This pandemic has shifted the mindset of people from the intensity of work and indulging ourselves with instant gratification, pleasure to a time where corporates are talking about purpose at work, where individuals have started to reflect on giving meaning to their lives. These 2 years have been years of growth of life coaches, literature on self-development, podcasts trying to help people to find their own ways to fulfilment.

In today’s episode of Learn with Bessern we got a great guest Jason Merchey to give us insights about finding life purpose through the practice of wisdom.

About Jason Merchey

Jason Merchey is a philosophical thinker. Jason STUDIED psychology and social behavior, he has a master’s degree in clinical psychology, and is a graduate in philosophy and ethics from Harvard University. Jason’s fourth book is entitled Wisdom: A Very Valuable Virtue That Cannot Be Bought. It is a unique combination of psychological research findings, philosophical principles, & personal insights.

Key take aways from the Podcast:

About work life

Jason said- It's great if a person can have like this alignment or confluence between what they're doing in their lives and what they love and there's a famous old quote, something like if you love what you do, you don't have to work a day in your life, Mark Twain said that.

About Intrinsic motivation

Jason said- It's only in the last five, six years that intrinsic motivation is something that is quite often measured at work by because they have noticed that when you go and pay and you do the typical motivator, tactic of the carrot and the stick, people are going to improve up to a certain level for a very short time intrinsic motivation depends on different factors. One of them being I decide how am I going to do the things that I when I know that direction, I decide by myself, I mastered what I do little by little and get a little bit more challenge. And the third debate that is related to what we are discussing today is about meaning that we need to find something that is beyond just providing extra money to the shareholders of the companies means to do something beyond ourselves or the society because we are doing something great in a company. And that's what really drives engagement with employees.

Wisdom depends on 2 human needs

One is about the need of becoming a better self actualization and the other one is transcendence to understand the overall my position in as a person in the world. The aspect of curiosity would be the second one. I would guess that this is something that it is quite important because if you don't are not asking yourself questions then what's the point you cannot acquire this? This wisdom?

Understanding wisdom

For a human being. It's a theory, but I think it I think it's pretty solid. I guess if I were to say, you know, seven things that I say describe wisdom, I would, I would probably connect it to things like you know, judiciousness, perceptiveness. You know, excellent reasoning, a kind of vision, keen introspection, the ability to relate well to other people, to see yourself as part of the system as part of as part of a whole, rather than being, let's say, selfish or self-concern. being ethical, kind of above all else being ethical. Let's see what else being able to manage emotion in a sense, to use your rational mind to combine with your emotional mind to get a product that is superior to just one or the other. That's the kind of what I call integration.

Wisdom is like an umbrella

that contains some emotional intelligence dimensions. It can also contain the aspect of critical thinking because you cannot be wise if you accept and absorb everything that you hear. You need to be able to select rationally. 

Emotional intelligence has two aspects

in fact, one which is self-awareness, the building of self-awareness to so that you are not guided by this part of your brain that is just emotions but you activate the part of your brain that is more that is going to be judging what you're going to activate your critical thinking and about this idea of interactions because you cannot be wise if you are just in your room watching YouTube videos or reading books, you need this interaction because there needs to be a debate, because perspectives are going to build up your wisdom.

 

Wisdom is a is a learnable skill

The purpose why we were having this episode of learning with Bessern is to demystify the fact that wisdom is the stuff for an academical guy who is going to be reading many philosophers, but it is something that we can acquire because we have mentioned that in the area of wisdom there is a lot of emotional intelligence, art and literature in the last 10 years in emotional intelligence as as demonstrated that this is something that you can learn. Program your brain to through something that is consistently done, the habits, the habits, the story. Critical thinking is something that can be trained, but of course you cannot train someone with a one day training and many 160 slides during the training. So it is something to be practiced.

 

How to start building on wisdom?

I think one wanting to improve and to see things for what they really are, to live a more authentic life and be more truly successful and happier. Just by wanting those things and focusing on them. It's a good step.

 

To get in touch with the author!!!

Jason posts regularly on his website values of the wise where people can get access to his content and connect with him. https://valuesofthewise.com/