MEANWHILE: A podcast to improve your life

How's that working from home going? Not exactly the dream you envisioned? In this episode, Michael explains how decision fatigue, lack of role clarity, and excess discretion can make us feel a little crazy, and introduces a few tools for creating structure amidst uncertainty and chaos.

Hello from amidst the global pandemic! In this episode, we talk about how the opposite of reactivity is creativity. You don't have to drown in online news and anxiety every day. You can do something creative and assert control over your own life.

Boredom has a bad rap. We spent our lives avoiding it. But what if our strategies for avoiding boredom are actually making us more anxious and less creative? What if boredom is not something to be avoided but actually something embraced, or at least .... accepted? In this episode, Coach Michael talks about the uses and benefits of boredom, and gives a bonus tip on how embracing boredom can slow down the passage of time.

This just in! In this episode, Michael M talks with his long-time bestest friend, writer and writing professor Faith Adiele, about the ingredients of a creative life, the role of humor vs. seriousness and the difference between being a working artist and someone who just lies on the couch eating chocolate chip cookie dough. This episode was ALMOST LOST TO THE AGES and was just recently found and magically put together. Listen now that you can! Whew!

Can you handle the truth? Or at least can you handle someone's feedback? Feedback is one of our main tools for learning and growth but, ouch, it sure stings sometimes. In this episode, Michael M is joined by his colleague, Bay Area super coach Hanna Hart, to talk through how we can best deal with feedback.

Does perspiration matter more than inspiration? The answer is "yes" and the 10,000-Hour Rule explains why. Michael analyzes why 10,000 hours is so hard to achieve in any career or avocation, but why we should still strive for it. A recollection from Mr. Wilgus, Michael's 8th Grade Algebra teacher. Plus, what if we're becoming expert in something that has not occurred to us?

Michael Melcher says: go forth and contaminate yourselves! In this episode, we examine the idea of "social contagion" – the concept that you are affected, changed and potentially improved by not only your friends, but also by your friends' friends' friends. Double M talks about how he is going to contaminate himself into becoming a more productive writer, and offers a cool exercise.

Is creativity something that best blooms when you work alone or with others? The answer is both! In this episode, Michael M examines some of the ways that creative activity emerges, and challenges you to push some alternate directions.

We typically go through life and work reacting to things, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. Sometimes we'll pause to re-frame in order to change the energy or make lemons into lemonade. But why not pre-frame things from the beginning? In this episode, Michael M shows how to do this.

Are free things ever really cost-free? Michael M propounds the idea of avoiding free samples, whether those samples are sugary bites from Costco, push notifications from our technology masters, or other people's random crap. We also hear a fun episode from his childhood.

The Ennea-what?! Michael M guides us through a cool and sophisticated personality tool called the Enneagram. It can help you understand yourself, improve your relationships, and get out of your own way. And by listening to this episode you can save a decade of self-study!

The Future. The Michaels talk about the future, and theirs in particular. Views are exchanged, emotions expressed. Podcasting realness ensues.

How do you deal with stress? And ideally makes things better rather than worse? Michael M talks about a recent scary experience and analyzes his own responses to it. The Michaels then analyze how stress shows up, what underlying factors can be at play, and identify some effective ways to DEAL!

Introducing Mini Meanwhile!  Supplemental podcasts of shorter length, yet providing they same awesome Meanwhile combination of content and attitude.  In this episode-ette, Michael M shares an unexpected insight he learned from becoming a parent, and asks:  why are we waiting for other people to give us permission to do what is most important to us?

What kind of stories are you telling about yourself, and is it time to question them? We carry narratives in our heads that summarize what we think of our successes, our failures, our feelings, our hopes. Often these narratives are kind of a drag, sometimes they are flat-out wrong – yet we can be incredibly loyal to these sucky stories. In this episode, the Michaels introduce a powerful exercise to challenge how you are thinking about yourself. Michael T assesses his post-vacation judgments about getting back to the grindstone, and we learn that Michael M once lived in Calcutta.

Longstanding goals: Love them or dump them? In historic episode 20, the Michaels discuss what we should do with goals we have been carrying around for a long time but have not achieved or in some cases even worked on. Is inaction a sign that it is time to say so long? Or are lingering goals a message from the Universe that something is rilly, rilly important? Our hosts also touch down once more on the idea of “immunity to change.” Michael M reveals a big secret and challenges Millennials to be more like him. Michael T is his usual peppy self.

So you wanna be a manager. Some managers are great. Sigh. And some managers, sadly, make the world worse. Wherein lies the difference? In this episode the Michaels examine the transition from individual contributor to manager. They offer the POV that becoming a manager is more than a getting promotion with some new responsibilities and is, instead, a core transformation in what you do and how you do it. And it’s not a good job for everyone. They offer tips for how to imagine the role and be effective at it and discuss the two hardest things about being a manager. Michael M opines about why teenagers in Yuma are probably better managers than big-time consultants and financiers in New York.

The Michaels had a convo that left michael M with a weird aftertaste. So we decided to revisit that conversation and have a more general check in to our relationship. In doing so, we had some interesting exchanges about money, appreciation, what we choose to measure and what kinds of things make us revert to a " socialized mind" - and also how we want our relationship and collaboration to be. But it takes a lot of vulnerability and openness to get there.

Being a capable professional and human being includes being able to say no, ask for help, and negotiate needs. Yet we may shy away from all of these for a variety of conscious and unconscious reasons. In this episode, the Michaels talk about how to find that middle ground between pushy and pushover. We check in with West Coast Michael’s New Year’s resolution to say no more often, and hear from East Coast Michael about whether there is an inevitable connection between raising toddlers and consuming wine.

Emotions are powerful but that doesn’t mean we are always aware of them or know what to do with them. As a result, lots of our workplaces are filled with zombie professionals who are there but not REALLY there. Detachment from emotion cuts back on our connection and effectiveness, and makes work less satisfying than it could be. The Michaels dig into why emotions are important, how we can become more aware of them, and what are options are for dealing with them in work and life.

Would you rather make your point or get to the best outcome? When you're collaborating with others, is everyone focused on getting to some useful result, or is everyone focused on displaying the gorgeous feathers of their own peacock tails? In this episode, the two Michaels examine the ways we can focus on useful outcomes rather than on our big fat egos, and they cop to the ways that they fall into the ego trap themselves!

A big factor determining our energy and happiness is the people we associate with. The Michaels introduce the idea of “A” people, who give us energy, and “B” people, who suck the energy right out of us. They provide tips for increasing the number of A’s in your life, explain how to deal with those pesky but common B’s, and answer the question, “is it mean or weird to view people this way?”

Learning should be fun! Or should it? The Michaels dig into the concept of “conscious incompetence” — that part of the learning process when you realize that you kind of suck at something, and that it might be a long time before you become proficient. We hear why growth requires an open attitude towards our own incompetence, and why accomplished people may shy away from trying new things. Plus some fun asides about gardening and kiteboarding.

Is listening the most important professional skill ever? It might well be. But we know that most people don’t listen well, if at all. The Michaels discuss why listening is the sine qua non of good leadership, why listening is the opposite of passivity, and how to improve your own capabilities.

Is being authentic at work a viable goal? Or is it more akin to trading your career for a hill of magic beans? The two Michaels discuss why authenticity matters, how it shows up at work, and whether there are practical things you can do about it. They also look at some of the things that inhibit us from being authentic, including the internal questions, “am I good enough?” and “am I worthy?"

Let’s put the focus on “focus!" Is it possible to be something other than a reactive zombie? The two Michaels discuss the candle method vs. the pomodoro method and talk about the role the presence plays in being both happy and productive.

The two Michaels review the currently hot communications model known as “Radical Candor.” Is this the big new thing? Or just another 2 x 2 matrix with a bunch of unenforceable trademark symbols? They also share their views on having difficult conversations, including the subtle but important truth that empathy is not the same thing as harmonizing.

Clean slate! We talk about New Years resolutions, including what works and what doesn’t work. Plus, trying out mantras as a different type of goal.

The Michaels discuss their different reactions to the US election. What do you do when external events turn you into someone you don’t recognize?

On a trip to Mexico City, Michael M deals with a “meh” day by examining perspectives. We talk about when you should blow past bad days and when you should take them seriously.

Shocker: The two Michaels believe that an attitude of appreciation works better than negativity or cynicism. Some practices to get there.

Be a coach or just sound like one by mastering powerful questions. Using inquiry to open up conversations, meetings and problem-solving. What listening really sounds like.

The two Michaels talk about purpose and vision statements and how to construct them. The difference between vision and goals. Figuring out your real values.

Feel envious of the success of others? Wonder if you are on the right path? Ways to use envy for good, or avoid it entirely. The impact of practicing gratitude.

Why we need space to invite positive things into our life. What Michael M learns by renting a giant dumpster.