The exact same situation often prompts very different reactions from different people. Bassam Tarazi outlines a range of personas and reactions in his Redefining Optimism Chart:
Though this is a spectrum and people can have mixed reactions, one scenario (the Realistic Optimist) experiences the greatest growth. They take a situation, don’t judge it as “good” or “bad,” and figure out how to use it to fuel their personal development. I like to think that I fit really well into this category (but only after years and years of work!)
On today’s Broken Brain Podcast, our host Dhru talks to Bassam Tarazi. Bassam is the author of In 5 Years You’ll Be Wrong, Borders, Bandits, And Baby Wipes and my personal favorite, The Accountability Effect. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded The Nomading Film Festival and The Ignition Lab. A wanderer at heart, he’s also traveled to 73 countries and all 7 continents, having had such absurd experiences as getting to Everest Base Camp and the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, convincing Fidel Castro to sign his passport, living on an Alaskan glacier for 8 days, and being hunted by a pig-tailed macaque in the jungles of Borneo.
In this episode, Dhru and Bassam talk about the importance of accountability, and how important it is for completing big goals and dreams. They discuss anchor friends and how to have open communication about your (and their) needs. They talk about how to live a fulfilled life and be the person you want to be. And they challenge you not to attempt to change the world, but to change the moment.
In this episode, we dive into:
- Why “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is not the right question to be asking (2:57)
- What the “accountability effect” is (7:40)
- Bassam shares a personal story about privilege (11:08)
- How to help change the moment (20:08)
- Bassam’s Eulogy Exercise (23:15)
- Redefining optimism essay discussion (26:59)
- A time when Bassam struggled to step into accountability (34:27)
- How hiding can be the opposite of accountability (37:22)
- Outside resources that helped steer Bassam to accountability (40:42)
- How important anchor friends are (43:19)
- Why it’s so important to have open (sometimes tough) communication with our closest tribe (50:23)
- How to get from hope to action (58:10)
- More about The Accountability Effect book (1:05:28)
- More info on Bassam’s other books (1:08:33)
For more on Bassam, you can follow him on Instagram @bassamtarazi, on Twitter @BassamTarazi, on Facebook @bassam.tarazi, and through his website here. To access his free ebook, The Accountability Effect, click here.
To check out Bassam’s free resource: “ChangeX” assessment, go here.
Also mentioned in this podcast is Bassam’s TEDx talk, the book, Poke the Box by Seth Godin, and author Steven Pressfield.