05/12/2022
For my book Unthinkable, I had the opportunity to have a chat with Ben Greenfield. He describes himself as an author, a speaker, and a consultant for anyone who wants to optimise their mind, body, and spirit. He says that he hunts down the best solutions on the face of the planet when it comes to optimizing yourself. He also helps people to discover more meaning, gratitude and happiness.
What are your core beliefs?
First, you should engage in a career for which you have a passion. Your job doesn't have to be fun every day, but you need to find purpose and meaning in what you do for a living. It doesn't matter if you are a factory worker or flipping hamburgers at a fast-food restaurant. When you approach your work with mindfulness, appreciation, and gratitude for being alive, you will find that passion begins to pour into your work. Working in an area you are passionate about doesn't mean life is always fun, but your life has a deeper meaning and a higher purpose. If you need help finding meaning and purpose in what you do, it doesn't mean right off the bat that you have to quit your job. Sometimes it just means that you have to adjust your approach.
My second core belief is that you need to have love, relationships, family, and community in your life. We live in this ironic era where people are lonely even though they are so connected to one another, and it's pretty odd. The reason for that is that we have de-emphasized the importance of doing things like taking care of our parents when they're old by having them move into our homes, having family dinners together gathered around the table, or having community events where you're helping the homeless, underprivileged kids, and do anything that brings the community together. Even having your neighbors over for supper or helping them with their lawns or garden strengthens communities. In the so-called blue areas, where people are happy and live longer, love, family, relationships, and communities are highly emphasized.
And number three would be my belief and hope that there is some higher power, meaning you are not stricken with the depressing notion that we are just a bunch of pieces of flesh and blood on this giant rock flying through space with no meaning at all. Instead, you believe there is a magical world with a clear direction and a story.
If you are living your life as though you were in a magical story like J.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, all you need to do is wake up every morning with a smile on your face. If you launch your day grateful for where you are in that story, everything will become more vibrant and meaningful. Even when times are tough, you know there is a more magnificent story written for your life. You know there is hope. And to return to that part about loneliness, you cannot even feel lonely because you know that you have a spirit or a higher power.
