On the 81st episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Patrick McAndrew. Patrick, a global thought leader on productivity and performance, empowers professionals to escape the "Productivity Paradox" - the illusion that being busy equals progress. As the founder of HARA, an inner circle for exceptional entrepreneurs and leaders, Patrick equips individuals with practical tools to reclaim focus, boost productivity, and achieve extraordinary results in a world of constant distractions. He provides teams with tools to tame distractions, prioritise what matters most, and develop resilience.
In this beautiful conversation, Patrick takes us on his exploration of various cognitive and biological functions to what is now a journey to the heart, moving from fragmentation and mechanistic approaches to life towards greater alignment, embodiment, and a sense of being. He shares beautiful anecdotes and wisdom observed from his mother in her final months and his experience of caring for her, as well as the realisations he has made from his own closely examined life. He touches on various modalities he has explored to live a more connected life, as well as tools and perspectives he shares with his clients to allow greater acceptance and connection to flourish in their own lives.
This episode has a lot to offer. Whether you are seeking greater clarity in life, have implemented many processes for “optimising” your life and still feel something is missing, or knowing that something intangible is within your reach but you feel lost in that process, this episode offers multiple insights for your own contemplation.
Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.
For further content and information check out the following:
Patrick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmcandrewonline/
Patrick's website: https://www.patrickmcandrew.co
Patrick's newsletter: https://patrickmcandrew.substack.com
- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos
- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
Contact me at
mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people.
00:00 Introduction
03:25 Who am I in this moment?
06:50 Moving from mental inquiries to the heart
12:55 Lessons from his mother
18:50 Not seeking approval & letting go of constructs
26:50 Connection is much closer than we think
28:30 Contact and awareness of impulses and cravings
33:20 Finding clarity and guidance in life
38:00 The significance of resting within yourself
42:30 Letting go of our judgements and identifying needs
52:40 A reconnection to wild and wisdom
1:02:05 What is a good life for Patrick?
What is What is a Good Life??
This isn’t a podcast about fixing you. It’s about living life more fully.
What Is a Good Life? is a long-form conversation project exploring how people actually live, feel, and make meaning of their lives.
Over the past four years, I’ve sat with more than 300 people — artists, parents, executives, wanderers, therapists, and strangers — and invited them into a simple but profound inquiry: What is a good life for you?
These conversations aren’t about advice, formulas, or self-improvement. They explore presence, paradox, uncertainty, and the moments that quietly shape a life — love and loss, trust and fear, clarity and not knowing.
This podcast isn’t here to give you answers.
It’s here to slow you down, to listen deeply, and to invite you into conversation with your own life.
New episodes weekly.