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.
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