#31 – Daniele Bolelli – HAPPINESS.info

Daniele Bolelli is a man of multiple talents. He is; the author of many books including the hugely popular titles: ‘On the Warrior’s Path’ and ‘Create Your Own Religion’, he is a University professor, he holds a fifth degree black belt in Kung Fu, he has coached and fought professionally in mixed martial arts and also has his own podcast called The Drunken Taoist Podcast, which was ranked number 1 in the world in the Philosophy section of iTunes.

In This Episode:

One of Daniele’s heroes is the Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet from the 1400’s called Ikkyu Sojun. He explains what it is about him that he loves so much.
“If you dedicate your whole life to one thing and one thing only, it’s very limiting”
“Most motivational speeches tell you that if you try hard enough, if you stay true to your dreams, if you keep fighting the good fight then eventually things will work out for the best. Daniele explains his concerns with this.
“Look at reality for all of it’s ugly stuff, for how stuff doesn’t work, or sometimes there is no rhyme or reason and bad shit happens and acknowledge all of that….and then try to figure out a way to make the absolute best of it”
Why the idea of “everything happens for a reason.” is a delusional maxim in his eyes.
We discuss facing fears head on and confronting them rather than pretending they are not there.
Daniele explains his relationship with failure and how he he’d much prefer to fail giving every last inch of himself rather than not even attempt something because you are afraid of the result (and therefore fail by default).
“If you are going to fail, fail in epic fashion”
Why “Joy in the midst of desperation” would be his main commandment?
Daniele shares a fantastic analogy about finding joy regardless of how bad your circumstance appears to be.
He discusses how he was able to persevere and get through a great personal tragedy.
Why he encourages his daughter to both question everything while at the same time keeping an open mind.
I ask him about ying and yang and the significance of this idea of balance and there being two sides to everything.
Why Daniele resonates with Taoism.
What does a fulfilled life mean to Daniele?
What is 1 thing all our listeners can do today that will have a massive positive effect on their lives?
Which books or resources have changed/had a big impact on your life?