What is a Good Life?

This week Mark McCartney sits down with Sam Smith. Sam sees life as a big old experiment. He used to play professional rugby, before starting a few businesses. Now he spends his time speaking to people, writing and loving his family. Last year he wrote his first book, The Door Was Never Locked. His latest project with his friend Garth, Conscious Soup launches soon, it's a Living Experiment. They aren't sure what that means yet.

In this conversation, Sam opens up about the moment he retired from rugby at 26 and collapsed on a bathroom floor crying, escaping this transition with work and alcohol, and how a simple repeated gesture from a coach changed the entire direction of his life.
We explore identity, the stories we carry without questioning, what it really means to lead as a human, and why a good life for him is wanting all of it - even the hard parts. If you are navigating any big life transitions right now, this conversation may be particularly helpful.

For more from Sam Smith:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conscious-soup-studio/
You can grab a copy of his book: https://amzn.eu/d/07QwCqFQ
And he'd love to hear from you: [email protected]

For more from Mark McCartney:
Newsletter: https://www.whatisagoodlife.com/
Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife3875

What is it about dogs?
It's the question Doug Skoke has been sitting with and it turns out, trying to understand what makes his golden doodle Harley tick has become one of his most impactful explorations of how to actually live well.
Doug is the Founder & CEO of LFG NOW!, a boutique executive search firm, and a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths Coach - but what defines him more than any title is a lifelong obsession with people, energy, and what it means to show up fully in your own life. A daily meditator and firm believer in the Platinum Rule - treat others as they prefer to be treated - Doug has spent over a decade exploring practical and spiritual approaches to growth, resilience, and presence.
What begins as a question about why dogs are so emotionally regulating opens into one covering grief, crisis, dialectical behavioural therapy, the self-love pendulum, radical acceptance, and what it actually means to lift others up.
Whether you're drawn to mindfulness, emotional intelligence, personal growth, or just an honest human conversation - this episode is for you.
For more from Doug Skoke:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougskoke/
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/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩  
00:00  Five Years In The Making
01:15  What Is It About Dogs?
03:30  The Thought Bubble Cartoon
06:00  What Dogs Know About Presence
09:09  When His Brother Died
11:14  Alma's Unwavering Welcome
13:20  Angels In Disguise
18:50  Unconditional, Every Single Moment
24:20  The Dog He Almost Gave Away
30:53  Learning To Regulate
40:15  The Self-Love Pendulum
1:01:08  What Is A Good Life for Doug?

In this episode of What is a Good Life?, Mark McCartney sits down with Jennifer Garvey Berger - author, global leadership coach, and co-founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership - to explore one of the most honest questions a person can ask: am I actually living in alignment with what I say matters most?
Jennifer has spent decades helping leaders untangle big questions and find more courageous, compassionate ways to lead. All four of her books are Stanford University Press top sellers of the last decade. But here, she turns that same rigorous curiosity on herself.
She shares the moment she realised her deepest values - generosity and curiosity - have their own shadows. She unpacks the concept of values as polarities, why rigid adherence to a single value leaves the whole system weak, and how she learned to hold temporary certainty without pretending to have all the answers.
If you're interested in personal growth, leadership, values, conscious living, philosophy of life, intentional community, or a good life, this episode is for you.
For more from Jennifer Garvey Berger:
Company Website: www.cultivatingleadership.com
Books:
Unleash Your Complexity Genius: https://www.sup.org/books/business/unleash-your-complexity-genius
Changing on the Job: https://www.sup.org/books/business/changing-job-second-edition
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-garvey-berger-7b4a264/
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/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩  
00:02  A Question Worth Following
01:31  Closing the Values Gap
04:01  When Values Cast Shadows
08:53  Generosity and Curiosity's Dark Side
13:02  Shame and the Human Condition
16:29  Learning to Take Stands
18:49  Standing for Love
23:19  Certainty at Sea
26:21  Time, Physics and Reality
33:39  Rising to Love
38:05  The Intentional Community
50:28  What Is A Good Life for Jennifer?

In this episode of What is a Good Life?, Mark McCartney sits down with Laura Beckingham - a modern mystic for turbulent times. It's a conversation that remains as grounded in the bread and butter of life as it ascends into the spiritual.
We move from asking what existence is all about through radical inclusion, Family Constellations, ancestral wisdom, the right size in relationships, grief and death, the energy of birth - and why a good life for Laura is about staying in contact with the pulse of life.
It will leave you with plenty to sit with.
Laura works one-to-one with senior execs who are dismantling the system from the inside, and with people practitioners and creatives who are doing something of the same in their own way. You can also join her in community online, for ritual and reflective practice in The Sanctum, and at The Loom.

For more from Laura Beckingham:
Website: https://spacewith-in.com/
The Sanctum: https://spacewith-in.com/category/the-sanctum/
The Loom: https://spacewith-in.com/the-loom-2026/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-beckingham-109bb625/
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/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩  
00:00  What Is All of This?
02:15  Born Curious
07:10  Knowing and Not Knowing
10:25  Old Wisdom, New Ways
14:50  Radical Inclusion
18:30  Do No Harm
20:45  The Right Size
25:10  Life as Attunement
28:30  Opening and Closing
34:00  In Motion and Still
40:40  The Witch and the Field
55:35  Grief, death, birth
1:01:00 What Is a Good Life?

In this episode of What is a Good Life?, Mark McCartney sits down with Dave Snowden - Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Cynefin Co., creator of the Cynefin Framework, and one of the most original thinkers working at the intersection of complexity science, organisational design, and human decision-making.
The conversation moves through substrate theory, complexity science, psychological safety, the dangers of homogenisation, coherent heterogeneity, Celtic identity, indigenous rights, conflict resolution in Northern Ireland, and what a good life really comes down to.
It is a beautiful mixture of thought provoking ideas and powerful lived experiences.
For more from Dave Snowden:
Website: https://thecynefin.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-snowden-2a93b/
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/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩  
00:00  Substrate and What Emerges
02:37  Fed Up With Management Fads
05:54  When Ideas Come Together
07:25  Celtic Presence and Attention
10:20  The Reformation's Long Shadow
13:28  The Problem With Safety
16:38  Phase Shifts and Flipping
21:17  Changing the Granularity
24:48  Witnessing Violence
29:12  Identity as Flow
37:43  Metaphor as Intelligence
51:57  What Is a Good Life?