Pod Insights Good Life Project Reimagining Midlife: My 2x20 Project™ Update & the Power of Experiments About this episode In this deeply personal episode, Jonathan Fields reveals the transformative results of his two-year, 2x20 Project™experiment—an intentional journey of reinvention designed to set up the next 20 years of his life.
Through candid reflections on hands-on creativity, meaningful connections, and confronting long-held fears, Jonathan shares how this structured yet fluid approach to life redesign has led to unexpected breakthroughs and a clearer vision of what it means to live authentically.
Links mentioned in this episode:
A Surprisingly Simple Way to Heal Chronic Pain that ACTUALLY Works? | Nicole Sachs, LCSW https://pod.link/goodlifeproject/episode/NjdiZjY5MjI2Yjk3NmMzMzUxMzNkZWVjWhy Secrets Wreck Us: a Science-backed Practice to Reveal and Heal | James W. Pennebaker https://pod.link/goodlifeproject/episode/NjgxMTI0NzM5NzA0ZDk5Zjg0MWM2ZThlLearn more about the 2x20 Experience™ here https://www.2x20.life/.
Episode Transcript https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/midlife-reinvention-intentional-living-personal-transformation
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Transcript 14,772 words · 4 speakers
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0:00 Jonathan Fields? So what if the most important project you ever started wasn't a book, a company, or a movement, but the complete intentional, sometimes messy redesign of your own life? What if you gave yourself a two-year window, all focused, all in, you know, just a season of learning and doing, to set the foundation for the most fulfilling two decades of your life? I first shared this adventure with you, this thing I call my two by 20, about a year and a half ago, I guess. And for nearly two years now, 24 months of experiments, fear confronted, incredible breakthroughs, and the occasional necessary face plant, I've been living that question.
0:43 Jonathan Fields? I've been asking myself, what might I learn, do, or build in these two years that would set up my next 20 to center lightness, meaning, and joy? And friends, we are here. The two-year window is closing, and that 20-year next big season has been set in motion. The learn and do window is transitioning to build and live. And what I have learned about myself, about work, about relationships, about what it means to be alive and connected in this moment is nothing short of radical. It's shaken my foundational beliefs in the best possible way. And today, I'm pulling back the curtain on the final chapter of this intensive learning and doing phase.
1:25 Jonathan Fields? I'll share a bit of what's happening as I finally start facing one of my big fears and stepping into the role of artist. I'll tell you about the power of running experiments the right way, rather than just declaring a path. The unexpected alchemy of leading a two by 20 retreat, the deep lessons I learned from the very first brave humans who became two by 20 coaching clients, and the transformation of how I think about my public writing versus long-form works like books. And I'll also share some very personal awakenings and questions, and sometimes struggles that I've had, as I moved through this powerful two-year window and started building into my next big 20-year season of work, love, and life.
2:06 Jonathan Fields? If you've been following along, if you're in those middle years of life, if you've felt that persistent tongue of restlessness, or if you've been secretly running your own version of the two by 20, This episode is your dispatch from the front lines. It's about the messy, beautiful, necessary work of becoming who you're meant to be. So buckle up, this is a big one, and for me, a truly personal and kind of profound one. I'm Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project.
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4:15 Jonathan Fields? So two years ago, my two by 20 was just a personal project, a simple way to organize my midlife reflections and kind of channel that energy into intentional action. At 58, I was looking at the two years that I had before I turned 60, and I asked myself a simple question, what can I learn, do, or build in the next two years that has set up the next kind of big season of work and life to feel amazing? And the core qualities that I decided I want to center in the next season were, in the beginning, simplicity, significance, and joy. Though, as you'll soon hear, even those have changed over the last two years. Or actually, it's less that they've changed, I've just gotten a
4:57 Jonathan Fields? lot clearer about what I really, what I really meant by them. And put another way, what the feeling beneath the words were, the things that I had actual control over, no matter what life brings my way. So I started sharing my two by 20. I started calling this project two by 20 because it was two years to set up the next 20. And I shared that in, actually, it was a newsletter post, a Substack post, and then a Good Life Project episode, largely on a dare. Somebody who I knew, who knew I was doing this just in my own personal life, said, I really think you should share this, and kind of dared me to do it, and I did. I honestly never expected the tsunami of response. It was clear, so many of you are just right there with me, navigating this beautiful, sometimes
5:41 Jonathan Fields? terrifying, sometimes messy question of what's next? And how do I make the next chapter the most aligned, and significant, and joyful, and meaningful one yet? We're now at the tail end of this intensive two-year learn and do cycle for me. And yes, I have run a bunch of new experiments since my last updates. Some have been glorious successes, like leading the first ever retreat, actually, which felt like watching a beautiful, profound idea take on physical form. Some have been necessary failures, lessons in alignment, energy management, and What I need to let go of to make room for the quote, "write things" in my next
6:23 Jonathan Fields? season, and a few, like a metalsmithing class and a deeper dive into being a maker, have felt like coming home to who I've always known myself to be, albeit in new and exciting and different ways. And everyone wants to know, what did you learn? Did you figure it all out? Have you achieved simplicity and significance and joy yet? Short answer was not entirely, because life is life. But I'm building this scaffolding to make it a lot more possible. And a lot of it is actually starting to manifest in a powerful, real, felt way. And most importantly, what do I want the next 20 years to actually look like now that my two years are almost up? I'm here to share all of it, the raw
7:05 Jonathan Fields? truths, the hard-won insights, and the exciting, sometimes terrifying new past that it has revealed itself. So I want to start out by revisiting a few of the foundational ideas in the two by 20. Long-term listeners and viewers have heard me talk about this before, but if you're new here, I'll give you a little bit of foundation. So let's go back to the blueprint for a minute. For those who are new or a quick refresher, the whole concept of the two by 20 is built around the guiding question, what might I learn, do, or build in the next two years that would set up my next 20 to center the three defining qualities that you want to feel moving forward? The things you'd love to experience more
7:46 Jonathan Fields? of, maybe even redesign your life around. For me, it started out as simplicity, significance, and joy. So my guiding question became then, what might I learn, do, or build in the next two years that would set up my next 20 to center simplicity, significance, and joy? And your words will likely be different. But I also learned that the three words we start with can sometimes evolve or deepen over time. As we start to get more intentional and precise and learn what we really want, sometimes a different set of three guiding feelings emerge. Or what happened to me, actually realized there was a deeper feeling or state underneath that was the feeling that I wanted to really center. So for example,
8:30 Jonathan Fields? that word simplicity, it evolved into lightness for me. So I thought, life is so complicated, and I tend to say yes to way too many things, making it worse. And then the world piles on, and that leads to the feeling of complexity and stress and overwhelm, sometimes even burnout. So I thought, hey, if I could keep things simpler, well, that would solve the problem, right? But over time, I realized, while I do have a certain say in a certain amount of complexity in my life, there's also a lot of complexity that I don't and won't have control over, or have some control over but not full. Some things I'll never be able to make simple enough for me to be
9:10 Jonathan Fields? okay. From the state of the world to the state of my body as it ages. So by choosing simplicity as one of my guiding words, I was actually choosing a feeling or state that often lies outside my control. And in truth, it wasn't the feeling I was really after. What I really wanted was the ability to know that no matter what comes my way, I can still find a place of lightness, even in the swirl of complexity and a certain lack of agency over elements of both like my own existence inside elements and also elements of the outer world. The thing I'll always have control over, I realize, is my response to these things. The ability to cultivate or return to a place of lightness.
9:54 Jonathan Fields? It's not about blocking out the complexity, or even minimizing it, but rather acknowledging it, acting upon it, doing what I can to change it, while also cultivating the skills, practices, and shifts in mind that will give me access to the feeling of lightness, even in the midst of the swirl and complexity, even when things get hard. So I realized the more actionable word for me, the feeling beneath simplicity for me, was actually lightness. So I've been building the muscle of equanimity in the face of complexity, which counterintuitively gives me greater access to lightness. The aim is to allow
10:38 Jonathan Fields? the complexity and sometimes the angst that comes along with it, to let it in, to let it affect me, and when appropriate, mobilize me, and also to let as much of it as I can. Kind of in the Buddhist lens of it, wash over and through me, rather than smother and destroy me. So I made a similar shift from that second word, also significance, and I slowly saw that evolve from significance to meaning as my second guiding word or feeling. And what I realized is significance for me over time began to feel just, how do you describe this, a little too external.
11:19 Jonathan Fields? Like it was about mattering to other people as the first and most important thing. And of course, in truth, like I do want to matter to other people, at least certain other people. But that's also a really slippery slope to validation, to surrendering your own feelings of being like feeling good about yourself to other people, which I don't want to be a strong force in my life. And I realized what I really wanted to center was the feeling of meaning. Like how I exist in the world, even when I'm doing nothing, feels like it matters, not just to others, but first and foremost, just to me. Like how I show up, what I do, even just the energy I bring to an interaction, or
12:00 Jonathan Fields? the way I express myself, or make or create, feels meaningful to me. I can experience that through the simple act of creation that closes the gap between my sense of taste and expression, even if nobody else ever sees what I create, or the way what I offer lands with someone else. It's this splendid both inside and outside job. It's the feeling that there's a reason to get up in the morning to be. So meaning became my second word. And joy, well, that's still just straight up joy. So those are my three guiding words, lightness, meaning, and joy. And that brings us to a second big awakening in my two by 20. It couldn't just be about contribution or work, because as I've come to know, everything
12:45 Jonathan Fields? affects everything. So it had to be about what I call the three good life buckets. This entire process is filtered through the good life buckets. So bucket number one, vitality. This is about optimizing your state of mind and body, sort of like a foundation there. Bucket number two is what I call the connection bucket, and this is about the depth and quality of your relationship with others, with yourself, with the world, and any sense of something bigger. And the third bucket is contribution, the way you devote effort, or what most people might call work, although It may not, and sometimes, oftentimes, sometimes, depending who you are, is not the thing you get paid for. You can't have a truly good life if any one of those buckets
13:26 Jonathan Fields? are running empty. They're a living, breathing ecosystem, feeding each other. And in the beginning, I thought my two by twenty would be largely about contribution, but it became clear, it really does have to be about all the buckets. You've got to put all three of the buckets in play, because everything affects everything. And finally, to keep from just kind of wandering aimlessly, I kept coming back to a set of core guidelines. One, the guiding question is the anchor. Filter every decision through the question of lightness, significance, and joy. Two, always be running experiments. Get out of your head. Don't just think your way to an answer. It does not work. And I'll talk
14:10 Jonathan Fields? a lot more about that in a bit. Feel your way and act your way there. Number three, inaction is not an option. Keep moving, keep learning, keep doing, keep bumping up against things that will then generate data that informs what comes next. And four, and this may be unique to me, resist the urge to commit too early. Hold the door open, explore, trust the process. This is one of the hardest things for my maker, scientist self, who just wants to build the thing now. I'm just constantly want to go into like, okay, I'm committing, I'm doing this new thing, I'm building it, this is where I'm. And it was really important to not do that. Even when I was getting hits like this is definitely going to be a part of what comes next, to keep holding myself open to other possibilities
14:55 Jonathan Fields? so that I really could let those seeds germinate in a powerful way and also create the space for even cooler, more interesting things to enter the conversation. And before we dive into the experiments and awakenings and kind of cool new paths that are emerging from these experiments, and even starting to get built, let's talk a bit more about. Experiments, because I've lived so much of my grown up life as a series of experiments and projects. I took it for granted that everyone just kind of already knows how to choose, how to run, how to assess which experiments would make most sense for them to run in their own lives. And that people actually approached life that way as a series of projects or experiments
15:38 Jonathan Fields? to figure out like, which are the things that give the best information or fun and insightful, and also which help you travel down and create a path that feels like it was just meant for you. Turns out, I was wrong. Apparently, most people don't operate this way. And this was a big awakening. So as part of my own two by 20, and I'll share a bunch more about this shortly, I accepted five coaching clients and in October, 20 retreat participants to go deeper into creating their own two by 20 adventures. And as part of that, I realized I needed to distill my approach to experiments into something that was clear, step by step, and genuinely executable by others, because
16:23 Jonathan Fields? the more conversations I had, the more I realized this is not the way we generally go about life. So I went to work developing sort of a detailed two by 20 experiment process, really largely deconstructing and documenting my own process. It basically walks you through how to run awesome experiments across four different timeframes, from seconds to months, how to choose where to start, define, implement, and then assess them. And it was really cool to see this all take shape and then share it with others and see both the light bulbs go on and the relief on their faces when they realize they didn't have to figure it all out on their own, or just immediately choose a path, but rather they can just run experiments in a really smart and fun way.
17:08 Jonathan Fields? And now I have this great, kind of straightforward, teachable, and coachable framework for running what I call joyful experiments that sits inside my whole two by 20 approach. Now, building on these foundational elements, let's see where the final six months of focused experimentation has taken me. And we'll be right back after a word from our sponsors.
17:33 Jonathan Fields? Good Life Project is sponsored by Bombas. So there's this moment every fall here in Boulder. The morning air is crisp, the light goes golden against the mountains, and something in you just wants to slow down, like soft layers and long walks and a warm mug and a good book. You know, the cozy feeling has just arrived. And cozy really does start at your feet. Bombas just launched new suede moccasins, cushy soles, a shearling lining and water-resistant suede. So a little frost on the grass isn't a problem. Our whole family's sock drawers are basically shrines to Bombas, have been for years. Marina wool for chilly mornings, sports socks for when we get out and move, and compression socks for long travel days, which I'm actually about to have. Opening that drawer, they're just a ripe pair for whatever the day holds.
18:18 Jonathan Fields? But the other thing that has kept me a Bombas fan for all of these years, for every item you buy, Bombas donates an essential clothing item to someone facing housing insecurity. One purchased, one donated. Over 200 million donations and counting. So head over to Bombas.com/goodlife and use the code GOODLIFE for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash good life. Code GOODLIFE at checkout. Good Life Project is sponsored by Sequencing. So in midlife, we start noticing some of the things our parents carried and how they're showing up in their health and their lives and wondering what we're carrying too. Sequencing.com can help. According to Sequencing, most popular DNA tests read about a tenth of 1% of your DNA.
19:03 Jonathan Fields? Sequencing.com reads all 3.2 billion positions and screens for genetic variants linked to over 15,000 diseases, conditions, and traits. That can mean catching inherited risks early and understanding how certain medications may affect you so you can talk it through with your doctor. Just swab your cheek, mail it back, and their CLIA-certified, CATH-accredited US lab handles the rest. Clinical grade, not novelty grade. Your DNA doesn't change, but what we know about it does. So they keep reanalyzing your genome against new research for as long as you remember. And they never sell or share your data, ever. Right now, Sequencing.com is offering our listeners up to 10% off your full genome test plus free shipping.
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20:00 Speaker 01 With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One Bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends, it's pretty much all he talks about, in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com/Bank. Capital One, N.A., Member FDIC.
20:33 Jonathan Fields? I'm spending a lot of time on my contribution bucket, and I have been, especially in the last six months, because that's where the really big seismic shifts have happened. But let's start with the other two buckets, where I've also been running some 2x20 experiments or refining things that I've been doing before. So what we know is that bucket experiments and insights are kind of building the foundation of this. So let's start with vitality bucket experiments under the window or the meta lens of my 2x20. This is the foundation for a lot of people. Without it, the whole structure crumbles, or at least it's an important piece. Interestingly here, my three guiding words still apply in the context of vitality,
21:17 Jonathan Fields? though the application changes a bit. Lightness becomes a literal, physical idea. Am I carrying my body lightly? Is it lean and well? Does it feel light regardless of weight? Can I move with ease and do what I want to? And on the mindset side, can I find ways to return to a mindset of lightness regarding how complex and sometimes heavy life feels around me? Meaning feels a little bit less directly applicable here, but maybe not, we'll talk about that. And joy, for sure, is still central to the experience of vitality in my mind and body. Can I move in ways and experience my body as a source of joy and my mind as well as a driver of joy?
22:03 Jonathan Fields? And the non-negotiables in the contribution side, the activities that I've built into practices and the experiments that I've run, they're still largely in place. So hiking has become a big part of it, three to five times a week for me. It's just a part of me now. And since I've also learned about the blessing of winter hiking clothes, I pretty much keep it going through the winter here in the mountains. Wind or snow, no longer a foe. I actually kind of love hiking in snow now. And as I record this, we're actually at peak leaf season here in Boulder, Colorado. So when you hike up a peak, you just look out over this explosion of gorgeous amber and yellows and oranges and deep reds. And hiking checks all the boxes for me and delivers me into varying experiences
22:47 Jonathan Fields? of lightness and joy, even when my body is tired or achy. And interestingly, the connection I felt with nature and the natural world also, it cultivates a certain sense of meaning in the effort as well. A certain understanding of my place in the world, even a sense of smallness and impermanence that reminds me I'm just a part of a bigger cycle that's been going on for millions of years. And I know it's a little bit heady, but also something I feel in my bones when I'm in nature. That said, I have also been dealing with some body stuff. Kind of the story of my life, to be honest.
23:28 Jonathan Fields? Being a competitive gymnast, mountain biker and rock climber in earlier years have taken a bit of a toll on this here frame over the years. So I've learned that sometimes I actually need to listen to my body and ease off a bit, give it time to recover and heal. Go figure. And maybe explore different forms of movement. So I can kind of have like this swappable basket of ways I like to move my body differently that I can, I can tag in as needed when any given way just becomes challenging for me. And that way, if one isn't working, it's not about just not moving anymore. It's not like, well, I guess like I'm injured or I'm feeling this. I guess I can't exercise, I can't move my body anymore. I have these alternatives already in place.
24:13 Jonathan Fields? It's about shifting gears to something else for a bit that will work. So of course, that also includes things like resistance training, which has been one of my big experiments, kind of a must do, especially as you head into life's later seasons, just to stop what's known as sarcopenia or muscle loss that actually starts to happen to our bodies in our late 30s. I still wouldn't call it fun, at least for me. Let's be honest, it's a commitment, not a joyride. Again, some people may love it. I still don't have, I haven't found that that place in myself yet. But the delayed hit avoidance is a powerful motivator. I mean, I'm thinking about my 80 year old self and, and that makes the investment worth it. The commitment is now to longevity,
24:58 Jonathan Fields? to being able to feel that lightness and joy in my physical and mental body, not just now, but hopefully for years and decades to come, to be able to do what I want to do and move how I want to move for as long as I can. It's an investment that I am happy to make. And I'm also running these fun micro experiments, which I categorize as things that take minutes to hours, things like Tai Chi and Tegong and body weight exercises and more. And super easy to do this from my own home because of the magic of things like, oh, YouTube, where 10 bajillion videos will let you run all these experiments for free from your own home.
25:41 Jonathan Fields? And I've also been exploring some nutrition experiments, right? So let's talk a little bit about nutrition because this is such a fraught issue for so many of us when it comes to vitality. What experiments have I run around the way I fuel my body as a part of my 2x20? Well, over the last two years, there have been so many. I honestly can't count them and many before that. In part because I love doing these kind of experiments, but also because, look, I'm at an age where my body's needs are changing in a pretty noticeable way. And I've been trying to learn how to fuel it properly, not just for today, but for decades from now. I'm trying to optimize for now, but also for 10, 20, God willing, 30 years from now.
26:26 Jonathan Fields? And I've also noticed that in my 50s, Being very frank here, I've added some weight to my frame and I wasn't too happy about it. It's less about how it looks and more about just how it feels and how I feel and also concerns about the impact of long-term health because I've seen the data. I have talked to so many researchers over the years about this and the feeling was limitation and quite literally heaviness and concern, which leads to a psychological sense of heaviness, which is the opposite of lightness, both physically and in the way I feel about myself
27:08 Jonathan Fields? psychologically. So it's not about shaming myself when I think about this, but rather just wanting to feel good and take care of myself and know I'm doing right by my future self and those who also want me in their lives for a long time. Lightness and joy, these are still the drivers, even when it comes to my nutrition and being able to do the things I love at a level that feels good to me. So you can't even imagine the experiments that I have run on the nutrition side. Fasting, intermittent fasting, fasting mimicking, plant-centered, clean protein, gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb, high-fat, unprocessed or un-ultra-processed, tons of water, know this, lots of that, rearing at one point, literally two different types of continuous glucose monitors and taking
27:53 Jonathan Fields? my blood glucose at the same time and ketones. Some of these experiments lasted days, some weeks to months, some had become long-term habits. Now, some made me pretty neurotic and I am generally not a neurotic person at all and I felt like it was like too much. But what I've learned is that it's really individual to your physiology, your psychology and your lifestyle. The only way to know what works for you is to learn what you can, get as much deep information and insight as you can. I've done a lot of testing too and it's been incredibly helpful. And then choose what makes you feel the way you want to feel and gives you the
28:35 Jonathan Fields? long-term outcomes you hope to experience, or at least sets you on a path to that. And at least for me, that also has meant backing off being a total nutrition aesthetic. So sure, I eat in a pretty clean way now, right? Lots of fruits, lots of vegetables, trying to keep my proteins really clean and keep a good balance of macros. Generally gluten-free-ish, dairy-free-ish. There's a lot of forgiveness built into here, there are tolerances. That helps with the whole lightness side of things and lets me feel and do more things that bring me joy and feel like I'm actually doing right for me and for my body and for my future.
29:19 Jonathan Fields? But, but it also means I am not militant about anything. I sometimes eat the pizza, or the bagel, or the rainbow cookie, or the chocolate, because, well, I mean, chocolate is basically my blood type, so that's a whole different story. But, but you know, in moderation, for me, for my psychology, the life I want to live, for my body, those things in moderation, they're not going to do much. And the experience, especially in a social context, assuming these things with people I love and moments and experiences that I love dropping into, that also brings me joy. And it's all about finding the right balance.
30:01 Jonathan Fields? And that's kind of the place that I have come to, individualization and balance. Which brings me to, again, in my vitality bucket experiments, longstanding mindset practices. And here, I'm not actually going to say much. You have heard me blather on about longstanding meditation and breathing practices and how important they've been for me for a long time. So I actually haven't really run many new experiments there. I just keep these practices going in the background because they're so important to my ability to live the life I want to live, relate in the way that I want to relate, be less reactive and more intentional and responsive, and also, again, experience more lightness, experience more meaning, and more joy.
30:46 Jonathan Fields? But one last thing on my two by 20 experiments related to my vitality bucket that I figured I would talk about a little bit that I don't think I have talked about before because it's kind of private to me. But it's also a really common experience. And that is something that I'm actually, I haven't started doing, but I'm planning on doing as I shift into my next 20 mode. I have been exploring the relationship between physical pain and the mind, focusing on a number of different modalities, studying a lot. Two that really popped up on my radar, pain reprocessing therapy and journal speak. I keep wanting to do these experiments, but I've been having trouble fitting them in
31:28 Jonathan Fields? and honestly wondering why. So I am someone who lives with varying levels of chronic pain. I rarely ever talk about it, but it's a part of my life and a part of my story. And I'm also fascinated by how the brain or the mind plays into this or potentially even generates pain and in turn differently harnessed or trained can potentially be the source of alleviation or relief. There is increasing research and evidence on this and more and more modalities that explore it. It used to be like, you know, like, oh, your pain is just psychosomatic. That was a dig. People felt shame. People felt a sense of blame. What we now know is that so many things can happen in our brains that can
32:12 Jonathan Fields? lead to the experience of somatic, physical, felt pain that is actually being generated by our brain. Our brain is always a part of pain. But even if it starts from injury or illness and that is fully resolved, our brain can keep pain going or it can be related to things like past trauma. It can be related to keeping secrets. There's fascinating research on all of this. So I'm going to be doing a bit of a medium duration experiment for probably about 30 days or so, or probably a series of different ones. I think the first one will be using Nicole Sachs' journal speak as a way to see if I can tap the power of writing, as a way to change my
32:53 Jonathan Fields? experience of pain through reprocessing it in my brain. I've had the gift of interviewing Nicole, and also a number of others. Another recent conversation that comes to mind around this was one with Professor James Pennebaker on this topic. And the research is truly compelling. You can go listen to those episodes if you're experiencing pain. That was Nicole Sachs and James Pennebaker, especially if you've tried everything, or you thought you've tried everything, especially the mainstream things, and nothing has really helped, and you're curious about a different approach. So, big picture, what I'm realizing as we zoom the lens out on Vitality Bucket and the experiments that I've been running and still plan to run, is that Vitality for me,
33:34 Jonathan Fields? especially heading into the next season, it isn't about peak performance. It's about resilience and longevity, lightness, meaning, and joy. It's all boiling down to those guiding states. It's about building a body and mind that can handle the complexity that's around me and that I know is coming, and that I, as a maker, will probably create more of. It's a continuous, never-ending investment. So let's move on from Vitality Bucket-based experiments in my 2x20 into Connection Bucket experiments and insights. For me, connection is the oxygen that fills the space created by Vitality. It's where the energy goes out and comes back in, and the touchstones
34:16 Jonathan Fields? remain. And my wife and daughter, and close friends and family, are really at the core of it. So, the Sunday 3-Bucket check-ins with my wife Stephanie have been so powerful, something we both look forward to. And if you haven't heard prior episodes, basically what this is, is every Sunday morning, we sit with a cup of coffee and use the Good Life Buckets as a quick check-in. This can last anywhere from 10 minutes to sometimes it, if there's really a lot to check in with, a couple of hours. And that is actually a great thing when that happens. We share really how full or empty each of the bucket has felt over the last week. We literally go bucket by bucket. We explore what's contributed to the feelings.
34:58 Jonathan Fields? And then we talk about how to support each other or what changes we might want to make to, to keep them feeling better. And of course, when we get to the connection bucket, check in, we include our relationship in there, too. And it's become this great time to get honest about what we're feeling and explore what's driving it, whether the feeling is disconnection or deep connection. It's this safe space to center what needs to be centered, to, to build on what's working, to catch things that are getting hinky before they go off the rails. Did I just use the word hinky, by the way? And to repair what needs repairing. I, I would highly recommend this to anyone.
35:41 Jonathan Fields? So that's a two by 20 experiment that has now become just a part of both of our lives. And I've also been focusing more on being, really being present emotionally on a nano or micro level, meaning on a second to second or a minute to minute basis. Spending a lot of time together, not just being physically present, but also emotionally there. And honestly, that can sometimes be a challenge for me as much as I have these long-term mindset and presencing and attention practices. In no small part because the maker swirl that can sometimes consume me and also because technology constantly kind of like shouts at me. But my mindset practices do help me notice when I'm checked out more quickly and come
36:24 Jonathan Fields? home to the person in conversation that's right in front of me more quickly as well. And they also help me put down the device and turn off notifications. On the connection side, also having our daughter home with us for a bit was this beautiful thing. I can never get enough of being with her, whether we're doing nothing, whether we're walking through a green market, hiking on some beautiful trail together, or just talking about life. It's like soul food for my heart. My wife and daughter are and will always be my ultimate ride or dies. I mean, talk about lightness, meaning and joy. They are the most direct sources of those for me. And of course, then you factor in friends and hikes and coffees and regular calls, which are still bedrock.
37:09 Jonathan Fields? I started running these micro experiments there as well, making sure that I scheduled at least one call or Zoom. So that's remote and one in-person connection with friends a week. And sometimes you think that's really hard to do on a weekly basis. And yeah, it takes some energy. But once you just start doing it over and over, you realize it gives you back so much energy. And, and keeping those connections deep and alive is so nursing and so important. It's worth it. It's worth setting aside the time to both schedule it and then make it happen. And that's become a truly important part of my days, too. They're kind of like the essential rhythm. No longer experiments at this point over the last two years. They're just life.
37:53 Jonathan Fields? No big changes there, just really baking them from actions and behaviors into habits. And then increasingly, just an identity level thing. And while we're on the connection bucket also, let's talk for a moment about the two by 20 retreat and coaching experiments that I ran. And I'll share a lot more about these experiments in just a moment when we get to the contribution bucket. But this is where connection kind of unexpectedly flowed into or flowed from doing what I thought was filling my or running experiments for my contribution bucket. Spending three days in person with a group of just truly incredible and wise and kind and curious people at the first two by 20 retreat we did in Palm Springs, just all
38:37 Jonathan Fields? dancing with these same profound questions with so many shared experiences and references in life. It was one of the most connected, present experiences of my year. Just really juicy. It was a powerful thing for my connection bucket. And honestly, in a way that I didn't necessarily see coming or expect. And also, interestingly enough, just being around them, holding space, as they say, it helped me fill that connection bucket. I kind of fell in love with them all, just genuinely very cool, relatable, open, kind, creative, generous, action oriented and curious humans. And I want more of those people in my life. Similarly, connecting one to one with a small number of two by 20 coaching clients
39:23 Jonathan Fields? that accepted, again, as one of my two by 20 experiments, more on that in a bit, who were deep in their own two by 20 journeys. It was also this really interesting. Kind of beautiful, vulnerable, deeply meaningful exchange of energy. And it proved that the need for this kind of intentional, supported deep dive is also real and that guiding others through the framework is also really energizing in an interesting way to my own connection bucket. This may sound kind of obvious that it would affect me like that, but as someone who's very much an introvert and has generally found the best alignment in a one to summer, one to many format, it was actually a real eye opener for me. Again, more on that shortly, but I figured I'd just sneak it into the connection bucket
40:05 Jonathan Fields? because as I mentioned earlier, everything affects everything. So big picture, I've learned that connection, it is a muscle that atrophies without use. At its core is vulnerability and openness and curiosity. It's about being seen, it's about seeing other, it's about being present and allowing the truth of our shared experience to be the meeting point. And connection may well be my greatest and enduring source of lightness, meaning and joy. So, okay, that wraps up the connection bucket experiment. So let's get to the big one here, the contribution bucket experiments and insights. Now, this is going to be a little bit of a mixed bag because there's some really cool things I want to share with you.
40:48 Jonathan Fields? And there's maybe the single biggest one that I'll tell you a little bit about, but actually I'm waiting just a touch because there's a lot to share about it. And I'm going to put together a complete standalone episode on it in the next couple of weeks because there's something really big and cool coming that I'm just super excited to share. So let's dive into the contribution bucket a bit. The arena where the maker scientist in me has been both the most exhilarated and at times the most terrified. I'm nearly at that two-year mark as we discussed. I'm finally transitioning from learn, do to largely build and commit mode. Actually, that's probably been happening for the last six months or so.
41:33 Jonathan Fields? So I was very intentional about not narrowing focus too early. I wanted to keep experimenting and keep exploring and trying new things, but as my experiments made it ever clearer what I wanted to focus my energy around, probably around 18 months into my two by 20, it felt natural and good to start really narrowing to homing in and building into the next season of contribution in a more focused way. And one of the big questions that I had, and this really started coming up sort of like in the second year for me, was whether coaching or advising in some form might be a part of my next big season of contribution.
42:14 Jonathan Fields? Now, I've done a lot of advising and strategy work over the years, but this was different in that the demand for my help right now, the call that is the loudest, has been actually around helping others develop and implement their own two by 20 adventures, which is a different thing for me. I'm used to working with people in business, with founders, with strategy, with, you know, all sorts of things in those domains, and this is just a whole different world, one that I'm deep in myself, but I didn't know how it would feel to work with others in this context. So I decided the only way to know was to run my own experiments, taking on a very limited number of coaching clients.
42:55 Jonathan Fields? Now, before I did that, for some reason, even though I've literally been doing versions of this for decades, this voice inside of me said, well, maybe it makes sense to explore some more formal training, certification. Even those colleagues who know me well and are exceptionally skilled advisors and coaches told me that for me, it probably wasn't going to give me what I needed, or more accurately thought I needed. I thought maybe I knew better than them, though, because that's sometimes where my brain goes. So if you've been with me on this journey, you'll remember, I actually ended up doing two different coach certifications, both as what I call learn-term experiments, meaning
43:38 Jonathan Fields? they took months, and I learned that what I wanted to know was not going to come from them. I should have listened to those friends and colleagues earlier, at least not from the ones that I did. So sure, I gained some new skills, but the real experiment had to take me into learning by doing in a much more embodied way, studying the very things that I wanted to learn, and at a pace that worked for me and me alone, not the average learning style and pace of a group. It really wasn't working. There were, like, important steps that ultimately helped me realize that I am at heart an autodidact, meaning I need to design my own learning containers.
44:19 Jonathan Fields? They gave me language and structure, but the modalities just weren't a good fit. It was a lesson in trusting my gut and also those who know me well and knowing when to say thank you next. That said, they also helped me realize the only way to know if coaching might be a joyful and rewarding part of my next season was to coach. I learned that I was kind of looking for a crutch I didn't need or an excuse not to just run the experiment of doing the thing, which is very unusual for me because I usually just do that. But there was resistance there. It was interesting to feel that. So early in the summer, I opened up two coaching spots for a three-month coaching engagement.
45:03 Jonathan Fields? The idea was to do a half-day deep dive session to do a lot of early wisdom transfer and start building momentum and action-taking in this intense opening move. And then work together twice a month over three months to help develop and guide and evaluate experiments as these amazing people crafted their own kind of juicy, rewarding two-by-twenty journeys. And it was all supposed to be virtual. A quick wrinkle occurred. So first, the two spots that I felt like I actually had time for, not that that would have been a great test anyway, were filled in less than 10 minutes. It's kind of a big oof.
45:45 Jonathan Fields? So I reworked my schedule a bit and I figured I had to carve out some other time to take on three more clients for a total of five, which, again, was actually probably a smart move because that gave me a lot more data. It was a better experiment for me to run. And again, the added spots went so quickly that also really surprised me. And the final one, this was the second wrinkle, the final person wanted to actually get on a plane and do the opening half-day with me in person. Huh, okay. I guess I decided to look at that as another kind of experiment, like a version of the experiment I thought I was doing with some different data to put in. The question was, would it be something that they'd enjoy and get a lot of benefit from?
46:30 Jonathan Fields? And would it be something that did the same for me? It had to be a two-sided yes here for the experiment. So, big picture. I related it back to my three guiding words. Would it let me potentially feel more lightness, more meaning and joy in the way I focused my contribution energies moving forward? Interestingly, and this was another, I wouldn't call this a wrinkle, but it was something that I wanted to kind of test that we did very differently. I didn't vet these opening clients, which was another experiment. Everything I've ever done that was based around individual advising or service has had some kind of application interview process to help really just ensure fit before we started working together.
47:14 Jonathan Fields? But again, that adds complexity and takes more time. And so I was actually curious how worth it the process truly was. So for these, I kind of took a big risk and took away that layer. And turned out five incredible and very different people showed up. The work we did and for some continue to do was really powerful. It felt fairly easeful and energy giving for me, and I really enjoyed working in such an intimate and hands on way, which again, kind of surprised me a little bit. That said, it also became clear that four clients at any given time, or five, was the absolute max for me, both in order to honor my introverted nature and need for solitude
47:57 Jonathan Fields? and creative work, and also just because there are some other very big things that have been revealed and other, I mean, I'm also running two other companies at the same time right now, and that I'm super excited to keep building and shaping and bringing to life that'll take a pretty meaningful amount of my time. The final part of this experiment was the one person who asked to do the opening half day session in person. They flew to Boulder, I grabbed a space, a local coworking space, and we spent the morning and then lunch together. And I have to say, the in-person opening move felt very different to me. Different in a way that I think is, at least on my side, better. Just more energized, more direct, more alive.
48:41 Jonathan Fields? I mean, there's a transfer of ideas and energy that happens when you're in a room with someone, at least for me, that's nearly impossible to replicate in the same way in the virtual space. So what was the verdict then with this experiment? As the current cohort of coaching work starts to wrap up, I have decided to create space in my calendar to take on a max of probably two new coaching clients a month. And I may end up actually having to cap that less as other things start to ramp for these limited three-month engagements, or what I call my two-by-twenty coaching immersion. And another big difference moving forward, I decided that the opening kickoff sessions
49:23 Jonathan Fields? will be in person here in Boulder because I just felt like there was a stronger connection that way, again, adding to my connection bucket in addition to contribution. And that we could do some really good juicy work. And another change that I'm seriously considering is making these opening sessions full day instead of half day. This would let us focus not just on exploring the models and doing some really powerful self-discovery work, but also getting immediately into the whole approach to two-by-twenty experiments and then brainstorming, narrowing, defining, and even implementing them in real time. So there'd be even more powerful momentum coming out of that opening day.
50:04 Jonathan Fields? And of course, this doubling of the amount of time will also mean a bump in the amount of time that it takes for me. And also, that would need to be reflected in what the cost would be. But I really believe these shifts will be worth it. So I'm super excited to start inviting new clients into this experience as I head into my next 20. And the final change will very likely also be adding in an application and discovery call as part of the process. The five clients that I've been working with have been amazing. And moving forward, I'm just feeling like it'd be important to have a process in place to ensure that great fit with new clients. And of course, since we're talking about two-by-twenty related experiments,
50:48 Jonathan Fields? that brings me to the second big two-by-twenty related experiment that was under my contribution bucket. And that is the two-by-twenty three-day retreat that we just wrapped a few weeks ago in Palm Springs.
51:02 Jonathan Fields? And we'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Ah, fall, that cozy season where we swap the swimwear for sweaters and sunnies for scars. But before the Halloween decorations are put away or Thanksgiving table has been set, there's already Hally Jally music playing in the grocery store, reminding you that the year is coming to a close. Time to kick end of year into high gear. When you use Apple Card with Apple Pay, you earn 2% daily cash back on all purchases, including food, decorations, gifts, and more. Get a head start on your end of year purchases. Apply for your Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone today and start using it right away with Apple Pay.
51:46 Jonathan Fields? Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at applecard.com. Good Life Project is sponsored by TinCan. So if you grew up in the 70s or 80s, you probably still remember your best friend's phone number and stretching the kitchen phone cord around the corner for privacy. Our executive producer, Lindsay, wanted that same freedom for her kids, eight and 10. So in January, she got them a TinCan. Now, friends call the house to chat, make plans, and check in without borrowing her phone. They even keep a handwritten phone book next to it. I kind of love that. TinCan is the new school way for kids to talk with their friends. It's a secure landline that lets them call all their favorite people, but with parental
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53:42 Jonathan Fields? So, I mean, okay, beyond the fact that we hosted it at this stunning oasis of a home, just everything about it exceeded our hopes and expectations. Twenty big-hearted, open-minded, beautiful humans showed up, ready to learn and grow and do deep work and to connect and be vulnerable and real and just drop any facades and let their humanity lead. And the questions and the conversations that emerged from them were so rich and genuine and alive with both curiosity and awakening. And we worked really hard to create a container that feels safe and warm and then build the experience from the food and the hospitality side, which my wife Stephanie, who's incredible
54:26 Jonathan Fields? experience designer overseas, to a curriculum that's just packed with not just ideas and learning, but also doing the work in real time, in the room, and not just individually, but in groups and pairs and sharing and discussing and taking action along the way. We didn't truly know what to expect going in on this. We've done a lot of experiences in the past, from international retreats to year-long programs to, for five years, we ran an adult summer camp that by the end, you know, had probably close to 450 people coming from around the world to do it. But this was different. And we didn't know what to expect.
55:10 Jonathan Fields? We were blown away by what unfolded and also by how connected. These 20 people who were strangers in the beginning felt by the end. Were there glitches or things we change next time? Of course. This is where the learning comes from. This is why it's an experiment and will keep being an experiment as we keep learning. We were constantly making changes and refining along the way. I kept literally building and rebuilding the curriculum in real time, based on what I was seeing unfold. When people were leaning in, when they were leaning out, which led to the biggest ahas or what were the juiciest conversations? And in the week that followed, I did a series of debriefs with Stephanie.
55:51 Jonathan Fields? But still, we pretty much knew by the end of the three days, this was something we wanted to keep doing. And then when the feedback started to come in and we started hearing in detail how impactful it was for the participants. I knew this was something that I want to keep deepening into and inviting people into as a part of my, my own next big season of contribution. I mean, lightness, check. And I didn't know whether lightness would be a part of this experience for me because again, introvert, like solitude.
56:24 Jonathan Fields? And I was surrounded by, you know, like people all weekend long for three days. But the way, the context, the, the, the way it all unfolded was very easeful for me. And there was a feeling of lightness with it, meaning, oh, check, big time. Just the, the explosion of lightbulb moments and awakenings and just even just sort of like low grade sustained insights. And seeing people connect and form relationships was so meaningful to me and joy, a lot of moments of joy during it. So we're going to keep doing it. This was a really interesting experiment.
57:02 Jonathan Fields? I want to say also that if we had decided after this, that it wasn't checking all the boxes, that would not have been what I consider a failed experiment. Do we have a hypothesis going into our experiments? Yes, this is part of my process like, and I, I kind of have a feeling that we'll enjoy doing it and want to do more. But the key, the key metric for our experiments, we run them in two by 20 is learning, not quote, success by some other metric. So the, the answer either way would have been, have I just learned something really important? The answer would have been yes, either way. It turns out that the information validated the hypothesis. So it was learning plus a validated hypothesis that said, do more.
57:47 Jonathan Fields? So in fact, we're going to do that. By the time this episode airs, there will, there should be new pages posted on my, I think it's going to be on my personal website that both detail the coaching and retreat experiences with tons more info and links to apply or sign up if you're interested. I'll drop a link to those pages in the show notes, by the way, just for ease if you're curious about it. So those experiments have been amazing, but they're also not even the big ones. The real seismic shift in the final year has been confronting the thing that both actively have been craving with every fiber of my being and also kind of simultaneously been avoiding for much of my entire adult life.
58:29 Jonathan Fields? And that is centering the artist, the maker, but not just the maker of things like businesses, brands, books and media, which I've been doing for decades and exists largely in the virtual space. But rather things that get made with your hands, with raw materials, things you can touch and feel that exist in the world. From food to bread to paint to canvas to metal to wood and beyond. These things are so core to who I am. They are the purest expression of my maker impulse. And yet I've created largely in the screen-based or media-centric domain for most of my adult life. And it's been, like, it's been amazing.
59:14 Jonathan Fields? I love that I've been able to do that. And it's also, it has sidestepped the purest expression of my maker impulse. And it's really started to feel like it's time to come home to my hands, to working and creating things that exist in the physical, the real world with my hands. And I also know I'm not the only one feeling this.
59:39 Jonathan Fields? The question for me has been how? And that has led to a series of experiments, both around how to just weave more time working with my hands into my life purely for the joy of it. Things like taking metalsmithing classes, or working with wood, or doodling, or painting, or making illustrations. And it's also led to exploring ways to make it not just something I did, quote, "on the side," but also maybe something I was able to center more, to take up a lot more of my time.
1:00:12 Jonathan Fields? And doing that would mean it had also taken a meaningful amount of my available bandwidth. So I'd have to figure out a way to build something around it, something that would potentially invite others into the experience, while also letting me justify the substantial amount of energy and potentially resources it'd take to do that. There's an opportunity cost to do this for me. There's an amazing amount of positive, and there's also a very real opportunity cost. And I had to figure that out. It's taken months to work on, running a series of micro experiments, figuring out potential models where hands and heart meant something bigger, but without sacrificing the magic of the simple joy of making things with my hands along the way that could not be decentered
1:00:57 Jonathan Fields? in whatever it was that I was creating and wanted to be a big part of my two by twenty and my next big twenty year season. And I'm so excited to share where this has all led and is leading, and as a result, what I will be bringing to the world very soon. But for now, I'm actually going to center that in an entire episode in just another couple of weeks. And by the way, it even includes a TED Talk that I just did as part of that very journey, which kind of sets up a big part of why I did it. I recently presented that in this theater right here in Boulder.
1:01:42 Jonathan Fields? It's basically a 125-year-old post and beam barn that just happens to fit about 1,000 friends and neighbors. Again, I know I'm being a little bit cagey here, but you won't have to wait long. I'll share all the juicy details very soon, and the backstory, and so many of the awakenings that go along with it. So be sure to keep an eye out for it. And that brings me to...
1:02:07 Jonathan Fields? Another big piece of my contribution bucket, and experiments that I have run and some realizations, and that's writing. So let's start with a quick reflection on the big, quote, "substack experiment." A year and a half into writing my Awake at the Wheel newsletter, there I started wondering why I was doing it. In the beginning, it was supposed to be a place where I could drop the facade and the filters to censor less and let more of the real quirky, sometimes snarky, sometimes funny, at least to me, and creative self out. To be more about story than how to, more about the feeling than the lesson.
1:02:48 Jonathan Fields? And yet, the more I wrote, the more the audience built, the more I found myself falling into the same patterns when I've written regularly and publicly in the past. I started writing to the lesson, to the list of points, to the central teachings or takeaways. It's what I know, but it's also completely contrary to what my intention was when I started. I wanted to let more of the artist in words take the lead, to be less about what to think and do to feel the way you want to feel, and more about just creating the aesthetic experience that makes you feel it. I did that here and there. I do that when I storytell.
1:03:31 Jonathan Fields? But then I pulled away and started falling into kind of the same old, same old. I literally have nearly 80 posts in draft in my substack, and every time I keep thinking about dropping back in to finish one, I kind of have to pump myself up. So this experiment started to go a bit sideways. And I guess maybe the experiment itself didn't go sideways, but I stopped actually assessing on a regular enough basis to realize that maybe it wasn't doing what I hoped it was going to do for me.
1:04:07 Jonathan Fields? So this is not what I wanted to channel this energy into. I didn't, it wasn't, wasn't feeling like what I wanted to feel like. So I pulled back with the intention of reassessing the deeper why behind my public writing. Part of my experimental methodology is a whole process, a four-step process of assessing and correcting course. And that's what I'm in the middle of right now. I also, you know, I started just struggling with my basic bandwidth, bigger picture too. A key lesson I keep bumping up against is the fact that there's one of me and my maker impulse has so many desires and potentials exploring in it all the time. I've got to be in a state of constant pruning in order to just get through each day, let
1:04:51 Jonathan Fields? alone feel like I'm able to show up and do my best work on any given yes. So instead of writing weekly with too much of a sense of prescription and obligation, I dropped down to about a monthly essay or post now. And I've been actively trying to figure out how to find the courage to let the artist take the lead in my more public and regular writing, not always letting the teacher take the lead. I needed to run the experiment of lightening up on my commitment to a schedule so I could create the space to find a way to come back home to my intention to write publicly and
1:05:32 Jonathan Fields? short form in a way that's making me feel alive, that checks those boxes of lightness, meaning and joy. Cause I honestly think I had lost the thread for all three. And I'm still trying to figure that out right now. And along the way, I'm also wondering where the line is between my public periodic writing and working on longer form work like books. I quite literally know the next four books that I want to write. I have been seriously jonesing to get into them, but I keep feeling like every word I write publicly for public, regular consumption.
1:06:12 Jonathan Fields? That it's also a time and energy that I am taking away from writing those books, which if I'm being honest, I care about a lot more and I'm really itching and excited to get into already. So I still love writing. I will always write. And I know that if I want to keep earning a part of my living, writing in long form, meaning writing books, I need to find a way to keep showing up and offering my words in a short form, public way. It's a dance. And I'm really feeling the opportunity cost of this in books not written or finished or even started right now. So I'm working on what experiments I need to run really next in order to find the right balance here. Because as I head
1:06:53 Jonathan Fields? into 2026, I want, I mean, to strike that, my soul needs to be working on the next book. And I'm not sure if I can do that in the immersive way I want to and keep writing regularly and publicly at the same time, especially given some of the other projects that I currently have going on and the ones that are soon to take a lot more of my time and energy. And finally, under the contribution bucket experiments, it was time to zoom out to the big enduring projects that have been centered in my contribution bucket for many, many years now. Because part of the two by 20 requires that I not have any sacred cows.
1:07:33 Jonathan Fields? There's nothing that I can hold back. I have to examine, be willing to examine everything, especially when it comes to my contribution energies. It was important to put everything I was doing up against the wall and consider whether it was something I wanted to keep investing energy into, keep doing, to keep doing, but maybe do it differently, or to bring to an end or transition it. And what I realized is that I've been avoiding doing this in a meaningful way with the two major endeavors that have consumed much of my contribution energies for years now. This very podcast, Good Life Project, and also my other major endeavor, Spark Endeavors, which houses all the intellectual property and programming and services associated with the Spark archetype body of work.
1:08:17 Jonathan Fields? So looking at this podcast, many of you know, I was very early to the podcasting world. We launched in 2012. It's been at it for 13 years now. And over that time, the show has grown into a pretty big thing. We've been blessed with a very large devoted global audience, many of whom have been with us for a very long time. And the show has been listened to and watched over 100 million times. I mean, that's kind of insane. And as podcasting has become a real industry, and we just never quit, even when times were really hard and very few people were listening, and the economy got challenging, we also grew to become a real viable business. And I'm proud to have grown with an amazing team who's
1:08:58 Jonathan Fields? been together for many years now. I never would have dreamed that what we've created was impossible when I began. And I've also been careful to regularly try to do the dance of figuring out how to keep the show valuable and interesting and entertaining for our audience, while also finding ways to ensure it's enough of a conduit for my own evolving and ever changing interests and curiosity, that I'm excited to keep showing up for it month after month, year after year. And look, sometimes I do a better job of that. Other times I don't. It's a really interesting challenge to honor how you've changed, to integrate that into the work that you're doing, and keep striving to find the sweet spot between that and what others value. And I am incredibly
1:09:41 Jonathan Fields? grateful to know that he who and so many others keep showing up and saying yes to the way that we're showing up. And in the same vein, as my interests and focus shift, you'll see that continue to be reflected in the show over time. And it's why we keep running experiments with the show to find that sweet spot, including with solo episodes like this, where I get to just share a lot more of the behind the scenes, the big awakenings, be more personal, and, and share what I've been discovering and thinking and feeling along the way, and help you find value in that, too. At the same time, we're also working on some very cool new experiments in the way that we produce and where we focus. We have a, we have a really cool new series coming away,
1:10:23 Jonathan Fields? like our eight week Future of Medicine series, that's happening here on the podcast every Monday, actually, in November and December. It's been incredible finding and interviewing some of the leading voices in science and technology and medicine over the last few months, and learning about the incredible new discoveries and treatment modalities that are coming and working with just my amazing team to put this whole thing together. And experiences like this, creating the space for evolution and change and letting our creative output reflect the evolving interests, that is part of what keeps things like the Good Life Project, which literally has the word project built into it, alive and growing and energizing for me over time. And that brings me to that one other long-term
1:11:08 Jonathan Fields? thing, the SparkoType body of work. So I developed the SparkoType assessment in 2018. Since then, over a million people have completed it, generating one of the world's largest data sets on work and meaning. And more importantly, helping more than a million people really figure out what kind of work makes them come alive, so they can go and do more of it, because they need it and the world needs it right now. And the tools and programming have also, they've been implemented in some of the biggest, most innovative companies in the world, sometimes through our network of certified SparkoType advisors, other times directly through me and my own work with leaders and teams. I literally was paid for
1:11:48 Jonathan Fields? a gig once in Ice Cream doing the SparkoType work, because the gig and the client meant so much to me. So it's been a pretty fun journey. It's a body of work that I'm incredibly proud of, and there's still so much more potential for new applications and programs and demographics to be impacted. And there's also, as much as I try to fight it, again, only one of me, which creates a lot of tension. So part of what I'm doing behind the scenes over the last year is working on running these micro experiments to try and figure out the best way forward, not just for the brand, which now has global recognition, but the full body of work. And more specifically, what will my, or potentially others' roles
1:12:30 Jonathan Fields? in that be? It's a big question with a lot of exciting tentacles that's going to take some time to figure out. So I've just been deep into the exploration and conversation mode, working on where it all fits into the mix of my next 20. So no answers yet, but the tiny experiments are starting to yield more insight. Micro experiments to see what feels best, and those are already creating a bit of a trajectory here. But still too early to know exactly where it leads. But I wanted to bring it up because... This is all a part of my contribution mix. And as you start to add new things into your contribution mix, it's really important to look at the things that have been there for a long time
1:13:15 Jonathan Fields? and ask the question, what is their continuing role? So this part of the exploration, it'll continue past the opening two years of my two by 20, and we'll see what 2026 brings. And that brings me to today. As I record this, the window on the two-year part of my two by 20 is closing in just a few weeks. And I'm already transitioning into the 20-year season of transformation and new growth and creation, all designed to support my ability to do more of what makes me come alive while surrounding myself with people I cannot get enough of, and bringing more lightness and meaning and joy into as many moments and days as I can. There's an incredible amount of clarity and momentum as I've spent a lot of the last six months shifting from learn, do and explore mode
1:14:00 Jonathan Fields? into narrow and create or build mode. The foundation is already largely laid, the scaffolding is largely there. And while there are still open questions, many answers and a sense of path, along with the core elements of it, have become clear. And I'm loving how it's all coming together. And what's been amazing is because I gave myself the full two years to get here, there's been this powerful blend of creative tension. I wanted to use this window of time to take action, to learn a ton, and start to build my next big season of work and life. And at the same time, knowing I'd given myself two full years and not two or six months has also built a lot of grace into the process.
1:14:42 Jonathan Fields? It's been driven more by curiosity, action that feels more like play or an exciting unfolding, rather than any sense of force or friction or aggression.
1:14:54 Jonathan Fields? It's all just felt incredibly joyful and organic. And the level of clarity and insights and awakening and change just kind of floored me because honestly, it hasn't felt all that hard. I mean, yes, I've worked really hard at it. But it's also felt aligned and easeful, like kind of coming home to who I've always known myself to be and to how I've always known I wanted to live and work and be in the world, but never quite let myself own or make happen. It's almost like I'm finally just letting myself show up and assemble the pieces of my world in the shape of a puzzle that's a more honest, truer representation of me.
1:15:37 Jonathan Fields? And it feels a bit scary, but also the more I open to it, it also feels just really, really good. So now that I'm shifting into the next big season of work and love and play and life, what does that look like? A deepening of the relationships that matter most to me, my daughter, wife, family and close friends. A deeper commitment to listening to and caring for my mind and body, but not in ways I've been told I'm supposed to do, but rather in ways that I have experimented with to know what truly fits who I am and what I need. The artist work, the work of the maker in me, especially the hands-centered maker, is coming closer and closer to center stage. Again, I'll share a whole bunch more on that very shortly.
1:16:22 Jonathan Fields? The teaching and advising work is refined. My limited coaching work is now exclusively focused on guiding individuals in the creation of their own two by twenties, helping others design their next great season, using all the frameworks and tools I've now developed, and also gathering people a few times a year in a gorgeous retreat format for three transformational days, and reallocating more of my writing energy back to longer form, to books and stories.
1:16:49 Jonathan Fields? There may even be some fiction coming at some point, which really scares me, but also really entices and excites me. And also just books that spend less time telling you what to think and do in order to feel the way you want to feel and just making you feel it. And again, that'll tie in in a big way to the Maker Focus Project that I'll soon share more on. And in a more limited way, stepping back into some speaking, facilitating the two by 20 retreats is one mode I'm really excited about. Actually, just did my first TEDx in 15 years. I loved it. And strangely, now that I've gotten clear on how I want to show up as a speaker, interestingly, opportunities seem to be arriving, courtesy of the strange universe we live in,
1:17:32 Jonathan Fields? though the topics will change to really better reflect where I'm focusing these days. And yes, the next 20 years will center much more on the creation of beautiful, meaningful, tangible things that exist in the real world, wrought not just from words and images, but also metal, wood, paint, and more, all from hands, which I'm literally sitting on as I share this because I know what it's going to look like, but I'm still not quite ready to reveal it, so stay tuned. So if this whole two by 20 journey has taught me anything, it's that self-awareness is not a destination. It's this perpetual unfolding. And also, manifesting what you want to be real in your life is not a destiny.
1:18:15 Jonathan Fields? It is a perpetual unfolding. And by manifesting, I don't mean in the woo-woo sense of the word. I mean, just by making it happen, making it real. And if you let yourself be guided by these things, by this unfolding, you will naturally and eventually be moved into a state of change. And that can be scary, but you know what's even more scary? Letting fear stop you from becoming, or maybe more accurately, returning to who you've known yourself to always be. Before you built a life around expectations and desires that weren't entirely your own, or at least based on the truest possible understanding of who you really are, what truly matters to you, and what you need to feel and experience in order to not just
1:18:59 Jonathan Fields? exist, but feel alive. And you can't do this by just focusing on a single domain of life, because as I've shared, everything affects everything. So you've got to put it all up against the wall. Stop trying to think your way to answers and solutions. You've got to do your way to them. Find support, even if it's just your dog who likely knows you better than most and supports you more unconditionally than most, and do the joyful work of coming home and coming alive. And as I've come to learn over these last two years, this isn't just my story. This is the story of anyone who is at a crossroads, wondering what their next great season could be. The answer is rarely found in the head. It's found in the
1:19:42 Jonathan Fields? doing, the experimenting, the courageous act of asking the question and then living your way to the answer. So as my two-year window closes and I shift into my next big season, I want to turn the question back to you. What is your next season going to look like? What is the thing you've been avoiding out of fear? What is the experiment or the experiments that you need to run to find your clarity? And what if you committed to spending the next two years learning, doing, and building your way into a 20-year season of work and love and life that just felt so much more alive? Or if two by 20 doesn't feel right for you, adjust it to fit you and your needs, your desires, and
1:20:23 Jonathan Fields? life. Maybe yours is a one by five, or 10, or a six-month and three-years, whatever it is. The invitation is to be intentional with the quest to know yourself on a level that empowers more aligned and honest action, and to craft a future that lets your life shine more brightly than ever before, no matter what's going on around you.
1:20:47 Jonathan Fields? And of course, as a side note, if you'd like a little help with that, you can learn more about the upcoming 2x20 Retreat or Coaching Immersion Spots. I'll just drop a link in the show notes below. This journey has been amongst the most fun and fulfilling of my adult life. I don't have all the answers, but I have a lot more tools and insights and curiosity and clarity to keep exploring, and I hope you will too. And as always, thank you so much for being here. You are good people, and I truly love doing this thing called life with you. I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project. Hey, before you leave, if you loved this episode, take a moment and check out the links in the show notes to learn more about the upcoming 2x20 Retreats or Coaching,
1:21:32 Jonathan Fields? and share this episode with a friend who might be asking that big, "What's next?" question in their own life. Or maybe even send it to a group chat, especially if you know someone who's been yearning to make a change but isn't sure where to start. The ideas we explore about turning life into a creative laboratory of intentional experiments might be exactly what they need to hear right now. And maybe you can actually even partner up and do your own 2x20 adventures together. When we share stories of transformation, we help others feel less alone in their own journey of becoming. Plus, your share helps this conversation reach more people who might benefit from these insights about designing a life with purpose and joy. Thanks so much for listening. I'll see you next time here on the Good Life Project.
1:22:17 Jonathan Fields? This episode of Good Life Project was produced by executive producers Lindsay Fox and me, Jonathan Fields, editing help by Alejandro Ramirez and Troy Young. Christopher Carter crafted our theme music. And of course, if you haven't already done so, please go ahead and follow Good Life Project in your favorite listening app or on YouTube too. If you found this conversation interesting or valuable and inspiring, chances are you did, because you're still listening here. Do me a personal favor, a second favor, share it with just one person. And if you want to share it with more, that's awesome too, but just one person even, then invite them to talk with you about what you've both discovered, to reconnect and explore ideas that really matter, because that's how we all come alive together.
1:23:01 Jonathan Fields? Until next time, I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project.
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Previous The Hidden Key to Living to 100 (And Loving It) | Future of Medicine [Ep. 1] Next The AI Revolution is Coming to Your Doctor’s Office (Good News) | Future of Medicine [Ep. 2] Page updated October 31, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated