Apotheosis
Reach your peak.
The Apotheosis podcast shares insights, reflections, and practices from the world’s great traditions to help leaders solve complex problems — biweekly wisdom for impact leaders.
(In case you fire up an episode and hear me talking about the Changemakers' Field Guide, don't be alarmed, you're still in the right place. Did a bit of rebranding a little while back.)
Episodes
51 episodes
To hell and back (again)
How do you summon your courage when everything seems hopeless? How do you gain the strength to keep fighting when all your efforts seem to be in vain? Learn from Harriet.Around 120 years ago, a young woman freed hers...
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Season 4
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Episode 51
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6:01
I don't know (and that's ok)
Few activities create more anxiety than thinking about the future. However, when we let go of the need for certainty, we prepare our minds for clarity and creativity to bloom. Whenever we’re faced with a hard problem or a m...
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Season 3
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Episode 50
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11:20
I need some space
We fill our homes with too much stuff, our calendars with too many activities, and our minds with too much mental chatter. When we practice saying no and letting go, we make more space for the things that truly deliver value in our lives...
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Season 3
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Episode 49
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6:01
The Buddha's antidote for misinformation
We have greater access to information than ever, but not all is reliable. Who should we trust? The Buddha’s ten criteria for countering misinformation can help.We live in an age in which actual misinformati...
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Season 3
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Episode 48
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11:38
Right view, right decision
We make hundreds of decisions each day. Making the right decision depends on the possible outcomes. One helpful approach is to ask ourselves, “Will this action create more suffering or less?”...
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Season 3
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Episode 47
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13:13
Aristotle and the art of deliberation
We humans are far less rational than we’d like to believe. Even very smart people make all kinds of bad decisions. Aristotle’s rules for deliberation still serve as a practical method to slow down, clarify thinking, and improve decision-...
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Season 3
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Episode 46
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10:40
Avoiding stupid decisions
No doubt this is unwelcome news, but your brain is riddled with biases that can lead to unclear thinking and poor decisions. Intentional, systematic decision-making processes can reduce their influence.We are faced with c...
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Season 3
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Episode 45
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10:03
Instinct, reason, and intuition
The human capacity for reason sets us apart on the evolutionary stage. But our intuition also played a crucial role in our rise to the top. We can cultivate greater intuition through systematic learning and persistent exposure to high-qualit...
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Season 3
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Episode 44
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10:22
Many roads to Santiago
Even if the destination is clear, there are many roads to get there. Nobody knows the “perfect” path. We must decide the route based on our unique conditions and companions on the journey.Every year, thousands of people from aroun...
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Season 3
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Episode 43
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8:11
Darkness in a new light
Our childhood fear of the dark never went away; it merely changed forms. Our irrational fear of the dark blinds us to the vital power of darkness. As children, we fear the dark because of what we think we se...
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Season 3
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Episode 42
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7:23
The plastic brain
Unlike your eye color or your height, your brain can change over your lifetime. Through intentional effort, you can enhance our mental capacities – while inattention can cause your skills to wither.Up until a few decades ago, scie...
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Season 3
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Episode 41
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10:54
Stages of development
Can you rise up to meet the challenge in front of you? If you feel “in over your head,” consider that a call to action. You have an opportunity to grow. From the moment we’re born, we’re thrust into a path of non-stop growth. Ever...
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Season 3
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Episode 40
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13:21
The muddy diamond
A diamond covered in mud doesn’t lose any value. Wash off the layers of mud, and you easily recognize it as a treasure. Likewise, if we purify our mind of delusions, we can see our innate wisdom.One of the fundamental tea...
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Season 3
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Episode 39
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12:02
Embrace your shadow
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.” ~ Probably not Carl JungJung most likely never said this, despite the frequent attribution for this quote. Nonetheless...
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Season 3
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Episode 38
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12:32
Into the cave
We sat in darkness. Inky black, question-your-existence darkness. Our panicked voices echoed off the walls of the cavern. If we were bats, those echoes might have given some comfort. Alas, we lacked the capacity for echolocation, so we were, qu...
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Season 3
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Episode 37
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9:59
Hurry up, slowly
Haste makes waste, as the cliche goes. The Stoic concept of festina lente suggests we will achieve better results by taking our time and doing things right. Especially in our hyper-busy world, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 36
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4:32
Vitality through integration
Nothing exists in isolation. Parts form groups, which then form systems. The health of the system relies on effective integration between all of its components. This is as true in organisms as in families, organizations, or societies.
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Season 2
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Episode 35
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6:42
The wisdom of compassion
Over 2000 years ago, sages around the world arrived at a similar conclusion: we should treat everyone with kindness and concern. Cultivating compassion for all beings, friend and enemy alike, is foundational to spi...
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Season 2
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Episode 34
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10:22
Sine qua non
“Life is long if you know how to use it,” declared Seneca 2000 years ago. The years can pass in a blink if you squander your days on pointless pursuits. Find your sine qua non and focus on that above all else....
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Season 2
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Episode 33
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8:41
Kaizen
Change is coming for you. No matter how skilled you were in the past, what worked yesterday might be irrelevant tomorrow. We’ll never have everything figured out. In the latest episode of Apotheosis, I look at the art of kaizen and how i...
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Season 2
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Episode 32
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9:18
Vision based on values, not fear
A societal or organizational vision based on harnessing fear and anger will typically fail over the long term. Basing a vision on shared values stands a much greater chance of solving real problems and creating something people want.
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Season 2
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Episode 31
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8:21
Manufacturing masculinity
American culture bombards men with images of who they’re meant to be. Often these images portray men as tough guys who value winning at all costs, playing by their own set of rules.The problem is that this image of masculinity is a fabri...
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Season 2
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Episode 30
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11:55
How to see like a bat
Every organism occupies its own unique sensory world, arising from the combination of sensory apparatuses it possesses. We can never truly know what it’s like to perceive the world through the “eyes” of another being.Imagine being...
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Season 2
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Episode 29
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10:16
To fight or not to fight
The fight-or-flight response can keep us alive when faced with a threat. But our brains often prepare us for battle even when the threats are just words or thoughts. Pausing before responding to perceived threats helps expand our options.
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Season 2
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Episode 28
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10:56
Undoing negative with positive
Reality dictates that we will face difficulties ahead. As the pandemic showed us, it’s easy to succumb to panic, anxiety, and any number of largely unproductive coping mechanisms like hoarding toilet paper. Calmly facing down difficulty require...
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Season 2
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Episode 27
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10:28