139. From Autopilot to Astonishingly Alive with Jodi Wellman

Overview

Part of pursuing Sustainable Ambition is examining how we go about achieving our goals without sacrificing our lives or ourselves. 

My guest today has an interesting perspective on how we can live our lives more fully, and with more purpose.

Speaker and author, Jodi Wellman, calls us to look death in the face in order to become more alive. And while this might sound dour or heavy, it really isn’t.

Jodi shares her philosophy for crafting a life well-lived, and it doesn’t always require us to make huge changes in our lives. Small things, done in service of our needs, preferences, and goals, really do add up when we stop procrastinating and start living.

More About Our Guest

Jodi Wellman is a speaker, author, and facilitator on living lives worth living. She founded Four Thousand Mondays to help people make the most of the time they are lucky to be above ground.  Jodi has a Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she is also an Assistant Instructor in the Master’s program and a facilitator in the Penn Resilience Program. She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. Her TEDx talk, How Death Can Bring You Back to Life, has over 1.3 million views and is the 14th most-watched TEDx talk released in 2022. Her book, You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets, was published in May 2024 and was on Adam Grant’s Summer Reading List. Jodi has been featured in Oprah Daily, Fast Company, CNBC, Forbes, Psychology Today, The Los Angeles Times, and more.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

  • Why so many of us get stuck operating on autopilot

  • How the “deathbed regret test” can help us reconcile time, our goals, and our capacity at a given moment

  • How to make space for spontaneity in your schedule 

  • Why we grieve our “lost possible selves” and why it’s vital to learn to trust our ability to handle rejection and failure

  • Why bringing more vitality and meaning into your life doesn’t necessarily mean a huge life overhaul

Learn more about Jodi Wellman:

Resources Mentioned

Thanks for Listening!

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