Before we get to this week’s episode of Pulling the Thread (which I loved, and which gave me much to think about), some light housekeeping.
I’m thrilled to announce that Uta Opitz is joining us again for a late Fall energy bath—for those who have never joined us before, we all hop onto Zoom and then Uta works on us collectively. We kick it off with a little chat and wrap it up with some light sharing. It can be quite powerful; even the process of being still and breathing together is pace-setting, though sometimes people have big experiences via the energy work. This will be for paid community members of this newsletter, registration is at the very bottom, behind the paywall. You can find more about Uta on my page of healers!
This will happen on Saturday, September 12 at 10amPT via Zoom. Come join us!
OK, without further adieu. (As always, I recommend listening to the episode rather than just scrolling through the transcript. 🙂 )
You can also listen to this episode on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. (It’s also available on YouTube.)
David Epstein is a journalist and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. He has written the books Range, The Sports Gene, and Inside the Box.
Today, we’re talking about the subject of this last book—which is about how constraints can actually help us to be more creative, more innovative, and more personally satisfied. In the book, and in our conversation, David tells some fascinating stories about people and companies who used limits and boundaries to create breakthroughs. He also tells some really interesting stories about the reverse—about how, perhaps counterintuitively, too much freedom and too few constraints have been a death knell for many.
After our conversation, I’m also going to share a part of David’s book that I found very compelling, about why maximizers are often less satisfied.
There’s so much to unpack here.
MORE FROM DAVID EPSTEIN:
David’s Book: Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
Other Books:
David’s YouTube
Follow David on Instagram
David’s Website
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:
(This is transcribed by AI and mistakes are common; I highly recommend listening to this conversation instead on whichever podcast app you most enjoy!)