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Let’s be honest - we all do it.    We see a middle-aged man riding around in a hot-red ferrari that just feels and looks out-of-place. As out-of-place as socks-and-sandals.    We laugh and think to ourselves… that will never be me.    No it won’t be you… but not because you’re immune to the midlife crisis. But rather because you’ll be driving a Tesla.    I wonder if anyone has ever tried to accelerate, rather than avoid their midlife crisis.    Appreciation, Getting Intrinsic   Last time out we discussed the very problematic Expectations Gap phenomena, a theory that seems to explain the Happiness Curve.    This issue is utterly catastrophic in its

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I left high school thinking I would become one of the greatest film directors of all time. I pictured myself winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor in a Lead Role all in one fell swoop before the age of thirty.    To me, that was the way to go down as the greatest and stand out from everyone else who’d ever worked in film: To do what no one else has done, all before the age of thirty. As such, achieving all this before thirty became an ESSENTIAL, a REQUIREMENT.    Failing to live up to this

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A short while ago my friend Pat found a speech I’d done for him when we graduated high school. He sent me a picture of the speech, sending love, and captioned it ‘simpler times’.    Perhaps life was simpler when we were at high school. Now, as adults, we have more responsibilities and are charged with confronting the full complexity of the world. Do any of us reach the heights we expect to hit when we leave high school?    Do any of us anticipate the bumps and disappointments on the road?    In the West, we celebrate our youth and are told to make the

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You are not born with control of your own life. You are born with the illusion of control.    Have you ever seen the opening credits for the Simpsons?    See the most important section here.    Young Maggie thinks she is driving the car in this section. We the audience, from our perspective, think ourselves that she is driving.    However the following shots indicate that her steering wheel is in fact a toy, a dummy, a fake. Her mother Marge is in fact driving.    Note - two episodes of the With Joe Wehbe Podcast are available on this blog topic if you prefer video, audio or if

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We’ve recently discussed the war that’s been raging for 70,000 years for control.    For control of what? Control of nature. Of you.    Natural Selection vs. Humanity.    We discussed how the Cognitive Revolution drastically shaped the way our culture and environment evolve over time, how it changed all the rules.    The problem is, our biology cannot evolve as fast as the world we craft.    Animals of all shapes and varieties have found over time the value in building shelters from larger prey. Humanity is no different.    We are not the fastest, not the largest and do not have the sharpest teeth or claws. But we mobilise groups

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Imagine it this way.    Natural Selection is the only shareholder of a global business called All Living Things. Well for however many millions or thousands of years, Natural Selection called all the shots.    And it was working well. But then, one of its subsidiaries decided it wanted a competitive advantage. It didn't want to be contained by the circle of life with a lowly step in the food-chain. It wanted more of an advantage, at which point it discovered something that enabled it to take its destiny into its own hands.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdUplN3MuMQ   The subsidiary was called Humanity. That discovery was The Cognitive Revolution.    This took place

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Have you ever been terrified by the prospect of speaking to a pretty girl or guy at a bar? When I was a teenager, I was terrified of awkward silences and speaking to girls. Not just a bit scared or apprehensive, but terrified.    For podcast episodes on Astro The Dog see episodes #011-#013 of the With Joe Wehbe Podcast.  Youtube Episodes: #011 Part One #012 Part Two #013 Part Three   In saying that, I was generally a very confident public speaker    After all, I did this from a young age. But I’ve met other people who are very confident in conversation but their ultimate

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For corresponding podcast episodes check out #016-#018 of the With Joe Wehbe Podcast.  Youtube Episodes: #016 Maslow's Hierarchy, #017 The Comfort Ladder, #018 The Luxury Trap   My Dad gave me a nickname growing up… Princess   The Princess nickname referred to my cushioned upbringing and complete inability to get my hands dirty. To this day, I am not a hands-on guy, and I don’t do physical labour well.    So it’s pretty emasculating to compare myself to my grandfathers, who were both hard-working immigrants who DEFINITELY got their hands dirty.  Growing up I was ever-grateful that they paved the way for our family in Australia, not me,

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This is based off a Future Shapers talk I gave. See here.    Imagine it this way.    Pretend Natural Selection is the majority shareholder of a global business called Humanity. Well for however many millions or thousands of years, Natural Selection called all the shots.    And it was working well. The silent shareholder, the one who held only 10% voting rights could be just that - silent.    The silent business partner is called the Conscious Self. The part of Humanity that is more aware and fine-tuned.    Now these two business partners hit a bust up and have been at war ever since - that bust up

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Today's message comes not from me, but from a friend. Wilson lives in Nigeria and we met recently on a course together. When he was reflecting on the below writing piece, he discussed how he'd never been so open and vulnerable before. His piece is titled "You can't truly see others if you can't see yourself" and I hope you enjoy it. Of the many things I drew from this piece of writing, I was particularly taken by the line "I have always struggled with choosing myself". It begs the question. How many of us are given permission when we are growing up to

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