Reflection and growth
Growth here is not a plan. It is noticing a pattern and choosing differently once.
We are sceptical of the improvement industry, and so are most of our guests. The changes they describe were not produced by a system. They came from paying attention to something they had been avoiding, usually later than they would have liked.
Reflection is slower and less satisfying than optimisation, which is why it is unpopular. It does not produce a plan by Sunday evening. What it produces is a more accurate picture of your own behaviour, and accuracy turns out to be the thing that makes change possible.
Every episode is built to leave you with a better question rather than a resolution. If you finish a conversation here and find yourself thinking about it two days later, that is the intended outcome. The questions are what change people; the answers are usually borrowed.
Episodes on this theme
The Weight We Don't Show.
With Dr. Jase Moussa-Inaty
The Strength to Ask for Help.
With Maya Nassar
The Mind Decides.
With Dr. Hadi Akl
The Strength of the Human Spirit.
With Jihane Boustany Khoury
The Weight of Justice.
With Nada
The Weight of Stability.
With Carla
Questions we get about this
What does reflection actually involve?▾
Noticing a pattern, naming it without judgment, and staying with the discomfort long enough to see what maintains it. Guests describe this as slow and repetitive rather than revelatory.
Why do you avoid giving advice?▾
Because advice generalises from one life to another, and the useful part is rarely transferable. A well-described experience gives the listener something to think with instead.
How do I get the most out of these episodes?▾
Listen to one and leave a day before the next. The conversations are designed to keep working after they finish, and volume tends to interfere with that.