Self-acceptance and self-compassion are two of the most powerful mental health 'tools'. As part of mental health awareness week, I explore both topics with the help of Nigel Owens, the beloved Welsh rugby referee who attempted to take his own life as a young man because he felt unable to accept his sexuality. ** A huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements are superb. I have many friends and family who have tried their huge range of products - and now sw...
May 09, 2022•16 min•Ep. 118
"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so" How our beliefs and perceptions shape how we experience ourselves and the world. Helen Davis is a sports psychologist who has worked with a number of top athletes, and she explains that it is not people or events that make us feel or behave in a certain way, it is our perceptions and beliefs that are crucial. Helen explains how to uncover unhelpful beliefs and ways of thinking, and why tweaking the language you use can make a big dif...
May 06, 2022•14 min•Ep. 117
"Courage is being willing to throw yourself into something without any guarantee of a successful outcome." Ollie Ollerton is a former special forces soldier who shares his experience of its gruelling six month selection process in this episode. He massively doubted himself when he stepped off the bus on day 1 and looked around at the other guys who were also trying to make it into the army’s elite unit. But despite the doubts, Ollie was one of only a handful who eventually did make it through to...
May 02, 2022•15 min•Ep. 116
"In order to experience the mind in its kind of true essence, we need to go beyond intellectual thought to a place of non-duality. It sounds mystical - but actually it's just being aware" - Andy Puddicombe, Headspace founder Andy Puddicombe was a Buddhist monk for a decade before setting up the most popular meditation app in the world, Headspace. He has helped popularise meditation like few before him – and for that he deserves huge credit. Andy is a lovely bloke too – his motto is "Be present, ...
Apr 29, 2022•15 min•Ep. 115
"If you can't be your own biggest champion - why would anyone else be?" Barry Hearn is a towering figure in the world of sport – a sports promoter par excellence. He is the founder of Matchroom sports and has been involved in loads of sports – including boxing, snooker, darts, golf, fishing, ten pin bowling, pool and table tennis. He is chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation, was chairman of Lleyton Orient until 2014… and received his OBE for services to sport in 2020. Barry is a larger ...
Apr 25, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 114
What does success mean to you? Is it about reaching your goals and picking up the accolades along the way - or is there more to it than that? Lots of people considered to be successful by society's standards have found that their achievements don't guarantee satisfaction. Take Ronnie O'Sullivan - widely considered to be the greatest snooker player of all time. Even as he was compiling one of the most successful seasons in his sports history, he was struggling mentally. Ronnie is now aware that -...
Apr 22, 2022•12 min•Ep. 113
Could the keys to making every day a good day basically come down to three things: acceptance, presence and gratitude? This week's guest says so. His name is Henry Fraser, a best-selling painter, best-selling author and highly in-demand public speaker. When he was seventeen years old – Henry’s life changed in a moment when he was paralysed from the shoulders down after breaking his neck diving into the sea in Portugal. In the weeks that followed, he nearly died several times - but Henry’s hardes...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 112
It's a fact that lots of sportspeople struggle with retirement. There was a BBC survey done a few years ago that found that around 50% of athletes have mental health difficulties when they stop playing their sport. Rugby League legend Jamie Peacock had a smooth transition out of playing rugby league – which he put down to two reasons. The first is about identity, and not confusing who you are with what you do, and the second key bit is around understanding what your values are – and living in ac...
Apr 15, 2022•11 min•Ep. 111
"People will remember how you made them feel, not what you said." This week's conversation is with the man who scored the most famous try in Scottish rugby history – Tony Stanger. He touched the ball down to secure Scotland the Five Nations Grand Slam in 1990 against England. Since retiring – Tony spent 7 years developing talent through the Scottish institute of sport and now runs a company coaching people in business – using many of the lessons he has learnt from his life in sport. The theme of...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 110
It can be so easy to let resentments build and sweep things under the carpet, to avoid having the difficult conversation because you know it will be uncomfortable. But – sweeping issues under the carpet is not a recipe for harmony, whether in business, families, relationships of teams. Issues and feelings need to be faced and processed. Two people who are well aware of this are Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh who were part of the team that made history by becoming the first British women's side ...
Apr 08, 2022•11 min•Ep. 109
"Why do we always have to be better than yesterday? If it's because you feel like you're not enough as you are - let's talk about that" Katie Warriner is a performance psychologist who has worked with a dazzling array of top sportspeople, including many of my previous guests. From the likes of Headspace Founder Andy Puudicombe through to the legendary Olympic gold medal winning hockey team of 2016 – including Kate and Helen Richardson Walsh, Alex Danson and Danny Kerry – as well as Laurence Hals...
Apr 04, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 108
How important is humility in creating a 'winning' culture? Here to explain is James Kerr, author of the fantastic best-selling book Legacy. It is all about the key ingredients that have gone together to create the most successful team in sporting history – the New Zealand All Blacks. ** A huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements have had a significant impact on how I sleep, manage stress, and focus throughout the day. I can’t recommend them enough. I h...
Apr 01, 2022•8 min•Ep. 107
Do we really live in a fundamentally physical universe? Are we fundamentally physical beings? Most of us feel there is a world of stuff out there – trees, cars, buildings, clouds. People believe we are born into this world in the form of a body, which has a brain and a mind in it. BUT what if I was to suggest that this isn’t actually an accurate picture of what’s really going on? If that is the case, then what really IS the nature of reality? And something to bear in mind, science can tell us ho...
Mar 28, 2022•2 hr 17 min•Ep. 106
We live in a goal-centric society, and we are always striving for more and bigger and better – but what about when you reach your goals and achieve your dreams – and the satisfaction and fulfilment you are expecting isn’t there? Then what? In this clip Jonny Wilkinson starts by talking about his World Cup winning drop goal of 2003, during which he experienced a dissolution of self - or that sense of me we are all familiar with - which would go on and shape Jonny’s philosophy and outlook many yea...
Mar 24, 2022•10 min•Ep. 105
Thomas ‘Hal’ Robson-Kanu is the footballer who scored probably Wales’ most famous goal of all time against Belgium in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. The theme of this episode is the power of gratitude. And we are not just talking about being grateful for the good things that happen to you – but being grateful for every moment, irrespective of its content. From the sheer miracle of existence and the human body – through to being accepting of - and grateful for - adversity. We also talk about no...
Mar 21, 2022•58 min•Ep. 104
We have a tendency to put people on pedestals – successful sportspeople, celebrities, businesspeople – and there’s no doubt that what some people are able to create can be phenomenal. But, it is a mistake to project Godlike status onto such people, as if they really are a superior species. They are fallible human beings like the rest of us. I call this ‘the illusion of mental hierarchies’, and seeing through it is so valuable as you stop believing that some people are more important or valuable ...
Mar 17, 2022•10 min•Ep. 103
Hormones are the internal chemical messengers that have a powerful influence on our mental and physical wellbeing. When your hormone levels are balanced, you will tend to have stable moods and feel energetic, motivated, and mentally sharp. But - when hormone levels are out of whack, you may experience a range of symptoms that are also commonly associated with mental illness like depression. There may be anxiety, fatigue, brain fog, low motivation, low libido, difficulty concentrating… the list g...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 102
The theme of this mini episode is all about creating opportunities for yourself. Sir Chris Hoy started in BMX before switching to track cycling, but a key moment in his career came when the cost of pursuing his passion was starting to bite while he was still a young lad. Rather than let that deter him, Chris got creative – and wrote letter after letter to people and companies he thought might be able to sponsor him. What followed was rejection after rejection – before eventually someone had a ni...
Mar 10, 2022•11 min•Ep. 101
This a bit of a different episode of Life Lessons - a career special to mark National Careers week. My guest is Helen Tupper – who co-hosts the Squiggly Careers podcast with Sarah Ellis. They have also written two best-selling books, ‘the Squiggly Career’... and their new book is called ‘You Coach You’. It’s about giving people the tools to become their own careers coach. Helen and Sarah are also founders of the award winning company Amazing If – through which they lead workshops across the worl...
Mar 09, 2022•28 min•Ep. 100
This conversation is about recognising that the stories and narratives we tell ourselves about what should make us happy – high status, millions of social media followers, billions in the bank – are often inaccurate. Instead – we need to start paying attention to what does make us happy – for example, spending time with friends, connection, pro-social acts of kindness and altruism, playing sport, listening to music … the list goes on. Paul Dolan is a behavioural scientist and author of the bests...
Mar 07, 2022•51 min•Ep. 99
We are not our thoughts, we are aware of our thoughts. The more we can acknowledge this fact, the less emphasis we put on the need for 'high self-esteem' and 'positive self-talk'. To help me bust some myths is the best-selling author of the Confidence Gap and the Happiness Trap. And just a warning - if you stand in front of the mirror and do positive self-affirmations, this episode might get you to stop. Russ is one of the world's leading experts on Acceptance and Commitment therapy, which can h...
Mar 03, 2022•13 min•Ep. 98
What is a price worth paying for a gold medal? That's a question that Cath Bishop seeks to answer in her work. Cath is a former World Champion British rower who won silver at the Olympics. She was also a diplomat and is now a leadership speaker, writer and consultant. Her book 'The Long Win' challenged the narrative around 'winning at all costs'. After competing at three Olympics - a period of her life she found draining at times - Cath reflected and realised that the cultural obsession with win...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 97
"What you put in, you get out." Words that Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton has lived by. It's about adopting and embracing an attitude of being you can be at everything that doesn't require talent - including effort and hard work. This is something anyone can adopt at any age - and Sam exhibited it even as a schoolboy. *** Follow me: on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/ on Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundie And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of ...
Feb 24, 2022•9 min•Ep. 96
We like to think we know what will happen, but we don't actually know what will happen an hour from now let alone in a years time. Stevie Ward burst onto the rugby league scene as a teenager, helping Leeds Rhinos win the challenge cup final in 2012. But, his career was blighted by injury. He had 10 operations – all before turning 27. He had just been made Leeds Rhinos Captain and was reaching the pinnacle of career, but concussion on opening weekend of 2020 season stopped him in his tracks. Stev...
Feb 21, 2022•59 min•Ep. 95
We live in a very goal-orientated society. So many of us are continually striving and thinking - 'what’s next?' We may believe that when we get promoted at work, move into a bigger house or finally get a six pack – THEN we will be happy. However, you may have noticed that the horizon we are striving for always seems to stay just out of reach. Once one goal is ticked off – we want another one, ideally bigger – and so the sense of inner satisfaction we are really looking for is perpetually elusive...
Feb 18, 2022•14 min•Ep. 94
Alistair Brownlee is the only triathlete in history to successfully defend an Olympic gold medal – he won his first at London 2012 and backed it up by repeating the trick in Rio in 2016. He is also a two-time world champion, a four-time European champion and the 2014 Commonwealth champion Basically - Alistair's trophy cabinet is overflowing. The theme of this week’s conversation is – peak performance. We discuss a number of topics including - the power of instinct and flow, as well as the import...
Feb 14, 2022•54 min•Ep. 93
Aimee Fuller has a lot to say about fear. She is a former professional snowboarder who made history as the first woman to land a double backflip in competition and competed in two Winter Olympics. In this episode, we talk about her two Ps for dealing with fear, preparation and perspective, Aimee's ladder of excitement as well as flow, where we are totally immersed in the moment – among many other things. In 2019, Aimee fronted the documentary Running in North Korea, which shows her running her f...
Feb 07, 2022•47 min•Ep. 92
How to set goals properly, by focusing on what we can control and recognising what we can’t. Also – it’s about understanding the truth behind that famous Einstein quote about insanity, which he defined as ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.’ We’re hearing from Olympic gold medal winning rower Ben Hunt Davis. He competed in three Olympic games and in the first two – in 1992 and 1996, he finished way outside the medals. A couple of years before the 2000 Olym...
Feb 03, 2022•17 min•Ep. 91
Max Lowe is a filmmaker whose father was Alex Lowe – the greatest mountain climber of his generation. Days before Max’s 11th birthday, his father Alex was killed in an avalanche while on expedition in the Tibetan Himalaya. Alex Lowe’s best friend and climbing partner Conrad Anker escape from the avalanche with his life – but was left wracked with survivor’s guilt. He headed back to the States, compelled to help look after Alex’s three sons. Conrad then ended up failing in love with - and eventua...
Jan 31, 2022•54 min•Ep. 90
Sir Clive Woodward's favourite mantra has to be 'TCUP'- Thinking Correctly Under Pressure. It's about thinking through potential hurdles so that when things do go awry - you are better equipped to be able to navigate them. Sir Clive's England showed the power of TCUP when winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup at the death. Clearly the possible unexpected scenarios that you could face are limitless - the pandemic has shown that - but it is the process of thinking through possible eventualities that is...
Jan 28, 2022•16 min•Ep. 89
