Pursuing the Excellent Life

Episodes

March 15, 2023

Practical Wisdom and Living a Flourishing Life

Practical wisdom isn’t some esoteric, abstract concept, it’s eminently practical, and it’s critical to living a flourishing life. In this episode, Craig discusses what practical wisdom is, and how you can start cultivating a…
March 8, 2023

Mindful Habits: Using Habits to Overcome Weakness of Will

In episode 53 of "Live Well and Flourish," host Craig discusses how to use mindful habits to overcome weakness of will. He explains that habits can hinder your ability to flourish, but developing virtuous habits can help you…
Feb. 28, 2023

Overcoming weakness of will

Do you find yourself struggling to follow through on your goals and commitments, even when you know they are important? Do you ever feel like you lack the willpower to make lasting changes in your life? If so, you may be exp…
Feb. 22, 2023

Hedonic treadmill: The dulling of shiny new things (5MF)

Uncover a Secret to Long-Term Happiness with Craig on Five-Minute Flourishing! Learn about the phenomenon of hedonic adaptation and how it affects our satisfaction with new things over time. Craig shares expert insights and …
Feb. 15, 2023

Finding Fulfillment through Self-Determination

Much of your well-being is determined by satisfying three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In this episode, Craig discusses the theory behind this thinking, self-determination theory, and how…
Feb. 8, 2023

Annoying people (Five Minute Flourishing)

Life makes it pretty much impossible to completely avoid potentially annoying people and events. But, we don't have to be annoyed, that's a choice we make. In this short episode, Craig discusses how to avoid becoming unneces…
Feb. 1, 2023

Social comparison

Evaluating ourselves is an innate human behavior, but when you evaluate yourself by making comparisons to others, it can be misleading and harmful to your flourishing. In this episode, Craig discusses the pros and cons of so…
Jan. 25, 2023

Positive and negative cues (Five Minute Flourishing)

One way to take control of your life, is to take care of your environment. In this Five Minute Flourishing episode, Craig discusses how you can shape your environment in a way that enhances your flourishing by adding positiv…
Jan. 18, 2023

Losing weight without speed

Making big changes is scary, but doesn’t have to be. In this episode, I discuss my formula for taking control and making big changes through finding the right motivation, setting the right goals, and taking small steps. Whet…
Jan. 9, 2023

Comfort is the enemy (Five-Minute Flourishing)

We all want to be comfortable, but in some ways comfort is the enemy of progress in growth. In this short episode, Craig discusses why becoming too comfortable can actually hinder your flourishing. ------ Live Well and Flour…
Jan. 4, 2023

Possibilities, not limitations

Life is full of roadblocks and impediments. If you pay too much attention to these, it seems like you can never make progress. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses how to focus on the endless possibilit…
Nov. 23, 2022

Happy Holidays?

Holidays are widely seen as a time for joy and happiness, but the reality is that many people find the holiday season to be a time of depression and loneliness. In this episode, Craig discusses the holiday blues and what can…
Nov. 9, 2022

Managing Conflict

Conflict is a part of human relationships, and relationships are critical to flourishing. So, knowing how to effectively manage these inevitable conflicts is an important aspect of living a good life. In this episode, Craig …
Oct. 26, 2022

Causes and Consequences of Conflict

Conflict is an inevitable part of life. (Well, maybe not if you're a hermit, but otherwise ...) So, effectively dealing with conflict is important to your flourishing. In this episode, Craig talks about the how diversity cau…
Oct. 12, 2022

Incivility and Collective Flourishing

The current climate of incivility not only hurts your individual flourishing, it is also detrimental to our collective flourishing. In this episode, Craig discusses why this is so, and provides one simple way that you can ma…
Sept. 28, 2022

Incivility and Your Flourishing

Incivility is harmful to your flourishing, whether you're the one acting with incivility or just exposed to excess incivility. In this episode, Craig discusses why this is so, and offers some insights on how to reduce incivi…
Sept. 14, 2022

The Futility of Incivility

Incivility abounds in today's social media, sound bite driven world. Recently, Craig attended a major conference during which a controversy erupted, which led to an unfortunate, but predictable Twitter storm of incivility. I…
Aug. 31, 2022

Dealing with Moral Dilemmas

Moral dilemmas are an inevitable part of life ... you're going to face decisions that offer no fully satisfying alternatives. In this episode, Craig is joined by practical philosopher, Dr. Andrea Christelle, to discuss how w…
Aug. 17, 2022

Moral Dilemmas and the Death of a Pup

Sometimes life brings us a decision for which there is no clear moral choice. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, practical philosopher Dr. Andrea Christelle, co-founder of Sedona Philosophy Experience and I discuss m…
Aug. 3, 2022

COVID and Me

COVID finally caught up to Craig. But, there's knowledge to be had in every experience. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses what he learned from his thankfully brief bout with COVID-19. Links Live Well…
July 20, 2022

In Times of Trouble

Difficult times are an inevitable part of life; you are going to face times of trouble. In this episode, Craig discusses how applying a simple idea from Stoicism helped him get through an especially troubling time, the illne…
July 6, 2022

Taking Control of Your Life

When you have a low sense of personal control, you suffer increased stress, anxiety, depression and negative mood. Your physical health also suffers. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig discusses the effects of …
June 22, 2022

The Problem with Generalizations

Generalizations help us make sense of a complex world; generalizing is a fundamental human function. Most of the time, our generalizations serve us well. But, when we make generalizations errors, bad things happen, such as s…
June 8, 2022

The Cage of Your Assumptions

Assumptions are necessary for getting through the complexity of life. However, some of our assumptions, when untested, can hinder flourishing. In this episode, Craig discusses assumptions, how they're formed, why they're so …