Emotionally Fit with Dr. Emily Anhalt

James Beshara, an angel investor and the founder of Tilt, a crowdfunding company acquired by Airbnb in 2017, used to drink seven. cups. of. coffee. a. day—a habit that landed him in the ER with a racing heartbeat of over 170 beats per minute for three weeks straight. That turning point in James’s life led him down a rabbit hole of research on coffee, caffeine and alternative ways to boost productivity and heal, a search that included plant medicine. In this Taboo Tuesday, James talks to Dr. Emily about his first experience with psychedelics, and the effect it still has on him today.

It can be hard owning up to mistakes, but President and COO of Athletic Greens Kat Cole says that the more comfortable we can get with things not going perfectly, the better we’ll be at taking risks and trying new things. In this Taboo Tuesday episode, Kat and Dr. Emily discuss mistakes, loss, and grief and how to balance all of the above while also carving out a successful career. From asking for help to enduring a miscarriage, Kat doesn’t shy away from talking about her own experiences, including what she says was the worst mistake she ever made in her career and how she worked to turn the situation around. Tune in now for this thoughtful discussion on how to be honest, open and resilient in work and life.

So much of what we do in life is in service of avoiding discomfort. We avoid tough conversations. We avoid challenging the status quo when we know we could do better. We turn to drugs and alcohol to avoid facing other uncomfortable realities. But unfortunately the things we do to avoid discomfort often end up leading to more discomfort than the original thing we were trying to avoid in the first place. In this Emotional Push-Up, Dr. Emily talks to Chris Messina, credited with creating the hashtag, about why the most effective path to emotional growth is to become more comfortable being uncomfortable.