If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Catherine Price, #1 New York Times bestselling author of books including The Power of Fun and How to Break Up With Your Phone, and I write a newsletter (and host a podcast) about how to scroll less and live more. I hope you’ll join us!
Over the past few months, multiple people whose opinions I trust have recommended that I connect with Dan Coyle, the New York Times bestselling author of books including The Talent Code, The Culture Code and a new book called Flourish: the Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment.
They said things like, “You two will like each other!” and “You’ll love his book.” And, as so often happens with people whose opinions you trust, those people were correct! I recently had the delight and honor to sit down with Dan to talk about what it means to flourish, and how each of us can apply lessons he learned in his own research to our own lives.
I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation (and that you’ll check out Dan’s work and books!).
To scrolling less, living more, and creating conditions for flourishing,
PS: I’m experimenting with a bunch of new features specifically for my paid subscribers, including a Phone Breakup Support Group chat for alums of my book (and phone breakup course), a revival of our group delight chat (coming soon!) and bonus sections of podcast conversations where I do something a little different, or take the conversation in a more personal, vulnerable, or hands-on direction.
This will take different forms depending on my guest; with Dan, I was particularly curious about what might happen if he and I took one of the strategies he described in his book and put it into practice ourselves.
More specifically, Dan has a section in his book about conversational strategies that bring people closer and encourage trust and vulnerability (and, in so doing, lead to flourishing). One of these techniques is a series of four simple questions, used by Penn State basketball Mike Rhoades (and since adopted by numerous other teams and organizations, including the New England Patriots) that bring players closer together, both on and off the court — and that can be used in any context where you’re hoping to move beyond small talk and establish a genuine bond.
I found this intriguing — so I decided to ask Dan if we could put this idea into practice and go through those four questions ourselves.
