Between the Ears Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#13 What do you do effortlessly? Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks one of the most underrated questions you can ask yourself — and then delivers a quote that reframes addiction in a way that might just change how you see your own habits. Short, sharp and thought-provoking as always.

The Question

What do you do effortlessly?

Society tells us that if something doesn't require struggle, it's not worth doing — that is wrong
The things that come easily to you are where your natural talent lives
Effortless ability is not something to dismiss — it's something to build on and put out into the world
Whether it's cooking, writing, singing or something else entirely — if it flows, that's a signal worth paying attention to
You don't need to fight your way to your calling — sometimes you just need to notice what already comes naturally

The Quote

"People are addicted because they want to escape their normal state of suffering and suppression."

Addiction is not a character flaw — it's a response to an inner state that feels unbearable
Social media, alcohol, drugs, even scrolling — they all deliver a temporary dopamine hit that masks the real issue
Arnold spent years drinking to decompress from corporate stress — until he started working for himself 25 years ago and stopped entirely
When you build an inspiring inner state, the need for escape disappears
If you spend more than an hour a day on your phone without knowing what you're doing — that is worth examining honestly

About Arnold Beekes

🧠 Arnold Beekes enables you to have a better life between the ears.
✦ Links: https://bio.link/beekes
✦ Brain Fitness: https://braingym.fitness
✦ Brain Athletes Community: https://brainathletes.club
✦ Innovation Athletes: https://innovationathletes.club

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #QuestionAndQuote #UnleashYourUniqueness #NaturalTalent #Addiction #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness

#12 Emotions as Forces Aug 16, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes makes a case that most of us have been taught to ignore our most powerful operating system — our emotions. From suppressed feelings showing up as back pain, to fear being weaponised by media and governments, to the Nobel Prize-winning insight that we are feeling machines that think — this is a conversation that reframes everything.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why most of us have been conditioned since childhood to suppress our emotions — and what that costs us
How suppressed emotions manifest as physical pain — and why most back pain has nothing to do with your back
Why fear is the most common emotion in modern society — and how it attracts exactly what you don't want
How to use emotions positively by attaching feeling to your aspirations and goals
Why Nobel Prize winners say we are feeling machines that think — not thinking machines that feel

Key Takeaways

Emotions are generative forces — they shape how you feel, how you perform and how you connect with others
A society flooded with fear-based media, marketing and politics is doing it deliberately — awareness is your first defence
Aspiration without feeling attached to it is just a thought — add the emotion and it becomes a force
Your emotional system is your operating system — trying to live without it is like running a computer with no software
Everyday beauty matters — consciously noticing kindness, courage and compassion improves your inner state every single day

Everyday Beauty

A team at the University of Rochester has developed solar panels that turn ocean water into clean drinking water — with no toxic brine, no chemical additives and self-cleaning capability. The leftover salt even produces lithium. A genuinely remarkable example of human ingenuity solving two problems at once.

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #EmotionsAsForces #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness #FeelingMachines #UnleashYourUniqueness #EverydayBeauty

#11 Question & Quote Aug 16, 2026

Show notes

In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes cuts straight to the point with one powerful question and one memorable quote. No fluff, no filler — just the kind of thinking that makes you stop, look in the mirror and ask yourself what you've been holding back.

The Question

What would you like to do, but you don't do because you are afraid of other people's opinions?

We are wired to fit in — but fitting in often means shrinking down
Family, friends, colleagues and social media all shape what we allow ourselves to pursue
Arnold persisted with brain fitness when the industry had a bad reputation — and was proven right
A lawyer who made extraordinary cakes refused to turn it into a business because of what people might think — and stayed stuck as a result
The opinions of others are limitations you choose to accept — you can also choose not to

The Quote

"People only want to retire if they don't like their work."

If you love what you do, retirement is not the goal — it's not even appealing
Governments are already pushing retirement age toward 70 — the old model is breaking down
Stopping work has a measurable negative impact on your brain
The answer isn't to keep doing work you hate — it's to start doing something you don't want to stop

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #UnleashYourUniqueness #QuestionAndQuote #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #Retirement #DoWhatYouLove #Consciousness #InnerWork

#10 Principles for Brain Fitness – Part 2 Aug 16, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes continues his series on the principles of brain fitness, adding three powerful new ones to the framework. From practicing integrally to nurturing your right hemisphere and unleashing your uniqueness — this is a practical, no-nonsense guide to doing the real inner work. Plus, a beautifully grounding example of everyday beauty from Uganda.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why fixing just one thing in your life rarely works — and what practicing integrally really means
How your mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, social and environmental states are all connected and influencing each other
Why your right hemisphere is being deliberately neglected — and how nurturing it changes everything
The invisible straitjackets that are blocking your full potential — and how to start removing them
How Ugandan coffee farmers in the Masaka region used regenerative agriculture to shrug off a drought — and what that teaches us about resilience

Key Takeaways

You are not a mechanistic car with replaceable parts — everything inside you is connected
Going to the gym and then drinking beer to celebrate is the perfect example of not practicing integrally
Logic and rationality are overrated — your right hemisphere holds your intuition, big picture thinking and higher senses
Your uniqueness is already there — it just needs to be unleashed from the limiting beliefs placed on you by the outside world
Your inner state creates your outer reality — which is why working on it every single day matters

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainFitness #ArnoldBeekes #PracticeIntegrally #RightHemisphere #UnleashYourUniqueness #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork #Consciousness #EverydayBeauty

#9 Q&Q — What Health Habit Would You Change? Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 9 of Between The Ears, host Arnold Beekes' Q&Q format designed to help listeners unlock and use their own uniqueness. This episode's question asks listeners to identify one health-related habit, whether it's food, drink, sleep, or even the people they spend time with daily, that they'd like to change, starting small rather than aiming for a big overhaul. Arnold pairs it with a quote on the danger of comparison: "If you care what other people think, you will become the same. You will never raise beyond," unpacking how constant comparison, especially through social media, caps us at merely matching others rather than embracing our own uniqueness.

Topics Covered

Introducing this episode's question: what health-related habit would you like to change?
Habits related to food, drink, sleep, and the people around you
Starting small: identifying one habit and replacing it with a better one
This episode's quote: "If you care what other people think, you will become the same"
How comparison, at work, at home, and especially on social media, limits us
Why caring what others think caps you at sameness rather than uniqueness
The invitation to treasure and go beyond through your own uniqueness

About Arnold Beekes

Arnold Beekes is the host of Between The Ears, a podcast built around the idea that your inner state creates your outer reality. Having lived in five different countries, Arnold draws on his own experiences to help listeners build a better life between the ears, one episode at a time.

Connect with Arnold Beekes
🧠 Inner Fitness for Modern Life: https://braingym.fitness/
🧠 Inner Leadership Training for Ambitious Leaders: https://www.brainathletes.club/
🧠 Innovation Mindset for Exponential Change: https://www.innovationathletes.club/
🤝 Join our free Brain Health community: https://www.skool.com/brain-fitness-7070
🔗 https://bio.link/beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #QandQ #HealthHabits #Comparison #Uniqueness #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #PodfatherNetwork

#8 Principles to Upgrade Your Brain (Part 1) Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 8 of Between The Ears. In the first half of a two-part series, host Arnold Beekes shares three foundational principles for taking ownership of your brain and improving your brain fitness. Arnold makes the case for genuinely thinking for yourself rather than memorizing and adopting the opinions of teachers, religious leaders, doctors, or bosses; approaching life with a beginner's mind so you notice what familiarity has trained you to overlook; and learning to see beauty in small, everyday moments rather than only in rare, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring how Swiss farmers cut pest damage in half simply by planting wildflowers between their crops.

Topics Covered

Introducing a three-part (six-principle) series on upgrading your brain
Principle 1: think for yourself, rather than copying the opinions of authority figures
How school trains memorization rather than independent thought
Principle 2: be a beginner, even in areas of life you feel experienced in
Why a beginner's mindset helps you notice what you've stopped seeing
Principle 3: see beauty in daily life, not just rare or memorable moments
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: Swiss farmers reducing pest damage by planting wildflower strips between crops, now being trialed across 15 UK farms

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainFitness #ThinkForYourself #BeginnersMind #EverydayBeauty #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #PodfatherNetwork #MoralBeauty

#7 Q&Q — What Do You Need to Feel Safe? Aug 05, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 7 of Between The Ears, the first in host Arnold Beekes' new Q&Q format: a question and a quote designed to help listeners unlock and use their own uniqueness. This episode's question invites listeners to sit with what they truly need to feel safe, whether mentally, emotionally, physically, socially, or otherwise, and to take real time (a few days, or the weekend) to reflect rather than answer immediately. Arnold pairs it with his own quote: "Your life starts when you stop copying others," challenging the habit, reinforced by school and social media alike, of measuring ourselves against other people instead of discovering what's genuinely our own.

Topics Covered

Introducing the Q&Q format: a question to ponder and a quote to inspire
This episode's question: what do you need to feel safe?
The many dimensions of safety: mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, environmental, social
Why school conditions us to copy and memorize rather than think originally
How social media reinforces constant comparison with others
This episode's quote: "Your life starts when you stop copying others"
The invitation to discover and use your own uniqueness

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #QandQ #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfDiscovery #Uniqueness #Reflection #PodfatherNetwork #BrainFitness

#6 Causes of Mental Dis-ease Aug 04, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 6 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores what he calls "mental dis-ease" rather than mental illness, rejecting the idea that most people struggling with anxiety, depression, or stress have something medically wrong with them. Instead, Arnold walks through four factors he sees as the root causes: the stress of living two lives (meeting others' expectations versus living authentically), a fear-based societal environment amplified by media and corruption, heavy smartphone and social media use, and reduced sunlight exposure. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring a Canadian woman's story of rescuing a crow and being unofficially adopted into its flock.

Topics Covered

Why Arnold uses "dis-ease" instead of "illness" or "disorder"
Challenging the chemical imbalance explanation for depression and anxiety
The difference between the healthcare industry and genuine health
Cause 1: stress from living two lives — meeting others' expectations vs. living authentically
Cause 2: a fear-based societal environment amplified by media, movies, and corruption
Cause 3: smartphone and social media use, comparison culture, and "digital dementia"
Cause 4: Arnold's views on reduced sunlight exposure and its effect on mood and wellbeing
Reframing struggle as a response to environment, not personal failure
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: a woman in British Columbia rescued a crow and was later "adopted" by its flock

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #MentalHealth #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #Stress #BrainFitness #EverydayBeauty #MoralBeauty #PodfatherNetwork #MindsetShift

#5 Three Starting Points for Brain Fitness Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 5 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes lays out three foundational starting points for making brain fitness a daily habit, just as most people already do with physical fitness. Arnold defines brain fitness as choosing your uniqueness, learning continuously, handling challenges well, and contributing to a better world for all, and walks through why so many people struggle with this given rising rates of anxiety, stress, and burnout. He covers why your current state isn't your fault but is your responsibility, introduces the idea that we function with three brains (head, heart, and gut) rather than one, and explains why shifting from external to internal control is essential for genuine wellbeing. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring a family of beavers that solved a persistent flooding problem in West London.

Topics Covered

Defining brain fitness: choosing uniqueness, learning, handling challenges, and contributing
Why rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout are rising globally
Starting point 1: it's not your fault, but it is your responsibility
Debunking the "chemical imbalance" narrative
Starting point 2: we have three brains — head, heart, and gut
What coherence means when all three brains work in sync
Starting point 3: moving from external control to internal control
How judgment from others (bosses, spouses, children) can quietly run your emotional state
Taking back your power by focusing on what you actually want
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: beavers solving a flooding problem in West London

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #BrainFitness #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #ThreeBrains #InternalControl #MentalHealthMatters #Coherence #MoralBeauty #EverydayBeauty #PodfatherNetwork

#4 Uniqueness Aug 02, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 4 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores why uniqueness matters and why our systems, from education to capitalism, work to suppress it in favor of predictable sameness. Arnold breaks down why copying someone else's "successful" method rarely works, walking through why trying to replicate someone else's results can leave you capped at a fraction of their success, and shares Scott Adams' alternative: rather than chasing being the best at one thing, become very good at two or more things and combine them. The episode closes with the show's signature segment on everyday beauty, featuring the story of Italy's expanding forests and the ecological and social renewal following them.

Topics Covered

Why we're all born unique, yet uniqueness gets suppressed
How education and uniforms train us toward sameness
The link between suppressed uniqueness and chronic stress and disease
Why copying a "successful" method rarely produces the same results
Breaking down the compounding subtractions: context, execution, mindset, and energy
Scott Adams' framework: be the best at one thing, or very good at two or more
How combining two or more strengths creates rare, valuable work
Identifying your own effortless strengths as the starting point for uniqueness
The show's closing theme of everyday beauty: Italy's expanding forests, their ecological value, and their role in reversing rural depopulation

About Arnold Beekes

🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/

#BetweenTheEars #Uniqueness #InnerState #PersonalDevelopment #SelfDiscovery #ScottAdams #Individuality #MoralBeauty #EverydayBeauty #PodfatherNetwork #BrainFitness

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