Being Human

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human has one of the most extraordinary life stories of anyone I’ve met. I give you Guy Felicella.Guy grew up in a middle-class home but fell into addiction at a young age. He spent 30 years in the repeated cycle of gangs, addiction, treatment, and jail.But a pivotal meeting with one of Canada’s most celebrated doctors changed the course of his life. Guy is now nine years sober and in a stable relationship with three children, a remarkable turnaround.We dive into how he was able to achieve such a remarkable recovery.We talk:30 years of gang lifeMeeting Gabor MateThe trauma therapy that changed everythingPracticing 'doing kind'Confronting his abuser motherLinks:Guy's WebsiteGuy's Twitter   

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is Darcia Narvaez, Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame.I love Darcia's work because, unlike other psychologists, she doesn't simply look at our society's current pathologies and ask, how do we fix this?She takes in the broad sweep of human societal evolution and notes how our current ways of being and relating haven't always been so. She focuses especially on what we can learn from past and present indigenous cultures.We talk:How agriculture gave us hierarchyPredatory individualism and the cycle competive detachmentPre-competitive culturesFeeling the trees screamThe power of the Gift EconomyLinks:Breaking The Cycle - The FilmEvolved NestKindred MediaDarcia's University of Notre Dame Website 

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is complexity theorist and author Ian Snape.A former research leader and executive at the Australian Antarctic Division, he has led teams on expeditions to both polar regions before focusing on coaching and training CEOs, Olympic athletes, and frontline professionals.We discuss how resilience isn't just the ability to tough it out; it's dependent upon an interconnected set of skills, techniques, creative processes. It's about new understandings of how we think, act, and interact with our environments and each other.We talk:How and why to quiet the Left BrainClean language for resilienceThe power of using perspectivesCoaching marines for breakthrough performanceThe one about the abductive turkeyLinks:Resilience By Design - The BookFrontline Mind   

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is Christopher D. Lee, PhD, author and the HR Director at one of the USA's oldest and most prestigious colleges, William & Mary.Christopher has a passion for human performance. There are three things we know about traditional performance appraisals: they are widely used, universally despised, and probably ineffective.  What should leaders do instead? Adopt a coaching mindset and commit to regular, structured performance conversations. Christopher offers a wealth of insight and practical ideas about how to elevate these conversations for deep impact. We talk:The mentor that changed Christopher's lifeWhy relationships matterYour job is not to evaluateFocus on intentHave people feel goodLinks:Performance Conversations - The BookThe Performance Conversations website

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is psychiatrist, empath and author Judith Orloff.Judith is the bestselling author of "The Power of Surrender", where she advocates for the art of letting go as the secret key to manifesting power and success in all areas of life, including work, relationships, sexuality, radiant aging, and health and healing.We talk:Surrendering to her intuition as a medical professionalLet's talk deathTuning in to the quiet voiceIntegrating ego and intuitionEmbracing your multitudesLinks:The Power of Surrender - The Book

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is peace-pilgrim, life-long activist and former monk, Satish Kumar.As a teenager, Satish trekked from India to America via Russia to deliver ‘peace tea’ to the leaders of, what were then, the four major nuclear powers. He walked 8,000 miles without any money totally depending on the generosity of strangers.Now in his 80s, he has devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration, social justice and spiritual fulfilment.We talk:Becoming a monk at 9 years oldCultivating trustStaying committedIntroducing The Cosmic Relationships DepartmentEmbracing 'enough'Links:Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine 

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is facilitator and author Corena Chase.Corena is co-author of The Five Lost Superpowers: Why We Lose Them and How to Get Them Back.Corena believes that everyone has superpowers when they are a child. While we tend to lose track of them as we grow up, they’re always there, right below the surface, ready for us to reactivate them and fully manifest our human potential.We talk:How her niece taught her the glory of curiosityPresence and resilienceWhy a jack of all trades might be a master after allDaring to playSmashing corporate taboos Links:The Five Lost Superpowers - The BookCorena's Website

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is intuitive healer, mentor and life teacher Fiona Arrigo.What I found so compelling about Fiona is her profound belief that we can heal ourselves. With so many of us right now - including me sometimes - seeking external sources for our wellbeing, she's part of a growing movement of people rediscovering their innate healing potential.On this basis, she has developed her healing method The Arrigo Programme, where she offers a multi-layered approach to anything from anxiety and depression to relationship issues, chronic pain, or simply a feeling of losing our way.We talk:What it means to be humanWorking on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levelsHow surviving a severe car crash became a spiritual awakeningHow there is no blueprintOwning "I don't know"Links:The Arrigo ProgrammeFiona's Instagram

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is ecological economist and writer Tim Jackson.Tim's view is that we need to give up our obsession with GDP and focus instead on human progress. He envisions a return to a focus on virtue and a re-prised role for institutions to integrate the desires of individuals with their social obligations. His book Post Growth is both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle our connection with what it means to be human.We talk:Progress not economic growthLabour vs workMugumo trees in KenyaThe perils of unconstrained novelty-seekingFinding flow for sustainabilityLinks:Tim's WebsiteCentre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is Marina Efaimoglou. She has an interesting life story, to say the least.Whilst still in her twenties she was running her own investment firm having survived a cancer with 25% survival odds. The scare caused her re-evaluate her life. She later received a second diagnosis. This time, she was able to heal purely through natural methods.Her health quest led her to create the Euphoria Retreat in the Taygetus Mountains near Sparta in Greece. But it’s not all salads and massages, at its core is a spiritual inquiry into why we’re here.We talk:Surviving cancer twiceThe family crisis that set her freeUsing the Chinese 5 Elements to understanding healingStaring her own investment firmLeaving banking for her new lifeLinks:Marina's Retreat - Euphoria

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is educator, mental health counsellor, yoga teacher and co-founder of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment (CFTE), Jenn Turner.Trauma is a pervasive aspect of all human experience. Understandably, it's one that no one wants to talk about, and yogis are no exception.Jenn's work is piercing this taboo in the yoga world. She's learning lessons about dealing with the impacts of buried pain that we can all apply in our lives, no matter our walk of life.We talk:The double-think of mainstream yogaShifting from didact to 'holder of space'Embracing the chaosWhy survivors must always be the authors of their healingThe essence of trauma-sensitive leadership Links:Jenn's WebsiteCenter for Trauma and Embodiment (CFTE)Embodied Healing - The Book

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week's guest on Being Human is Professor of Economics Steve Keen.Professor Keen has been on a mission to expose the failings of mainstream economic theory and policy.An economics dissident and author of 2001’s Debunking Economics, he warned about the 2008 economic crisis long before it happened.We talk:Why Neoclassical economic models are fantasiesHow nations manage to keep their ‘zombie economies’ goingHow economists are not prepared for the looming climate crisis How those wary of "watermelon" communistic greens have reason to be fearfulA realistic model of the economyA new politics to de-zombify our economiesLinks:Professor Keen's BooksProfessor Keen's PatreoneCONomics - The Comic

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Why are measures of stress and anxiety on the rise when materially we seem to have it so good? This is a question that my guest this week, Mark Blyth has set out to discover.In his book Angrynomics, Mark explores the rising tide of anger and proposes radical new solutions for an increasingly polarized world.Mark is as entertaining as he is passionate, we talk:Why we're so angryThe failure of 'trickle-up' neo-liberalismThe golden opportunity that rich governments are not takingWhy inflation isn't the problemTowards a Capitalism 4.0Links:Angrynomics

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/How many of us during our school years learned the teachings of Epictetus or Seneca? Perhaps you were lucky.With the world as it is right now, there's a great need for the perennial wisdom of the ancients.My guest this week, Kayvan Kian, has been leading a series of philosophical dialogues within the Young Leaders Forum he founded.He condensed the essence of these conversations into his book What is Water? In it, Kayvan shifts the focus away from overwhelm and toward virtues and strategies that will help you grow stronger through it all.In this episode, we talk:The Bricks, Pillars and Schools metaphorMagical celebrationsLearning to talk lessThe power of dialogueCultivating virtueLinks:What Is Water? - The Book

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Why are some people magnetic, confident, comfortable in their skin, and in charge of their destinies? What’s their secret?This week's author Leslie Ehm, believes she has the answer in one word: Swagger.Leslie talks about how her philosophy shatters the myths around “fake it ’til you make it”, and we why need to dig deep to uncover and express our real selves.What I love about Leslie is that she’s not shy about tackling what’s blocking many of us from finding our swagger and that’s addressing our underlying pain.In this episode, we talk:The true definition of swaggerWhat's blocking your real selfHow far we can heal painEmbracing our weirdnessProfessionalism vs. authenticityLinks:Swagger - The BookLeslie's WebsiteLeslie's Instagram

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/What does it mean to be a good organisation in a world of unbounded individualism and ferocious social Darwinism? A rebellious professor and a business insurgent believe they have an answer.Professor at the University of St. Gallen Antoinette Weibel and Otti Vogt, ex-COO of ING, join us this week to talk about the new project they've co-founded called Good Organisations.They believe the “anything goes” narrative of our postmodern world cannot be upheld. Antionette and Otti join the show to tell us that we need to re-learn how to put virtues first and craft “good organisations” that enable human flourishing.In this episode, we talk:Healthy feminine and healthy masculineThe role of healing and dialogical learningThe curse of unbounded individualismHow Agile = 'Lipstick on a Pig'The need for revolutionLinks:Good Organisations

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/We're back with much loved former guest, David Chislett.David is a South African punk rocker-turned-creativity consultant, now living deep in a Dutch forest.As well as helping companies to unleash his weapons of mass creation, David is a poet supported by a band of loyal Patreon subscribers.David shares with us his journey to create a virtual community around his poetry and the steps he took to achieve it.In this episode, we talk:Discipline in creativityWe are what we doDealing with psychological triggersCan art truly impact culture?Managing tour bandsLinks:David's Poetry PatreonWith All Of You - The BookDavid's Personal Website

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/What if being honest with ourselves and others made us be better business leaders?That is the issue this week's guest, Ron Carucci, addresses in his book, To Be Honest.The origins of his book are fascinating. He put hundreds of his firm's past client interviews through IBM Watson's AI engine to uncover patterns associated with business success.He found that honesty was crucial. He discovered that just four factors could make organisations 16 times more likely to have people tell the truth, behave fairly, and serve a greater good.In this episode, we talk:How BS slowly kills businessesHow honesty is a muscleGoing beyond engagement surveysThe secret of Microsoft's turnaroundRon's path to getting more honestLinks:Ron's BookTo Be Honest - The WebsiteNavalent - Ron's Consultancy

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Jillian Lavender used to run a large division of an international publisher, always between two planes and walking right up to the line of major burnout.On the recommendation of a friend, and with some scepticism, she took a meditation course. From that point, things changed for her in a big way. She could handle her fast-paced life.After a complete career change, she now teaches meditation in London and New York and has written a book called Why Meditate? Because it Works.In this episode, we talk how meditation:- Can be easy and non-wierd - Improves your sleep    - Can be done anywhere - Enhances your clarity of thought- Doesn't require you become a hippy!Links:Jillian's BookLondon Meditation CentreNew York Meditation Center

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Over the next few years, we will experience more disruption than in the previous 100 years. Yet are things changing too fast and too regularly to notice? Futurist Eric Pilon-Bignell sees modern change presents as a giant, rogue wave emerging on the horizon. He asks, will we surf these waves with mastery? Or will we let them swallow us whole?In his book Surfing Rogue Waves, Eric shows us how to gain from the greatest period of opportunity in all of human history.In this episode, we talk:The Six D's of the Fourth Industrial RevolutionThinking in exponentialsWhy improv is the crucial 21st-century skillEverlasting wormsLearning to surf complexityLinks:Surfing Rogue WavesEric's Website