The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 164: Jonathan Fields - How To Live A Good Life

Starting point is 00:00:00 I actually ended up at one point in the hospital, an emergency surgery, because my body just pretty much gave out. And I realized that it was taking a huge toll on me. And at the same time, I didn't want the carrot that was being dangled in front of me. I had no interest in becoming a partner. So those two things together really kind of were a wake-up call to me. So I've done, I wouldn't call it 9 to 5. I would call it more of 10 to 2 a.m. seven days a week. It was, you know, that field, at least the way I was practicing and what I was doing was somewhat brutal.

Starting point is 00:00:36 And again, I don't know how to field at all. It just, it wasn't the thing that I was called to do. Are leaders born or are they made? Our host, Ryan Hawk, believes that leaders can be made through determined, focused work on learning the art and science behind the makeup of other successful leaders. Now it's time to inhale knowledge and exhale success. You're listening to The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk. Hey, and welcome to the Learning Leader Show. I am Ryan Hawk, and thank you so much for being here.

Starting point is 00:01:20 What a genuine featured leader tonight. It's Jonathan Fields. He currently runs the Good Life Project, where he and his team lead a global community in the quest to live more meaningful, connected, and vital lives. They produce a top-rated podcast and video series with millions of listens and views in more than 150 countries. He's also an award-winning author.

Starting point is 00:01:41 His newest book is titled How to Live a Good Life. You should pick it up. A few of the topics that we got into. What does it mean to live a good life? That gets defined specifically by Jonathan during this conversation. Then we discussed what it means for a leader to not only own the result, but the process. Then finally, why we all should write our own personal creed that answers this question, What do I believe is important?

Starting point is 00:02:09 Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, it's Jonathan Fields. Jonathan Fields so excited to have you here on The Learning Leaders Show. Thank you so much for being here and welcome. Yeah, it's my pleasure. Thanks so much for inviting me. Question right off the top. To you, what does it mean to live a good life? So you're starting with my big question.

Starting point is 00:02:42 So, you know, it's really interesting. Probably two answers. One is through asking this very question to so many people over the years now, one of the things I've learned is it's completely unique. And to me, it's about immersing myself in activities and relationships that fill me up while surrounding myself with people that I cannot get enough of. And that invariably also involves making stuff, creating stuff, and being of service. man i love it when you think of um the phrase living a good life who's the first person or people you think of uh that's really interesting um milton glazer which is a name that your listeners may not be all that familiar with but they probably are familiar with his work he's somebody who i had the opportunity

Starting point is 00:03:35 to spend some time with um a couple years back now and he's very likely the most of the most iconic designer alive today. I believe he's 86 or 87 years old now. Still very prolific runs a studio, a claimist, in New York City. He's the founder of New York Magazine. He's also the creator of the single most ripped off logo and the history of iconography, which is IHeart, N.Y. And tons of other things that people would know, but they wouldn't necessarily know he's behind it. But that's not what I think of when I think of, you know, he's somebody who lives a great life. It's that he's somebody who has led with something, with, with a deep sense of connection to the way he contributes to the world since he was,

Starting point is 00:04:21 you know, literally six years old, somebody who has built his life and his career in a beautifully intentional and deliberate way who's given back for decades now and has no plan of slowing down. He's, um, when I look at the way he's, um, when I look at the way he's crafted his career, his living, and his life, it's truly inspiring to me. Really interesting. I appreciate you sharing. When a stranger meets you at a dinner party or out somewhere and they said, nice to meet you, Jonathan. What do you do? How do you respond? Depends who the stranger is and who's hosting the party. Okay, let's assume it's just somebody you have no idea who they are.

Starting point is 00:05:04 I'll start with levels, but the really simple response is I help people live better lives. if the question then is how. I'll tell them I run a media and education venture where we produce podcast, videos, events, courses, trainings, and build a global community that literally helps prepare people, give them the tools, the community, the insights, the ideas to step into a place of possibility. And it's called The Good Life Project. How did you get this started?

Starting point is 00:05:33 When, can you tell me the origin story of where you were in your life when you were getting this started? why you decided to do it and really just how it all became what it is now. Yeah. So the actual entity, Good Life Project, started in the beginning of 2012. And it's really the manifestation of a lifelong quest to try and really understand what does it mean to live well in the world. How do we step into a place of feeling like we're living into our potential?

Starting point is 00:06:04 Like we're, you know, we're contributing to the world in a meaningful way. You know, we feel vital and alive and are deeply connected to people around us. And I've been exploring that question for pretty much my whole adult life, but I kind of elevated it to the level of a more important mission. And then which quickly became vocation and decided to really try and find what I call embody teachers, people who weren't just writing and speaking about it, but actually living some piece of real. really embracing life and then sit down with them and learn from them and then turn around and actually start to in the beginning film it and then record audio and share that with people and build that into a body of work that could become sort of like a big giant archive for people to dive into explore and learn from too. And along the way, we also started to create programs,

Starting point is 00:06:57 events, experiences based in part on what I was learning and also in part on my, you know, at that point closing in on 50 years on the planet and experiences what I'd probably call a conscious entrepreneur having launched, grown and sold a handful of companies and really explored what does it mean on the career side of things to build your living in a way that really allows you to flourish. So the real genesis, though, was at the end of 2011, I started to a write a blog post. I was a blogger for a number of years before that. And it was a year in reflection. And I would do that at the end of every year. And that turned into a 40-page-page designed annual Warren Buffett-style report. And at the very end of that, I teased this thing called Good Life Project.

Starting point is 00:07:44 And I said, and I shared what I called my 10 commandments of epic business. And I put them out there and those kind of exploded and got shared all over the place. And I said, you know, there's something coming called Good Life Project, which is going to build around these ideals and something bigger. I honestly didn't know what that would look like at the time that I did it. And had the response not been so strong, I'm not entirely sure I would have really split it off as its own entity and built around it. But I'm so thankful that the response was really, really beautiful

Starting point is 00:08:18 and that we've actually now created, not just, a company, you know, not just a database of media and events, but actually a community that's really powerfully connected and supportive of each other, which wraps around the globe. I think a lot of people hear that story and they say, wow, I love to do something like that. This would be, and to do it for a living, I think it really sounds interesting to a lot of people because, you know, you probably like me, although on a larger scale, get emails from fans, listeners, friends, anyone who is attracted to what you do, and they'll ask you questions. And a lot of the common questions, and even these are ones that I feel like I get. So I can't even imagine at your level that state, you know, how can I do this?

Starting point is 00:09:10 You know, how is there a way or is there a system or are there a thought process so that I could potentially, do something that is just like, I am absolutely infatuate with it and that becomes what I do for a living. And when people ask you that, how do you respond? Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. I think my answer to that question has probably changed in a pretty significant way over the years, you know. In fact, when I wrote my first book, Career Renegate, a lot of that was exploring the question, if there's something that you're deeply interested in that you feel a sense of purpose and passion around when you do it, you know, but there's no conventional path to doing it.

Starting point is 00:09:48 How do you explore an unconventional way to do it? And that was really the focus of that book. But the underlying assumption was that if you can, you should make that the sole source of your living. I don't necessarily believe that anymore. I have now spent so much time and met so many people and read the daily rituals of so many people who have this thing that they actually really are called to do.

Starting point is 00:10:14 but they've chosen quite intentionally not to do it as their main thing it may contribute to their living at some point it may contribute a very substantial amount but they don't look to it as the sole source of income for what they do and there's something actually incredibly freeing about taking that angle because you feel like you can when when paying the rent when putting a roof you know over your your head and food on the table for a family doesn't have to come from the pursuit of that thing that burns inside of you and yearns to get out, there's a certain freedom to fully express it without regard to how people might respond to whether it generates adequate cash to support all of your needs. That comes that sometimes comes when it's your sole source

Starting point is 00:11:03 of income, but sometimes doesn't. You sometimes actually feel much more creatively stifled when you put pressure on yourself to make it your sole thing. So I'm actually a huge fan of rather than saying this is a thing that I have to build into my living, just starting to do run experiments on the side. And rather than automatically mandating, this has to be the central thing, just start to do a little bit of it. You know, bring more of it into your life, run a side project, turn it into something which grows more and more, it attracts more and more of your attention, your energy, and see how it feels as it begins to grow. And then you get to a point where you can kind of start ask the question, do I actually want to try and find the sweet spot between my desire to build this

Starting point is 00:11:51 thing and some customers need on a level where they would value what I'm creating enough to actually pay me enough to earn a living in the world? Or do I want to keep it this thing where it's just entirely pure? And I'm actually pretty good. I work a job during the day and it's decent and it gives me plenty of time to do this really beautiful thing without regard to whether it has to constrain to serving a very specific need. So it's interesting. I think my thought process five, ten years ago was no, everybody should make this the absolute thing that they do to earn their living. These days I've seen people live really beautiful, happy, fulfilled lives by not making it the thing that has to generate a full-time living to support a family.

Starting point is 00:12:37 So it's a bit of an evolution of thought for me. You know, I love that you gave that answer because I'm living what you just said right now. This podcast was created as, you know, 150 plus episodes ago as something fun for me to do that I hoped would potentially impact other people. Didn't know how many, but I just wanted it to impact it. Just wanted to start with one. You know, that was me and then hopefully others close to me. And to see it grow, but the freedom that comes from not having to make decisions, based on earning money from this is a freedom

Starting point is 00:13:12 that I don't think I ever want to give up because it gives me the ability to say yes or no to guess, to only have guests that I really wanna talk to. I get to meet my heroes, to only write about what I wanna write about, to only go speak at events that I really want to speak at because if you don't, if you're not doing it for the money, then you can, you literally just do what you want.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Now you obviously have to make money and so I'm fortunate to do that, other ways, but I think when it comes to whatever your passion project is, if you can not have to worry about money and it just be like this nice bonus that happens every once in a while and potentially grows, that there's so much power in that. And as you were saying this, I was curious, is this why you called it the Good Life Project? Because maybe you initially thought it was just going to be a little project? Indeed, it is. And it's not because I thought it was going to be a little project, but it's because it's sort of how I move into everything that I do. If I look at everything

Starting point is 00:14:11 as a project or an experiment, then no matter what happens with it, as long as I learn, as long as I gather data, it's never considered a failure. So to me, you know, I look at it and I say, okay, let's see where this goes and let me keep running a series of smaller experiments and learning from it. And, you know, if it grows into something substantial, which, you know, like not knock on wood, this actually has, then that's fantastic. And if it doesn't, then what a cool experience. Like, what can I learn from that and then bring forward into the next project or experiment that I choose to run? And, you know, and I'm very fortunate in that we've grown a venture, you know, which has a number of meaningful revenue generators within it. And I'm able to make it, you know, the focus of my living. But I would very likely continue to do,

Starting point is 00:15:05 many of the elements of it on the side, even if it didn't. How many people are involved with the Good Life project? Depends what you mean by involved. I'm sure you hire contractors sometimes, but you have full-time employees. How does it work? We do. Yeah. We have a small team of full-time employees.

Starting point is 00:15:25 We have probably about another dozen people on a contract or retainer basis who are working on various projects at any given time. Then we assemble larger numbers of people, for example. We put on an annual gathering where 350 people come from around the world and spend about four days together called Camp Good Life Project or Camp JLP. And that requires a larger crew of people. So we have a rotating faculty for a number of our events and retreats and programming of experts in specific fields. And so we kind of come together. It's almost like we're individual musicians.

Starting point is 00:16:00 But, you know, we're also, the band comes together for special. you know, special events and concerts. And then we jam for a couple of days and then we kind of go off and do our own thing. So it's this really interesting sort of very fluid dynamic team with a lot of individual expertise. And we just all love playing together. So we kind of do it as much as we can. When you started, was it just you?

Starting point is 00:16:28 It was just me. Then, I mean, the other thing is that for the last two years, years or so it's been my wife and me full-time so we you know we're partners in the business now and we work together we live together and we're building this mission-driven venture together as sort of you know we're the centerpiece and which has just been this amazing blessing as well how is it working is then there's some people listening who do this working full-time in the same business that's yours with your spouse yeah for me it's fantastic it's a very individualized thing a lot of people are like oh you know teach me how to do it and

Starting point is 00:17:05 And it's not, A, I'm not entirely sure what I could teach because we don't follow any specific processes. We just happen to work together really well. We have a very different skill set that complements each other really well. And even though sort of the mode, you know, the way that we actually work is very different, the way that we come together to create, just happen to be super complimentary. And we love being around each other. You know, we just, you know, we're married a long time now and, and love just spending time with each other and building a living and a life together has been a pretty cool experience. So, but it's not for everybody. You know, there are some relationships that probably really would not work well at all when you're actually sort of building a life and a business together.

Starting point is 00:17:58 So I'm just really, you know, unfortunate in that it works beautifully for us. And I'm just thankful that we're able to do it. What was your, like, take it back to maybe earlier in your career. Did you ever work a regular as people would say, nine to five job at a corporation or are you been an entrepreneur for life? I did, although it was kind of an aberration for me. I actually ended up going to law school. I was an entrepreneur as a kid.

Starting point is 00:18:27 I was an entrepreneur. I sold my first company in college. And then took a bit of a left. I went to law school after that and was very fortunate. I graduated well in school and ended up actually as an enforcement attorney for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission where I worked in, you know, this massive government bureaucracy in New York. And then from there, jumped to a large law firm in New York City where we were doing merger and acquisitions, securities law.

Starting point is 00:18:55 So I did that for, I'm trying to remember a total of about four and a half year or something like that. and yeah, hit a point there where I actually ended up at one point in the hospital, an emergency surgery, because my body just pretty much gave out, and I realized that it was taking a huge toll on me. And at the same time, I didn't want the carrot that was being dangled in front of me. I had no interest in becoming a partner. So those two things together really kind of were a wake-up call to me. So I've done, I wouldn't call it 9 to 5. I would call it more of 10 to 2 a.m. 7 days a week.

Starting point is 00:19:34 It was, you know, that field, at least the way I was practicing and what I was doing was somewhat brutal. And again, I don't know the field at all. It just, it wasn't the thing that I was called to do. And the truth is, and you probably know this as an entrepreneur, you know, you work hard. You work a lot of hours, but it's different because there's a different reason that you're doing it and you have a huge amount of control over the fluidity of the hours that you put in and you get to create, you know, you get to essentially create your business, your life, the culture around which you surround yourself, you get to pick the people that you play with on a regular basis. And so to me, that's just, it's an amazing thing. When I think about, when people say they're not sure what they want to do, I think about what do you do in your free time outside of, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:37 whether it's let's take out family stuff or I guess if you're watching TV, which is obviously not the most productive thing you can do. But outside of that, what do you do? And so for me, I was, you know, Jonathan, I was reading and researching and studying great leaders and history and current day and we're just trying to, I don't know, learn as much as I possibly could about them. So I was doing basically what I do now in all of my free time. So that's, that kind of tells you if there's anything that's a telling sign, like I need to explore this a little bit more. I love learning about great leaders and people's who's writing in the lives

Starting point is 00:21:19 that they're living inspires me, empowers me to do bigger, more impactful things in the world, why don't I find a way to talk to these people and record it and share it? So hopefully others can be impacted as well. I think that can be telling for people if they're maybe a little bit lost or they're puzzled or they're not quite sure what to do. Yeah, absolutely. I love that example. You know, it also came to mind when you were saying that is Dan Carlin's hardcore history podcast, you know. And he had a long-time radio career. And now he just has this mad, mad, mad, obsession with history. And he creates a podcast that only comes out, I think it's like maybe four times a year or something like that, but is consistently ranked in one of the top hundred in the world because

Starting point is 00:22:03 he literally spends months researching and producing each episode. And, you know, I'm somebody who wasn't drawn to history as a kid. But when you listen to what he's created, just the depth of, research and storytelling and production just completely blows me away and draws me in. He makes it fascinating and engaging. And this was, you know, it just started, he's not an academic. He doesn't have this long, you know, background or a PhD in history. This was just a deep, deep fascination of his. And he blended it with a skill set that he had for radio production to create something really extraordinary. It might be the best podcast, like my number one of all time. Yeah. And I'm not a history guy, either like a huge history buff, I think it could replace a lot of the curriculum

Starting point is 00:22:53 in schools. I really do because it, you learn so much in such an entertaining way. And you're right, though, you could tell the work he puts into it is immense. And that's why there's so much gap in between episodes, because he's sitting there doing more research than you could ever imagine. And then the way he tells the story, I mean, I've had so many conversations with friends because it spreads like wildfire. Like, have you heard a hardcore history? Hardcore history? No, I haven't.

Starting point is 00:23:19 You should check it out. And then it's like two days later. And the guy's like, I haven't even slept. I've been listening to Dan Carlin for two days. Right. Yeah, because each episode is like, you know, three hours. Yeah. They're long.

Starting point is 00:23:29 Yeah, you got to be willing to dig in. And I do it while exercising sometimes. But yeah, incredible. You know, another part, Jonathan, when I noticed in your email signature, when we were emailing back and forth, there's a hashtag that says, I am willing. And so I clicked on it. And it came out to this. really great video. And obviously you're part of part of your business is you're you have a phenomenal

Starting point is 00:23:50 video production. Not only the way it looks and sounds, but but the content as well. And, and I pulled out a quote and I wanted you to expand on it because obviously a guy like me, this kind of stuck to me. And the quote is a leader is someone who was willing to own not just the result, but the process. Are you willing to lead? I love to learn more about that and why you put that out. Yeah, this has a lot of the content that I create often have and started as a bit of a personal rant for me. And, you know, we hear so many people. And look, I'm probably guilty of this as well. You know, pointing to these amazing outcomes, you know, like, you know, the CEO of this tremendous company, the leader of this movement, you know, the most of this incredibly accomplished artist, you know, somebody who's led, leadens of people. and we look at what they have now.

Starting point is 00:24:46 We look at where they're standing now. We look at the station in life that they've landed, or we look at the accomplishments. And so many people are like, that's what I want. I want this. And they just, they dream about it. And they yearn for it. And then when it comes time to actually owning not just that result,

Starting point is 00:25:08 because it's really easy to say, I want to own that outcome, that result. when you actually have to stand in a place where saying, I'm also willing to own the sometimes brutal path it takes to get that result. Almost everybody steps away. You know, very few people are willing to own the process that it takes to get there. And sometimes, rightfully so, sometimes the process requires so much sacrifice and giving up so much and so much pain that if you actually sort of own that this is what

Starting point is 00:25:39 is going to take, you would make a decision and say, you know what, actually, as cool as I think it would be, to be in this place, I'm not willing to blow up my health. I'm not willing to blow up my relationships. I'm not willing to blow up, you know, to give up these things that mean a lot to me in the name of making this happen. And it's probably a good thing that you sort of realize that, that you own that before you actually start the process. You know, or you might look at it and say, wow, this is going to take a ridiculous amount of effort and work. and I'm going to have to sacrifice mightily and give up so many other things along the way. And, you know, I still want it.

Starting point is 00:26:18 And when you go into any kind of quest or goals driving process, having really thought through, you know, the process and the potential barriers that are going to come your way and challenges and then said, even if this happens, I still want it. and I'm willing to own that, that's where real leaders are born. You know, it's not in the desire to actually go from point A to point B and take people with you. It's in a willingness to actually do the work and move through the challenge that encompasses the entire process, the highs and the inevitable lows and struggles and challenges that go with it. And very few people actually really want to own that. So it was really just a call to action to say, you know, if you want to lead, it's not just about having vision. It's about a willingness to step into ownership of the process no matter what it brings your way.

Starting point is 00:27:16 There's actually, in my latest book, there's a process called a whoop, which stands for wish, outcome, obstacle, and process. And what the research actually shows is that if you not only wish for this thing, you know, deeply yearn for it and then define the outcome with a lot of specificity, and then you actually really go deep into identifying the obstacles, both internal and external and then creating a plan or process in how you will respond to them before they ever happen, then your likelihood of actually moving through this and getting to the goal that you want increases pretty dramatic. So it turns out it's good to not be delusional. I'm thinking of people who are either looking to hire a business partner or maybe you work at, maybe you do work at a company and you're looking to make any type of hiring decision. And I think this also comes up in emails or receive Jonathan. And it reminds me when you talk about a leader as someone who is willing to own not just the result, but the process. And that specifically is the why. If somebody shares on a resume or in a meeting where we're looking to potentially work together

Starting point is 00:28:33 and they share all of their successes and failures or failures, I think the greatest leaders understand why they've been successful. So let's say you're having a great year. I reference sales people a lot. So let's say you're a field sales representative. You're in your car listening to this right now and you're having a fantastic year here in 2016. I hope you would be able to explain in specific detail why you've been successful. Because if you cannot, I question if that's somebody who I want to work with.

Starting point is 00:29:13 I think you should fully understand both why you've had success and why you've failed. Because if you've had success and you have no idea why, the chance that it will continue to happen, I believe are much smaller than if you have a complete understanding on your business. Yeah. I mean, it's an interesting question, right? And I agree with you. There's one thing that came up for me as you're sharing that is that, and I'm curious whether you've experienced this in conversations, whether you've had with people,

Starting point is 00:29:43 is that I'm sure there are moments where people have done a lot of, you know, they've done the post-mortem. They've really tried to understand what's going on and deconstructed. They can understand how to continue to do the things. that are working moving forward and not do the things that are broken moving forward. And at the same time, there's always the factor of, you know, it's the right person at the right moment in time. There's a window that you didn't actually have control over that will never happen again. And there's this, you know, there's serendipity. And people will say, you know, that there's no such thing as luck is when preparation meets whatever it is. I can't remember what the quote is.

Starting point is 00:30:24 opportunity yeah yeah i don't entirely believe that i think that there that you can definitely increase your chances of being lucky you can be open to possibility you can do all sorts of things but at the same time you know steve jobs and bill gates were born in a window of time where had they been 10 years earlier 10 years later they wouldn't have been who they are and done what they they've done you know so you have to kind of factor that into a certain extent too well i think And I've, over the 150 plus of these conversations when I've asked people questions around their success, a lot of the very self-aware, sustained, people who have sustained excellence have said luck was certainly a factor. I don't think, none of them will say it was the only reason. But I think a lot of very aware people would say, you know, I did this, this and this. And quite frankly, I have to be straight with you, Ryan.

Starting point is 00:31:20 there was a certain amount of luck involved in my timing for what I was doing. And I think that, I think, so I think luck is, is one of the reasons why people get successful. And I do think there is something to certain people get luckier than others based upon the amount of time. Like Adam Grant says, the people with the best ideas aren't necessarily the ones who are just smart than everyone else. They just have more ideas than other people. And so the more ideas, the more, more times you do it. but the more, I don't know, businesses you create, hopefully, especially if you're learning from some of the ones that failed, you're bound to be right at some point, or maybe the time, as you're talking about, lines up properly for the iPhone to come out in this year and for it to work. So I think luck is always can be part of the equation.

Starting point is 00:32:10 It's just, I don't know if I believe it's ever, I mean, I guess if, you know, sometimes there's people we see who have success and you're like, that was just pure luck. Usually those people don't sustain excellence, though. They just might be a kind of a one and done type of a leader. Yeah. And I totally agree. It's absolutely not, you know, like the major piece of the puzzle. But, you know, I think it's a part of it. And I also agree, like you said, that you can do things to have fortune favor you more and more often to increase your chances of being lucky.

Starting point is 00:32:43 And at the same time, still, there are just these rare moments sometimes where you step in good stuff. Yeah, I mean, I'll give you a flip side of this. So, Jonathan, I played football in college out of high school. I want to Miami University here in Ohio. And I just so happened to play the same position and be the exact same age as Ben Rothesberger, who happens to be the greatest athlete in the history of Miami University. So, I mean, in a way, I felt at the time I was doing just about everything with my power. But at the end of the day, he was just better than me.

Starting point is 00:33:19 And so he won the job. And so that that just from a timing perspective, if I would have come four years earlier or four years later, and I still might not have won the job, but the odds of me winning it were obviously higher if I would have been any different age than the age that I am. Yeah. So, I mean, in the end, you know, you do what you can to work as hard as you can, you know, like, and really just bring yourself to the world in the way that fortune will hopefully favor you the most. and then do the things to create as much fortune as you can. And at the same time, always knowing that there's, you know, there's always going to be a smidge of stuff, which is just out of your control, both on the upside and the downside.

Starting point is 00:33:59 Yeah, let's talk about what you're doing right now in your current, whether if you want to call it a project from a writing perspective, and I greatly appreciate you and your team send me a copy of your new book. It's funny, like my wife and I were fighting over reading it initially. I think you put stuff on social media about that. But I would love for you to explain why, this current book is coming out and what was the impetus for you to write it? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:34:24 So, and thanks for asking about it. So the book is called How to Live a Good Life, which is kind of funny because it's like who am I, middle-aged guy from New York City to write a book called How to Live a Good Life. So what it really is, it's a distillation of years of really deep conversations with incredible teachers, you know, people from all. walks of life from all different cultures who've done different things. And in some way are what I mentioned earlier, what I consider these embodied teachers.

Starting point is 00:34:56 People are actually living it who are moving beyond walking or talking about it, but actually living piece of the puzzle. And over a lot of time, sort of learning from these people and just my time on the planet, doing a lot of experiments and learning and some nice wins and probably exponentially more failures in deconstructing those, you know, I start to see. patterns. And I felt like it was time to distill those into just a really simple idea that people could latch on to, you kind of hear it once you remember it for life, and then have it be super actionable. So the idea with the book is that, you know, there's a really simple idea that a good

Starting point is 00:35:38 life is made up of sort of persistently filling three buckets, your vitality bucket, your connection bucket, and your contribution bucket. And so the idea, is not all that, you know, it's not complicated, but that's, that was important to me because my sense is that we've all known what to do for thousands of years, but we don't do it because it tends to be delivered in a way which is overly complicated. And it was important to me to just simplify, to really deliver a message, to deliver a way to make decisions and take action that was super simple. And then, so that's, the majority of the book then goes on to actually give you a series of things to do every day for over a period of 30 days.

Starting point is 00:36:23 And where each day there's a bit of a story to allow you to identify with it, there's some science to show that this is actually a validated exercise. And then there's a very specific instruction to say, do this. And also, there are generally things that don't take a lot of time because the idea is that if I'm not looking to create massive disruption, because again, people won't do it. I'm looking to share small things that you can do every day that I consider to be levers, meaning the impact they'll have in your life is exponentially larger than the effort you put into them. And then what you notice is that over time, you build these into a practice, a daily practice.

Starting point is 00:37:04 And things change in really subtle ways over time. But then when you look back over a period of a few months, you're like, wow, my life is actually substantially more meaningful. I feel so much more alive. I feel so much more connected to the people around me and to source to nature. And so that was the idea behind creating the book. I felt like it was time, like there was enough, at a large enough data set, and the ideas really began to form. And we had been testing the model and the ideas in programs that we're running, and people

Starting point is 00:37:37 were lighting up around there and saying, wow, this actually really matters. It really works. It's super simple. and I understand how to build my days around it and just make it a part of my life without having to blow anything up. And so that's where the book is really, that's where it came from. And that's, you know, my greatest hope is that people don't just read it, but they actually do the book. Who's the ideal person to read this book? Somebody who's in the middle years of their life.

Starting point is 00:38:06 Somebody who is, has been through enough of life so that they've been through some highs, they've been through some lows. They're very likely in a place in their life where they've sacrificed a lot, not just money, not just, but they've actually probably, you know, they've come second for a long time. They've stifle the sense of who they are, what's meaningful to them, what lights them up. And sometimes in the name of serving something that they've, you know, been willing to serve. But they're also reached a point where they're maniacally busy. They feel like they're reacting to everybody else's agenda. And they kind of, they're ready to step out of them. that space. They're ready to take more control. They're ready to live with intention and with heart

Starting point is 00:38:49 and to actually reclaim their sense of self and identity and step into their full potential rather than just knowing that they're capable of so much more and like literally being able to see it out there somewhere and having no idea how to close the gap. How do you respond to people who are skeptical of this kind of this is like a, some would put this in the bucket of positive psychology potentially. You know, there's always skeptics. And we know that if you do anything in the world, the only way to not have a skeptics is just to not do anything or not say anything.

Starting point is 00:39:25 And I know that's a quote. How do you respond to people who are skeptical of this? Some would say the real world's harder than this, Jonathan. Get real, man. This is tough. Like, how do you respond to that? I totally love that. And the really easy response, this is.

Starting point is 00:39:42 such a minimal investment. Don't even buy the book. Just go and borrow it from your library so you don't have any, although actually it might make sense to put a little bit of money into it because if you don't have stakes, then you won't ever take action. But my answer is really simple. Don't believe a word I say. Just do it. The actions are really simple. Literally, there's a little something to do every day. Just do it. Let what happens, let the outcomes that happen in response to these simple behaviors, be all the evidence that you need. So I'm not somebody who ever asked people for blind faith. So the answer is really simple.

Starting point is 00:40:20 Do it and let the outcomes in your life be all the evidence, all the proof that you need. One more thing about you and your story. So yeah, the book's phenomenal. So thank you so much for putting, I know how hard it is to sit down and write and to get your message out there in that form. So I'm very excited for it. I hope it absolutely kills. I think it should.

Starting point is 00:40:45 But another aspect of you. One more thing is you guys have a creed at the Good Life Project. You can find it at goodlifeproject.com. I won't read the whole thing. But this is something I printed out quite a while ago and look at it quite often. I love to learn. You can maybe highlight some of the parts of it if you'd like. I love to learn your process for putting.

Starting point is 00:41:10 together this creed for what you believe in, because I think this is something everybody should do, whether it's with their family, their business, themselves. I think it's a powerful exercise to sit down, like I mentioned, whether it's with yourself, your family, or your business, or all of those things, and write down what you believe in and how you like to leave your life. And I believe these lists at times, these creeds can sometimes evolve as you learn as well. But this is something you guys have published on goodlifeproject.com. I'd love for you to talk more about it. Yeah, and we're probably going to publish an updated version pretty soon that will actually be substantially streamlined from that.

Starting point is 00:41:49 And that's why, you know, even on the website, I call it a living creed because in my mind it's a snapshot in time. You know, you're constantly evolving and learning. But fundamentally, it's the answer to the question, what do I believe is important? You know, in my, it's actually the answer to two questions. What do I believe is possible? and what do I believe is important in the way that I bring myself to the world and that I pursue what is possible. And those are the questions that I ask myself. So a really simple example from the creed is to be fierce with your time but generous with your heart. So I believe that,

Starting point is 00:42:28 you know, I believe it's possible to actually be in a world where you have tremendous, deep, powerful, loving relationships. And at the same time, I also believe that if you fritter away your entire life doing all sorts of tasks and being maniacally busy with things that don't matter and relationships that empty you out, you'll never get to that place. So those beliefs wrap up in this really simple line, which is be furious with your time. You know, so you understand you're doing things that actually move the needle, but generous with your heart. So, you know, to me, I agree with you. I think it's, you know, whether you're building a business or just trying to figure out, how do I make decisions in my life? I think it's a great exercise to create

Starting point is 00:43:13 your own creed, you know, your own system of beliefs so that every time you have a challenging decision to make, every time you have an opportunity to say yes or no to something, you have you have a basis, you know, a well thought out basis upon which to make those decisions because you know what you stand for. You know what you believe. You've already laid out. You know, out what's important to you. So you understand what to say yes or no to. And that's really what's behind it. So it's really the answer to these two questions. You're like, what do I believe is possible? And what do I believe is important in how I bring myself to the world and how I get to, you know, from where I am to that place of possibility? Two lines that I love that are back to back.

Starting point is 00:43:57 I love the whole thing, but back to back. Have a strategy, but be open to serendipity, the best things in life are rarely planned. And then following that immediately is life, and I think people should really think about this, life is a story. If you wouldn't read the one you're telling, write a different ending. And it just shows that, again, I've heard this from multiple guests, the best time to start whatever it is you're thinking of starting, as Jonathan I talked about earlier in this conversation is right now.

Starting point is 00:44:27 The absolute best time. And that gives you the opportunity to dynamically, change the ending of that story to make it, I don't know, more interesting, more fulfilling, more enjoyable to read. Again, I think back, and that's part of this, my story, I personally believe, Jonathan, and it's been impacted by people like you and others, has been part of the inspiration to do this, because I think it's a much more interesting story 18 months later, now since I've started this than it was before. And that's, I think anybody can do that. And that's why those two lines are really interesting to me.

Starting point is 00:45:03 Yeah, no, I love that. Those resonate pretty deeply with me as well. And it's, you know, I think an interesting nuance on that, too, is that tell your story, not somebody else's story. Because very often we're not actually telling the story of our own lives. We're telling it somebody else's story, somebody else's expectations through us. So in a past life, one of the businesses I owned was a yoga center in New York City and they actually taught for many years. And one of the texts that I've moved through a number of times is something called the Bhagavad Gita. And it's this epic story, epic poem.

Starting point is 00:45:41 And in it, there's a line which translates roughly to, it's far better to live your life imperfectly than to live another's life perfectly. And I think that's really what this embodies here. Love it. Thank you so much, Jonathan, for being here. Quick question. When you first heard, saw the phrase learning leader in my initial email out to you, what was the first thought that came to mind? Somebody who stays open. Beginners mind always, always a student. I love it, man. Thank you so much for being here. Where would you send maybe about the new book or anything else? Where would you send my listeners to learn more about you online? Yeah. Well, first, thank you so much for inviting me. It's been a real, real pleasure. And goodlifeproject.com is where people would find pretty much everything.

Starting point is 00:46:30 Awesome, man. Thank you so much again for being here, Jonathan. Really appreciate it, and I absolutely want to continue this dialogue as we both progress, man. Yeah, thank you. All right. This episode of The Learning Leader Show is over, but we have plenty more to keep you locked in until next time. Head over to Learningleadershow.com for more information and to request your favorite entrepreneur, CEO, world-class athlete, or anyone else that inspires you. You can also talk to Ryan directly by reaching out to him on Twitter at Ryan Hawk, Thanks again, and we'll see you next time on The Learning Leader Show.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 164: Jonathan Fields - How To Live A Good Life

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