Toolbox for Thriving With Humans
An Expanding Collection of My Top Energizers, Exercises & Sources for Meaningful Collaboration & Personal Growth
Search for Something Specific
Filter By Resource Type
Select Type
Filter By Resource Subject
Silent Eye Gazing
This is a paired presence exercise that strips interaction down to its essentials. By removing words and roles, participants practice staying present with another person — without performing, fixing, or withdrawing.
Satya Nadella on Empathy & Growth Mindset
A grounded, insider view of how real culture change happens at scale — through purpose, empathy, and leaders willing to confront their own fixed mindset.
Loving Kindness
Loving-Kindness isn’t about being nice or soft. This practice trains compassion as a stabilizing force — reducing internal friction so clearer thinking and better collaboration can emerge.
Whose Bag?
What can you learn about a person without asking them a single question? This exercise trains empathy and collective sense-making by turning everyday objects into clues about identity, values, and meaning.
Healthy Skepticism vs. Cynicism
Cynicism often disguises itself as realism, but it quietly erodes trust, creativity, and collaboration. This episode shows how growth-oriented mindsets and empathy are trainable skills that shape healthier teams and more resilient leaders.
Happiness & Self-Management
High achievement without inner grounding often leads to quiet emptiness. This episode reframes happiness as a discipline of character, meaning, and emotional self-management — not a byproduct of success.
Songs & Pics of the Real You
A reflective learning exercise using music, images, and journaling to reconnect people with their authentic self. Ideal for leaders and teams navigating change, identity shifts, or disconnection from meaning.
Neuroscience Of Spirituality
A science-based exploration of spirituality as a measurable human capacity — not a belief system. Lisa Miller explains how meaning, awe, and connection strengthen resilience, mental health, and how we navigate suffering.
How Vulnerability Can Make Life Safer
This episode reveals how emotional openness and encouraging vulnerability in teams led to fewer accidents, better communication, and stronger performance on what was then Shell’s largest offshore oil rig.
Royal Shuffle
Royal Shuffle is a short, card-based social game where participants interact based on an unseen status assigned to them. It makes non-verbal communication, hierarchy, and social dynamics instantly visible.
Numbers Game
The Numbers Game is a quiet coordination challenge where a group counts upward without signals or turn-taking. It turns silence, restraint, and awkward timing into a shared sense of rhythm and trust.
Stretch Me
Stretch Me invites participants to wake up their bodies — and the room — through shared, slightly ridiculous movement. It builds energy, connection, and lighthearted trust.
Human Chair
Human Chair challenges a group to do something that feels slightly impossible — together. By leaning on one another, teams experience trust, coordination, and collective success in a very literal way.
Massage Me
Massage Me is a playful, consent-aware energizer that uses humor and light physical interaction to soften tension and revive group energy. It helps people relax, laugh together, and reconnect without taking itself too seriously.
Ninja · Hunter · Bear
Ninja · Hunter · Bear is a loud, physical twist on Rock–Paper–Scissors designed to unlock play and collective energy. It replaces self-consciousness with laughter, momentum, and instant group bonding.
Mexican Wave
Mexican Wave creates an explosive burst of energy by getting a large group to move and shout in perfect synchrony. It’s loud, physical, and almost impossible to do without committing fully.
Mirror Neuron Dance
Mirror Neuron Dance uses music and mirroring to flood the room with movement and momentum. By shifting attention into the body, it wakes groups up almost instantly and creates shared energy.
Jerusalema Dance Off
Jerusalema Dance-Off invites teams to learn a dance together—awkwardness included. By leveling hierarchy and demanding shared commitment, it creates trust, belonging, and memorable collective energy.