David Nichtern sits down with psychologist and author Daniel Goleman for conversation around the intersection of awareness, creativity and business.

Daniel is an internationally known psychologist and author. His 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence was on The New York Times bestseller list for a year-and-a-half. With more than 5,000,000 copies in print worldwide in 40 languages. Emotional Intelligence was named one of the 25 “Most Influential Business Management Books” by TIME Magazine. Daniel is also a board member of the Mind & Life Institute. An organization that fosters dialogues and research collaborations among contemplative practitioners and scientists. Daniel has organized a series of intensive conversations between the Dalai Lama and scientists. Research which resulted in the books Healthy Emotions, and Destructive Emotions. Learn more about Daniel Goleman’s work at danielgoleman.info.

Joining Heaven and Earth

How can bringing our inner and outer worlds into balance align us with our purpose in life? Daniel and David look at how the development of humanity has evolved in a direction that separates us from our relationship with the natural world. Daniel discusses how this fractured relationship has been influenced by our environment and physiology.

“The human brain has a blind spot for the actual consequences of what we do. Everyday activity inadvertently, innocently – but still incessantly, is undermining the global systems that support life on the planet. We have a narrow range of perception.” – Daniel Goleman

The Meditative Mind (9:25)

David and Daniel explore how the many paths of contemplative practice affect how we relate to the world. They discuss the growing mountain of clinical research around mindfulness and meditation – including important areas of study that have been left untouched. What ways can we apply the findings of this research to our daily lives and practice?

“I think most of us don’t really have a conception of self. We just go around ‘selfing’ all day long.” – Daniel Goleman

More Than Making A Buck (32:20)

There is a very strong correlation between our professional and personal lives. Daniel and David discuss the shared principles that cultivate success and growth in business and in our inner life. What role does ego play in our creativity and emotional intelligence?

“There are principles (in buisness) like putting the right support team together, marketing and sales that could seem like dirty words to someone in the spiritual world. But they are not. Marketing is letting people know what your offering is. Sales is actually creating a relationship with a person. Where does that come from and how do you tie that into a sense of wellbeing and livelihood?” – David Nichtern