Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby

Hosted by Dr. Daniel Crosby

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324

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The Standard Deviations podcast is a weekly production that looks at money, mind and meaning, all through a psychological lens. Each week, psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Daniel Crosby interviews a fascinating new guest, experts in everything from finance to literature to wellness. Each guest provides listeners with three concrete ways to apply what was learned that week, ensuring that weekly listening becomes part of a path to a richer life. Episodes are brief, research-based, and designed to fit perfectly within your commute time. So, tune in for practical news that will help you make more, think more and be more. Learn more by following Dr. Daniel @danielcrosby or visit the website at www.standarddeviationspod.com/ Standard Deviations is presented by Orion.

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60 recent

August 20, 202629 min

Adam Cockerham - Your Money and Your Mind

Tune in to hear: Does Adam believe that most people have a money problem, or a meaning problem that money simply reveals? What are some signs that someone is trying to solve a meaning problem with money and what would Adam counsel them to do instead if they saw this in themselves? How does Adam define financial freedom in a more nuanced way than the layman’s concept of financial freedom? What is some evidence that money has moved from a servant role to a master role in someone’s life, and what would Adam have them do to right that ship? Where does the scarcity mindset come from for wealthy individuals, and what does Adam think should be done about it? How does Adam counsel people to make positive social comparisons when it is so easy to feel bad about ourselves in the era of social media? For people looking to loosen attachment, what are the practical means by which they can bring that about? How can contemplating our own mortality make us better investors and better stewards of our wealth? Links Adam Cockerham on LinkedIn Your Money and Your Mind Adam’s Website Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2335-U-26223

August 13, 202629 min

Kendra Wright - The Marketing Mistakes Holding Financial Advisors Back (And How to Fix Them)

Tune in to hear: What is the biggest lie advisors tell themselves about why their growth may be stagnating or slower than they might like? What would Kendra say to advisors who are casting a really wide net about why they should drill down and create a more bespoke marketing funnel? When Kendra is looking at an advisor’s social media channels, what are some signs that their approach is effective and what are some signs that they may be missing the mark? Why is effective marketing just as much about repelling the clients you don’t want as it is about attracting the clients you do want? Why is it so scary to deviate from the herd and why do otherwise smart people tend to gravitate towards what seems safe and commonplace? Are there some groups that are routinely overlooked and underserved by advisors? Does Kendra hear pieces of conventional wisdom, around marketing, passed around the advisory community that make her cringe? What’s the difference between social marketing that might appeal to vanity metrics, like follows, versus the kind that’s driving real revenue? What’s the relationship and what’s the tension between strategy and tactics? In their marketing efforts, how can advisors appeal to this behavior layer of making people feel safe and let them get to know them? For advisors just getting started, what’s the first step for them to build a successful firm and a successful life? Links Kendra Wright on LinkedIn Rebel Media Agency Kendra Wright on Twitter Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2268-U-26215

August 6, 202630 min

Christopher Norton - Financial Advisor Marketing: How to Build an Authentic Brand That Attracts the Right Clients

Tune in to hear: What does the financial services industry get wrong about the role marketing and sales should play in an organization? How does Potomac approach marketing differently than other firms? If Christopher had to distill his marketing ethos down to 2-3 principles, what would those be? Why does Christopher believe that it is just as important to repel people as it is to attract them with your brand? Why is this brand authenticity so important? How can you turn your personal passions into a compelling story and draw for your brand? What is the real reason so many advisors shy away from content creation? The ostensible answer is that they are too busy, but is there often a deeper reason? How would Christopher encourage brands to be authentic, but to do so in a way that appears natural and not too overt or forced? If an advisor has very little brand recognition and wants to change this, what are one or two things that they can do and one or two things that they should ignore while trying to grow their brand? Links Christopher Norton on LinkedIn Potomac Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2085-U-26196

July 30, 202632 min

Dr. Christine Whelan - Dr. Christine Whelan - Finding Your Purpose: What Actually Leads to a Meaningful Life?

Tune in to hear: Why does Dr. Whelan think that purpose is something we build rather than something we discover? Also why, as a culture, do we view purpose more like an epiphany rather than something we actively construct? How are happiness and purpose distinguished and how should we optimize for one or the other? How did Plato’s philosophy separate the two and did he believe they were mutually exclusive on some level? Does Dr. Whelan think that we, as a society, over optimize for short-term, hedonic happiness and don’t focus enough on long-term eudemonic flourishing? How can we better recognize the purposeful things we are already doing in our lives? Why is taking a moment to acknowledge this so powerful? How do we keep this from becoming just another item on an already too full to-do list, another weight on our backs or another form of perfectionism? On the one hand, we know that service and living for others can bolster our purpose, but we also know this can be overextended at the expense of ourselves. How does Dr. Whelan propose that we better balance these two facets of purpose? When our values seem to be at odds with each other, how should we ascertain which values we should be prioritizing? Is there anything about happiness and living with purpose that Dr. Whelan has had a 180 on since dedicating herself so deeply to this research? Links Dr. Whelan’s Website Finding Your Purpose Dr. Christine Whelan on LinkedIn Dr. Christine Whelan on Instagram Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2081-U-26196

July 23, 202631 min

Jamie Bosse - Investing for Tweens

Tune in to hear: Why do tweens seem to fall between the cracks, in terms of products, advice and services aimed at them, and why did Jamie focus on this niche demographic for her new book? From a developmental perspective, what should parents and caregivers understand about how 10-14 year olds think, learn and make decisions? When thinking about jobs for teenagers, how should parents think about jobs that build work ethic and resilience versus higher paying jobs that might more effectively prepare them for the future? When you’re teaching your tweens about saving, investing and working, how should you incorporate education around gratitude and avoiding entitlement? Tweens are growing up with digital payments, investing apps, crypto, TikTok influencers etc - how does this change the parents’ responsibility and the way they should teach about financial literacy? How can we, as parents, examine our own money scripts before we start teaching the next generation? What mistakes does Jamie see parents making, when it comes to teaching tweens about money, and what would she have them do differently? If there’s one positive thing that every parent listening to this could implement to help their tween build a healthy relationship with money, what should that be? Links Jamie's Website Jamie Bosse on LinkedIn Money Boss Mom (Book) Investing For Tweens (Book) Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2007-U-26188

July 16, 202632 min

Cullen Roche - Your Perfect Portfolio: Stop Chasing Returns and Start Building Better Portfolios

Tune in to hear: Why does Cullen argue in his new book that there is no perfect portfolio and argues that we should be worrying more about process? How do we begin to move our clientele from this search for a silver bullet to start thinking about their portfolios in a more systematic, bespoke way? Why does Cullen believe that advisors should match assets to future liabilities rather than just chasing returns? From a behavioral perspective, why is this shift hard for investors to internalize at times? Do most “diversified portfolios” fail Cullen’s test of diversification? If a listener adopted Cullen’s investing framework, what would they likely do differently during a period of market stress compared to an average investor? Links Cullen Roche on Twitter Cullen Roche on LinkedIn Your Perfect Portfolio Discipline Funds Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 2000-U-26188

July 9, 202635 min

Derrick Kinney - Money Mindset, Building Wealth & The Good Money Revolution

Tune in to hear: Why did Derrick Kinney leave behind his career as a financial advisor to become an author and public speaker? What does Derrick think money reveals about people that we may be slow to admit? How does Derrick suggest people get started with philanthropy if they’ve been hesitant for whatever reason? As people try to reorient their relationship with money, what are some rain clouds or obstacles they might run into and how can they better prepare for these? What is a belief about money that’s ostensibly responsible but that might lead us away from self-actualization and generosity? Links Derrick Kinney Derrick Kinney on LinkedIn Good Money Revolution Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 1952-U-26181

July 2, 202632 min

Neil Bage - This is Your Brain on Money

Tune in to hear: What gives money such immense emotional power over us? Does Neil think that some of the problems people have with money come from them trying to treat it as this utilitarian thing rather than tapping into the deeper subtext of it? What does Neil think is the biggest mismatch between the brain we’ve inherited from our ancestral predecessors and the world we find ourselves navigating in the present day? What are one or two high-level tips for helping our old brains thrive in this new world? Why does Neil describe the brain as a prediction machine rather than a thinking machine? What are the implications of this on peoples’ financial decision making? What role does Neil think emotion should play in financial decision making? Should we ignore or embrace emotion? It also seems true that letting emotion lead our financial decision making too much is a mistake, so how do we strike a balance between emotion and rationality? Why does the human brain do such a poor job of relating to its future self? If Neil could correct one misunderstanding that financial advisors have about human behavior, what would it be? Links Neil Bage Substack LinkedIn Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 1954-U-26181

June 25, 202629 min

Ben Carlson - Risk and Reward

Tune in to hear: How can we make the lessons of market history feel salient to present day investors? Is the South Sea Bubble Ben’s favorite historical anecdote around investing and money? What is the “now show Japan” mindset and how does it steer people awry? Both from the advisor perspective, and also the end-investor perspective, how do we get people to realize the value of doing nothing and passive investing? When Ben says there are two types of Bear Markets, what does he mean and how do they differ? What is Ben’s analogy about winning points versus winning matches between tennis and financial markets? Ben lays out the 20 things he believes about investing in the Epilogue of his new book. What is the 1 of these 20 things that he thinks is most important for investors and advisors to understand? Links A Wealth of Common Sense Ben Carlson on Twitter Ben Carlson on LinkedIn Animal Spirits Podcast Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 1730-U-26156

June 18, 202641 min

Clare Flynn Levy - Stock Market Maestros: The Winning Habits, Strategies and Mindsets of the World’s Best Investors

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby is joined by Clare Flynn Levy, CEO and Founder of Essentia Analytics. Prior to founding Essentia, Clare spent 10 years as a fund manager, both active equity (running over $1B of pension funds for Deutsche Asset Management) and hedge (as founder and CIO of Avocet Capital Management, a specialist tech fund manager). She ultimately “went native” into the software space as President of Beauchamp Financial Technology, a market-leading provider of portfolio management systems to hedge funds, which was acquired by Linedata Services S.A. Clare’s vision for Essentia is based on years of being the customer, followed by years of listening to the customer. Tune in to hear: Why do people so desperately overvalue being right, even in environments where payoff matters more than accuracy? How do we begin to get comfortable with being wrong and not being overconfident when the discomfort of being wrong is so poignant for us as humans? How do we convince everyone, from mom and pop investors to hedge fund managers, that rules are the most reliable thing when intuition tells us that it should be personal intelligence? How does Clare think about knowing when Alpha has decayed versus just holding on to a true principle that has fallen out of favor momentarily? What boxes did one need to tick to become a stock market maestro in Clare’s new book? Also, what were some of her favorite rules or quirks that reflect how these maestros did things a bit differently? How does true investment skill, as Clare measures it, differ from investment skill in the popular imagination? How does Clare apply the lessons she has learned from Wall Street around quality decision making to her parenting and her personal life? Links Clare Flynn Levy on LinkedIn Stock Market Maestros Behavioral Alpha Essentia Analytics Connect with Us Meet Dr. Daniel Crosby Check Out All of Orion’s Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion Disclosures: These show notes may contain links to third-party websites. Any links to such third-party websites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by Orion of the content on such third-party websites, or any affiliation or association with its operators. Orion is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, including, without limitation, any link contained in a linked website, or any changes or updates to a linked website, and do not make any representations regarding the information, services, products or accuracy of any material contained on such third-party websites. Compliance Code: 1718-U-26155