In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Ben Fizell, a meditation teacher, stillness coach, and founder of the Peacekeeper Project. Ben shares a formative childhood story where, as a shy introvert suffering from severe hay fever during exams, he unconsciously used his mind to quiet his body’s symptoms, illustrating an early mind‑body connection. He explains how meditation often begins with selfish motives—stress reduction, curiosity, personal clarity—but evolves into a self‑less practice that ripples outward, influencing family, friends, coworkers, and strangers. Ben offers business advice centered on quieting the mind, citing Ray Dalio’s 42‑year meditation habit as a key to success. He advises his younger self to accept introversion, and defines happiness as present‑moment awareness, referencing a Harvard study that found mind‑wandering reduces happiness regardless of content. He recommends Michael Singer’s The Surrender Experiment for its lesson on following passion with ease, and shares a favorite Deepak Chopra quote about maintaining inner stillness amid chaos. The episode concludes with information on how to find Ben online via his website and social media.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Ben Fizel with us. He's a meditation teacher, stillness coach, and founder of the Peacekeeper Project. So welcome to the show, Ben.
Hey Tyler, it's great to be here.
Awesome, great to have you, man. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Ben, is what's the best story from your life that that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, so when I was young, I was extremely shy. I was also an introvert. I'm still an introvert, but when I was young, I didn't really know what that meant or what the difference was between the two. I also used to suffer really bad from allergies and hay fever, and the shyness combined with the hay fever really was was like hell for me because the shy introvert part of me really didn't want to be seen or heard and didn't particularly like being around more than a few people like my close friends. So the hay fever would also coincide unfortunately with major exam times. So what that all meant was that I ended up being in a room with a lot of people. They weren't necessarily talking because it's an exam, but it was really quiet. And so that meant that any sneeze, sniffle, or sound would be heard through the room. And I was really shy and would prefer to be invisible. So I was able to do something, and it's hard to explain what, but basically I did something with my mind to make my body become really quiet. And all of the symptoms of the hay fever just stopped. The runny nose, the sneezing, the itchy eyes, it just stopped. But then when that exam was over, it would all come back. But when I reflected on this many years later after getting into meditation, I kind of went back and recalled the events. And it was really noticing this thing that I did something with my mind that made some change in my physiology. At the time when I was young, I didn't know anything about meditation. I didn't really care how I did it. Or what I did. All that mattered was that I didn't make a sound. So it was kind of based in fear, but there was a certain motivation to not be seen, to be invisible. And that kind of allowed me to access some faculty of my mind that allowed me to make a change in my physiology. And I guess the message here would be is that our mind is really more powerful than we realize, and it creates the environment we live in. So when our mind is full of stress and anxiety, it affects our health. When our mind is in a good state, it also affects our state. And our mind isn't really separate from our body. And, and the thing is, if we're motivated enough, we can do amazing things with our mind.
Yes. Thank you so much for sharing that story, man. That was incredible. The next question I have for you, Ben, is what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so this would be around meditation, but it's really putting meditation in a broader perspective. So usually when we start meditating, we start for selfish reasons, but selfish good. If it wasn't selfish at some level, we wouldn't do it. So we're either looking— we're looking to improve some part of our life. Maybe it's, you know, reduce stress or anxiety, let go of self-defeating behaviors or attitudes, and you know, bring some stillness or clarity into our lives. Or maybe it's curiosity about consciousness, and that's where I was. But there's a certain selfishness in that sense. But then we reach a point when we continue doing it that we realize that it's really not selfish at all, because we realize that the shifts that are taking place in us are also impacting the people around us. This ripple effect, that really it does touch our family, our friends, workmates, and even strangers when we're in a different state of mind. Because our outward actions really are a result of our inner state of mind. And so this really all points to the fact that we can make a difference in the world starting with who we are. We don't need to worry about resources or skills that we have, which can be great at some point, but every single person can make a difference starting with who they are and their state of mind. And underlying all of this is really human connection.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Yeah, that would be, again, learn to meditate. Quieting the mind is so valuable. We're living in a time where it's really needed. And when our mind is quiet, we're not fueled by emotions, reactions, stress. We have greater clarity, we're calmer. Creativity flows, and we make much better decisions. And the process of meditation really helps us to understand ourselves, and in doing that, we really understand everyone else. And, you know, Wall Street billionaire Ray Dalio, founder and CEO of Bridgewater Associates, has been meditating for 42 years, and he credits meditation more than any other factor as the reason for his success.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I think that would be that being an introvert is okay. Like, it is a thing. And having that context would have been really helpful for putting my experiences in a greater understanding.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Oh, the key to happiness. So this would again come back to quieting the mind, being present in the moment. Because you know, there was a study done at Harvard University that proved ancient wisdom that, you know, wandering mind is an unhappy mind. And the study demonstrated that people who were present with whatever they were doing in the moment were happier than those who were thinking about something other than what they were doing. And this was regardless of what they were thinking about. So although negative mind wandering showed up worse in happiness levels, positive mind wandering was still less than being present in the moment. So basically that means that if you're doing something mundane as washing dishes and you're doing it mindfully, paying attention to what you're doing, you're happier than someone washing the dishes but thinking about something else, even if that something else is pleasant, exciting, or maybe it's your next holiday. And all of this is really, you don't have to believe it just because you hear it or see it or read it, and you shouldn't. And this is really something you can prove for yourself. You just have to try it.
And what's the best book that you've read, and what's the number one thing you learned from that?
Uh, one of the best books I've read would be The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer. He was a meditator, but it really just showed that he followed his passions and his life just unfolded with a certain ease. And it was really a really inspiring story.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Yeah, "In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you" by Deepak Chopra. And this really points to an unwavering quality of stillness inside us, because when we're stressed, when there's chaos or turbulence in our life, This stillness inside really offers a stable place to rest so we don't get pulled out into the dramas and emotions and reactions that disconnect us from life.
Yes, thank you so much for coming on, man. That was awesome. Uh, you're welcome. I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, my website is peacekeeperproject.com, and you can also find me on Facebook or Instagram. Peacekeeper Project.
Awesome. Thanks again, man. We appreciate it.
All right, thanks, Tyler.
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