Jonathan Fields’ Buckets For Living A Good Life

Some people exude a calm, confident quietude. Others exuberantly burst with exciting ideas. But it’s the rare individual that combines understated self-assurance with a spark so powerful, it incites lasting positive change in all who enter his orbit.

Jonathan Fields is one such human.

His mission? To humanize and empower the process of creation. To help people and organizations conceive and build better, more conscious businesses, art, and lives in less time, with more joy and less effort.

On a personal level, Jonathan is guy I can deeply relate to – a dad and husband who (like me) decided to leave the gilded, protective hallways of mega-law firm life and risk everything in search of a life path of greater meaning for himself and others.

Reinventing himself as a socially conscious, serial entrepreneur and mindful innovation strategist, today Jonathan is an A-list blogger, award-winning author, speaker, and founder of Good Life Project –empowering people to live more engaged and connected lives via a global education and multi-media venture that encompasses video projects, his wildly popular podcast and super cool events like Camp GLP, his annual 3 1/2- day retreat that blends friendship, adventure and deep-learning with strategies and tools for accelerated personal and business growth.

Beneath it all, Jonathan is a teacher. Brimming with empowering wisdom, I love his focus on process over results. His emphasis on the journey over the destination. His deep understanding that authenticity is everything. And that mindfulness lays forth the path. This powerful ethos is reflected in everything Jonathan does, from his writing and advocacy to most importantly, how he conducts his life down to the smallest details.

Jonathan has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, FastCompany, Inc., Entrepreneur, Forbes, USA Today, CNBC, CNN.com, PBS Nightly Report, Elle, Self, Fitness, Vogue, O, People and thousands of other websites that sound cool, but (in Jonathan’s words) don’t impress his daughter all that much.

His first book, Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love*, was named a Top 10 Small Business Book by Small Business Trends and a Top 5 Summer Read by MSNBC. Fields’ second book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance*, was lauded as the #1 Personal Development book of 2011 by 800-CEO-READ.

This week marks the release of Jonathan’s highly anticipated new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science, and Practical Wisdom*. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy (one of the perks of hosting a podcast) and I loved it. Packed with insightful, straightforward guidance, what I like best is Jonathan’s eminently doable approach for unleashing dormant potential and the authentic self lurking within.

This week marks Jonathan’s second appearance on the podcast (check out RRP 74 for our initial chat), and this time we raise the bar — a powerful conversation about the importance of community. How to let go and be present. It’s an exchange about the significance of morning routines, the fallacy of balance and the virtues of consistency. It’s about the role of belonging in life. The importance of embodied teachers. And it’s a heartfelt deep dive into Jonathan’s three buckets for living a good life.

Truth be told, I could talk with Jonathan all day. After this conversation, I think you’ll feel the same. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange.

Peace + Plants,