What's on Your Bookshelf?
“What’s On Your Bookshelf” is a personal and professional growth podcast exploring the intersections of passion, potential, and purpose - featuring multi-certified coach and leadership development consultant Denise R. Russo alongside Sam Powell, Zach Elliott, Tom Schweizer, Dennis LaRue, and Michelle King.
Episodes
142 episodes
SP6 Special Edition Agile Brain: Climbing The Pyramid Of Human Needs
We map a four-sided pyramid of human needs—self, social, material, spiritual—and explore how foundations enable higher aims like purpose and transcendence. Research, culture, and real stories show why ethics, community, and conscious reflection...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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49:45
SP5 Special Edition Agile Brain: Justice, Ethics, And The Search For Meaning
We trace how justice, ethics, and transcendence shape a meaningful life and why chasing happiness fails while purpose endures. JD Pincus shares research, history, and a practical tool to surface unmet needs and align action with values....
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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59:31
SP4 Special Edition Agile Brain: Lonely Hearts, Social Needs
We explore why inclusion, connection, and recognition are the social motives that make work and life feel meaningful, and how loneliness quietly harms health, teams, and trust. Stories from reality TV to school lunchrooms reveal why sincere car...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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49:46
SP3 Special Edition Agile Brain:Autonomy To Flow
We explore how autonomy enables immersion and why true success is a byproduct of meeting core emotional needs, not a shortcut to status. Stories of lottery winners, creatives, athletes, and leaders reveal why skipping foundations backfires and ...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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45:24
SP2 Special Edition Agile Brain: Self, Safety, And The Road To Potential
We explore how psychological safety enables authenticity, and how authenticity unlocks potential. JD Pincus connects fear, narcissism, imposter syndrome, and conspiracy thinking to a broader model of self, social, material, and spiritual domain...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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45:48
SP1 Special Edition Agile Brain: Emotions Drive The Wheel
We launch a special seven-part series with Dr. JD Pincus exploring the 12 emotional needs that shape decisions, leadership, and fulfillment. Emotions lead, thoughts explain, and leaders thrive when they surface needs and align habits with value...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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32:09
134 UnF Yourself: Conclusion-Step Up, Then Think
We close out the book’s final chapter with a clear call to move from mantra to motion, to treat growth as a loop—think, act, learn, repeat—and to choose deliberate trade-offs instead of waiting for perfect timing. Stories, tools, and a simple c...
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Season 3
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Episode 134
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30:34
133 UnF Yourself: Wake Up, Let Go, Move Forward
We explore how “expect nothing, accept everything” shifts us from rumination to action, drawing on Stoic ideas, happiness research, and candid stories from work and home. The theme is simple: lower the grip of outcomes, raise ownership in the p...
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Season 3
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Episode 133
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34:08
132 UnF Yourself: Who resists your change more—them or your own mind?
We unpack Chapter 7—“I am relentless”—and connect mantras to motion, turning obstacles, doubt, and even well-meaning advice into fuel for consistent action. We share stories about evolving dreams, identity shifts, and practical ways to align em...
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Season 3
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Episode 132
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29:33
131 UnF Yourself: I am Relentless-Escaping the Thought Trap
We explore Chapter Six of Gary John Bishop's "Un-F Yourself," challenging the notion that we are defined by our thoughts and asserting that our actions ultimately determine our reality and results.• Your thoughts influence what you do, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 131
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31:52
130 UnF Yourself: Embracing Life's Uncertainties
We explore embracing uncertainty as the pathway to growth and transformation in our lives, examining how our natural addiction to prediction often keeps us stuck in the past rather than moving forward.• Uncertainty is where new happens,...
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Season 3
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Episode 130
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33:23
129 UnF Yourself: I Got This! The Art of Self-Ownership
We explore Gary John Bishop's powerful message that no matter what obstacles we face, we already possess the inner strength to overcome them, though this doesn't mean we have perfect solutions or easy paths forward.• Negative experience...
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Season 3
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Episode 129
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29:51
128 UnF Yourself: Breaking Free from Self-Sabotage
We dive into Chapter 3 of "Un**** Yourself" by Gary John Bishop, exploring the concept that we are all "wired to win" - sometimes at things we don't consciously want.• 95% of our daily actions are controlled by our subconscious mind...
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Season 3
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Episode 128
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32:25
127: UnF Yourself- F-ing Your Self-Limiting Beliefs
We explore Gary John Bishop's concept that you have the life you're willing to put up with, challenging readers to stop blaming external circumstances and take ownership of their responses to life's events.• The crucial difference betwe...
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Season 3
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Episode 127
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39:25
126 Un-F-Yourself:Chapter 1-In The Beginning
We explore how negative self-talk holds us back and dive into practical ways to break free from limiting thought patterns. Neuroscience research shows we have over 50,000 thoughts daily, and the quality of these thoughts profoundly impacts our ...
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Season 3
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Episode 126
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32:12
125: Un-F-Yourself: Intro-Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life
We introduce a book that's new to both of our bookshelves: Gary John Bishop's "Un-F-Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life." Unlike previous episodes where at least one of us had read the book before, we're both diving into this one ...
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Season 3
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Episode 125
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23:35
124-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 3-Final Episode; The Art of Beginning Again
We explore the final chapter of Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way," focusing on how life requires us to continuously begin again and view obstacles as opportunities rather than barriers.• The cycle of obstacles never ends - when w...
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Season 2
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Episode 124
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31:35
123-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 3-Episode 3; Finding Strength Through Life's Challenges: Edison, Perseverance, and the Path Forward
We explore two powerful concepts from Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle Is The Way" that can transform how we approach life's challenges: loving everything that happens and cultivating perseverance.• Thomas Edison's warehouse fire destroyed ...
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Season 2
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Episode 123
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34:22
122-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 3-Episode 2; Anticipating Obstacles: The Hidden Power of Negative Thinking
We dive into Ryan Holiday's exploration of "Anticipation" and "The Art of Acquiescence" from his bestseller "The Obstacle is the Way," revealing how planning for failure can actually set you up for success.• Exploring the concept of the...
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Season 2
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Episode 122
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29:09
121-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 3-Episode 1; Building Your Inner Citadel: The Discipline of Will in Turbulent Times
We delve into the final section of Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way," exploring how will—the discipline of the heart and soul—creates an inner fortress that no external adversity can break.• Will represents quiet humility, resili...
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Season 2
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Episode 121
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32:19
120-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 2-Episode 6; Seize the Offensive and Prepare for None of it to Work
Denise and Sam explore the "Action" section of Ryan Holiday's book "The Obstacle is the Way," focusing on how to seize opportunities in crisis and transform obstacles into advantages.• The Japanese art of Kintsugi illuminates how broken...
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Season 2
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Episode 120
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33:20
119-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 2-Episode 5; Turning Trials into Triumph: How Your Obstacles Become Opportunities
Sam and Denise explore how to transform obstacles into opportunities by approaching challenges with strategic patience and focused energy rather than immediate reaction.• Using obstacles against themselves requires stepping back and all...
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Season 2
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Episode 119
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33:51
118-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 2, Episode 4; Whats Right, What Works
We explore two key chapters from Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way" about taking action when faced with obstacles through creative problem-solving and finding alternative paths forward.• Discussing how "what's right is what works"...
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Season 2
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Episode 118
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32:02
117-The Obstacle Is The Way: Part 2-Episode 3; Follow the Process and Do your Job
We delve deep into the concept of "following the process" from Ryan Holiday's book The Obstacle Is the Way, exploring how Nick Saban's coaching philosophy offers valuable lessons for life and leadership.• Process-oriented thinking keeps...
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Season 2
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Episode 117
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27:02
113- The Obstacle Is The Way: Your Path to Growth
Welcome, listeners, to what might just be the lost episode of our podcast! We were ready to share it with you before, but let’s just say, technology and timing had a little bit of an adventure of their own. So, here we are, presenting ...
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Season 2
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Episode 113
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28:33