Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 97
Date: December 5, 2023

Participants: Sammy Damaren, John Wester, Cameron Earnshaw, Elise Seifert, Julie Wilson and Sheila Webster
Guest: Ryan A Bush

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: It’s great to have founding co-host Sammy join us. A social media post with 10 ideas for great habits to start. They’ll contribute to wellbeing. We talk about our experience with some of them.

[0:13:23] Expanding Minds Interview: [Mental Wellness] We interview thinker and author Ryan A Bush. We discuss concepts from his upcoming book, Become Who You Are. The framework he introduced puts a strong focus on “virtue”, in the sense of admirability. The ancient Greeks used the term “arete”, which meant excellence in general. Ask yourself what have I always been good at? What have I always thrived at? What do I value most in other people? What do I admire them for? The answers point the way to what you should be cultivating and exercising more in yourself. You in your actions needs to become the you in your ideals. You need to find a way to actualize those values and traits, so you become the person you admire. There are a lot of people who will tell you how you should be living your life. You’ve already got the compass built into your brain on where you should be going. Have the courage to listen to pay attention to your own ideals and values and follow them wherever they lead.

[0:31:19] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron was trading artist horror stories with his buddy Joey Vinegar. The exchanged musician horror stories, with Cameron telling us about a spooky ending to one of them.

[0:37:00] Move That Body: There are lots of reasons to exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss. We chat about a social media post listing many.

[0:42:46] Running Popup: In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Persig points out that you need to change the rationale underlying a system instead of focusing on effects. The same holds true for wellness in John’s experience. He needed a lifestyle change to make a real difference.

[0:46:53] Flipside of the Coin: We have great plans and goals to get things done to improve our wellness. We’re set up for a great week, but it never works out that way. Many things pop into our week, every week, that makes it hard to get to the wellness plans we make. It’s never under control.

Guest Information: Ryan A Bush is a thinker, author and designer focused on building better systems, better people, and a better future. His background is in the design of systems. He’s worked with tech startups to design and develop everything from physical products to software, to buildings, to business models. He’s had a lifelong interest in introspective investigation, ravenous reading, and obsessive self-optimization. For many years, Ryan has studied the insights of ancient teachers, practical philosophers and cognitive scientists. He’s written two books – The first – Designing the Mind – helps readers understand the workings of their own minds and the keys to sculpting them. The second – Become Who You Are – is about the psychology of well-being and concepts connected with Happiness.

Link to Ryan’s second book (including pre-order): Become Who You Are
Ryan’s First book: Designing the Mind
Self-mastery community: Mindform

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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-)   Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle and Julie