There's this infinite series of actions you have to complete just to high-five somebody.

And this is sort of true of all motion, it feels like, all change, anything that you want to happen,

you can decompose it into an infinite series of steps, which certainly from a perspective of making change in your life is a very daunting thought,

that somehow any change is infinite in scope. Welcome to the one you feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the

importance of the thoughts we have, quotes like garbage in, garbage out, or you are what

you think, ring true. And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't

strengthen or empower us. We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear. We see what we don't

have instead of what we do. We think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit. But it's not

just about thinking. Our actions matter.

It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living. This podcast is

about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good

wolf. Math has always been a challenge for me, so naturally I figured, why not have a math

expert on the podcast? Really is a way to explore how we handle challenges in general. Today I'm

talking with Ben Orlin, who's a math teacher and author who makes problem solving feel surprisingly

human. We'll explore why struggling is actually a good sign, how humor helps us push through

tough moments, and even what a dog retrieving a ball can teach us about calculus.

I've spent most of my life intimidated by complex math.

But as I talked with Ben, I realized that how we approach math

mirrors how we approach any challenge, whether it's breaking a habit, learning something new,

or facing uncertainty. By the end of this episode, you might not just rethink math. You might

rethink how you take on hard things. I'm Eric Zimmer, and this is the one you feed.

I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?

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