What is a Good Life?

What if it were easy? What would you do if you weren't afraid?

This week I am joined by Dr Myriam Hadnes who shares with us two questions that have really influenced her life. We explore how passion can grow through doing rather than preceding it, why conflict in relationships can be a form of intimacy rather than a threat to it, and what it really means to act in integrity even when the cost is potentially high.

It is a beautiful conversation about communication, courage, and what it means to feel truly accepted.

Dr Myriam Hadnes is a behavioural economist, facilitator, and host of the Unprofessionalism podcast, exploring what gets lost when professionalism becomes performance. Her agency workshops.work partners with global organisations to build the conditions where people think together, speak up, and do honest work.

For more from Dr Myriam Hadnes:
Website: workshops.work
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriam-hadnes/

For more from Mark McCartney:
Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife

00:00 Two Life-Changing Questions
04:09 What If It Were Easy?
07:08 When Easy Gets Scary
09:31 Finding Meaning in Work
13:24 Teaching What You Live
19:00 Conflict Doesn't Mean Unlove
23:01 Sisyphus and the Paradox
25:30 The Radical Honesty Moment
30:35 Lessons From A Client Conflict 
38:31 Walking Away With Integrity
44:55 Easy Love, Redefined
52:30 What Makes a Good Life

What is What is a Good Life??

What is a Good Life? is a podcast about the questions that shape our lives: how we live, who we become, and what truly matters. For the past five years, I've asked more than 300 people one deceptively simple question: What is a good life?
There isn't a single answer. Instead, each conversation offers a different way of seeing the world—through stories, ideas, struggles, joys, and moments of hard-earned wisdom. Together, they form a richer picture of what it means to be human.
Whether you're searching for clarity, purpose, or simply a thoughtful conversation, this podcast is an invitation to reflect on your own answer.
New episodes every Tuesday.