Arnold Beekes
Explorer, Generalist, Innovator, and Trainer/Coach
Arnold Beekes is an explorer, generalist, innovator, and trainer/coach, and the founder of Arnold Beekes Creations and the Brain Athletes community. He spent his first 20 years working in technology and organisational leadership, managing teams ranging from 10 people up to 6,000 on a global scale, before dedicating the next 20 years to studying psychology, personal leadership, brain health, sports, and spirituality.
Arnold has been coaching in some form for over 50 years, starting as the youngest certified field hockey coach in the Netherlands at just 17. Having lived in five different countries, he draws on his own wide-ranging experience to help people build a better life "between the ears," one insight at a time.
Today, through Brain Athletes and his podcast, Between The Ears, Arnold helps mid-life professionals and young leaders break free from the invisible straitjackets holding them back, so they can reach their full potential and contribute to what he calls a Better World for All.
33
Oct. 20, 2026
#33 What are you Most Excited about lately?
In this Question and Quote episode, Arnold Beekes asks: what are you most excited about lately? It can be small, moderate or big, as long as it excites you. He admits it isn’t an easy question, because we’re used to negatively framed ones like what frustrates you or what you hate. He invites you to write your answer down, since it may surprise you, and to keep asking yourself regularly, because it says a lot about you. The quote is from Osho and ties to responsibility, which Arnold will discuss ...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
32
Oct. 20, 2026
#32 If you go out to a Restaurant, where do you go and what do you Eat?
In this Question and Quote episode, Arnold Beekes starts with a simple question: if you go out to a restaurant, where do you go and what do you eat? He won’t say what the answer means, but he believes it says something about you and how you deal with certainty and uncertainty, so it’s worth thinking about. The quote for this episode is “People who have nothing interesting to share often resort to complaining and criticizing.” Arnold points to social media, where most people criticize what others...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
31
Oct. 20, 2026
#31 First Aid Kit for your Brain Fitness
In this episode, Arnold Beekes shares what he calls a first aid kit for your brain fitness, for days when your mood is low, your energy is gone and everything feels negative. You don’t have to do it all. He invites you to pick one or two items and apply them today, then try another on another day. The list: stop watching or reading the news and learn something instead, since you miss nothing and most of it is built to create fear; stop meeting toxic people and connect with inspiring ones, even i...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
30
Oct. 20, 2026
#30 Attention as One of the Most Valuable Currencies we have
In this episode, Arnold Beekes talks about attention as one of the most valuable currencies we have. Where your attention goes, your energy flows, and he argues that far too much of it is triggered by fear. Fear puts you in survival mode, fight or flight, and in that state you can’t be creative, find good solutions or get real insights, because great ideas need a relaxed mind. Arnold, who was born in the Netherlands and now lives in Paraguay, points out there are no tigers around, yet fear is st...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
29
Oct. 20, 2026
#29 What are you Curious about?
In this episode, Arnold Beekes asks a simple question: what are you curious about? He points out that most of us were taught the opposite, with “curiosity killed the cat” as the classic example, and that school often rewards memorizing over real learning. If you were interested in pigeons, trees or the language of dolphins, you were told it was a waste of time. Arnold says curiosity is one of the most important parts of a healthy brain, a tool, a method and a way of being. Because many of us sup...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
28
Sept. 17, 2026
#28 Inside Out
In this episode, Arnold Beekes contrasts two fundamentally different ways of living: from the outside in, where you're constantly reacting to what other people say, what you consume, and what the world throws at you — versus from the inside out, where you start with what you notice and feel internally, and respond to the world from there. He makes the case that outside-in living means living someone else's life, always shaped by external triggers, while inside-out living means actually living yo...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
27
Sept. 16, 2026
#27 Q&Q — What Does Your Heart Say?
In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes asks a question that sounds poetic but is meant literally: what does your heart say? He points back to the idea of our three brains — head, heart, and gut — and explains that the heart brain genuinely communicates, not in a voice others can hear, but in one you can learn to hear yourself, with attention and appreciation. He pairs it with an old Zen saying: "When you walk, walk. When you eat, eat. When you sit, sit." Simple on the surface, but gen...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
26
Sept. 15, 2026
#26 A Whole Being Approach
In this episode, Arnold Beekes challenges the mechanistic way we're taught to see ourselves — as a collection of separate parts that doctors and schools treat individually, rather than as a genuinely interconnected whole. He introduces his framework, which he calls MESPAS-X, covering seven layers: Mental (thoughts and beliefs), Emotional (signals from the body pointing to unmet needs), Spiritual (our energy and sense of interconnectedness as electromagnetic beings), Physical (sleep, nutrition, e...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
25
Sept. 14, 2026
#25 Q&Q — What Are You Unwilling to Feel?
In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes asks a question that cuts deeper than it first sounds: what are you unwilling to feel? He draws a careful distinction from simple suppression — this isn't about emotions you don't even know you're avoiding, but ones you already know are there, deep down, that you're actively choosing not to sit with. He gives two grounded examples: knowing your work has stopped challenging you and you want something different, but refusing to feel that because of...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
24
Sept. 13, 2026
#24 Mirror Neurons
In this episode, Arnold Beekes explains mirror neurons — brain cells that fire both when you take an action and when you simply watch someone else take that same action — and why understanding this changes how you should think about your own mental practices. Because the brain doesn't fully distinguish between lived, observed, and imagined experience, holding an image of yourself as healthy or capable can genuinely trigger the same neural response as actually living it. But Arnold is careful to ...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
23
Sept. 13, 2026
#23 Q&Q — How Am I Loving Myself?
In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes tackles a question many people instinctively label selfish: how am I loving myself? He makes the case that self-love isn't ego or self-interest — it's the actual precondition for loving anyone or anything else, since a self-critical inner state directly shapes the outer reality you attract. He argues this is something to practice daily, not something to arrive at once and forget, since the inner critic most of us have built up over a lifetime doe...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
22
Sept. 13, 2026
#22 The Happiness Taboo
In this episode, Arnold Beekes unpacks a striking piece of psychology history: an article by Scott Barry Kaufman revealing that Abraham Maslow — the famous psychologist behind the pyramid of needs — wrote a chapter back in 1969 concluding that a substantial portion of how happy you are comes down to the luck of your genetic draw, and then chose never to publish it, fearing the implications. Arnold argues that suppressing this finding for over 50 years has quietly caused enormous suffering, leavi...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
21
Sept. 13, 2026
#21 What Do You Believe That Others Think Is Insane?
In this question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes challenges groupthink head-on — the pressure to quietly change your own opinion just to fit in, avoid looking weird, or avoid being the exception. He asks: what do you believe that other people would think is insane, and dares you to hold onto it rather than conform. He shares his own example — a belief that we live in a simulated reality, an idea David Icke was mocked for over 20 years ago that now has growing scientific support behind it. His p...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
20
Sept. 13, 2026
#20 Everydayness
In this episode, Arnold Beekes makes the case that "everydayness" — showing up daily, not just occasionally — is the actual hallmark of excellence in any domain, whether that's music, sport, nursing, or building a better world. He pushes back on the excuse of being too busy, arguing that anyone excellent at anything got there through consistent daily practice, never once-a-week effort. He connects this directly to the modern distraction problem: smartphones and social media offering constant, fe...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
19
Sept. 12, 2026
#19 Q&Q — What Makes You Cry?
In this short question-and-quote episode, Arnold Beekes poses a single question: what makes you cry — and not just full tears, but burning ones too? He reflects on experiencing burning tears daily lately, and offers a reframe: tears, whether from sadness, beauty, love, loss, or meaning, are signs from the heart asking you to pay attention to what's been suppressed for far too long. He pairs it with a quote from Albert Camus — "Men must live and create, live to the point of tears" — meaning to li...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
18
Sept. 12, 2026
#18 The Power of Language
In this episode, Arnold Beekes explores language as what he calls an invisible straitjacket — something almost nobody recognizes as a limitation, yet it shapes and restricts nearly every connection we try to make with each other. He walks through why: the sheer number of mother tongues across the world, the fact that even speaking seven languages himself (he's currently learning Spanish, his seventh) still leaves him limited in certain conversations, and how communication breaks down even betwee...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
17
Aug. 20, 2026
#17 When do you feel that you are fully present?
In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks a question that sounds simple but reveals just how rarely we actually experience it — and then makes a compelling case for why boredom might be one of the most underrated tools you have. Another sharp, thought-provoking episode that is over before you know it.
Guest: Arnold Beekes
16
Aug. 19, 2026
#16 Basics of Brain Fitness – Part 2
In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes completes his fundamentals series with four more brain fitness basics — covering your body, your social life, your environment and the humility to keep learning. Together with the previous episode, these eight basics form a complete daily framework for a better life between the ears. Plus a beautiful story of one man's 10-year mission to transform an old railroad bridge into something extraordinary. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why y...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
15
Aug. 18, 2026
#15 What do you need now?
In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks a deceptively simple question that most people never stop to answer honestly — and follows it with a quote that draws a sharp line between two very different ways of living. Short, direct and worth sitting with.
Guest: Arnold Beekes
14
Aug. 17, 2026
#14 Basics of Brain Fitness
Hello and welcome, I'm Arnold Beekes and I enable you to have a better life between the ears. Because, why is that relevant? Because your inner state creates your outer reality. Today we are going to discuss some basics of brain fitness and these are really, really important and if you want to improve your brain fitness, I suggest that you pay a lot of attention to them and you apply them, preferably daily into your schedule. Number one is full feeling. What does that mean? Is that you don...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
12
Aug. 16, 2026
#12 Emotions as Forces
In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes makes a case that most of us have been taught to ignore our most powerful operating system — our emotions. From suppressed feelings showing up as back pain, to fear being weaponised by media and governments, to the Nobel Prize-winning insight that we are feeling machines that think — this is a conversation that reframes everything. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why most of us have been conditioned since childhood to suppress our emoti...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
11
Aug. 16, 2026
#11 Question & Quote
In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes cuts straight to the point with one powerful question and one memorable quote. No fluff, no filler — just the kind of thinking that makes you stop, look in the mirror and ask yourself what you’ve been holding back.
Guest: Arnold Beekes
10
Aug. 16, 2026
#10 Principles for Brain Fitness – Part 2
In this episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes continues his series on the principles of brain fitness, adding three powerful new ones to the framework. From practicing integrally to nurturing your right hemisphere and unleashing your uniqueness — this is a practical, no-nonsense guide to doing the real inner work. Plus, a beautifully grounding example of everyday beauty from Uganda. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why fixing just one thing in your life rarely works — and what pract...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
4
Aug. 1, 2026
#4 Uniqueness
Welcome to Episode 4 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores why uniqueness matters and why our systems, from education to capitalism, work to suppress it in favor of predictable sameness. Arnold breaks down why copying someone else's "successful" method rarely works, walking through why trying to replicate someone else's results can leave you capped at a fraction of their success, and shares Scott Adams' alternative: rather than chasing being the best at one thing, become very good at ...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
3
Aug. 1, 2026
#3 Identity
Welcome to Episode 3 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes tackles the topic of identity, exploring why so many of us mistake our roles, labels, and job titles for who we actually are, and how that mistaken identity quietly limits us. Arnold draws on real examples, from people who lose their sense of self after being laid off, to a group of refugees in Uganda who introduced themselves by that label alone, to show how easily we box ourselves in with words like "I'm a nurse," "I'm a Christian," ...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
2
Aug. 1, 2026
#2 Good Enough
Welcome to Episode 2 of Between The Ears. Host Arnold Beekes explores why so many of us carry the persistent feeling of not being good enough, tracing it back to how conformity gets enforced through conditional love and approval, from parents and teachers to bosses and friends. Arnold breaks down why this feeling is a tool, not a truth, and makes the case for recognizing it, rejecting it, and finally accepting that you are already good enough exactly as you are. The episode closes with the show'...
Guest: Arnold Beekes
1
Aug. 1, 2026
#1 Live Your Own Life
Are you living your own life, or someone else's? In this debut episode of Between The Ears, host Arnold Beekes explores how from childhood onward, we're trained to meet the expectations of parents, teachers, and eventually bosses, until "being good" simply means doing what someone else wants. Arnold explains why living two lives at once, someone else's during work hours and your own in the evenings and weekends, is a major source of chronic stress, and why that stress can eventually show up as b...
Guest: Arnold Beekes