Abundant Thinking

Elan Gelfand
  • 5.0 (27)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Abundant Thinking is for people who want to do something big with their lives but are still figuring out how to get there. In each episode, I talk with people who have done amazing things to learn how they think, make choices, and handle hard moments. The goal is simple: help you think better, avoid big mistakes, and use what you learn in your own life. This isn’t a life story podcast, it’s a thinking podcast. Past guests include Chris Voss, Derek Sivers, Garry Ridge, Mick Hunt, billion-dollar CEOs, bestselling authors, world-class speakers, and more.

  1. 3D AGO

    #148 - Founder of the Leading Legal Education Platform - David Schnurman

    Most driven people aren't lazy, they're just making commitments they never keep. David Schnurman built the #1 legal education platform in America, wrote two books, and moved his family of 5 to Barcelona, all from a vision he wrote down on a piece of paper in 2015. In this episode, David shares the framework from his books, specifically the one commitment mistake that keeps driven people permanently stuck in thinking mode. He breaks down the container ship metaphor that reframed how he thinks about life transitions, the five themes he extracted from interviewing dozens of millionaire entrepreneurs before he had a business of his own, and why Jeff Bezos's "thousand X return" philosophy is the only way to think about taking a leap. He also gets honest about ADHD, wasted talent, and why your weakness becoming your strength isn't a cliché. Connect with David Schnurman: Website: https://www.davidschnurman.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidschnurmanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidschnurmanBook: The Fast Forward Mindset — https://www.amazon.com/Fast-Forward-Mindset-Fearless-Accelerate/dp/1645708799Book: Eleven Suitcases: https://www.amazon.com/Eleven-Suitcases-Moving-Changed-Forever/dp/1970609001/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 If this episode gave you one idea worth keeping, please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it takes 30 seconds and it helps more people find the show.

    42 min

  2. APR 28

    #147 - 1,000+ Keynotes Later: Why Smart Companies Keep Firing Their Most Valuable Employees — Dan Pontefract

    Most companies think firing older workers saves money. Dan Pontefract has the data, and it's about to cost them everything.Dan is a leadership strategist with 30 years of experience, 1,000+ keynotes, and 6 books. In this episode he breaks down why organizations that cut their senior talent are burning the exact knowledge they can't rebuild, client relationships, tacit process, and the kind of wisdom that only comes from reps. He shares the Rivers, Rocks, and Rubies framework for rethinking how careers actually work (and why the career ladder is the wrong model entirely), explains why Yale research shows people aged 65–75 can outlearn their 40-year-old counterparts, and makes the case that the $6 trillion productivity loss the OECD is forecasting by 2036 is already happening, quietly, inside most organizations right now. Connect with Dan Pontefract: Website: https://www.danpontefract.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpontefractInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dan.pontefractBook: The Future of Work Is Grey — https://www.amazon.com/Future-Work-Grey-Untapped-Workforce/dp/1774586444If this episode gave you one idea worth keeping, please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it takes 30 seconds and it helps more people find the show.

    37 min

  3. APR 21

    #146 - The Guy Who Wrote 100+ Speeches for Politicians: "Stop Leading With Logic" - Josh Bandoch

    Most people try to persuade by making the best argument. Josh Bandoch spent years writing speeches for hundreds of politicians — and what he learned is that logic is almost always the wrong move. Josh breaks down why we feel before we reason (and why ignoring that is why smart people lose negotiations), the "them-first" framework he calls the best me-first strategy, putting the other person first is actually the fastest way to get what you want. He explains how our moral tastes are 30–60% hardwired into us and why speaking your own moral language to someone with different wiring will never work, and why the single most persuasive tool available to anyone isn't data or debate, it's a well-told story that activates the right emotions. Connect with Josh Bandoch: Website: https://www.joshuabandoch.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-bandoch-02211b167/Book: How to Get What You Want — https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-What-You-Want-ebook/dp/B0FDBGV22NIf this episode gave you one idea worth keeping, please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it takes 30 seconds and it helps more people find the show.

    40 min

  4. APR 14

    #145 - He Cut Hair in a Dorm Bathroom. Now He Charges $100 a Cut at 21 - Larry Walker

    Cutting hair in a dorm bathroom to charge $100 a cut isn't luck. Larry Walker grew up surviving five concussions that made him unemployable by any normal standard. Unable to hold a job, he picked up clippers in high school and spent three-hour sessions on three friends' hair for free, because he refused to let anyone leave the chair without his 100%. In this episode, Larry talks about the $7,000 mentorship he spent every dollar of his savings on, why it completely changed what he believed was possible as a barber, and how conversations with barbers making doctor money gave him the confidence to raise his prices to $100 a cut. He also gets honest about the years he sacrificed relationships to grind, and the moment he realized hitting his goals still didn't bring the peace he thought they would. We get into the two versions of yourself (the current and the idealized), why becoming that person starts the day you decide, not the day people notice, and how faith reshaped the entire purpose behind his business. Connect with Larry Walker: Instagram: https://instagram.com/ayoitslarry TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@ayoitslarryy If this episode gave you one idea worth keeping, please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it takes 30 seconds and it helps more people find the show.

    52 min

  5. APR 7

    #144 - Achievement Addiction Is Real, and You Might Already Have It - Jack Groppel

    Most high performers are addicted to achievement and don't realize it until the marriage is over, the kids grew up without them, or the career they built feels completely empty. Jack Groppel has coached Grand Slam champions, Super Bowl winners, and Fortune 500 executives — and he's the first to admit he was the worst example of all of them. Jack breaks down the one question that reorients everything — "What matters most, right now?" — and why most driven people never ask it because the answer doesn't feel impressive enough. He shares how he took his first wife to Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and Singapore, thought everything was fine, and got completely blindsided when she told him she was leaving three years into their marriage. He explains why career mentors and personal mentors are two completely different things, why most high achievers only have the first kind, and why that gap is exactly where life falls apart. And he shares what it took climbing Mount Kilimanjaro at mid-60s with two artificial knees and his 12-year-old son to finally understand that the mountains outside were a mirror for the ones within. Connect with Jack Groppel: Instagram: https://instagram.com/jackgroppel1 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jackgroppel Book: Mountains Within — https://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Within-Achievement-Mountain-Everything/dp/B0G4G8YG58 If this episode gave you one idea worth keeping, please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it takes 30 seconds and it helps more people find the show.

    31 min

  6. MAR 31

    #143 - 8-Figure Founder: The "Don't Attach Your Identity" Advice Is Complete BS — Ryan Hanley

    The most repeated advice in entrepreneurship is wrong. Ryan Hanley built the fastest-growing small commercial insurance agency in the country, sold it for 8 figures in under two years, and says attaching your identity to your work isn't the problem — it's the only reason you'll ever build something worth keeping. Ryan breaks down why the "stay balanced, don't tie your identity to your business" narrative is what keeps most people soft and mediocre — and why the emotional extremes of building something real are a signal, not a warning. He shares the exact moment a PE firm called him into a meeting and shut down his entire business overnight, firing 24 of his 26 employees on the spot while the agency was doing $500K in sales that same month. He explains the "Reality OS" — the system he uses with clients to strip out beliefs, feelings, and best practices and let actual results dictate every decision. And he makes the case that "act as if" — borrowed from Jordan Peterson — is the most practical identity framework for any ambitious person who doesn't feel like the version of themselves they're trying to become yet. Connect with Ryan Hanley: Website: ryanhanley.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryan_hanley/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanhanley/Podcast: ryanhanley.comIf this episode gave you one idea worth keeping, please leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it takes 30 seconds and it helps more people find the show.

    49 min

  7. MAR 24

    #142 - The Storytelling Mistake Most Brands Make - John Elbing

    John Elbing is a business storytelling consultant and the creator of the Storybuilding method. He helps organizations flip the script by building their brand story from the customer’s standpoint rather than from inside the organization. He works with leadership and marketing teams to align messaging, sharpen positioning, and make marketing decisions easier. He is the bestselling author of Storybuilding, a practical book that gives teams clear tools to create stories that truly resonate. John's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elbing/ John's Website: https://standpoint.ch Buy my Book: https://www.elangelfand.com/talkdeeper Rate the show 5-Stars!

    50 min

  8. MAR 17

    #141 - Why the Best Leaders Never Stop Learning - Katie Anderson

    Katie Anderson is a global leadership consultant, keynote speaker, and award-winning author who helps leaders elevate people, align with purpose, and build cultures of continuous learning that drive innovation and sustainable performance. She is the author of the Shingo Award-winning international bestseller Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn and host of the transformational leadership podcast Chain of Learning®. A Stanford graduate and Fulbright Scholar, she has lived and worked across seven countries, including 18 months in Japan learning from Toyota leaders. Katie has inspired tens of thousands of leaders across 20+ countries to lead with intention, develop capability, and create cultures where both people and performance flourish. Websites: KBJAnderson.com, ChainOfLearning.com, LI https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson/ Give this show a 5-Star Review! Buy my new book: https://www.elangelfand.com/talkdeeper

    33 min
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5
out of 5
27 Ratings

About

Abundant Thinking is for people who want to do something big with their lives but are still figuring out how to get there. In each episode, I talk with people who have done amazing things to learn how they think, make choices, and handle hard moments. The goal is simple: help you think better, avoid big mistakes, and use what you learn in your own life. This isn’t a life story podcast, it’s a thinking podcast. Past guests include Chris Voss, Derek Sivers, Garry Ridge, Mick Hunt, billion-dollar CEOs, bestselling authors, world-class speakers, and more.

Information

  • Creator
    Elan Gelfand
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    148
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Elan Gelfand
  • Show Website
    Abundant Thinking