Good Life Project - Why You Need a Point of View. Swearing and Pain.

Episode Date: August 17, 2017

Good Life Riff: We hear a lot of talk about finding your voice. Truth is, it matters, but it's also not enough. Not if you want to stand out, rise above, create impact and make meaning. There's something else that we need to both cultivate and share. And, in today's world, it matters more than ever. What is it? Your point of view. That's the focus of today's riff.Good Life Science: Swearing, cussing, cursing, it's got many names. Some people revile it, others revel in it. No matter how you feel about swearing, though, it turns out it has a very specific benefit when it comes to your ability to tolerate pain. In today's Good Life Science Update, we're diving into fascinating research on the topic. And, as always, for those want to go to the source, here's a link to the full study.Rockstar Sponsors: Are you hiring? Do you know where to post your job to find the best candidates? Unlike other job sites, ZipRecruiter doesn’t depend on candidates finding you; it finds them. And right now, my listeners can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE, That’s right. FREE! Just go to ZipRecruiter.com/good.Wondering what's for dinner? Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country, whose mission is to make incredible home cooking accessible to everyone. Check out this week’s Blue Apron menu and get your first THREE meals FREE—WITH FREE SHIPPING—by going to blueapron.com/goodlife.Hey, Listeners! We want to get to know you better! Good Life Project is conducting a quick survey with our friends at Wondery. It only takes a few minutes of your time and you can do it straight from your smartphone. Help us out and support the show by going to wondery.com/SURVEY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So you've probably heard it all around the place. You've got to have a voice. You know, if you want to actually stand out in a crowd, you've got to have a voice. You may have heard something else, too, and that's that swearing is bad. Now, there's probably a lot of truth in these things, but they also probably don't tell the entire story. And those are two different ideas that, depending on who you are, may be related that we're going to be talking about in today's Good Life Project Dispatch. I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project. 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. 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. So I pretty much live and breathe in this world of art, entrepreneurship, design, business, life. And in pretty much every corner of that universe, you keep hearing this thing, find your voice, share your voice. We've heard so much about the importance of finding and sharing that unique, authentic voice these days. Loud, soft, energetic, calm, snarky, spiritual, abrupt, gentle, in your face, laid back, loving, pugnacious. It's a key element to your identity and your ability to align your actions with your essence. But what about your point of view? Every great movie, book, story, organization, creation, podcast, or post, it's not just about the voice, the facts, or the story of the creator or leader. It also reflects

that person's unique point of view. That point of view becomes a character in the action, even if it's never overtly addressed or stated or acknowledged. It shapes the message and the experience. In organizations, it shapes the culture, the ethos, and the mission. For designers and artists, it quite literally shapes the nature of everything that is created. So when people respond to the things you create, they're responding as much to your point of view as they are to your voice and whatever other elements of fact or story ride along with the experience. So my question is, what's your point of view? On any given topic you care about, on any creative endeavor? Mine in the context of Good Life Project is pretty

straightforward. A good life is about meaningful work, deep relationships, and vibrant physical and emotional help. And if you let any of these three buckets run dry, you suffer. Let all three go empty and you die. Every conversation I create and riff and even research is filtered and relayed through that point of view. But my point of view doesn't stop there. I also have values and beliefs about the state of culture and the world today that form my point of view and end up reflected in both my life and increasingly my work. I condemn hatred, exclusion, violence, or degradation against any person or group, whether based on race, gender, faith, sexuality, or anything else. As a father of a daughter, I've also seen a

generations-long inequity in how and how often the stories of women are told in everything from media to books, movies, and beyond. So I made a commitment from day one to feature the voices and stories of women with equal, if not more more frequency as men when developing programming and experiences for Good Life Project. So these points of view are woven into the way that I live, the way I see and hear, the way every person and professional decision is made, and into the DNA of everything I choose to create and offer to the world in a thousand subtle ways. And while they've always been a part of my values and beliefs with the state of the world today, they're being challenged and evolving, sometimes in ways I never saw coming.

And while that's not always easy, I'm glad to be able to revisit them. And they're becoming increasingly threaded into my public voice and the things I create because they can't not be. But shouldn't you just be objective? Comes the response. This is something that I hear with frequency. Isn't the point of view just the same thing as being subjective, being biased? Isn't that all a bad thing? Simple truth. Nobody is truly objective. Life is a subjective endeavor. Everyone interacts with the world through a lens of assumptions, implicit, unconscious, conscious, and explicit bias, experience, desire, fear, hope, constraints, beliefs, values, and more, the moment your heart beats, you are no longer objective. That doesn't mean you cannot and should not hold yourself open to other points of view and

even seek them out in the name of revealing and potentially having yours changed through discourse and data and experience. It just means that everyone starts from a set of beliefs and experiences that shape them and how they see experience and then create their world. Own that, define it, understand what you're building it on and remain open to evolving it. And don't be afraid to share it because it's not only an

essential part of you. It's an essential part of your capacity to contribute meaning to the world. And only when you share it, do you have an opportunity to create impact, to make meaning, and also learn from what happens when your point of view interacts with others, to have the opportunity to influence, elevate and evolve and have those same possibilities offered to you. So yes, if you want to stake your claim to your own authentic identity and voice in the world, do that, find it, cultivate it and share it. But don't stop there. Ask, what is the point of view I will share through the vehicle of my authentic voice? Then layer that into the way you create, offer, and share with others. If you write,

write with your unique voice from your unique point of view. If you lead, write with your unique voice from your unique point of view. If you lead, lead with your unique voice, offering experiences and invitations guided by your point of view. If you paint, film, record, serve, advise, design, organize, or inspire, let it come from your fully embodied and utterly unique voice guided by the expression of your point of view. And if you find yourself listening to this and think, I don't have a point of view, or I don't know what it is, in reference to anything that truly matters to you, maybe it's time to spend more time developing it. Then add one final exploration. Rise to the invitation to both share it and

continually ask yourself these all too often missing follow-up questions. Is my voice truly mine? And is my point of view true? The answer to the first question generally comes from your gut. The answer to the second comes from your willingness to interact around your current beliefs, share them, and hold yourself open and vulnerable to the ideas of others. So maybe that's my invitation for this week. Move beyond identifying your voice and really begin to ask yourself, if you haven't already, in the context of anything that truly matters to me, have I developed a point of view? What is it? And is it true? That's what I'm thinking about as I continue to ask those same questions of myself. As we move into the rest of today's conversation, as always, stay tuned because it's kind of funny because it's a bit of a coincidence that the science that I was sort of stumbled on and kind of have been saving, it kind of aligns in a funny way with what I've just been talking about, which is that apparently there's a bit of science around how swearing might just have some benefits

in life. You may not want to hear that. You may not want to validate it, but stay tuned. We're going to dive into that. It's kind of a fun bit of research right after the break. 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 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. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were gonna 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 gonna die. Don't shoot him, we we need him y'all need a pilot flight risk and we're back with a little known study on swearing and pain i know i know for some of you actually um hearing any form of swear word is pain. In fact, I've actually known folks who experience it as literally physical pain when they hear somebody else swear in their presence. For others, it is used as a conjunction, a way of life, a common form of color, an adjective, an adverb in their everyday language, something that they couldn't imagine living without. So you may fall anywhere in that spectrum. I am a New Yorker,

born and raised just outside of New York and of the city for going on 30 years now. And I confess that in conversations with friends and casually, and maybe even in public settings, swearing is probably a more regular part of my vocabulary than some people would imagine. It's just kind of the way I talk. And by the way, for those who come from the theory that swearing is lazy, there's actually really fascinating additional research. Maybe I'll speak to that in another Science Update at some point. That actually tested that theory and showed that actually there's a correlation. People with better vocabularies, people who actually have the ability and a better command of the word tend to swear more.

It's not that they don't have the command or the resources. They choose those words because they create a very particular impact. Anyway, back to today's study. Turns out that swearing and pain are related in a different way. So in a study that was done by Richard Stevens at Keele University, among others. Andrew Kingston and John Atkins were part of the research team there. Really interesting relationship demonstrated. And there was actually a benefit to swearing. There was a bit of an analgesic effect of swearing in response to some form of painful experience or stimuli.

So here's what they did. They took a bunch of people and they said, make two lists. And one of these lists was a whole bunch of words that were kind of, you know, inert. They weren't swear in any way, shape or form. They're like common objects, like, you know, identify a table or room or couch or chair or whatever it may be, just kind of like neutrally wired words. The other list had spicier words on it, including many swear words or words people would consider swear words. And then here's what they did in the experiment. They took these folks and they took a tub of ice water and they asked them to submerge a hand in the ice water and keep it there for as long as they were able to keep it there.

And so what does this do? Well, the ice water presents as a pain, as painful stimulus, something that most people really, really don't like. It creates pain in the body. And then the researchers told the participants in the study, in one of the trials, here's what we want you to do. You can start to say things and use words from the quote neutral list of words. Pick one word from your neutral list and say it over and over if you want. Yell it if you want. And they timed how long people were able to keep their hand in the ice

water. Then they repeated the experiment, but they told folks, okay, so now this time, choose one swear word. And when you're feeling the need to say something or to scream or repeat or utter a word, use that word and repeat it over and over as much as you want. Here's what happened. The people who actually, when you chose the swear word, so when you swear instead of some more neutral word,

actually were able to tolerate the pain of the ice for 50% longer. So that is a pretty dramatic increase in your ability to tolerate pain. Now, you've probably experienced this in real life. I know I have. You know, on the occasion where I have stubbed a toe or like banged a finger or broken something, I can pretty much guarantee the words that came out of my mouth were not, oh gosh, or oh golly, or something really neutral. They were pretty colorful swear words. And I can pretty much guarantee you that in the future, if stuff like that happens, the same is going to happen. And it wasn't that I thought, which word should I say, neutral or swear? It was just, that was my body's automatic reaction to it. Turns out there's a reason that it's an

automatic reaction. When you swear, it serves as an analgesic. It actually not only allows you to tolerate pain longer, but it decreases the experience of pain. It could be the exact same stimulus, the exact same injury or whatever it may be, and you don't feel the pain as much. So kind of interesting, right? And maybe for those who have a bit of a tendency to let certain words fly, when something painful happens to them, maybe it's a little bit of permission to at least whisper it, or maybe not. And maybe, you know, if you don't want to do it, probably in certain scenarios or places like that. And maybe if you listen to your, the earlier part of this Good Life Dispatch, and you realize that your unique authentic voice happened to revolve around that type of language, it's fully

aligned. So I'm not condoning or uncondoning. I'm simply saying that there is really interesting research around how swearing serves to both increase your tolerance for pain and to decrease the intensity of pain when it happens to you. And by the way, part of the theory in the study about why this happens is because it may induce the, quote, fight or flight, or more recently coined, fight, flight, or freeze response in the body, which triggers a cascade of neurological and chemical changes that actually allow your body to endure things like this more readily. There is a bit of a kind of an odd aberration in the research also, and that is this.

For some reason, swearing did not actually help things in males who also had a higher tendency to spin catastrophe scenarios in their head, which may also be related to higher levels of anxiety. So interesting to see that that sort of carve-out was exhibited in the study. In any event, as always, I hope you find this interesting and a little quirky maybe, and in some way reflects on your ability to live a better life. So as we wrap up today, I've got a special request. Good Life Project is growing, and we're looking at how to best serve you with new programming and partnerships. You've heard a bit of that on the programming side and also on friendly new sponsors

as well. I would so appreciate if you could take just two minutes to fill out a quick survey. Our friends at Wondery are helping us with this process. Just go to Wondery, that's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y to wondery.com slash survey to share more about who you are and what you dig. That's wondery.com slash survey. I want to give a final shout out to our awesome sponsors and supporters. Right now, you can post a job on ZipRecruiter for free. That's right, for free. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com slash good. Be sure to check out Blue Apron and get your first three meals free with free shipping by going to BlueApron.com slash good life. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.

If the stories and ideas in any way moved you, I would so appreciate if you would take just a few extra seconds for two quick things. One, if it's touched you in some way, if there's some idea or moment in the story or in the conversation that you really feel like you would share with somebody else, that it would make a difference in somebody else's lives. Take a moment and whatever app you're using, just share this episode with somebody who you think it'll make a difference for. Email it if that's the easiest thing, whatever is easiest for you. And then of course, if you're compelled, subscribe so that you can stay a part of this

continuing experience. My greatest hope with this podcast is not just to produce moments and share stories and ideas that impact one person listening, but to let it create a conversation, to let it serve as a catalyst for the elevation of all of us together collectively, because that's how we rise. When stories and ideas become conversations that lead to action, that's when real change happens. And I would love to invite you to participate on that level. Thank you so much, as always, for your intention, for your attention, for your heart. And I wish you only the best. I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project. 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 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. Mayday, mayday, we've been been compromised The pilot's a hitman

I knew you were gonna 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 gonna die Don't shoot him, we need him Y'all need a pilot?

Flight Risk