What is a Good Life?

On the 146th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Steven D’Souza. Steven is an award winning author, executive educator, trusted advisor, leadership coach and keynote speaker. He is a Senior Partner in the Leadership & Professional Development Practice at Korn Ferry, a leading global Organisational Consulting firm. His expertise crosses the fields of psychology, organisational development, diversity, group dynamics, contemplation and social capital. He has spoken globally to organisations such as PwC, TikTok, Financial Times and the United Nations. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Independent and The Sunday Times.In this conversation, Steven reflects on his early pursuit of the priesthood and his lifelong inquiry into meaning, service, and aliveness. Drawing on themes from his latest book, Shadows at Work, he shares how meeting the shadow with curiosity and compassion brings wholeness, and how embracing uncertainty, silence, and kindness can lead to a more grounded, vital way of living.This conversation invites you to see the shadow not as something to fix, but as a hidden source of energy, wisdom, and aliveness.For more of Steven's work:Shadows at Work: Harness Your Dark Side and Unlock Your Leadership PotentialNot Knowing: The Art of Turning Uncertainty into OpportunityNot Doing: The Art of Effortless ActionNot Being: The Art of Self TransformationWebsite: https://stevendsouza.com/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 — Steven’s lifelong question + year pursuing priesthood04:24 — Leaving the path & formative books (Kopp, de Mello)07:27 — Stories as truth; practice over tips10:12 — Aliveness; “I grow in my spirituality by growing in my humanity”13:01 — Bringing the vertical into the horizontal (everyday life)13:28 — Why Shadows at Work; prisons, corporate paradox, “dark mode”19:36 — “Know my shadow and my light”: beyond Jung; four lenses23:08 — Defining shadow; biology, culture, spirit lenses in practice31:02 — Personal shadow work37:04 — Paradoxical theory of change; acceptance over improvement40:43 — Negative capability (Keats)46:53 — Via negativa & subtraction; “bring silence with you”52:29 — The edge of the unknown; reactions & catastrophic thinking58:56 — What is a good life? “A kind life.”

On the 145th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Marc Cinanni. Marc is a writer, musician, and co-founder of Muntanya Màgica, a secluded forest retreat space near Barcelona devoted to personal and spiritual renewal. After time spent in an ashram and a transformative period living on a remote Pacific island, Marc now helps others rewild their inner and outer lives through nature, meditation, and presence—inviting a return to stillness and a deep respect for the mystery of life.In this conversation, we explore courage as the practice of listening to yourself, rewilding a modern life and his move to a remote island, practical spirituality, and how trusting life reshapes friendship, work, and home.This episode is an invitation to truly notice and trust this life.For more of Marc's work:Retreat website: www.muntanyamagica.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marccinanni/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 How do I live this life as me?02:30 Sharing our gift with the world05:00 A series of experience to self-knowing08:45 The pillars of empathy & creativity12:15 A call to nature17:45 Attuning to nature’s demands and our being21:00 Adjusting to life in nature29:44 Noticing the cycles of life35:00 Continued communication in relationships38:20 The shifting of friendships41:00 Knowing you can trust your life46:00 The beauty of every moment50:30 Setting up a retreat52:30 Summary and what is a good life for Marc?

On the 144th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome George Thompson. George is a filmmaker, teacher, and founder of Balance is Possible!, a movement dedicated to inspiring balance for both people and planet. With over 25 million people impacted by his work and support from changemakers like Louie Schwartzberg, Tara Brach, and Stephen Fry, George weaves together ancient Daoist wisdom and modern science into practical, playful tools for navigating modern life.In this conversation, we explore what it truly means to live in balance — within ourselves, with others, and with the natural world. George shares insights from his time training under Master Gu in the Wudang Mountains of China, and reflects on how balance extends beyond personal wellbeing into a collective responsibility for the planet.This is a gentle and profound invitation to slow down, be present, and rediscover harmony amidst the complexities of life.For more of George's work:website: https://www.balanceispossible.com/His latest film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KArWcMldPMContact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 What is balance?03:00 The economy and nature05:00 A radical transformation of understanding08:30 The unexpected path to Tai Chi11:20 The embrace of the unknown17:00 Letting go of yourself20:00 No longer separating life from practice 23:50 The wisdom of the mind28:15 Trusting the flow of life31:00 The forming of a mission34:00 The interdependence of healing38:00 Giving yourself grace of seasons41:00 Creating more space to meet life44:25 Loving the challenging feelings of life49:50 The movement towards balance52:45 Summary of the conversation and what is a good life for George?

On the 143rd episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Kimbra. Kimbra is a New Zealand-born songwriter, musician, producer, and adventurous performer. Her 2011 debut, Vows, was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand. The following year, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” her duet with Gotye, topped Billboard’s Hot 100, became the best-selling song of the year in the U.S., and earned her two Grammy Awards. Since then, she has toured with artists including Beck, David Byrne, and Jacob Collier, and has released four more albums: The Golden Echo, Primal Heart, A Reckoning, and Idols & Vices (Vol. 1). She hosts the podcast Playing With Fire and shares essays, poetry and watercolours on her Substack newsletter.In this conversation, Kimbra reflects on her ongoing journey to find balance and rest within her life and career as a musician. She speaks about the importance of silence in shaping her artistic expression, the power of surrendering to spirit, and the grounding influence of nature.This episode is an invitation to embrace the fullness of life — its joy, its suffering, and the many paradoxes in between.For more of Kimbra's work:Substack: https://kimbra.substack.com/Website: https://www.kimbramusic.com/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 How to find balance?03:00 The experience of burnout06:30 A silent concert09:50 HoneyBones and nothing to lose12:30 The generosity and connection of silence 16:00 Life, art, and work are not separate19:30 Receiving a message from spirit23:30 Being empowered by spirit29:00 A mystical experience and calling33:42 We all have a cross38:50 Making a difference in the world42:30 The power and role of nature45:00 Rest, letting go, and liberation51:15 Summary and what is a good life for Kimbra?

On the 142nd episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Jim Palmer, Founder of the Center for Non-Religious Spirituality. A critically acclaimed author, former megachurch pastor, adjunct professor, and chaplain with the American Humanist Association, Jim is also a trained counsellor in religious trauma and spiritual abuse.In this conversation, he reflects on his journey through a crisis of faith, his experiences as a megachurch pastor, and his challenges of navigating religious culture. We explore theological deconstruction, rewilding spirituality, and the importance of embracing diverse perspectives. This episode invites you to consider a faith in life itself as a way to deepen our connection with existence.For more of Jim's work:Substack: https://substack.com/@jimpalmerauthorLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimpalmerauthor/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 Introduction and Setup01:51 Exploring the Good Life02:50 The More Than Human World06:22 Personal Evolution and Crisis of Faith12:22 Experiences as a Mega Church Pastor17:35 The Challenges of Mega Church Culture21:22  Theological Deconstruction and Reconstruction26:38 Confronting Suffering and Injustice33:03 Cognitive Dissonance in Religion39:13 Processing Religious Trauma42:55 Rewilding Spirituality50:04 God as a Verb54:20 The Good Life as a Process of Inquiry58:06 Faith in Life and Interconnectivity

On the 141st episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Professor Megan Reitz. Megan is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School. She is a leading thinker on leadership and dialogue, featured in the Thinkers50 ranking of global business thinkers, and the author of Dialogue in Organizations, Mind Time, and, most recently, Speak Out, Listen Up. Her work explores how we create the conditions for transformative dialogue at work, and her latest research examines how we can foster spaciousness — the capacity to innovate, reflect, and build relationships in workplaces addicted to busyness.In this conversation, we explore the impact of space, silence, attention, and an outward focus on our relationships and our experience of life.This episode serves as an invitation to pause, question the busyness we’ve become entangled in, and reconsider the status quo of how we relate.For more of Megan's work:Website: https://www.meganreitz.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganreitz/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 How do I encounter the world?04:00 Flow amongst people07:00 How our gestures affect others11:45 The labels, assumptions, and roles that create distance17:13 The energy drain of societal expectations23:00 Allowing, inquiry, and meta awareness26:20 Creating the space we require33:45 How do we see the world?37:00 Navigating pauses and big questions44:00 How strange it has become to pause47:30 Our focus moving from ourselves53:30 Experiencing periods without an agenda57:00 Summary and what is a good life for Megan?

On the 140th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Robert Poynton. Rob is the author of Do Conversation, Do Pause, and Do Improvise. He divides his time between an off-grid home in rural Spain and Oxford, where he is an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School and convenor of the Oxford Praxis Forum at Green Templeton College. Rob is a designer, host, and facilitator of learning experiences; an amateur practical philosopher; a keeper of hens; and the founder of Yellow Learning.In this conversation, Rob shares his sense of living with more aliveness. We explore following the energy rather than the “shoulds”, noticing visceral signals of “deathly” work, practising curiosity and softness in everyday tasks, infinite games versus fixed goals, and how trusting life’s unfolding leads to a life of joy.This episode is an invitation to soften, to follow what feels alive, and to let life reveal itself through experience and energy rather than theory.For more of Rob's work:Website: https://robertpoynton.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-poynton-169402/ Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 How can we make life more joyful?04:20 Paying attention to that sinking feeling06:40 Making decisions others found unusual10:50 Following the breadcrumbs and energy18:11 Noticing when we contract and soften24:30 Noticing, allowing, and becoming32:00 Life wants to happen39:15 Collaboration more present than competition42:30 The allure of drama and conflict48:20 Holding two conflicting ideas at once51:15 The surprises that bring us alive57:50 Summary and is a good life for Rob?

On the 139th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Simon Höher—a public designer, researcher, and strategist based in Berlin. Simon works at the intersection of systems, futures, and justice, partnering with public institutions, startups, and cultural organisations to rethink how we design, govern, and live together. He is Systems Change Lead at Dark Matter Labs and currently supports the European Commission’s Net Zero Cities Mission.In this conversation, we explore big questions about life, governance, and personal evolution: the nature of change, how today’s decisions shape future generations, and the role of resilience and trust in navigating uncertainty. We also look at ways to move beyond the problem–solution dichotomy.This episode is an invitation to consider what more patience, deliberation, and intention might bring to your life.For more of Simon's work:Website: https://simonhoeher.com/Substack: http://simonhoeher.substack.comContact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 How do we create deliberate transitions?04:30 What to do about the state of the world?08:00 Evolution and transitions12:00 Shifting from private to public interest14:30 How do we gauge impact?19:40 Questioning are we part of the problem23:50 The impact of trust & hope on resilience32:45 Trusting yourself through change37:00 We are incredibly adaptive creatures 39:30 The significance of openness42:30 The problem-solution dichotomy50:00 Minimal intervention54:00 Summary and what is a good life for Simon?

On the 138th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Edie "EdieArt" Pijpers. Edie is a self-taught painter, musician, and writer whose work flows across the porous borders between music, colour, story, dream, and video. Raised in the Netherlands, Edie travelled through Paris, Sydney, and Los Angeles before planting roots in the Hudson Valley. Over the years, she has released five albums, held art shows in Nashville and New York, painted murals, published mindful children’s books, created intimate video pieces, and collaborated on the oracle deck Healing the Inner Child via Hay House.In this conversation, we explore the essence of creativity and the balance between doing and being. We explore the importance of giving space and time to ideas, as well as attuning to the muse that lives as presence in ordinary moments.Ultimately, she highlights the significance of relationality, living attentively, and embracing the flow of existence.For more of Edie's work:Website: https://www.edieart.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EdieArt77Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss team coaching to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 What is trying to emerge?04:45 Authority and uncertainty10:00 Exploring how things are13:00 Balancing masculine and feminine energies17:30 The call into nature25:00 Giving life more space31:05 The seriousness and lightness of life36:15 Parenting, relating, and space42:00 Letting go of control45:00 Meaningful and meaningless48:00 Answering a call to creativity51:30 The significance of place54:30 Summary and what is a good life for Edie?

On the 137th episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Diane Button. Diane is a founding partner of the Bay Area End-of-Life Doula Alliance in Northern California, and the best-selling author of Dear Death: Finding Meaning in Life, Peace in Death, and Joy in an Ordinary Day and The Doula Tool Kit: The Complete Practical Guide for End-of-Life Doulas & Caregivers (co-authored with Angela Shook and Gabby Jimenez). She holds a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology, works as a practicing end-of-life doula, and serves as a lead instructor in the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine’s End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program. Her latest book is the inspiring What Matters Most.In our conversation, Diane shares the profound insights she has gained through her work, emphasising the power of presence, the value of embracing all emotions, and the joy found in life’s simplest moments.Together, we explore how the beauty of ordinary days and the wisdom of those facing death can illuminate what it truly means to live well and meet life’s final chapter with grace.For Diane's latest book, What Matters Most:To buy your copy: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768705/what-matters-most-by-diane-button/About the book: https://www.dianebutton.com/what-matters-mostWebsite: https://www.dianebutton.comContact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, my 5-week group courses, or to discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams.- For the What is a Good Life? podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/00:00 Reflections on the book02:10 The depth of the role of an End of Life Doula04:45 Experiencing everything08:44 The cultivation of presence14:00 Pausing and slowing down17:00 An awareness of joy21:20 An expression of gratitude25:30 The process of writing the book31:55 Not waiting to celebrate life36:30 Distilling what matter most40:30 The simple moments43:30 Legacy work with the dying48:00 Regrets over the little things52:30 Self-love, acceptance, and authenticity1:00:00 Comfort with grief and conflicting emotions1:08:00 The importance of our small acts