The current context of our lives today is complex but there are particular defining features that we must be aware of if we wish to enjoy successful, healthy and happy lives.

1. We have an epidemic of anxiety, depression and disease – people don’t know how to live successfully.

2. There is a mass of information available to us on the Internet yet buried in distractions, disinformation and irrelevant nonsense.

3. Propaganda, fake news and the promulgations of vested interests are the norm.

4. There is no way to be sure what is true and what is false by listening to the group or to ‘authorities’.

5. There are currently a great many false ideas that are widely held to be true.

We need to be sure we have the truth about any issue in order to be able to make good decisions that support our health and wellbeing and the realisation of our goals. We need to know the truth to thrive.

In today’s context this means we must maintain a habit of curiosity and wanting to understand independently of the crowd. We need a habit of engagement with the world which in turn requires thinking skills. And in order to think efficiently certain philosophical convictions must be held, even if only implicitly. We need to know that it is up to us to figure it all out, to play detective, and ultimately know how to live. But this doesn’t mean we have to know everything or that we cannot defer to authority when appropriate.

Nigel uses the metaphor of “The Matrix” borrowed from the 1999 film starring Keanu Reeves, to illustrate the way people are exploited; how their economic energy is drained away while they exist in a dream world of disconnected non-reality – like in the film.

Leaving the Matrix is achieved by a self-initiated and on-going process of thought, because it means thinking your way out of mental traps by questioning previously held assumptions. We must carefully define truth and knowledge before we start, as well as all of the specific concepts with which we subsequently think. The ultimate result of this effort is a meaningful life, a successful life, a self-authored life, a happy life.

Nigel Howitt is a married 53-year-old father of three young children, a musician, writer, philosopher and organic farmer. Having worked as an airline pilot for 25 years, in 2015 he embarked on his second career as a lifestyle design pioneer with a vision of creating a new rational culture of health and human wellbeing. It was his own experience of becoming a father and realising that he did not know how to boorish himself that served as a catalyst for 8 years of study into health and nutrition. As a self-publicist with a bi-weekly Podcast and a Youtube Channel, Nigel advocates a philosophy of reason and the ongoing practice of thinking to gain ever greater knowledge and intellectual sovereignty. These are the means by which to achieve the goal that is a successful life. This means a long, happy and meaningful life in optimal mental and physical health.