Steven Kotler, Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective
Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais
Dr. Michael Gervais
4.6 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2019
⏱️ 86 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week’s conversation is with Steven Kotler.
The name may ring a bell because he’s been on the podcast twice before and it’s a joy every time we have a chance to connect.
As a refresher, Steven is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective.
His books include The Rise of Superman, Stealing Fire, Abundance, BOLD, A Small Furry Prayer, and West of Jesus.
He is also the cofounder of the Rancho de Chihuahua dog sanctuary.
If you'd like to learn more about Steven’s journey and framework for how he’s become, check out the first podcast we did – Finding Mastery #017.
The nature of today’s conversation focuses on his new book, The Last Tango in Cyberspace.
It’s a novel about future technology, counter-cultural evolution and the rise of empathy — all wrapped up in a thriller.
While the book is fiction, many of Steven’s ideas for it come from real-world experiences and his outlook on the future of humanity.
We discuss his writing process, which skills are necessary for mastering his craft vs. mastering his own life, and the psychology of how we relate to our environment through plants and animals.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I believe that you only you pay attention to those problems you can solve. |
| 0:05.4 | If you're not actively working to solve the problem, then all you're doing is gossiping and |
| 0:09.9 | complaining. So I have certain problems I'm actively working to solve in this world, in this life, |
| 0:17.0 | and that is what I focus on. |
| 0:18.0 | And all the other stuff does not get my empathy or compassion. compassion. All right, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast. |
| 0:33.6 | I'm Michael Jervay, and by Trade and Training, I'm a sport and performance psychologist, |
| 0:38.8 | as well as the co-founder of Compete to Create. |
| 0:41.2 | And I just want to say, I love this podcast. It's phenomenal |
| 0:46.4 | like the community that has switched on around this, the thousands and thousands of |
| 0:51.1 | people that are supporting and challenging each other to find our very thousands and |
| 0:55.0 | I just want to say thank you and if you're new |
| 1:00.0 | sincerely welcome. |
| 1:01.0 | Now the whole idea behind the conversations |
| 1:04.0 | is to learn from people who have committed their life efforts |
| 1:07.4 | towards mastery, towards a deep understanding |
| 1:10.6 | of either craft or self or possibly both and then at the same time what this |
| 1:16.3 | Conversation is really about is to work to understand their framework like how do they understand and explain the world around them and their interior world? |
| 1:26.0 | I am really excited to announce that this year finding mastery is releasing our first ever holiday gift guide. |
| 1:33.0 | Yes. |
| 1:34.0 | Having spent decades working with and around some of the most driven people on the planet, |
| 1:40.0 | I know the high-performer types in your life can be a little tricky to buy for. |
| 1:44.0 | Their standards tend to be really high, they rarely settle. |
... |
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