614: The Life-Changing Impact of Eternal Optimism with Matt Drinkhahn
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
Release Date: 12/03/2025
626: Surrendering Your Ego to Connect With Your Soul with Kyle Cease
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
What if the strategies you’ve used to avoid pain are the same ones keeping you disconnected from your soul? So much of our desire to strive and optimize is simply the ego’s way of protecting us from discomfort. We call it growth, but in reality, it’s avoidance. My guest today is my good friend Kyle Cease. Kyle was named one of Comedy Central’s Top 10 Comics to Watch in 2009, and he’s the author of my favorite book I read in 2025, The Illusion of Money. He was on the path to Hollywood stardom until something deeper called him to do what he was destined to do: become a spiritual...
info_outline
625: The Coaching Habit That Brings Out The Best In People with Michael Bungay Stanier
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
What if the fastest way to create deeper conversations, improve your leadership abilities, and your relationships wasn’t a better plan—but a better question? My guest today is Michael Bungay Stanier, bestselling author of , the most popular coaching book of the century, to unpack why most of us rush to give advice too quickly and how staying curious just a little longer can change everything. You’ll hear Michael talk about why we’re all “advice-giving maniacs,” how asking better questions leads to better outcomes, and the simple coaching framework Michael has taught to...
info_outline
624: How to Be More Charismatic and Have Great Conversations with Vanessa Van Edwards
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
Have you ever walked into a room or given a presentation and immediately felt awkward? Or maybe you struggle with confidence or imposter syndrome at live gatherings or even on Zoom meetings? If so, this episode is for you. As you’ll hear from today’s guest, confidence isn’t the absence of awkwardness—it’s feeling it, acknowledging it, and showing up anyway. And she has the tools to help you do just that. Vanessa Van Edwards is a behavioral researcher, the founder of Science of People, and the best-selling author of and . Her is phenomenal and has over 6 million views for good...
info_outline
623: The Money Habits That Cure Financial Stress with Mike Michalowicz
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
Rising inflation has turned everyday expenses into a constant source of stress, leaving millions of people stuck living paycheck to paycheck and wondering if they’ll ever feel truly “okay” with money. While traditional budgeting plans promise control, they often deliver guilt and overwhelm instead. That’s why I’m excited to be joined by Mike Michalowicz, bestselling author of 11 financial books, including the , to talk about his newest book, Mike’s helped over a million people build real financial peace, and in this conversation, he breaks down what “financial independence”...
info_outline
622: How Cannabis Changed My Life And Can Change Yours with Joe Sheehey, CEO of CURED Nutrition
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
If you struggle with sleep, pain, or anxiety, you’ve probably tried many medications and sleeping pills only to end up frustrated by side effects, poor results, and thinking that you’re treating symptoms instead of actually feeling better. That’s why I’m excited to welcome back Joe Sheehey, founder of and a former aerospace engineer who left his corporate career at Lockheed Martin to improve the lives of millions of people. Joe’s path to entrepreneurship was influenced by his own mental health battles, a life-saving turning point in college, and a growing conviction that there has...
info_outline
621: 6 Books That Will Change Your Life in 2026
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
If you want 2026 to be your best year yet, one of the simplest ways to accelerate personal growth is to let a great book challenge the way you think, lead, love, and live. In today’s episode, I’m sharing six (6) books that I believe can genuinely change your life this year. Whether your focus is setting bigger goals, strengthening your marriage, becoming a more effective leader, building a thriving family culture, or shifting your relationship with money, there’s something here for everyone. I’ll walk you through why each book made the list, what I learned from it, and how you can...
info_outline
620: How to Navigate Conflict Without Losing the People You Love with Kelsey Blahnik
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
If you’ve been feeling emotionally drained from relationship conflict or disagreeing with people that you love, this episode is for you. Despite how technology and social media have made it incredibly easy to stay connected with family, friends, and our communities, many people feel more divided and disconnected than ever. That’s why I’m thrilled to introduce you to Kelsey Blahnik, a clinical social worker and therapist who works on the front lines of emotional and relational tension. From families and friendships to workplaces, in our increasingly divided political culture, Kelsey helps...
info_outline
619: The 3 Ego Beliefs That Quietly Run Your Life with Aaron Abke
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
If you’ve ever felt trapped in your own thoughts, frustrated by repeating emotional patterns, or exhausted from chasing happiness that never quite lasts, this episode will challenge everything you think you know about personal growth. As today’s guest reveals, a lot of our suffering doesn’t come from our circumstances—it comes from the unconscious beliefs that shape how we experience reality. Aaron Abke is a spiritual teacher, founder of 4D University, and the author of With a background in theology, a masters degree in biblical studies, and millions of followers drawn to his...
info_outline
618: Return to Real: How To Live Authentically In The Digital World with Ryan Levesque
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
As the digital world of AI accelerates faster than ever, it’s tempting to automate, optimize, and outsource nearly every part of our lives. But what if the path we’re on is, ironically, pulling us further away from a meaningful life and genuine happiness? In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my good friend Ryan Levesque to explore a powerful, yet contrarian concept he calls —and why it may be the thing we need most when AI is making us feel more disconnected than ever before. Ryan is a renowned entrepreneur, author, and creator of the ASK Method, who has built...
info_outline
617: How to Rewire Your Brain to Overcome Self-Sabotage with Thais Gibson, PhD
Achieve Your Goals with Hal Elrod
If you've ever struggled with challenges in your relationships, emotional triggers, or just feeling stuck in old patterns, you’re not alone. Those cycles are hard to break, and it often feels like no matter how hard you try, you end up repeating the same behaviors, sabotaging your goals with limiting beliefs. But as today’s guest reveals, you’re not broken; this is your subconscious telling you that you’re ready to heal. Thais Gibson, PhD, is an author, researcher, and founder of The Personal Development School, whose groundbreaking work has helped millions of people unravel emotional...
info_outlineWhen life feels overwhelming, the natural reaction for most people is to retreat, drift into some form of depression, and assume the pain or challenge they're experiencing is permanent.
But what if the hardest season of your life could become the catalyst for your greatest transformation? Today’s episode is all about accessing inner strength, gratitude, and possibility when life tries to knock you down.
I’m joined by my good friend Matt Drinkhahn, author of The Eternal Optimist: It’s Never Too Late and host of The Eternal Optimist Podcast. Matt is an executive coach to high-performing entrepreneurs, a devoted husband and father, and one of the most genuinely positive human beings I’ve ever met. But what makes his wisdom so powerful isn’t that life has been easy for him—it’s that he became an eternal optimist when life literally knocked him down so bad, he could barely walk for 9 months.
In our conversation, Matt opens up about the most challenging period in his life when a devastating zipline accident left him in a wheelchair, virtually unable to stand up, handle chores, or provide for his family. He shares how he battled excruciating pain, which tested his marriage in addition to fears of losing his career, and the possibility he may never walk again—and the three principles he used to rebuild his life from the ground up.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Power of Eternal Optimism
- Setting Your Intentions to Transform Your Day
- The Zipline Accident That Changed Everything
- How The Miracle Morning Anchored Matt’s Recovery
- The First Two Principles to Overcome Overwhelm
- Acceptance vs. Resistance: The Serenity Prayer
- The Third Principle to Overcome Overwhelm
- Remember that This Too Shall Pass
- How To Set Goals When You’re Struggling
- Why It’s Never Too Late to Change
- How to Connect with Matt and Get His Book
Get The Full Show Notes
To get full access to today's show notes, including audio, transcript, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit MiracleMorning.com/614
Subscribe, Rate & Review
I would love if you could subscribe to the podcast and leave an honest rating & review. This will encourage other people to listen and allow us to grow as a community. The bigger we get as a community, the bigger the impact we can have on the world.
To subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on iTunes, visit HalElrod.com/iTunes.