Attention Copilot with Pranab

Episodes

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  Dr. Gena Gorlin: The Builder’s Mindset and the Psychology of Ambition 15.10.2026 1h 23m

  I spoke with Dr. Gena Gorlin about the Builder’s Mindset, self-authorship, and how we can update beliefs and behaviours. Timestamps:0:00 Introspection vs rumination4:28 The Builder’s Mindset and treating life as your central project17:39 Drill Sergeant, Zen Guru, and the Builder25:39 Choosing your own ladder and making work meaningful38:22 Are we naturally builders?45:27 “Death is the default; default is not destiny”53:19 From repairing yourself to building your life1:01:54 How beliefs change1:08:27 Noisy minds, intrusive thoughts, and OCD1:14:47 The Builder’s Mindset in relationshipsGena is a psychologist, founder coach, and Clinical Associate Professor at UT Austin. She is writing a forthcoming book with Penguin on the Builder’s Mindset.We discuss Gena’s Drill Sergeant, Zen Guru, and Builder framework: pushing yourself up inherited ladders, stepping away from them, or deciding what actually matters to you and building from there.We talk about meaningful work, therapy as repair versus building, parts work, changing entrenched beliefs, intrusive thoughts, and why Gena sees healthy relationships as fundamentally positive-sum.Learn more through Gena’s newsletter, The Psychology of Ambition.This podcast is sponsored by Attention Copilot (attncopilot.com). You can spend all day working and still avoid the things that would make the biggest difference. Our coaches help you identify, prioritize, and face them. During an 80-minute to three-hour call, you settle in, share your screen, and do your actual work. Your coach helps you work through stress, make decisions, and stay clear-headed. Over time, you can feel more satisfied with your weeks, more confident taking on bigger things, and more at ease in your work.Gena linksGena Gorlin’s websiteThe Psychology of AmbitionGena on XFounder coaching with GenaGena’s forthcoming book is being published with Penguin and is currently projected for fall 2027. Paid subscribers to The Psychology of Ambition can also book a complimentary 30-minute conversation with Gena.Resources mentionedThe Hard Thing About Hard Things — Ben HorowitzEternalism, nihilism, and meaningness — David ChapmanAcceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)Internal Family Systems (IFS)The Sovereign Child — Aaron Stupple
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  Maija Haavisto: Meditation, Dissociation, and Healing 08.10.2026 1h 27m

  I spoke with Maija Haavisto about meditation, dissociation, living with chronic illness, and her severe physical symptoms after a nondual shift.Timestamps0:00 Chronic illness, loving-kindness, and discovering meditation8:55 When meditation helps and harms18:29 Awakening, suffering, and spirituality as connection25:18 Two forms of dissociation32:20 Trauma, parts, and the fiction of personality disorders39:29 Is society built on dissociation?46:23 Why you can’t speedrun healing59:04 Somatic parts work1:01:57 Nonduality, energy, and physical illness1:20:05 Bulgaria, intuition, and spiritual practiceMaija Haavisto is a writer, therapist, and author of Loving Awakening and Shattered White-Out.We discuss meditation’s benefits and risks, how to view all inner and relational dynamics through a "parts model" of the mind, and the function of dissociation.We also talk about the label of personality disorder, speedrunning healing, somatic work, and Maija’s experience of physical illness following meditation and nondual shifts. We finish with her move to Bulgaria, Balkan music, and her changing relationship to spiritual practice.This podcast is sponsored by Attention Copilot (attncopilot.com). You can spend all day working and still avoid deep work on the things that would make the biggest difference. Our coaches help you identify, prioritize, and face them. During an 80-minute to three-hour call, your coach helps you work through stress, make decisions, and stay clear-headed as you make progress on actual work. As you build this skill, you can feel more satisfied with your weeks, more confident taking on bigger things, and more at ease in your work.Maija linksWebsiteMediumXYouTubeGuiding and somatic workBooks and writingBoth Loving Awakening and Shattered White-Out are available to download for free. You can reach out to Maija to explore working with her.Resources mentioned• Loving Awakening: A Practical Guide to Embodied Spirituality and Healing with Metta, IFS, the Imaginal and Community — Maija Haavisto• Shattered White-Out: How Trauma and Dissociation Mold the World, Your Relationships and You — Maija Haavisto• Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM)• Internal Family Systems (IFS)• Maija’s guided meditations and hypnosis• Ken McLeod — Unfettered Mind
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  Dan Grossman: Somatics, Psychedelics, and Scientific Rigor 14.09.2026 44m

  I spoke with Dan Grossman about how to take the somatic side of psychedelics and therapy seriously. Along the way, we explore the relationship between compelling narratives, meaningful experiences, and good science.Dan is a clinical psychology PhD candidate studying the bodily dimensions of psychedelic experiences, including shaking, movement, and vocalization, which many describe as central to their healing work.People can find these experiences deeply meaningful and healing, and it’s interesting that they seem to show up across different substances. But that doesn’t necessarily confirm the explanations we attach to them. Does the body literally store and release trauma? What evidence supports the idea that animals “shake off” traumatic experiences? And how should we approach frameworks like polyvagal theory when people find them useful, but their scientific claims remain contested?We also discuss parts work, the role of symbols and imagery in healing, and the relationship between meditation and therapy. Dan describes meditation as a form of “epistemic hygiene”: a way to engage with powerful experiences without taking every interpretation at face value. Throughout, we ask how the worlds of vibes and science might learn from each other.You can get in contact with Dan via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-grossman-906873119This podcast is sponsored by Attention Copilot (attncopilot.com). You can spend all day working and still avoid the things that would make the biggest difference. Our somatic productivity coaches help you identify, prioritize, and face them. During an 80-minute to three-hour call, you settle in, share your screen, and do your actual work. Your coach helps you work through stress, make decisions, and stay clear-headed. Over time, you can feel more satisfied with your weeks, more confident taking on bigger things, and more at ease in your work.
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  Scott Britton: Conscious Accomplishment and Using Work to Deepen Your Growth 23.08.2026 54m

  Scott Britton and I explore how ambition and spiritual practice can become one path. We talk about using resistance at work as data, widening the choices we can see, and building a culture where inner development supports meaningful action. Learn more through Scott’s website, his book Conscious Accomplishment, his recruiting firm Conscious Talent, and the EvolutionFM podcast.0:00 Integrating ambition and spiritual practice4:22 The limits of “succeed first, wake up later”8:05 How business coaches make spiritual ideas usable13:45 The outside-in paradigm behind achievement19:04 Resistance is data, not proof of misalignment22:24 How stress hides better options25:24 Better thinking inside the box versus expanding the box28:20 Awareness as a practical source of capacity31:50 Holding truth lightly in disagreement35:31 Hiring people who already value development40:24 Self-leadership makes flatter organizations possible41:52 AI raises the value of small, mature teams46:53 Pausing work can be the higher-leverage move48:54 Who Conscious Accomplishment is designed to help52:46 The inverse journey: from spirituality back to action
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  Michael Taft: Intro to His Meditations and the Stack Model 20.01.2026 37m

  Michael Taft is a meditation teacher, creator of the podcast Deconstructing Yourself, and co-founder of the Berkeley Alembic meditation center. This podcast serves as an introduction to his teaching and how to engage with his hundreds of guided, nondual meditations on youtube.Resources:Michael's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelTaft108Deconstructing Yourself: https://deconstructingyourself.comMichael's Courses: https://deconstructingyourself.org- Hacking the Stack starts January 26, 2026Timestamps:0:45 Why students come to Michael after other resources (apps like Waking Up, retreats like Goenka and Jhourney, and books like The Mind Illuminated)2:40 Where Michael fits in the meditation ecosystem5:34 Respecting traditions while being meta-systematic7:51 Where can practice actually go? The real goals9:23 A student with severe chronic pain (morphine pump story)14:38 Emotional pain uses the same brain circuitry15:02 The Stack model, and understanding "progress" in meditation16:47 Level 1: Conceptual (thinking about experience)17:06 Level 2: Phenomenological (qualia, direct sensation)21:36 Level 3: Flux (everything is changing)24:45 Level 4: Openness and emptiness28:14 Vast Sky Mind and applying the stack to all sense gates30:00 Why Michael uses mantra, chanting, and visualization31:45 The arc of Michael's guided meditations on YouTube33:02 How to engage with Michael's work35:00 The power of sangha and community
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  Anne Laure Le Cunff: The Fallacy of “Follow Your Passion” and the Power of Tiny Experiments 22.11.2025 1h 2m

  Anne-Laure is the author of Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World. She also founded Ness Labs, a learning community for ambitious knowledge workers. You can learn more about her work at https://nesslabs.com01:30 – Anne-Laure’s shift from Silicon Valley’s default success script03:30 – Critique of the “follow your passion” fallacy06:00 – Pranab’s personal experiment in meaningful work11:20 – Cynicism as emotional self-protection16:30 – Audience unpredictability and the paradox of online writing18:30 – Pact method and intentional habit formation24:00 – Four mindsets model: Cynicism, Escapism, Perfectionism, Experimentalism45:30 – ADHD, hyper-curiosity, and evolutionary perspectives53:10 – Mindful productivity and managing emotions in knowledge work56:00 – Emotional coping strategies, interstitial journaling, and metacognition
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  Becoming a Sane Saint with Tucker Peck 31.07.2025 55m

  Dr. Tucker Peck is a meditation teacher, therapist, and author of "Sanity and Sainthood: Integrating Meditation and Psychotherapy". Check out his website (https://meditatewithtucker.com/) and Twitter (https://x.com/tucker_peck) where you can learn about his upcoming retreats, teachings (eg. Motivational Interviewing course which I highly recommend), and more.We talk about:- "content and process" in meditation and therapy, and how to tell when you're imbalanced on either side (hazy vs crazy)- compassion, warmth, and parts work re: The Mind Illuminated- where distinctions break down at the deep end of practice (eg. 8th jhana, Awakening vs. Liberation referencing @shamilch's work)00:41 - Content vs Process: The core distinction between therapy and meditation03:15 - Common traps: Going too hard in either direction06:23 - Parts work failure modes: When IFS becomes reactive and narcissistic09:03 - The role of warmth, compassion, and meta in practice12:15 - Self-hatred as the "common cold" of globalized mental health15:17 - View and intention: How dharma can become self-abuse18:17 - The Mind Illuminated: Control vs acceptance based on individual needs20:27 - Michael Taft's advice: "Cultivate more dullness"23:54 - Do-nothing practice: From literal non-action to ego recognition25:44 - When content and process blend together in advanced states28:50 - The uncertainty principle: You can't observe both simultaneously31:33 - Content exists at a "medium lens of analysis"34:26 - Journey meditation and jhana "junkies"37:03 - The unfabricated/deathless in Theravada tradition41:40 - Awakening vs Liberation: Shamil Chandaria's model45:26 - Going big vs going small: Different paths to awakening48:12 - Tucker's experience: Big path leading to small path work51:35 - Skillful refabrication: Buddhism vs New Age worldviews53:48 - Raw data vs conceptual overlay: The breath example55:47 - Staying grounded while gaining interpretive flexibility
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  Peter McEwan: Tummo, Dzogchen, Lineage, and Healing 06.08.2024 1h 9m

  Peter McEwen is a meditation teacher in Boulder, Colorado. Visit his site (https://thefield.us) or https://x.com/techgnostic to learn more about his work.00:00:00 Introduction and Upcoming Course on Tummo00:04:56 Fruitional View and Dzogchen Practice00:09:15 Self-Improvement vs. Self-Acceptance00:10:12 Role of Emotions in Teaching00:10:24 Emotional Healing in Practice00:13:10 Understanding Tummo Practice00:14:00 Explanation of Tummo Practice00:15:11 Trapping Air in Central Channel00:21:22 Healing Trauma with Tummo00:24:52 Influences and Trainings00:29:23 Secrecy in Lineages00:34:24 Value of Tibetan Lineages00:34:39 Monastic Safety and Structure00:41:28 Reflections on Trungpa’s Legacy00:45:39 Bruce Tift as a Teacher00:51:58 Unconditional Kindness vs. Relative Behavior00:56:12 Tolerance for Well-being00:59:21 Untangling Self-sabotage Patterns01:06:16 Upcoming Course Details
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  Christine (@christineist): Twitter, Journalling, IFS 26.03.2023 1h 9m

  In this podcast, I talk to Christine about about the twitter community where we became friends, her experience with journalling, and our journeys with IFS (internal family systems therapy) as a lens on life.0:00 Climbing & community6:20 How did Christine get into Twitter?11:30 Experiential difference between CBT & IFS (cognitive behavioral therapy & internal family systems)16:00 Impro, act before you think18:10 IFS & Journalling, relationship to journalling25:00 Documentation & 2nd Brain stuff28:00 Life Timeline, atheist to agnostic31:45 What are your values?34:30 On imaginal thinking & somatic vs. visual IFS41:00 Recurring IFS characters, parts constellations (“garlic cloves”)46:20 Journaling, IFS, & Existential Kink. Understanding shadow work & existential kink54:50 Being held by your Self, Self Love57:00 IFS as a helpful ontology & framework58:20 Should parts always exist or occupy a new role?1:00:30 Oneness with division, enjoying the journey. Feeling like an orchestra.1:06:20 IFS multiplicity of mind vs. Dissociative Identity DisorderFurther links:Christine's twitter: twitter.com/christineistChristine's mega Google doc: bit.ly/3IpZDtl- Includes links to her "Intro to Twitter/TPOT" guide, IFS threads, "Life Timeline" doc, and moreShe's also building a cozy, project-focused alternative to twitter called 3'rd space. Check it out: 3rdspace.app-----Check out my Twitter (most active): twitter.com/nopranablemRead the newsletter (in progress): pranab.substack.com