What is a Good Life?

On the 120th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I’m delighted to welcome Mike James Ross. Mike has been a CHRO, author, consultant, investor, lawyer, manager of a peace negotiations project, and a whole host of other things. He is currently advising individuals, teams, and organisations with a focus on meaningful work. The book he co-authored, Intention, is a practical guide to unsticking yourself and infusing purpose, engagement, and fulfilment into your life.

In this insightful conversation, Mike shares his explorations and research into finding meaning in work, the importance of connection with others, and the societal implications of disengagement in the workforce. He also emphasises the role of love and intention in living a fulfilling life.

This conversation is a wonderful invitation to contemplate the idea of a good life and what is meaningful from the perspective of the collective, beyond simply our own individual perspectives.

For more of Mike's work, check out the following:
Mike’s website and book: https://www.mikejamesross.com/
Mike’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikejamesross/

Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to explore your own lines of self-inquiry through 1-on-1 coaching, take part in my 5-week Silent Conversation group courses, discuss experiences I create to stimulate greater trust, communication, and connection, amongst your leadership teams, or you simply want to get in touch.

- For the What is a Good Life? 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/
- Exploring one-on-one coaching: https://www.whatisagood.life/p/one-on-one-coaching
- The Silent Conversations: https://www.whatisagood.life/p/the-silent-conversations

00:00 Individual or collectively discerning a good life
05:30 Camaraderie at work
10:50 Is gratitude seated in guilt?
16:14 An abundance within attention
23:00 Meaning at work
28:40 The cost of not doing meaningful work
32:22 Why does the status quo persist?
37:20 The significance of the other in meaning
44:20 Personally finding meaning at work
48:10 Finding meaning and busyness
55:30 Reasons for optimism  
1:01:00 Summary and what is a good life for Mike?

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.