Happy Habit Podcast

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...

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 suff...

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...

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....

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 fa...

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.

Dr. David Spiegel is a world renowned psychiatrist. He is the Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he has been a member of the academic faculty since 1975. Dr. Spiegel has more than 40 years of clinical and research experience...

The subject of consciousness has perplexed humankind for generations. While other areas of science have benefitted from a rapid increase in understanding, neuroscience and especially consciousness research has lagged. In this episode I discuss why this is the case with neuroscientist Dr Patrick House who has authored the book, Nineteen ways of looking at consiousness. Patrick's book : https://us.m...

Personal growth happens out of sight, its incremental, but it happens when we have faith in ourselves and commit to the process, when we love the process so much that the goals take care of themselves. In this episode I list 14 ways in which you can practise the habit of personal growth. 

Dr Jeff Rediger has studied many cases of spontaneous remission down through the years. Many of these cases have been described miracle cures, but as Dr Rediger says todays miracles simply haven't been explained by science, yet. Today's miracles are tomorrow's normal. In studying these cases and more particularly the actual patient as people, mentally and physically Dr Rediger is hoping to learn u...

Dr Carole Hooven of Harvard University has written a fascinating book  called T : The story of Testerone the hormone that dominates and divides us. In this episode she outlines the significance of testosterone in terms its biological impact, but also in terms of its behavioural influences and by extension outlines why women are so different from men in so many ways.  Dr Carole's book : https://www...

Habits, whether they are good or bad habits are made up of the same components, once we know what these components are we can use this knowledge to add desired habits to our behaviour and drop unwanted habits. Surprisingly one of the major parts of good habit formation is the need to celebrate that habit immediately after doing it. BJ Fogg is an expert is behavioural science and shows us in his bo...

Society is experiencing a tsunami of anxiety, in large part due to the constant negative stimulation we get from media, social media and always being connected to the internet. We are anxious because our fight flight nervous system is constantly being activated. In this episode I talk about several easy ways of activating our calming / parasympathetic nervous system and thus dialling down our anxi...

Link to Cant hurt me : https://amzn.to/3Rbu5gm David Goggins is by his own admission, an uncommon man, a label he treasures. As a former decorated navy seal he has distinguished himself not just professionally but as a person who overcame an immensely tough childhood enroute to becoming a man who lived his suffering and pain as a badge of honour. His book Cant hurt me, catalogues his journey of se...