If you’ve had an experience that overwhelmed your ability to cope, or when you’ve been in an environment where you were regularly unable to cope, you’ve experienced psychological trauma. In this episode, we share seven principles for living well with our wounds and speeding our journeys toward healing and recovery. Trauma is common. Depending on how you define it, around 75% of people experience some form of trauma in their past. Trauma does not mean someone is “broken”, rather they have experienced wounds that can heal with time, care, and adopting healthy coping strategies. It is important ..read more

Our free shared hypnosis events on January 4 and February 6 this year were spectacularly attended. If you waited more than a few hours after my announcement to reserve a seat, you would have been disappointed to find that the room was already fully booked. To meet this level of demand, I’ve decided to offer free shared hypnosis for self-love twice a month, on the first and third Tuesday, for the remainder of 2024. If the room continues to fill up, we will continue these events indefinitely. Why am I doing this? If you’ve ever heard me speak about mental health, you know that I’m deeply passion ..read more

In this episode, we advocate for capital-letter Truth, Morality and Beauty in our purportedly post-modern world, and we argue that these ideals are not quaintly outdated, but necessary for society to function and for you (as an adult) to be at your happiest: Pursuing truth, morality and beauty are worthwhile goals even in modern times, and not just “Victorian” concepts. Maintaining lies, especially lies to oneself, can be psychologically and physically damaging over time due to the stress of keeping up deceit. Defining and staying connected to one’s own moral values and sense of right and wro ..read more

Since the dawn of time, philosophers have grappled with how to cope with our knowledge of death, both when it happens to loved ones and when it happens to us. In this episode, we do our best to answer this age-old question, referencing both traditional wisdom and more recent thought. Bonus content: Luke demonstrates that it’s okay to cry in public, such as when you’re talking about your cat’s final days. How to Be an Adult has shifted from a bi-weekly to a monthly release schedule. Repressing our knowledge of mortality is a root cause of anxiety according to Ernest Becker’s theory. Accepting ..read more

If you do adult life well enough, eventually you’ll be considered such an exemplar of adult behaviour that your boss will ask you to lead other people, or you will naturally end up being a leader by virtue of having more skill or knowledge. But promotions don’t usually come with an instruction manual, and too often, we see senior-level leaders thinking and behaving in intermediate-level ways. In today’s episode, we’ll discuss how: Leadership involves having authority or knowledge that others lack. It requires being the first to act or take risks to show others the way. Power itself is neutral ..read more

So many of us grew up hearing from adults that work is necessarily hard, or that money is necessarily hard to come by. Yet younger generations have exceeded their parents in many ways, and work does not need to be an exception. In this episode, we share some principles for how to find meaning and happiness in a world where most of us have to work for a living: A scarcity mindset is one where there never seems to be enough money. An abundance mindset that views wealth as plentiful allows you to see the opportunities. Wealth and morality are independent—one can be wealthy and moral, or poor and ..read more

For the first 18 years of your life, your parents were responsible for ensuring that you have adequate food, clothes and shelter. Once you reach adulthood, it’s you, not your parents, who hold this responsibility. But unless we’ve been show how to perform acts of self-care, and why we need to, they often elude us. In this episode, we endeavour to remedy this gap: We have a duty to care for our physical bodies, as the stewards of our own lives. We should treat ourselves with at least the same level of care and compassion as we would a pet. Exercise is a fundamental human need, like sleep, food ..read more

By the time we reach adulthood, we’re expected to be responsible for our own thoughts and emotions: we can’t just blame other people every time we’re unhappy or upset. But if you didn’t learn how to be happy and relaxed in childhood, how can you expect to be happy and relaxed in adult life, when circumstances could be more adverse? In this episode, we do our best to give you pointers: Self-loving thoughts that are caring, respectful and esteem-building will always make one feel better, while self-critical thoughts have the opposite effect. Jealousy and envy can become habitual, but viewing th ..read more

Throughout this podcast, we’ve made the case (and we will continue to make the case) that living an excellent life requires us to abide by a set of principles that are universal enough that we could say they are in accordance with human nature. But why? And what happens if we don’t? In this episode, we speak about how: Having clear principles to live by helps guide decision making and reduces regret. Principle remain relevant even in times of strong emotion. To pick truth as an example, white lies may seem harmless, but being consistently truthful builds a trustworthy reputation that’s worth ..read more

You can find many people and traditions that will tell you to honour and respect your parents. In this episode, we make a case for why, in adulthood, you must exceed your parents too. Unless we do this, society will become more closed and intolerant, rather than open and accepting of changes that occur in the world—which is what actually happens as the decades and centuries progress. 00:00 – Intro 01:08 – Exceeding your parents is a long tradition 03:10 – Your parents made mistakes 06:42 – You will evolve prior generations’ views 12:09 – Principles will stand the test of time 15:34 – Younger g ..read more