On Being Happier: Thinking with Heart and Mind

Evaluating Artificial Intelligence with both our hearts and our mind’s intellectual capacities reveals unexpected, powerful, and compelling ideas, as detailed in this episode.

Show Notes for Episode 27 

Our social media engagement adds value to our lives, at least that’s what it’s supposed to do. This episode explores some of the hidden aspects of social media that affect our experience and our children’s encounters.

Exercises: Ways to think about the ideas developed in the episode:

1) The episode reviews several ways screens capture our attention, including the power in the machines themselves and the ways advertisers and creators use bells, whistles, and notifications to keep us engaged.

         a) How do you combat these powerful pulls?

         b) How do you protect your children?

2) Calming and entertaining children are important human activities.

         a) How do you see your role?

         b) What roles do screens play in your house?

3) Childhood play is an important activity, one that evolves into the capacity to later enjoy our own lives. Screens, the episode suggests, negatively impacts childhood play.

         a) Does this make sense?

         b) How do you combat this effect?

4) Being able to listen to others, especially during uncomfortable times, allows us to make human connections.

         a) What do you think of this idea?

         b) How do you work at developing it?

Physician burnout is a widespread problem, and it can be reversed. This episode shows how thinking with heart and mind opens the door. Reversing physician burnout is vitally important to each of us. We are all patients.

Exercises for interested physicians based on the episode:

1) What would you like your patients to say about your medical practice? How close are you to being that physician? What would you have to change?

2) Should thinking with the heart play a role in medicine? How much of a role does heart-based thinking play in your practice?

3) Do you think there is value in preparing for a patient visit? How would you score yourself? What would you have to change?

4) Do you think you should spend less time in front of a screen during your patient encounters? Could you change this?

5) How well do you control visit time? Are you generally late? How could you get better at this?

Show Notes for Episode 25

Mental well-being partially depends on how we feel about ourselves independent of our actions. This episode offers ways to strengthen this aspect of our mental well-being.  

Exercises based on the episode:

1) Appreciate the idea that you are lovable and deserving of love, independent of anyone’s words or actions.

2) How differently you would feel if you knew you were loved for who you are?

3) How many different ways could you open to love?4) What using love as a tool mean to you. How could you change your life using this tool?

Note: Click this to hear episode 9a.

Show Notes for Episode 24

 Mental well-being partially depends on how we feel about our relationships and our handling of the practical details of life. This episode offers ways to strengthen this aspect of our mental well-being.  

Exercises based on the episode:

1) Think about your life’s practical affairs. Do you often feel personal failure when outer events don’t go your way?

1. a) If this is a pattern, imagine letting go of this way of responding to your life’s challenges.
2. b) If you see value in making this change, work at implementing this and at healing old scars. Change takes time. That’s ok.

2) Think about your relationships. Do you generally stay in them longer than you should? Do you avoid relationships because you’ve gotten burned?

1. a) If these are patterns, imagine letting go of them. Would this be better?
2. b) If these changes would make your life better, examine your reasons for staying in / avoiding relationships. Think about how you’d like to manage         your relationships. Once you have a clear idea of the changes you’d like to    make, work on implementing them.

3) Develop antennae for sensing when your relationships are in trouble.

Note: You can work at these exercises with a mental health professional.

Is it possible to maintain differing viewpoints and, at the same time, not lose our human connection? This episode says it’s not only possible, it’s important and provides insights into maintaining these bonds.

Exercises for Episode 23

1) Remember a time when you interacted with a group of people without knowing their political views. Chose a positive experience. This could be a memory of a vacation, a work experience, or it could be from childhood.

1. a) Split this group into two and arbitrarily assign each to opposing political parties. Would it be harder to play as enjoyably with this political knowledge?
2. b) Would you interact as freely? Would you enjoy the group less?

2) Understanding another:

1. How many people understand you … really understand you?
2. How many understand you pretty well
3. Do you wish people understood your better?
4. Do you feel closer to those who understand you?
5. How many people do you try to understand?
6. How would you expand this?
7. What would happen if you expanded this?

Show Notes for Episode 22  

When we use heart and mind to think through our relationships with our partners, spouses, children, and parents we can create richer and deeper connections. We are fully ourselves. It’s the art of living well.

 An exercise: review the key points in the episode

Partners and spouses:

• Remember that we chose to live together to enhance our lives.

• Consider regular meetings to discuss the specific challenges of living together.

Spouses:

  • Trusting each other with your hearts

Children:

• Raising them to be strong in themselves and           

   to be caring and compassionate

  • When they are out of your house, drop all     

         criticism about how they live their lives

Parents

  • They might still see you as a child. Accept that.

  • Allow them to be the way they are. Enjoy them.

We can have better, fuller, and richer relationships by using what we learned about about working through our emotions and feelings and applying it to our relationships.

Exercises based on the episode’s content: