Slow Down To Build A Meaningful Life & Raise Healthier Kids With Carl Honoré

Carl Honoré, the godfather of the slow movement, discussed slowing down in a way that brings home to us just how mindlessly we have been living and how deeply it can impact our health, happiness, and wellbeing. The hustle culture will have us believe that happiness hinges on success and competition, purpose means pursuit of social accolades, and living your passion necessitates late nights and a relentless pace - we question all that and more in this episode. Slow living gives us the space to examine our priorities and what our 'happy' really looks like.

We learn about helping our kids grow up with better values, normalise boredom for their benefit, and encourage them to prioritise their wellbeing and cultivate a value system that supports healthy living. I especially appreciated the narrative that Carl creates around the benefits of slowing down so that instead of looking at it as something that can potentially derail our professional or social growth plans as most of us do, we appreciate the benefits of slow living. 

Carl Honoré is a bestselling author, broadcaster, and two-time TED speaker. He is also the voice of the Slow Movement. He has published four books, and his latest book, Bolder: How To Age Better And Feel Better About Aging, is a spirited manifesto against ageism. Published in 35 languages, Carl has landed on bestseller lists in many countries. Carl has been featured in a series for BBC Radio 4 called The Slow Coach in which he helped frazzled, over-scheduled people slow down. He also presented a television show called Frantic Family Rescue on Australia’s ABC 1. 

We discuss- 

• Why Carl chose to focus on the slow movement
• The downside of the pace we maintain and the benefits of more deliberate living 
• How do we talk ourselves past the fear of slowing down
• Bad Slow vs Good Slow
• Building better relationships with our digital devices
• Normalising boredom for the kids we are raising 
• As kids reach an age where they start to get competitive about their performance (academic, extra-curricular, and social), how do we help them cultivate the right value system and prioritise their health and wellbeing
• Rituals that can help + practical steps we can take to slow down a busy life (addressing people who have no other choice but to keep going all day long)
• Carl's favourite meditation/mindfulness practice

Resources mentioned during the episode-

Carl's Website- http://www.carlhonore.com/

Carl's Ted Talks and other content - https://linktr.ee/carlhonore

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