The Castle Magic Podcast

The Castle Magic Podcast

By Toma MolEducationSelf-Improvement
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The Castle Magic Podcast episodes

  • 3.7. How to Fall in Love with Your Life

    In this episode we talk about the feeling of being in love and how you can experience it everyday, everywhere with anyone.

    • Core principle: Realise that nobody but you can grant you permission to do what you want

      • Step by step falling in love with you life:

      1. Look at all the people in your life, friends, partners, ex-partners, family, colleagues. Reflect on how they have supported you to get where you are today. Write down all the reasons why you are grateful for them.
      2. Create a list of 10 items you desire to experience
      3. Make 1 item inevitable

        4. Remember that it's all about your decisions, not about your circumstances. What will you decide?

        12 min
      4. 3.6. Two Techniques to Develop Greater Wisdom

        Wisdom is defined by the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement.

        The three types of wisdom identified by some scholars (Jeste & Vahia, 2008) are:

        1. Cognitive Wisdom – involves knowledge and the ability to think critically
        2. Reflective wisdom – involves introspection and self-awareness, and
        3. Compassionate wisdom – involves empathy and concern for others.

          4. In this episode we go deeper into number 2: reflective wisdom. Here are two techniques to develop this kind of wisdom.

          • Body-Talk: Imagine your body would know quite a few secrets that you don't know about. Take a journal and have a 20-minute conversation with your body by writing a dialogue in which you ask your body all the questions about it that you don't have an answer to. E.g. why do you hurt when ...
          • Mind-Talk: Imagine you are not your mind (see episode 1), but your mind was a supercomputer with thousands of programs that all can be explored. To become more aware of how your mind is operating and what it's doing, grab a journal again and have that 20-minute conversation with your mind by writing a dialogue in which you ask questions 'to god'. With god I don't mean a man in the sky. I want you to imagine that you currently are thinking from the place of the mind, so the questions you'd be asking are actually your mind's questions. The person responding will be YOU. Consider yourself being an energetic being that is able to be aware, absorb experiences and have access to unlimited knowledge and wisdom.

            • Neale Donald Walsh wrote an entire best-selling series that is based on a dialogue between his mind and 'god' (which was essentially himself). See if you can have that same conversation and what new things you learn about your body & your mind.

            20 min
          • 3.5. The 4 Pillars of Freedom

            Today we talk about how we cultivate freedom in our lives. Financial freedom, freedom to move more, freedom to choose, all kinds of freedom.


            Here are the 4 pillars of freedom

            1. Self-discipline: This one is the most important foundation that you need. Self-discipline is another way of not listening to your mind and doing what would be best for you and your dreams. To develop self-discipline better, choose habits that would benefit you long-term and do your very best to stick through the uncomfortable period.
            2. Self-responsibility: With self-discipline comes the awareness that we are responsible and able to make a difference for any part of our lives. This gives us tremendous freedom as we realise that our choices really make all the difference.
            3. Self-awareness: As you tap deeper into these levels of freedom you'll soon notice a new found self-awareness. Of your body, of your mind, of your abilities.
            4. Self-remembrance: Lastly you start to remember that you had freedom all along and that it has always been yours. This self-remembrance is what most of us describe as bliss.


              5. Here's two tips to cultivate self-discipline:

              • The snooze technique: When you alarm rings, instead of hitting it to snooze and sleep in, hit it to snooze and stand up. Do anything other than you normally do to disturb your sleeping pattern. In that split-second your will-power is really tested and you can create a lot of progress by mastering your non-snoozability. (of course that's a word!)
              • For the 2nd tip I invite you to listen in ;)
                • 14 min
              • 3.4. Why You Shouldn't Listen to Your Mind

                In the book The Surrender Experiment Michael Singer shares his story of how he created a multi-million dollar company after trying to get away from the world meditating.

                Over the years he has refined the how we understand the mind and what it actually does. Imagine your mind working like a blank canvas. It's powerful, like a computer. It projects an image that you can look at all the time. What happens is, we have experiences that we can handle - that pass through - and those we cannot handle.


                The experiences we couldn't handle in the past have created imprints in our minds so that we either:

                • Try to avoid them at all cost (let's call that the rattlesnake) or
                • Try to cling to them (let's call that the butterly)

                  • Since these experiences however are no longer there, they become garbage that our mind is telling us we want or don't want on a regular basis. This means that in most cases listening to your mind means listening to the garbage you've stored inside of you that is literally ruining your life.

                  In order to be able to experience the world again and all the beauty it entails you must let go of what your mind tells you and simply respond to what the world presents you.


                  Further Links

                  • The Surrender Experiment
                  • Yes Man with Jim Carrey
                    • 13 min
                  • 3.3. 10X Your Productivity with these 2 Tools

                    In this episode we talked about how you can 10x your productivity. The truth is, most of us haven’t used productivity the way it’s meant to be used, to give us more time. We just started doing more. Now my hope is that you use this and create the free time in your life that will bring you more than just more work.

                    2 assumptions most of us go by:

                    • More = More - meaning: if I work more, I’ll get more out. 
                    • Everything is important: This is a phrase you’ll hear every now and then from people who have trouble prioritising.

                      • Two tools that will 10x your productivity: 

                      • Essentialism by Greg McKeown - only very few things actually matter, we need discipline to commit to what really matters.
                      • Parkinson's Law - a task only takes as long time as you assign to it.
                        • 12 min
                      • 3.2. The 3 Fastest Ways to Learn Anything New

                        In this episode we talk about learning new things and how you can do that quicker and with more ease:

                        1. The Walk: Take a walk after most of your work is done and look over the shoulder of your co-workers or boss. Ask them 'what do you do?' - you'd be surprised how much you learn in a short span of time.
                        2. Copy-Paste: Babies are the best at learning partially because they simply copy what an adult does. Take a few moments to find someone in an area that you want to get better at. Watch what they do and how they do it. Either on Youtube or wherever else they demonstrate that skill. You may also ask them to send you a quick loom, how they do it. Then try to replicate what they did.
                        3. Unlearn: Otto Scharmer wrote a fascinating book called 'Theory U: Learning from the Future as it Emerges'. In his groundbreaking work he describes how we first have to unlearn something before we can reach a new level. To do that write down your pre-existing assumptions about it, let go of them, sit in silence for a moment and choose new prototypes to create out of a completely new field of possibilities.
                          4. 13 min
                        4. 3.1. Embracing AI: The Future of Learning and Adaptation

                          AI is more than a buzzword; it's a catalyst for altering our habits and the way we function in society.

                          1. We live in an era where a person without any prior skills can utilize AI to create content that rivals professional quality.

                          2. As technology continues to make our lives easier, we should anticipate working less and having more free time.

                          3. Yet, this shift prompts significant questions. How do we adapt our habits, environment, and daily routines to keep up?

                          4. Those who resist technology, those who declare, "I'm not a tech person", risk becoming obsolete as those who embrace tech advance swiftly.

                          5. Once we leave formal education, we often slip into a 'knowing' state rather than a 'learning' state. Yet, these two states cannot coexist. To learn new things, we need to admit we don't know everything.

                          6. Establish a habit of learning, dedicating specific time each week to learn new skills or technologies.

                          7. By embracing AI and technology, we can create more immersive experiences and become more efficient, reducing our workload and enhancing our productivity.

                          8. The current series of the Powerhouse podcast will focus on learning, exploring different skills every week, and discussing how to acquire them quickly and effectively.

                          9. The goal is to become indispensable, inspire yourself and those around you, and make life easier in the process.

                            10. 11 min
                          10. 2.9. Future-Proofing Your Career: Expert Advice on AI and Essential Skills for the Next Decade with Ram Raj

                            In this final episode of our 2nd season we speak with Ram Raj, senior lecturer at the University of Malaya and director at AirAsia Academy about how we can up-skill ourselves and our workforces. Some of the other topics that we cover include:

                            • What is exciting about Artificial Intelligence (we do not talk about ChatGPT here but about the wider implications on how we can make sense and put our study of AI in context)
                            • What are some of the most crucial sciences and skills to learn in the next decade
                            • How you actually get to grow a country's GDP
                            • How AirAsia Academy manages to up-skill the lower middle class and help them find attractive employment opportunity in virtually no time
                            • And much more...


                              • Further Links

                              Learn more about AirAsia Academy here.


                              More about Ram Raj

                              Ram Gopal Raj received the B.E. degree (Hons.) in electronics and computing from Nottingham Trent University, in 2004, the master’s degree in information and multimedia technology from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2006, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2011. He has over ten years of experience as an Academician. He has also successfully supervised Ph.D. and master’s students. During this time, he was a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya (UM), and also held the post of Deputy Director of The Academic Strategic Planning Centre, UM. He is currently the Director of strategy and innovation with AirAsia Academy. He has authored or coauthored various journal and conference papers related to his areas of expertise. His research interests include artificial intelligence, text classification, natural language processing, and logic programming. https://publons.com/researcher/2843168/ram-gopal-raj/

                              42 min
                            • 2.8. The 3 Dimensions of Successful Teams with Imran Rehman

                              This week on the show is Imran Rehman. Imran’s vast experience as coach and consultant is what fuels everything Kokoro does – from introducing the three dimensions of successful team collaboration to asking the right questions right up to helping you take the right actions.

                              In this episode we talk about:

                              • How the future of work could and potentially should look like
                              • The 3 dimensions of successful team collaboration
                              • How kokoro is trying to make a difference in the work places around the globe

                                • Further links

                                • Learn more about Kokoro here.
                                • Connect with Imran on LinkedIn here.
                                • Or send him an email at [email protected]


                                  • 37 min
                                • 2.7. Achieving Happiness and Vitality with Alex Cucer

                                  In this episode, we discuss the importance of routines in achieving happiness and vitality. Alex shares some personal stories of hitting rock bottom and how he was able to overcome them by developing and sticking to powerful routines. He also provides a three-step formula for creating routines that can help people achieve a degree of happiness, strength, and passion in their lives.

                                  Episode Highlights:

                                  • The most powerful word that our brain likes is "routines." Our brain is lazy and doesn't want to think about what it has to do, so it does things because that's what it's familiar with.
                                  • Creating powerful routines for our lives can help us achieve a degree of happiness, strength, and vitality. We can have a routine for feeling horrible, sad, and miserable or a routine that will help us feel happy, energized, and passionate.
                                  • The three-step formula for creating powerful routines includes:
                                    1. A space of silence - a form of meditation or practice that will help us silence our mind and be with ourselves.
                                    2. Finding the smallest gratitude we have for right now - it's about feeling the gratitude and not just saying it.
                                    3. Finding the smallest thing that makes us happy and makes us look forward to tomorrow - this can be anything we can look forward to, like the beach, a favorite meal, or a conversation with someone we love.
                                      • The power of habits and rituals is that we don't realize we're getting there until we get there. Consistency is key.
                                      • Sometimes finding something to be grateful for can be hard, especially if we're too impatient or too addicted to something else. Gratitude is a muscle that we need to exercise, and with time, we can get to a point where we can see the beautiful things in everything, even in things that are not normally seen as beautiful.
                                      • Upgrading our routines is important, and it's possible to develop routines that go beyond the three-step formula. The key is to find what works for us and stick to it.

                                        • Routines can help us achieve a degree of happiness, strength, and vitality. Developing and sticking to powerful routines can help us overcome even the toughest challenges in life. By creating a space of silence, finding the smallest gratitude we have for right now, and finding the smallest thing that makes us happy and makes us look forward to tomorrow, we can create routines that can help us achieve our goals and live happier, more fulfilling lives.

                                        Further Links

                                        Connect with Alex on Instagram here.

                                        41 min

                                      About The Castle Magic Podcast

                                      From the publisher's feed

                                      Welcome to the Castle Magic Podcast where we bring a tiny bit of magic from the movies into the real world. So whether you're looking for a boost of energy in the morning, a shot of inspiration in the…