Between the Ears Podcast

#28 Inside Out

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this episode, Arnold Beekes contrasts two fundamentally different ways of living: from the outside in, where you're constantly reacting to what other people say, what you consume, and what the world throws at you — versus from the inside out, where you start with what you notice and feel internally, and respond to the world from there. He makes the case that outside-in living means living someone else's life, always shaped by external triggers, while inside-out living means actually living your own. Arnold gets specific about how distraction functions as avoidance — the movies, the drinking, the endless scrolling we reach for precisely because we don't want to hear the inner voice quietly telling us we're unhappy at work, exhausted, or not using our potential. He uses a vivid image: trying to receive something with a closed hand that's already full — your brain works the same way, and when it's packed with other people's expectations and constant distraction, there's no space left to receive insight, intuition, or even proper sleep. His practical suggestion is disarmingly simple: when you eat, just eat. When you drink, just drink. When you walk, actually notice what you see, hear, and smell. It's a training process, not something that happens automatically. The episode closes with a genuinely lovely piece of everyday beauty: King's College Hospital in London has built a rooftop garden ICU, letting critically ill patients spend hours outdoors — fully connected to power, data, and medical gas — in a space designed by a three-time Chelsea Flower Show winner, with one patient awaiting a heart operation saying she'd want to be out there even in a thunderstorm.

🔗 About Your Host (Arnold Beekes)
🌐 Website: https://bio.link/beekes
💪 Brain Gym: https://braingym.fitness
🧠 Brain Athletes: https://brainathletes.club
🚀 Innovation Athletes: https://innovationathletes.club
🎓 Join our Skool brain-fitness community: https://www.skool.com/brain-fitness-7070

Roy Coughlan · The Podfather Network — Editor & Promoter
Website: https://roycoughlan.com/
Virtual Assistants: https://va.world/
Private Networking Group: Learn about a Private Networking Group in 50 US States & 49+ Countries with 700+ Members https://connectedleaders.academy
Brain Upgrade: https://brainupgrade.org/
The Authority Alliance: A Foundation of Experts — community for entrepreneurs, coaches, and thought leaders to connect, collaborate, and grow their authority together: https://theauthorityalliance.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #InsideOut #Presence #Mindfulness #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #SelfAwareness #EverydayBeauty

#27 Q&Q — What Does Your Heart Say?

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes asks a question that sounds poetic but is meant literally: what does your heart say? He points back to the idea of our three brains — head, heart, and gut — and explains that the heart brain genuinely communicates, not in a voice others can hear, but in one you can learn to hear yourself, with attention and appreciation. He pairs it with an old Zen saying: "When you walk, walk. When you eat, eat. When you sit, sit." Simple on the surface, but genuinely hard in a world where we're rarely doing just one thing — scrolling while eating, listening to a podcast while walking, watching a video while reading. His invitation is straightforward: practice doing one thing at a time, fully present, and notice what changes.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #QuestionAndQuote #Presence #Mindfulness #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #HeartBrain #Uniqueness

#26 A Whole Being Approach

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this episode, Arnold Beekes challenges the mechanistic way we're taught to see ourselves — as a collection of separate parts that doctors and schools treat individually, rather than as a genuinely interconnected whole. He introduces his framework, which he calls MESPAS-X, covering seven layers: Mental (thoughts and beliefs), Emotional (signals from the body pointing to unmet needs), Spiritual (our energy and sense of interconnectedness as electromagnetic beings), Physical (sleep, nutrition, exercise, and the visible tip of the iceberg — our words and actions), Environmental (the two-way relationship between our surroundings and our behavior, including Benjamin Hardy's point that no amount of willpower overcomes the wrong environment), Social (drawing on the 80-year Harvard Study of Adult Development, which found health and happiness come down to good relationships, not wealth or fame), and finally the "X" — the magical, mythical, and metaphysical layer, representing everything science still can't explain, illustrated by the striking fact that humans can only perceive roughly 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum. Arnold's core argument is that working on just one layer barely moves the needle — someone eating perfectly healthy but stuck in a toxic relationship will still feel lousy — so real change means addressing every layer, consistently, over time. The episode closes with a story of everyday beauty: Clint Brower, who watched his father and countless other American farmers develop Parkinson's disease after decades of pesticide spraying, and who left a tech career to build Greenfield Robotics — a fleet of autonomous, herbicide-free robots that slice weeds with precision instead.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #WholeBeing #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #Wellbeing #EverydayBeauty

#25 Q&Q — What Are You Unwilling to Feel?

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes asks a question that cuts deeper than it first sounds: what are you unwilling to feel? He draws a careful distinction from simple suppression — this isn't about emotions you don't even know you're avoiding, but ones you already know are there, deep down, that you're actively choosing not to sit with. He gives two grounded examples: knowing your work has stopped challenging you and you want something different, but refusing to feel that because of the mortgage and the kids' university fees standing in the way; and a 20-year friendship that's turned into constant complaining and blame, leaving you tired and frustrated every time, while you keep telling yourself loyalty means staying anyway. He pairs it with a quote — "A fast food mentality will not bring you three star meals" — using the appeal of fast food's instant gratification (tastes good, arrives fast, followed by a stomach ache and hunger two hours later) as a literal example, then widens it figuratively to anything worth having: fast results at the gym, a new language, or an early promotion. His point: three-star outcomes take time, effort, and discipline, and expecting the fast-food version of anything worthwhile will only work against you.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #QuestionAndQuote #EmotionalAwareness #Discipline #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #Mindset #Uniqueness

#24 Mirror Neurons

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this episode, Arnold Beekes explains mirror neurons — brain cells that fire both when you take an action and when you simply watch someone else take that same action — and why understanding this changes how you should think about your own mental practices. Because the brain doesn't fully distinguish between lived, observed, and imagined experience, holding an image of yourself as healthy or capable can genuinely trigger the same neural response as actually living it. But Arnold is careful to flag what most self-help advice leaves out: it's not enough to just picture or say something, you have to feel it too. He uses affirmations as the clearest example — saying "I have a two million euro house" while feeling like you can barely afford a rented room creates a contradiction between feeling and imagination that cancels the affirmation out entirely, which is exactly why so much of that advice fails to work. He illustrates the same mechanism with two contrasting examples: watching a war movie can generate real sadness or anger even though you were never in a war, while watching a beautiful nature video can genuinely lift your mood the same way actually being in a rainforest would — meaning you don't need an expensive safari to get some of its emotional benefit, just conscious, positive use of your own mirror neurons. The episode closes with a striking piece of everyday beauty: new science on how whale populations play a far larger role in ocean carbon cycling than previously understood, with their waste fertilizing phytoplankton blooms that absorb carbon dioxide, and their carcasses sustaining deep-sea ecosystems for decades after death.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #MirrorNeurons #Neuroscience #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #Visualization #EverydayBeauty

#23 Q&Q — How Am I Loving Myself?

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 04:35:36 -0300

In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes tackles a question many people instinctively label selfish: how am I loving myself? He makes the case that self-love isn't ego or self-interest — it's the actual precondition for loving anyone or anything else, since a self-critical inner state directly shapes the outer reality you attract. He argues this is something to practice daily, not something to arrive at once and forget, since the inner critic most of us have built up over a lifetime doesn't disappear on its own. He pairs it with a sobering quote: "The longer you allow yourself to be damaged by negative behavior from others, the more unlikely it becomes that you can fully recover." Arnold connects this to the compounding effect of constant negative inputs — 24/7 news, complaining friends, people always comparing and criticizing — becoming your normalized environment the longer you stay in it. He shares a personal, vulnerable example: his own mother, who instinctively looked for the dark side of everything, from good weather ("but it will start to rain") to anything else in front of her, believing that worry and anxiety were somehow protective, when in reality they just made everyone around her feel lousy. His closing message: while you can't always choose your circumstances, you can choose your friends, your media, and what you read — and those choices matter more than most people realize.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #QuestionAndQuote #SelfLove #SelfCompassion #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #Mindset #Uniqueness

#22 The Happiness Taboo

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 04:31:49 -0300

In this episode, Arnold Beekes unpacks a striking piece of psychology history: an article by Scott Barry Kaufman revealing that Abraham Maslow — the famous psychologist behind the pyramid of needs — wrote a chapter back in 1969 concluding that a substantial portion of how happy you are comes down to the luck of your genetic draw, and then chose never to publish it, fearing the implications. Arnold argues that suppressing this finding for over 50 years has quietly caused enormous suffering, leaving countless people to believe there's something wrong with them for not being as happy as everyone around them, despite doing all the "right" things — gratitude journals, exercise, self-help books. He draws a direct parallel to the business and entrepreneurship world, where the same "follow these seven steps and you'll be a millionaire" formula gets sold as universally guaranteed, and when it doesn't work, people turn the blame inward instead of questioning the promise itself. Arnold's takeaway is a reframe, not a resignation: this isn't proof you can't be happy, it's proof that you are genuinely unique, and that a practice working for one person is never a guarantee it will work identically for you. The episode closes with a genuinely moving moment of everyday beauty: footage of Spanish footballer Nico Williams, fresh off a championship win, finding his mother in the stadium and handing her his gold medal — a tribute to the journey she made walking through the Sahara from Ghana to build a better life for her family in Spain.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #Happiness #Psychology #SelfCompassion #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #Uniqueness #EverydayBeauty

#21 What Do You Believe That Others Think Is Insane?

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 04:28:57 -0300

In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes challenges groupthink head-on — the pressure to quietly change your own opinion just to fit in, avoid looking weird, or avoid being the exception. He asks: what do you believe that other people would think is insane, and dares you to hold onto it rather than conform. He shares his own example — a belief that we live in a simulated reality, an idea David Icke was mocked for over 20 years ago that now has growing scientific support behind it. His point: looking insane at first doesn't mean you're wrong, it might just mean you were early. He pairs it with a quote: "If you always blame someone else, you will not grow and others will dislike you." Arnold connects this to a culture of constant criticism and blame — on social media, in everyday conversation — arguing that blaming others keeps you stuck reacting to someone else's creation instead of generating your own ideas, and radiates a low, uninviting frequency that pushes people away rather than drawing them in.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #QuestionAndQuote #Groupthink #PersonalGrowth #Mindset #ArnoldBeekes #SelfAwareness #Uniqueness

#20 Everydayness

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 04:22:04 -0300

In this episode, Arnold Beekes makes the case that "everydayness" — showing up daily, not just occasionally — is the actual hallmark of excellence in any domain, whether that's music, sport, nursing, or building a better world. He pushes back on the excuse of being too busy, arguing that anyone excellent at anything got there through consistent daily practice, never once-a-week effort. He connects this directly to the modern distraction problem: smartphones and social media offering constant, fear-based content that pulls people into comparing themselves to others, which actively works against the discipline everydayness requires. Arnold offers three simple daily practices: learn something (however small), create something (even just a pencil drawing), and care — for yourself as much as for others, since most of us are far better at the second than the first. He adds true self-analysis — checking in honestly with what you're feeling, thinking, or even physically sensing — and walking, sharing his own remarkable story of being told by a surgeon he might never walk again after destroying his heel, and now walking over an hour every morning. The episode closes with its usual moment of everyday beauty: the story of Florence Loma Rivo in Kenya, who escaped female genital mutilation and child marriage herself and turned that experience into a mission — building a school and rescue center for girls facing the same threat today.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #Everydayness #Discipline #PersonalGrowth #Mindset #ArnoldBeekes #DailyPractice #EverydayBeauty

#19 Q&Q — What Makes You Cry?

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:19:49 -0300

In this short question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes poses a single question: what makes you cry — and not just full tears, but burning ones too? He reflects on experiencing burning tears daily lately, and offers a reframe: tears, whether from sadness, beauty, love, loss, or meaning, are signs from the heart asking you to pay attention to what's been suppressed for far too long. He pairs it with a quote from Albert Camus — "Men must live and create, live to the point of tears" — meaning to live so fully and honestly that life moves you into awe, joy, heartbreak, and gratitude, rather than staying safe, numb, or half asleep.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #QuestionAndQuote #Camus #Emotions #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #SelfAwareness #Uniqueness

#18 The Power of Language

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:17:21 -0300

In this episode, Arnold Beekes explores language as what he calls an invisible straitjacket — something almost nobody recognizes as a limitation, yet it shapes and restricts nearly every connection we try to make with each other. He walks through why: the sheer number of mother tongues across the world, the fact that even speaking seven languages himself (he's currently learning Spanish, his seventh) still leaves him limited in certain conversations, and how communication breaks down even between people who share a language, let alone across a genuinely global world. Arnold introduces Marshall Rosenberg's framework of Nonviolent Communication — observation, feeling, need, and request — and explains why each step is harder than it sounds, particularly feeling, since most of us have spent a lifetime suppressing our emotions rather than naming them. He shares a personal story from his own coaching journey, when he was asked for the first time what he actually wanted, only to realize he could only articulate what he didn't want. That leads into two striking examples of language working against us: longevity researcher Bryan Johnson's slogan "Don't Die" (and the incurable immune disease diagnosis that followed), and Anita Moorjani's childhood fear of cancer, drilled into her as "I must not get cancer" — who went on to develop cancer before her well-known near-death experience. The episode closes, as always, with a moment of everyday beauty: research on how nature videos, even watched on a screen, can meaningfully reduce stress when direct access to nature isn't available.

#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #Communication #NonviolentCommunication #Language #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #StressRelief #NatureTherapy

#17 When do you feel that you are fully present?

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks a question that sounds simple but reveals just how rarely we actually experience it — and then makes a compelling case for why boredom might be one of the most underrated tools you have. Another sharp, thought-provoking episode that is over before you know it.

The Question

When do you feel that you are fully present?

Most of us are either replaying the past or rehearsing the future — rarely actually here
Arnold noticed it himself during his morning mobility exercises — losing count because his mind was elsewhere thinking about an unpaid internet bill
He feels most present when reading something he genuinely cares about — rumination, emotions, mental health
Full presence isn't a default state — it's something worth noticing, cultivating and returning to deliberately
When do you feel it? In conversation, in nature, in flow? That answer tells you something important

The Quote

"There is no room for creativity if you are busy following orders."

Large and small companies alike suffer from a creativity drought — because people are too busy meeting expectations to think freely
Your brain needs space to make new connections — and that space is almost impossible to find when you're constantly trying to please someone above you
Boredom is not wasted time — it is when your brain quietly connects the wires that produce creative breakthroughs
Next time you're standing in a queue or sitting in a taxi, put the phone down and let your mind wander
Creativity cannot be forced into a full head — it needs room

About Arnold Beekes

🧠 Arnold Beekes enables you to have a better life between the ears.
✦ Links: https://bio.link/beekes
✦ Brain Fitness: https://braingym.fitness
✦ Brain Athletes Community: https://brainathletes.club
✦ Innovation Athletes: https://innovationathletes.club

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #QuestionAndQuote #FullPresence #Creativity #Boredom #UnleashYourUniqueness #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork

#16 Basics of Brain Fitness – Part 2

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes completes his fundamentals series with four more brain fitness basics — covering your body, your social life, your environment and the humility to keep learning. Together with the previous episode, these eight basics form a complete daily framework for a better life between the ears. Plus a beautiful story of one man's 10-year mission to transform an old railroad bridge into something extraordinary.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why your body and brain are completely interconnected — and why neglecting one always affects the other
How movement, sleep, nutrition and engaging in the arts all directly impact your brain fitness
Why ultra-processed food is one of the top three global threats to mental health
How the people you allow into your inner circle — and the environment you live in — shape your brain every single day
Why keeping a beginner's mind and staying humble about how much you don't know is one of the most powerful things you can do

The Four Basics — Completing the Framework

Your Body — Movement, sleep, nutrition and arts. All of it connects directly to your brain. Skipping one while working on another is like going to the gym and drinking beer afterwards
Social — Choose your inner circle carefully. Toxic and narcissistic people damage your brain fitness. At the same time, meet new people, connect, wave to strangers on the street
Your Environment — Natural light, fresh air, noise levels, radiation and pollution all have measurable impacts on your brain. Where you spend your time matters more than most people realise
Know That You Don't Know — Humility and a beginner's mind keep learning fun and keep your brain growing. There is always more to discover

Arnold's Mission

To enable better brains and better innovation for better living.

Everyday Beauty

Mike Salarez spotted a disused 120-year-old railroad bridge on the Kansas River and spent 10 years turning it into a reality. Using his P6 approach — public, private, philanthropy, people, purpose and process — he assembled donated materials, pro bono legal support and community backing to create the Rock Island Bridge: now a restaurant, event space and public walkway above the river. One man, one vision, a decade of persistence.

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #BrainFitnessBasics #BodyAndBrain #SocialWellbeing #Environment #BeginnersМind #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #EverydayBeauty

#15 What do you need now?

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks a deceptively simple question that most people never stop to answer honestly — and follows it with a quote that draws a sharp line between two very different ways of living. Short, direct and worth sitting with.

The Question

What do you need now?

Most of us spend our time focused on what other people need — to gain their approval or acknowledgement
Arnold asks you to turn that inward — not tomorrow, not in three months, but right now
Maybe your body needs rest. Maybe your brain needs less screen time. Maybe you just need an hour alone with a good book
Pay attention to what comes up when you ask — and respect it

The Quote

"The ordinary brings you poverty, mental illnesses, addiction, fear and punishment. The extraordinary brings you joy, creativity and fulfilment."

We are conditioned to fit in, not stand out — because standing out feels dangerous
But fitting in means ignoring who you actually are — a unique human being
When everyone does the same thing, competition is fierce and fulfilment is rare
Living your own life — truly unleashing your uniqueness — is where joy, creativity and meaningful relationships actually live
The question is simple: are you ordinary or extraordinary?

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #QuestionAndQuote #UnleashYourUniqueness #OrdinaryVsExtraordinary #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness #BeExtraordinary

#14 Basics of Brain Fitness

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Hello and welcome, I'm Arnold Beekes and I enable you to have a better life between the ears. Because, why is that relevant? Because your inner state creates your outer reality. Today we are going to discuss some basics of brain fitness and these are really, really important and if you want to improve your brain fitness, I suggest that you pay a lot of attention to them and you apply them, preferably daily into your schedule.

Number one is full feeling. What does that mean? Is that you don't try to suppress your feelings, but you fully experience them, that you fully feel your feelings. Why is that relevant? Well, because emotions are the core psychological and physiological platform that determines the quality, consistency and effectiveness of your actions.

So, emotions are really, really, like I said in another podcast, are really the driving force of everything you do and they provide the fuel for everything you do. So, instead of ignoring or suppressing your feelings, feel them where they are. What are they? Are they positive feelings or are they negative feelings? Are they constructive or are they destructive? The second basic is self-kindness.

Be kind to yourself and validate only internally, not externally. Don't wait to feel good if some other people say you are okay. No, say it to yourself by yourself and we all have that inner voice which is very likely to be an inner critic.

That is the language it uses is mostly very, very unpleasant. But sometimes your inner critic, because it tries to protect you or keep you safe, is relevant, but most of the time it repeats the language which your parents used and your most dominant parent used to you in your childhood. So, that inner critic is not helping you and I would suggest to transform your inner critic into an inner cheerleader.

So, self-kindness. The third one is help others. If you want to keep your brain fit, just help others and that doesn't mean like big things.

You can just greet people. You can just, if you go into the supermarket, keep the door open for someone else or if somebody has some problems with a computer and you say, hey, do you want any help? And it can be very small things and most likely these small things you can do every day. Maybe your neighbor is sick and say, hey, can I get you some food from the supermarket? Or better, you want some food which we have cooked.

So, helping others. And the next one is diverge and converge. What does it mean? Diverge means that you allow your curiosity to go where you want it to go and not say, oh, you're looking into something which is not relevant for my work or my hobbies.

No, it's okay. It's okay to be curious and to look into things where you have no clue about but you're like, I would like to know what these red birds are with these red feathers and making loud noises. What are they? That's your curiosity.

Follow it. It's really good. And once you have followed your curiosity, then later you can, what they call converge, which means bring it more together.

So, diverge is going wide. Converge is bringing it together and create something out of all the experiences you have. And that doesn't mean the experiences from just this week or the last month.

You can have topics which you viewed for years and years and years in your life and then all of a sudden you see an application and you create something out of that for a topic where you had no clue years ago that it would be so useful. So, I would like to repeat these basics for your brain fitness. Fulfilling, self-kindness, help others, diverge and converge.

We conclude each session with some examples of everyday beauty because beauty and especially moral beauty like kindness, again, courage, compassion has a very positive influence on your inner state. Today's topic is about a positive use of artificial intelligence and it's artificial intelligence protecting elephants. In certain areas there are acoustic sensor networks deployed in forest canopies and they now can detect the sounds of poachers, chainsaws and illegal vehicles in real time using AI analysis.

And that gives rangers, the guy who take care of the parks, of the wild parks, early warning that protects both elephants and the forest they live in. Please remember, we need your uniqueness. Be a better maker for yourself, for others, for the world.

#13 What do you do effortlessly?

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks one of the most underrated questions you can ask yourself — and then delivers a quote that reframes addiction in a way that might just change how you see your own habits. Short, sharp and thought-provoking as always.

The Question

What do you do effortlessly?

Society tells us that if something doesn't require struggle, it's not worth doing — that is wrong
The things that come easily to you are where your natural talent lives
Effortless ability is not something to dismiss — it's something to build on and put out into the world
Whether it's cooking, writing, singing or something else entirely — if it flows, that's a signal worth paying attention to
You don't need to fight your way to your calling — sometimes you just need to notice what already comes naturally

The Quote

"People are addicted because they want to escape their normal state of suffering and suppression."

Addiction is not a character flaw — it's a response to an inner state that feels unbearable
Social media, alcohol, drugs, even scrolling — they all deliver a temporary dopamine hit that masks the real issue
Arnold spent years drinking to decompress from corporate stress — until he started working for himself 25 years ago and stopped entirely
When you build an inspiring inner state, the need for escape disappears
If you spend more than an hour a day on your phone without knowing what you're doing — that is worth examining honestly

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #QuestionAndQuote #UnleashYourUniqueness #NaturalTalent #Addiction #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness

#12 Emotions as Forces

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 11:49:49 -0300

In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes makes a case that most of us have been taught to ignore our most powerful operating system — our emotions. From suppressed feelings showing up as back pain, to fear being weaponised by media and governments, to the Nobel Prize-winning insight that we are feeling machines that think — this is a conversation that reframes everything.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why most of us have been conditioned since childhood to suppress our emotions — and what that costs us
How suppressed emotions manifest as physical pain — and why most back pain has nothing to do with your back
Why fear is the most common emotion in modern society — and how it attracts exactly what you don't want
How to use emotions positively by attaching feeling to your aspirations and goals
Why Nobel Prize winners say we are feeling machines that think — not thinking machines that feel

Key Takeaways

Emotions are generative forces — they shape how you feel, how you perform and how you connect with others
A society flooded with fear-based media, marketing and politics is doing it deliberately — awareness is your first defence
Aspiration without feeling attached to it is just a thought — add the emotion and it becomes a force
Your emotional system is your operating system — trying to live without it is like running a computer with no software
Everyday beauty matters — consciously noticing kindness, courage and compassion improves your inner state every single day

Everyday Beauty

A team at the University of Rochester has developed solar panels that turn ocean water into clean drinking water — with no toxic brine, no chemical additives and self-cleaning capability. The leftover salt even produces lithium. A genuinely remarkable example of human ingenuity solving two problems at once.

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #EmotionsAsForces #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness #FeelingMachines #UnleashYourUniqueness #EverydayBeauty

#11 Question & Quote

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 11:47:18 -0300

In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes cuts straight to the point with one powerful question and one memorable quote. No fluff, no filler — just the kind of thinking that makes you stop, look in the mirror and ask yourself what you've been holding back.

The Question

What would you like to do, but you don't do because you are afraid of other people's opinions?

We are wired to fit in — but fitting in often means shrinking down
Family, friends, colleagues and social media all shape what we allow ourselves to pursue
Arnold persisted with brain fitness when the industry had a bad reputation — and was proven right
A lawyer who made extraordinary cakes refused to turn it into a business because of what people might think — and stayed stuck as a result
The opinions of others are limitations you choose to accept — you can also choose not to

The Quote

"People only want to retire if they don't like their work."

If you love what you do, retirement is not the goal — it's not even appealing
Governments are already pushing retirement age toward 70 — the old model is breaking down
Stopping work has a measurable negative impact on your brain
The answer isn't to keep doing work you hate — it's to start doing something you don't want to stop

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #UnleashYourUniqueness #QuestionAndQuote #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #Retirement #DoWhatYouLove #Consciousness #InnerWork

#10 Principles for Brain Fitness – Part 2

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 11:44:43 -0300

In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes continues his series on the principles of brain fitness, adding three powerful new ones to the framework. From practicing integrally to nurturing your right hemisphere and unleashing your uniqueness — this is a practical, no-nonsense guide to doing the real inner work. Plus, a beautifully grounding example of everyday beauty from Uganda.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why fixing just one thing in your life rarely works — and what practicing integrally really means
How your mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, social and environmental states are all connected and influencing each other
Why your right hemisphere is being deliberately neglected — and how nurturing it changes everything
The invisible straitjackets that are blocking your full potential — and how to start removing them
How Ugandan coffee farmers in the Masaka region used regenerative agriculture to shrug off a drought — and what that teaches us about resilience

Key Takeaways

You are not a mechanistic car with replaceable parts — everything inside you is connected
Going to the gym and then drinking beer to celebrate is the perfect example of not practicing integrally
Logic and rationality are overrated — your right hemisphere holds your intuition, big picture thinking and higher senses
Your uniqueness is already there — it just needs to be unleashed from the limiting beliefs placed on you by the outside world
Your inner state creates your outer reality — which is why working on it every single day matters

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainFitness #ArnoldBeekes #PracticeIntegrally #RightHemisphere #UnleashYourUniqueness #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness #EverydayBeauty

#9 Q&Q — What Health Habit Would You Change?

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Welcome to Episode 9 of Between The Ears, host Arnold Beekes' Q&Q format designed to help listeners unlock and use their own uniqueness. This episode's question asks listeners to identify one health-related habit, whether it's food, drink, sleep, or even the people they spend time with daily, that they'd like to change, starting small rather than aiming for a big overhaul. Arnold pairs it with a quote on the danger of comparison: "If you care what other people think, you will become the same. You will never raise beyond," unpacking how constant comparison, especially through social media, caps us at merely matching others rather than embracing our own uniqueness.

Topics Covered

Introducing this episode's question: what health-related habit would you like to change?
Habits related to food, drink, sleep, and the people around you
Starting small: identifying one habit and replacing it with a better one
This episode's quote: "If you care what other people think, you will become the same"
How comparison, at work, at home, and especially on social media, limits us
Why caring what others think caps you at sameness rather than uniqueness
The invitation to treasure and go beyond through your own uniqueness

About Arnold Beekes

Arnold Beekes is the host of Between The Ears, a podcast built around the idea that your inner state creates your outer reality. Having lived in five different countries, Arnold draws on his own experiences to help listeners build a better life between the ears, one episode at a time.

Connect with Arnold Beekes
🧠 Inner Fitness for Modern Life: https://braingym.fitness/
🧠 Inner Leadership Training for Ambitious Leaders: https://www.brainathletes.club/
🧠 Innovation Mindset for Exponential Change: https://www.innovationathletes.club/
🤝 Join our free Brain Health community: https://www.skool.com/brain-fitness-7070
🔗 https://bio.link/beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #QandQ #HealthHabits #Comparison #Uniqueness #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #PodfatherNetwork

#8 Principles to Upgrade Your Brain (Part 1)

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Welcome to Episode 8 of Between The Ears. In the first half of a two-part series, host Arnold Beekes shares three foundational principles for taking ownership of your brain and improving your brain fitness. Arnold makes the case for genuinely thinking for yourself rather than memorizing and adopting the opinions of teachers, religious leaders, doctors, or bosses; approaching life with a beginner's mind so you notice what familiarity has trained you to overlook; and learning to see beauty in small, everyday moments rather than only in rare, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring how Swiss farmers cut pest damage in half simply by planting wildflowers between their crops.

Topics Covered

Introducing a three-part (six-principle) series on upgrading your brain
Principle 1: think for yourself, rather than copying the opinions of authority figures
How school trains memorization rather than independent thought
Principle 2: be a beginner, even in areas of life you feel experienced in
Why a beginner's mindset helps you notice what you've stopped seeing
Principle 3: see beauty in daily life, not just rare or memorable moments
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: Swiss farmers reducing pest damage by planting wildflower strips between crops, now being trialed across 15 UK farms

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainFitness #ThinkForYourself #BeginnersMind #EverydayBeauty #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #PodfatherNetwork #MoralBeauty

#7 Q&Q — What Do You Need to Feel Safe?

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Welcome to Episode 7 of Between The Ears, the first in host Arnold Beekes' new Q&Q format: a question and a quote designed to help listeners unlock and use their own uniqueness. This episode's question invites listeners to sit with what they truly need to feel safe, whether mentally, emotionally, physically, socially, or otherwise, and to take real time (a few days, or the weekend) to reflect rather than answer immediately. Arnold pairs it with his own quote: "Your life starts when you stop copying others," challenging the habit, reinforced by school and social media alike, of measuring ourselves against other people instead of discovering what's genuinely our own.

Topics Covered

Introducing the Q&Q format: a question to ponder and a quote to inspire
This episode's question: what do you need to feel safe?
The many dimensions of safety: mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, environmental, social
Why school conditions us to copy and memorize rather than think originally
How social media reinforces constant comparison with others
This episode's quote: "Your life starts when you stop copying others"
The invitation to discover and use your own uniqueness

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #QandQ #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfDiscovery #Uniqueness #Reflection #PodfatherNetwork #BrainFitness

#6 Causes of Mental Dis-ease

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Welcome to Episode 6 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores what he calls "mental dis-ease" rather than mental illness, rejecting the idea that most people struggling with anxiety, depression, or stress have something medically wrong with them. Instead, Arnold walks through four factors he sees as the root causes: the stress of living two lives (meeting others' expectations versus living authentically), a fear-based societal environment amplified by media and corruption, heavy smartphone and social media use, and reduced sunlight exposure. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring a Canadian woman's story of rescuing a crow and being unofficially adopted into its flock.

Topics Covered

Why Arnold uses "dis-ease" instead of "illness" or "disorder"
Challenging the chemical imbalance explanation for depression and anxiety
The difference between the healthcare industry and genuine health
Cause 1: stress from living two lives — meeting others' expectations vs. living authentically
Cause 2: a fear-based societal environment amplified by media, movies, and corruption
Cause 3: smartphone and social media use, comparison culture, and "digital dementia"
Cause 4: Arnold's views on reduced sunlight exposure and its effect on mood and wellbeing
Reframing struggle as a response to environment, not personal failure
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: a woman in British Columbia rescued a crow and was later "adopted" by its flock

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #MentalHealth #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #Stress #BrainFitness #EverydayBeauty #MoralBeauty #PodfatherNetwork #MindsetShift

#5 Three Starting Points for Brain Fitness

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Welcome to Episode 5 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes lays out three foundational starting points for making brain fitness a daily habit, just as most people already do with physical fitness. Arnold defines brain fitness as choosing your uniqueness, learning continuously, handling challenges well, and contributing to a better world for all, and walks through why so many people struggle with this given rising rates of anxiety, stress, and burnout. He covers why your current state isn't your fault but is your responsibility, introduces the idea that we function with three brains (head, heart, and gut) rather than one, and explains why shifting from external to internal control is essential for genuine wellbeing. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring a family of beavers that solved a persistent flooding problem in West London.

Topics Covered

Defining brain fitness: choosing uniqueness, learning, handling challenges, and contributing
Why rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout are rising globally
Starting point 1: it's not your fault, but it is your responsibility
Debunking the "chemical imbalance" narrative
Starting point 2: we have three brains — head, heart, and gut
What coherence means when all three brains work in sync
Starting point 3: moving from external control to internal control
How judgment from others (bosses, spouses, children) can quietly run your emotional state
Taking back your power by focusing on what you actually want
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: beavers solving a flooding problem in West London

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainFitness #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #ThreeBrains #InternalControl #MentalHealthMatters #Coherence #MoralBeauty #EverydayBeauty #PodfatherNetwork

#4 Uniqueness

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:01:00 -0300

Welcome to Episode 4 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores why uniqueness matters and why our systems, from education to capitalism, work to suppress it in favor of predictable sameness. Arnold breaks down why copying someone else's "successful" method rarely works, walking through why trying to replicate someone else's results can leave you capped at a fraction of their success, and shares Scott Adams' alternative: rather than chasing being the best at one thing, become very good at two or more things and combine them. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring the story of Italy's expanding forests and the ecological and social renewal following them.

Topics Covered

Why we're all born unique, yet uniqueness gets suppressed
How education and uniforms train us toward sameness
The link between suppressed uniqueness and chronic stress and disease
Why copying a "successful" method rarely produces the same results
Breaking down the compounding subtractions: context, execution, mindset, and energy
Scott Adams' framework: be the best at one thing, or very good at two or more
How combining two or more strengths creates rare, valuable work
Identifying your own effortless strengths as the starting point for uniqueness
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: Italy's expanding forests, their ecological value, and their role in reversing rural depopulation

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #Uniqueness #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfDiscovery #ScottAdams #Individuality #MoralBeauty #EverydayBeauty #PodfatherNetwork #BrainFitness

#3 Identity

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 17:38:46 -0300

Welcome to Episode 3 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes tackles the topic of identity, exploring why so many of us mistake our roles, labels, and job titles for who we actually are, and how that mistaken identity quietly limits us. Arnold draws on real examples, from people who lose their sense of self after being laid off, to a group of refugees in Uganda who introduced themselves by that label alone, to show how easily we box ourselves in with words like "I'm a nurse," "I'm a Christian," or "I'm a refugee." The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring the simple practice of talking to strangers and a Paris exhibition reuniting Nazi-looted artworks with their rightful owners.

Topics Covered

Why we mistake our identity for a fixed, unchangeable thing
How losing a job can feel like losing your entire identity
The "box" that job titles and labels put people in
Roles versus identity: parent, caretaker, believer, nationality
A story from coaching refugees in Uganda about the danger of self-labeling
Robert Greene's idea that "etiquette is deception" and the masks we wear
Reframing identity: you are not your labels, you are awareness having an experience
The ancient invitation to "know thyself"
Asking not just "who am I" but "what do I really want"
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: talking to strangers, and the Musée d'Orsay's exhibition reuniting Nazi-looted artworks with unidentified rightful owners

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #Identity #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfDiscovery #KnowThyself #LabelsVsIdentity #MoralBeauty #EverydayBeauty #PodfatherNetwork #BrainFitness #SelfAwareness

#2 Good Enough

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 17:14:14 -0300

Welcome to Episode 2 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores why so many of us carry the persistent feeling of not being good enough, tracing it back to how conformity gets enforced through conditional love and approval, from parents and teachers to bosses and friends. Arnold breaks down why this feeling is a tool, not a truth, and makes the case for recognizing it, rejecting it, and finally accepting that you are already good enough exactly as you are. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring a story of neighborly kindness during a power outage and an animal therapy program using donkeys to help psychiatric patients in France.

Topics Covered

Why the feeling of "not good enough" is nearly universal
How conditional love is used to enforce conformity, starting in childhood
The role of parents, teachers, bosses, and friends in reinforcing this feeling
Why performance reviews and school grading systems focus on flaws, not strengths
A personal story about quitting a hockey team over pressure to drink alcohol
Why people resist those who don't conform ("mavericks" and "outcasts")
How the "not good enough" feeling keeps you out of the present moment
Reframing the belief: accepting that you are already good enough
The show's closing theme of "everyday beauty," including a neighbor's kindness during a power outage and a donkey-assisted therapy program in France

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #GoodEnough #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfWorth #Conformity #ConditionalLove #SelfAcceptance #MentalHealthMatters #PresentMoment #EverydayBeauty #MoralBeauty #PodfatherNetwork #BrainFitness

#1 Live Your Own Life

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:18:56 -0300

Are you living your own life, or someone else's? In this debut episode of Between The Ears, host Arnold Beekes explores how from childhood onward, we're trained to meet the expectations of parents, teachers, and eventually bosses, until "being good" simply means doing what someone else wants. Arnold explains why living two lives at once, someone else's during work hours and your own in the evenings and weekends, is a major source of chronic stress, and why that stress can eventually show up as back pain, burnout, or depression. He invites listeners to start looking inward instead of outward to figure out what they actually want, and to take back control of their own behavior. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, including a story from Nanaimo, Canada, where a young boy's persistence in knocking on doors in the middle of the night helped save his father's life.

Topics Covered

Why most people are living someone else's life without realizing it
How childhood conditioning trains us to meet other people's expectations
The link between living two lives and chronic stress
How chronic stress can lead to burnout, depression, and physical pain
Taking back control by looking inward instead of outward
The practice of greeting strangers on daily walks
The story of a boy in Nanaimo, BC, whose persistence saved his father's life
The show's closing theme of "everyday beauty" and moral beauty

About Arnold Beekes

Connect with Arnold Beekes

🧠 Inner Fitness for Modern Life: https://braingym.fitness/
🧠 Inner Leadership Training for Ambitious Leaders: https://www.brainathletes.club/
🧠 Innovation Mindset for Exponential Change: https://www.innovationathletes.club/
🤝 Join our free Brain Health community: https://www.skool.com/brain-fitness-7070

https://bio.link/beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #LiveYourOwnLife #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfImprovement #MentalHealthMatters #ChronicStress #BurnoutRecovery #MoralBeauty #TakeBackControl #PodfatherNetwork #MindsetShift #EverydayBeauty #SelfAwareness #BrainFitness