The Small Hacks That Make Life Easier

“To be a helpable person seems counterintuitive,” says Bonnie St. John. “I’m the one-legged black woman. You know, I spent my whole life proving that I could do it all myself.” St. John is the first African American to ever win medals in winter Olympic competition, taking home a silver and two bronzes at the 1984 Paralympics. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. Earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. Served in the White House as a director of the National Economic Council during the Clinton administration. “I was such a drive-yourself-until-you-drop person,” she says. Until she learned a different paradigm for high performance—one that was sustainable, with recoveries built in along the way. It’s not about pulling the throttle back, says St. John; when you follow her method, you’re able to do more. She calls it micro-resilience: “little hacks that have a big impact.” And in this episode, we get her favorite strategies and tools for changing pessimistic viewpoints, prioritizing, making decisions, working with others, and just getting it done. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub and St. John’s book Micro-Resilience: Minor Shifts for Major Boosts in Focus, Drive, and Energy.)