Eric Nelson is Executive Editor at Harper and Vice President and Publisher of Broadside, HarperCollins conservative imprint. Since joining Harper in 2017, he has published thirteen New York Times #1 bestsellers. In addition to his time at HarperCollins, Penguin, and Wiley, he has worked as an academic editor, literary agent, and author, including his successful parody Oh, The Meetings You’ll Go To, written under the pen name Dr. Suits. As a publisher, his client list includes Joe Scarborough, Jesse Watters, Pete Hegseth, Dan Carlin, and Chris Rufo, among others.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Eric gave us a powerful lens for capturing attention: most advice lives on a dial (e.g., work harder, care more), but what actually sticks is a switch, something you either do or you don’t. We all know that eating less and exercising more is what matters when trying to lose weight. But it’s that third thing—the concrete, measurable action like drinking celery juice—that gets people to buy the dieting book.
• As Eric reminded us, it’s not about being provocative for its own sake—it’s about being provocative and defensible. The best ideas make people think, “I always believed this… now I can prove it.”
• I’m excited to use the lens Eric provided that helped him start making money in his career. He switched from being a dumb smart person, to a smart dumb person. Rather than advance the conversation for 1000 people, Eric entered the conversation of a million people.

Jim Lang is a professor at Notre Dame and the author of several popular books on teaching, including Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It.

Jim has delivered keynotes or workshops at more than 300 colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. He also consulted with the United Nations on a multiyear project to develop teaching materials in ethics and integrity for high school and college faculty.

Jim is a graduate of Notre Dame with a B.A. in English and philosophy. He holds an M.A. in English from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in English from Northwestern University.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• One of Jim’s central ideas comes from Aristotle: the beginning is more than half of the whole. Jim experienced this firsthand when he started his class with a provocative question, but low energy, and the students mirrored his energy.
• The first five minutes of a class, meeting, or even our day carry disproportionate weight because they set the tone and create the lens through which everything else gets interpreted.
• Energy is contagious, and students tend to mirror whatever the teacher brings into the room. So if we want better discussions, deeper learning, or more engagement, don’t leave the opening moments to chance; design them carefully.

Lowell Crabb is the Founder and Principal of Drive Wealth Advisors, an independent wealth advisory firm specializing in serving business owners, corporate executives, and high net worth individuals. Lowell is based out of Utah, and is a graduate of BYU. I hope you enjoy learning from Lowell Crabb today.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• While private wealth management operates in the financial world, it’s also deeply psychological, which worked out well for Lowell given his undergraduate degree.
• I especially appreciated Lowell’s insight about the two ingredients required for trust: ethics and competence. When he lost an early client, it wasn’t because the client questioned Lowell’s integrity or intentions. The hesitation came from uncertainty about Lowell’s experience and ability. Just being a good person wasn’t enough—we also have to demonstrate that we can deliver results.
• I also enjoyed Lowell’s emphasis on playing the long game, not only in business but in life.