Why do some thrive while others are crushed by hardship? (Listener question on Podcast ep. 55)

Why do some people thrive in the face of hardship while others are crushed? To this challenging listener question, Matthew answers essentially that it’s about building resilience through the method of optimism versus the default of passive pessimistic resignation. On a deeper level, it’s about free will (optimistic) versus determinism (pessimistic).

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There’s nothing wrong with you: Podcast ep. 54 now released

Are we basically good or evil? How can we transcend our culture of “blame and shame”? Why do we give away our power to others? How can we be less reactive and more proactively responsible for our own actions and well-being? What does it mean to take full ownership for our circumstances, and why is this empowering? What are the physical benefits to mindfulness training, on top of the obvious mental and emotional benefits?

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