Believe and You Will See! (w/ Nir Eyal )

About this episode

Nir Eyal discusses the impact of beliefs on performance and shares insights from his latest book.

My guest this week is Nir Eyal, whose two books ('Hooked’ and ‘Indistractable’) have sold over 1 million copies in over 30 languages. This week he published his latest - Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Extraordinary Results. In our chat, Nir and I discuss: Why beliefs can help us perform at our top potential (or vice versa) The difference between facts, faith, and belief How beliefs can benefit us, even if they’re not “true” The importance of cognitive flexibility And, the power of prayer, even for non-believers Nir also shares a powerful story about the thing he learned by buying his mother birthday flowers from the “wrong” florist. Nir's work has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, and many more. He attended The Stanford Graduate School of Business and Emory University. Please ⁠rate and review⁠ ⁠⁠Reasonably Happy⁠ ⁠HERE⁠⁠ (DO IT!) Read ⁠Paul’s ⁠⁠Substack newsletter⁠⁠⁠ ⁠HERE⁠ Learn more about Nir on his website. Get full access to Reasonably Happy at words.paulollinger.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Host: Paul Ollinger

Guest: Nir Eyal

Topics covered

• beliefs
• performance
• cognitive flexibility
• self-improvement
• psychology
• faith

Keywords

• beliefs
• performance
• Nir Eyal
• self-limiting beliefs
• cognitive flexibility
• prayer
• psychology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Emory University

Books & works: Hooked, Indistractable, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Extraordinary Results

More episodes of Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger

• A Political Family Black Sheep Tells All (with Rosebud Baker) · June 12, 2026 · 50 min
• 5 Questions with A.J. Jacobs · June 10, 2026 · 32 min
• I Read My Essays to You · June 3, 2026 · 36 min
• 5 Questions with Dave Barry · May 28, 2026 · 31 min
• Gretchen Rubin Will Teach You to be Happy · May 26, 2026 · 59 min
• Money, Family & Comedy w/Roy Wood Jr. · May 14, 2026 · 57 min