What To Believe
Most of what we believe was never actually chosen — we just find ourselves with it, then defend it to the death. In other words, we don't defend ideas because they're true; we defend them because they're ours. What to Believe is where former journalist turned master coach Neil Bierbaum exposes the bug in the human operating system — a bug that makes it hard for us to face the truth about ourselves, and keeps us believing and chasing things that are not real and don’t matter. He offers a method for looking at oneself and life more objectively, to find signal within the noise, and deal with what’s real and what matters.
Fans of Stoicism will find their next level here in the form of ontological coaching, the field in which Neil spent a four-year apprenticeship, and which he has spent two decades — more than 10,000 hours — practicing and teaching. It’s a method for looking at oneself and life more objectively, to find signal within the noise, and deal with what’s real and what matters.
Neil offers a solid foundation drawn from more than 20 years of coaching, 10 years before that as a journalist, and decades of contemplative practice running through both. (Neil also has an academic master’s degree, out of which he won a research award and published a peer-reviewed paper on executive coaching methods.) His methodology integrates ontological coaching, neuroscience-backed mindfulness, and evidence-based psychology.
Three formats: solo deep dives, listener Q&A, and live coaching conversations.
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What To Believe
What To Believe Trailer
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A brief 6-minute introduction to myself and the What To Believe podcast.
I'm Neil Bierbaum, a journalist turned master coach, reporting what I found across four decades of investigation into the human operating system, distilling what's true — what really works and makes a difference — from what doesn't.
In this trailer, I share a bit about my journey, and why I'm not here to offer opinions or pretend to be a guru. I mention the paths I've gone down, and the practices I've learned and tested, both in my own life and with my clients.
I talk briefly about the time we're living in, how we have more information than ever, yet no agreement about what that information means. Nobody knows what to believe.
I mention the flaw I discovered in the human operating system that makes it hard for us to face the truth about ourselves and our world, and I point to how we might see our way past that to deal with what's real and what matters.