We have to be willing to pose ourselves some straight questions in an attempt to find answers if we are going to be committed to self growth. In this episode I pose 6 basic questions we should all ask ourselves.
In this podcast episode I talk about some common traits of high achievers like James Dyson, Oprah Winfrey and Michelangelo that we might be able to incorporate into our own lives and boost our levels of success.
In this episode we head to the Netherlands to examine their Niksen method which has helped the Dutch people beco,me one of the happiest on earth. The Niksen method is surprisingly simple and involves doing very little but doin it with purpose.
Ed Sheeran, one of the most successful artists in recent years is on record talking about how society only values success, but not failure. His own relationship with failure in the early days of his career is what laid the groundwork for his monumental success later on. In this episode I talk about the benefits of failure including the damage that a fear of failure causes us.
Nature is healing, more and more research is proving this to be the case. Living in urban environments deprived of green spaces is robbing us of a connnection we evolved with over tens of thousands of years. In this episode I delve into the book which outlines how and why nature is good for us, physically and mentally.
The Scandinavians are often quoted as among the happitest people on the planet so why not examine some of their life philosophies so that we can acquire the skills and life practices to be happier in our own lives. In this episode I examine the Danish philosphy of Hygge and the Swedish philosphy of Lagom.
Happiness doesn't have to be elusive, Prof Cassie Holmes of UCLA is an award winning teacher, and researcher into time and happiness and best selling author of, Happier Hour: How to bear distraction, exp[pand your time and focus on what matters most. You'll find Prof Holme's book and details on her happiness research at : www.cassieholmes.com
Ikigai is a Japanese philosophy that promotes living a life of purpose. In this episode I detail the 10 principles of Ikigai.
I love the saying that, you are the result of the choices you have made. Choices are powerful, but we often make the choice that negatively impacts upon our health and wellbeing. The answer is simple awareness that the responsibility is ours, to live the life we want to live for optimum health and we do this on a daily basis through the simple choices we make.
Nate Nicholson has written a book detailing in lots of ways how we can be happy on a daily basis. It includes, behaviours and beliefs that if we subscribe to them, we can achieve a greater appreciation of what it is to be alive and what constitutes a happy mindset. It is easier than you would think.
Geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein and Marie Curie have always fascinated us, what are the traits that they have that make them so unique? In this episode I discuss the book The hidden habits of genius by Craig Wright PhD which delves into 14 traits that many of the greatest geniuses possess, some of which we can emulate ourselves so we can reach a higher level of achievement in our own lives.
in this episode I talk with Prof Dr Eva Peters from the University of Giessen in Germany whose area of research is that of psychosomatic illness and the relationship between the mind, body and stress. We hear about hairloss in young women sitting exams, the effects of childhood trauma on skin, the causes of acne and the role the immune system plays in skin conditions.
Today I am talking with another expert, his name is Prof Ted Dinan, he's Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at University College Cork here in Ireland. For decades he has had a particular interest in the bacteria that live inside us, our microbiome or mictrobiota as its called. In this episode we discover what the microbiota is. We hear about the nervous system in the gut, the vagus nerve and how the gut communicates with the brain. We learn that human beings have never been sterile and have alway...
Rich Roll one of the best podcasters out there believes in the need to constantly evolve, so too the Japanese who adopted the Kaizen philosphy which embodies constant improvement so that one sees tiny improvements everyday which over a long time yield massive results. In this episode I talk about the 6 step Kaizen philosophy which the Japanese have been using since after the second world war.
Mel Robbins has this billiantly sobering saying : 'No one is coming to save you', which basically means you had better accept that the only potential superhero in your life story is you, and the sooner you realise this, the sooner you can get on with living a life of purpose.
Empathy is central to the human condition, it is a pro-social imperative, that is it bonds people. It also provides health benefits, in this episode I discuss what these are and how to be more empathic.
In this episode I talk about Plato's allegory of the charioteer and the two horses, in an attempt to define what happiness is and how we can achieve it.
Practising gratitude brings a whole host of benefits, from physiological to psychological to social. I discuss the essence of gratitude and why we should be incorporating it into our lives as much as possible.
President Eisenhower was a man who knew a thing or two about getting things done, he was credited with the Eisenhower method / matrix that helps us distinguish between tasks using two critera: Importance and Urgency. When we define our tasks using this method we supercharge our productivity and time management and we get closer to our goals.
We inherently feel the need to grow, develop and progress. Its when these necessities are stifled that we feel frustrated and resort to coping mechanisms and undesirable behaviours. Having a growth mindset allows us to tap into our potential and abilities. It allows us to push ourselves beyond the restrictions that comfort and safety bring. When we foster this growth mindset, through awareness of ourselves, our language, actions and behaviours we make growth a real possibility.
Link to The Happiness Hypothesis : https://amzn.to/4c0q6Lz In this episode I dive into Jonathan Haidt's book The Happiness Hypothesis which puts the wisdom of ancient philosphers regarding life and happiness to the test of modern science. What are the keys to living a happy life today ?
Dr Kristin Neff is an associate professor in educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and is one of the world's leading experts in the area of self compassion. Dr Neff is the author of several books in the field of self compassion, details of which you will find at her website:www.selfcompassion.org In this episode, we define compassion and discuss its relationship with suffering, and we differentiate compassion with pity for others. We learn why, that while we may admire comp...
In life you can be one of two kinds of people, someone who reacts to life events or one who is proactive, the former lacks control and divests themselves of their power, the latter takes control over their thoughts, actions and emotions. Proactive people are doers, reactive people see themselves as victims. In this episode I talk about ways we can be proactive.
Choosing one's path in life is a challenge in itself, indeed starting out on that path requires committment and accepting responsibility as well as embracing one's values. Then when we meet an obstacle we need to remember our core value so that we can forge ahead and stay true to our path in life. In this episode I detail 6 ways to help us choose our life path and stay the course.
Author Cyndie Spiegel through a compenium of short stories drawn from her own life, preaches the power of what she calls microjoys, the little joys in life that one must practise being awake to. Because life is full of little moments that can bring us joy, like the fallen leaves, the taste of tea, the smile on someones face , a gift , a thank you, mothers home cooking ... all of these joys must be celebrated but are easily passed over when we fail to be alive to them. Through her own life, its h...
Mo Gawdat experienced the ultimate trauma for any parent when he lost his son. As a response to his grief and in an effort to dicover the joy of life after his son's passing Mo used his skills as an engineer to formulate an equation that would make happiness replicable. His equation factors in life's illusions, blindspots and fundamental truths to help us arrive at or solve for happiness.
Prof Catherine Salmon joined me on the latest episode, she is an evolutionary psychologist with an interest in female sexuality, pornography and how birth order in families affects sibling relationships within the family and beyond. https://www.redlands.edu/study/schools-and-centers/college-of-arts-and-sciences/undergraduate-studies/psychology/meet-our-faculty/catherine-salmon/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Power-Middle-Children-Middleborns/dp/0452297931 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Warrior-Lovers...
In a chaotic world sometimes we feel like things are spiralling out of our control, in reality to re-establish a sense of control or agency we simply have to focus on some core things like our breath, our thoughts and responses, the qaulity of our sleep and nutrition.
Take inspiration from Hal Elrod who came back from a life threatening car crash and adopted a morning routine that allowed him to take ownership over his life and steered him towards his goals. Simply getting up 1 hour earlier and using that time for your self development each morning yields signicant cumulatuve results, and it all begins with NOT using your snooze button. This is a method that facilitates personal transformation and achievement through incredibly simple daily actions every morn...
We have more options and choice than ever before, while this would seem to be a luxury it has the potential to make life very difficult for us by overwhelming us and making us doubt that we have made the right choice at any given moment. Barry Schwartz's book The paradox of choice, outlines how we can make better choices in a world teeming with options.
