It's ok to cry! Thank you Scott Galloway, Prof G Podcast/Algebra of Happiness... Follow up to top podcasts.

It's ok, and even cathartic, to cry... Scott Galloway (I wholeheartedly agree)

Let me first take a step back... At the end of May I wrote a blogpost listing 5 of my favorite podcasts for those of you looking to increase your financial literacy. Here is the link:

https://thrivingwithinterest.blogspot.com/2021/05/top-5-podcasts-to-increase-your.html

I would like to add another podcast as a must listen. Even though it's not a purely financial one, you will certainly learn a lot about finance, marketing and business in general from the great Scott Galloway, professor at NYU Stern School of Business and host (or co-host with Kara Swisher) of a couple of great podcasts. The one I want to focus on here (and add  to the list above), is the Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway:


In today's podcast he had a fascinating interview with Jonathan Haidt, also of the NYU Stern School, but what I would like to highlight is the last segment of his show (basically the final 5 minutes) which he entitles the Algebra of Happiness. This is based off his excellent 2018 book of the same name:

For those of you that know me, it is clear that I am a romantic at heart and have no problem tearing up. I believe that being a father has a lot to do with this as I often tie things back to events that might have happened (or could occur) with my own children. I love romantic comedy films with Love Actually being an all time favorite. But enough about me...

Here are Mr Galloway's key arguments on why it's ok to cry. This arose from a question he received on a PBS show called Tell Me More. They asked him, "when was the last time you cried?"  Let me summarize his reasons here (for those of you who don't have the 5 minutes to listen to him directly, although you most certainly should!):

  • He cries (or at least gets emotional/tears up on a regular, almost daily, basis);
  • His tears are often due to/thanks to affection from his children (he has 2 boys);
  • He had a long period in life when he didn't cry (ages 30-44 according to him) even though he had numerous sad events happen to him such as death of mother and divorce to name two;
  • Crying feels cathartic and good;
  • It can be due to things that he is nostalgic about, but could also be due to stuff that upsets him;
  • Set aside the fact that some may believe that you are less of a person/man if you cry, you won't be;
  • Scott encourages you to embrace the sloppy part of you;
  • Getting sentimental puts you in touch with emotions and things that are important to you
  • Crying makes you a better person and certainly doesn't mean you are weak;
  • This also helps you focus on things that important and that would be sad if you lost them.
He concludes by saying: "Cry more, just trust me on this one." I could not agree more.

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