The Business of Belief: Recent Episodes
Tom Asacker
Hey everyone,
Weâre doing something a little different this week. This audio summary is from one of our favorite Zoom meetings, and itâs usually tucked behind the paywall, or just for those who submitted questions or were able to attend live.
But itâs a time for gifting (or maybe just a spontaneous pre-Black Friday/Thanksgiving act of generosity!), and letâs face it: many of you are already in travel mode or bracing for some quality time with the family tomorrow. You might need something to zone out to.
So, consider this our Pre-Thanksgiving Survival Audio Kit, delivered straight to your inbox.
In this 15-minute summary, youâll get the key takeaways and a few laughs, especially the absolutely wild story about the guy and the dirty dishes. Trust me, youâll want to hear that oneâitâs a perfect story for when you need a little perspective (or just a good distraction) before the big family dinner.
Not an Audio Person? (Or Just Have a Wicked Sense of Humor?)
If audio isnât your thing, or if you need a seasonally appropriate laugh to share with the cool cousin, Iâve got you covered with a high-value alternative.
For those of you with an absolutely wicked sense of humor, Iâm sharing one of my all-time favorite holiday-adjacent articles:
Warning: The title alone should tell you that this piece from The Onion is packed with profanity. Itâs truly hilarious, but maybe donât click this one in front of your grandma unless sheâs a certified badass.
Click here to read: Itâs Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers
Enjoy the summary/the laughs, have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow, and Iâll catch you all next week!
The audio available here captures the core of our discussion, which centered on a critical insight: when we cast ourselves as the central character in our own narrative, we create an invisible barrier to genuine connectionâboth internally and with others.
But our conversation unearthed something more foundational. The pursuit of a âbetter versionâ or a more evolved identity is merely a sophisticated continuation of the original trap.
The essential realization isnât about developmentâitâs about recognition. It emerges when we see the futility of the entire self-story project, when we acknowledge how the mind perpetually manufactures the illusion that we âget itâ while others need to wake up and change. The irony is precise: to claim youâve transcended this pattern is to have fallen back into it.
What weâre examining isnât another framework to integrate. Freedom is found in the simple release of attachment to being anyone at allânot as a lofty spiritual aim, but as the natural consequence of clearly witnessing these patterns as they unfold.
If youâre interested in exploring these ideas further:
Your Brain on Story: The Destructive Seduction of the Heroâs Journey: Click here.
How To Be Alive video series (available to paid subscribers): Click here.
Notable mentions:Sonder is the profound realization that every passerby has a life as complex and vivid as your own, filled with their own ambitions, worries, routines, and experiences.
âHave you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?â â George Carlin
Your children are not your children.
The Princeton Seminary Experiment
Stanford Prison Experiment
Dr. Ellen Langer
Man on the Moon starring Jim Carrey
The Weight of Gold (trailer)
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, Verse 47
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
Full interview with Steve Burns
Stay passionate!
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ageofunknowing.substack.com/subscribe
What elite hitters do is exactly how breakthrough ideas emerge.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ageofunknowing.substack.com/subscribe
Imagine two people discussing my new book as if they were old friends. Thanks to the incredible power of AI (NotebookLM), Iâve created an audio recording of just that, and all I did was upload a digital version of my book and press a button.
While the AI-generated discussion isnât flawless, itâs remarkably natural and engaging (listen and decide for yourself). Itâs like eavesdropping on a private conversation about my work. But this newfound ability raises profound questions about the future of communication and human connection.
The potential benefits are immense. AI could democratize access to literature by making it more interactive and engaging. It could also inspire new forms of creative expression. However, the risks are equally significant.
Consider the recent case of a self-driving car that made a fatal decision based on biased training data. Or imagine a world where AI-generated deepfakes become so convincing that we can no longer distinguish between truth and falsehood. These are just a few examples of the potential negative consequences of AI. Others include job displacement, loss of privacy, security risks, erosion of human agency, and environmental impact. The list goes on and on.
As we continue to embrace this powerful technology, itâs imperative that we approach it with caution and consider the ethical implications of our actions. The future of communication, and perhaps even humanity itself, may depend on it.
Note: If youâre both intrigued and equally frightened by AI, explore the articles at this link to better understand the ethical and societal implications of this powerful technology.
Stay passionate!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unwindingwant.substack.com
Hi all,
In our final episode (11 min):
The sure-fire way to change your mind;
The design determines the results;
Your lifeâs purpose is the quality of your lifeâs experiences; and
What ever happened to dreams?
Note: I hope youâre enjoyed this series. You can support my work by getting, or gifting, the full version of the book at this link. Thank you.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
In this weekâs episode (12 min):
We have no control over fate; fate chooses us. But we do get to choose our destiny;
Hereâs the real definition of insanity (itâs not what you think);
Who are you? Itâs really simple; and
Itâs physically impossible to hit a major league fastball. So how do they do it?
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi all,
In this weekâs episode (9 min):
Your feeling mind is a great observer, but a horrible leader;
Great leaders enliven the rhythm of transformation;
We donât want to think about the reality behind our beliefs; and
Never skip this first essential step!
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi all,
In this weekâs episode (9 min):
To reinforce someoneâs bridge of belief, get them to take a step forward;
Beliefs shift with behavior, not through information;
Hereâs an idea! Letâs start issuing positive tickets; and
Mother Teresaâs passionate plane ride.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi all,
In this weekâs episode (10 min):
Our story creating minds are wired to imagine a better future;
Happiness is coming!;
Distractions undermine belief by overriding our instincts; and
How Steve Jobs got people to believe in Apple.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi all,
In this weekâs episode (8 min):
Changing a belief is like crossing a precarious footbridge;
Burka + bikini = belief;
Why affect must always precede effect; and
Vikram Gandhi and his nonsensical (yet believable) KumarĂŠ!
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi again,
In this weekâs episode (10 min):
Desire is what moves the world;
Desire is a personâs reason to believe, and evidence is their permission to believe;
âExercise in exactly 4 minutes per day!â; and
Is positive self-deception a good thing?
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi all,
In this weekâs episode (14 min):
Our brains have evolved to transform reality by making up cause and effect stories;
The stories we create about the past are not the Truth. Theyâre a personal fiction;
Racists baseball fans were faced with a dilemma with the arrival of the great Jackie Robinson. So what did they do?; and
Something you may not have known about Stanley Milgramâs controversial electric shock experiment.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi friends,
In this weekâs episode (9 min):
The human brain works like an elaborate and evolving âconnect the dotsâ puzzle;
Memory isnât a simple storage and retrieval process. Itâs an in the moment construction;
We are not rational beings. We are rationalizers; and
Evidence that contradicts our beliefs causes psychological discomfort, which we resolve through rationalization.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi again,
In this weekâs episode (9 min):
Belief is an opinion, which is tied directly to an evolving personal story;
We meet an obscure singer-songwriter who, at one time (and place), was more popular than the Beatles;
Our brains are obsessively making predictions, and itâs our feelings that inform that, predominantly, unconscious belief formation process; and
A ridiculously simple math problem that we canât help but get wrong.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Hi all,
In this weekâs episode (10 min):
We explore the connection between our beliefs and our fates;
We see why it made sense, at the time, to lobotomize John F. Kennedyâs sister;
We expose a âfaith healer" to show why ârealityâ is a personal abstraction and reconstruction; and
We debunk the popular notion that your brain is a computer.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
In this opening episode (9 min):
We meet the seductive Buddhist demon Mara;
We lay out the inordinate challenge of belief in todayâs modern world; and
We find out why the medical doctor and creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, believed in fairies.
Note: If youâd rather listen to the entire book at your own pace, and be able to go back to it at your leisure, you can get the full version at this link.
Subscribe at tomasacker.substack.com
Last week I had a wonderful conversation with Julie Masters on her Inside Influence podcast. Instead of trying to summarize it for you, hereâs what Julie posted on her website:
Iâm sure you, like me and 99% of the population of this planet, would think of yourself as a rational person. The dictionary definition of rational is: âbased on or in accordance with reason or logicâ. âReason and logicâ; Iâll take those words â who doesnât like to think of themselves as logical and reasonable?
Well, Iâve got some news for you â and itâs probably not a surprise. We are not as rational as we think we are. You are not â and I am not.
According to my next guest, most of our day to day decisions are not carefully evaluated, thought through â or weighed-up. But instead based on beliefs, personal preferences and working assumptions â each one cross-checked against our environment, background, desires, feelings and mood at any specific time. And most of that⌠is done unconsciously without you even being aware. Sound hard to navigate? Unfortunately, it is.
As I record this introduction, the aftershock, global protesting and heartbreak following the death in custody of George Floyd â is still very much ongoing. And if that situation teaches us anything â it should be how hard-wired, unconscious (and often dangerous) our beliefs systems can be.
But itâs not enough to sit in that knowledge â what comes next is probably the most important question when it comes to understanding influence â what does it take to understand, direct â and in this case â redirect our beliefs into new behaviour?
My guest today has spent a good portion of his life studying the gap between what we say is important â and what we actually do â both for individuals, companies and social movements.
A speaker, writer and advisor â Tom Asacker takes a different approach to creating momentum, and that approach is all about belief, desire and the physics of action. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies, co-founded a high-tech medical device company â won the George Land Innovator of the Year Award â and is now the author of âThe Business of Beliefâ focusing on the hidden logic of behaviour.
In todayâs conversation, we talk aboutâŚ.
⢠How to close the gap I mentioned earlier â taking your team, your community or yourself from âtalking the talkâ, to âwalking the walkâ.
⢠Why as a leader you have to embrace the desires and beliefs of those you are trying to influence â especially when the horizon is uncertain. And I donât mean just acknowledge those beliefs (which actually was a shift in my thinking), but instead find a place where you can authentically own them as your own.
⢠How to get over the past experiences and stories that impact how you show up â so you can arrive at a situation open, but still armed with certainty.
⢠And why itâs physically impossible to hit a baseball â I know this sounds like this would have nothing to do with influence â but it has everything to do with waiting for the right moment⌠vs. swinging with intent and trusting you have the muscle to follow through when the angle becomes clearer.
What I want you to reflect on in this episode is how hidden and hard wired our beliefs can be. We are complex and multi-dimensional beings â who bring our entire history and belief system with us to any table or conversation. However, by accepting that â and by committing to the excavate â understand â and work with someoneâs beliefs â including our own â we start to walk the fastest and most powerful road to influence that I know.
So, take a seat, let the logical world go for awhile â hard as that is right now â and open your mind to the thoughts and (ever flexible) beliefs of Tom Asacker.
I hope you enjoy it. And as always, thank you for subscribing.
Tom
P.S. If you enjoy these emails and know someone else who would enjoy them, please forward this to them and encourage them to sign up.
âHoard food and it rots. Hoard money and you rot. Hoard power and the nation rots.â â Chuck Palahniuk
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