Vidya By Pia & Bart

We have managed to go one and half year since starting the podcast without personality being the main topic of dialogue, so we thought it was about time. We discuss the importance of personality in how people react to the COVID-19 situation, we briefly touch on the point of neuroticism and how it impact how we react to the crisis, but the main discussion is about introversion versus extraversion, and what this means for how we we lead our lives in a world of lockdowns and physical distancing. Western society is normally geared towards extraverts, and the past few months have been much more kind towards the lifestyles of introverted people. We discuss what this means and our hopes of what will remain in the post-pandemic world. Will society be kinder to introverts? Will the introverted lifestyle be more accepted by extraverts? Will introversion be more valued in leadership? We suggest that listeners take some time to reflect on the past few months, on their personality type and how they can integrate these i

In this episode, recorded in the third week of April, we discuss compassion. Continuing the theme of the last episode, we thought it would be appropriate to follow up with a discussion on compassion, perhaps one of the most important values for humanity in these unusual times. We start by discussing distinctions between empathy, sympathy, compassion and kindness. We discuss the importance of self compassion, as well as the need for compassion for others, which also means that we acknowledge that people are in different living, work, and family situations, as well as that each person reacts differently to the general anxiety of these times and to for example the impact of physical distancing. We discuss some practical examples of compassion and acts of kindness, specific to the current times.

In this episode, recorded at Easter, we discuss radical self care. Lots of people are in lockdown, busier than ever trying to do a job, perhaps looking after children and other family members, staying in touch with friends, providing support to people that need it, selflessly being kind to others, and often the very last on their priority list is their own wellbeing. We discuss the concept of radical self care, and why it’s important, particularly now, to ensure a sustainable life. We suggest that you need to move your own wellbeing to the top of your list, and make it a priority, once in a while, to take a break from all your responsibilities, whatever your needs are: Spending time in nature, being in solitude, listening to music, exercising, yoga and meditation, reading, writing, nesting, decluttering, doing whatever feels good or that you know is good for you. It’s important to structure and plan your day/week to be deliberate about care for yourself.

In this episode, recorded in mid March 2020, we discuss working from home. Many people, most people in fact, are housebound because of the COVID-19 situation and we thought it would be good to share some practical tips and hints on working from home. We discuss for example the importance of creating the right space to work in, tidying that space, ensuring it is a quiet space, and perhaps wearing headphones to cancel out noise from outside. We discuss questions such as: What can you do to create some virtual social interactions? What are some of the ground rules you should put in place as a team, as families and in virtual meetings? We talk about the importance of minimising distractions, such as putting the phone on airplane mode, and we discuss the importance of being very deliberate about structuring your workday, including breaks, and what to do during these breaks, e.g. go for a walk.

In this episode, we discuss the value we can get from trying things out in our lives: Experimentation with different supplements, tools and techniques on our own bodies and minds, and then the qualitative and quantitative measurement of the impact, also sometimes referred to as biohacking. We give a range of examples from our own lives, things we have tried and tested and that have become routines and/or habits for us. We discuss for example the benefits to the body and the mind of consuming omega-3, (home-) fermented foods, medicinal mushrooms and nootropics, and the benefits of consuming less animal protein and/or carbs/sugar. We discuss the why, what, how and when of daytime napping, (intermittent) fasting, breathwork, cryotherapy/cold exposure, sensory deprivation (flotation), forest bathing and biometric testing. We suggest you google and try some stuff out.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss attention. We define attention as the ability to focus or concentrate on one particular thing, it is the opposite of being distracted, it comes with a sharpness of the mind. Distractions are addictive, and in a world of constant distractions and information overload, attention is becoming more and more important while at the same time it’s becoming increasingly difficult to practice attention. We discuss the major benefits of attention: Real improvements in effectiveness and productivity, better listening, deeper connections and therefore better relationships, and higher levels of happiness/wellbeing and less stress. We also talk about the practice of training our mind for attention, through for example meditation, mindfulness in mundane daily activities, taking a break from our phones and being less scattered throughout the day.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss learning. In this special anniversary session, exactly one year after we started this podcast, we go back to the topic we also discussed in the very first episode, this topic that’s so close to our hearts. We talk about what excites us so much about learning, why is learning so important to us, why is it an important value for both of us and why did we make it our profession. We discuss several things around learning: The different types of learning (knowledge, skills and attitudes), learning motivation, how to prioritise learning, the learning process (experience, reflection, insight and planning), how to learn effectively, learning styles (activist, reflector, theorist, pragmatist), different methods of learning (reading, listening, watching, dialogue, application) and give some tips on how to take this forward.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast we establish some defining characteristics of community, the need for community culture and purpose, the importance of acceptance of differences, the importance of size (Dunbar number) and the importance of regular gathering. We discuss the increasing societal needs for people to belong to community, and we discuss the distinctions between community and other groups such as families, networks, friends, church or online groups.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss experience. After a busy week full of client work, we ended the week flying in a wind tunnel and visiting a lovely wine bar, and in between those two experiences we recorded this episode of the podcast. This is another episode where one of us (Pia) had a vague idea what we would be talking about and the other (Bart) had absolutely no idea. We talk about the importance of having new experiences, experimenting with uncomfortable feelings and fear when trying new things, and the essential role of reflection and debriefing after an experience to enhance the learning. We define internal and group coherence, how we can increase coherence through different types of experiences and why and how this can help us have more meaningful dialogues.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss routines. We discuss why routines are important in life, the importance of thinking a little deeper about why you would have certain routines and the importance of deliberate living through the use of routines. We also discuss the risks of having too much routine in life, for example life could become too structured, rigid or even boring. We define routines as those activities in life we like to do more or less of, and by measuring or logging somewhere how many times we do something (e.g. per week, month or year) we can positively influence our happiness, success and wellbeing. We suggest some ways to take the insights from today’s podcast episode forward: Start small and experiment.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we have invited our dear friend Jenny Tiger to join us in our dialogue and we discuss her chosen topic, success. We define success, what does it mean, how does it relate to impact, happiness and meaning. We discuss the different areas of life where we can feel successful, in our private lives (for example when dealing with our kids), or in our work lives (for example seeing the success in our clients). We discuss the different scales of success/impact, for example being successful in one’s own personal growth, or with one person or a small group versus being able to impact thousands, and what this means to us. We talk about what gets in the way of success, we discuss how we can find meaning and success even in extremely harsh circumstances. As always, we give some tips on how to apply some of what we discuss today.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss the importance of letting go and how letting go can give us peace and freedom and increase our happiness. First, we discuss the importance of letting go of control and surrendering to life. Then we talk about letting go of limiting beliefs, beliefs that do not serve us anymore and potentially could be holding us back. Next, we discuss planning and how letting go of planning can open us up for spontaneity and adventure. Finally, we discuss letting go of stuff, and how a minimalism mindset and the occasional decluttering process can free our minds as well as our apartments. We give many personal examples of what we can let go of in our lives and give some hints and tips on what listeners could practice letting go of.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss reflection and the importance of it in the learning process. This is probably the most personal episode we have recorded to date, talking through examples of our own reflections and the essential role this process has in our lives. We discuss different types of reflections, and the different functions reflection can have in the learning and personal growth process. We have a dialogue around the why, what, when and how of reflection and during the dialogue we touch on topics of previous episodes (such as dialogue and setting intentions), and future episodes (self-acceptance, working with emotions, personality). We also give some ideas on what listeners can do to make time and space for reflection in their own daily lives.

In this episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss dialogue, which is one of the main reasons we started this whole podcast series. We define dialogue as a specific type of conversational method where ideas and opinions are exchanged, without trying to convince each other of each other’s rights or wrongs, with the objective to collectively learn, reflect and come to new insights. We discuss how people can use the method of meaningful dialogue much more in every day settings, be it work meetings, social gatherings, or any other setting where people come together and communicate. We discuss principles of dialogue, such as curiosity, deep listening, presence, surrender to the process and ‘no need to think’ and we give listeners some tips and examples on how to use dialogue in daily lives.

In this fifth episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss presence, which we define as being in the here and now, with single-minded concentration, focus on one particular activity, not being distracted, not being lost in thought, not resenting the past or worrying about the future. We discuss the many health & wellbeing, social and professional benefits of being present. We argue that practicing presence is the single most important tool to ensure that we are fully alive and present to all that life has to give us. We discuss the different ways to practice presence, giving examples of tools and techniques to help us to get stronger at the practice of being present. We also suggest some practical next steps listeners may take after listening to this episode of the podcast.

In this fourth episode of the Vidya podcast, we talk about decompression. We all need to decompress from our busy lives once every so often, allowing our bodies and minds to pause and take some time to reflect and integrate experiences, allowing our shadows to catch up with us. We discuss in this podcast the different activities we may use to decompress. We discuss sleep, solitude, slow travel, journaling, decluttering and the importance of advanced planning: If we don’t plan to pause it won’t happen. We give many examples from our own lives and from working with our clients and we suggest some practical next steps listeners may take after listening to this episode of the podcast.

In this third episode of the Vidya podcast, we talk about personal values. We define values as all in life that is truly important to us. We discuss why it’s important to know our personal values and to reflect on the alignments and misalignments between our values and our actions and behaviours in life. Next, we discuss how we can go about finding out what our values are. We discuss what questions to work with in the space of personal values. As in previous episodes we give examples from our own lives and from working with our clients and we suggest some practical next steps listeners may take after listening to this episode of the podcast

In this second episode of the Vidya podcast, we discuss the importance of setting intentions. We discuss the important distinction between goals and intentions, the relation between intention, attention and energy, some types of intentions and some potential timeframes for intentions. We also get into the importance of setting intentions to achieve ’the unknown’, we introduce the concept of "mind movie” and we discuss the importance of the subconscious mind in reaching our wildest dreams. We also suggest some practical next steps listeners may take after listening to this episode of the podcast.

In this first episode, we discuss the concept of learning enemies, which we define as anything that gets in the way of personal and organisational learning, change and growth. We argue that leaders should know their learning enemies so that they can challenge them, for their own benefit and for the benefit of their teams and organisations. We describe several common learning enemies found in the business world, illustrate these with examples from our leadership & culture consulting practice and suggest some immediate next steps listeners may take after listening to this podcast.