Why Is Everyone Mad at Me?
Plus: How to master your intuition, age joyfully, and tap into your primal intelligence.
One of the gifts of getting older is knowing yourself better. With age, they say, comes wisdom—and if you’re lucky (and open to a little guidance), you also get better at trusting your gut, standing up for what matters to you, and filling your days with what makes you truly thrive. This week, we’ve been thinking a lot about how aging isn’t all bad news, and how a dose of self-awareness will serve you well at any stage of life.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Podcast
How do you know what you know?
Do you ever just know something? You get a gut feeling about a person or a situation -- a feeling you can’t quite explain but more often than not happens to be right. It can feel like magic, but it’s actually neuroscience. Today, we’re hearing from behavioral scientist
, author of You Already Know: The Science of Mastering Your Intuition. In it, she explains that gut feelings are actually fast, subconscious calculations—your brain drawing on data, memory, and lived experience to make split-second judgments. And the best part? You can train it to be even better. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.Book Bite of the Week
If you’re like many of us, a sizeable chunk of your brain is constantly asking, “Are they mad at me?” Why do we do this? Why do we care so much about what other people think—especially when, let’s be honest, they’re probably not thinking about us at all? Psychotherapist and meditation teacher
says that people-pleasing isn’t a personality quirk—it’s a deeply wired survival response. In her new book Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You she shows us how to break the habit and start reclaiming our energy, our boundaries, and ourselves.. Pick up a copy on Amazon or listen to Meg’s audio summary in the Next Big Idea app.This week, Book of the Day is brought to you by Primal Intelligence, a new neuroscientific approach to improving mental performance by honing intuition, imagination, emotions, and common sense. Get your copy today.
Bonus Conversation & Book Giveaway: How To Age Better
There’s never been a better time to be growing older, and we here at Next Big Idea Club are happy to be at the forefront of the revolution in longevity. That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with Super Age, Dr. Eric Topol, and Simon Books to bring Book of the Day readers a virtual event on Tuesday, August 19th—a live conversation with Super Age founder David Stewart and Dr. Topol himself to explore what it really means to age well in today’s world.
We’re also giving away 3 copies of Super Agers, Dr. Topol’s new book on the science of thriving into your 90s and beyond.
Just sign up to attend the August 19th Super Age Live virtual event, and you’ll be automatically entered to win a free copy of the book.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Daily Podcast
When we talk about aging, we often hear about lifespan—how long you live—or healthspan—how well you live. But what about joyspan? That’s the question gerontologist
is asking in her new book by that name, Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life's Second Half.Drawing on decades of research in aging and elder care, Kerry argues that longevity isn’t the goal—joyful longevity is. The people who thrive into their 80s, 90s, and even 100s aren’t just lucky. They’re doing specific things that keep them engaged, fulfilled, and vibrant—and Kerry’s here to explain how you can expand your own joyspan, starting today. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Happy Pub Week!
We’ve got two new entrants in the NBIC Must-Read Club: Distancing: How Great Leaders Reframe to Make Better Decisions by L. David Marquette and Michael A. Gillespie, and The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life by Arthur C. Brooks. Get them while they’re hot!