3 mins read
I was thinking about what to write on
my blog today while doing the dishes. Because apparently writing every Sunday is
my thing now as I set a self-imposed deadline and literally forced myself to do
it. Because, after all, that’s how you develop a habit, right? And I seem to
have succeeded for the last five weeks- self five! But I couldn't think of
anything to write about this today. Then I paid attention to the voices in my headphones
and voila! The topic of the week has just been found.
The diary of the CEO is ‘an unfiltered
journey into the remarkable stories of the people that have defined culture,
achieved greatness, and created stories worth studying’* by his own words, Steven
Barlett. So, this 29-year-old guy is basically conducting interviews with the
people who have proved their success in life and simply asking them a bunch of
questions on a variety of topics. These are not just cheesy motivational
speeches, but more of a real-life story that is filled with lots of struggle, failure,
and trauma.
I discovered this channel a few
months ago as browsing on Spotify for things like, ‘why adulthood is so hard’
or ‘why life sucks’ lol. And one of his episodes came up which remains my favorite**
to this day. The episodes are quite long, over an hour usually. So, you might not
be able to make a specific time to sit and listen, but I find it very ideal for
listening whilst running some errands or walking to university. Each time, it is
a different person and a different story. So, it is hard to tell what the theme
is always about- and moreover I don’t even think they are just talking about what
is written in the title of the episode.
When growing up, we are going through
a lot of stuff that helps us to discover ourselves and shape our personalities.
And when our path is across with people in life, we sometimes have a chance to share
these findings with them. But it is not always possible to learn such points of
view in life. I mean, it is not even reasonable in the first place. Because these
findings are an outcome of a lifetime of experience and require a level of intimacy
or even some sincerity to be shared. So, it might not be always the case to
listen to these insights in our day-to-day life. This podcast is perfect for this
reason because that’s exactly what they are doing in there. And what I like
most is, that the conversation is always very honest and pure. You might even
find yourself thinking, why do they share this on air. But that’s the beauty of
it and that's probably the reason why millions of people listen.
I cannot say I listen to it every day
but am trying to listen at least on the weekends and it helps me to evaluate and
reorganize my thoughts as well as discover one or two fresh approaches to
problems I generally struggle with. So, it’s definitely beneficial for me. And fun
too. I really like the host of the show and find him to be quite relatable most
of the time. Thus, if you're looking for something new to try this week, I would
recommend giving it a shot.
So that’s it. One more task was checked off the to-do list.
*https://stevenbartlett.com/the-diary-of-a-ceo-podcast/
** https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mBV7kDTDQhqcNbsUVjuvX
Dear Fatima,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the illuminating post for the week. I have just listened to the podcast, which seems helpful to deal with some social life-related problems. Yet I feel that some of his suggestions in the podcast seem to be straightforward and superficial in addressing individuals' inner peace and beliefs related issues. So feeling a little bit sceptical that the idea of happiness is a choice.
Agree that we should work for happiness, but it is not like the straightforward 3 steps approach as he gave us. Because it is mankind that is complex and chaotic as its nature. Likewise, social life is complex and chaotic. People have different levels of motivation, beliefs and experiences that may directly influence their success, failures, expectations, and lifestyles more importantly happiness.
Of course, losing someone is really sad, which he badly experienced. But I feel it is relatively easier than any issue which may have the potential to be fixed during life (But this is also relative to the person). He cannot change anything except accept the situation.
But in life, there might be other problems that are still alive to solve for some people; and even if some of the problems seem to be impossible for solving, a tiny possibility might be enough to keep the motivation and hope alive no matter the time(relative to the person as well).
And in this situation, the person may not choose happiness due to his/her strong motivation, belief, hope or principles until reaching and accomplishing the desires or beliefs, which was come from inner belief or high motivation of the person. Therefore, it is a belief and hope that at some point, a small change in the complex system of social life and in the complex system of a person may result in a big change in the later stage, which might make the person unhappy at the moment but keep motivation and hope during the period. That is why corporate type solutions(which I got feeling from the podcast) to fix the social problems of a person may not be sufficient in some circumstances. But, it may work for some people for sure. So thanks a lot. Best wishes,