In a fast paced society filled with endless streaming stimulation (think global news, social media, virtual reality, targeted advertisement...), extraordinary arousal is required to catch our attention. Just think of any recent consumer item you purchased (or will be purchasing this holiday season), and figure it's quite likely that some portion of the $206 billion dollars spent on advertising in the U.S. in 2017, went toward getting that product into your hands (source: statista.com). This means that we are trained to respond to those moments of stimulation which stand out from all the other stimulation around us, all the time. In short, we constantly seek thrilling "a-ha" moments, and the bar keeps getting raised higher and higher.
This paradigm would certainly be true of Noah Ennis (yours truly), our podcast guest today, who for most of his life followed a track set before him of how to live, what to eat, and what to value. Noah's "a-ha" moment however, came in a totally different package than the one he traditionally fashioned, and in fact wasn't a consumer item at all. In January 2016, Noah decided to embark on a 30-day vegan journey with the only goal to prove that he "could do it", and perhaps as a small offering to his already vegan wife Isabelle (your co-host) who served as a pillar of inspiration and support through the process. The results bore no resemblance to the envisioned outcome however, and by the end of the challenge Noah was left with more questions than he bargained for.
For Noah, the 30 day challenge symbolized that the only means to move away from his static way of pre-determined life was to look inside himself and make deliberate decisions one day at a time, to become a healthier person bit by bit. It took "slowing down" and "tuning up" to gain the consciousness that brought him forth through these daunting unchartered waters. The ripple effect of this decision tree quickly worked its way into other facets of Noah's life, and he drew upon the experience as inspiration to complete his first marathon and first triathlon earlier this year. He ultimately reconsidered the way he acts as a colleague, a friend, a husband, and family member, but first needed to tear away from the prescribed way of living and open up to vulnerability. In today's episode we focus on Noah's transition which began with the 30-day vegan challenge, and developed into a source of personal happiness and satisfaction that gave him the confidence to be present-minded, while always looking forward to life's next challenge.
