n a recent episode of the Choices podcast, the hosts welcomed a truly inspiring guest, David “Dash” Dashner, to discuss his incredible journey of personal discovery and service. The conversation, titled “Discovery Lives,” resonated with the podcast’s core mission: helping people make better choices in their business, personal, and relationship lives.
The Power of Discovery
The episode opened with a deep dive into the concept of self-discovery. Citing a powerful quote from the Beatles’ song “Within You Without You”—”When you’ve seen beyond yourself, then you may find peace of mind is waiting there”—the hosts set the stage for a discussion about personal growth and a deeper purpose.
Dash shared his own experience with the Discovery program, a three-day intensive workshop designed to help people find clarity and purpose. He explained that after volunteering with the program, he felt a powerful calling to serve others. This led him to adopt a mission inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
A Beacon of Possibility in Honduras
For Dash, that service took him to a place few others were helping: Roatán, Honduras. Driven by a desire to be “a beacon of possibility into the darkness of the developing world,” he and his wife, Diddy, established the Abundant Life Foundation. For the past nineteen years, the foundation has been dedicated to improving the lives of people on the island through various initiatives.
Dash proudly shared some of the foundation’s impressive accomplishments:
- Building schools: The foundation has built two schools, providing educational opportunities and bilingual studies for children, many of whom previously couldn’t read or write in their native language, English.
- Creating a community: The Los Suenos (The Dreams) community development project includes a school, a church, a park, and a computer center.
- Empowering homeownership: Through a unique model, the foundation helps families build and earn ownership of their homes, fostering dignity and pride.
The discussion also touched on the challenges of working in the region, particularly with the current socialist government. Despite these difficulties, Dash has found the people of Honduras to be “amazingly beautiful.” His commitment is unwavering, and he believes that instead of trying to block people from crossing the border, we should focus on making their home a better place to live.
The Discovery Program: A Life Refresher
The conversation circled back to the Discovery program, which Dash credits with helping him find his mission. He described the program as an “experiential” life refresher where people confront what’s holding them back. With over 7,000 people having gone through the program, Dash highlighted a remarkable statistic: while about 30% of participants have considered or attempted suicide, almost all of them have found hope and a renewed sense of purpose after completing the course.
The program, which is now run as a nonprofit called Discovery Programs.org, offers a safe and supportive environment for people to reconnect with themselves and their lives. The next session is the 12th through the 14th of September in Austin. As Dash puts it, life isn’t static, and this program helps you grow with it, finding your place in the world and, most importantly, making peace with yourself.
