How to Live a Meaningful Life

Just a little rant here:  philosophy classes turn off many college students for a simple reason — they never get around to saying how philosophy can shake your living.  Some classes might teach more on “how to think philosophically,” or “here are the old philosophers.”  Some may speak to ethics or arguments, logic or some other esoteric area.  But how to live, day-to-day?  That is often lost to the student.

(By they way, I would offer this as an issue with much of theology, too.  Lots of talk about what not to do, what God (or gods) might be like, and how to judge how others live… but not so much clarity on living day-to-day.  But that is a rant for another day!)

Anyway, philosophy, as originally taught in ancient days, was exactly for deciding how to live.  How should you act, feel, and think?  As different schools of philosophy might point out, that all depends upon your basic ideas of what a meaningful life might be.

Sometimes, we are already acting in ways that point to our idea of meaning, even without a philosophical basis.  I think of this as our “natural philosophy” — how we have made sense of the world.

After my first book, many people asked if I was a Stoic.  At that time, I had only a passing concept of that philosophy.  Just one of those old schools of philosophy from a bygone age.  But after hearing it a number of times, I started investigating.  Sure enough, much of my approach to living day-to-day was Stoic.  Huh.Vitali Katsenelson, author of Soul In The Game

Then, I started finding others that had this same experience.  One of those is Vitaliy Katsenelson.  He is the CEO of an investment company.  But his story goes back to his family’s immigration to the United States, from Russia, when Vitaliy was a child.  He was old enough to still remember those memories of a dying USSR (and to hold onto a bit of an accent), but young enough to find his way through American culture.

After writing several books on investing (including the psychology of investing), Vitaliy took to talking about life.  Not just professional life.  But other areas of life.  Art, music, chess, and family life were grist for the mill of exploring meaning.

This led to Vitaliy’s latest book, Soul In The Game.  While in the process of writing, Vitaliy stumbled upon Stoic thought and found a new home there.  He incorporates that into this book, to further his exploration into the meaningful life (a slightly different question than the meaning of life).

I had a chance to sit down and chat with Vitaliy about a wide range of issues and topics, all related to how life becomes meaningful, and how to find that meaning.  Listen to this episode of the Thriveology Podcast to find out more.

RELATED RESOURCES
Vitaliy’s Website
Vitaliy’s Podcast
Find His Book Here
My Book on Thriving

The Vacation Effect — Even If You Don’t Leave Town!

Discover the Vacation Effect, how to hack your productivity and recover your life.  My guest is Denise Gosnell.Have you ever noticed what happens when it is just a few days before you head out for vacation?  If you are like most people, you go into “clear the desk” mode.  Things get done.  You become hyper-efficient.

Why does that happen right before a vacation?  Because it HAS to get done.  You want to leave with nothing hanging.  So, nothing gets in your way.

What if there was a “hack” that could get you that effect the rest of the time?  Would that let you work less… and still get the same amount done?

Denise Gosnell is a 3x successful entrepreneur.  As a successful attorney and entrepreneur, Denise had met all of her (financial) goals.  But when her house went up in flames… she realized that her (life) goals were not where she wanted them.  Sure, she had stuff… she had resources.  But she didn’t have the life she wanted.  In fact, she didn’t have time for it.

Until she made a shift.  Using business strategy and planning, productivity hacking, and prioritizing, Denise found she could be MORE successful with LESS time taken up by work.

And now, Denise shares that with others… whether you want more time from work or from home, you can find it, along with more life satisfaction, by tapping into the Vacation Effect.

RELATED RESOURCES
Vacation Effect Website
Why We Stress
Shift From Stressful to Restful
The Importance Matrix
Your Center Point
You’re Gonna Die

Success and Significance

We all face obstacles in our lives.  No matter how successful, no matter how determined we are, we will have tough moments.  Soul moments.  Times when we have to stop, collect ourselves, let go of who we have been, and step into a new space.

Sometimes, those moments are full of tragedy.

Aaron Walker is the author of View From The TopThat was the case for my guest on this episode of Thriveology Podcast.  Aaron Walker, author of View From The Top, was successful… multiple times.  After growing up poor, Aaron decided to make himself successful.

He started working young, finished high school early, and launched his first business.  He sold that and started another.  Followed by another.

And then, one day… tragedy.  Big enough that Aaron tried to hide from life.  (Aaron tells the story, himself, during our talk.) But life wasn’t quite done yet.  Aaron made a shift from success to significance.

In our discussion, Aaron reveals the cornerstones of building a life of integrity and significance.  Listen in to learn more.

RELATED RESOURCES
Aaron’s Website
Fears We All Have
MPI Triad
Making an Impact

Power Habits for Success

Have you ever noticed how some people just seem to succeed at everything they do?  They enjoy success in different areas of life… including financially.

Noah St. John, author of Power Habits for Success, Afformations, and other books.Then, others seem to struggle over and over, making little progress toward their goal.  Noah St. John refers to this as “success anorexia,” people starving themselves from success — because they don’t know better!

In fact, my guest on this episode of the Thriveology podcast is Noah.  The author of a number of books, Noah is also a frequent speaker, coach, and consultant with those who have tried all the other success strategies, but without success.

In his research, Noah looked at what he calls the success “naturals,” to see what they might be doing… and not even noticing they are doing.

This led to his Power Habits.  According to Noah, “We don’t rise to the level of our goals, but fall to the level of our systems.”  And  that is the level Noah addresses — how to up-level your systems… and get rid of the “Head Trash,” the self-defeating patterns of thought about why you can’t do ______ (fill in the blank).  As Noah points out, whatever self-talk we have, we make sure we are right.

Listen to our discussion below.

RELATED RESOURCES
Noah’s Book on Amazon
Noah’s Gifts at his Website
My Series on Habits

Interview With The Possibility Coaches: #14, Thriveology Podcast

Interview with Possibility CoachesOn today’s Thriveology Podcast, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jon Satin and Chris Pattay.  Known as The Possibility Coaches, Jon and Chris can help you find new ways of self-understanding.

Chris and Jon help people transform their lives through a spiritual and emotional shift in thinking.

Listen in as Jon, Chris, and I discuss life transformation through a shift in understanding.

Then, go visit them at PossibilityCoaches.com

Your Basic Fears And How To Beat Them: Thriveology Podcast Ep. 7

Conquer your fearsWe all have some basic fear responses to certain stimuli — in other words, everyone has things that scare them.

But there are some deeper, more existential fears, that seem to trip ALL of us up.  They are based in some deep beliefs that we carry around from very young ages.  At the same time, these fears have followed civilization through the ages.

These three basic fears can keep us stuck or keep us struggling, even when the fears are unfounded and useless.

Ready to discover these fears — and how to move beyond them?  Join us for the Thriveology Podcast as we explore these three basic fears and how to deal with them.

Let me know what you think!  Leave a comment or ask a question.

Giving Thanks: Thriving Through Gratitude (Thriveology Podcast #4)

givethanksgratitudeIn the United States, we are in the midst of avoiding the crush of commerce for just a few moments of giving thanks.

Perhaps we gloss too quickly over this opportunity on our sprint to the Holidays. We miss the opportunity that gratitude brings in transforming our lives.

I remember the blessing before our Thanksgiving meal, where we were in a circle and said a word about something for which we were thankful.  I often felt put-on-the-spot, saying something quickly to move onto the meal.

Partly, that for which I was most thankful was too private.  Partly, I missed how important gratitude could be.  Now I know.

Gratitude can create powerful shifts in our lives.  In can transform our lives, if we tend to it.

In this podcast, I discuss how you can bring a thankful attitude into your life, tell you about some research that demonstrates why you should do this, and even tell you a story about how someone was transformed in the process of being grateful.

Please listen and let me know what you think!

Happy Thanksgiving!