Alchemy For Life Podcast – Listen on itunes, Spotify
Podcasts are every Sunday and are either a 10 minute short article that can help you, or a 45 minute interview with someone who has done amazing things! Find them on iTunes, Tunein, podchaser, podbean, last.fm, spotify and google musi
When the Devil Sounds Like a Unicorn
The Enduring Metaphor of Angels and Devils The metaphorical representation of a devil and an angel on a person's shoulders dates back to the 16th century1. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, this concept was prominently featured in plays and allegorical art. By...
Waking up to a Monster. Are you in Survival Mode?
A primer on the book BeCAUSE! For those that have yet to read my new book because. Here's a quick primer. One day, I asked myself a question. If you could have anything you wanted, wouldn't you? We already know how to do most things and if we don't, we can Google them...
A Dire Warning: the MIT study and ChatGPT
I've done two podcast episodes on large language models. I recently spun up and installed a large language model locally on my computer and built a project around it. I'm an avid user of echoes from Amazon. I have had Grammarly kick in to spellcheck for me. I tell my...
What episodes are notable in 2025 so far?
Helpful episodes Every year I create a list of the top, most useful and helpful episodes of the previous year. This year because there has been a lot of interaction on current episodes. I've decided to do a midyear pause and reflect if you will. Here are the top...
Hypnosis and speaking to your manager.
Speaking to the manager I want to speak to the manager. Rather, I want to speak to your manager. What do you think of when I say that? Do you think of the structure of your current employer? Do you make a joke that it's your cat? Is there a spouse joke in there for...
Good or Evil?
A philosophical question for you. Don't forget you can pause the episode to consider the question(s) as you move forward. How would you answer? Alchemy for Life™ podcast explores themes of experimental psychology, relationships, cognitive science, human behavior,...
Non-Local Consciousness
Let's talk about non-local consciousness, who you're really talking to when you're on the phone, what happens to me and possibly you when something is put on the back burner, and wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the United States, Brazil, Germany,...
Meaningful Exhaustion and the energy transfer
Getting energy and giving energy One of the things I've said from the very beginning is that a thing can give one person energy and take energy from another. in other words, one person's activity that energizes them could also really be draining for another. But that...
Question Mark – Oh how the tables have turned
The normal format for this show is to introduce you to something and raise your perception. Then we discuss it and you typically leave with homework. This time you are giving me homework. Let's talk about the importance of feedback and how each and every one of us has...
The Anatomy of Ghosting
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CuKSdSJmsmw We all know what it is. We have all done it. We've all had it done to us. Let's talk about when it's appropriate when it's not, and why it can be so frustrating. Transcript: The Anatomy of Ghosting We all know what ghosting...
Time is sometimes money but is always Energy
Time is money You've heard that phrase and it is often accompanied by someone clapping, tapping their foot, or some other show of impatience. Chop chop, time is money. In our world of Time, Energy and Resources as separate entities, they are saying time is resources,...
The amazing, frustrating, daunting world of squares and triangles
Fair & Square Here are the rules of the square and triangle universe. Squares sell things to and help that are both squares and triangles. Most triangles gear their products and services for only triangles. Most squares buy from squares and triangles. Most...
Your Catalog and Your Facets
A while back we talked about the importance of a catalog and your awareness of that. By revisiting that we are demonstrating (in a rather meta way) the importance of revisiting it. And let's add how that affects your facets too. Catalog A catalog covers anything and...
Intellectual Injury—what the heck is that?
I like to apply analogical reasoning, You can call it conceptual metaphors. And if both of those are confusing, how about applying the concept of one domain to another. Still confused? For example, we talked about liminal spaces which don't look or sound right. But...
Old Photos and Robots
You are living in an era that is coming to an end. There was a time when all pictures were in black-and-white because that was the technology we had. Most people were fit, and men typically wore suits even at baseball games. Then pictures, had color, but it was of a...
The pleasure principle and a new book
I have a new book coming out. it's my 10th, and it's based on my take on the pleasure principle and what I believe is a layer just above it. It's what allows us to accomplish things that others do not. It's what prevents us from doing things that we think we should be...
What I learned writing a screenplay
(and how it might help you tell your own story) Telling a story in an unfamiliar medium with constraints you're not accustomed to is a common theme in business. You may be the best story teller in your circle/medium/genre but if you need to tell your story outside of...
Teacher, Teach Thyself
Q&A and the answer (That's so meta) Have you ever helped a friend who has a question or a conundrum, and the answer was so obvious to you that you easily spelled it out for them? You felt pretty smart. You noticed at some point that when you've had issues you turn...
Do you experience Disconnected Happiness?
A tale of disconnected happiness or Benign Violation Theory. Allow me to tell you a tale of disconnected happiness. Perhaps you can relate? Helpful related (or referenced) episodes: The holy Grail of positivity bias Throwing away the container Benign Violation Theory...
Dramaturgy, Role Theory and Modes
Modes What mode are you in right now? You may intuitively know exactly what I'm talking about. Ever interrupt a conversation and the person changes their conversation style/demeanor? That's an example of someone switching modes. Are modes just putting a mask on, or...
Manuel Rendon of Timeplast and 4d programmable matter
Meet Manuel Rendon, certified polymer science inventor and CEO of Timeplast, Inc. My first interview episode of 2025. Manuel joins the ranks of Scott Adams, the late John McAfee and others. 4d matter In the world of plastics, everything pretty much repels water. But...
Most useful and helpful episodes of 2024!
Welcome to 2025. As with last year, we are selecting the most helpful and useful episodes of the previous year. Of course I feel that all of the episodes are useful and helpful. Each one has a use, a point, and a tangible takeaway. Each one is a unique perspective on...
Resolutions—what works and what doesn’t
Resolutions—what works and what doesn't and why. It's really important that you don't repeat the same things that didn't work last time. You want to make this time to be different. Levels As we mentioned in the Labels episode, we like to label things because it's a...
Depression and throwing away the container
This is a separate article that goes with this podcast episode. it is not a transcript but rather an alternate summary of what the episode is about. NOTE: Depression, and worse (the meaning of "throwing away the container") is a delicate subject. The truth is that all...
Am I a systems thinker?
Guess who has this one? 🙂 NOTE: As I've said before, these thirteen 'states of being' are not being looked at as an 'ailment' or a 'disease' or a disadvantage. Just as there are upsides to what some would consider a disability, there are downsides to what some would...
The Silence of Success
Social Media and You If you're on social media, whether it's the Boomers Gone Wild of Facebook, the Graphic (in many ways) Instagram, the Millennial-Controlled Tiktok or the 'business-oriented' Linkedin, you will see the kind of posts I'm about to talk about. Drawing...
Deferred Gratitude and Exotic Cars
Exotic Cars When people purchase exotic cars, they are sometimes hit with something called deferred maintenance. As with many car buyers, they see the value of purchasing a car used. The positive of that is that they get a car they want at a dramatically reduced...
Time and energy = space
A new formula Here's an interesting concept for you, just when you thought you understood that life is made of three things: Time, Energy and Resources. But after ll, this is alchemy. Time, Energy and Resources Alchemy for Life™ has always been about life being three...
Is Positivity just oblivious contentment?
What is Positivity? You may think that 'positivity' doesn't belong with such states of being as OCD, Anxiety, ADHD and the others featured in this 13-part series, but I think it does because it is markedly different than the average person. Positivity isn't just being...
Forced to be an Emergency Responder and Love Bombing
Forced Emergency Responders and "Love Bombing." Emergency Responders and the 2:00am call for a wooden spoon When we think of emergency responders, we think of paramedics and ambulances and firefighters and police. If you make widgets, no one is going to call you at...
What is OCD? Do I have OCD? The Reality of coping with OCD.
What is OCD? Do I have OCD? OCD stands for obsessive-compulsive disorder. It shares a symptom with ADHD in which you can be caught in a repetitive loop because of anxiety and stimulus. But it is different than ADHD. The reality of OCD The reality of OCD often...
Don’t speak that into existence!
Toddlers with chainsaws Are chainsaws bad? No. Should toddlers use them? No. We use chainsaws to perform a task, we don't give them to toddlers because it is dangerous to do so and the toddlers don't understand the balance of danger and functionality. Airbags,...
Psych Charm: ADHD
ADHD - Also known as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. What is ADHD? Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. People with ADHD typically struggle with finding it difficult to focus. They are easily distracted in pursuit of stimulus. Sometimes the stimulus...
Psych Charm: Anxiety
Anxiety - The feeling of stress, the activation of a fight-or-flight mode. Anxiety for some can be a fairly dull but constant sensation of having to attend to a problem—a nagging feeling that you need to take care of something. This can be from the demands of your...
Gamification, Iconization and Tangibility.
Gamification, Iconization and Tangibility Those are some crazy words. They're fun and I like saying them. But what do they mean? My history I have always enjoyed looking at things as a system. It was only relatively recently that I realized that was what I was doing....
Creativity as a skill
Are you creative? No matter what your job, career or calling is, no matter what hobbies you have or do not, you have creativity. What if we treat it as a separate skill? What happens then? You'll be amazed. Join our free community at patreon to talk about...