“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” Aristotle

Biologically speaking we are hard-wired to survive. Happiness is nature’s way of helping us fulfil that need? We just endowed with chemicals and hormones that not only bring balance to the operation of this vessel but  guide us towards what is beneficial to our journey and what to avoid.

In this solo rant I discuss my thoughts on this topic. Thoughts on our happy chemicals. Why we have some natural tendencies to move towards pleasure and avoid pain, how this links to our evolution and need for survival and why it creates and ever expanding set of perceived needs. On order to better navigate our lives towards greater freedom, fulfilment and happiness.

Enjoy!

Summary

“The committed heart when fast with a challenge will find a solution. The uncommitted heart will seek an escape.”

Siphiwe Baleka is the founder of Fitness Trucking, LLC and serves as the Driver Health and Fitness Coach at Prime Inc., one of America’s largest trucking companies. His innovative, on-the-go wellness program has helped thousands of truck drivers lose weight and reclaim their health. The trucking industry is the least healthy of any industry in the US with 69% of truck drivers being obese.

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His premise is that anyone with 4 minutes can get fit. What works for truckers (more…)

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday & Hanselman

“The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don’t.” Marcus Aurelius

Stoicism, an ancient Greek school of philosophy, a beautiful operating system for life. Philosophy is an attitude and a guiding principle of behaviour in life. In many ways philosophy is about asking questions, seeking truth so to live as best we can with greater ease. Principles that can improve wisdom, perseverance and the art of living.

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I believe that life is simple yet complex. I say this because there is not one formula nor is there one discipline of study that should be the basis of how we live our life. (more…)

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Buddha

Our Thoughts are Our Reality! Reduce the suffering, increase your happiness, focus on your thoughts. Positive thoughts bring rise to positive behaviours and positive realities – negative do the reverse. Enjoy this thought @ The Hidden Why.

Here is the verse that sparked this post:

“All that we are is a result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts. If one speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows one as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wagon.

All that we are is a result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts. If one speaks or acts with pure thought, happiness, follows one like a shadow that never leaves.” Dhammapada vs 1.1-1.2

Jeffrey is a Best-Selling Author, International Speaker, Philanthropist, Thought Leader, Social Entrepreneur and Producer. He provides the next wave of visionary leaders with the connections, tools, platforms, consultations, trainings, knowledge and resources to accelerate their visions and businesses, as vehicles to bring humanity together.

This is round two with Jeff, we first talked back in episode 99 on The Hidden Why Podcast.

In this episode we have a great chat about awakening entrepreneurs. An individualistic attitude in life about making business to purely profit is a dying existence. It is about making business to impact positive change in this world.  (more…)

Life like a holiday. I can hear the questions and doubt already. “Yeah right! How?” “It’s a nice idea but some of us have to work.” “Easy said than done.” For whatever the excuse, reason or doubt I would suggest it is exactly for those reasons that we must seek to approach life more like a holiday.

The hunter-gatherers travelled regularly, moving from one place to the next. This allowed them to continually change their environments and routines. I think this helped keep life interesting. The agricultural age forced us to remain put. Not great for the soul, sanity or our level of our happiness. (more…)

Summary

“Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, and does it improve the silence?”

A brilliant conversation I had with Gayle Hardie, founder of the Global Leadership Foundation and expert in transformational health. In this conversation we discuss all things on leadership, change, emotional health, why environment is paramount, practices including meditation, competition vs. abundance, why choice is a gift and how we must all take responsibility for the leadership of our own lives through the choices we make.

You can review full show notes here. 

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Make Peace with Your Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Your Inner Critic by Mark Coleman

“With mindfulness, we can be with the experience in more immediate way. When we find ourselves flooded with an emotion that’s come after the judgement, we’ve often missed the very judgment that triggered the emotion.” Mark Coleman

More mindfulness anyone? It plagues books these days and for that I am a big fan. I don’t think we can get enough. Either we control the mind or it controls us. The one place we have full control yet I wonder how well do we exercise that control. The mind becomes what it sees and believes. The mind sets our reality. An unobserved mind that runs wild and free may be less conducive to creating the reality we truly desire.

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Mark Coleman is a mindfulness teacher and wilderness guide. In an interview I did with him he shared a practice that he calls the meandering meditation. (more…)

“It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” Jim Collins

Here is a formula for meaningful work – Complexity + Effort + Reward = Meaningful work.

If you have trouble finding meaning in your work perhaps it is missing one of these elements. If you lack meaning all I can suggest and would encourage is to find meaningful work – what is the purpose without it. Enjoy this quick thought!

Check out THY TV link here. 

Summary

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Winston Churchill.

Hailed by a New York Times reporter as “someone who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America,” Andy Andrews is the author of the New York Times bestsellers How Do You Kill 11 Million People?, The Noticer, The Traveler’s Gift, and recently The Little Things. He is also an in-demand speaker for the world’s largest organizations.

Discover Your Why – Free Coaching Call Valued at $250

Zig Ziglar said, “Andy Andrews is the best speaker I have ever seen.”

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