What is a Good Life? #29
The Freedom To Be You with Cortney McDermott
On the 29th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I'm excited to have Cortney McDermott, a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and strategist for Fortune 500 executives and creative entrepreneurs, joining me as a guest.
Cortney takes us on a profound exploration of true freedom and the liberating act of being yourself. She shares her personal journey, which was spurred by a sense of emptiness following consistent successes (see clip 🎬 below), that led her to discover what truly needed to be explored and expressed in her life.
Throughout the episode, Cortney reveals her personal processes that guided her back into her body and feelings, shifting her focus from external seeking to realising that everything she needed was already within her grasp.
We delve into the immense energy that arises from aligning with one's essence and the importance of expanding our sense of trust in life. While Cortney also emphasises the significance of neither rejecting one's ego nor emotions, or blindly following ready-made prescriptions for life.
If you find yourself grappling with a sense of emptiness despite your achievements and are yearning for more in life, this episode offers a wealth of contemplation. It will open new doors of perspective and fresh curiosity for what may come next, whatever that looks like for you.
If you enjoy this conversation, the digital version of Cortney’s latest best-selling book, Give Yourself Permission, is discounted here for the next week!
The weekly clip from the podcast (3 mins), my weekly reflection (2 mins), the full podcast (68 mins), and the weekly questions all follow below.
1. Weekly Clip from the Podcast
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After interviewing 150+ people around the question of, “what is a good life?”, I’ve created the following offerings based on this research:
1-on-1 coaching programs for working professionals to find their own answer to this question.
Corporate workshops to bring greater connection, collaboration, and trust, to high-performing teams
Internal company podcasts for leaders of fast-growing scale-ups to help build trust, retention, and culture.
For a free 30-minute consultation for any of the above, here’s my email and LinkedIn.
2. My weekly reflection
I’ve been thinking over the last few weeks, it’s amazing all the ways in which we collectively self-police ourselves into being conventional, and then wonder why we don’t feel so comfortable in our skin, or know what we want from life.
I remember growing up all the ways that we’d tease each other if someone had a unique haircut, preferred different sports and hobbies, didn’t play any sports at all, wore a different style of clothing, etc. Constantly concerning ourselves with aspects of other people’s lives that don’t affect ours at all.
It’s crazy to me looking back how even the smallest markers of self-expression were actively discouraged.
We don’t grow out of this as adults, we continue on with the same judgements and observations of people that do things differently, to the point that we are all complicit in creating our own conceptual prison that’s limiting what behaviour or personal choices we are allowed to make next.
If we step back from our human experience for a moment, how absurd does it sound that we might not get a type of haircut we want, not take part in a certain hobby we are curious about, not dress in a certain way, because of what others think?
I understand wanting to be part of the group is very human, but this hold we have over each other in our enforcing of conformity clearly doesn’t lead us to feeling good about ourselves or having clarity in our lives.
When I talk to people about what they might want to do with their lives, I tell them to build their way up to answering that rather large question. I often suggest spending the next month making as many smaller choices that align with what they want in that very moment. The same goes with self-expression. Without being disrespectful to others etc., simply state what you want or how you feel in each moment (at least to yourself anyhow).
After a month or so of actually experiencing life from your own perspective, getting to know yourself once more, you are far more qualified to even begin to unpack what you may want to do with your life.
Otherwise you’ll most likely be asking the question to a character you are playing, or reading off a prescribed script, rather than asking yourself. Perhaps choosing the short-term comfort of conformity over the long-term freedom you could experience.
3. Full Episode - The Freedom To Be You with Cortney McDermott - What is a Good Life? #29
Click here for Apple and Google.
4. This week’s Questions
What big or small moments come to mind first when thinking of not doing something you wanted to do simply because you wanted to fit in?
What moments, interactions, relationships, activities, etc., leave you feeling more energised or make you feel more like yourself?
About Me
I am a Coach based in Berlin, via Dublin, Ireland. I left behind a 15-year career in Capital Markets after I became extremely curious around answering some of the bigger questions in life. I started this project in 2021, for which I’ve now interviewed over 150 people, to provide people with the space to reflect on their own lives and to create content that would spark people’s own inquiry into this question. I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience, beyond the facades we typically project.
If you would like to work with me, or you simply want to get in touch, here’s my email and LinkedIn.