Taking Your Foot Off the Brake
There are two things I try to keep in mind when launching new projects: (1.) The initial phase will require a disproportionate investment of energy. (Just as a rocket burns up 80-90% of its fuel in the first 2-3 mins to break out of Earth’s atmosphere.) (2.) Although the first point may be true, each […]
How to Enjoy the Process
I interviewed Kevin Kelly for our Aligned Creator Summit this month. If you’re unfamiliar, Kevin is the Co-Founder of Wired Magazine, and someone Tim Ferriss suggests might be “the most interesting man in the world”. A key takeaway was Kevin’s maxim: Never measure yourself against somebody else’s ruler. In his view, if you want to […]
Free W̶i̶l̶l̶ Won’t, Victor Frankl, & Widening the Gap Between Stimulus and Response
A few years ago, I read Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. In the book, Harari uses an experiment from Benjamin Libet to argue against the existence of free will. In the study, participants—who were hooked up to EEG to measure brain activity—were asked to perform a simple voluntary action (e.g. move their arm) at […]
Interoception: A Lead Domino in Mental Health and Spirituality?
In an interview earlier this month, Robert Falconer shared an insight on the critical role of “interoception” in mental health and spirituality. In essence, this is the ability to sense your own internal subjective state. The higher your interoceptive skills, the more connected you are to what’s happening inside, and the more you can tune […]
Arthur Brooks on the 3 Macronutrients of Meaning
I enjoyed this conversation between Arthur Brooks and Tim Ferriss. A key takeaway was Brooks’ insight that there are 3 “macronutrients” to meaning: 1.) Coherence 2.) Purpose 3.) Significance Coherence is about having a philosophy of life. It’s the story you hold about how the world works, why life makes sense generally, and why your […]
Managing Dopamine for Focus and Motivation
This masterclass on dopamine from Andrew Huberman is incredibly valuable: https://lnkd.in/denDQA5N If I had to narrow it down, my two most important takeaways were: 1.) Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation and focus. You could almost say it’s a kind of “motivational fuel” that allows us to pursue our goals. The more dopamine we […]
The Highway to Your Highest Self
Last year, I asked Iain McGilchrist what he thought the purpose of life was. His response was that it was about living in alignment with universal values like truth, goodness, and beauty (see 1 hour 16 mins here). If you’re unfamiliar, Iain is the author of The Master and His Emissary and widely regarded as one of the […]
Alan Watts on Why You Need to Be Your Future Self Now
I recently discovered an Alan Watts lecture which offers a radically different perspective on what “manifestation” really is and how best to approach it. If you’ve ever wondered why it seems to work so well for some—and fail miserably for others—what follows are 3 counterintuitive insights on the subject. #1 – You Always Get What […]
The 8 P’s of a Smiling Pillow
In an interview for our Holistic Coaching Summit, Todd Herman shared that his mission in life is to create as many “smiling pillows” as possible. His logic is that how content and fulfilled we feel just before we drift off is probably the most important metric for how well we’ve lived that day. Since, I’ve […]
Co-Regulation becomes Self Regulation.
In an interview for our attachment summit in 2024, Dr. Bonnie Badenoch shared a counterintuitive truth about the nature of “self regulation”. Badenoch argues the term is actually a misnomer because our ability to self-regulate is heavily dependent on the co-regulation we experienced early in life. To illustrate, take the example of two children. The […]