Inspired Evolution with Amrit Sandhu: A Mind, Body & Soul Podcast

Our guest for this week is Skip Kelly, a traveling biohacker, digital business nomad, and adventure filmmaker.

About Skip

If you feel like you’ve seen Skip before, then it might have been on our show! This is Skip’s second appearance on the Inspired Evolution Podcast. If you want to check out our previous conversation about living the life of your dreams and inspiring humanity, click here!

Skip started his career as a professional consultant on the matters of biomechanics for US Olympic trainers and athletes. He coached them on topics such as exercise physiology, nutrition, and injury prevention.

Over the years, he has used his talents in filmmaking and storytelling to help people promote their brands and discover their voice in their respective industries. He is also a member of the Mindvalley University and he frequently makes lovely videos about the events and gatherings. Skip’s videos are gorgeous depictions of what Mindvalley is all about. Check out one of his most recent videos from this years Mindvalley U in Croatia!

In 2019, Skip started the ‘Prehab Dojo’, a company that aims to improve the quality of people's lives by being health-conscious and providing edu-tainment on the topics of health and longevity. They offer guided meditations and other educational content that will help you communicate with your body and feel great, both physically and emotionally.

Connect with Skip:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skip.kelly.56
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCItDJDFI0ImtSk9sOIGgQkA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skipkellyfilms/?hl=sr
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skip-kelly-b9b016a2/
• Website: https://www.prehabdojo.com/

In This Episode We Canvas:

• Defining Success as Fulfillment

Skip recalls all the times in his career when he was working with people who were considered successful by all sorts of standards. Even when he was working with US Olympic athletes and coaches who were at the very peak of their field, he realized there was little to no room for fulfillment in their definitions of success.

“When are we going to start talking about success as fulfillment? It’s just not a thing. It’s very rare.” - Skip Kelly

• What Does It Mean to Be a Fulfillionaire?

Skip has discovered a term that sums up his current point of interest he wishes to invest his energy into. The term ‘fulfillionaire’ is an awesome way to describe what we should all strive towards becoming. It highlights both the importance of fulfillment for living a healthy life while also establishing a financial connotation.

“I think the core part of ‘fulfillionaire’ and why I think that title is appropriate is it alludes to ‘millionaire, billionaire…’ and how important money is to a fulfilling life. It’s not so much about rolling in hundreds but it is about not having real problems. Real problems being: shelter, food, safety…” - Skip Kelly

• Should We Seek Happiness or Fulfillment?

We went on to explore the relationship between happiness and fulfillment and Skip shares his thoughts on the key distinctions between seeking happiness and fulfillment. He used to think of himself to be a great supporter of having happiness as the main goal in life. But he recently shifted towards fulfillment as he found it to be more valuable and he explains why.

“Happiness comes from acceptance but growth comes from change. If you can just accept where you are, you’ll be happy… You can be happy in any circumstance. The question is ‘are you fulfilled by just being happy?’” - Skip Kelly

• Finding Your Purpose In Your Existential Struggles

Skip shares with us a great mind experiment which has a purpose to provide us with insight into what’s truly important to us; what really moves us. By examining the existential struggles you’ve faced in your life, you can dig around to find the real jewels which are the things that move and inspire you most in life. The key to living a fulfilled life is to choose to spend your time engaging in activities that fulfill you.

“It’s kind of like a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ success game.” - Skip Kelly

• The Value of Identifying with Characters in Stories

Another strategy for discovering what we truly value in life is to pay attention to what makes us identify with characters in stories. Whether we’re consuming them through movies, books or video games, stories provide us with a context where characters get to depict behaviors, attitudes, and values. If they align with our own values, then we’re more likely to identify with those characters over others. Skip sees this as an opportunity to both recognize and remind ourselves of what we hold in high regard in life.

“The more you can appreciate these characters in life the more you can start to realize what inspires you and who you want to show up as on a day to day basis.” - Skip Kelly

• How to Fight Loneliness

Skip draws from his own experiences in dealing with loneliness. He recognizes that being simply surrounded by other people will not help you feel less lonely because the feeling isn’t simply caused by lack of physical proximity to others. Skip argues that in order to truly overcome loneliness, we must understand that the feeling itself is not helpful to us.

“You feeling lonely is just you feeling lonely. It’s not the actual thing… By connecting to other people, knowing that they feel lonely and helping them feel less alone, you will feel less alone.” - Skip Kelly

Skip’s Message of Inspired Evolution

I always enjoy having people back on the podcast and having a chance to catch up with Skip was a real blessing. I think our conversation covered some amazing topics regarding fulfillment. I think Skip gave us some great arguments why it’s a great concept to consider on the road to transformation and living a better life. He argued the case for fulfillment beautifully and one of the key things that really stuck with me is how he, at one point, managed to draw a hopeful message from a very nihilistic premise. The only thing left to say in response is ‘why not?:

“We’re all just floating on a giant rock in space, maybe in a computer simulation. So really, how important is it that you live up to your ‘potential’? And at the same time, whatever you do doesn’t matter and so why not do the things that inspire you and fulfill you?” - Skip Kelly