Moonshots Podcast: Superstar mindsets and success habits

When everything feels uncertain, strong leaders don’t tighten their grip—they strengthen their foundation.
In Show 284, Mike and Mark unpack Brené Brown’s concept of Strong Ground and why clarity, values, and accountability matter more than ever. You’ll learn how courageous leaders navigate uncertainty, how the Playbacktechnique creates instant alignment, and why most teams struggle with communication in the first place.
If leadership feels harder right now, this episode offers a grounded path forward.

Strong Ground as the foundation for resilient leadership

Courage as a skill set, not a personality trait

Navigating uncertainty with clarity and values

Alignment before action

Communication built on discipline and accountability

Strong Ground vs. Inefficient MusclesBrené Brown’s metaphor highlights how leaders overuse urgency, control, or reassurance when they lack a stable core. Strong Ground provides the balance and strength needed to lead calmly under pressure.
The Four Skill Sets of CourageRevisiting Dare to Lead, courage is framed as a practice leaders can learn—enabling honest conversations, clear boundaries, and consistent accountability.
Diving Into UncertaintyAvoiding discomfort weakens leadership. This segment explores how grounded leaders move toward uncertainty with confidence and curiosity.
The Playback TechniquePlayback ensures absolute clarity before moving forward. By restating agreements, teams eliminate confusion and prevent misalignment.
Why We Suck at CommunicationCommunication failures stem from a lack of clarity, discipline, and accountability—not from a lack of effort or intelligence.

Strong Ground Check: Re-anchor decisions to values during change

Playback Before Action: Confirm shared understanding explicitly

Courage Practice: Treat bravery as a trainable skill

Clarity First: Slow conversations to speed execution

Accountability Loops: Define ownership and outcomes clearly

Get the book on Amazon https://geni.us/OMvekT

Recognize when you’re overcompensating instead of grounding yourself

Apply Brené Brown’s courage framework to real leadership challenges

Use Playback to eliminate confusion and build trust

Improve communication through clarity and discipline

Lead with steadiness, even when the environment is unstable

Expanded Concepts & InsightsKey ThemesConcepts & BreakthroughsHabits, Tools & Mental ModelsListener TakeawaysBecome a Member of the Moonshots Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/Moonshots

This is a repost from the Moonshots archive featuring Elizabeth Gilbert and her book Big Magic.
We’re sharing it as a companion to the work of Brené Brown — and ahead of our upcoming episode on Strong Ground.
Big Magic is a reminder that creativity doesn’t require fearlessness — only curiosity, courage, and the willingness to show up.

In this episode of the Moonshots Podcast, hosts Mike and Mark dive into the enchanting world of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book has inspired countless creatives to live beyond fear and embr ace the magic of creativity. Whether you’re an artist, writer, or someone looking to infuse more creativity into your life, this episode offers a treasure trove of insights and practical advice.
Listen and Learn More:

• Listen to the Episode: ⁠Episode 143 – Elizabeth Gilbert: Big Magic⁠
• Watch on YouTube: ⁠Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert | Book Summary⁠
• Read a Summary: ⁠Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert | Book Summary⁠• Become a Member: ⁠Support the Moonshots Podcast on Patreon⁠

Episode Highlights:

 • What is Big Magic?
 • Discover the essence of Big Magic and how Elizabeth Gilbert views creative inspiration as a mysterious force that calls us to engage with it.
 • Lessons on Confidence:
 • Learn why fear shouldn’t stop you from creating and how permitting yourself to fail can lead to unexpected breakthroughs.
 • Explore getting comfortable with your fears rather than overcoming them entirely.
 • Lessons on Creating:
 • Understand the difference between originality and authenticity and why Gilbert champions the latter as the key to meaningful creative work.
 • Find out why finishing your creative projects, even imperfect, is more important than striving for unattainable perfection.
 • Final Takeaways:
 • Mike and Mark wrap up the episode by discussing embracing your inner creative trickster and why taking yourself too seriously might be the most significant barrier to your creative success.

Why You Should Listen:
This episode will resonate deeply if you’ve ever struggled with fear, self-doubt, or the pressure to be perfect. Gilbert’s approach to creativity is liberating and empowering, reminding us that the journey is just as important as the destination.

Listen and Learn More:

 • Listen to the Episode: ⁠Episode 143 – Elizabeth Gilbert: Big Magic⁠
 • Watch on YouTube: ⁠Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert | Book Summary⁠
 • Read a Summary: ⁠Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert | Book Summary⁠• Become a Member: ⁠Support the Moonshots Podcast on Patreon⁠

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Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart | Emotional Intelligence, Naming Emotions & Values-Based Living (Moonshots Podcast #283)
What if the key to personal growth, better relationships, and stronger leadership isn’t doing more—but understanding what you feel?
In Moonshots Podcast Episode 283, Mike and Mark explore Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown, a groundbreaking framework for building emotional intelligence through language, courage, and clarity. Brené challenges us to notice the emotional patterns we repeat—and asks whether avoiding certain feelings is quietly limiting our growth.
This episode begins with a powerful intervention: if we want different results in life, we must be willing to feel what we’ve been unwilling to feel before. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and lived experience, Brené explains why “naming is taming”—how accurately labeling emotions reduces emotional reactivity and restores choice.
Mike and Mark unpack key emotional states such as envy, comparison, and schadenfreude, reframing them through a team mindset inspired by Abby Wambach. Instead of seeing others’ success as a threat, we learn how emotional awareness helps us move from scarcity to connection.
The episode closes with a practical exploration of emotional regulation vs. emotional suppression, showing how emotions can become reliable data—guiding us toward values-based decisions, intentional living, and healthier relationships.
📘 Get the book: Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown
👉 https://geni.us/zk32Ho4
If you’re interested in:
Emotional intelligence and self-awareness

Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart

Naming and understanding emotions

Managing envy, comparison, and triggers

Living and leading with values

This episode offers a clear, grounded roadmap for navigating the emotional landscape of modern life—with more courage and less confusion.
🎧 Listen now and learn how emotions, when understood, become one of your greatest strengths.
Become a Member of the Moonshots Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/Moonshots

Casandra ⁠Brené Brown⁠ is an American professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host. Brown is known in particular for her research on shame, vulnerability, and leadership, and for her widely viewed ⁠TEDx talk in 2010⁠. 
Since then she has written six number-one New York Times bestselling books, hosts two podcasts, and has filmed a lecture for Netflix as well as a series about her latest book, Atlas of the Heart on HBO Max.
⁠The Gifts of Imperfection⁠
⁠Daring Greatly⁠
⁠Rising Strong⁠
⁠Braving the Wilderness⁠
⁠Dare to Lead⁠
⁠Atlas of the Heart⁠
Brown holds the Huffington Foundation's Brené Brown Endowed Chair at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work and is a visiting professor in management at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
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In the final part of our exploration of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Nine Attitudes of Mindfulness, Mike and Mark slow things down—intentionally. This episode is an invitation to rest, to release the constant pressure to improve, and to rediscover the power of presence without agenda.Jon opens the conversation by reframing rest itself. True rest, he suggests, is not collapse or avoidance, but a no-agenda way of being—where nothing needs to be fixed, achieved, or optimised. From this place, mindfulness naturally deepens.The episode then explores non-striving, one of the most misunderstood attitudes of mindfulness. Jon reminds us that growth doesn’t come from forcing outcomes, but from allowing life to unfold as it already is. When striving drops away, awareness has room to do its work.From there, Jon reflects on gratitude and generosity, encouraging us to meet each moment with appreciation and to be generous not just with things—but with our time, attention, and energy. These attitudes shift mindfulness from an inward practice to a way of relating to the world.As the episode unfolds, Jon beautifully weaves all nine attitudes together through the lens of heartfulness, showing how mindfulness is not a collection of techniques, but an integrated way of living with presence, compassion, and care.In the closing bonus reflection, Jon turns to mind-wandering and the rehabilitation of the present moment, a cornerstone of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Rather than seeing distraction as failure, he reframes it as an opportunity—each noticing becomes a gentle return to now.This episode matters because it offers an antidote to burnout culture. Instead of pushing harder, it invites us to trust awareness, soften our effort, and remember that the present moment is already enough.🎧 Episode Clips FeaturedIntro — Truly Resting & No AgendaJon introduces the idea of deep rest and what it means to show up without trying to get anywhere.Non-Striving (2:04)Letting go of outcomes and discovering how growth happens naturally when we stop forcing change.Gratitude & Generosity (1:16)Enjoying the moment thoroughly and offering generosity through presence, time, and attention.Heartfulness (1:58)How the nine attitudes interconnect into a lived, embodied practice of mindfulness.Bonus: Rehabilitation of the Moment (3:42)Mind-wandering, awareness, and reclaiming the present moment through MBSR.Become a Member of the Moonshots Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/Moonshots