A few weeks back I wrote an article called 35 Things at 35.

I feel good about it. The response I received was positive. Job well done and time to move on to the next topic.

The article is light and easy; not tactical. This serves two masters. The first being the reader, it feels good and doesn’t challenge you. And the second, is me, it is easy to write something generic and provide but a few punchy sentences on topics that are deeply complicated. Herein lies the problem…

If I am going to proclaim to the inter-webs that these 35 things are meaningful to me then I owe it to my younger self to answer the question I would most certainly have had; but why? So, against my better judgment and my previous writing patterns I will expand on some of these items over the next few weeks.

Here is to peeling back another layer…

We will start with the podcast comment.

Listen to more podcasts. A podcast is a great way to learn something new and listen to the thoughts and perspectives of others. They are shorter than audio books and free.

Buy why…

I am so glad you asked…

A few days ago I was sitting at the terminal waiting for my flight. I am a few hours early and the airport is empty, thanks to Hurricane Dorian. AirPods in and I am listening to one my favorite podcasts, The Rich Roll Show. On this particular episode he is interviewing Lori Gottlieb. I don’t know who she is. I have never heard of her. I did not arrive at this episode because of her but because I have developed trust for Rich and the guests he brings on his show.

Back to Lori… she is an author and has been for quite some time. She is also, more surprisingly, a therapist. The details of the story aren’t as important to this article as the meta-theme. That theme was that you can be two things. As Rachel Hollis puts it, ‘this and that.’ And yes, I know who she is. For the hour plus conversation Lori and Rich talk about how her two areas of interest, her two sources of income, her two passions are bound together in a very reciprocal fashion where the one benefits and informs the other.

You can do two things.

You can be two things.

That might sound silly. That also might sound totally obvious. But, it isn’t. It wasn’t for me, at least. I struggle with this ever present sense of needing to pick a passion or interest and go all in on it. Will that passion be this site or my technology consulting site dataSmarts or the construction stuff that I like doing with Enso Custom or what about my podcast The Untucked Life; maybe something totally different. I don’t ever know the answer to that. I might not ever know. What I do know is that none of them check all the boxes and if I stopped doing any one of them I would miss it.

Lisa and her story are exactly the reason why I listen to podcasts and think they would benefit you as well. In one hour listening to her talk about how she leverages a split discipline approach and finds it to be additive is very comforting and affirming. It almost grants you (me) permission, in a way. Here is someone, that has found a way to pursue two things that she is passionate about and thrive. There is at least one proof point. If she did it, why can’t you? Why can’t I?

You see with podcasts you manage a single relationship, in this example it is with Rich Roll; he manages the rest. The mere fact that he has a guest on is the equivalent of a friend referring you to a doctor or previous employer. It is a stamp of social approval. This is of tremendous value as you can leverage the access that he has to thought leaders across many domains. The advantage comes to you in the form of a sampler of ideas, thoughts and varying points of view that you are presented and can choose to indulge in or ignore. If there is a guest that resonates with you, go deeper, if you just can’t stand the person, skip it. It is a controlled and curated inflow of information that you can filter through.

It is an Instagram feed for your mind and the content is knowledge.

So you don’t listen to podcasts? But want to. This is exactly how I would start and who I would listen to…

• Tim Ferriss – this is a very informative and mostly serious show. He is a great interview but is not overly vulnerable or personal so can come across as a robot at times.

• Rich Roll – he is a great communicator and it shows in his podcasts. He gives the guests space to explore their story and does not seem compelled to interject more than is necessary to keep things moving along nicely. A lot of health topics, can be a little woo-woo at times.

• Joe Rogan – the best mix of intelligence, wisdom, humor and edgy conversations. Joe might be one of the most talented and multi-dimensional guys…ever.

Now, there are a million other podcasts out there. I have not listened to them all. I also do not listen to fiction or comedy. I mostly listen to podcasts as an act of personal development so spare me the rhetoric on why This American Life should be on this list; I just don’t care to listen to that type of content.

Since I gave you my top few hosts here are individual episodes that I think will blow your mind:

• Tim Ferriss and Jamie Foxx – this is one of the more fun podcast I have heard by Tim and Jamie Foxx is just amazing.

• Tim Ferriss and Jocko – this interview is unreal. Jocko is an ex-Navy Seal turned leadership coach and actually goes on to start his own podcast after talking with Tim and is now putting out a ton of content.

• Rich Roll and Zach Bush – this episode literally blew my mind. Zach is a doctor but the stuff he talks about in terms of life and death and our stories and empathy will just blow up everything you thought you knew.

• Joe Rogan and Russel Brand – Joe is brilliant and hilarious but so is Russel. Russel has a podcast that I love and it would have made this list but he just recently switched to having a paywall around his content so I am not going to put him on here because of that reason.

Check these out and let me know what you think.

The thing about the world, today, no different than 100 or even 1,000 years ago… is it is BIG. And with a big world comes lots and lots of ideas and teachings. Now take an ever-increasing amount of information and layer in the fact that your education and mental models are largely determined by your situation; geographic, cultural and paternal. Where were you born/ raised? What are the cultural norms that you are thrust into? What does your family think/ do/ believe? You don’t get to choose. You cannot simply wish yourself to be mentored by Marcus Aurelius or intern for Benjamin Franklin and you cannot replace Christianity in schools with Zen Buddhism. But you can curate your growth and the pursuit of knowledge as you get older.

For me, podcasts are the way that I expand my horizons and take in new information with little to know risk or commitment. It allows me to very quickly get a taste of a new topic or idea and see if I want to dive deeper. If I do, great. If I don’t, great.

Give one a listen; you won’t be disappointed. Start with Jamie Foxx; he is just incredible.

Happy listening. Happy growing.

– Nate