73. Deliberate Life

We share reflections from Bali, where we've spent two weeks recording our long-awaited Deliberate Life programme—a project eight years in the making. We discuss the unique energy of Ubud, Bali's spiritual centre, where ceremonies happen daily and spiritual practices are woven into everyday life. Through personal examples from our time here—cacao ceremonies, sound meditations, temple purification rituals, and tarot card readings—we explore how immersing ourselves in this environment has enriched both our work and our experience of deliberate living. We reflect on the power of setting intentions through ritual, describing how three guiding principles emerged from our opening ceremony: magic, trust, and challenge. We examine how the Deliberate Life framework applies to our own lives during this intense period of creation. The week brought both profound joy and unexpected grief, with news of a best friend's terminal cancer arriving mid-project—a stark reminder of memento mori and the importance of seizing the day. We discuss the value of zooming out to see life's bigger picture, appreciating what we have rather than fixating on details to fix. We explore the concept of ikigai—work that combines what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for—and recognise this project as our own ikigai. We conclude by announcing that the podcast will be renamed "Deliberate Life" and that our standalone programme, designed to help others move from autopilot to intentional living, will be available soon.