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PODCAST

The OptimalWork Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes, co-founders of OptimalWork, The OptimalWork Podcast will help you learn to challenge yourself in each hour of work according to your highest ideals. We discuss all aspects of Dr. Majeres"s approach to work, which he developed in his private practice and teaches at Harvard Medical School, and show how it applies to everyday situations like professional work, study, sleep, and relationships. For personalized plans to help you put the ideas into practice,

education self-improvement

All Episodes

00:30:10

182. Overcoming Anxiety II: Develop Daring

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/02/12

#182: Overcoming anxiety occurs in three successive stages. In the second installment of a three episode series, we discuss stage two: using mindfulness to experience the alarm of anxiety. When you focus on the alarm of anxiety, rather than the trigger only, the learning generalizes to all triggers. It also flips the feeling of fear into one of daring, an eagerness to approach the trigger. This sets the stage for you to use your anxiety and adrenaline to achieve peak performance, which is the topic

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00:32:46

181. Overcoming Anxiety I: Feel the Fear

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/02/05

#181: Overcoming anxiety occurs in three successive stages. In this first installment of a three episode series, we discuss stage one: confronting the trigger of anxiety head-on, embracing the fear. Over time, the trigger will habituate; as you challenge yourself, the fear you experience will gradually diminish. You can then develop a sense of daring, which is the beginning of the second stage, the topic of next week’s episode. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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00:28:46

180. How to Discipline Your Children While Deepening...

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/01/29

#180: When a child does something wrong, your first instinct may be justice: to punish them. In this episode, we discuss “No-Drama Discipline,” by Daniel Siegal and Tina Bryson, exploring how to discipline children in a way that builds your bond with them and promotes their moral development. By connecting with your child, helping him or her gain insight into what went wrong, and look for ways to repair and reintegrate, discipline becomes a way of actually deepening your bond with them, rather than

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00:29:23

179. Unleash the Power of Dynorphins

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/01/22

#179: Difficult situations can feel intolerable. That intolerable feeling is produced by dynorphins and it makes us want to give up and abandon the difficulty we’re facing, whether it’s exercise, a difficult task, time in the sauna, or some small annoyance. But the more we embrace the dynorphin effect — the intolerable feeling — the more we develop a kind of inner strength. And, paradoxically, we end up unleashing a subsequent wave of endorphins, which cause feelings of wellbeing and improved mood

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00:27:53

178. How to Get Energy from Tiredness

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/01/15

#178: What do you do when you feel tired? Go back to sleep? Take a nap? Power through? In this episode, we discuss a number of approaches to overcoming tiredness, from tracking your levels of fatigue (not recommended) to changing up your diet. But the ultimate approach draws on all the principles of OptimalWork and will actually help you harness tiredness for increased energy! Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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00:32:21

[Rebroadcast] A Deeper Dive into Challenge

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/01/08

#177: The goal of OptimalWork is to help people challenge themselves according to their highest ideals in each task. In this episode, we dive deeper into this core concept, showing how challenge is the surest path to growth. Find more at ⁠https://www.OptimalWork.com⁠.

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00:27:56

[Rebroadcast] How to Approach Every Challenge With a...

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2024/01/01

#176: Whenever we do something repeatedly, we’ll tend eventually to do it in a rote, automatic way. This even applies to OptimalWork’s core practices: reframing, mindfulness, and challenge. In this episode we show how curiosity can help you overcome this tendency and bring a sense of newness to every challenge you face. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

en

00:28:15

[Rebroadcast] How to Broadcast Positive Emotions

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/12/25

#175: Whether we’re aware of it or not, we’re always broadcasting our own inner experience. By shaping our actions according to our ideals, we forget about ourselves and create a positive tone around us. In this episode, we’ll show you psychological strategies for how to do this. Find more at https://www.OptimalWork.com.

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00:34:20

174. The Paradoxes of Mindfulness

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/12/18

#174: Mindfulness lies at the heart of OptimalWork’s approach. Living your highest ideals means being fully present, fully engaged with reality. Cultivating this habit is the work of mindfulness. But mindfulness rests on a set of apparent contradictions. Foremost among them is this: while mindfulness involves accepting reality as it is, it is often used as a way of achieving personal or behavioral change. In this episode, we discuss this apparent paradox and others, shedding light on the true nature

en

00:29:45

173. From Tolerance to Acceptance to Love

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/12/11

#173: The two fundamental ways you can relate to challenge are approach and avoidance. Typically, approach leads to a virtuous cycle: the challenge gets easier and more enjoyable over time as you grow in mastery. Avoidance, on the other hand, often leads to a vicious cycle of increasing difficulty and pain. In this episode we further break down approach into three levels — tolerating, accepting, and loving the challenge — to show how to speed up the virtuous cycle and maximize your growth in the

en

00:28:19

[Rebroadcast] How to Work Intensely without Stressing...

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/12/04

#172: Many people think that they and others work best under extreme external pressure: impending deadlines, demanding bosses, etc. In this rebroadcast, Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes discuss better ways to achieve intensity. Find more at ⁠https://www.OptimalWork.com⁠.

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00:28:47

[Rebroadcast] Choose Flow, Not Hyperfocus

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/11/27

#171: Have you ever worked with great intensity and lost track of time, only to realize later that it was all a waste? You had fallen for the trap of hyperfocus.In this episode, we’ll distinguish between hyperfocus and true flow, and show you how to always attain the latter. Find more at https://www.OptimalWork.com.

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00:33:55

170. Should You Be Doing Therapy at Work?

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/11/20

#170: With rising rates of anxiety and depression, some have suggested that managers be trained to provide “mental-health first aid” to employees in distress. In this episode, we discuss the best ways managers can help employees thrive at work, how to help them grow, and how to balance the need to get results from their teams with the ideal of supporting and mentoring them. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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00:32:04

169. How to Persuade Your Emotions

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/11/13

#169: What’s the best way to prevent distractions? Are prevention techniques — like website blockers — effective? In this episode, we discuss different strategies aimed at behavior change. We argue that the source of the most sustainable behavior change is to build self-mastery through right action. By doing this, you’ll be laying the foundations for new predictions by your brain. Over time, it will come along and be no longer a source of friction, but a great help in pursuing meaningful

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00:27:08

168. The True Value of Reframing

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/11/06

#168: Reframing is a practice that developed from cognitive behavioral therapy. It means discovering the opportunity present within a challenge. If you face a challenge that causes anxiety, distraction, or burnout, reframing can help you approach it more effectively. But reframing can do more. It will also help you harmonize the different parts of your life so everything is working in the same direction: toward your highest ideals. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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00:33:30

167. The Power of a Golden Hour

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/10/30

#167: At the heart of our approach is the practice of a Golden Hour: preparing your mind for a time of work, focusing on one thing, and setting a stop time in advance. Doing a Golden Hour brings the key practices of psychology into your hour of work, so you not only do your best work, but you also practice bringing your highest ideals into your actions, which is the entire goal of OptimalWork. In this episode, we discuss the genesis of the Golden Hour, how to do it well, and some common questions

en

00:28:55

166. Why Embracing Shame Will Help You Thrive

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/10/23

#166: Shame is the emotion we feel when we fear that our failures or weaknesses will become known. This fear can lead us to pursue certain outcomes as defenses — money, success, prestige, etc. — or to shy away from challenges that will expose us. In this episode, we discuss how to experience and accept shame, and why doing so gives us a profound freedom and unlocks the most meaningful forms of growth. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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00:34:29

165. How to Stop Justifying Yourself

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/10/16

#165: When people experience cognitive dissonance — that is, a clash between one’s self-concept and reality — they will tend to favor their self-concept, and can rationalize this bias in a process of self-justification. This process can thwart meaningful personal growth. In this episode, we discuss self-justification, how to identify it and how to overcome it — and a clever way to use it to develop deeper bonds. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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00:33:59

164. Why Venting Negative Emotions Only Makes Things...

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/10/09

#164: It’s a widespread belief that when experiencing negative emotions like anger or frustration, it’s helpful to vent them. In fact, this practice is counterproductive. Studies indicate that when people express negative emotions in this way, far from letting them out, they in fact get more of them. This result is confirmed by a consideration of the neuroscience of perception and appraisal. In this episode, we discuss the origin of the theory of catharsis, why it’s wrong, and what to do instead —

en

00:29:14

163. The Power of Agency

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2023/10/02

#163: In their 2019 book “The Power of Agency,” Paul Napper and Anthony Rao lay out their theory of growth and happiness, which centers on the concept of “agency.” In this episode, we compare their seven principles with OptimalWork’s approach, and show how ideals are essential to true agency. Find more at https://OptimalWork.com

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282 results

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