Freedom Pact | Joseph and Lewis

Shawn Achor is a Harvard-trained positive psychologist, New York Times bestselling author, and one of the world's leading researchers on happiness and human potential.In this conversation, we explore why beliefs may be far more powerful than we realise, how they shape perception before we are even aware of them, and why some people continue to find possibility when the odds seem stacked against them. Shawn explains why AI can calculate probabilities but can never believe you'll beat them, how social support literally changes the way we see challenges, and why the most dangerous belief a person can hold is that their behaviour doesn't matter.We also discuss the surprising science behind placebo effects, trauma, ageing, loneliness, meaning, religion, Michael Jordan's rituals, Roger Bannister's four-minute mile, fake surgery studies, why modern life can leave us untethered, and the profound role beliefs play in shaping the trajectory of our lives.This was one of the most thought-provoking conversations we've ever had, and I hope you enjoy it.Timestamps:00:00 – Why Is Changing Ourselves So Difficult?01:59 – AI Can Predict the Odds, But It Can't Believe You'll Beat Them03:20 – Why Probability Masks Possibility04:02 – Richard Wiseman's Luck Experiment06:17 – Can Belief Really Change Reality?07:15 – The Limits of Belief08:45 – Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile09:55 – Stereotype Threat and Human Performance11:03 – Michael Jordan's Shorts and Serena Williams' Socks14:12 – What Is a Belief?16:35 – How Are Beliefs Formed?17:00 – The Hill Study: Why Support Changes Perception18:20 – How Modern Life Teaches Us That Our Behaviour Doesn't Matter19:00 – How Memories Shape Beliefs20:42 – ADHD, Identity and Educational Outcomes22:17 – Dangerous Beliefs and Sweeping Generalisations23:02 – Yale's Remarkable Study on Ageing26:12 – Do People Change Through Evidence or Experience?28:00 – Trauma Doesn't Determine Your Future31:00 – Why We Forget Our Strength34:16 – The Five Candles Ritual38:24 – Navy SEAL Training, Exposure Therapy and Perspective40:46 – Placebos, Fake Surgery and the Power of Belief45:57 – Why Beliefs Are Becoming More Powerful46:49 – The Nocebo Effect48:00 – Burnout, Anxiety, Loneliness and Depression50:12 – The Great Drift: Why Modern Life Feels Meaningless53:00 – Shared Texts and the Need for Collective Meaning55:49 – "Don't Waste Your Money Applying to Harvard"58:42 – Why Probability Should Never Eliminate Possibility1:01:22 – The Most Dangerous Belief You Can Hold1:03:45 – Is There Something Greater Than Us?1:06:04 – The Message Shawn Achor Would Put on a Billboard1:08:06 – Why We Should Read Books Together1:09:19 – Final ThoughtsConnect with Shawn:https://www.shawnachor.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnachor/https://www.instagram.com/shawnachor/Connect with us:https://freedompact.co.uk/newsletter​ (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)https://www.Instagram.com/freedompacthttps://www.twitter.com/freedompactpod Email: freedompact@gmail.com (business enquiries, guest suggestions, appreciation, feedback, and anything else!)https://Tiktok.com/personaldevelopment

Tal Ben-Shahar is an internationally renowned scholar, teacher, and author specialising in positive psychology and the science of wellbeing. He is best known for teaching two of the most popular courses in the history of Harvard University, which attracted thousands of students and helped bring the science of happiness into the mainstream.Tal is the co-founder of the Happiness Studies Academy, where he works to bridge academic research and practical application, helping individuals, organisations, and educators cultivate greater wellbeing, resilience, and fulfilment.Today, we discuss a simple question. That is, what if the pursuit of happiness is the very thing making us unhappy? We explore one of the most misunderstood ideas in psychology: that a meaningful life is not free from sadness, anxiety, grief, or disappointment - but is shaped by how we relate to them. We discuss why resisting painful emotions often intensifies suffering, the psychology behind lasting change, the knowing-doing gap, the power of tiny habits, attention in the age of distraction, meaningful relationships, awe, gratitude, and what it truly means to live a well-lived life.This is a conversation about happiness, but even more fundamentally, it is a conversation about being fully human.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction00:47 - The Happiness Paradox04:04 - The Two Levels of Suffering06:44 - The Knowing–Doing Gap09:24 - The Three Rs of Lasting Change13:00 - The Myth of Radical Change17:09 - Perfectionism and the All-or-Nothing Trap18:29 - Psychological Compound Interest23:07 - The Upward Spiral26:23 - Horoscopes, Belief and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies29:30 - Reality and Perception31:28 - Mindset vs Circumstance33:52 - The Attention Crisis35:00 - How the Brain Changes Throughout Life40:26 - The Relationship Advantage44:51 - Why Relationships Are Built Slowly45:48 - The Art of Listening48:05 - Social Anxiety and Self-Focus49:56 - The Power of Presence51:25 - The Beginner's Mind54:20 - The Ordinary Things That Matter54:58 - What Does a Well-Lived Life Feel Like?57:12 - Where to Find Tal Ben-Shahar57:52 - Closing RemarksConnect with us: https://freedompact.co.uk/newsletter​ (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)https://www.Instagram.com/freedompacthttps://www.twitter.com/freedompactpod Email: freedompact@gmail.com (business enquiries, guest suggestions, appreciation, feedback, and anything else!)https://Tiktok.com/personaldevelopmentConnect with Tal:https://www.talbenshahar.comTal's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvWvBong0cl-pJCUbsmfg0Ahappinessstudies.academyBuy Happy Habits (non-affiliate links): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Habits-Happier-Healthier-Minute-ebook/dp/B0F3WN9YWT/ref=sr_1_4?crid=27D18LZNCM6HM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pDmiNeH2L8YLMXk8TzC41eNesZURfnCuVE6r8-dTj5ZnenKY9AyB2ZJ7BhXxR1fWs4yn36kICW_EwXzENKY5u0HuHBlhW5Dz1r0aB3GT1HygYg8F4iVn-_QRQkAzEV6q7zUFv-WjSc4rwXoYHlHQ54SfWrKKFjI8Lq7M-D17Qlr_qJn3wgiMqEvKVgV2CWMraqoQUPGR98j0blWHYLJuGETT_9ekYdmZgOFf4f-gmE0.SNaDnsm40KQ9zJ9mBkir70xpfbUnxc5_845hJoODQ7g&dib_tag=se&keywords=tal+ben+shahar&qid=1780227053&sprefix=tal+ben+shaha%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-4

Garrett Gunderson is an author, speaker, and financial advocate. In this episode, we discuss:00:00 What Most People Get Wrong About Money02:10 The NFT Mistake & Chasing The Next Big Thing05:20 Why Entrepreneurs Shouldn’t Diversify Too Early07:10 The Scarcity Mindset That Almost Ruined My Marriage11:45 Why No One Shrinks Their Way To Wealth13:30 The 3 Types of Expenses (And The One That Makes You Rich)16:20 Why Diversification Can Keep You Average19:10 The 2008 Crash & Over-leveraging Real Estate22:00 Focus Creates Exponential Growth24:10 The Retirement Lie27:00 Why Only 32% of Millionaires Feel Wealthy29:15 The 18% Rule & The Living Wealthy Account33:00 Reduction Thinking vs Production Thinking36:30 Did Warren Buffett Really Use Compound Interest?40:00 Why 91% of $5M+ Net Worth Own Businesses42:30 The Problem With Dave Ramsey’s Advice45:30 Great For Broke. Bad For Growth.48:00 Loving Debt vs Misusing Debt51:00 Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail With Leverage54:00 What Makes Life Worth Living?Connect with us:https://freedompact.co.uk/newsletter​ (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)www.Instagram.com/freedompactwww.twitter.com/freedompactpod Email: freedompact@gmail.com https://Tiktok.com/personaldevelopmentDisclaimer: The Freedom Pact Podcast is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The content is not intended to constitute, nor should it be relied upon as financial advice.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr Anthony Chaffee, a medical doctor and former professional athlete, to examine a controversial but increasingly discussed idea: that humans may be eating in a way that fundamentally conflicts with their biology.Dr Anthony Chaffee is an American medical doctor currently practicing in Australia who, over a span of 20+ years, has researched the optimal nutrition for human performance and health. It is his assertion that most of the so-called chronic diseases we treat are caused by the food we eat, or don't eat, and can be improved, and in some cases reversed, with dietary changes to a species-specific diet.Timestamps:00:00 Why humans may be eating the wrong diet02:55 Humans as Ice Age apex predators05:40 Why plant-based humans went extinct08:40 Survival vs optimal health11:30 Why plants evolved to be toxic14:05 Nearly all plants are chemically defended17:10 Why most plants are inedible20:00 Why humans can survive on plants but shouldn’t23:10 Nutrients humans cannot get from plants26:15 Why ketosis may be the natural human state29:40 Foods humans never evolved to eat33:00 Ultra-processed food and modern disease36:40 Why chronic disease is man-made40:10 Diabetes as carbohydrate poisoning44:00 Reversing heart disease with diet47:30 Cognitive decline and dementia reversal51:40 Ketogenic diets and cancer treatment55:55 Why hunter-gatherers didn’t get chronic disease01:00:05 What happens when traditional diets become Western01:04:30 The life expectancy myth explained01:08:45 Did ancient humans live longer than us?01:12:25 Inuit diets and extreme fat intake01:16:20 Why fat doesn’t cause heart disease01:20:10 The human lifespan may be 120 years01:24:00 Are we dying decades too early?01:27:55 When Dr Chaffee stopped eating plants01:31:45 What happened to his health afterward01:35:35 Plant toxins, pesticides, and carcinogens01:39:25 Why fibre may not be essential01:43:15 Hormesis: when “small doses” fail01:47:05 Why nutrition science is broken01:50:00 Final argument for a species-appropriate dietConnect with Dr Chaffee:Youtube: @anthonychaffeemd instagram.com/anthonychaffeemdtwitter.com/anthony_chaffeedranthonychaffee.comConnect with us:https://freedompact.co.uk/newsletter​ (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)www.Instagram.com/freedompactwww.twitter.com/freedompactpod Email: freedompact@gmail.comhttps://Tiktok.com/personaldevelopmentDisclaimer: The Freedom Pact Podcast is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The content is not intended to constitute, nor should it be relied upon as, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the hosts or the podcast. Listeners should not disregard, delay, or substitute professional medical advice because of information discussed on the podcast or associated materials.

Bret Weinstein is an evolutionary biologist, podcaster and author. He is the co-host of the Dark Horse Podcast, and the co-author of "A Hunter Gatherer's Guide To The 21st Century" with his wife Heather Heying.Timestamps:00:00 — Is the University System Broken?00:23 — “The University System Has Become a Racket”03:09 — Why the University of Austin Already Failed06:28 — Can Academia Ever Be Fixed?08:37 — Young Men Are Moving Right. Young Women Are Moving Left.09:35 — “Men and Women Don’t Like Each Other Anymore”15:44 — Why Civilisation Depends on Men and Women Fixing This18:01 — The Door You Can’t See: How Society Could Still Recover24:00 — The Death of Charlie Kirk and the Political Vacuum24:56 — “Charlie Kirk Would Have Become President”29:18 — The Intellectual Dark Web and the New Right30:09 — Nick Fuentes: Gifted, Dangerous, or Just Too Young?33:26 — “The Pin Has Been Pulled on Civil War”39:49 — Why Bigotry Is Quietly Destroying Your Life42:19 — How Society Lost the Ability to Talk to Each Other43:11 — The AI Event Horizon: Have Humans Lost Control?48:03 — AI Could Replace 70% of the Workforce48:36 — Joe Rogan and the New Media Power Structure52:38 — Why Authenticity Now Rules the InternetConnect with Bret:darkhorse.locals.comtwitter.com/BretWeinsteindarkhorsepodcast.orgConnect with us:https://freedompact.co.uk/newsletter​ (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)www.Instagram.com/freedompactwww.twitter.com/freedompactpod Email: freedompact@gmail.com https://Tiktok.com/personaldevelopment