The Wise Effort Show

Have you ever felt flat, even when life is good? The sky is blue, you got what you wanted, and you still can’t seem to feel it. That’s ennui, a listless, lost-interest kind of flatness we all move through. In this Sangha talk, I share why we go flat and what to do when you can’t find joy: stop faking it, find a yes in a sea of nos, listen for the sounds of joy that are already here, wake up your nervous system, and find the we.Listen and LearnEnnui can be a signal you’ve drifted from your valuesDon’t fake joy; find one small yes insteadWake your nervous system with breath, cold, movement and communityRelated ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episode>>>Join Diana live November 16 for a free Sangha + Live Podcast<<<Join the Wise Effort Sangha to access the live Sangha event and previous recordings.Get your ticket (in-person and streaming) to Diana’s Tell the Truth Salon Series, a live gathering in Santa Barbara, California.Sign up for Diana's newsletterOrder Diana's book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.Diana's EventsJoin our weekly live SanghaCome to Costa Rica in April 2027 with DianaSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.Follow Diana on Psychology Today, Insight Timer, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.Mentioned in this episode:Sangha with Dr. Diana Hill

What if joy isn't something you wait for until life gets easier, but the very thing that helps you get through it? Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonigal joins me to talk about her new book, Joy Is a Risk Worth Taking, and how small moments of joy remind us that life is worth living, that we belong, and that good things are still possible. We talk about how joy and grief live side by side, why joy is contagious (you can actually smell it), and simple experiments you can try today, even when you're not feeling it.Listen and LearnSmall moments of joy signal that life is worth livingSharing your joy builds trust, connection and belongingKeep doing what you love, even when joy feels mutedRelated ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episode>>>Join Diana live November 16 for a free Sangha + Live Podcast<<<Join the Wise Effort Sangha to access the live Sangha event and previous recordings.Get your ticket (in-person and streaming) to Diana’s Tell the Truth Salon Series, a live gathering in Santa Barbara, California.Sign up for Diana's newsletterOrder Diana's book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.Diana's EventsJoin our weekly live SanghaCome to Costa Rica in April 2027 with DianaSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.Follow Diana on Psychology Today, Insight Timer, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.Mentioned in this episode:Sangha with Dr. Diana Hill

Have you ever felt scattered: your attention in one place, your feelings in another, your motivation somewhere out of reach? I came home from leading a retreat at Esalen feeling just like the grass I saw scattering its seeds across the hillside on the drive up. In this episode, I share five ways to find your way back when you feel scattered, from expanding your space to connecting the dots, and why the goal isn't to get rid of the scatter, but to be with it in a different way.Listen and LearnWhy expanding your space, like looking at the hillside rather than the seeds, can ease the feeling of being scatteredHow asking "What are you loving about yourself right now?" shifts you out of self-criticismWhat attention residue is, and what a two-week mobile-internet study shows about sustained attentionThe difference between incubating and procrastinating, and why stepping away can help ideas connectA paper-folding practice for connecting the dots when you feel scatteredRelated ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episode>>>Join Diana live November 16 for a free Sangha + Live Podcast<<<Join the Wise Effort Sangha to access the live Sangha event and previous recordings.Get your ticket (in-person and streaming) to Diana’s Tell the Truth Salon Series, a live gathering in Santa Barbara, California.Sign up for Diana's newsletterOrder Diana's book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.Diana's EventsJoin our weekly live SanghaCome to Costa Rica in April 2027 with DianaSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.Follow Diana on Psychology Today, Insight Timer, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

What do you do when you know something needs to end, but you can't quite let go? This episode gives you the psychological science behind why endings are so hard, plus a six-step practice for moving through them with more ease. Drawing on the concept of the "action crisis" — that push-pull of doubt, confusion, and rumination we feel when we're clinging to something past its time — Diana walks through what she learned by ending something in her life, and the concrete steps that helped her let go and begin again.Listen and Learn:Why endings feel so hard — and the four signs you're stuck in an "action crisis"A six-step practice for letting go: from "so be it, and so it is" to honoring what continues, to giving yourself permission to begin anewWhy getting the "kitten" doesn't mean replacing the "cat" — and why that's okayHow a simple ritual can turn a hard ending into an honored oneListen to the full episode now — and if you're moving through an ending of your own, share it with someone who needs the reminder that beginnings always follow.Related ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episode>>>Join Diana live November 16 for a free Sangha + Live Podcast<<<Join the Wise Effort Sangha to access the live Sangha event and previous recordings.Get your ticket (in-person and streaming) to Diana’s Tell the Truth Salon Series, a live gathering in Santa Barbara, California.Sign up for Diana's newsletterOrder Diana's book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.Diana's EventsJoin our weekly live SanghaCome to Costa Rica in April 2027 with DianaSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.Follow Diana on Psychology Today, Insight Timer, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.Mentioned in this episode:Sangha with Dr. Diana Hill

Have you hit a wall in midlife and started wondering if it's too late to build something bigger? This episode gives you concrete, science-backed practices for answering that question and reclaiming the life you actually want. Diana talks with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey, author of Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love, about what it took for her to move from decades of striving and burnout toward something freer and more her own — from parts work that names the "striver" running the show, to turning a big dream into a realistic plan, to the strength training that keeps you capable and free as you age.Listen and learn:How IFS (parts work) can help you find the striver part driving your burnout — and make room for who you were before the world had expectations of youThe WOOP method for turning a big wish into a workable plan by naming the real obstacles in your wayWhy dream incubation is backed by real science, not superstition — and how to try it tonightThe "nine lives" exercise: a two-minute writing prompt that reveals what you actually want, underneath what you think you should wantListen to the full conversation now — and if it speaks to you, share it with someone standing at the edge of their own larger life.Related ResourcesGet enhanced show notes for this episode>>>Join Diana live November 16 for a free Sangha + Live Podcast<<<Join the Wise Effort Sangha to access the live Sangha event and previous recordings.Get your ticket (in-person and streaming) to Diana’s Tell the Truth Salon Series, a live gathering in Santa Barbara, California.Sign up for Diana's newsletterOrder Diana's book, Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most, and receive special bonus gifts.Diana's EventsJoin our weekly live SanghaCome to Costa Rica in April 2027 with DianaSee Diana at an upcoming eventConnecting With DianaSubscribe for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Leave a 5-star review on Apple so people like you can find the show.Follow Diana on Psychology Today, Insight Timer, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.Sign up for the free Wise Effort Newsletter.Thanks to the team, Craig and Ashley Hiatt, and Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.Mentioned in this episode:Sangha with Dr. Diana Hill