Guest
John Walt
I am a husband, father, author, strategist, and adventurer. I spent two decades on a search for wisdom that led me to spend thousands of hours with mentors and read 100+ books a year. That journey transformed how I think, live, and work.
Appearances on Notes on Wisdom
Audio Trust - No. 36
The original lie satan used in the Garden of Eden as his first attack on humanity was to cause Eve to doubt whether God was trustworthy. Ever since then, the deceiver has continued to use the same attack on all of us.
Audio Necessary Humility - No. 35
Humility gets a bad wrap. Often, the way it is taught to us is a form of self-deprecation. Years ago, a friend of mine from Australia told me about “tall poppy syndrome.” It’s where some people criticize and undermine others who have accomplished something great or who are unusually talented.
Audio The Dark Night of the Soul - No. 34
I heard the term "Dark Night of the Soul" for many years before I really began to understand what it was and the critical role it plays in our spiritual journey. During a challenging season, I felt led to read The Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross.
Audio Natural Law - No. 33
There is a growing trend in our information-saturated world to act like right and wrong are whatever we feel like they are. Truth has increasingly become a personal choice, like which sports team to cheer for.
Audio The World’s Way of Thinking - No. 32
We weren’t made for a Box-and-Line (Note 8) world. Yet we have to look around us and accept that the entire world is increasingly box-and-line.
Audio Self-Transcendence - No. 31
Man’s greatest battle has always been the battle to overcome himself. This simple truth has been all but forgotten in modern society. Before we dive into man’s greatest battle, let’s look at how we forgot one of the most important themes of human life and societal health.
Audio Remember to Remember - No. 30
Often, what's most important in life is not something new, but the things we have forgotten and must remember. We are all surrounded every day by endless new information in the form of podcasts, articles, videos, books, news, and AI.
Audio Peace - No. 29
Peace is completely misunderstood and undervalued in the modern world. Everywhere you look, people are stuck in stress, fear, and anxiety. Few people actually seem to live in real peace. The world is frantically chasing peace by other names all the time, and they don’t even know it.
Audio Living by "Shoulds" - No. 28
Have you ever found yourself wrestling with things that you feel like you should do or ways you think you should act or look? We all have battled the “shoulds” of life in some way, shape or form. Often, this struggle is daily or perhaps constant.
Audio The Encounter - No. 27
Encountering God is a challenging topic to write on. The last few months, it has become clear to me that it’s something we don’t talk enough about. In Note 12, I wrote on the separation of the sacred and the secular.
Audio Build Good Things - No. 26
Right before I turned 25, I was in Malawi, and the terrorist group Boko Haram had just taken 300 girls from a school in Nigeria. I was so mad about what had happened that I decided I was going to go there and find a way to help.
Audio The Greatest Adventure - No. 25
I have always loved stories and have studied storytelling for years. As a kid, I read about men who lived incredible adventures and longed to discover the adventure that I would live.