DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Mark Goulston interviews author Sunil Gupta about his book 'Everyday Dharma' and the practices he discovered from studying extraordinary people who overcame failure and found their purpose. Gupta shares how he became known as the 'face of failure' after a viral article about his failed tech startups, which led him to reach out to successful people and learn from their stories of overcoming low points.
Gupta explains that finding one's dharma, or essence and purpose, is not about making drastic life changes but making small alignments to express your true self through your daily actions. He provides examples like a woman who found fulfillment in a training role that allowed her to help others grow, her core desire. Gupta also discusses the importance of vulnerability, undivided attention, and managing impulses like anger.
The conversation touches on personal anecdotes from Goulston and Gupta about parenting, appreciating loved ones, and being present in the moment. Gupta encourages looking 'under the hood' of unfulfilled dreams to find the underlying essence that can potentially be expressed in one's current circumstances.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Finding your 'dharma' or life purpose is about making small daily efforts to align your actions with your core essence, not drastic life changes.
- Looking 'under the hood' of unfulfilled dreams can reveal the underlying motivations that could potentially be expressed through your current circumstances.
- Maintaining vulnerability, openness and curiosity provides a pathway to greater authenticity and purpose.
- Prioritize quality 'full-hearted' presence over simply filling your schedule with tasks and obligations.
- Manage impulses like anger through small practices that lengthen the space between impulse and response.
- Express appreciation and undivided attention to loved ones to nurture those vital connections.
- Extraordinary people often find their purpose by persevering through periods of failure or struggle.
- Finding alignment between your actions and inner essence brings greater energy, enthusiasm and joy to daily life.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Curiosity is the gateway. Genuine, non judgmental curiosity is the gateway.“ by Sunil Gupta
- “And I think the myth, Mark, is that we have to abandon our life in order to transform the way that we live. But oftentimes, our dharma is right within the reach of us right now.“ by Sunil Gupta
- “One of the guiding principles of dharma is that having, you know, being full hearted is much better than being fully scheduled. In other words, it's much better to be full hearted and half scheduled than fully scheduled and half hearted.“ by Sunil Gupta
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Episode Information
My Wakeup Call with Dr. Mark Goulston
Great Love Media
10/3/23
In this episode I speak with returning guest, Suneel Gupta, author of, "EVERYDAY DHARMA: 8 Essential Practices for Finding Success and Joy in Everything," whose wakeup call was failing at two tech startups and becoming famous for that just as the movement of sharing and learning from failures caught on. In his wonderful book he interviews many successful people who also failed and what it taught them. https://www.suneelgupta.com/