What is a Good Life‪?‬ Mark McCartney

On the 68th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Amy Elizabeth Fox. Amy is one of the founders and CEO of Mobius Executive Leadership, a global transformational leadership firm. She has served as a leadership and culture change advisor to Fortune 500 companies. Amy is considered an expert in healing individual, family, and collective trauma and has been a pioneer in introducing trauma-informed development and psycho-spiritual principles into leadership programs. She is also on the faculty of the African Leadership Institute's Desmond Tutu Fellows program at Oxford.
In this glorious conversation, Amy shares with us her journey towards a life of inquiry, contemplation, healing, and a more mystical engagement with life. She talks of the deeper unity that exists between us all beyond the fractures on the surface, ways we can connect more deeply with ourselves and each other, and ultimately ways to keep our hearts open to all the suffering and beauty that exists in the world.
If you are not satisfied with the level of connection and intimacy in your life, this episode will give you so much to contemplate and reconsider regarding the societal norms we follow when relating to each other. Amy is a well of wisdom and this whole episode serves as an invitation to opening our hearts to the world and those around us.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
- Amy's company: www.mobiusleadership.com
- Thomas Hübl's Website: www.thomashuebl.com 
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs, executive team coaching programs to build trust and connection amongst executive teams or silent retreats for executive teams.
Running Order:
03:15 How does one keep one’s heart open?
06:45 The unity of life and lack of intimacy
09:25 The problems with formality and routinised communication
12:30 The invitation to intimacy
17:11 The yearning and various sources of intimacy
23:15 The art of subtlety, intimacy, and collaboration
26:45 Silence and pause in feeling what is said
31:45 We don’t need to problem solve each other’s pain
35:45 The mystical and contemplative path
40:19 Moving from frozen assumptions to emergence
45:10 Bringing Mental Health to the workplace
50:10 How do we keep our hearts open in times like these?
55:45 What is a good life for Amy?

On the 67th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, David Haskell. David is a writer and a biologist. His latest book, Sounds Wild and Broken, is a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction. His previous books, The Forest Unseen and The Songs of Trees are acclaimed for their integration of science, poetry, and rich attention to the living world. Among their honours include the National Academies’ Best Book Award, John Burroughs Medal, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and many more. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and Professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
In this captivating episode, David shares his journey of celebrating all living life, experiencing life as much through his senses as possible, while becoming aware of the connections between himself and whatever he is engaging with, and the multiplicity of connections that exist behind that. Throughout this conversation, he impresses the importance of experiencing real life beyond the screens we often stare at for much of the day, and seeing life as it truly is, whether pleasant or not. He also suggests the importance of stepping out of ourselves to become more in tune with how we perceive and connect with other life forms.
This episode will give you much to contemplate regarding how, where, and with what we spend our time, how we sense life, the importance of not always putting humans at the centre of the universe, and the humility and changes that can occur within us when making that shift.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
- David's latest book: Sounds Wild and Broken
- David's Website: https://dghaskell.com/
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs, leadership coaching programs to build trust and connection amongst executive teams or silent retreats for executive teams.
Running Order:02:45 Podcast begins03:05 Celebrating all living life
07:40 Echoes and connections with the past and creativity
11:45 Being in touch with the real world not our screens
18:05 Anxiety levels increasing with the youth
20:20 Coming back to our senses and curiosity of connection
24:35 Ambiguity of simultaneous beauty and brokenness
29:35 The rewiring of us as we engage with nature
33:06 Resistance to the open ended nature of change
38:35 Developing empathy with our environment & other beings
42:35 Interconnection not individuality
50:15 Realising once more how essential relationships are
55:30 What is a good life for David?

On the 66th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Thomas Moore. Thomas is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller, Care of the Soul. Since then, he has written thirty books on matters of soul and spirit. His most recent book is The Eloquence of Silence. He lectures in many parts of the world and is also a psychotherapist influenced mainly by C. G. Jung and James Hillman, his close friend for four decades. He has won many awards, including an honorary doctorate from Lesley University and the 2003 Humanitarian Award from Einstein Medical School.
In this episode, Thomas shares his journey from spending 13 years studying to be a priest, to being a lecturer and professor before becoming a psychotherapist and a prolific and bestselling author. At each moment he made a significant life change, he felt fully led by his daemon (an inner, guiding spirit or urge) to help him make considerable decisions with unwavering conviction. Throughout this conversation, Thomas shares many important insights and anecdotes for living a more connected and aligned life with our inner wisdom and soul.
There is so much to glean from this episode regarding how we live our lives, how we make significant decisions, embrace pivotal moments, and perhaps it suggests a life philosophy that could steer you away from trying to figure out every conceivable scenario before committing to your next major change.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
- Thomas' latest book: The Eloquence of Silence
- Thomas' Website: https://www.thomasmooresoul.com/
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs, leadership coaching programs to build trust and connection amongst executive teams or silent retreats for executive teams.
Running Order:02:37 Podcast begins04:27 Responding to big urges and opportunities 
09:50 A feeling of certainty beyond our logic
14:52 Practicing engagement with our daemon
19:57 Seeing life more poetically
25:42 Thomas’ friendship with Hillman
28:39 Leaving life as a lecturer
32:02 Starting life as a therapist and writer
35:05 Experiencing the success of Care of the Soul
38:57 The influence of Samuel Beckett and silence
43:47 The role of image in a life of soul
48:47 Humour and not holding it all too tightly
53:02 The lack of emptiness in our society
58:13 What is a good life for Thomas?

On the 65th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guests, George and Linda Pransky. In 1976, George and Linda stumbled upon a new way of helping people that was radically different from the traditional counselling methods they had been using in their work. The new principles they were learning had a huge impact on their personal lives, their relationship, and the way they worked with their clients. 
Through teaching these principles to their clients, they became pioneers in a new field of psychology, both serving as Partners of Pransky & Associates and on the executive committee of the Three Principles Global Community. Dr. George Pransky is also the author of The Relationship Handbook, Life is a Metaphor, and The Secret to Mental Health, as well as over fifty audio recordings. 
In this episode, George and Linda share their understandings around how people really change, through realisations rather than intellect and willpower. We discuss the importance of gratitude, patience, quiet, accountability, and faith in further realisations occurring. While we also explore how our thinking is often broken and how they both have moved from reacting to life to living life. 
This whole conversation is incredibly enlightening. George and Linda have so much wisdom to share, and in highlighting where our problems reside and sharing several anecdotes and insights, the whole conversation serves as an invitation to be drawn into your life rather than simply reacting to it.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
- George's latest book: The Secret to Mental Health
- George & Linda's Website: https://www.pranskyandassociates.com/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or click here to read about a leadership coaching program to build trust and connection amongst executive teams.
Running Order:03:34 How do people really change?
07:04 How we experience realisations
10:30 The problem with our desire for change
13:34 The role of faith - allowing answers to come
19:30 Not seeking answers and slowing down
24:47 Patience with our reactions
31:00 Reacting to life, not living life
35:39 The problem is our thinking around our problems
40:34 Accountability for our thinking and experience
44:24 Throwing away right and wrong
46:15 What is a good life for George and Linda?

On the 64th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Johnnie Moore. Johnnie is the Founder of Unhurried, a movement to support deeper conversations and connections in work and life, the author of the book Unhurried At Work, a visiting tutor at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, and a guest columnist for Fast Company magazine. 
In this insightful conversation, we explore our desire to hold onto stories and perspectives that no longer serve us over engaging with the unknown. Johnnie shares a number of experiences and processes that help him see and seek more possibilities. We discuss shifting from overthinking to experimenting and playing more often, and finally, we explore realisations around awareness of emotions and healthier and more connecting expressions of them. 
This episode will give you plenty to contemplate regarding experimenting and playing more often, and the wonderful shifts that can occur if we open up to what else is possible in this life. I've spoken with Johnnie several times before, and he consistently leaves me with new perspectives to consider or inspires fresh realisations, and I suspect he’ll do the same for you.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
- Johnnie's book: Unhurried
- Johnnie's Website: https://www.johnniemoore.com/
- Johnnie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnie-moore-2323/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or click here to read about a leadership coaching program to build trust and connection amongst executive teams.
Running Order:02:47 What else is possible here? Our minds and reality
07:47 Our attachments to stories or perspectives
10:47 Clinging to unpleasant certainties rather than exploring unknowns
16:07 Making sense of this life
21:17 Creating new possibilities 
25:47 Our reluctance to experiment and our overthinking
31:47 We know a lot less about each other than we think
38:17 Realisations of understanding and of emotions
44:17 Becoming more present with and expressing emotions
49:17 Experiencing loneliness and enjoyment of solitude
55:47 What is a good life for Johnnie?

On the 63rd episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Adah Parris. Adah is a futurist, artist, keynote speaker, and a visionary in the fields of technology, ecology, innovation, and art. She chairs Mental Health First Aid England and is a Fellow at The Royal Society of the Arts. She is recognised as a TED Talks Global Emerging Innovator and celebrated by Forbes Brazil as one of the top futurists in the world. 
In this episode, Adah shares with us her journey to being herself, how curiosity and not following convention influence her life, the lessons she has learned about honesty and transparency in relationships, and meeting the human in each other before anything else. She notes the significance of seeing life as a series of experiments and shares what contributes to being both a good ancestor and being in kinship with the world around us. 
If you find yourself stuck in life and are unsure of what to do next, or feel your present ways of relating to others are causing you difficulty, Adah’s perspectives will give you so much to contemplate across a wide breadth of themes and topics that may help you see the world a little differently.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
- Adah's leadership program: https://www.weareseeds.xyz/
- Adah's Website: https://www.adahparris.art/
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or click here to read about a leadership coaching program to build trust and connection amongst executive teams.
Running Order:03:00 What type of ancestor do you want to be?
08:00 How values and curiosity shape Adah’s life
12:30 The journey to Adah being herself
18:40 Seeing life as a series of experiments
25:15 Letting go of how life should be
30:30 Lessons from authentic relating
36:15 The value and importance of difference
42:25 The importance of presence 
49:30 Technology, busyness, and relating
54:48 Distorting Time
1:02:10 Being a good ancestor and kinship
1:07:52 Summary and what is a good life for Adah?