Conversation with Deepak Ramola

In this soul-nourishing episode, we speak with Deepak Ramola, a founder of Project FUEL and a teacher at Stanford who celebrates "people, potatoes, and possibilities".Deepak challenges the modern obsession with scaling and expansion. He proposes that every human is born with a "pond of inner quiet". While the heat of capitalism and judgment tries to evaporate this water, our deepest success lies in simply preventing our little pond from drying up.Slow: Slowness as a "constant negotiation." It is the micro-decision to bring singular focus to one thing—like closing all the browser tabs in your mind—to become truly present.Flow: Creating "space" (Brahmand) before creation. Using rituals like drawing circles or walking as portals to enter the zone where the ego disappears and the spirit finds a playground.Glow: The state of "Tender Heroism." This radiance begins the moment you "retire the need for validation" for things already proven by your history, allowing you to enter a room with settled confidence.The Additional Word "Restart": The most important ingredient for the changing seasons of life. Even if you falter or lose your rhythm, you always hold the power to begin again and change the rules of your own journey.Deepak Ramola is a wisdom historian and award-winning educator. He currently is a Lecturer and a Life Design Fellow at the Stanford Life Design Lab. He also co-teaches the ‘Meaning of Life’ course at MIT. A graduate of Harvard GSE, he previously served as the Kindness Ambassador for UNESCO MGIEP. Over the last 15 years, Deepak has worked at the intersection of wisdom and lifelong learning through his organization Project FUEL, collecting life lessons from 195 countries. His methodology has been recognized as world's top 100 innovations in education and has been adopted across five continents. Deepak is also a best-selling author, with three books spanning poetry, self-help, and narrative non-fiction. His first collection of Hindi poetry titled Itna Toh Main Samajh Gaya Hoon received the prestigious Young Writer Award in 2020 at Jaipur Literature Festival. His latest Hindi poetry book, 'Karwan Ka Shauq Hai' has been shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi/National Academy of Letters Yuva Puraskar, 2024. A celebrated lyricist in Hindi Cinema, his songs have been voiced by Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Rekha Bhardwaj amongst others.https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepakramola/Tomo Hamakawa. Social entrepreneur, accidental hotelier, regenerative facilitator, strategic advisor, father of 4 kids - living in Ubud, Bali.  LinkedInPlease share your comments, questions, and requests!https://forms.gle/2UqGMwUw6BS66cGF7