The Midlife Shift: Discovering Authenticity and Vulnerability with Mo Issa

Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, where host Andrea Samadhi connects the dots between neuroscience and emotional intelligence for improved well-being and productivity. In this episode, we dive into a transformative journey with Mo Issa, an inspiring author known for his authentic writing and motivational talks.

Join Andrea as she reconnects with Mo, a long-time supporter of her work, to explore his latest book, The Midlife Shift. Mo shares his personal journey from living a life of success and prestige to finding deeper meaning and authenticity. Through candid conversations, Mo reveals how vulnerability and self-discovery have reshaped his life, offering invaluable insights for those seeking to live their true, authentic selves.

Discover how Mo's experiences with writing, running, and reflection have guided him towards a more fulfilling life. Learn about the importance of embracing vulnerability and simplifying life to enhance self-awareness and personal growth. Whether you're navigating midlife changes or seeking to deepen your self-awareness, this episode provides a profound exploration of living with authenticity and purpose.

Watch our interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/tr661XZK438

On today's EPISODE #346 “The Midlife Shift: Discovering Authenticity and Vulnerability with Mo Issa” we will cover:

✔ An overview of Mo Issa's forthcoming book: COMING NOV 12th, 2024 to Amazon

✔ Mo will share his personal journey from living a life of success and prestige to finding deeper meaning and authenticity.

✔ Mo reveals how vulnerability and self-discovery have reshaped his life, offering invaluable insights for those seeking to live their true, authentic selves.

✔ Andrea and Mo explore ways we can all dive deeper, embrace vulnerability and simplify life to enhance self-awareness and personal growth. 

On today's episode #346 we meet with someone I’ve known over the years. It was about 10 years ago, that I was connected to our next guest through our mutual friend, motivational speaker, Bob Proctor. At the time, I had no idea how much of a supporter to my work, he would be over the years, and he’s one of the influencers who has helped me to discover, and live on my own authentic path. He was one of the first to use our curriculum for teenagers for a soccer school he ran in Accra, Ghana, and his belief and trust in me, helped me to see this in myself. We never forget those who have helped us along this journey called life, and I’m forever grateful to have met Mo Issa[i], when I was starting out on my journey of self-discovery, where I left the corporate world for a 10-year period, to make an impact in our schools.

Over the years I followed Mo’s work, specifically his writing, which until reading his book, that we will cover today, The Midlife Shift[ii], I had no idea how much Mo’s writing would inspire me, to keep going (learning and growing) on my own path. Right on the front page of his website, you can read his own words.  He says “I am a writer who believes when we find ourselves stuck in life it is because we lack meaning and don’t feel challenged. (In his books, essays and podcasts, he encourages) making small changes to embrace self-discovery, simplify life, and focus on a deep sense of fulfillment.” (Mo Issa)

Let’s meet Mo Issa, an author of three books, who has spoken regularly at conferences and workshops, including TEDx Accra Conference[iii], someone who has read 50 books per year, for the past 10 years, and see what we can learn about living our true authentic life, and improve our own self-awareness in this discovery process.

Welcome Mo Issa!! It’s been a long time since we have spoken, thank you for coming on the podcast, and sharing your work with us. I can’t even tell you how much your writing specifically has helped me over the years. This is an important and special interview. Thank you for being here.

INTRO: For our audience who might not yet know your work, and what brought you to this place now where you started with weekly articles, to publishing three books, that to me can help us all on our own personal journey of “living our best life?” Where did this journey begin for you, leading to The Midlife Shift book that we are covering today?

 Q1: Mo, I’m remembering what you said to me when we were first began planning this recording…you said to me “I’m so happy and inspired that you have the one thing that gets you up every morning.”

I did…and then routines changed with the move to a new location and this is the first recording I’ve done since the end of September. I had to take some time to get organized in my life outside this recording studio, so I wonder, for someone who has traveled and moved around a lot, how do you make sure you don’t lose that thing that inspires you every day?”

Q2: I don’t remember when I saw your TEDx Talk “Rich, Successful, Strong, Yet Empty” but I’m guessing it was around 2015. I knew you as a strong and serious business leader, who worked closely with Bob Proctor, and spent some of your time giving back to help young people learn these success principles that we just weren’t taught in school. I remember being surprised that you thought maybe you had been living life wrong. Can you take us back to how you were living life, and what did you discover was missing? How did you pinpoint it for you?

Q3: At what point did you question your identity (how the world saw you) vs the person who craved a less lavish lifestyle?

Q4: These are all really deep concepts, but you wrote about how “the inner journey is long and endless, but it’s a human one.” I could spend the whole time on just this concept. You also wrote about how “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Can you explain where your “journey of the mind” began, and where did it take you?

Q5: You also write about craving “creativity, presence, simplicity, vulnerability and authenticity.” Again, more deep concepts. I remember years ago you asked me to think about what authenticity meant to me, and I found the notes I wrote about this topic on my phone back in 2021. I wrote a whole bunch of paragraphs on this topic, but the main idea was “living who I am by design.” I know that when I’m not doing the things that make me feel alive, I’m not my best self. I wonder what was it about this topic of authenticity that drew you in?

Q6: When you wrote that writing helped you to “Express the depths of your soul and allowed your muted voice to speak, the better you connected with people around the world.”

This is deep! How can we all learn what’s within our soul FIRST, and then how can we become brave enough to “express the depths of our soul?” Where did you begin to take this journey?

Q7: We’ve taken a deep dive into creativity and our brain on this podcast with Jose Silva’s work, specifically in PART 4[iv] of this series. What about creativity? What do you do to become more creative?

Q8: I’ve spent most of the past week reading Chapter 4 of your book on “Unlocking the Power of Vulnerability” and related to the whole chapter. There’s times during interviews that I just can’t hold the tears in, and I’ve got better at just embracing it all, and not trying to hide my emotions. Can you share how it is coming from a strong male point of view, on not being afraid now to show your emotional side, and what this has done for you?

Q9: I wonder if we could talk about this one paragraph from chapter 4. You wrote:

“We all need to have that one thing at our core a vehicle for going deep into our essence, exploring the mysterious places of our hearts, venturing into our pasts and confronting painful moments stored away in our subconsciouses, which somehow in the writing process had bubbled to the surface”

How did writing, coined with running, help you to become more self-aware, see the real you and allow you to dive deep into the essence of yourself, exploring all of the mysteries in your heart?

Q10: What have I missed here? How would you summarize your mission with your work? How can people reach you?

Mo, I want to thank you for supporting my work all those years ago, when I was just starting out on my own path of self-discovery. I’m still looking for answers, and am grateful to have stayed connected over the years. I’ll be sure to share the best way for people to connect with you, and buy your book The MidLife Shift.

FOLLOW MO ISSA

Website: www.mo-issa.com

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

I knew this episode was important for me, as reading through Mo’s book, I could see where I knew I had more work to do. As I’m working on ways to become more vulnerable with my family, it really didn’t take much, and I can already see changes occurring.

Watch for The Midlife Shift to come out on Amazon November 12th, 2024, and I highly recommend reading each chapter, take notes at what resonates with you, and then look for the action steps you can personally take to gain more self-awareness in your own journey of the mind.

I’ll see you next episode as we continue back with our final chapters of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

We were grateful to be featured as a Top 30 #neuroscience #podcast and Top 20 #sel podcast for 2025!

 

https://podcast.feedspot.com/neuroscience_podcasts/ 

 

https://podcast.feedspot.com/social_emotional_learning_podcasts/

 

FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI: 

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi  

Website https://www.achieveit360.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/ 

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REFERENCES:

[i] https://www.mo-issa.com/about

[ii] The Midlife Shift: How I Left the Ratrace and Found Myself by Mo Issa https://www.mo-issa.com/book

[iii] Rich, successful, strong—yet empty. Mohammed Issa TEDx Accra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO801NKR0Cc

[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #261 “The Neuroscience Behind the Silva Method: PART 4 Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Workplaces”

 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-silva-method-improving-creativity-and-innovation-in-our-schools-sports-and-modern-workplaces/