tendencies quiz: Quiz.GretchenRubin.com * Instagram: @gretchenrubin * Twitter: @gretchenrubin * Podcast: Happier with Gretchen Rubin
[34:33] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on her three pillars of a balanced fitness routine Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why a balanced fitness routine is critical [35:00]
- Pillar 1: cardiovascular [36:00]
- Pillar 2: strength training [38:42]
- Pillar 3: flexibility + mobility [40:05]
- Where to find Kathleen [42:25]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[42:45] Closing words
When Allison Baggerly and her husband learned she was pregnant, it was a surprise blessing. It was also super-stressful.
Over a hundred thousand dollars in debt, they didn’t now how they were going to be able to afford daycare and other baby expenses.
Allison's story is featured in the upcoming book Winning Resolutions. She joins us today to share how she accomplished her biggest goal.
Later in the episode, mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson takes listeners through a guided meditation.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 49 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [3:15] Featured interview with Allison Baggerly Allison is the creator of InspiredBudget.com. After getting her family out of $111,000 in debt, Allison now focuses on helping others to do the same. She lives in Denton, Texas.
In this conversation, Keith and Allison discuss:
- How a surprise pregnancy frightened Allison and her husband into getting out of debt. [3:20]
- The debt snowball method vs. the debt avalanche method [5:20]
- Where the Baggerlys cut back on spending [6:50]
- The biggest challenge was getting burnt out on the journey [10:20]
- Looking forward to the reward at the end of the journey [11:25]
- How they brought in extra revenue [14:50]
- Allison's approach to savings / sinking funds [17:10]
- How Allison learned about finance and budgeting [21:20]
- Allison mention The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
Where to find Allison * Website: InspiredBudget.com * Instagram: @inspiredbudget
[22:30] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson shares a guided meditation Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- What is a guided meditation [23:10]
- Joelle takes us through a guided meditation [26:05]
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[30:00] Closing words Feedback & Connect * Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android * Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com * Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur * Join our Facebook page * Check out our Pinterest page: myinstructionmanual
Flo Evans has always dreamed of running the New York City Marathon. But she worried she was too out of shape and overweight to ever achieve her goal.
When she turned 40, she set a resolution to make finally make her dream a reality. She joins us this week to talk about the steps she took to make it happen.
Flo's story is profiled in the book Winning Resolutions, which will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
In this episode, host Keith McArthur speaks also with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about why we need more magnesium in our diets.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 48 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [4:36] Featured interview with Flo Evans Flo is a New York City mom who set a resolution to achieve her biggest goal and wildest dream of running the New York City marathon.
In this conversation, Keith and Flo discuss:
- How Flo went from out of shape and overweight to become a marathon runner [4:36]
- Flo's first half marathon [10:15]
- Flo signs up for eight more races [16:25]
- Struck by injury [18:57]
- Flo's advice for others wanting to run a marathon [18:57]
- Post marathon report [23:54]
[31:21] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on magnesium Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- The various benefits of magnesium including the possible prevention of insomnia
- Where to find magnesium
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
This is my most personal episode yet. I open up to talk about the challenges I face with my son Bryson, and about life, death, hope, and baseball. All this to mark the first anniversary of the My Instruction Manual Podcast.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 47 Show Notes [1:03] Welcome and Intro [2:43] "My promise to Alex." An essay by Keith featuring music by Julie Maxwell * Read the essay here. * Quote from Jaylene's speech:
I want everyone to make a promise to Alex today. One you must keep. In all you do, be grateful, confident and happy. Never let anything hold you back from being who you are. Embrace every minute and every day. And most importantly, love hard and be there for each other.
- Music is used by permission of the composer Julie Maxwell. She also provides a more limited license under Creative Commons.
- Title "Wasteland Dusting"
- Author "Julie Maxwell"
- Source: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Julie_Maxwells_Piano_Music/
- License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
- Website: http://www.juliemaxwell.com
- bandcamp: https://juliemaxwellspianomusic.bandcamp.com/
[6:35] "Baseball and belonging." An essay by Keith McArthur featuring music by Julie Maxwell * This story was based on a blog post I first published in 2015 and updated recently on My instruction Manual. Read the essay here. * Music is used by permission of the composer Julie Maxwell. She also provides a more limited license under Creative Commons. + Title: “Mars Landscape: Sun Set" + Author “Julie Maxwell”
[11:04] “Grateful for Hope.” An essay by Keith featuring music by Julie Maxwell * Read the essay here * Music is used by permission of the composer Julie Maxwell. She also provides a more limited license under Creative Commons. + Title "I Miss You" + Author "Julie Maxwell"
[16:57] "Let's talk about death to learn about life." An essay by Keith McArthur * Read the essay here.
[20:32] "Set Good Habits." An excerpt from the audiobook of 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier, Happier You * Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life here
[25:28] Closing words
Kerry Rowett, author of Align + Attract, shares her tips on how to create a business you love. Her book focuses on entrepreneurs building businesses from scratch, but the tips she offers in this episode apply to everyone. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about fitness and weight loss.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 46 Show Notes [0:00] Welcome and Intro [3:42] Featured interview with Kerry Rowett Kerry is author of Align + Attract: Align Your Energy to Create a Business You Actually Love. She is a Holistic Kinesiologist living in Adelade, Australia.
In this conversation, Keith and Kerry discuss:
- The difference between Kinesiology in Australia and North America [4:30]
- What Kerry means by alignment [5:40]
- How Keith relates to the Anna character [10:53]
- Lessons Anna learns in the book:
- You don't need to be working all the time [13:13]
- Let go of perfectionism [15:43]
- Focus on being useful and helpful [18:12]
- Celebrate your successes [20:47]
[23:00] Kerry's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [23:25]
- Movement every day, especially walking and yoga
- Green smoothies
- Drinking lots of water
- Meditation
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [24:30]
- You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [24:43]
- Teamwork make the dream work
- Trust the process
- It is what it is
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [27:13]
- Wine
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [28:02]
- For the love she has for her family, friends and clients
- For her book and future books
[28:37] Where to find Kerry * Website: AwakenKinesiology.com * Website: Alignandattract.com * Instagram: kerryrowett * Facebook: /awakenkinesiology
[29:22] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Exercise and Weight Loss Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Exercise should be about health benefits first, not weight loss [30:30]
- In order to reach your goal, you need to be specific about what your goal is [33:00]
- Kathleen's four-step recipe for losing weight [35:00]
- Interval cardio
- Build muscle mass through weight training
- Sleep and recovery
- Nutrition
- Where to find Kathleen [39:45]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[40:02] Closing words
Kristen Meinzer, co-host of the By The Book podcast, shares her picks for best and worst self-help books. And host Keith McArthur speaks with Joelle Anderson about how mindfulness and meditation can help with insomnia.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Download a free copy of 18 Steps to Own Your Life by clicking HERE
Episode 45 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [3:00] Featured interview with Kristen Meinzer Kristen is co-host of the By the Book podcast. Kristen works full-time in the podcast industry as a producer and host.
In this conversation, Keith and Kristen discuss:
- How Kristen's background as a critic affects how she approaches self-help books [4:47]
- When Kristen the skeptic goes woo-woo [6:30]
- Past Lives, Future Healing by Sylvia Browne
- Gratitude and kindness as universal keys to happiness [7:12]
- Kristen's favorite books from the podcast [8:20]
- What to Say When You Talk To Yourself by Shad Helmstetter
- The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
- Kristen's Least Favorite books from the podcast
- The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
- Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus by John Gray
- Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
- French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
- Kristen on meditation [12:50]
[15:18] Kristen's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [15:40]
- Brings her portable travel mug everywhere
- Wears sunscreen every day
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [15:43]
- Dream More by Dolly Parton
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [19:06]
- "Most people aren't talking about you. And that's a good thing." -- Kristen's nana.
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [20:08]
- Cheetos
- Frozen margaritas
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [20:55]
- As being kind and joyful and as someone who wore vibrant-colored mini-skirts until she died.
[22:05] Where to find Kristen * Instagram: @k10meinzer * Twitter: @kristenmeinzer * Facebook: By The Book Community Page
[22:53] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Insomnia Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- How regular meditation can prevent insomnia [23:58]
- How meditation can help in the moment when you're experiencing insomnia [24:41]
- Where to find Joelle [27:10]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[27:37] Closing words
Laura Vanderkam, author of Off the Clock, shares tips to help us feel less busy while getting more done. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about calcium, dairy, and how much we really need.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else great podcast are found
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 44 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:21] Featured interview with Laura Vanderkam Laura is author of several productivity and time management books. Her most recent book is Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Her TED Talk on how to gain control of your free time (embedded below) has been viewed more than 10-million times. Laura is also the co-host of the Best of Both Worlds podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Laura discuss:
- How becoming a mom made Laura so interested in time management [3:45]
- What Laura's personal time logs taught her about how she spends her time [5:55]
- What Laura has learned about how other people spend their time and their attitudes towards time [7:21]
- How spending more time with other people stretches our perceptions of time [9:33]
- How the brain perceives time and memories [12:09]
- How does feeling like we have more time help us to get more done? [13:43]
- The importance of saying 'no' [18:25]
- Tip: Write next year's performance review now [20:20]
- Laura's Best of Both Worlds podcast [23:19]
[27:40] Laura's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [27:52]
- Track every waking moment
- Run at least one mile
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [30:30]
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [31:26]
- "Plan it in. Do it anyway."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [32:25]
- Dark Chocolate
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [32:40]
- As someone whose writing helped people to change their lives for the better.
[33:38] Where to find Laura * Website: Lauravanderkam.com * Podcast: Best of Both Worlds * Instagram: @lvanderkam * Twitter: @lvanderkam
[34:44] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on calcium, dairy and how much we really need Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Non-dairy sources of calcium [35:22]
- Changes to Canada's food guide [36:50
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[x] Closing words
Allison Melody, host of the Food Heals podcast, talks about the healing power of food. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about the best exercise for weight loss.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 43 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:14] Featured interview with Allison Moody Allison Melody is host of the Food Heals podcast. By her 25th birthday, Allison lost both her parents to cancer. This led her to explore non-traditional healing methods, including nutrition.
In this conversation, Keith and Allison discuss:
- How her parents' untimely deaths led to Allison's interest in healing foods [2:15]
- Food elimination diets [3:45]
- How to know when to trust your doctor and when to look at other alternatives [4:58]
- Muscle testing [11:35]
[14:05] Allison's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [14:23]
- Getting enough sleep
- Drinking enough water
- Write gratitude journal
- Don't check cell phone when first wake up
- Healthiest possible smoothie
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [16:28]
- The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith by Gabrielle Bernstein
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [18:15]
- "Let thy food be thy medicine; let thy medicine be they food."
- "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." --- Marianne Williamson
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [19:18]
- Wine
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [21:21]
- As someone who truly made a difference in helping people heal themselves.
[21:55] Where to find Allison * Website: FoodHealsNation.com
[22:56] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on the best exercise for weight loss Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why exercise is more about overall health benefits than weight loss [24:20]
- The importance of getting really specific with weight loss goals [26:10]
- Kathleen's weight loss recipe [27:25]
- Where to find Kathleen [33:03]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[33:31] Closing words
Shaun Francis, author of Eat Move Think reveals how we can add years to our lives, while adding life to our years. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about his personal meditation struggles.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 42 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [4:01] Featured interview with Shaun Francis Shaun Francis is author of Eat Move Think: The Path to a Healthier, Stronger, Happier You. He is the CEO of Medcan, a Toronto-based company that provides holistic health services.
In this conversation, Keith and Shaun discuss:
- Is a healthy life really as simple as Eat Move Think? [9:54]
- What's the best diet? [11:35]
- Biggest Losers aren't long-term winners [13:45]
- Can what I eat affect my mental health? [20:23]
- How many glasses of wine are okay on a Friday night? [22:07]
- What's the fastest way to get in shape? [24:35]
- Is it okay to sit all day if I still work out? [27:58]
- How do I exercise the willpower muscle? [31:00]
- Can I learn to be more optimistic? [35:00]
[39:00] Shaun's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [39:20]
- Prioritize a workout each day
- Try to get seven hours of sleep
- Don't snack much; eat plenty of plant-based, non-processed food
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [42:59]
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [46:44]
- "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." --- Theodore Roosevelt
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [47:59]
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [48:10]
- As a positive influence to those closest to him.
[49:30] Where to find Shaun * Website: ShaunFrancis.com * Instagram: shauncfrancis * Email: shaunfrancis@medcan.com
[50:34] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson helps Keith with his meditation struggles. Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Keith is doing better with finding mindfulness in the moment, but having a harder time with meditation [51:19]
- Joelle explains that it's not uncommon to struggle with meditation after a great start. [52:30]
-
Joelle offers tips to break through the meditation wall [54:00]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[56:05] Closing words
With $27,000 in credit card debt, Chris Browning and his wife decided it was time to get serious about their finances. They cut cable, stopped going out to eat, and cancelled vacations. After they paid off their debt, Chris launched the popular Popcorn Finance podcast. He joins us in this episode to talk about how to budget, how to save, and how to get out of debt. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about iron in the first of a new series about minerals.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 41 Show Notes Chris Browning, host of the Popcorn Finance podcast, explains how he and his wife got out from under $27,000 in credit card debt. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about iron in the first of a new series about minerals.
[00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:57] Featured interview with Chris Browning Chris Browning is the California-based accountant behind the popular Popcorn Finance podcast. He launched the podcast after he and his wife got out from under $27,000 in debt.
In this conversation, Keith and Chris discuss:
- What is Popcorn Finance? [1:40]
- What do most people get wrong [2:53}
- How Chris and his wife lost track of their debts [4:59]
- How they got themselves out of debt [7:07]
- Chris mentions free website mint.com
- Is buying a house a good investment? [11:45]
[15:00] Chris' Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [15:16]
- Reading
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [16:06]
- The Year of Less: How I stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [17:30]
- "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now" --- Chinese proverb
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [18:50]
- Technology
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [20:35]
- "As someone who was approachable and giving and someone people could come to as a resource."
[21:29] Where to find Chris * Website: PopcornFinance.com * Twitter: @PopcornFinance * Facebook: /PopcornFinance
[22:18] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on iron Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- How a math error led Popeye to each so much spinach in search of iron [22:46]
- Why do we need iron and how much do we need? [23:32]
- Where do get iron? [24:05]
- We need red meat for iron, but isn't it bad for us? [24:30]
- Why women need extra iron [26:40]
- Iron for vegans [28:34]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[31:50] Closing words
What's the most important life lesson you ever learned?
I love to ask this question when I meet amazing and inspirational people.
Women's Leadership Coach Sally Helgesen tells me her most important life lesson was to claim her place in the presence of powerful men. And emergency room doctor Brian Goldman says an error early in his career taught him that mistakes in medicine can be deadly.
You can hear from Sally, Brian and eight more of the most inspirational people on the planet in this episode of the podcast.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 40 Show Notes: The Most Important Life Lesson. Ever. [00:00] Welcome and Intro [2:45] Sally Helgesen: "Claim Your Place" [5:58] Jonathan Rauch: "There is no chance of success without the risk of failure." [9:39] Jason Richardson: "Start Yesterday." [12:09] Alison Green: "You don't have to be right." [13:33] Allison Task: "It's okay to be your best." [16:29] Todd Davis: "Happiness is a choice." [20:04] Dr. Brian Goldman: "Mistakes can be deadly." [27:44] Chantal Heide: "Meditation is the key." [31:04] Tara Mackey: "Hope is Everything." [33:47] Stephanie McArthur: "Compassion and generosity --- even to yourself."
Tara Mackey, author of WILD Habits, talks about growing up with an addict, and how she got hooked on prescription drugs before giving them up cold turkey. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about exercise without equipment.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 39 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro * Keith shares a funny story from Podcast Movement
[4:14] Featured interview with Tara Mackay Tara Mackey is author of WILD Habits: Unlock Your Mind, Improve Your Health, and Release Your True Power. Tara lives in San Diego. She is an author, singer, speaker, and entrepreneur behind organic skin care brand Genetix.
In this conversation, Keith and Tara discuss:
- Tara talks about her childhood growing up with a mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict [5:38]
- Tara attempts suicide and decides to quit her meds cold turkey [10:16}
- Tara explains what are WILD Habits [15:19]
- Tara's number one tip for healthy eating [16:59]
[18:57] Tara's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [19:18]
- Take a walk
- Read
- Spend time with her dogs
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [19:33]
- Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
- "It was the first book that really got me off my ass and made me realize that miracles in everyday life are possible."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [20:10]
- "Stay Open"
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [20:59]
- Binge watching The Handmaid's Tale
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [21:37]
- "I want to be remembered for giving people hope."
[22:50] Where to find Tara * Website: TheOrganicLifeBlog.com * Instagram: @Taraamackey * Twitter: @taraamackey
[23:24] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Exercising without equipment Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Best exercises without equipment including squats, step ups and lunges [24:25]
- Finding ways to do back-of-body exercise without equipment is challenging but super important [27:52]
- Make the workout time-based [28:40]
- Where to find Kathleen [30:37]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[30:32] Closing words
Dr. Brian Goldman, author of The Power of Kindness, explains why empathy is essential in everyday Life. And host Keith McArthur shares an essay about his special needs son Bryson with music by Julie Maxwell.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 38 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [4:03] "Grateful for Hope." An essay by Keith featuring music by Julie Maxwell. * Read the essay here * Music is used by permission of the composer Julie Maxwell. She also provides a more limited license under Creative Commons. + Title "I Miss You" + Author "Julie Maxwell" + Source: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Julie_Maxwells_Piano_Music/ + License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ + Website: http://www.juliemaxwell.com + bandcamp: https://juliemaxwellspianomusic.bandcamp.com/
[10:02] Featured interview with Dr. Brian Goldman Dr. Brian Goldman is author of The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy is Essential in Everyday Life. He's an emergency room doctor and host of the radio program and podcast White Coat, Black Art.
In this conversation, Keith and Brian discuss:
- What led to Bryan's interest in kindness and empathy [10:54]
- The mistaken idea that doctors need to sacrifice their kindness in order to be brilliant [12:10]
- Shame in the health-care profession [15:00]
- The connection between shame and empathy [18:10]
- Kindness vs empathy [22:06]
- Why are we becoming less empathetic [30:27]
- Why Brian was worried he wasn't empathetic [35:09]
- Keith shares his family's experiences in the medical system [42:02]
- Brian shares tips to build empathy muscle, including gratitude [45:25]
[52:44] Brian's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [53:03]
- List things he's grateful for
- Re-frame bad experiences
- Abdominal box breathing
- Exercise
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [56:02]
- Man's Search for Meaning By Viktor Frankl
- Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [1:01:23]
- Stop Now
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [1:02:27]
- The Toronto Maple Leafs
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [1:03:53]
- "I want to be remembered as the guy who wrote a book about kindness and ended up being a kind man."
[1:04:14] Where to find Brian * Website: DoctorBrianGoldman.com * Radio show / podcast: cbc.ca/whitecoat
[1:05:08] Closing words
Kathleen Trotter, author of Finding Your Fit, talks about the importance of being positive when we talk to ourselves. Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson explains what it means to eat mindfully. And host Keith McArthur does something scary.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 37 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:04] Keith's Update * Why Keith is feeling scared [1:04] * Reminder that podcasts every two weeks over the summer [3:19] * Find a curated list of 47 personal development books here [4:44] * Join My Instruction Manual's Self Help Book Club on Facebook. In July, we're studying Brené Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection [5:39] * Keith's son Bryson has a rare genetic condition known as GRIN1. This weekend he's hosting a conference for families with GRIN1 from around the world. [6:38] * Update on Keith's Resolutions book [9:18]
[16:32] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on mindful eating Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why talking nicely to yourself is so important [16:44]
- How Kathleen motivates herself with "Kathleenisms" [18:03]
- Self-talk is a muscle we need to build [21:25]]
-
Where to find Kathleen [24:19]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[25:06] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Mindful Eating Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- What is mindful eating? [25:36]
- How to get started [26:34]
- How to balance eating mindfully with the benefits of social eating [28:25]
- Where to find Joelle [30:00]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[30:25] Closing words
Just a quick note to let you know that the My Instruction Manual podcast will be publishing every two weeks over the summer. I’ll be back with a full episode next week.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
In this special episode of the podcast, host Keith McArthur gets summer reading recos from some of the world's most inspiring people. Guests include Rick Hanson, Sally Helgesen, Morra Aarons-Mele and Greg Wells.
Get the whole list:
You can download a PDF list of every recommended summer reading book, or find Amazon links to every book at:
myinstructionmanual.com/summerbooks/
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Allison Task, author of the book Personal (R)evolution, joins host Keith McArthur to share her tips to help you reach your biggest goals and wildest dreams.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 35 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:57] Featured interview with Allison Task Allison Task is author of Personal (R)evolution: How to Be Happy, Change Your Life and Do That Thing You've Always Wanted. Allison has worked with dot-com startups, as a TV chef, and now as life and career coach.
In this conversation, Keith and Allison discuss:
- Allison's career: from dot-com to celebrity chef to life coach [1:38]
- Rejection as a gift [7:30]
- Allison's on her book Personal Revolution [9:31]
- The one thing all of Allison's clients have in common [10:50]
- The Pigmalian Effect [14:14]
- The Disney model: Creatives, Planners, Critics [19:56]
- Identifying your stakeholders [23:56]
[25:35] Allison's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [26:00]
- Go to sleep by 9:30 every night
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [26:43]
- The Kama Sutra
- "Having good sex can be fun. And are you connecting to the people closest to you?"
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [27:42]
- "If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate." --- Thomas J. Watson
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [28:35]
- Chocolate
- Hugging and kissing her kids too much
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [30:24]
- "As someone who had a positive impact on others."
[31:06] Where to find Allison * Website: Allisontask.com * Twitter: @allisontask * Facebook: /allisontask
[31:46] Closing words
Joelle Anderson, a therapist and mindfulness coach, reveals how meditation can help boost our emotional awareness. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about how to pack a gym in your suitcase when you travel.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 34 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:00] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Emotional Awareness Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- What do we mean by "emotional awareness" [1:40]
- We suppress positive emotions as well as negative ones [2:55]
- The downside of emotional awareness [4:21]
- Where to find Joelle [5:15]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[5:54] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on a Gym in Your Suitcase Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- What Kathleen packs in her suitcase [6:13]
- Three types of fitness travelers [9:52]
- The importance of having a Plan B [11:36]
- Where to find Kathleen [13:29]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[13:49] Closing words
Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve, explains the science behind why life gets better in our fifties and sixties. Jonathan and host Keith McArthur each share their own happiness curve stories.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 33 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:58] Featured interview with Jonathan Rauch Jonathan Rauch is author of several books including 2018's The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50. He is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
In this conversation, Keith and Jonathan discuss:
- Keith's happiness curve [00:58]
- Jonathan's happiness curve [02:31]
- What is the happiness curve? [5:10]
- The happiness curve isn't an inevitability; it's a tendancy [7:19]
- Be cautious about making big life changes during the trough [9:05]
- How the happiness curve is different from a midlife crisis [10:20]
- Why the midlife trough is good for us [11:55]
- Tips to help you get through the trough [16:45]
- Tips for society to manage the trough [20:25]
[22:54] Jonathan's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [23:20]
- Exercise
- Talk to someone he'll disagree with and / or read something he'll disagree with
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [24:45]
- The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [26:08]
- “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit. Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.” --- Omar Khayyám / Edward Fitzgerald
- "Just remember that if you see five problems coming towards you, four of them will fall into the ditch before they ever reach you." --- Calvin Coolidge
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [27:32]
- Dark chocolate
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [28:03]
- "As being kind and wise, and especially as being kinder and wiser than I am right now."
[28:37] Where to find Jonathan * Website: happinesscurvebook.com
[29:10] Closing words Feedback & Connect * Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android * Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com * Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur * Join our Facebook page * Check out our Pinterest page: myinstructionmanual
Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin provides advice on healthy snacking. And host Keith McArthur announces the topic of his next book: Resolutions.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 32 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro Keith's next book will be about resolutions [00:59]
The three resolutions Keith is setting as part of his research for the book [01:43]
Keith shares feedback from readers about their own guilty pleasures [4:08]
[6:20] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on Healthy Snacking Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- A healthy snack combines produce (fruits and vegetables) with protein [6:59]
- Healthy fats can also be part of healthy snacking [7:33]
- Try to have healthy snacks on hand. They're hard to find when you're out and suddenly have cravings [9:01}
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[10:06] Closing words
In this special episode of the podcast, host Keith McArthur ask some of the world's most inspiring people about their guilty pleasures. Guests include Rick Hanson, Sally Helgesen, Morra Aarons-Mele and Greg Wells.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 31 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [0:59] Guilty Pleasures Keith counts down his past guests' guilty pleasures.
- Jenny Blake, from episode 1 [1:16]
- Kurek Ashley, from episode 2 [2:05]
- Robert Puff, from episode 3 [3:14]
- Luminita D. Saviuc, from episode 4 [4:03]
- Joelenta Greenberg, from episode 5 [4:55]
- Greg Wells, from episode 6 [5:34]
- Fabiana Bacchini, from episode 7 [6:58]
- Celeste Headlee, from episode 8 [7:41]
- Morra Aarons-Mele, from episode 9 [8:03]
- Martin Gibala, from episode 10 [8:39]
- Andrea Owen, from episode 13 [8:54]
- Jeff Chegwin, from episode 14 [9:30]
- Carmela DiClemente, from episode 14 [10:20]
- Leslie Caubble, from episode, from episode 15 [10:58]
- Daisy Buchanan, from episode 16 [11:38]
- Kristen Ulmer, from episode 17 [12:54]
- Jake Nawrocki, from episode 18 [14:06]
- Stever Robbbins, from episode 19 [14:56]
- Olivia D'Silva, from episode 22 [15:15 ]
- Rick Hanson, from episode 24 [16:10]
- Chantal Heide, from episode 25 [18:49]
- Stephanie McArthur, from episode 26 [19:20]
- Sally Helgesen, from episode 27 [20:44]
- Todd Davis, from episode 28 [21:34]
- Jason Richardson, from episode 29 [22:54]
- Alison Green, from episode 30 [23:57]
- Keith McArthur, from episode 11 [24:10]
- Joelle Anderson, from episode 11 [24:42]
- Michelle Jaelin, from episode 11 [25:35]
- Kathleen Trotter, from episode 11 [26:44]
[28:21] Closing words
Alison Green, author of Ask a Manager offers advice on some common workplace challenges. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about how meditation can help with mental health challenges like depression and anxiety.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 30 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:59} Keith reflects on death and dying [3:52] Featured interview with Alison Green Alison is author of Ask a Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-stealing Bosses and the Rest of Your Life at Work. Described as the “Dear Abbey of the workplace," Alison has dishing out workplace advice for more than a decade at AskAManager.org.
In this conversation, Keith and Alison discuss:
- What do you do if you have an employee casting curses on colleagues? [4:34]
- How Alison became a workplace advice expert [5:50]
- The answer to most workplace challenges is 'speak up and have the awkward conversations.' [8:07]
- How Alison's advice has evolved over the past 11 years [11:46]
- Alison's advice on:
- What if your boss keeps stealing your lunch [15:56]
- Why employees should act more like independent consultants [17:23]
- What if your boss is micro-managing you [18:53]
- What if your co-worker is writing a mean blog about you [21:45]
- What if a co-worker asks you to keep a secret from your boss [22:55]
- What if you have an employee who spends too much time on social media? [24:23]
- What if you have an employee who is always late? [25:45]
[29:24] Alison's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [29:40]
- Spends at least a day every day reading
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [30:17]
- Emma by Jane Austin
- "I've read Jane Austin's Emma more times than I can count and it just makes me happy."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [30:53]
- "I don't know if it's a mantra, but I feel really strongly that we should all do what we say we're going to do when we say we're going to do it and I find myself telling that to people a lot."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [31:32]
- Naps
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [31:45]
- Finding ways to make the world a better one
[32:08] Where to find Alison * Website: Askamanager.org * Twitter: @askamanager
[32:45] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on how meditation helps people suffering from mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Whether this can be done on own vs with a professional [33:55]
- How mindfulness helps Joelle's clients [36:25]
- Risks of managing mental health through mindfulness [37:01]
- Where to find Joelle [37:53 ]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[38:16] Closing words
World champion athlete Jason Richardson talks about what it means to have a gold medal mindset. Now a psychologist, Jason teaches people how to live better lives as an author, podcaster, speaker and coach. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about why you need to get in shape before you take up running.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 29 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:59] Featured interview with Jason Richardson Twenty years ago, Jason Richardson was one of the world's top BMX racers. Now a psychologist, he teaches people to live better lives. Jason is the author of It's All BS: We're all Wrong and You're All Right and host of the Gold Medal Mindset podcast. Jason lives in California where he works as a sports and business psychologist and coach.
In this conversation, Keith and Jason discuss:
- Jason's 15-year run as a world champion athlete [1:20]
- What being a world-class athlete taught Jason about how to succeed in life [8:40]
- The Gold Medal Mindset [12:06]
- Raising our kids to focus on being the best at one things vs. trying many different things [15:05]
- Jason's book It's all BS [19:30]
[20:51] Jason Richardson's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [21:00]
- Gets up early to meditate five days a week
- Rides his bike
- Works on something he's obsessed about
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [23:16]
- The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [25:00]
- The more I do, the more I can do
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [27:08]
- TV in bed
- Mexican food
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [28:10]
- "He did what he thought was right, anyway."
[31:12] Where to find Jason * Website: drjasonrichardson.com * Instagram: @realdrjrich * Twitter: @realdrjrich * Podcast on iTunes: Gold Medal Mindset
[32:35] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on Training to Run Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why is running so hard on the body? [33:44]
- How to get in shape before running [36:00]
- What about stretching? [37:54}
- Where to find Kathleen [42:48]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
Todd Davis, author of Get Better, discusses how to build effective relationships at work. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about the role that alcohol plays in your diet.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 28 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:00] Featured interview with Todd Davis Todd is author of Get Better: 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work. He is executive vice president and chief people officer of Franklin Covey Co., which bills itself as the world's leading performance improvement firm.
In this conversation, Keith and Todd discuss:
- What 20th century French philosophy has to do with the 21st century North American workplace [1:35]
- Why good relationships are fundamental to an organization's success [4:52]
- Practice #6: Avoid the Pinball syndrome (focus on the things that really make a difference in your life) [6:51]
- These practices can also apply to relationships outside of work [9:20]
- Are there gender differences in these practices? [10:17]
- Practice #15: Start with humility [12:20]
- References book Lead with Humility: 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis by Jeffrey A Krames
- Practice #8: Take Stock of Your Emotional Bank Accounts [14:01]
- Practice #11: Get the Volume Right [16:48]
- Practice #2: Carry Your Own Weather [19:33]
- Reference to Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
- Practice # 10: Talk Less, Listen More [22:08]
[24:29] Toodd's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [24:57]
- Exercise every day
- Listens to something uplifting or inspiring
- Commit to be "the positive force" at work
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [27:04]
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
- Linchpin by Seth Godin
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [30:40]
- "Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be. Because sooner or later if you are posing you will forget the pose and then where are you?" - Fanny Bryce
- "If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do." - Mohatma Gandhi
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [32:46]
- Diet Coke
- The TV show Dateline
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [34:01]
- As someone who valued and continually nurtured the most important relationships in his life.
[35:15] Where to find Todd * Website: GetBetterBook.com * Twitter: @ToddDavisFC * Facebook: /ToddDavisFC
[36:10] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on alcohol and nutrition Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- From nutritional perspective, less alcohol is better; no alcohol is best [36:50]
- Common misconceptions about alcohol [37:50]
- Are there any health benefits to alcohol? [39:57]
- Where to find Michelle:
-
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
Sally Helgesen, author of How Women Rise, shares the 12 habits that may be holding you back from your next raise, promotion or job. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about the best mindfulness and meditation books.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 27 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:58] Featured interview with Sally Helgesen Sally Helgesen is author of How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back From Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job. Sally is one of the world's leading women's leadership experts. She has developed and delivered leadership programs around the world for 30 years.
In this conversation, Keith and Sally discuss:
- Why women still feel that they need to change if they're going to succeed in the workplace [1:58]
- We refer to Sally's book The Female Advantage
- How much less patriarchal are workplaces than they were 30 years ago? [3:15]
- How the bad habits that hold women back in the workplace are different from those that hold men back [5:01]
- Sally says these differences apply to women of all ages [7:01]
- Habit 7: The perfection Trap [8:53]
- Habit 8: The Disease to Please [10:55]
- Even as a man, Keith identifies with many of these habits [12:12]
- Habit 12: Letting Your Radar Distract You [14:07]
- Habit 5: Failing to Enlist Allies from Day One [20:17]
- Habit 2: Expecting Others to Spontaneously Notice and Reward Your Contributions [22:51]
- How to get started in addressing the habits holding you back [25:39]
[27:33] Sally's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [27:53]
- Start the day with 20 minutes of pilates, followed by reflecting on gratitude
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [28:51]
- Falling Upwards by Richard Rohr
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [39.33]
- "Join the fray with vigor." Tom Peters
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [30:26]
- Long conversations with her dog when out for walks
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [31:09]
- As someone who helped women recognize, articulate and act on their greatest strengths.
[31:47] Where to find Sally * Website: SallyHelgesen.com * LinkedIn: * Twitter: @
[33:01] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Minfulness books. Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss and recommend the following books:
- Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
- 10% Happier by Dan Harris
- Mindfulness for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
- Self Compassion by Kristin Neff
- Unplug by Suze Yalof-Schwartz
- Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Where to find Joelle
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
- Scroll down to watch Joelle's video with book recommendations
-
[39:38] Closing words
Stephanie McArthur shares her experience of donating a kidney with podcast host Keith McArthur, who also happens to be her brother and recipient of the very same kidney. And nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin talks about how to stay healthy when eating at restaurants.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 26 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:58] Featured interview with Stephanie McArthur Stephanie McArthur is my hero. One year ago, she gave me a second chance at life by donating a kidney to me. She joins me in this episode to talk about her kidney transplant journey.
In this conversation, Keith and Stephanie discuss:
- First recollections of Keith's kidney disease [1:38]
- The death of their father and how that confirmed Stephanie's willingness to donate a kidney to Keith if it ever came to that [3:20]
- Another sibling gets tested first [5:14]
- What questions did Stephanie have when she was going through testing process? [7:08]
- Stephanie and Keith discuss fear ahead of the surgery [13:02]
- Yes, there was pain... [15:46]
- ... and nerve damage [18:50]
- The recovery period after the hospital [21:35]
- What living donors need to be aware of [22:55]
- How the transplant changed our lives [24:09]
[25:49] Stephanie's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [26:00]
- Get enough sleep
- Eat mostly whole foods
- Drink a lot of water
- Move your body
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [26:49]
- Baseball Life Advice by Stacy May Fowles
- Keith refers to the book he edited featuring Stacy May Fowles: Bat Flip: The Greatest Toronto Blue Jays Stories Ever Told
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [28:22]
- "I may be lying in the gutter, but I'm looking at the stars."
- Similar to the following quote attributed to Oscar Wilde: "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [28:52]
- Sleeping In
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [30:07]
- "I just want the people who I shared this journey with to remember the good things that we've done together, and the times that we laughed, and the joy that we had, and I hope that having known me, even if I'm gone, was something positi ve for them, and helped them to move forward in their own journey, in a better way."
[31:00] Where to find Stephanie * "They can't"
[31:49] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on eating healthy at restaurants Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Why restaurant food is so bad for us [32:09]
- What steps can we take to eat healthier at restaurants? [32:40]
- What about fast food? [34:00]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
Chantal Heide, author of seven books about relationships reveals the secret to finding love. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about Metta Meditation.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 25 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:05] Featured interview with Chantal Heide Chantal Heide, a dating coach who has written several books on dating and relationships including No More Assholes: Your 7 Step Guide to Saying Goodbye to Guys and Finding the Real Man You're Looking For. Chantal’s latest book - Dating 101: Understanding the Drive,s Behaviours and Emotions Behind Love - debuted last week.
In this conversation, Keith and Chantal discuss:
- Chantal's own dating struggles [1:37]
- Meditation as the secret to finding love [3:12]
- Keith about how he feels stress build up when he takes a break from meditation [6:53]
- When we know what we want in a relationship, we'll find that the right person is put in our path [8:50]
- The difference between "guys" and "men" [10:05]
- How expectations can kill relationships [11:54]
- It's impossible to make other people happy [15:50]
- Why Chantal wanted to write a book for teenagers [17:38]
- Chantal's "no kissing for three months" rule [18:32]
- Chantal mentions "phenylethylamine"
[21:15] Chantal's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [21:39]
- Meditation
- A paleo diet with an emphasis on plants
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [22:24]
- The dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [23:31]
- "I surrender."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [25:31]
- Watching cat videos
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [25:59]
- As a revolutionist, someone who caused a shift in relationships
[27:10] Where to find Chantal * Website: canadasdatingcoach.com * Instagram: canadasdatingcoach * YouTube: Chantal Heide * Podcast: iTunes
[28:22] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on Metta meditation Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Metta Meditation = Love and Kindness Meditation = Compassion Meditation [28:50]
- How to do Metta meditation [30:22]
- Metta m editation can feel like prayer [32:54]
- Where to find Joelle [34:05]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[35:27] Closing words
Rick Hanson, New York Times best-selling author of Hardwiring Happiness, talks about his new book Resilient. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about how to overcome the most common meditation stumbling blocks.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 24 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [0:59] Featured interview with Rick Hanson Rick Hanson is the New York Times best-selling author of Hardwiring Happiness and Buddha's Brain. His latest book, Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness comes out this week. Rick is a psychologist who lives in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
In this conversation, Keith and Rick discuss:
- How Hardwiring Happiness created an awkward moment between Keith, his wife and a box of Starbucks coffee pods [2:05}
- The science behind how we can change the physical structure by changing our thoughts [3:08]
- How stress re-wires our brains in a harmful way [5:20]
- The brain's negativity bias [7:14]
- What it was like to co-author Resilient with his son Forrest [8:48]
- What does Rick mean by Resilience? [12:11]
- Why we need to acquire inner strengths we may not already have [18:46]
- Learning as the "superpower of superpowers" [20:08]
[22:05] Rick Hanson's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [22:18]
- Meditate for a minute or more every day
- To admit fault and move on rapidly
- Exercise
- Reset to "green zone" several times each day
- Try to experience "awestruck gratitude" regularly
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [28:18]
- Dune by Frank
- Buddha's Brain by
- Sati Petth ana by Analayo
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [31:34]
- "Think not lightly of good, saying it will not come to me. Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise the wise one, gathering it little by little fills oneself with good."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [32:20]
- Righteous Anger
- Good chocolate, good coffee
- Being off trail by himself in serious wilderness
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [35:04]
- "He was a loving guy."
- Remembered as someone who kept trying
- As someone for whom "wakefulness shone through neuroses."
[36:10] Where to find Rick * Website: RickHanson.net
[37:24] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on meditation stumbling blocks Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Stumbling block 1: Meditation isn't always relaxing [38:16]
- Stumbling block 2: Establishing meditation as a habit [39:35]
- Stumbling block 3: self doubt [41:42]
- Where to find Joelle [43:32]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[44:00] Closing words
In this very special edition of the podcast, life lessons from 10 of the most inspiring people on the planet. Host Keith McArthur speaks with Rick Hanson, Daisy Buchanan, Kristen Ulmer, Olivia D'Silva, Jake Nawrocki, Andrea Owen, Leslie Caubble, Carmela DiClemente, Jeff Chegwin and Stever Robbins.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 23 Show Notes [1:20] Welcome and Intro [1:45] Rick Hanson: 'Love at Will' Rick Hanson is the New York Times bestselling author of is author of Hardwiring Happiness and Buddha's Brain in 2009. His new book Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness goes on sale on March 27.
Rick will be back for a featured interview on Episode 24 of the My Instruction Manual podcast, which will be available on March 26. It's an amazing conversation so make sure you give it a listen.
[3:51] Daisy Buchanan: 'Success isn't permanent. Neither is failure.' Daisy Buchanan is the author of How To Be a Grown Up: You’re Doing Fine and Let Me Tell You Why. Daisy is a freelance journalist living in England.
Daisy first appeared on episode 16 of the podcast. Listen here.
[9:03] Kristen Ulmer: 'The most important relationship you will ever have is your relationship with fear' Kristen Ulmer is author of The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won’t Work and What to Do Instead. In the nineties, Kristen was known as the best female big mountain extreme skier in the world.
Kristen talks first appeared on episode 17 of the podcast. Listen here.
[12:13] Olivia D'Silva: 'Don't Take Your Blessings for Granted' Olivia D'Silva is author of Your Whole Life Economy: Recognize Your True Value and Improve Your Quality of Life, in which she describes seven precious resources we all have to offer. She is a life coach living in England.
Olivia was my guest last week on episode 22 of the podcast. Listen here.
[15:53] Jake Nawrocki: 'Never Give Up' Jake Nawrocki is the host of the popular podcast Operation Self Reset. He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Jake first appeared on episode 18 of the podcast. Listen here.
[19:41] Andrea Owen: 'Take Responsibility' Andrea is author of How to Stop Feeling Like Sht: 14 Habits that Are Holding You Back from Happiness*. She is a life coach based on North Carolina and hosts the Your Kick-Ass Life Podcast.
Andrea first appeared on episode 13 of the podcast. Listen here.
[22:25] Leslie Caubble: 'Progress not Perfection' Leslie Caubble blogs and podcasts about living in Hawaii at The Aloha 360. She was one of more than a million people who woke up on the morning of Jan. 13, 2018 to an errant email that warned ballistic missiles were on the way.
Leslie first appeared on episode 15 of the podcast. Listen here.
[28:03] Carmela DiClemente: 'Love is the most important thing in life ' Carmela DiClemente is co-author of Dare to Win: Lessons from 57 of the world’s most successful people. Carmela is former BBC producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in the UK radio business.
Carmela appeared on episode 14 with co-author Jeff Chegwin. Listen here.
[29:54] Jeff Chegwin: 'If you have a vision, see it through' Jeff Chegwin is co-author of Dare to Win: Lessons from 57 of the world’s most successful people. A veteran of the UK music industry, Jeff has promoted some of the biggest names in the industry including Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello.
Jeff appeared on episode 14 with co-author Carmela DiClemente. Listen here.
[30:54] Stever Robbins: 'Less Information. More Doing.' Stever Robins is author of Get-It-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More: Transform Yourself from Overwhelmed to Overachiever and host of the Get-It-Done-Guy Podcast. He is an executive coach and communications consultant who has been involved in multiple startups.
Stever first appeared on episode 19 of the podcast. Listen here.
[39:35] Closing words Feedback & Connect * Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android * Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com * Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur * Join our Facebook page * Check out our Pinterest page: myinstructionmanual
Olivia D'Silva, author of The Whole Life Economy shares what she says are the seven essential resources in the economy of life. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about the risks of worrying too much about the foods we put into our bodies.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 22 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:46] Featured interview with Olivia D'Silva Olivia is author of Your Whole Life Economy: Recognize Your True Value and Improve Your Quality of Life, in which she describes seven precious resources we all have to offer. She is a life coach living in England.
In this conversation, Keith and Olivia discuss:
- Olivia as Keith's author twin [1:46]
- Olivia's life-changing event: the death of her brother Andrew [2:37]
- Live had become a "superficial and soulless experience" [5:15]
- Olivia moves to France but still feels lost and disconnected [6:15]
- What Olivia learned from eating livestock she had raised [8:15]
- Olivia introduces the whole life economy [11:15]
- Some resources renew over time [12:57]
- The resource of physicality and appreciating the gift of life [14:15]
- The challenge of spending the attention resource carefully [18:30]
- Why love isn't one of the resources [19:36]
- The difficulty of defining joy [21:09]
- Olivia's No. 1 tip for using our resources wisely? Start with joy [22:45]
[25:25] Olivia's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [25:42]
- Yoga and meditation
- Eating well
- Not allowing herself to get too busy
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [27:05]
- The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom by Rob Stryker
- "If anybody is wanting to find direction in life, I totally recommend this book."
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
- "Reading these two books in conjunction really helped me to think about what it is that I want to offer the world."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [28:21]
- "Don't postpone your happiness. The best time to take stock is long before some tragedy strikes to confirm that life doesn't last forever." --- Rob Stryker
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [28:52]
- Sleeping in on Monday mornings
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [29:45]
- As someone who brought joy into other peoples' lives
[30:56] Where to find Olivia * Website: Oliviadsilva.com * Instagram: @livdsilva * Twitter: @livdsilva * Book: Your Whole Life Economy: Recognize Your True Value and Improve Your Quality of Life,
[32:00] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on the downside of too much information about nutrition Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Why too much nutrition information can be a problem [32:26]
- Orthorexia Nervosa: an obsession with healthy eating [35:15]
- Solution: eat mindfully [35:43]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
Host Keith McArthur reads an excerpt from his new book, 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier, Happier You. It's all about gratitude, including a gratitude hack you don't want to miss.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 21 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:56] Keith on pre-launch jitters and early feedback * Keith worries: 'what if nobody buys my book?' [00:56] * Keith shares some advance praise for the book [1:40]
[3:40] Keith Reads from 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier, Happier You. Step 5: Embrace Gratitude In this excerpt, Keith shares:
- Why we should be grateful for sharks [4:13]
- His gratitude birthday [5:11]
- A gratitude hack [7:00]
[10:04] Closing words
Keith McArthur takes readers behind the scenes of the launch of his upcoming book 18 Steps to Own Your Life.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page and our Self-Help Book Club on Facebook
- Find us on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube
- Buy 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Healthier Happier You on Amazon
Episode 20 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:57] Keith on 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers For a Healthier, Happier You. In this episode, Keith talks about:
- Why this episode is different [00:57]
- What led him to write this book [4:26]
- What 18 Steps to Own Your Life is all about [11:15]
- Behind the scenes of launching a book [14:15]
- Mentions Launch podcast
- What a successful book launch will look like [19:00]
[21:34] Closing words
Stever Robbins, host of the Get-It-Done-Guy Podcast and author of Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More, shares his best productivity hacks. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about how exercise can help us beat the February blahs.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 19 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:57] 18 Steps to Own Your Life * Keith's next book comes out Tuesday, March 6 * Keith is recruiting launch team members who can get a pre-release review copy now * myinstructionmanual.com/launchteam
[01:43] Featured interview with Stever Robins Stever Robins is author of Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More: Transform Yourself from Overwhelmed to Overachiever and host of the Get-It-Done-Guy Podcast. He is an executive coach and communications consultant who has been involved in multiple startups.
- Stever moved out of home as a teenager at 14 and got started as a computer programmer [2:30]
- How growing up a computer programmer led Stever to crack the human algorithm [4:22]
- The trouble with productivity [9:05]
- How the erosion of task-specific space has created a productivity crisis [13:15]
- Why smartphones make it harder to implement workarounds, such as only checking your email a couple times a day [18:03]
- Is it time to get rid of the smartphone and go back to a flip phone? [20:26]
- Why putting your phone in black and white mode makes it less addicting [22:10]
- Divorcing your computer [22:54}
- Work Less and Do More: The Zombie Musical
- Stever's views on living an extraordinary life [29:35]
- Why we should pursue fulfillment instead of success [31:46]
- Stever's theory of hard work [34:30]
[36:06] Stever's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [36:26]
- Exercise
- Eat well
- Have human contact regularly
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [38:23]
- Loving What Is: Four Questions that Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie
- "I have found nothing that even approaches this in terms of how powerful it can be."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [39:26]
- "Done is the Engine of More" from The Done Manifesto
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [40:55]
- Oreo Ice Cream Cake
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [41:06]
- "To be honest, how I'm remembered is just not important to me. What's important to me is the change that I make in the world."
[42:12] Where to find Stever * Podcast on iTunes: Get It Done Guy * SteverRobbins.com * Stever's Living and Extraordinary Life Speech * Work Less and Do More: The Zombie Musical
[43:24] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on how exercise can help with the February blahs Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Why working out is most important on days we don't feel like working out [44:37]
- Getting outdoor exercise in the winter is good for you, but you need to take precautions to stay safe [47:09]
- Where to find Kathleen [48:49]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[49:12] Closing words
Jake Nawrocki, host of the Operation Self Reset podcast, outlines the steps we need to take to reset our lives. Host Keith McArthur announces the title and launch date of his next book. And mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson explains why you might want to add a body scan to your meditation practice.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 18 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:57] Keith's book announcement * 18 Steps to Own Your Life: Simple Powers for a Happier, Healthier You will be released on Tuesday, March 6 * Keith is putting together a launch team for the book. Launch team members will get a free copy of the book in exchange for writing and posting one or two honest reviews
[2:09] Featured interview with Jake Nawarocki Jake Nawrocki is the host of the popular podcast Operation Self Reset. He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In this conversation, Keith and Jake discuss:
- How early morning hockey practice make Jake a self-help junkie [2:49]
- How business struggles led Jake to create Operation Self Reset [5:16]
- What is Operation Self Reset? [7:24]
- Chasing perfection is dangerous because it gets in the way of progress [10:33]
- Number one step of a reset: Clearly define your goals [12:43]
- How emotions and feelings get in the way and dictate our decisions [15:01]
- The brain-cut connection and the importance of taking care of your gut [16:00]
- Jake refers to The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health
- Why a lack of confidence and self-esteem are the biggest stumbling blocks for a self-reset [20:30]
- Jake's struggles balancing life and business [22:53]
[24:36] Jake Nawrocki's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [25:01]
- Read something
- Take care of gut health
- Sweat (exercise)
- Get enough sleep
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [25:34]
- As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
- "It's an amazing read. I highly suggest it."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [26:54]
- "Winners never quit and quitters never win." Vince Lombardi
- "Do what you can't." Casey Neistat (scroll down to see his YouTube video)
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [29:20]
- Ice cream
- Video games
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [30:12]
- As a guy who tried something that filled him up.
[31:21] Where to find Jake * Podcast on iTunes: Operation Self Reset * Website: OperationSelfReset.com * Twitter: @JakeNarocki * Facebook: OSRfanpage * Email: Jake@operationselfreset.com
[32:19] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on including a body scan in your meditation practice Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- What is a body scan? [32:56]
- When to do a body scan? [34:57]
- Where to find Joelle [36:08]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
Kristen Ulmer, author of The Art of Fear, shares the four-step art of fear method. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about why most diets are a waste of time.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 17 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:00] Featured interview with Kristen Ulmer Kristen Ulmer is author of The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won't Work and What to Do Instead. In the nineties, Kristen was known as the best female big mountain extreme skier in the world.
In this conversation, Keith and Kristen discuss:
- Kristen tells the story of the day she instantly became recognized as the best in the world [2:01]
- Fear as a motivation [3:56]
- Fear as mindfulness [5:12]
- That time Kristen got paralyzed by fear when she went to give a speech on how to overcome fear [7:05]
- How Kristen learned she had an unhealthy relationship with fear [9:31]
- Kristen says we can't overcome fear. She shares what we need to do instead [12:30]
- The Art of Fear Method [15:11]
- Step 1: Acknowledge that fear is natural and normal to feel, not a sign of weakness or a character flaw [15:36]
- Step 2: Be aware of where you're feeling discomfort in your body related to fear [16:09]
- Step 3: Be aware of how much you're trying to resist the sensations of fear [18:58]
- Step 4: Feel the discomfort without trying to get rid of it [21:04]
- Meditation and fear [23:36]
- Kristen says a better relationship with fear would have made her an even better skier [25:19]
[26:52] Kristen's Inuction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [27:10]
- The 4-step art of fear practice
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [27:50]
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- "Reading that book really changed my life because I realized I could access that state just sitting in a chair."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [28:51]
- "Whatever you won't look at is the key to freedom."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [30:18]
- Macaroni and Cheese
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [30:49]
- As someone who embodied what it means to be "alive"
[32:14] Where to find Kristen * Website: KristenUlmer.com
[32:27] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on diets Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- How should we define diet? [33:46]
- Michelle's verdict on the ketogenic diet and periodic fasting [34:18]
- Michelle's advice: Eat more mindfully and stop when you feel full [36:14]
- Why Michelle is down on what we traditionally think of as diets [47:25]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[38:42] Closing words
Daisy Buchanan, author of How To Be a Grown Up, teaches important life skills like how to be confident, how to manage money and how to wash your hair. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about how exercise makes you smarter.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 16 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [1:00] Featured interview with Daisy Buchanan Daisy Buchanan is the author of How To Be a Grown Up: You're Doing Fine and Let Me Tell You Why. Daisy is a freelance journalist living in England.
In this conversation, Keith and Daisy discuss:
- How reviewing her own search history led Daisy to write this book [1:42]
- How social media created an existential crisis for Daisy and other millennials [4:30]
- Why Daisy chose to live in public with a more honest version of herself [7:52]
- Why do millennials fetishize "adulting" [13:51]
- How to wash your hair [19:10]
- Why you're probably doing fine at adulting [22:24]
- How to be confident [23:41]
- How to make and manage money [25:37]
[28:46] Daisy's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [29:08]
- To make sure she gets outside into nature every day
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [30:26]
- Crazy Salad by Nora Ephron
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [32:33]
- "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - John Watson (aka Ian McLaren)
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [33:43]
- "I was brought up Catholic so all of my pleasures are guilty."
- Domino's Stuffed Crust BBQ Pizza and Ben and Jerry's ice cream
- Re-reading books
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [34:56]
- "If my name were to come up in conversation after I have passed, I'd like people to say: 'she was kind and she was funny.'"
[35:13] Where to find Daisy Buchanan * Instagram: @thedaisybee * Twitter: @notrollergirl
[36:25] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on how exercise makes you smarter Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- The more reasons we have to be active, the more likely we are to do it. [36:54]
- The science behind how exercise makes you smarter [40:41]
- Exercise is more important for brain health as you get older [42:22]
- Where to find Kathleen [44:04]
- KatheenTrotter.com
- Instagram: KathleenTrotterFitness
- Twitter: KTrotterFitness
- Facebook: KathleenTrotter
[44:30] Closing words
Leslie Caubble, who recently moved to Maui, shares what went through her mind on the morning of Jan. 13, 2017 when an errant missile alert made her think she was about to die. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about the differences and similarities between meditation and yoga.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 15 Show Notes [00:00] Welcome and Intro [00:57] Featured interview with Leslie Caubble On the morning of Jan. 13, 2017, people across the state of Hawaii received an alert on their phones warning that ballistic missiles were on the way. “THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” the alert read in all caps. 37 minutes later a second text went out which let people know that, in fact, it was all a mistake. But in the meantime, more than 1-million people wondered if their lives were about to end. One of these people was Leslie Caubble who blogs and podcasts about living in Hawaii at The Aloha 360.
In this conversation, Keith and Leslie discuss:
- Why the Caubble family moved to Hawaii [1:49]
- Leslie gets the alert on her phone [4:29]
- Leslie's initial thoughts and feelings [6:47]
- We reference Leslie's blog post where she writes about 37 random thoughts during those 37 anxious minutes
- The Caubbles prepare their home for an imminent missile strike [10:04]
- Leslie wondered if she was going to die [12:02]
- Leslie writes her kids an "I'm about to die, I love you" text. [13:40]
- The first clues this wasn't real [16:59]
- How the even changed Leslie [18:50]
- Can an event like this make Hawaii kinder and more compassionate? [21:58]
[24:51] Leslie Caubble's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [25:09]
- Start of day by reading Bible or some other devotional or inspirational reading
- Make a to-do list and block her time for the day
- Set aside some time to be outside in nature every day
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [26:42]
- The One Thing by Gary Keller
- "I use it every day, just the whole premise of it."
- Book she wants to read: The Road Back To You
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [28:17]
- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [29:00]
- Flying (as a pilot)
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [29:23]
- As a humble servant to God, her husband, her children and to the people around her. "That I served others around me with love and grace and mercy and patience."
[30:09] Where to find Leslie * Website (blog and podcast): thealoha360.com * Instagram: @lcaubble * Twitter: @lesliecaubble * Pinterest: /LeslieCaubble
[31:17] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on the similarities and differences between yoga and meditation Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- What are the similarities / differences between yoga and meditation? [31:34]
- Should we do both? [32:36]
- Slower forms of yoga are best for mindfulness, but any kind of will do. It's more about shifting to a more mindful mindset when you practice [33:55]
- Where to follow and connect with Joelle [34:54]
-
- Kernelofwisdom.com
- YouTube.com/KernelofWisdom1
-
[35:19] Closing words
Jeff Chegin and Carmela DiClemente, co-authors of Dare to Win, explain how failure helped some of the world's most successful people including Steven King, Adele and David Bowie. And host Keith McArthur speaks with nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin about eating right in 2018.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 14 Show Notes [0:00] Welcome and Intro [1:00] Featured interview with Andrea Owen Carmela DiClemente and Jeff Chegwin, are co-authors of Dare to Win: Lessons from 57 of the world's most successful people. A veteran of the UK music industry, Jeff has promoted some of the biggest names in the industry including Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. Carmela is former BBC producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in the UK radio business.
In this conversation, Keith, Jeff and Carmela discuss:
- What it means to "Dare to Win" [2:02]
- Jeff's favorite story in the Book: Adele [3:04]
- Carmela on Steven King [3:56]
- Jeff on how rejection led to David Bowie's success [8:14]
- Carmela on rejection as a driver for success [9:13]
- Jeff and Carmela talk about the celebrities they've met (David Bowie, Simon Cowell, Paul McCartney) [11:20]
- Jeff tells his own Dare to Win story: How he helped Billy Bragg make it big with a bowl of curry [14:58]
- Scroll down to for a YouTube clip of Bragg's "New England"
[19:01] Jeff Chegwin's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [20:55]
- Sleep well
- Run
- Drink lots of water
- Surround self with positive people
- Try to be the same person to everybody
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [22:04]
- "I don't think I've ever read one" but Fix You by Coldplay as an inspirational song.
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [25:46]
- "Believe in your dreams and they will come true"
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [26:26]
- Unhealthy food like chocolate and cookies (biscuits)
- Documentaries about the supernatural
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [29:14]
- Being motivational and helping people
[19:01] Carmela DiClemente's Instruction Manual 1. What are the habits you maintain every day to stay happy and healthy? [19:21]
- Connect to nature, even if it's just looking at the trees and the sky in crowded London
- Exercise including yoga, walking and tennis
- Take time to reflect on whether she's being courteous and kind to those around her
2. What personal development book do you recommend? [22:20]
- My Family and other Animals by Gerald Durrell
- "It made me worship nature."
3. Favorite personal mantra / inspirational quote [23:31]
- "You can't fast-track to happiness and you can't shortcut misery."
4. What's your one guilty pleasure? [27:08]
- Playing The Smithsvery loud
5. When your time comes, how do you want to be remembered? [28:00]
- As somebody who loved well
[29:56] Where to find Jeff * Website: Jeffchegwin.com
[30:27] Where to find Carmela * Twitter: @sloanesqgal
[30:54] Nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin on New Year's Resolutions Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
In this conversation, Keith and Michelle discuss:
- Why are health-related resolutions so popular? [31:15]
- Michelle explains the "false hope syndrome" [31:43]
- What should people do if they've already fallen off track with their resolutions? [33:24]
- Where to find Michelle:
- Website: nutritionartist.com
- Twitter: @nutritionartist
- Instagram: /nutritionartist
- Facebook: /nutritionartistRD
[35:10] Closing words
Andrea Owen, author of How to Stop Feeling Like Sht, reveals 14 toxic habits that are holding us back from happiness. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter* about exercise resolutions for the new year.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 13 Details:
[1:02] Featured interview with Martin Andrea Owen Andrea is author of How to Stop Feeling Like Sht: 14 Habits that Are Holding You Back from Happiness*. She is a life coach based on North Carolina and hosts the Your Kick-Ass Life Podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Andrea discuss:
- When Andrea hit rock bottom [2:13]
- How Andrea became a life coach [4:19]
- Andrea opens up about her struggles with co-dependency, eating disorders, love addiction and alcohol abuse [5:30]
- How Andrea identified the 14 toxic habits that hold us back from happiness [9:31]
- Keith admits that he sees 13 of the toxic habits in himself [10:53]
- Andrea talks about the most common habits that hold us back [11:30]
- Negative self-talk [11:30]
- Isolating and hiding out [13:36]
- So many of us struggle alone with our toxic habits [14:18]
- Dealing with these habits takes work [16:10]
- The habit Andrea is currently struggling with [17:38]
- When you want to cancel, is it because of fear or self care? [18:54]
- Why Andrea doesn't believe in affirmations, but does recommend mantras [22:02}
- Andrea on meditation [25:26]
- Practical tools:
- Make a list of all the things we're scared people will think about us [28:00]
- Talk to others about our successes [32:29]
[34:34] Andrea Owen's Instruction Manual [39:29] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on exercise resolutions for the new year Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Is New Year's really the best time for resolutions? [39:53]
- How Gretchen Rubin's The Four Tendencies can help you with your resolutions [43:11]
In this special edition of the podcast, life lessons from 10 of the most inspiring people on the planet. Host Keith McArthur speaks to Jenny Blake, Kurek Ashley, Robert Puff, Luminita D. Saviuc, Jolenta Greenberg, Greg Wells, Fabiana Bacchini, Celeste Headlee, Morra Aarons-Mele and Martin Gibala.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 12 Details:
[1:30] Morra Aaron-Mele: ‘Own your choices’
[5:37] Kurek Ashley: ‘Choose happiness’
[8:30] Fabiana Bacchini: ‘Live in the present’
[12:36] Celeste Headlee: ‘Don’t pick your career based on job titles’
[15:23] Martin Gibala: ‘Work hard, be humble, get lucky and take risks’
[17:20] Jolenta Greenberg: ‘Trust your gut’
[20:26] Greg Wells: ‘Major obstacles lead to major growth’
[23:00] Robert Puff: ‘You can’t live your whole life in the now, you can only live this moment in the now’
[25:33] Luminita D. Saviuc: ‘There’s darkness in people, so trust your intuition’
[28:42] Jenny Blake: ‘Stressful thoughts are optional’
In this special holiday edition of the podcast, Keith McArthur's son takes over and turns the tables on his dad. Connor McArthur asks Keith five questions to uncover the Keith McArthur recipe for success. Then Keith asks these same questions of the show's regular contributors Joelle Anderson, Kathleen Trotter and Michelle Jaelin.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 11 Details:
[1:02] Keith McArthur's Instruction Manual Keith McArthur is the host and creator of the My Instruction Manual podcast.
[4:50] Joelle Anderson's Instruction Manual Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
[9:51] Kathleen Trotter's Instruction Manual Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
[20:24] Michelle Jaelin's Instruction Manual Michelle Jaelin is both a trained artist and a Registered Dietitian who is known as The NutritionArtist. She appears regularly as in newspapers, magazines and on television as an expert in healthy eating.
Martin Gibala, author of The One-Minute Workout, reveals how to make high intensity interval training an efficient and effective component of your fitness routine. And host Keith McArthur speaks with fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter about setting up an inexpensive home gym.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 10 Details:
[1:02] Featured interview with Martin Gibala Martin is author of The One Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That's Smarter Faster Shorter. Martin is a professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada and perhaps the leading expert in High Intensity Interval Training.
In this conversation, Keith and Martin discuss:
- What is the one-minute workout? [1:51]
- Keith shares his own attempt at a one-minute workout [2:52]
- High Intensity Interval Training creates a calorie-burning afterburn [4:01]
- What led Martin to become one of the world's leading experts in this area of study [6:13]
- The research Martin's team does to prove the efficacy of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)? [7:57]
- Why is HIIT so effective? [9:32]
- Interval workouts even works for walking [13:14]
- Martin explains the "ten-by-one" workout [14:45]
- Martin responds to skeptics & criticisms around the risks and practicality of HIIT [16:24]
- The idea of "exercise snacking" [21:00]
- Interval training for kids and teens [23:45]
- Martin Gibala's Instruction Manual [28:18]
[32:32] Keith talks about special episodes for Christmas Day and New Year's Day. [34:53] Fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter on setting up an inexpensive home gym Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
In this conversation, Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- A home gym as an alternative to a gym membership[35:08]
- Options for home gym equipment at multiple price points. Kathleen mentions Powerblocks. [36:32]
- Kettlebells [38:46]
Morra Aarons-Mele, author of Hiding In The Bathroom, shares tips for ambitious introverts. And host Keith McArthur speaks with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about the importance of paying attention to physical sensations when we meditate.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode 9 Details:
[0:58] Featured interview with Morra Aarons-Mele Morra is author of Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert's Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You'd Rather Stay Home). She lives in Boston and runs Women Online, a social media communications firm. She's also the host of the Hiding in the Bathroom podcast.
In this conversation, Keith and Morra discuss:
- When inner peace is interrupted by: "Wait, aren't I supposed to be worried about something?" [3:31]
- Morra's life-long battle with anxiety [4:44]
- In her twenties Morra was very ambitious and successful but unhappy [6:17]
- "There is nothing about introversion that says I am not going to be the most powerful person in the room" [8:25]
- Morra says her privilege allows her to be open about her anxiety and introversion [10:18]
- Having the best of both worlds comes at a cost [12:37]
- Why Morra says anxiety is a gift [19:41]
- How to manage anxiety [21:41]
- The importance and difficulty of self-love [24:23]
- Trying a "hermit pilot" [25:23]
- Why women graduating today aren't as happy as those who graduated in the seventies [32:01]
- Morra's Instruction Manual [34:18]
[40:04] Mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson on why we need to pay attention to our bodies when we mediate Joelle Anderson is a therapist specializing in mindfulness meditation and creator and host of the Kernel of Wisdom YouTube channel.
In this conversation, Keith and Joelle discuss:
- Why is it important to pay attention to the body? [40:33]
- Keith shares that he feels a pit in his stomach that he recognizes as fear [41:02]
- The average emotion only lasts for 2-3 minutes if we let them go [42:04]
Celeste Headlee, author of We Need to Talk, shares her tips on how we can all have conversations that matter. And Kathleen Trotter, our fitness contributor, critiques the fitness routine of host Keith McArthur.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Episode details:
Celeste Headlee is author of We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter and radio host of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Broadcasting. Celeste’s TEDx Talk -10 ways to have a better conversation - was one of 2016's most watched TED talks, with over 12-million views.
Keith and Celeste discuss topics including:
- What's wrong with the current state of conversation? [6:10]
- Why talking is usually better than email [7:40]
- How putting your phone away and being present can make you a much better conversationalist [11:49]
- Why you shouldn't bring up your own personal experience when someone is talking about theirs [13:13]
- A simple technique when your brain is really unable to focus on a conversation [18:58]
- The importance of the worlds "I don't know" [20:04]
- Celeste's Instruction Manual [23:07]
Kathleen Trotter is author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit
Keith and Kathleen discuss:
- Keith shares his current fitness routine [28:09]
- Kathleen's advice to Keith [29:21]
Fabiana Bacchini shares how she found joy in her tumultuous through infertility, the loss of a child in utero and the birth of a severely premature son with cerebral palsy. Host Keith McArthur also speaks with nutritionist Michelle Jaelin who tells us the truth about fat.
Fabiana Bacchini is author of From Suriving to Thriving and founder of HandFullHearts.
Keith and Fabiana discuss topics including:
- Fabiana's decision between the path of darkness and the path of light
- How living in the present moment helped Fabiana get through her challenges
- The importance of meditation and self-care
- Fabiana Bacchini's instruction manual
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
- Visit us on Pinterest
Dr. Greg Wells, author of The Ripple Effect, joins the podcast to talk about the connection between sleep, fitness, diet and the human mind. Host Keith McArthur and Greg Wells discuss topics including:
- Why we can't trust food guides
- Why it's better to exercise outside than at the gym
- What is muscular meditation?
- How 1% gains can make a huge difference in your life
- Why sleep is so important to our success and how to do it better
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
Jolenta Greenberg talks about what it's like to live her life one self-help book at a time in episode 5 of the My Instruction Manual podcast. Greenberg is host of the By the Book podcast and a stand-up comedian and storyteller based in New York City. In this episode, host Keith McArthur also shares some early feedback from a listener and speaks with Kathleen Trotter about how to get started on a fitness routine.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
Luminita D. Saviuc talks about the things we need to give up to be happy in episode 4 of the My Instruction Manual Podcast. Saviuc is author of 15 Things You Should Give up to Be Happy and creator of one of the most viral self-help posts of all time. Host Keith McArthur also chats with mindfulness contributor Joelle Anderson about his own meditation challenges. And he shares a story about one magical day at the ballpark with his special needs son Bryson.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
It could be the most important question humans ask: What's the big secret to happiness? In the third episode of the My Instruction Manual Podcast, Keith McArthur learns the answer from Dr. Robert Puff, a clinical psychologist and host of the world's top-ranked health podcast. He also chats with Sarah Warsi about when to give up on our dreams and get to know our nutrition contributor Michelle Jaelin.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
Kurek Ashley has been homeless; he’s been suicidal; he’s been a cocaine addict. He’s also been a Hollywood actor. And for nearly three decades, he’s coached athletes, actors and CEOs, helping thousands of people to improve their lives. Kurek is the author of How Would Love Respond? He speaks with host Keith McArthur in My Instruction Manual Episode 2. We also meet our regular fitness contributor Kathleen Trotter.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for show notes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
Pivot author Jenny Blake joins the first episode of the My Instruction Manual Podcast to talk about navigating a career change. And she shares a ton of wisdom and inspiration for living a better life. We also get to know Joelle Anderson, our regular mindfulness contributor. Host Keith McArthur shares a personal story about the recent death of his 24-year-old cousin Alex with insights on what we can all learn from Alex's death. And since it's the first episode, Keith also lets listeners know what they can expect from the podcast.
Feedback / Connect:
- Subscribe to My Instruction Manual on Apple Podcasts or on Android
- Visit MyInstructionManual.com for shownotes, more great content and to sign up the email newsletter
- Email: keith@myinstructionmanual.com
- Keith on Twitter: @KeithMcArthur
- Join our Facebook page
In this introductory episode, Keith McArthur reveals what sparked his quest for self improvement. He invites listeners to join him on a journey to be happier, healthier, have better relationships, be more productive, and achieve their biggest goals and wildest dreams.
Premieres Oct. 30.
keith@myinstructionmanual.com
@keithmcarthur