“Your life is your startup, treat it as such. Treat it with seriousness. Treat the inside of your head the same way you would treat your P&L statement.” 
- Arthur Brooks.

 

I love that the summer holidays allow more time for reading and this summer I read a goodie -

It’s written by Oprah (who needs no introduction) and Arthur Brooks, a PhD Social Scientist who’s also a professor at Harvard Business School.

 

Arthur doesn’t teach his business students how to run a company, he teaches them how to be the CEO of something far more important - THEIR LIFE!

 

If you thought “happiness” was a fluffy topic, think again. Arthur’s Happiness course at the prestigious Harvard Business School is hugely popular with "serious businessy types" and has a long wait list! 

 

Arthur says he teaches happiness with the same seriousness as accounting, finance, or supply chain management, because -

 

YOUR LIFE IS AN ENTERPRISE. 

 

As I always do when I discover a new author or expert, I looked Arthur up on YouTube and delved into some interviews with him.

 

What I was most excited about discovering Arthur’s teaching is that he confirmed what I think is the fundamental to being happier. 

 

In a word, it’s :

 

AWARENESS.

 

Or in science speak - METACOGNITION.

 

Today I have a 3-minute video snippet to share with you where Arthur and Oprah talk about Metacognition. 

In the video, Arthur explains Metacognition as:

 

Thinking about thinking.

Metacognition is the ability to look at your own self with an intellectual remove, at a distance. 

 

It’s putting distance between your feelings and your reactions and doing it on purpose.

 

When you have that ability, your life isn’t going to be the same.

 

You’re not going to wonder, Is something bad going to happen to me tomorrow?

 

By the way, answer, YES.

 

Am I going to feel bad about it?

 

I’m going to decide.

 

Once you have metacognitive skill, you can create space between you and your thoughts and emotions - you have the ability to decide how you think, feel, and react to what happens to you.

 

So how do you learn metacognition?

 

That's what I'm going to be focused on teaching you right here in 2024.

 

2024 - THE YEAR AHEAD FOR PEPTALK
 

As many of you know, since I stopped producing Peptalk's print magazine in 2022, I've been contemplating how I can best share my love of learning about the mind in an online digital format.

 

I've written a HEAP of content! And had several false starts because, to be honest, I've learned so much over the last 20+ years from reading, listening, learning, and applying, it's darn hard to decide where to start!

 

The question that keeps me awake at night is - What's the most important thing to share first? And how can I best create something that's super useful to others, without just throwing more stuff at the internet of information overwhelm?

 

A few weeks ago I read this from online creator Jon Brosio,

Ask yourself -
What's the ONE big idea I'm most excited about and want to share with the world?
And then write about that for 12 months. 

 

For me, that ONE big idea is AWARENESS (metacognition).

 

It feels a bit like full circle because I first learned about awareness back in my Yoga teacher training course in Thailand 24 years ago.

 

Through all I've learned about the mind since then, I now know that without first mastering the art of awareness, it's impossible to apply all the fantastic strategies that help us feel and be our best. 

 

I'm excited to get started sharing what I've learned about the most important skill for 2024 and beyond! 

 

See you next week 🤸‍♀️

Nadine xx