Mindful Monday #504: The World's Greatest Mentalist Reads My Mind


ABOUT
PODCAST
BOOKS
SPEAKING
LEADERSHIP CIRCLES

Welcome to Mindful Monday!

This week... I'm out west skiing with my family to kick off 2026! Also, I've been thinking about my trip to NYC and how that crazy mentalist Oz seemed to read my mind. Still trying to figure out how he did it. You should watch the end of our conversation on YouTube to see what I'm talking about. Also, check out my 2025 Year-In-Review. Read Julian Shapiro's incredible essay on how to become an elite storyteller. Peter Attia shares some useful lessons on how to reach your health goals. And I re-read some wise words from Scott Belsky about adding texture to time...

#669: Oz Pearlman - The World's Greatest Mentalist

Oz Pearlman is the greatest mentalist in the world. He ran a 2:23 marathon and holds the record for most laps around Central Park in a single day. With five kids and 250+ performances a year, Oz has mastered the art of reading people and understanding what separates good from world-class. We cover: Overcoming Rejection, Getting the Reps, Always Following Up, Living with Gratitude, America's Got Talent, The Curiosity of Steven Spielberg, and Making Others Feel Seen. I flew to NYC to record this one in person with Oz. I highly recommend you watch it on YouTube. (especially the ending)

2025 Year In Review... And a Look Ahead to 2026

"I’ve noticed the people who hire us to work with them and their leadership teams are already crushing it. They are 8s and 9s who want to be 10s. We never get asked to do work for people who are 4s and 5s. It’s the ones who are excellent and want to be better. There’s a lesson in that." CLICK HERE to read my 2025 Year in Review.

How To Tell Great Stories

Is it possible to turn anyone into a storyteller as good as Neil deGrasse Tyson? While speaking with the best storytellers on the Internet, something strange became clear: they could only articulate some of the ingredients that make them great. There was more beneath their explanations that they couldn’t identify when pressed. This was a puzzle. Because these ingredients were hard to identify, Julian Shapiro followed a process known as "learning by inversion." This is where you learn how something works by studying its bad examples. Then you do the opposite. Here is what he learned about great storytelling...

How To Reach Your Health Goals

Your health goals are probably easy to articulate, but your “system," the collection of habits that you regularly follow, is what will ultimately determine whether you reach them. Here are the four “laws” to incorporate an action into your routine so that it becomes a habit.

Wise Words

Add Texture to Time: “You’re only able to recollect experiences with enough friction to add texture to time as it passes. Time spent doing the unexpected and/or being challenged is time with texture. Ultimately, in our dying breath, the more experiences in our lives with texture, the more of our lives we will actually remember and the longer we will feel we have lived. What adds texture to time? A challenge. – Scott Belsky

Mindful Monday is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoyed it, forward it to your friends. Thank you! -- Ryan

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

"Mindful Monday" is a combination of my thoughts from conversations with the world's most effective leaders (650+ recorded over the past 10+ years) and other interesting essays I find useful.

Read more from The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

2025 Review and a Look Ahead to 2026 (Click HERE to read it online) Leading up to 2025, my teammate, Geron Stokes, convinced our Learning Leader Circle members to choose a word of the year. I’d heard of the idea but thought it was just a thing online influencers did to sell a course. So, I didn’t do it. But Geron pushed a bit and described how helpful the exercise had been for him, so I changed my mind. Why not? What could it hurt to try? I made 2025 the Year of Connection. It ended up having...

ABOUT PODCAST BOOKS SPEAKING LEADERSHIP CIRCLES Welcome to Mindful Monday! This week... I've been thinking a lot about how excellent leaders connect fascinating people who are putting a dent in the world. My conversation with Nick Gray focuses on that. He always seems to be in the midst of brilliant people (and being asked to emcee really cool events). I love the Jim Collins essay on level 5 leadership... I wrestle with the idea of process-oriented goals vs. results-based goals. Patrick...

ABOUT PODCAST BOOKS SPEAKING LEADERSHIP CIRCLES Welcome to Mindful Monday! This week, we focus on why it's helpful to sell door-to-door, the most Warren Buffett question ever, why you should always go to the funeral, how friends take care of each other, and some wise words about networking. #666: Angie Hicks (Founder of Angie's List) Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie’s List (now called Angi). She started the company at just 23, going door-to-door as a self-described introvert and...