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These conversations are hard. I've listened back to this one a number of times and the only thing I can keep thinking is "nuance." These discussions are nuanced, these topics are nuanced, life is nua…

These conversations …

These conversations are hard. I've listened back to this one a number of times and the only thing I can keep thinking is "nuance." These discussions are nuanced, these topics are nuanced, life is nuanced. On the one hand I feel like this is all we can do, have an open conversation with someone, hear their thoughts, ask questions, and try to understand different perspectives better. On the other hand I feel like I should have pushed back much harder. Some of the words used weren't OK and I should have addressed that more, not to be combative but to try to get to a better place. You guys wi…

"Philosophy is actually the end of abstractions." Wow, what a statement to think about. How different our approach to life might become if we embrace that thought. How much more reflective and humbl…

"Philosophy is actua…

"Philosophy is actually the end of abstractions." Wow, what a statement to think about. How different our approach to life might become if we embrace that thought. How much more reflective and humble we might become. This conversation with Nikos was full of interesting and insightful thoughts. We talked philosophy, biology, evolution, psychology, and spirituality-- all with the same goal of trying to better understand what the hell we are doing here. Not because it is interesting to think about, but because it is the realest, most practical question we can ask. A more complete bio for N…

Chad is a successful business person who now works to help coach others on how to be successful. What's super interesting about Chad is that: 1. He has some spiritual and religious values that underp…

Chad is a successful…

Chad is a successful business person who now works to help coach others on how to be successful. What's super interesting about Chad is that: 1. He has some spiritual and religious values that underpin a lot of his thinking and his goals in life. 2. On the surface, he can seem like a bit of a "finance bro" who overemphasizes his masculinity and his drive to win at life. As we do on this show, we spent the discussion trying to reconcile that, understand who Chad really is, and why he approaches life the way he does. We didn't shy away from the controversial areas or the potential contradic…

Cory is an author and a pastor, who has a deep faith in God. He believes that it is only through God that we can fulfill our inherent cravings and live a happy, peaceful, meaningful life. He has writt…

Cory is an author an…

Cory is an author and a pastor, who has a deep faith in God. He believes that it is only through God that we can fulfill our inherent cravings and live a happy, peaceful, meaningful life. He has written a book, The Magnetic Heart of God - Understanding the Five Cravings of Your Soul. We spent this conversation exploring Cory's understanding of those 5 cravings, why he is confident they are spiritual and non-biological, and what it actually means to embrace God to fulfill them. I always love the chance to talk to someone with deep spiritual beliefs, especially someone as open as Cory to exam…

Kamal is a photographer who wanted to capture the essence of what really was happening in America in 2020. He wanted to use photography to let all of the division, hate, fear, anger, sorrow, love, com…

Kamal is a photograp…

Kamal is a photographer who wanted to capture the essence of what really was happening in America in 2020. He wanted to use photography to let all of the division, hate, fear, anger, sorrow, love, compassion, and humanity show its true self--the true story of what was underneath it all. As you'll hear, he is also just a really authentic, thoughtful, self-aware person. It was fascinating to hear his stories, how he became so passionate about photography, and what he learned about humanity as he created his book, Black Astronaut. I love talking to photographers because most of them are natur…

Dana has experienced a lot of Trauma and abuse in her life by narcissists. From a young age she dealt with it from her mother and step father and even later in life at the hands of her ex-husband. She…

Dana has experienced…

Dana has experienced a lot of trauma and abuse in her life by narcissists. From a young age she dealt with it from her mother and step father and even later in life at the hands of her ex-husband. She spent so much time struggling with this form of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse that it made her question the reality she was living in. As she explains in her work, narcissistic abusers create so much confusion and conflict in the mind of the abused. She's struggled with this for much of her life and that is why her value of finding the truth is so important to her. Dana was super …

Gerald is a psychoanalyst, who has studied human behavior for a long time. He has used that expertise to formulate hypotheses about social issues, like feminism, civil rights, and most recently mass s…

Gerald is a psychoan…

Gerald is a psychoanalyst, who has studied human behavior for a long time. He has used that expertise to formulate hypotheses about social issues, like feminism, civil rights, and most recently mass shootings in America. Some of his views have been called insensitive or offensive. For example, in trying to explore how to stop mass shootings, one of his ideas is to regulate who is allowed to parent a child. The thought being that ineffective child rearing (among other social/cultural issues) is leading to a number of mass shootings. That type of idea is the exact one I want to explore on the s…

My guest, Kent, believes humanity is in a crisis but he is very optimistic that we have the tools and knowledge to overcome that crisis. Much of the problem is rooted in our attachments (or lack there…

My guest, Kent, beli…

My guest, Kent, believes humanity is in a crisis but he is very optimistic that we have the tools and knowledge to overcome that crisis. Much of the problem is rooted in our attachments (or lack thereof) during childhood. We are all damaged children who grow up to become damaged adults and the work Kent is doing is to help us figure out how to heal that damage and be better going forward. If you've listened to the show before, you know I tend to take a much more cynical view of humanity. I look around and see all the damage Kent speaks of, but I don't see any reason to believe that we, at scal…

Olga has a belief that free will doesn't exist. This belief isn't rooted in spirituality or intuition, it is deeply rooted in science and reason. Olga believes if people understood that free doesn't e…

Olga has a belief th…

Olga has a belief that free will doesn't exist. This belief isn't rooted in spirituality or intuition, it is deeply rooted in science and reason. Olga believes if people understood that free doesn't exist, it would actually inspire us to be more humble, more caring, and increase our overall quality of life. These conversations are so rich with good discussion because there is so much to get into. Does free will really not exist, how would we know? What are the implications of free will not existing, how do we know it would make people better off knowing that? If free will doesn't exist does th…

Chris has a bold belief that he understands the issues with our current economic systems, the ways they are hurting society and the earth, and what needs to be done to fix them. His work, with his n…

Chris has a bold bel…

Chris has a bold belief that he understands the issues with our current economic systems, the ways they are hurting society and the earth, and what needs to be done to fix them. His work, with his non-profit (The Foundation of New World), is meant to build awareness and drive people to implement these fixes. At the root of the problem, Chris believes we are focusing on the wrong metrics (GDP, currency values, inflation, etc.) which are leading us to overproduce, overwork our employees, and destroy value. Although many people would agree that our current systems have issues, it is a massive …

Hajar cares deeply about humanity. She believes in humanity and that we can figure out ways to stop finding reasons to divide ourselves, causing suffering, and hating one another. She is also knowledg…

Hajar cares deeply a…

Hajar cares deeply about humanity. She believes in humanity and that we can figure out ways to stop finding reasons to divide ourselves, causing suffering, and hating one another. She is also knowledgable enough to know that it won't be easy. That's why she's dedicated her life as a professor and author to try to better understand humanity and figure this thing out. This thing is messy though. If I have learned nothing else from doing this show it is that. So we dove into the messiness of it and tried to understand together. We talked about civil rights, American Exceptionalism, poverty, human…

Radell's mission is to have authentic conversations, expand people's perspectives, and find a way out of the toxic political discourse that exists in our world today. He hopes to use his podcast (http…

Radell's mission is …

Radell's mission is to have authentic conversations, expand people's perspectives, and find a way out of the toxic political discourse that exists in our world today. He hopes to use his podcast (https://www.purplepoliticalbreakdown.com) to show people that you can use logic, reason, and understanding to work through some of the most complex and nuanced issues that society faces. This approach obviously resonates with me and I enjoyed digging into some of today's political issues to see how Radell's approach might help solve them. Maybe even more so, I enjoyed getting to better understand him,…

There are some conversations, where you feel like you are truly examining the human experience; not for any specific reason, but just because both people are so fascinated with understanding. This d…

There are some conve…

There are some conversations, where you feel like you are truly examining the human experience; not for any specific reason, but just because both people are so fascinated with understanding. This discussion with Troy (https://troyhadeed.com/) was a beautiful, deep look into what this existence is really all about. Neither of us would be so naive to assume we have all the answers, but that is not the point. The point is caring enough to explore it. Troy has lived an interesting life and has a super unique perspective. Maybe most importantly he cares a lot about humanity and the world aroun…

I am not there yet, I know that. I want to be able to have conversations with people, like my guest Frank, and actually get to the root of it. I want to be able to understand what makes people see the…

I am not there yet, …

I am not there yet, I know that. I want to be able to have conversations with people, like my guest Frank, and actually get to the root of it. I want to be able to understand what makes people see the world so differently. I want to understand what makes one person think racism and the aftermath of slavery still loom large in our country, whereas another person thinks it is not much of an issue at all. It is hard though. Maybe it shouldn't be so hard, but I find myself trying to walk the line of curiosity and confrontation. Both are necessary at times, but I still find myself hesitant to pus…

Sean, at one time in his life, was angry, overweight, drinking too much, and not the person he wanted to be in life. There were various reasons for these issues, but if you had to sum them up, it was …

Sean, at one time in…

Sean, at one time in his life, was angry, overweight, drinking too much, and not the person he wanted to be in life. There were various reasons for these issues, but if you had to sum them up, it was that he never really believed he was capable of anything different. Sean was raised a certain way and started to form certain beliefs/habits that seemed impossible to break. This isn't some magical story of transformation, where someone went on a quest to find themselves (not there is anything wrong with that). There was no spiritual awakening or near death experience that prompted the change. S…

A solo session where I reflect on some of the things I am learning, examine the value of cynicism, and explore how we (humans) might be better.

A solo session where…

A solo session where I reflect on some of the things I am learning, examine the value of cynicism, and explore how we (humans) might be better.

Jamie is developing a philosophy called sentientism (as hard to write as it is to say), which is based on the idea of using evidence and reason to determine what living beings are sentient and then sh…

Jamie is developing …

Jamie is developing a philosophy called sentientism (as hard to write as it is to say), which is based on the idea of using evidence and reason to determine what living beings are sentient and then showing compassion for them. This is one of those concepts that seems so obvious and hard to argue, until you get into the weeds of it. As with any philosophy, there are aspects of it that become subjective. How are we defining sentient, how are we defining compassion, what is the underlying rationale for needing to show compassion? As I spoke with Jamie I realized there was a strong theme of tryin…

Daniel is a philosopher with a strongly held belief that western philosophy is one of the most important contributions in the history of humanity. This is obviously directly in my wheel house so I was…

Daniel is a philosop…

Daniel is a philosopher with a strongly held belief that western philosophy is one of the most important contributions in the history of humanity. This is obviously directly in my wheel house so I was excited for this discussion, although I know for some people deep philosophical conversations can feel abstract or tough to follow. For that reason I tried to ask questions that brought the abstract concepts back down to practical terms, to make sense of how valuable they really are to humanity. Daniel has a deep base of knowledge and some really well thought out view points on how Western Philo…

Dale is someone who is concerned that America is forgetting its history and as a result is dooming its future. He has a strong belief in his faith and because of that he feels compelled to speak out a…

Dale is someone who …

Dale is someone who is concerned that America is forgetting its history and as a result is dooming its future. He has a strong belief in his faith and because of that he feels compelled to speak out and take action to try to help. I do this show to have conversations with people that have strong opinions or viewpoints, because I want to take the time to understand what is really underneath them. It is very easy in today's world to see a conservative, older white male who thinks we need to get back to our history and assume you know exactly who they are and what they think. I don't like makin…

Brian is a strong believer in libertarianism and the idea that both parties have their obvious flaws therefore the only thing that makes sense is minimizing government and allowing people to be free t…

Brian is a strong be…

Brian is a strong believer in libertarianism and the idea that both parties have their obvious flaws therefore the only thing that makes sense is minimizing government and allowing people to be free to be who they want to be. The idea of libertarianism is always intriguing to me theory, so it was really interesting to pressure test and examine what it really means, how it works, and how tolerant it actually is. Bio Provided by Brian: Brian McWilliams is a native Philadelphian currently living in Los Angeles. He’s a communications and public relations expert, comedian and writer. His pas…

Josh is a podcaster and blogger (https://www.savingelephantsblog.com/) who has a strong belief in the tradition of conservatism in America. He believes being virtuous is the most important thing we ca…

Josh is a podcaster …

Josh is a podcaster and blogger (https://www.savingelephantsblog.com/) who has a strong belief in the tradition of conservatism in America. He believes being virtuous is the most important thing we can do and his conservative philosophy suggests, more often than not, the most virtuous thing we can do is not try to drive radical change. There are times for that, but most often we'd be better to trust in the natural course of things and the way they've worked in the past. We approached this discussion in a very intellectual way, trying to understand the logic, function, and value of conservatis…

My guest, Daniel, refers to himself as a recovering racist. As he puts it, "I acknowledge that I have held racist beliefs in the past, but I am committed to unlearning them and becoming an anti-racist…

My guest, Daniel, re…

My guest, Daniel, refers to himself as a recovering racist. As he puts it, "I acknowledge that I have held racist beliefs in the past, but I am committed to unlearning them and becoming an anti-racist. I strive to constantly examine my thoughts and actions for any signs of prejudice and take steps to address them." There are a ton of interesting aspects of this to explore. What makes someone racist, how does unconscious racism work, how do we become "anti-racist", etc.? Beyond those obvious questions though, there are also the more philosophical questions about human nature. Are humans just i…

There are not a lot of topics more important than protecting abused or suffering children. Lance spent most of his career as a child welfare worker and has also wrote two books on the topic. He star…

There are not a lot …

There are not a lot of topics more important than protecting abused or suffering children. Lance spent most of his career as a child welfare worker and has also wrote two books on the topic. He started the episode by discussing the importance, but also the challenges, of government being responsible for making decisions about the well being of children. I really appreciated this discussion, because Lance was able to give an inside look to the mind of a social worker. We got a peek inside to understand how he viewed his work, the ugliness he saw, and ultimately what, if any, better solutions …

My guest, Lauren, feels very strongly that kids need to be able to explore, be curious, be creative, and think more like entrepreneurs. She also feels very strongly that our current school system is n…

My guest, Lauren, fe…

My guest, Lauren, feels very strongly that kids need to be able to explore, be curious, be creative, and think more like entrepreneurs. She also feels very strongly that our current school system is not allowing kids these opportunities and that is a big problem. This isn't a new sentiment, but it was really interesting to explore this issue and why Lauren felt so strongly about it. She is really thoughtful and rational in her thinking, so we uncovered some good questions and insights as we worked through the topic. As we progressed it became apparent that part of Lauren's belief is centered …

Johnathan has been on the show once before, in season 1, but wanted to come back for season 2 to talk about his strongly held belief on the importance of getting a college degree. His view is that alt…

Johnathan has been o…

Johnathan has been on the show once before, in season 1, but wanted to come back for season 2 to talk about his strongly held belief on the importance of getting a college degree. His view is that although there are plenty of reasons (many of them good reasons) to not go to college anymore, there are always pro and cons to everything; and the pros of getting a college degree outweigh the cons. Johnathan believes the transformative experience you go through will prepare you to thrive in life, no matter what you decide to do. This is obviously a really debated topic today, so there was plenty f…

Mustafa has worked as an investment banker, a diplomat, and pharmacist, and now as an author and coach (https://thepassionmba.com/). He has intentionally chosen to change careers, or be a career shape…

Mustafa has worked a…

Mustafa has worked as an investment banker, a diplomat, and pharmacist, and now as an author and coach (https://thepassionmba.com/). He has intentionally chosen to change careers, or be a career shapeshifter, because he believes that is what life is about. As he said it, "we are not on this earth to pay bills and die." It only makes sense to push yourself to try different things and maximize the value you bring to the world. Not only does Mustafa think it is better for the individual to approach life this way, but he thinks it is better for society. We've gotten too caught up in specializati…

This was probably the most contentious conversation I've had since I've been doing this show. That is somewhat expected given the format change for season 2, but I would honestly love for you the list…

This was probably th…

This was probably the most contentious conversation I've had since I've been doing this show. That is somewhat expected given the format change for season 2, but I would honestly love for you the listeners to decide where this conversation broke bad (if at all). I know people that speak in absolutes, use extreme language, and carry an air of certainty can be a trigger for me. Elaine hit on those triggers as she was trying to passionately make her case for why Mental Health experts should be treated as authorities who can help fix our social and political issues. What I found super interestin…

I was connected with Paul by a mutual friend and we actually had a conversation on another podcast prior to this one. This works out well sometimes, because it allows us to get deeper into the discuss…

I was connected with…

I was connected with Paul by a mutual friend and we actually had a conversation on another podcast prior to this one. This works out well sometimes, because it allows us to get deeper into the discussion since we already have a baseline understanding of each other. Paul brought "love God and love others" as his strongly held belief to discuss for the show. What I knew about Paul from our prior conversation was that he would be super thoughtful about why he believed so strongly in this idea and he would also be super open to examining/challenging it to try to understand it better. We discusse…

Chet suffers from Diabetes and has seen first hand the stigmas that come with this disease. He thinks it is due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, that so many people chastise people struggling wit…

Chet suffers from di…

Chet suffers from diabetes and has seen first hand the stigmas that come with this disease. He thinks it is due to a lack of awareness and knowledge, that so many people chastise people struggling with it (especially type 2 diabetes). His belief is that diabetes is unique in this way, where people are comfortable criticizing and judging people for not "being healthier" or "taking better care of themselves." So he is on a mission to try to change that perspective and remove those stigmas. It was an interesting conversation to learn a bit more about diabetes and how the disease impacts people,…

My guest, William, creates content and shares his views on self-improvement, social issues, pop culture, and many other topics (https://www.youtube.com/@talknscroll/videos). He came to the show with a…

My guest, William, c…

My guest, William, creates content and shares his views on self-improvement, social issues, pop culture, and many other topics (https://www.youtube.com/@talknscroll/videos). He came to the show with a strongly held belief around taking ownership/accountability of your outcomes in life. He discusses this often in his content, so we explored this belief and used the issue of sexism/the patriarchy to make it real. Season 2 of the show is still about questioning, exploring, and seeking to understand different perspectives/beliefs. Through out this episode we tried to better understand the value …

I talk about some changes I am making to the show for season 2 and what to expect from the conversations going forward.

I talk about some ch…

I talk about some changes I am making to the show for season 2 and what to expect from the conversations going forward.

I spend a lot of time thinking about suffering. As I work through all of the conversations on this show, it is what I keep coming back to. We live in a world where it is almost all a mystery. If you d…

I spend a lot of tim…

I spend a lot of time thinking about suffering. As I work through all of the conversations on this show, it is what I keep coming back to. We live in a world where it is almost all a mystery. If you dig deep enough, nothing really makes sense, at least in the traditional logical sense. The only thing that seems real is pleasure and suffering. We know, logically, viscerally, emotionally, and intuitively the feelings of pleasure and suffering. This has lead me to a conclusion that the only concrete value to consider is one that tries to reduce unnecessary suffering. There are far too many inst…

Sean has been playing and creating music for over 30 years. He has spent most of his working life as a self-employed freelancer, playing in a jazz trio at wine bars, editing audiobooks, creating websi…

Sean has been playin…

Sean has been playing and creating music for over 30 years. He has spent most of his working life as a self-employed freelancer, playing in a jazz trio at wine bars, editing audiobooks, creating websites, and playing electric guitar with an orchestra. As you'll hear Sean explain, towards the end of the show, he is one of those people where music just made sense to him from a very early age. There is a real magic to it that allowed him to feel some comfort in a world that otherwise seemed impossible to navigate. Interestingly though, we spent most of the show talking more about his philosophi…

Sandhya is an author and anti-oppression consultant with 20 years of community organizing experience. She particularly loves helping organizations get Diversity/Equity/Inclusion teams off the ground. …

Sandhya is an author…

Sandhya is an author and anti-oppression consultant with 20 years of community organizing experience. She particularly loves helping organizations get Diversity/Equity/Inclusion teams off the ground. These types of topics are really interesting to me, not only for the obvious reason of how important they are to reduce unnecessary suffering, but also because they speak directly to the complexity of human nature. Trying to understand the root cause of oppression and inequity (which I think is critical to actually addressing the issues) requires you to understand human nature. This made for a g…

My guest today, Tim, has a really diverse and interesting background. He's trained martial arts for most of his life, he's been a successful serial entrepreneur, he's studied under Buddhist monks, and…

My guest today, Tim,…

My guest today, Tim, has a really diverse and interesting background. He's trained martial arts for most of his life, he's been a successful serial entrepreneur, he's studied under Buddhist monks, and he's now a high performance life coach. He wants to use all of these experiences and learnings to help shift the world into the most inspirational and connected place possible. That is what Tim is about, maximizing potential. As he put it during the show, humans in many ways are god-like but we don't realize it. We have such an amazing ability to connect, collaborate, and create; but often we ge…

My guest, Matt, recently published a comedic memoir about religious upbringing, "Swept Up: Lessons From the End Times" (https://amzn.to/3I2rqB2). The book includes "tales (and lessons) from church, ho…

My guest, Matt, rece…

My guest, Matt, recently published a comedic memoir about religious upbringing, "Swept Up: Lessons From the End Times" (https://amzn.to/3I2rqB2). The book includes "tales (and lessons) from church, home-schooling, and a few strange years at a major evangelical university." This background helps explain his value of "self-honesty, because as Matt put it, he was raised to rely on certainty to guide him through life. From a very young age he was taught about God, heaven, hell, and the other various religious doctrines of Christianity. For a kid like Matt, who from a young age tried to question …

Josh (author, PhD, SEO/AI expert-- http://youtube.com/jbachyns) started the show by talking about the concept of agathos and how he is a radical optimist. Agathos is a greek word, with a lot of meanin…

Josh (author, PhD, S…

Josh (author, PhD, SEO/AI expert-- http://youtube.com/jbachyns) started the show by talking about the concept of agathos and how he is a radical optimist. Agathos is a greek word, with a lot of meanings, but Plato most famously used it to mean "the good." By "the good" he meant the ideal or most optimal good that exists. So when Josh says he values agathos or that he is radical optimist, he means there is nothing more important, nothing more logical, and nothing more obvious than focusing on the ideal good. It is interesting because typically I think people process that one of two ways. The f…

What I enjoyed about this conversation with Anmol, was the juxtaposition of the personas he seems to have. On the one hand he appears to be the prototypical "finance guy." He is a high end trader, wit…

What I enjoyed about…

What I enjoyed about this conversation with Anmol, was the juxtaposition of the personas he seems to have. On the one hand he appears to be the prototypical "finance guy." He is a high end trader, with nice clothes, and helps people make millions of dollars using his specialized Investing approach (Learn more about it and his book here- https://preppingforsuccess.com/). Money and returns appear to be his guiding stars and he isn't ashamed about it. But then, Anmol is also deeply reflective, spiritual, and focused on morality. He realized he had a gift for understanding the psychology of trade…

My guest, Josh, and I had a really good conversation about resiliency (his most important value). His life is an example of the rewards you get from being resilient. He's an author, founder and CEO of…

My guest, Josh, and …

My guest, Josh, and I had a really good conversation about resiliency (his most important value). His life is an example of the rewards you get from being resilient. He's an author, founder and CEO of an AI company (https://inquisio.ai/), Mayor and City Council member, and a veteran of the US Marine Corps (among other things). Josh will be the first to admit though that not all of these things came easy to him and took a lot of persistence, humility, and competitive fire to achieve. We spent a lot of time during the discussion trying to hone in on some of the key aspects of resiliency, to re…

"Stable mutual actualization" -- that is what my guest, Rocco, is after. He believes with the use of true reason (mature, sophisticated, objective reason) we as humans, have the ability to achieve a s…

"Stable mutual actua…

"Stable mutual actualization" -- that is what my guest, Rocco, is after. He believes with the use of true reason (mature, sophisticated, objective reason) we as humans, have the ability to achieve a stable state, where mutually all of us, can self actualize into what we want to be. Contrast that with the world he sees today, where most people actualize at the expense of someone else. We mostly just follow our base instincts to try to live the best life we can imagine, without acknowledging the fact that our instincts and our imagination are fallible. If that sounds heavy, I agree. This was a…

Aadil is a friend from Harvard Business School who I've always admired, but at the same time always wondered what made him tick. He's lived an interesting life, being born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya…

Aadil is a friend fr…

Aadil is a friend from Harvard Business School who I've always admired, but at the same time always wondered what made him tick. He's lived an interesting life, being born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya, and then spending most of his adult life studying and working in Europe, America, and Africa. He's been successful as an entrepreneur, a product developer, and maybe most notably as an angel investor focused mainly on emerging markets (with lots of investment back into Africa). I admired Aadil because I remember in business school he seemed to have a very worldly and sophisticated view of life…

Passion is one of my favorite topics to discuss. Logic is my religion because I understand the power of it, but passion is something that fascinates me on a much more visceral/primal level. I can't fu…

Passion is one of my…

Passion is one of my favorite topics to discuss. Logic is my religion because I understand the power of it, but passion is something that fascinates me on a much more visceral/primal level. I can't fully explain passion but I know how attracted to it I am. I know the feeling I get when I am engaged in something I am passionate about. Maybe my guest today, Jeremy, put it best when he said "passion is the fuel of human energy." By that I think he means it is the thing that allows us to do everything we do in life. For us to be motivated or driven to accomplish anything, we need to have passion i…

I've said this before, but there was a time before I started doing this show where I thought I understood the world. I thought I understood it at such a level that it was reasonable for me to judge or…

I've said this befor…

I've said this before, but there was a time before I started doing this show where I thought I understood the world. I thought I understood it at such a level that it was reasonable for me to judge or dismiss certain viewpoints as obviously wrong. Whether it be spiritual beliefs, different values, or an aspect of how the world worked that did not directly align with how I thought it worked. Ironically, I would not ask any questions or explicitly challenge the person (I was too much of a people pleaser), but would have just judged them in my head. I don't know anything for sure, but the new a…

This is our first go at What's the value? - Business Edition and I thought no better guest to kick it off with than Diane. Diane is the founder and CEO of BizLove (https://bizlove.com/) a strategic co…

This is our first go…

This is our first go at What's the value? - Business Edition and I thought no better guest to kick it off with than Diane. Diane is the founder and CEO of BizLove (https://bizlove.com/) a strategic consultancy that helps organizations transform from within and express their story to the world. They bridge the disciplines of storytelling and strategy to deliver integrated solutions for businesses. Not only that, Diane (or "D") is also my former boss. When I first decided to leave my "traditional" job at IBM, I wasn't sure what the next move was going to be for me. Then I stumbled across this c…

My guest, Andrea, and I spent an hour trying to make sense of a seemingly simple word-- "joy." If joy is your guiding light what happens when the thing you think you need to do does not result in joy?…

My guest, Andrea, an…

My guest, Andrea, and I spent an hour trying to make sense of a seemingly simple word-- "joy." If joy is your guiding light what happens when the thing you think you need to do does not result in joy? Does that mean you are doing the wrong thing or are you just a bad person? Is all joy the same? Is the joy of partying in college, being free, and having a good time with friends; is that joy the same as the joy you get caring for a sick loved one? Should we be using the same term to explain the feeling of helping your sister bath because she is too weak from Cancer treatments to do it herself?…

Honesty and integrity are amazing values. When we can tap into who we truly are and are confident enough to share it with the world, it relieves a massive burden. We no longer worry about trying to be…

Honesty and integrit…

Honesty and integrity are amazing values. When we can tap into who we truly are and are confident enough to share it with the world, it relieves a massive burden. We no longer worry about trying to be who we think we should be, but rather just are who we are. It brings on a feelings of freedom and liberation. But it begs a critical question...how do we know when we are being honest? That might seem like a silly question, but it is a really critical one. As my guest, Kiran, and I discussed, if you are going to approach life with a deep confidence in your ability to be honest with yourself and …

Terry is a writer (https://www.terrybartleywriter.com/) who also teaches and hosts a podcast. His writing focuses on marginalized characters and communities to try and give them more of a voice and a …

Terry is a writer (h…

Terry is a writer (https://www.terrybartleywriter.com/) who also teaches and hosts a podcast. His writing focuses on marginalized characters and communities to try and give them more of a voice and a sense of belonging. Given Terry's background, growing up in a poor, single parent home, with ADHD and as a queer person living in West Virginia; he has a deep understanding of what it means to feel marginalized and not fit in. That is why he feels so strongly about giving back and helping others. I noticed right away how observant and self reflective Terry was, which I guess isn't all that surpr…

Anne is a Human Resources leader known for developing new programs/training and improving employee retention and leadership performance (https://donovanhrsolutions.com/). She wants to help employers r…

Anne is a Human Reso…

Anne is a Human Resources leader known for developing new programs/training and improving employee retention and leadership performance (https://donovanhrsolutions.com/). She wants to help employers realize the importance of building trust, respect, and recognition in the work place. She believes it will make for a better employee experience, better results for the organization, and frankly a better world for all of us. That is what Anne does, but as with most guests I have on this show, the story behind why she does it, how she got here, and what makes her approach life the way she does is e…

What a beautiful, thought provoking discussion about truth, faith, and morality. Branch is an author, poet, and storyteller who speaks about choice and consequence, accepting or avoiding personal resp…

What a beautiful, th…

What a beautiful, thought provoking discussion about truth, faith, and morality. Branch is an author, poet, and storyteller who speaks about choice and consequence, accepting or avoiding personal responsibility, and the power of truth (you can view his work here- https://www.manaopublishing.com/). What made this discussion so good, was firstly the self reflection Branch has gone through in his own life. As many of us have, he has lived multiple lives in one. He's been a teacher, a corporate salesperson, a business owner, a husband, and now an author/storyteller. Throughout all of it he has t…

Understanding where you came from, how you became the person you are, and why you value the things you value--those are all reasons my guest Patrica would say it is important to understand your family…

Understanding where …

Understanding where you came from, how you became the person you are, and why you value the things you value--those are all reasons my guest Patrica would say it is important to understand your family history. The concept of history is so fickle in a world that changes so rapidly. Perspectives disappear and it is usually a subjective decision on what stories are told. That is the exact reason Patricia values preserving and telling her family's story so much (as she is doing through her work and podcast- Charity's Children). Her story is particularly interesting because it is told through the …