I Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Agustin Cardone Of Keep Fit Kingdom On Why So Many Of Us Are Feeling Unsatisfied & What We Can Do About It

An Interview With Drew Gerber

Find your mission; we all have a purpose in this life, find it. You will discover things about yourself which will surprise you, you will find yourself being happy, being able to sleep, smiling and surrounded by amazing and loving people.

From an objective standpoint, we are living in an unprecedented era of abundance. Yet so many of us are feeling unsatisfied. Why are we seemingly so insatiable? What is going on inside of us that is making us feel unsatisfied? What is the brain chemistry that makes us feel this way? Is our brain wired for endless insatiable consumption?

What can we do about it? In this interview series, we are talking to credentialed experts such as psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, brain science experts, as well as spiritual and religious leaders, and mind-body-spirit coaches, to address why so many of us are feeling unsatisfied & what we can do about it.

As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing: Agustin Cardone.

Agustin Cardone, from Argentina, is a journalist at Keep Fit Kingdom. He currently lives in Ireland, and studies psychology in Mexico. He fell in love with sports when he started playing rugby at 14, soon becoming team captain.

He now lifts weights and practices boxing as a way to release stress. He is highly interested in the relationship between body and mind, and is curious about how the brain works and why people do what they do.

He would like to help people with addiction, depression, and personality disorders. He believes we all have a story to tell and that we should express it.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to know how you got from “there to here.” Inspire us with your backstory!

Thank you for the opportunity, I am grateful to have the chance to tell my story.

Well, it all started back in Argentina, where I’m from. I played rugby and wanted to be a physiotherapist, but I knew that there was something else, something more that was missing in all this “just purely physical” theory. Luckily, I surrounded myself with amazing and open-minded people like my coach Nicolas Canedo and (at the moment) my physiotherapist Alejandro Antonietti, and I was able to expand my mind and start learning and doing research for myself.

After a few years, I had the chance to play rugby in Europe, I came to Ireland in 2019, and I was playing for Dublin Dogos and then Terenure. It all stopped when I started studying psychology, I fell in love with it, and I wanted to keep learning and be better.

Then I was able to contact Keep Fit Kingdom through The Intern Group and they gave me a voice to talk about all my experiences and thoughts that I developed through the years; because of experiences, college and interactions with great and “not so great” people.

What lessons would you share with yourself if you had the opportunity to meet your younger self?

It is a good yet tough question, the thing is that I was quite sensible, and introverted, I did not have any personality, and it took a long time for me to develop some confidence. What made me who I am today is that I was able to find light between darkness. The lesson I would share is: Educate yourself, have good and pure values and then follow your heart.

None of us are able to experience success without support along the way. Is there a particular person for whom you are grateful because of the support they gave you to grow you from “there to here?” Can you share that story and why you are grateful for them?

This brings to mind the quote: “Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with.” by Billy Dee Williams. I must say there are lots of people, from my family, my friends, and my coaches; from Argentina and here in Ireland that I’m grateful for.

They all had specific roles in my life and they all have a special place in my heart.

Nicolas Canedo was like my second father. I learned a lot from him, and from Alejandro too, and I’m still learning!

So, even though I have no specific stories for this, I would like to say that even the people who hurt me and gave me nothing but pain, taught me amazing lessons; we can learn from people we “dislike”, from people who betrayed us, from everybody! And that is a painful but valuable lesson we should all know.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think it might help people?

I am in the process of writing more articles about topics which I think can help people understand their suffering and then develop tools to deal with it and still create amazing lives.

I endeavour to write more meaningful articles and talk with professionals who have wide experience on these topics. I am also thinking of writing a book and am considering which topic it should be.

I have a podcast where I talk with Keep Fit Kingdom about mental health, breathing techniques, and more. It’s called the “AC PODCAST PROJECT”.

I would like to do more courses and I am going to finish college this year, then I’ll start working as a psychologist so I can develop more experience and impact to help people.

OK. Thank you for sharing your inspired life.

Let’s now talk about feeling “unsatisfied”. In the Western world, humans typically have their shelter, food, and survival needs met. What has led to us feeling we aren’t enough and don’t have enough? What is the wiring? Or in other words, how has nature and nurture played into how humans (in an otherwise “safe and secure” environment) experience feeling less than, or a need to have more than what is needed for basic survival?

Well, it’s a complex subject but the main reason we are not satisfied is that we lack purpose, Viktor Frankl talks about this in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”. We all have this spark inside of us, but it seems like we become so disconnected from ourselves that we just don’t listen to our hearts, or perhaps, we just don’t know how to.

It’s human nature to ask for more, sadly, the more we have, the more we want. Dostoevsky mentions this, the more freedom we have, the more oppressed we feel!

We also created a society where products and material things are more “valuable” than true friendship, relationships, and connection with others — we have our values upside down.

Another big voice in this is Jordan B. Peterson, who talks about the lack of encouragement. People are crying and begging for some positive encouragement, and we are so scared and so unmotivated to give it that very few people even try anything new.

My last point on this is that now, people care more about the “outcome” than the “process” of doing things. And by doing this, people cannot enjoy their achievements and they cannot grow as persons. When we focus on the process, we learn how to actually do those things, we feel in sync with ourselves and as a result, we are stronger, happier and wiser.

How are societies different? For example, capitalistic societies trade differently than communists. Developed nations trade differently than developing nations. In your opinion, how does society shape a human’s experience and feelings of satisfaction?

We can understand society as the context where the individual develops, grows and learns, therefore, if we live in a sick society where we have to steal or where negative emotions or feelings are the base and the “norm” we just become desensitised and adapt to that context, and we embrace those hatred lessons.

I would not mention Capitalism or Communism in this case, communist countries like Cuba and Venezuela are barely surviving (and surviving is not the right word for this) or developed and developing nations. In this case, we could think about the resources that they have and what they can do with them.

Each country has its own problems, and we should make a point in learning from the developed nations and their mistakes so that the developing ones can be better. Think about trends and how to manage resources, for example. I would focus more on learning how to be less materialistic, learn how to love people and not allow your ego to control you, I would focus on creating pure values which people can easily follow.

With a specific focus on brain function, how has the brain and its dominion over the body and beliefs been impacted by the societal construct?

Society, people, and the whole context can influence the brain, but here is the trick; in our society, we have been told that body and mind are not connected, and our medical system only focuses on the symptoms of the problems and not on their causal roots.

Another way to see this is that if we follow the WHO (World Health Organisation) definition, which is “Health is a state of COMPLETE physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” it seems we are sick by default!

Now, imagine how hard it is for people to understand that life has both highs and lows and everything that happens around us affects not just our mental state but our physical state too.

Also, when talking about beliefs, we can think about Jordan’s number 4 rule from “Beyond Order” which is called “Abandon Ideology”. Sometimes we fall to “fake idols” and we let ourselves be poisoned by their venom and resentment; this can be seen in our society for example, you only have to open your eyes and see how people can self-destruct.

Do you think the way our society markets and advertises goods and services, has affected people’s feelings of satisfaction? Can you explain what you mean?

Yes, we can see how this works in Gabor Matés’ new book “The Myth of Normal”. He mentions how industries whose main consumers are kids are creating toys or products which can affect the normal development of the prefrontal cortex for the worse.

Think about technology for example, do you think CEOs from those companies allow their kids to be 24/7 on their phones, tablets, and computers? Of course not! They know how addictive these things can be without guidance, and all the repercussions that go with it.

I am focusing more on kids because they are our future but these industries try to sell a fantasy, they try to create a “problem”, one that you never had before, and magically they have the perfect solution and for the best price!

And this plays into our internal “Rewards” system and then we just do not feel satisfied, we crave more dopamine; which can be drugs or hours per day on TikTok.

How is the wiring of the brain, body, and beliefs shaped by marketing, language, and how humans trade?

I think products have to be related to the society where it is promoted. If we are talking about good companies, the product should be shaped to solve a problem which the people in that society, community, etc. have.

If we think, for example, about what happens in the brain when we are teenagers, for instance, we are not so happy with ourselves in terms of our bodies; companies can then take advantage of this and turn those insecurities into products and the marketing can just sell the fantasy of being “cured” or “perfect”, but only once you buy it, of course!

I work in marketing so I’m very cognizant of this question. In your opinion, how do you think marketing professionals can be more responsible for how their advertising shapes humans’ health and experience of happiness overall?

It’s tricky because they already know the impact those products and its marketing have on people; the only way to make this better and safer for the user is if the company is fully transparent. Also, the user has to do their research into how and why he/she needs it.

There are people writing papers on these topics, the information is out there, it’s also our fault if we just dismiss it.

For you personally, if you have all your basic needs met, do you feel you have enough in life?

We are a balance of emotions, feelings, and spirit but we also always want more and more. I would say that learning to appreciate and to be grateful for those “little” and “basic” things and legit needs is the path to happiness.

Okay, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview: Can you share with our readers your “5 things we can each do to address the feeling of not having enough.” Please share a story or example for each.

1. Find your mission; we all have a purpose in this life, find it. You will discover things about yourself which will surprise you, you will find yourself being happy, being able to sleep, smiling and surrounded by amazing and loving people.
2. Do what makes your heart sing. In my case, it was and still is sports, writing, and psychology and I focus my life on those things. I focus consciously to develop these interests in my life. Don’t listen to the haters, sometimes being weird is the right thing to do.
3. Be grateful for what you have; the devil is in the details. Learn to appreciate every single “hello” or “good morning”, every morning coffee and every night-long talk with your loved ones, those things make life precious. Tell your friends and family that you love them, be with them, and enjoy them as much as you can.
4. Learn to love the process. Always aim for the moon, but if you do not reach it, you will land on a star. This means that when trying to accomplish one of your goals, the gold is in the path, in everything you had to do to reach your goal. This is the place where you learn and grow. Because if you don’t care about the process the outcome will just be a few seconds or even a day of happiness and then months of sadness till you reach another goal and the process repeats. So, learn to stop and appreciate your grand view and smell the roses along the way!
5. Listen to music and read poetry. I think that when we learn to feel and listen to music, poetry, or other arts, our souls grow. Other people express what is inside of us without us even having to open our mouths!

Art has always had a special role in my life, it helps me express myself and I do believe it can help others, you just have to give yourself permission to just be yourself!

Do you have any favorite books, podcasts, or resources that have inspired you to live with more joy in life?

Books:

Everything by Jordan B. Peterson.

Novels and poetry from Charles Bukowski, especially “Ham on Rye”, “Post Office” and “Women”.”

“The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” by Kate DiCamillo. I cried the whole night after reading this book, it’s beautiful.

“The Madness of Crowds” by Douglas Murray and “Irreversible damage” by Abigail Shrier, because they discuss the reality of the world.

I like Dostoevsky, psychology and philosophy books by Freud, Carl Jung, Nietzsche, and Arthur Schopenhauer because they teach me about people and how to position myself regardless of the evil and negativity in the world.

I also like reading books about religion and their symbolic meanings and teachings.

Podcasts:

“The Joe Rogan Experience” is amazing.

Jordan Peterson with his daughter Mikhaila.

“Hot Boxin’ with Mike Tyson” made me cry a few times. Mike went from being a boxing beast to a poet. He is an amazing person who just got hit by life.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would create two movements; one would be “Fight the Darkness” and it would be about facing the truth. We would talk about controversial topics in our society? and give pure and honest information to people so nobody would be hurt.

An example can be made of what is happening with gender dysphoria and the number of suicides and unnecessary pain and suffering that’s being caused. “The Daily Wire” does a great a great job on this topic by revealing the truth with for example “What is a Woman?” by Matt Walsh.

The other movement would be “The Breathing Revolution” and this one is based on all the research and work we are doing at Keep Fit Kingdom on breathing techniques which can help people improve their total wellness and well-being! We are going to make it happen.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

People can find me via Keep Fit Kingdom and email: info@keepfitkingdom.com; on Instagram @keepfitkingdom and @Agustinbcardone22; and YouTube at “AC PODCAST PROJECT” and via LinkedIn at “Keep Fit Kingdom” and “Agustin Cardone”. Those are the main channels people can follow, and contact us.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About The Interviewer: For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. Drew is the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., a full-service PR agency lauded by PR Week and Good Morning America. Wasabi Publicity, Inc. is a global marketing company that supports industry leaders, change agents, unconventional thinkers, companies and organizations that strive to make a difference. Whether it’s branding, traditional PR or social media marketing, every campaign is instilled with passion, creativity and brilliance to powerfully tell their clients’ story and amplify their intentions in the world.