167. How to Both 'Be' and 'Do': Suneel Gupta, Author of ‘Everyday Dharma’ [reads] ‘The Alchemy of Opposites’

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Tolstoy famously started his novel Anna Karenina, “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” A twist on that: stories of success are all alike. Stories of failure are where things get interesting. 

I love someone who knows how to share their failures well. When I get introduced as a keynote speaker, I have them mention that I was banned from my high school graduation and left law school being sued by one of my professors. And that's just a start. If I say so myself. My failures are what's helped me find my edge. 

Suneel Gupta presents as a success. He's an entrepreneur who founded and led Rise, a breakthrough wellness company. He is a bestselling author and a speaker and a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. But that's not where he started. At one point, he was literally the face of failure. “Today,” Suneel says, “I make a career out of studying what I think are some of the most extraordinary people on the planet at their most disappointing moments to understand what it was that helped them endure through that.” Get‌ ‌book‌ ‌links‌ ‌and‌ ‌resources‌ ‌at‌ https://www.mbs.works/2-pages-podcast/

Suneel reads ‘The Alchemy of Opposites’ by Rodolfo Scarfalloto. [reading begins at 15:45] 

Hear us discuss:

Long-term success can come from short-term embarrassment, if you know what to do with it. [2:26] | Your purpose is “already inside of you. And the work, for lack of a better word, is really just to strip these layers away to understand what that essence is.” [10:25] | Merging ambition and joy is about “figuring out what makes you come alive.” [20:00] | “What I realized over time is that this journey that we're on, is an everyday journey. …you don't need to wait for big moments in order to put what you're learning into practice.” [25:40]