SFN225: How Entrepreneurs Can Solve Large-Scale Problems - with James Schmatenberger

Do you really understand how to address large-scale problems?

James Schmachtenberger has a unique education emphasizing the interconnected nature of large-scale problems, and this drives James to approach societal and health challenges with solutions that account for the entirety of a problem, rather than solving for one issue while creating another.

This mission recently led James to Founding the Neurohacker Collective, an applied neuroscience company that has assembled some of the world’s most accomplished doctors, scientists, and intellectuals to address the optimization of the human consciousness itself. Their first product to market, Qualia, is a revolutionary cognitive enhancement product and the most advanced nootropic on the market.

We discuss the importance of our world’s interconnectedness and how entrepreneurs can use universal principles of interconnectedness to make a greater impact.

In This Interview I Ask:

• 1:15 - How did James become somebody who has that kind of bio and thinks about problems in that type of way?
• 4:00 - When James talks about universal principles and why they matter, and the connectedness of all things, why is that something an entrepreneur should be taking into account? And what does he mean by universal principles?
• 8:20 - What were James’ parents like?
• 9:50 - Does James think about philosophy a lot, on a day-to-day basis? What philosophies shapes his lens and the way he sees things?
• 11:20 - How is having the experience of a more connected perspective going to help someone make a greater impact? How can people go about doing that?
• 14:30 - How does someone shift from thinking about self to thinking about the bigger picture, and how do they make it habitual?
• 24:10 - Empathy is possibly one of the greatest skills you can have as a human. Nobody really talks about it, but it is the driving force behind so many different things.

Universal Principles & Entrepreneurs

In Western society, we have a tendency to think about things very separately. We compartmentalize our health, business, relationships, politics, the environment, and just about everything else. We don’t tend to look at how all of the different facets of life interconnect and guide each other

If you only take into account the one thing you’re looking at or interested in, and don’t take into account how that plays into everything else, you’re going to be looking at too narrow of a picture – and, as a result, you will have a much lower likelihood of succeeding at whatever you care about or creating a real impact.

The Value of a Macro Perspective

“Whatever it is that we put a substantial portion of our time and attention into is going to take up our awareness and shape the kinds of thoughts we’re having and the actions we’re taking.“

If your thoughts are primarily focused around meeting your own needs, that will be the extent of where your mind allows you to go, and that’s not a meaningful or motivating place to focus a huge amount of your attention.

When you expand our awareness into a bigger picture, particularly how you can contribute to the bigger picture in a beneficial way, daily life becomes easier and you can affect more.

How to Become More Connected

“Pay attention to something bigger than yourself that motivates you, take some action, and more starts to illuminate along the path.”

The ability to hold a bigger picture is a skillset that has to be developed:

• Start by picking something bigger than yourself that you already care about, and start investing more time and attention into that. You generally can’t start with the whole.
• From there, you will inherently start to learn all of the other things that apply to that space and this will allow for expanded awareness.

Enhance your capacity for empathy:

• Empathy isn’t just caring or understanding – it’s allowing yourself to fully step into the experience of another living creature and allowing yourself to experience life as they do.
• That is the most profound way to expand one’s capacity for awareness, and for real maturity.

Resources

• Get 10% off Qualia using the coupon code FOUNDATION at Neurohacker.com
• Learn more about Neurohacker Collective: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube