From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Mixed martial arts aren't like boxing. In boxing, if you lose on your way up? It's pretty much career over. In mixed martial arts, there are so many ways to win and lose... When that happens, you say, 'OK, what did I do wrong?' – you have to be honest with yourself.
By keeping people feeling they are on the wrong side of history morally, or on the wrong side of the argument intellectually, and by doing so using rhetorical tricks, they are very effective at keeping people on the defensive.
I used to believe in the concept of permanent healing, but my views have evolved. Nothing is permanent; however, each round of healing lightens our load and elevates us energetically. Life will inevitably reactivate old wounds, but these moments don't engulf us as they once did.
We all have obstacles we think can't be overcome, but if our dream is great enough, and we work hard enough, the world is ours for the taking. Keep an open mind: look for learnings everywhere and don't be afraid to fail.
A lot of people think we're pleasure motivated hedonists, but it turns out we have many other goals. We want happiness, but that comes in many different forms. We want pleasure, we want to be good people, we want to make a difference in the world.
You can't say, 'I want to change things, I want to lead!' and then say, 'I never want to be wrong, and I never want to fail…' There's no easy answer other than the fact that you have to see the conflict in your own mind and make your own choice.
Humans encounter difficulties and cover our innate purity, eventually forgetting our essential nature. We begin to believe that our personalities, our particular abilities or habits, are who we truly are, losing sight of the truth that lies beneath the surface.
Resumes are not the way to find people. It's a connection and an instinct you have to listen to. I don't micro-manage, I give them enough rope to hang themselves.
I think there's a big misconception—sometimes called 'toxic positivity' or 'good vibes only'—that a happy life is one where we only experience positive emotions. But that's just patently false. Evolutionarily speaking, our negative emotions serve a really important purpose: they cue us to take action.
Based on my experience, I can say that healing is possible without forgiveness. It's perfectly valid for some people to choose never to forgive. There's a prevalent belief that forgiveness is necessary, as if something is wrong with you if you don't forgive. I disagree with this notion.
Space triggers that innate curiosity in us about what's out there, where we came from, and the possibilities those answers could bring. Humans are explorers – our imaginations can run wild- it's in our DNA. Our fascination with space links to our ability to dream, to wonder, to be curious and to have big ideas.
They have maternal instincts and look after each other as we do… it's not an intellectual thing when a mother protects her child; it's an instinctive behaviour. We value all those things in the human being because we are human beings! But that's pretty short sighted and narrow minded.