EP. 75 “We are all essentially shades of shadow to light, and the shadow is just aspects of ourselves that we haven’t forgiven and brought into light yet.”
Like many of us, David Newell started out on the traditional path through life. After graduating, he took a lucrative career in investment banking and all was good for a while – until he burnt out aged just 25. The burnout was so severe that David was forced to quit working and take 6 months to recover and find himself again.
But as often is the case, this rock-bottom moment blossomed into an opportunity for massive healing and self-discovery. In this time, David chose to travel, invest in retreats, and get curious about life. This healing journey uncovered an enduring need to dive deep into the inner self to understand the workings of the mind. It’s where his Inner Truth podcast and business was born – work that he loves and work that provides a platform for continuous growth.
Nowadays, David is obsessed with diving deeper and exploring further. It’s a journey that’s taken him from the Amazon, to temples, to everything in between. He’s read books, taken courses, had deep conversations and met indigenous cultures – all fuelled by his desire to figure out what it takes to live a good life.
In fact, thanks to David’s many explorations (including a trip to the 10th dimension courtesy of Toad Medicine), he’s developed a level of consciousness that inspires me. And I’m sure you’ll feel the same when you tune into this deep and meaningful conversation about life, love, and everything in between.
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Everything is the pursuit of love. Even in the most twisted and wobbly and fear-bound and shadowy and sometimes manipulative ways, it’s all an attempt to find love.
In this episode, David and I explore the meaning of life from all kinds of angles. This is a great one for thought-provoking questions and ideas that will challenge your thinking and inspire a fresh perspective.
Tune in to hear about:
- David’s trip to the 10th dimension and the universal truths he discovered there
- The 10kg appearance lesson that collapsed David’s lung and taught him to ‘rest’ into what nature gives you
- Why everything in life is actually taking place inside you (and how you can leverage this insight to live a good life).
- What becomes possible when you take responsibility for EVERYTHING that happens in your life (including the things you don’t want to own).
- David’s four-part Life Visioning Process that will help you create a life well lived.
- A powerful decision that ensures you can create a life where it’s possible to do it all.
- Exciting details about the groundbreaking human design product that David is getting ready to launch.
And so much more. Can’t wait to hear your takeaways about this doozy.
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Everything is the pursuit of love. Even in the most twisted and wobbly and fear-bound and shadowy and sometimes manipulative ways, it’s all an attempt to find love.
Time Stamped Show Notes
[5:59] We jump right in. I ask David, why the pursuit of an internal truth is such an important journey for him? He acknowledges that that wasn’t always the case, he started his life very much focused on the external. In undergraduate and graduate school he was in a highly competitive atmosphere – everyone was pitched against each other as they were all vying for the same positions. He says that the environment created a weaponized version of himself and that, for all of the wrong reasons, lead him to investment banking. For almost 4 years he worked 12-15 hour days and eventually, at age 25, he burnt out and broke down psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. He left work, his home, his relationship and spent 6 months traveling. While away he was able to calm his mind down to a point where he could start putting things back together, this time it was all under a new internal focus.
[13:06] David and I talk about the shadow sides, the aspects of ourselves that we haven’t yet forgiven or brought to the light. I ask him what were the most painful shadows that he’s had to shine a light on? He says most painful one is still a work in progress, however, the most liberating experience was releasing his attachment to physical self-image. He stopped undergoing extreme efforts to change and “improve” his image.
[23:52] I chat with David about how the outer environment is a reflection of the inner environment and how much I dig the notion that loving ourselves is the same as loving everyone else. When self-love is at play, when we’ve forgiven ourselves, start understanding ourselves and become empathetic with who we are, we have the ability to apply that same forgiveness, understanding, forgiveness, and empathy to others and their experiences. By experiencing our own inner truth, we become aware of the truth in others.
[36:10] David believes that the art of life and the art of pursuing inner work is balance, I ask him what that balance looks like in his life. He pursues the things that he’s curious about and not necessarily that good at. Since many of these curiosities are tied to longer time goals, it gives him the freedom and the permission to just do the work no matter how difficult it may be. He references a quote from Jordan Peterson, “there’s nothing better than a problem worth solving.” David finds meaning in the depth of that process.
[51:27] David stays grounded with breathing. His breathing practices allow him the opportunity to stop and realign. He describes an exercise that he does and the impact that it has; he says that it drops him into presence, no matter what the situation is.
David Newell