Sentient Future: Recent Episodes
Allen Funston, P.Eng MBA LSBBB
🧬 You are SENTIENT ⚖️ Fulfilment is Your Endgame ❤️ Define, Weight, & Apply Your Values ♾ 184.2 Years / $4.7 Billion Saved for Individual & Organizational Clients 👤 Allen Funston, P.Eng, MBA, LSSBB 🌎 Sentient Process Network Theory
After having been the first person in the world to track their Macro-Attention 24/7 for over a year (as of Aug 15, 2019), I’m committing to tracking my Micro-Attention. I am studying my own attention to support others through the emerging Attention Economy, as part of my much larger effort to eradicate the problem of Regret from our lives.
Mike Pratt (a good friend) and I reflect on what I learned from tracking my attention 24/7 for 1 full year (Aug 2018-2019). We then brainstorm what should be next, and conclude the following evolutions: micro-attention (thought) tracking instead of macro-attention (context/action), regular documentation of my journey and how I'm feeling emotionally (the whole point, really), tracking my emotional state (thinking 4 daily scores for 4 core emotion dimensions: Joy/Sadness, Trust/Disgust, Anger/Fear, Surprise/Anticipation), creating free self-guided documents to help others achieve "Good" results while scaling my impact and generating interest in Mastery (paid consulting services for individuals and organizations), then reflecting on what's working and iterating. Let's see how this goes!
IMPORTANT: If you get value out of this one-of-a-kind talk on fulfilment and regret-proof decisions, PLEASE comment your answer to this question:
“How much longer would you need to live to be willing to forget these insights on fulfilment and this process of making regret-proof decisions?”
Your answers mean the WORLD to me, as I measure the value of my life as the time I save in yours, and these ground-breaking insights/methods could save you YEARS of your life! I’m trying to live a “Fully Given Life”!
Note that despite the question asking for a number, the answer is subjective. Only you get to decide how valuable this is to you. I will graciously accept any answer you offer and I’d love to support your ambitions any way I can.
Please Like, Subscribe, and Connect. I will always try my hardest to save you more time than I ask of you.
Email: Info@sentientfuture.earth @sentientfuture on every major social platform Direct links are on my mobile site: Http://SentientFuture.onuniverse.com
On July 3, 2019, I returned to the University of British Columbia (UBC) to deliver a talk titled, “Save Years with Sentience” to current students in the program from which I graduated in 2007, Engineering Physics. The talk achieved two goals: 1) teaching the audience how to think about fulfilment in each of their lives in a practical, actionable way, and 2) guiding the audience through a process of defining/weighting what each valued in life such that they could use it to make regret-proof decisions and balance their short-term schedules in a fulfilling way.
Hacks won't make you do What you don't want to do
Tactics, Techniques, Technologies Save minutes here and there. But not for long.
Eventually, hacks will not work, Because you don't care about the work.
There is a better way. Do what you love.
Do it on the side at first. Cut your expenses. Practice until you're a Pro.
Feel happy starting today, with the process, of doing what you love.
It will you save you years.
Live, intentionally.
You belong. You always have. 👤 Your most important tribe, is not the most exclusive; It is the most inclusive. 👥 You are Sentient. We all are, yet we each value different parts of life, to different degrees. 🌎 Your unique combination, of skills, experiences, and values, are useful to achieve, our tribe's shared goals. 🔨📚❤️ We NEED you, to BE you. 🌎 Learn your self, Practice your self, Be your self. 👤 Live, intentionally.
love #life #time #selfawareness #empathy #video #motivation #inclusion #diversity
WHY are you here?
The ONE and only decision you must make.
- Who you are;
- Where you're going;
- How you'll get there; and
- What will you do... ... will ALL evolve with time.
Once you decide why you are here, every decision you encounter will already be made, because your criteria will have already been set.
Rise above temptation. Rise above the drama, the noise, the irrelevant to why you're here. Live intentionally or suffer the excruciating pain of regret.
Why are YOU here? 👇
sentient #process #network #theory #time #coach #consultant #why #decisions #regret #give #service #video #future
A short story about an adult who complained instead of acted. Do you COMPLAIN or ACT by default?
A story about my 3yo son's whining phase, how we as adults can mature out of it, and how we as parents can support our children's development through it. 😭😫😤🤧➡️🙂 Did you whine? Do your kids?👇 . . . . .
sentientfuture #sentient #process #network #theory #intentionalliving #love #life #time #empathy #emotions #emotionalintelligence #coach #consultant #kids #children #parent #teach #whine #complain #anger #sadness #support #growth #selfdevelopment #mature #video
Today I interview Sydney Centell, a California-based life coach who shares what coaching is (and is not), what problems it solves, and how it's her version of employing her natural skillsets. I really think you'll enjoy how thoughtfully she speaks, how empowering her "conversation with yourself" approach is, and her engaging Instagram presence where she regularly asks questions that will get you thinking!
My 2.5yo son exclaimed this morning, "My pants are not on backwards!", taking stock of the simple things in his life that were going well and how they foreshadowed a good day. What simple things ARE going well for you? What do they allow you to focus on?
The dangers of crying wolf, as a reflection of my 2.5 year-old twins' development. Let's break down exactly why crying wolf is a poor idea. #intentionalliving #sentient #process #network #theory #trust #life #love #parent #kids #toddler #twin #truth #trust #honesty #lies #danger #coach #consultant
Saved 7 YEARS in others' lives, Life Goal 1: "Fully Intentional Life" DONE! 🕙 As of Jan 1 / 2018, 81% of my life since birth had been scheduled. I'd lived it intentionally (per my values). 19% (55,203 hours) had not. Having had no plan for that time, it became my Intentional Living Deficit. 🕙 As of Jan 1, I stopped adding to the deficit, having begun to schedule and track 100% (24/7/365) of my Time (and now Attention!). 🕙 Life Goal 1? - Live a "Fully Intentional Life" by creating 55,203 hours of intentional time in OTHERS' lives, per what THEY value, and reduce my deficit to ZERO. 🕙 In less than ONE (1) year, I've saved over SEVEN (7) years (61,395 hours) in others' lives, per what THEY value, reported by THEM! In this progress report, I'd helped my client Stefan save 2 YEARS (17,520 hours) of his life over the course of a deep, 3.5-hour conversation, according to him. 🕙 This milestone means SO much to me that I'm crying tears of JOY! 🤧 🕙 But I'll NEVER be done. Life Goal 2? A "Fully GIVEN a Life": 🕙 Create an 80-year (~700,000-hour) SURPLUS of Intentional time in others' lives (roughly my Life Expectancy). TIME is our universal currency, and I'm giving all of YOU the equivalent of my life, for what YOU value, by offering guidance on how to define what YOU value and live accordingly. 🕙 Thank you for your time and attention. I will ALWAYS strive to be worth it. Until next time... 🕙 Live Intentionally
On Canadian Thanksgiving, the benefits of gratitude and what I'm personally grateful for. #intentionalliving #gratitude #grateful #thankyou #sentient #process #network #theory #dad #time #life #negative #positive #mindset #practice #walkthetalk #thanksgiving #canada
Why giving to others is a long-term self-optimal behaviour, and how/why it earns you others' trust and the right to work with them.
A way of measuring the value we create in children's lives that integrates well with how we measure the value of our own.
I discuss three issues often present in the programs offered by MLM / Network Marketing firms as it relates to living intentionally (i.e. per what YOU value). Woukd this be a positive chapter in your life, or not? What are you optimizing and is this the best you can do?
Describing a few leaders in the mobile phone AR space: Assemblr, SuperWorld, and ROAR, as well as what that might mean when the concepts scale up, even if not by these players necessarily.
Document or Create? BOTH! The Sentient Process Network Theory intentional living framework is a huge source of original content and it allows me to comment relevantly on trending topics as well as create evergreen content. Documenting is useful to show examples, successes, and struggles in my own life related to living intentionally. I'm hoping these stories bring us closer together and that they inspire you to want your life to be intentional badly enough too!
My foundational body of work, the "Sentient Process Network Theory" Intentional Living framework, is done. You can download the full PDF for free on my website: SentientFuture.Earth. Its scope is immense, and that's why there is so much detail. Over the coming months, I'll explain each part and it will make increasingly more sense. The integrations and connections were too valuable for me to not give you the whole idea for free, upfront. I hope that it opens your eyes and mind to what it means for you to live intentionally per what you value such that you live life without regret. Thank you for your time and attention. Live intentionally.
EP 69 - Sentient Intention Project. Inaugural results. Reduction of my 55,203-hour intentional living deficit (19% of my life so far unscheduled) by 779 hours by creating intentional time in a client's life. New deficit: 54,424 hours. Connect for free consultation. I can help you create intentional time in your life too, asking nothing in return but your reporting your achieved number to me. Until next time, live intentionally!
EP 68 - AI and How the Sentient Worldview Prepares Us for It. We need to get good at controlling our time and attention NOW. AI will get increasingly better at capturing it in the future because of the war for it that the attention economy will create. Please think about what you value! Write it down. Focus on it. For the sake of your future self and those you care about, focus on it!
EP 67 - Soul = Network of Selves at Different Times. A breakthrough in v2.0 of the Sentient Worldview. Initially struggled with soul's seeming indivisibility. Added dimension of Time to resolve the problem. See our Selves at Different times as different from our present Selves, worth knowing, and worth doing right by. Can be done specifically/practically while maintaining the major themes of the "soul" in philosophical literature. Reminder, "soul" used as a category name here for simplicity/familiarity regarding personal parts of life often associated with individuality/personality. Makes no assumption of an actual soul, as that is not currently a widely accepted scientific belief.
EP 66 - V2.0 Struggles. Parallelism between the mind, body, and soul is proving difficult to finalize in a practical way. An account of where I'm at and optimism for what is to come. Almost there!
What if, by extending the idea of the Sentient Worldview and applying scientific methods/research from a variety of fields, empathy and giving could be PROVEN to be optimal long-term behaviours? Would that convince people to collaborate? Could it dramatically shift the direction of our global culture towards peace and understanding? Would love your thoughts!
Checking out Vaudle and Limor for social audio. No permanent shifts yet. Just tasting. Connect with me if you're there? Thoughts? Connect on IG? Doing Dee work right now.
Kurt Smock, from the "Life with Kurt" Anchor.fm station was very kind to take the time to interview me on the Sentient Worldview and how its neutrality has the power to unite us while preserving the personal identities we hold so dear.
Pride is to your goals as Fulfilment is to your process. Rather than maximize it like you do fulfilment though, pride is about balance. Balanced pride is self-confidence and self-reinforcing. It boosts your rate of progress through positive feedback without you slowing/stopping either due to basking in your own glory or due to wallowing in self doubt.
Regret is the pain we feel when we reflect on our past and wish we had done something differently. It can come from your decisions or your actions, but these are separate from the outcomes. Regret CAN be eliminated. Learn how!
How is gratitude practical? Our mood/optimism, our continued work ethic because we realize we aren't owed anything, and an improved bond with others by demonstrating we do not waste what we have been given or what we have earned.
A deeper look at common time-management advice... When it makes sense and when it doesn't. The importance of mindfulness in your decisions to spend time. Email, Energy Management, and Multitasking. What behaviours create the most value?
There are many mindsets we can each decide to employ in a given situation. What are some examples and pairs of opposing mindsets? Is it possible for your mindset to be your goal? Initially I was skeptical but a younger person may have changed my mind. Listen to find out why and whether that is how you think!
What does it mean to be authentic? It means to behave in the public eye in a way that is consistent with what you value. Why is it simply a practical long-term strategy? Listen and find out!
What is our mindset? Can we influence it or is it predetermined? Is it necessarily a means to different ends in our life, like our goals/journey, or could our mindset possibly be an end unto itself? This question has changed my opinion. Will it change yours?
The importance and practicality of being authentic - Public behaviour that is consistent with what you value.
Legacy is leaving value for others. Our universal currency is time. To maximize your legacy, measure how much you 1) increase others' life expectancy, 2) save others' time, and 3) increase the quality of others' time. My target legacy: 1) unlock enough of others' time to offset the 6.3 years of my 33.2 so far that were not scheduled/intentional = "net positive life" (good legacy), or 2)... to offset my entire life expectancy (~80y) = "fully gifted life" (better legacy), or 3)... to offset as many equivalent lifetimes as possible = "multi-gifted life". Think about your legacy in the context of the time you will unlock or improve for others. What will your legacy be?
Why filling your calendar with what you care about is less scary than leaving blanks and leaving your finite time to chance. Also, my personal commitment to filling my calendar, tracking my time in detail, and measuring how much they match to measure how intentionally I am living.
Paying attention to what has our attention, instead of paying attention to our actions. Explores attention as the measure of the quality of the time we spend. Time differs from money, as currency, in this concept of quality. There is a huge opportunity in mastering our attention, when everyone else wants it.
Is our default working speed optimal? Can we afford to speed up our mundane routines and unlock time for accomplishing the goals we truly value? Working faster is more time-efficient, but is it necessarily less energy-efficient? If we control speeds downsides, what might it's upsides be?
Thoughts and guidance on how to be worth others' time, and how to spot those in your life who, intentionally or not, are not worth your time.
Working definition of time spent intentionally: spending it as you had scheduled it. Urgent priorities trigger reschedule such that they too can be intentional. Rather than a conflict between long term ideal-self’s values and immediate gratification, self awareness is about finding the long term values about which you have such strong convictions that your short-term values fall into alignment and eliminate the conflict. Continuing to schedule time, track it in detail, and measure how much is spent intentionally per the current working definition.
Defining Silence and Absence. What is your relationship with each? Do you fear missing out? Are they relevant to you? How do you choose to spend your time given what you DON’T sense?
Accountability is owning your behaviours and results. Failure is a mistake in your behaviour, not a disappointing result. Failure occurs when you don’t apply one or more of the six fundamental life skills in the Sentient Worldview, a structured version of the popular, modern growth mindset idea. This cultural shift permits greater accountability from individuals and improves collaborative bonds which are inherently fulfilling, the point of intentional living.
What is the difference between mentorship, coaching, and therapy? When would a mentor benefit you? How do you show respect and gratitude for a mentor’s time? Consider learning how to mentor from your mentor (among other things), so that you can pay it forward in time.
Origin and significance of the "Sentient Future" brand name. Each word has two origins. Sentient: abilities, community. Future: technology, vision. Listen for details!
Utility is not practicality. It is a measure of how useful something is when compared to what you value. You can value far more than objective, hard achievements. You can value play, joy, family, yourself. Have you thought about what you value? Have you ranked your values? Are you acting intentionally in alignment with them? Have you noticed how great you feel when you do?
Rant - Frustration with math errors in an important app’s average calculations. TL;DL - Check your work and get comfortable with vulnerability and get your work peer reviewed. Measure twice cut once.
Thoughts on maintaining functional strength using body weight exercises and tests to intelligently minimize the time spent exercising. Unlocks time to be spent on other priorities while avoiding diminishing returns that come with pro-level commitments, which don’t apply for most of us. Setting of personal strength and endurance goals in this episodes as well, specifically for push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, and running.
Some personal observations about sleep, productivity while fatigued, productivity the next day, and the 2x math that can guide our decisions of when to go to bed.
Short-form intentional living interview of Ocho the Owl, a vocal musician in California. Background, Why, How, What, and Contacts.
Why managing our time is fundamental to living intentionally, plus my experience with it and some helpful tips. I hope you find it useful!
Approximate thresholds for liquid weight loss at which you should be concerned about dehydration. Falls under Sensing Self skill, under Body, then the Inventory category.
Have you ever intentionally slowed down your rate of growth or the rate at which you create value for other people JUST to show consistency? Do you think that’s holding you back?
Intentional Living interview of Sarah Miner (Life & Corporate Coach). Passionate about 1st skill of Sentient Worldview: Sensing Self. Loves to ask “Why?”. Enjoy!
Sharing how others live intentionally. Background? Your WHY? Your HOW? Your WHAT? How can people reach you? 5-10 minutes. Interested? Contact me; would love to have you on air! Enjoy!
Home decor packaging as a metaphor for personal branding, and the importance of clarity in the differentiation of, well, anything.
An example of the benefits of Sensing Context. A discussion about location and preparation.
Exploring sleep, in the context of Sensing Self, the 1st skill of the Sentient Worldview. Shared some personal sleep data from a few apps. Also expressed how data transparency empowers self-discipline
Earn time helping others doing what you love. Redeem time with others for what you need. Join the Sentient Future Timebank on the TimeKeeper Bank app. Free coaching on intentional living.
Summary of the Sentient Worldview intentional living framework. Concludes content Phase 1. Phase 2 will be more social, interactive, and focused on others’ examples of intentional living. Stay tuned!
Discussion of Time and Space as our frames of reference in the Sentient Worldview, how we refer to them (absolute, relative, target, scale), and how that helps us live more intentionally.
6th and final skill of the Sentient Worldview: Action. Types: sense, interpret, speak, move. Recursive until we reach closure. Pay attention to act as planned. Also, brief discussion on accountability
3rd topic of 5th skill in Sentient Worldview (Making Decisions): Risk & Uncertainty. Known vs. unknown “unknowns”. Using “expected values” of risks to make option scoring more accurate.
2nd topic of 5th skill of Sentient Worldview (Making Decisions): Criteria and Weighting. Contrasted with Intuition & Flow (EP 18). What do you care about and how much? Weighted average option score.
1st topic of of 5th skill of Sentient Worldview (Decision): Decision Methods. Describes 6 methods, their pros/cons, typica uses, and how “deciding how to decide” helps us live more intentionally.
A heartfelt and encouraging call-in from Kurt Smock, an early and avid supporter who’s mission is also to help people win in their lives and was kind enough to deliver the 1000th clap on this podcast.
10th and final topic within 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Verbal Reasoning. What and how others communicate: vocab., cliches, tone, emphasis, pace, volume, pauses, etc.
9th topic within 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting w/ Reason): Visual & Spatial Reasoning. Applications, Concepts, Skill development, and as always, the “So What?” segment.
Alida McDaniel, a life coach for >10y, is passionate about helping people step into their true power. She imparts a unique perspective and shares how she lives intentionally to achieve her goals.
8th topic within 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Signals. What are signals? Subtle vs obvious. Static vs dynamic. Connections, assigned meaning, and empathy are important.
7th topic in 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Diagrams. What are they? Best practices? Types and uses? So what? How do they help you live intentionally?
6th topic within 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Approximation. What is it? How does it work? What are confidence intervals? How does it help me live more intentionally?
5th topic within 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Probability. Know the basics. Guard against risks. Understand the “game” you’re playing. Don’t bet what you can’t lose.
4th topic within 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Morality. Why it can’t be completely universalized or distributed. One example of a limited list of universal morals.
Response to a call-in regarding the prototype emotions tracking process I showed on Instagram on 2017-08-29. Simplifying my process for when I put it into practice.
3rd topic of 4th skill of Sentient Worldview, Interpreting with Reason: Analysis / Calculation. Basic Maths, compound interest & debt, problem definition, checking your work, answers’ reasonableness.
Continued look at the 4th skill in the Sentient Worldview, Interpreting with Reason. Today: Creativity, the rationale side of the process of developing novel and useful ideas. #liveintentionally
First topic in 4th skill of Sentient Worldview (Interpreting with Reason): Logic. Basics for everyday use: And, Or, Not, All, Some, Always, Eventually, Next, Until. Arguments Consistent? Valid? Sound?
Setup for forthcoming episodes on 10 most common types of reasoning, the 4th skill in the Sentient Worldview.
Final topic in skill 3/6 of the Sentient Worldview (interpreting with emotion & intuition), “Intuition & Flow”. Definition, pitfalls, flow, and “so what?”.
Interview of Personally Borderline. She is a mature, driven, soon-to-be university student with a passion for destygmatizing mental illnesses. Listen to what Intentional Living means to her!
Continued look at 3rd skill of Sentient Worldview, interpreting with emotion & intuition. Today, emotion dyads (combinations of core emotions) = more subtle and less common emotions. 24 in total
Interview featuring Domo Sama, US college basketball player-turned-coach, on living intentionally. In Domo’s words, acting “On Purpose, for a Purpose”, and how he inspires players on and off the court
Continued look at 3rd skill in Sentient Worldview, interpreting w/ emotion & intuition. Today, surprise and anticipation.
Misspoke; it is EP 15. Continued look at 3rd skill in Sentient Worldview, interpreting with emotion & intuition. Today: Fear & Anger. Perceived threat? Can I overcome it? How can I focus this energy?
Continued look into 3rd skill of the Sentient Worldview: interpreting with emotion & intuition. In this episode, we cover the emotions Trust and Disgust, how to identify them, and the value of trust.
Today we cover Joy and Sadness, the first of four pairs of opposite emotions in Robert Plutchik’s “wheel of emotions” model. The goal is to better identify these emotions to improve our empathy.
My response to a great question asked by a listener: “How does the subjective concept of a soul help me teach intentional living?”
Beginning of third skill in Sentient Worldview: Interpretation using Emotion and Intuition. Some setup, discussion of the model of choice, and value of this topic to you.
Pull-your-car-over awesome! MOAR!! • Your feedback floored me!! Humbled • Note: Sentient Worldview details are modular, references forthcoming
Influence, the final topic of Sensing Context, the second of six skills within the Sentient Worldview. What Influence do you have on your context? What influence does your context have on you?
Definition and management of Resources, the last major category within Sensing Context (skill 2 of 6 within the Sentient Worldview).
Discussion of the importance of cultural awareness/sensitivity, and why it’s in your best interest. Subsection of Sensing Your Context skill within the Sentient Worldview.
Context for the station and the Sentient Worldview. My why, my how, what. What is your why? Let’s connect! I’d love to interview you and share how you are creating value for others.
Continues looking at the second skill of the Sentient Worldview, Sensing your Context, specifically Location in this episode, which affects willpower, efficiency, access, and reputation.
A reply to a listener interested in learning more about Sentient Future's consulting/coaching services. Links in description will take you to website/YouTube, illustrating the Sentient Worldview.
Network [Part 1] • Network [Part 2] • Cheers! • Reply to Flight Headed Call-in. Based on EP 6, interest in mind maps for social network and maintenance of social skills.
Context - Social Network - Part 1 • Context - Social Network - Part 2. Start of second step within Sentient Worldview (Sensing Context): Sensing your network
HUGE update! Sentient Worldview video now on YouTube! Link in description. • Self - Wrap-up Part 1 • Self - Wrap-up Part 2
Self - Soul - Part 1 • Self - Soul - Part 2. Final part of the Sensing Self step within the Sentient Worldview, aimed at understanding how your soul operates and living your purpose intentionally.
Self - Mind - part 1 • Self - Mind - Part 2. Exploring the concept of the Mind within the Sentient Worldview's "Sensing Self" step, to help you live more intentionally and be more fulfilled.
Shout out • Reply to Vince in Process' "Shout out". Shared values regarding waste reduction and continuous improvement. Shifting culture.
Ideal time for you? • Components of Self • Watch for "So What?" sections • Self - Body - Categories • Aside - Measure to Manage • Self - Body - So What?