'There is nothing either good or bad – only thinking makes it so'. Stoicism is described as the most practical of all philosophies – according to Ryan Holiday, best-selling author of classics including the Obstacle is the Way. I spoke to Ryan Holiday during the COVID pandemic – with a view to helping people not get overwhelmed by what was a very challenging time. Clearly things have now moved on, but the beauty of the life lessons Ryan shared can be applied to any difficult scenario. Events are ...
Jul 21, 2023•8 min
Why 'winning' can be overrated. Let's start with a quote from Jamie Carragher – 'it’s all about winning trophies really'. Well is that actually true? To dive into our cultural obsession with 'winners' and 'winning at all costs', I was joined by the silver medal winning Olympic rower and former diplomat turned business coach and author of the excellent book ‘the Long Win’ Cath Bishop. MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/ LinkedIn: https://ww...
Jul 20, 2023•56 min
This week I am joined by one of the greatest British athletes of all time, Seb Coe – a double Olympic gold medalist during the golden era of middle-distance running, the President of World Athletics, the driving force behind London’s winning Olympic bid in 2012, and much more besides. There’s so much we cover in this episode, from using early setbacks as fuel later in life, through to his epic Olympic triumph at Moscow in 1980, as well as the key role he played in helping London win the 2012 Oly...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 7 min
At a time when all the knowledge in the world is little more than a mouse click away – the importance of learning how to learn is key. And one person who was a pass master was the late Anders Ericsson – who was best known for his work on deliberate practice and whose research led to the widely misconstrued '10,000 hours' rule popularised by Malcolm Gladwell. So this was Anders – talking all about how to learn, and develop a love of learning – drawing on his own formative experiences. MyTwitter: ...
Jul 14, 2023•10 min
"The two great risks are risking too much but also risking too little. That's for each person to decide. For me, not risking anything is worse than death. By far." - Jimmy Chin Jimmy is a pro climber, skier, photographer and Oscar winning Film director. The theme of this episode is about following your heart and taking risks. Committing to a path and working it out along the way. Jimmy picked up the Academy Award for the incredible Free Solo. His latest film is called The Rescue, and focusses on...
Jul 12, 2023•58 min
Sometimes, what you need to survive and thrive in challenging times is age old wisdom. And my guest this week is full of it. Paul McGee – speaker and Sunday Times best selling author –has sold over a quarter of a million books, and spoken in more than 40 countries to date. He’s an expert in things like dealing with change, developing relationships, creating opportunies and performing under pressure. His work has been endorsed by the likes of Sir Clive Woodward – and his clients have included the...
Jul 10, 2023•58 min
So many of us are struggling to focus and pay attention to what we need to. It can feel like a moral failing – as if there is something wrong with us individually. But Johann Hari argues that is not the case. The problem runs much deeper. Teenagers now focus on one task for only 65 seconds he says, while office workers aren’t much better – managing only three minutes. It won’t surprise you to hear that digital has a significant role to play – after all, how many people don’t have a somewhat dysf...
Jul 09, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 86
Often people think to achieve what they want in life is about finding a magic bullet, but as World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward explains – frequently it’s just about understanding the basics. Those things you absolutely have to get right to succeed in a particular project or goal. This might sound obvious – but actually it turns out it is incredibly common for people within teams, businesses and organisations not to know the basics of what they are trying to do – and that even applies at...
Jul 07, 2023•10 min
What does success mean? Is the 'winner and losers' narrative too simplistic? Tim Henman reached six major tennis semi-finals - four at Wimbledon - and was ranked fourth in the world. And yet, in some quarters, there is a view that somehow Tim didn't deliver. If that were true, then almost all of us are failures. In this episode, we talk about exploring your potential, rather than setting a goal and limiting yourself, and why everyone’s journey and trajectory is different. Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Jul 03, 2023•52 min
Everyone is familiar with the phrase 'there are too few hours in the day' but one of my previous guests proved that emphatically wrong. In 2019 Jasmine Paris won the 268 mile Spine race – unquestionably one of the toughest endurance events in the world. Not only did Jasmine become the first woman to win the race, she smashed the men’s course record by 12 hours. Jasmine juggles her ultra running with being a mum, wife and a qualified vert. She truly has mastered the art of prioritising what is im...
Jun 30, 2023•12 min
How to transcend needless suffering & discover true happiness - with 'the Mind Architect' Above everything else, people want to feel happy – and to experience freedom from suffering. It’s not the car, the promotion or the relationship we really want – it’s the happiness we believe we will derive from it. But what if the very act of seeking happiness is exactly what is stopping us from experiencing true happiness? That is the essence of this week’s conversation with Peter Crone. He calls hims...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 197
Are you a human being – or a human doing? Bill Beswick is one of the world’s most respected sports psychologists, having worked at Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s dominant reign as manager. Roy Keane and Gary Neville are among those who credited Bill with making a real difference to their ability to perform at the top. I talked to Bill during the covid pandemic – and he spoke about how it was an opportunity to reflect on how we want to live. The question is – have you done that? And...
Jun 23, 2023•9 min•Ep. 196
When I was the sports reporter for BBC Radio 1 for 8 years, I spent a lot of time talking to and hearing from an exhaustive list of Premier League managers. One of them stood out above the rest for entertainment value – and that was Ian Holloway when he was in charge of Blackpool FC. Ian Holloway is clearly a naturally funny man – and he also has a depth and emotional sensitivity that you can’t help but warm to. A driving theme of this podcast is ego – and not letting the idea you have about you...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 195
There’s no doubt that meditation is good for body and mind, but a lot of people struggle with it. Perhaps they don’t think they’re doing it right – or just can’t turn it into a habit. But meditation is undoubtedly a hugely valuable habit to develop, and the research on its benefits is vast. And here to talk about the simple 'how-tos' of mindfulness meditation – is Headspace founder and former Buddhist monk – Andy Puddicombe ** MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundie Instagram: https://www.ins...
Jun 16, 2023•10 min•Ep. 194
Perfectionism is often seen as a desirable trait in modern society. But, the reality is, it leads to procrastination - and mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and burnout. In a world that celebrates the idea of your 'Best Self', and always being better than you were yesterday – this conversation is about considering a healthier approach, one that acknowledges we are fine as we are now, and that we don’t always need to be striving for more and better. My guest is Tom Curran, the acclai...
Jun 12, 2023•58 min•Ep. 193
How often do we spend time continually looking to the future – while overlooking how far we have already come? Dr Dame Katherine Grainger is Britain’s most decorated female Olympian. She won rowing gold at London 2012 and silver at four other Olympic Games. We spoke about reflecting back on how far you’ve come – as well as what perseverance is all about ** MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-mund...
Jun 09, 2023•12 min•Ep. 192
Alberto Salazar was once the most revered running coach in the world, leading athletes including Mo Farah to the very top of their game. But, in 2019, Salazar was banned from athletics for violating anti doping rules. This week’s guest, Steve Magness, had worked alongside him at the Nike Oregon Project – and he was the whistleblower whose claims were followed up by a BBC Panorama and Pro Publica investigation, leading, ultimately, to Salazar’s downfall. It’s fascinating to hear Steve explaining ...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 191
Brad Smeele was a world champion wakeboarder – until he broke his neck performing a trick in 2014 which left him quadriplegic. Until that point, Brad had been pretty much living the dream, chasing summers around the world while earning money on the side as a model. His identity before the accident was closely bound up with his physicality, and coming to terms with the fact that that was no longer the case was a huge challenge. However – Brad has demonstrated a truly inspiring mentality toward hi...
Jun 02, 2023•9 min•Ep. 190
Why relationships are the key to success in sport and life, with former England captain Will Carling. Will was appointed captain aged just 22 and led England to their first ever rugby World Cup final in 1991. As well as reaching that World Cup final- England won three Grand Slams in the 90s under Will, and were undoubtedly the northern hemisphere’s best team during that period. The theme of this conversation is relationships, in life and sport, which Will says are more important than 'success'. ...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 189
There’s a lot to be said for truly empathetic leadership, where caring for and taking an interest in the individual comes first. Not only does this create an environment in which people can flourish, it makes winning and success more likely. And my guest this week, Ama Agbeze, undoubtedly proved that to be the case, when she led England to their greatest netball triumph – a historic Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2018. The Commonwealth Games is the pinnacle competition in netball, because curr...
May 29, 2023•58 min•Ep. 188
Would you like to know some tips for succeeding under pressure from someone who was one of the best in the business? Sir Nick Faldo is Britain’s greatest ever golfer – a six times major winner who spent 97 weeks as world number one in his pomp. During our full length conversation – I asked him about one of his strategies for success, which came down to being able to... slow down. ** MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/ Email: info@simonmund...
May 26, 2023•11 min•Ep. 187
We tend to believe happiness is found when we accumulate money, success and status – but that’s actually wide of the mark. According to one of the pre-eminent happiness scientists in the world, real joy is found by tapping into the transformative power of Awe. Dacher Keltner is a bestselling author and psychology professor at the University of California. Twenty years into teaching people about happiness, he is on a mission to reveal the secrets of the good life. He has found that experiencing a...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 186
Dame Heather Rabbatts trained as a barrister – but that barely gets her CV started. She’s also been a BBC Governor, the youngest-ever Chief Executive of Merton and Lambeth Councils, Head of Education at Channel 4, a Director of the Bank of England, a Board Member of the UK Film Council, and deputy chair of Millwall FC – and that’s just to name a few. I wanted to ask her about getting ahead in big organisations and businesses – and she gave her take on that before speaking about retaining humilit...
May 19, 2023•11 min•Ep. 185
"Flow is an optimal state of consciousness where we feel and perform our best". As many of you know, the topic of flow and its deeper implications are subjects I have spoken about on many occasions in this podcast – and in today’s episode we dive into what is a fascinating area. Steven Kotler is a New York Times best-selling author and executive director of the Flow Research Collective. Steven has spent decades exploring flow and working out ways for people – from elite athletes and Navy seals t...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 184
What the experience of flow - particularly in sport - may reveal about the nature of reality. One theme that has arisen time and again while recording this podcast is the experience of flow, and numerous athletes in particular have spoken about the experience of "me" not being there in such moments. But what is that "me" that seems to disappear? That’s a big question and here to help address it is Rupert Spira, a philosopher interested in the nature of reality, the nature of consciousness - and ...
May 14, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 183
Understanding the cost of fear and how to face and replace it - with the former England football psychologist, who was credited with helping transform the team at the 2018 World Cup. Pippa explains the difference between 'in the moment fear', and 'not good enough fear', and it's the latter that is the focus of this conversation and which is lurking behind many of our self-defeating behaviours. MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/ LinkedIn: ...
May 14, 2023•56 min•Ep. 182
The ability to hack our health could be right inside us. That’s the view of Wim Hof - aka the iceman. Among other things, he has run marathons barefoot beyond the polar circle as well as climbing through the "death zone" of Mt. Everest in only his shorts. He puts his achievements down to the Wim Hof Method – which has three components, cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation. Wim speaks about the importance of tapping into your inner pharmacy – and putting ourselves into stressful sit...
May 12, 2023•12 min•Ep. 181
Would you like a proven pattern to tackle your most ambitious and challenging plans? Whatever it is you would like to do – whether it is starting a business, running a marathon or transforming a school – this episode is for you. My guest in Sir Michael Barber, whose career has straddled the world of elite sport and government. Since joining the government in 1997, he has advised 7 of the last 8 Prime Ministers – the exception being Liz Truss. In the world of sport, Michael has advised Team Sky, ...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 180
Are you someone who has a tracker to keep tabs on things like your sleep and calorie count? We are increasingly obsessed with data and tracking – and we are also increasingly out of touch with the signals of our body. Christie Aschwanden is an award winning journalist, Nordic skier and the author of the fascinating book - Good To Go: What the athlete in us can learn from the strange science of recovery. She emphasises the importance of getting in touch with our bodies and learning to directly he...
May 05, 2023•7 min•Ep. 179
Psychological flexibility is often described as the ‘super skill’ of resilience, wellbeing and mental health. It is your ability to ‘make contact with experience in the present moment fully and without defence’. Research has found that it is associated with higher quality of life and wellbeing. As regular listeners will often hear me say, we are not our thoughts – we are aware of our thoughts. This is a profound insight that can have a huge impact on your experience of life, and is the cornersto...
May 01, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 178
