7 Insights – March, 2025

1.) Consciousness is All There Is – Dr. Tony Nader (Book) 

For most of my life, I assumed that brains produce consciousness. 

And that when the brain stops working, consciousness ceases too. 

In this book, Dr. Tony Nader makes the case that it’s more accurate to think of the brain as a “receiver” of consciousness — a little bit like a radio: 

— When you turn on a radio, you hear music. 

— But it’s not the radio that is producing the music. 

— The radio is a transducer which transforms radio waves from the air into sound waves.

— If you destroy the radio, the music might stop, but that doesn’t mean the radio created the music. 

— Similarly, if a brain gets damaged, consciousness might disappear, but that doesn’t mean that the brain created consciousness. 

This parallels well with what many creatives say about where their ideas come from:

To me, this metaphor also has practical implications for how we live our lives. 

Because if we think of ourselves not as the radio, but as a conscious mind that can “tune” our radio into different frequencies, it places a responsibility on us to tune into the right channels. 

This is done by aligning with certain values (e.g. truth, generosity, gratitude, presence), consciously choosing the information we consume, and engaging in behaviours that lead to deeper and more connected states of consciousness (e.g. spending time in nature, meditation, etc.) 

2.) Marathons & Manual Meaning-Making

We’re meaning-making machines. 

When something happens, we automatically and unconsciously assign meaning to it — usually based on the programming we received in the first 7 years of life. 

This then impacts our emotional state.

In an interview for our upcoming Holistic Coaching Summit, Eric Zimmer shared 3 questions he uses to give his clients “manual” control over the meaning-making process — so that it happens consciously, and not automatically:

(1.) What meaning am I giving to this (by default)?

(2.) What else might it mean? 

(3.) What is the most useful possible interpretation of what it means?

These help us to re-script what any situation means to us and therefore how it impacts us emotionally.

If you’d like to see how this might look in practice, check out this article on how I applied it to reframe getting injured just before the Rome marathon. 

3.) Mark Twain – Documentary by Ken Burns 

There’s a lot to be learned from this, but one of my key takeaways was that Twain had a superpower for noticing and paying exquisite attention to the details of what was happening in his environment. 

In any situation, he would tune into what everyone else was overlooking: 

The way people talked, their posture, their tone of voice, the unusual clothing they wore, etc. 

Not only did this give him a high definition experience of day-to-day life, it also paid dividends when Twain later became a writer, as it gave him an incredible ability to describe simple things in unique, vivid, humorous, and memorable ways.

This reminded me of Dr Ellen Langer’s definition of mindfulness, which is “the simple process of actively noticing new things.” 

When we search for the novelty in our environment, it makes us more observant, curious, and—as a by-product—more mindful.

So the next time you find yourself in a familiar/boring situation (e.g. in traffic or queuing up in the post office), ask: “What might Mark Twain notice here, that I typically overlook?”) 

4.) An Idea from my Upcoming Book: 

 “How can I create a social environment around me that makes the goal I am trying to achieve almost inevitable?”

When planning how we’ll achieve a goal, we usually think about the specific actions we need to take as an individual in order to make it happen.

However, I’m starting to realise that individual agency is only one half of a two sided coin.

And that it’s equally important to think about the environment that makes the goal most likely to happen.

Think about a plant… 

Even the world’s most determined plant won’t grow if you store it in a dark room and forget to water it.

Environmental conditions matter — both in plants and in humans.

When you pair this with the awareness that we are a hyper-social species, hardwired to align with the norms of our social environment, it raises the question:

“Why not spend as much time designing our social environment for success, as we do on planning our actions?”

When you take this approach, you can create a “current” around you that carries you towards the outcome — sort of like rowing a boat downstream in sync with a powerful group of rowers. 

When you don’t, it can be like paddling a singular kayak, upstream, against the current. 

You still might move forward, but every yard gained requires 10x the effort. 

2 helpful questions to reflect on about this can be: 

1.) What group(s) exist where the outcome I want is an average result? (Source = Naval Ravikant)

2.) And how can I join them?

5.) How I’m Saving Money on Books

I’ve noticed that I’ve started quite a few books recently that I haven’t got round to finishing – which is wasting both time and money. 

A solution is to use quotes from goodreads.com/quotes as a kind of “trailer” for the book. 

It costs nothing and it gives you an overview of the best bits — before you make the purchase. If you don’t find value in what you see here, it’s unlikely you’ll find the book valuable either.

6.) Something I’m Changing My Mind About

If you’re anything like me, the term “personal brand” might make you feel a little bit queasy on the inside. 

This is an area I’ve been reluctant to invest in up until now. 

However, I’ve realised that with a book coming out next year, I can no longer afford to put it off. 

The following 3 questions from Marshall Goldsmith (the world’s #1 Executive Coach) helped me to reframe this slightly: 

1.) Do you believe that if you became more influential (i.e. could impact more people), the world would be a better place?

2.) Does becoming more influential make you feel uncomfortable?

3.) Now, what’s more important to you in life? Making the world a better place? Or being comfortable?

In other words, if we know we have something to share that could help others…

But we’re not doing our best to share it as widely as possible because self promotion makes us uncomfortable, then we are actively doing a disservice to the world.

On some level, this is a little bit like a surgeon who refuses to show up to the hospital because she doesn’t like the commute. 

You can see the 2 min clip with Marshall here. (This was recorded for our Holistic Coaching Summit, taking place later this year.)

7.) A Quote I’m Thinking About: 

“For the simplicity on this side of complexity, I wouldn’t give you a fig. But for the simplicity on the other side of complexity, for that I would give you anything I have.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

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