022 - Toward A Life Well Lived

In this special Portals conversation, Aviv Shahar speaks with Tim Coats, a former corporate executive who is focusing his unique background and journey on exploring and sharing new pathways into the art of increasing joy, meaning and belonging in our daily life. Tim Coats is the author of the blog, Towards a Life Well-Lived. In this dialogue with Aviv Shahar, Tim reflects on his time since leaving the business world and the importance of deeper connections with life – with people, with nature, and with how he thinks and feels about spirit. Tim traces the evolution of his sense of self-awareness where he learned to see the business world as not only a theater of achieving career goals, but also a laboratory of self-discovery, achieving high levels of success while preserving an inner dialogue about the deeper meaning of it all. Join Aviv and Tim as they explore today’s topic, Toward A Life Well Lived. KEY TAKEAWAYS 02:50 – Aviv Shahar welcomes Tim Coats to explore an inquiry centered on organizing your life around the art of increasing joy, meaning and belonging in daily living03:41 – What fills Tim with energy and joy04:46 – A closet philosopher and mystic flying under the cover of a corporate executive07:51 – Bringing philosophical tendencies to corporate America10:48 – The power of ‘We’ and the inquiry that Tim initially set out to answer when he launched his blog15:28 – Defining ‘A Life Well Lived’ and the two broad categories of people17:56 – The journey of finding meaning21:43 – Three of Tim’s contemplative practices25:55 – The Four Principles: Balance, Awareness, Practice and Wisdom31:32 – Tim speaks to the idea of belonging and the Five Energies of Life38:04 – Being accepted for your own authentic self42:12 – Be the best, look both ways, help others succeed52:59 – The peace that proceeds challenge58:22 – The critical phase in every development journey1:07:33 – The God Test TWEETABLE QUOTES “I found that what’s most important in life is connection and how we connect with life, because, after all, life isn’t about us; we’re about life.” (04:17) (Tim)“I think of a mystic as someone who pursues union with life. And that’s what I have always pursued.” (05:34) (Tim)“I think one of the most amazing words in the English language is ‘we.’ ‘We’ consists of myself and another person, but there’s a third entity involved in a ‘we.’ It’s the relationship.” (10:55) (Tim)“My purpose for the balance of my life is to enjoy a meaningful life. And meaning, to me, involves connection because without connection we lose meaning. So, if one can both be connected and grow those connections and also experience joy that transcends circumstance, that’s a pretty strong shout.” (15:53) (Tim)“The question about where we fit in is a question that ultimately asks ‘Where do we connect?’ And, I think that to a very large degree, awareness is taken for granted. And yet, if we want to wax philosophical about it, the only way we can know the world is through this facility of awareness.” (18:37) (Tim)“When you force yourself to slow down, to be present, and to look at light, all of a sudden one discovers that everything is interconnected and maybe I’m interconnected as well.” (24:02) (Tim)“Balance is critically important. And, it includes the body, mind, and spirit. The thing that frustrates me, and it’s a difficult thing to approach, is that when you invoke the word ‘spirit,’ people immediately think of religion. If someone connects to spirit through religion, that’s wonderful, but that’s not what I’m talking about. When I speak to spirit, I’m speaking to that in- betweeness that’s between you and a friend, you and a lover, you and nature, you and your God. It’s in-betweeness. And so, when we’re balancing spirit, what we’re saying is, ‘This isn’t all about me. It’s about us.” (27:03) (Tim)“Wisdom is insight with respect to connections.” (31:09) (Tim)“Helping others succeed is simply a short way of saying, ‘Be focused on empowerment.’ If you can empower all the members of your team to be as good as or better than yourself, just think of what can happen.” (52:24) (Tim) RESOURCES MENTIONED Portals of Perception WebsiteAviv’s LinkedIn Aviv’s TwitterAviv’s WebsiteTim’s LinkedIn Tim’s Blog