Good Life Project - Riff + Science: Burn the Ships; Carrots and Curiosity.

Episode Date: July 6, 2017

We're excited to premiere a new segment on today's episode. Along with our weekly Riffs, we'll be bringing you a new weekly Good Life Science Update™ where we share interesting research on a specific topic designed to help you live a better life.And, we'll also be bringing in other fun segments and maybe even a few new voices. So, stay tuned!Today's riff topic.When does it makes sense to go all-in on a new career, business or idea and "burn the ships" so you have to succeed, OR do it on the side and take the "safer" and less-disruptive approach? Hint - anyone who tells you to do one or the other without asking a critical question first...is very likely wrong!Today's Good Life Science Update.We all know that fruits and veggies can make us healthier, improve energy and reduce risk of disease. But, did you know that they also may make you more curious, creative, upbeat and cultivate a deeper sense of purpose? Some very interesting research suggests that veggies just might be power tools in ways we never imagined! And, we're breaking it down for you in today's GL Science Update.-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are times in pretty much all of our lives where we get to a moment where we've got to make a big decision. Maybe we're changing jobs, maybe we're moving to a different town or country or wherever it may be. They have the potential to be big, disruptive things. And very often, part of the decision is not what are we saying yes to, but what are we saying no to? What are we leaving behind in our wake? And should we burn the ships to make sure we succeed in this new place or endeavor or not? Well, that's what I'm talking about in today's Good Life Project riff. And be sure to stick around for after the riff. We're experimenting with all sorts of fun new ideas to bring you on these Thursday episodes.

Today, we're including a segment called Good Life Science Updates. So I will be sharing kind of an interesting science update with you that pertains to living good life. And over time, we just might bring in some pretty cool guest experts as well. Let us know what you think

and be sure to stay tuned and listen to that. ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required,

charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hit lot of conversation these days that I've been hearing around careers, changing careers, and not infrequently exploring whether you might start your own business as part of that. It doesn't have to be it. But there's a lot of interest in making big radical shifts in careers and potentially starting some kind of business. And I have this conversation a lot with a lot of folks. And there's a part of it that I've had privately with many people that I don't think I've really spoken about much in public. There is sort of something that goes on, a psychology that happens underneath the

surface that can destroy some people and can motivate some people. And it's around the decision to either build something on the side or start something on the side, start testing it on the side and keep the old thing going, or whether to make a clean break to just blow the old thing up, essentially, or walk away or close the door and make it so that you can't go back. and you have to succeed in this new thing. So let's use, for example, somebody who is in a comfortable career and they have a Jones to either start their own professional practice or business on the side. Or maybe they want to actually make that jump full time. And that's a lot of us, right?

There's probably a lot of folks who are listening to this. And when you start to ask people, well, what should I do? Should I leave the old thing and just go 100% all in in this new thing? Or should I keep the old thing for as long as I can possibly keep it until it's unbearable and built this new thing on the side until it's just, there's no way that I can sustain the new thing and then jump into it. And you will get radically different answers. On the one side, you may hear some folks say, and especially when you're far enough into life that you have responsibilities and a sense of responsibility to others as well, where it's not sort of a decision

where it's like, hey, you know, whatever, it's no big deal. It's like, no, you've built a life around certain assumptions. And so it's a more complex decision. So some folks will say, you know, just you've got to go all in, like, you'll never do anything that you want to do, you'll never succeed until you just go all in. So burn the ships, you know, like just go do this thing a hundred percent. And the fact that you don't have a fallback anymore will serve as really major motivation to make you do everything you need to do to take the extra step, to go the extra mile, to invest the extra dollar and the extra hours of time to absolutely make sure that this next thing works because it has to work or else your entire life ends up a hot mess.

So that's one side of the advice that's given. The other side is that, hey, listen, if you do that and it blows up, it's going to cause mass disruption and pain, not just to you, but to others who are looking to you for some semblance of security in your life. And in fact, you should build it on the side. Don't jump into something else until you know, A, it's what you really want to do.

B, you have some idea of what you're doing and how to do it. And C, you've actually proven that you can make it successful on some level. Go out there and start to do it on the side. Prove to yourself and to those who may be looking to you to provide some level of the experience of security in the world to say,, you know, I'm going to do this in a way that honors everything. And the answer, you know, so the question becomes, well, who's right there, you know, is burn the ships, because that'll make you have to succeed the way to do it, or is be slower and methodical, start on the side, build this slowly until, you know, it shows that it's viable, and then step into it. Well, the burn the ships argument says you'll never actually make that other thing succeed on the level that it can because, in part, you're always devoting a certain amount of your energy and resources to the existing thing.

And because you'll never have the motivation to make it have to succeed. So you'll never go the extra mile to make sure that it does. And then the other side says, well, but what if it doesn't? And it may not. And what kind of disruption will that cause?

And I'm actually more, maybe you're more likely to succeed because you don't have to succeed. So you can make better, more intelligent, rational decisions based not on scarcity and urgency, but based on the ability to breathe and a lower level of anxiety. Who is right? Who is right? Which direction do you go in in that scenario?

The answer is, it depends, just like in so many parts of life. And the reason is this, we are all wired differently. thing to go back to deliberately not creating a plan B and then creating an extreme level of urgency. And very often going along with that urgency is a certain amount of scarcity in resources, very often money. You've got X dollars in the bank and you have to have this next thing succeed by a certain date because you will run out of money. So there's urgency driven by very real financial constraints. And especially if you're further in life and you've got people counting on you to be able to provide a certain level that provides, you know, that is a very real experience. Now, for some people, that scenario of very high level stakes plus scarcity plus urgency

serves as deep motivation for action taking on a level that does in fact drive somebody to work radically differently and make whatever they have to work on succeed at a level where maybe they wouldn't have had they not had that same sort of, you know, like level of stakes, scarcity, and urgency. So if you are wired that way, you know, there's an argument to say, well, then this is the thing that would be an intelligent decision for you because you will do whatever you need to do to make it happen. On the flip side, there are those who are wired exactly oppositely. We have a risk tolerance that actually tells us that when we experience a high stakes environment in the face of extreme scarcity and urgency that serves not as motivation for action taking, but it literally, it paralyzes us. It shuts us down. It immobilizes us and it ratchets up a level of anxiety that is massively destructive to problem solving, solution creating,

and action taking. Now there's no right or wrong here. There's creating, and action taking. Now, there's no right or wrong here. There's no, and there are ways to train yourself to be much closer to the first one, but never entirely if you're wired in that ladder wiring. And the thing is, if you have that ladder wiring and you haven't done any of the work and need it to be okay in that place of stakes plus scarcity plus urgency, then it is very likely not the greatest idea for you to take the burn that, you know, burn the ships, you know, like

no plan B, this must succeed approach to moving into that next stage of your life or your career or your business. So the deeper question here is not to ask, you know, which person is right, but to ask yourself, how am I wired? How do I, if I look back in my past, if I look at similar experiences or other experiences in my history, where the stakes have been exceedingly high, where the urgency that is created by situation is extremely high, and there is a high level of scarcity in whatever resource I might need at that moment in time, meaning it's going to run out. So this has to succeed by a certain time or else everything fails around me. The pain will be incredibly high. Ask yourself, when I go back

and I think about scenarios like that from my past, how has it affected me? Has that been mobilizing and motivating or has it been paralyzing and destructive? And that is going to give you a really good hint as to how you are wired in terms of risk, preference, decision-making, and action-taking in the face of high stakes, scarcity, and urgency. And that will give you a really strong hint about which of the two options might be the more intelligent way for you to move forward. Now, I'll throw one last thing in here, which is kind of a fun data point. And this comes out of a conversation I had with Adam Grant, who's a professor at University of Pennsylvania and the author of two amazing in. In fact, in the world of venture capital, many venture capitalists or VCs will not invest in a founder or a founding team unless they know that they are 100% of their energies are devoted to making this new venture work.

If it's a part-time thing or something they're doing on the side, they say the person's not serious enough about it. In fact, according to the research that Adam discovered, the data shows the exact opposite. There is a higher likelihood of success in the world of entrepreneurship and among founders. Among those founders who have started something on the side and basically only left their full-time gigs or whatever it is they were doing to sustain themselves when it became absolutely necessary. And Adam, in fact, points to Warby Parker as a really powerful example of this, where one of the founders actually kept working a full-time gig for a long time until they absolutely had to make the jump. And that has become a massively successful company. So something to think about. If you're at that point where you're thinking of making a major change in career, and you're not sure whether you should just sort of like do a clean break with limited money in the bank and hope that that becomes a huge motivator for action for you and know that you have to make this whole thing happen. Or whether you're thinking about taking more of a gradual build it on the side

or start to test on the side type of approach. Ask yourself not who is right in terms of what the better approach is, but ask yourself, how do I respond to a high stakes, high scarcity, high urgency scenario, and then let your personal experience in that scenario be more of your guide. Hope you found that useful. As always, these are things that I'm constantly thinking about and thought I might share with you. So before we head into a quick word from our awesome supporters. We are introducing a bit of a new format for Thursday. When we come back, we're going to dive into this week's Good Life Science update. Now, I'm going to handle those duties for today, sort of exploring an interesting bit of science or breaking research. weeks, we'll be sharing some other people from different fields to share either what they're

working on or comment on some really cool new science that revolves around what it means to live a good life. So stay tuned and we'll be diving in after the break. Our focus, do fruits and vegetables affect curiosity and creativity? Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not.

Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes.

The Apple Watch Series X, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th.

Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. And we're back with our first ever Good Life Science segment.

So what is this all about? Well, I happen to spend a ton of time, a mountain of time on research, keeping up with a lot of academic research and talking to a whole bunch of people that I know are in the various worlds of positive psychology and research to try and figure out what they mean and how they integrate into our lives. So I thought it might be kind of fun to start sharing some of the breaking ideas and research with you guys on a weekly basis. Up today, kind of a fascinating study that is on, it's actually, the study is entitled On Carrots and Curiosity. Eating fruit and vegetables is associated with

greater flourishing in daily life. So this is kind of fascinating. We've all heard the old, you know, like tome, eat your fruits and vegetables. It's good for your health. It's good for your vitality. It's good for your energy. It's good for your disease prevention. It staves off all these horrible things. But what about your state of mind? Well, over a period of years, there actually has been a fair amount of research that demonstrates how adding more fruit and vegetable to your diet can have a pretty profound effect on your state of mind. Research that came out of Rooney McKinley and Woodside in 2013 showed that fruits and vegetables are associated with people who are less depressed, happier, and more satisfied with their lives. But the research kind of stopped there. And this new study or this newer study

was kind of designed to take it one step further and ask the question, if you have more fruits and vegetables in your daily life, could that actually affect overall well-being? Could it affect your mood, which sort of is known in the literature as affect, your positive affect, meaning, hey, I'm in a good mood, and your negative affect, meaning, eh, not so good today. Something that tends to fluctuate more on a micro basis than something like a broader diagnosis of depression or anxiety. It's sort of like on any given day, on any given minute, on any given hour, what was your affect or your mood? And also, could it affect something like curiosity and creativity and a sense of purpose in life. So a bunch of researchers decided to take that question into their own hands and run a study on the idea.

And the aim was, as they write in the study report, to determine whether eating fruit and vegetables is associated with other markers of well-being beyond happiness and life satisfaction. So here's what they did. They took a 13-day window and they rounded up a little over 400 young adults. And this group was made up of about two-thirds women. And the kind of age on average was about 20 years old. And the reason for that very likely, by the way, is that so many of these studies are done with students. So that's kind of your average college age student. And they were asked to complete a daily diary. And so for all 13 days, that's about a two week window. Every day they said, go online. We have like a special internet form and we want you to complete a daily diary. And every one of these days, the 405 students were asked to share basically what they ate and get pretty granular, like how many

vegetables did they eat? How much fruit did they eat? And what other stuff? They also looked at sugar and other sort of, you know, like munchies. So sweet stuff and other things like that, you kind of just nosh on a regular basis. Now, that's not where the journaling stopped with this group. They also asked them to write down, to report other things. They asked them to report sort of on a daily basis their level of curiosity, their level of creativity, and this thing called affect, which kind of roughly translates to mood. Hey, we're in a good mood, a sort of flatline mood, a normal mood, a bad mood. And when they took a look at the data, it were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die.

Don't shoot him. We need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist,

whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. Not surprisingly, fruit and vegetable consumption predicted what they call, and I'll use their language, greater eudaimonic well-being, which translates roughly to I feel good, I feel purposeful, I feel a sense of meaning and intentionality in my day. What was really interesting beyond this was that the fruit and vegetables, the level of fruit and vegetables, how much they ate, was also a predictor of the level of curiosity

and creativity that these folks had. So those who had more fruits and vegetables said that they not only felt better and more purposeful, but they also were more curious and they felt like they actually had a higher level of creativity than when compared to the diaries, the journals of those who reported

having less fruits and vegetables. They were also even able to tie it to specific days within that 13-day measurement window. So on specific days where the participants in the study had more fruits and veggies, on those days, they specifically reported higher levels of well-being, creativity, and they were more curious compared on the days that they ate less. So you could look at this data and you're kind of like, well, okay, so we have always had an argument for eating our veggies and our fruits based on health and wellness markers and disease prevention markers. What we're seeing now, and there has been some research that's also showed that it can just sort of put you in a better mood. But what we're seeing now

is this may also rise to the level of affecting your day-to-day experience of purposefulness, meaningfulness, overall well-being, and how curious and creative you are. And that also could be really interesting. I'd love to see follow-on studies on this because it may also then affect things like performance. So if this does in fact affect curiosity, creativity, and purposefulness, how would those things then follow over and affect your day-to-day performance?

If you were in a profession, for example, that was affected by how you feel, by your level of curiosity and creativity, how might that affect your creative output, your problem-solving abilities on all these different things? So really interesting information, really interesting data. We will include, as we will in future Good Life Science updates, a link to the actual study report. So for those of you that want to go deeper into the study methodology and the background in it

and the researchers, you can take your time and do a whole bunch of reading and go deeper into this. But we just kind of want to share with you today kind of fascinating research that's been evolving that goes way beyond earlier research about general health and goes into how eating our fruits and veggies can actually maybe make us more curious, more upbeat, more meaningful, more creative, and who knows, affect the way that we contribute to the world and the work that we do. Hope you found that interesting. We will be bringing more with you. And if you have suggestions for topics or science or areas that you would love us to turn our sort of research lens to

and see what we can uncover, please do let us know at support at goodlifeproject.com. I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off until next week. The Apple watch series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes.

The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required. Charge time and actual results will vary.