Okay, Team Tiffany and Cooker, Lauren, Wilma, Veronica Patricia, Mary Burns, Craig, Anthony Harper, Lauren. What's your middle name? Do you have one? It's Sean Tell Lauren Schontell Lauren's.
Not Wilma Patricia. Well, yeah, it's very French, which I guess is fitting with the Olympic Games coming up in Paris.
That is, I'll look at you fucking straight up with a segue. Before we talk to the PhD doctor, academic brainiac Olympic gold medalist, underachiever, let's talk to tiff hey.
On, isn't that me?
Isn't that me? You were just described? Nah, you're the fucking superstar of the trio. How are you?
Very good? Thanks, very good.
It's just gone past midday here in Melbourne. It's Thursday, the thirteenth of June. Have you had a good morning, Tiffany and cook.
It's flown by.
Yeah.
I have a been in the gym all morning shouting at people and may making them do the work and achieve.
Now you've got your first em scene. We won't say what it's apt, but you've got your first big emcene gig tomorrow Lauren, have you ever MCED an event? We know you speak at lots of events, but have you had it? All right, give you some advice because she's pumping me for advice.
All right.
The Olympic gold medalist, what's the gold medalist got?
Well, this is advice I got from Adam Spencer, who I actually think is one of the best mcs I've ever known. He's just so I mean, I don't try and be funny. I mean he's funny. But is to read everything out loud because often you read your notes and you're like, yep, I've got that, no worries, But then when you're reading them as you're m seing, it's quite different. So you know, pronunciation of names, reading them out loud, and then I actually think the audience really
loves it if they can connect with you personally. So if there's a story that you can weave in to introduce yourself a little bit as who you are rather than just the EMC, that's always great.
Perfect, very much.
Ma'am, Thank you very much.
That'd be one hundred dollars tip.
I'll let you hope know how it all goes down, Lauren, Yes, I mean it goes down well, I'd love.
To hear well. And it's all those things about you know, performing under pressure no matter what it is. But the more that you can get yourself in a space that you just can be yourself and that's often hard. So you know, breathing is i'd say number one beforehand, and then just yeah, trying to be connect with the audience just as who you are. Now that's but I won't find I am seeing more nerve wracking than speaking. So I'm just giving you the advice I give myself.
That breathing is not to be con confused with hyper ventilator, right, because I do.
I do like to overachieve and go all in with everything, don't I?
You do? But I mean you're doing it. Speaking of performing under pressure and being an MC and being professional speaker, which you get in front of lots of audiences these days. Is there any benefit from being an elite athlete on the world stage and having to kind of manage emotions and feelings and energy and then was that translatable to what you did post sport, Lauren?
Yeah, I mean I think the elite sporting world there's so much correlation with everyday life. You know, whether you're a high school kid or you know, primary school student or corporate ceo. That ability, that self regulation and ability to constantly kind of reflect, re evaluate plan. You know, there's so much detail I think that goes into you know, high pressure events. But then to be able to kind of especially at an Olympic Games or in the sporting arena, is to kind of let it go and just in
the moment. And that can be quite difficult because you know, we're always overthinking things or we're trying to be as prepared as we possibly can. But that ability to be in the moment, and you know, I actually found when I was leading up to the Olympics, I used to do a lot of strategy work, like always looking at fights, breaking down play constantly kind of you know, looking at
the chess situation of different strategies. But then when I started really watching competitors that I respected and watching for joy, you know, watching for flow, watching for like enjoyment of the game and like the just that pure joy and so trying to connect into that space I think can be you know, why you're there, why you love it, why you enjoy what you're doing, even though it can be completely nerve wracking, And the other thing I think really is to you know, to understand that all of
the things that you feel, like whether it's clammy hands or feeling like you're going to vomit, it doesn't mean that you can't perform, and actually that might be you're ready. And you know, we used to do that a lot with the Gold Medal Ready program at the AIS is talking to athletes about that's okay, this is my ready. Like I might feel like I'm about to, you know, completely just freeze or vomit. Maybe you do vomit, but
to go that's okay. I can still perform and not expecting everything to be perfect, because you know, it's pretty rare that someone says I just wrote my plan, did everything the way I was meant to, and then just worked out I want an Olympic gold medal. You know, it's like there's always the stories that come out afterwards of like this went wrong, this happened beforehand. You know, I had this injury, I was sick, I got whatever travel bug, and so just sort of preparing for that
it's going to things. The shit will hit the fan and that's okay, you can still perform.
Have you ever met or worked with or coached athletes who were say this because I've had this experience. I met them and they had amazing genetics, amazing skill, amazing talent, amazing potential, but they just couldn't manage their anxiety. They couldn't make.
All they the week before.
Well, but I mean I remember, you know, like I worked at sin Kilda for four years, and I remember there'd be some some young dudes who would come in and they'd test everything like skill, speed, muscular endurance, rubicondurance, you know, like they and and also were great at footy, but all the physiological testing was off the chart and they had great skills on both sides of their body,
and even in training pretty outstanding. And then in match conditions sometimes just they just their anxiety and their nerves would pretty much kill their their talent.
Yeah, one hundred percent. And I mean I saw that all the time. And yeah, athletes who would be like in that week leading up just amazing, smashing it, and you think, God, they're going to kill this comp And yet it's not always those ones that you know really often come out with the outcomes that you expect. And I think preparing for the unexpected and you know, even I used to do a lot of visualization and mental image,
you know, rehearsal. And I mean it depends on the sport too, and this relates to you know, other every area in life if we can imagine these things. But I used to imagine things going wrong and that I could always find a way out of it. You know, I'd be down on points, or the referee, I'd make a bad call, or I'd get an injury in the fight or whatever it might be. And it was like I can always outthink, out smart outdoor and it doesn't matter.
It's not about technique or power or strength. It's just being able to a bit of you know, it's that grit. And in my PhD I wrote about and I guess I borrowed this from taekwondo, but it's about cultivating that indominable spirit. And that's that's what the mastery level athletes have as ones that you know, some athletes have been to bloody five Olympic Games. I don't know how they can do it many years, you know, Olympic quads four
years at a time. It's just but it's that in that indominable spirit that's kind of that mental toughness, that grit that's not there with just natural talent.
What's that swimming? That is Emily Sebam the one that just qualified for a fifth Is that her the one that just qualified for a fifth Olympics? Or is it someone else?
I didn't watch it, but that I mean, she's she's I think, isn't she the most decorated swimmer?
Can you just check that you just qualify because she she? I know it's it's one of the ladies. She's the first ever swimmer. I think Andrew Gays went to five Olympics and a few others have been.
But like a question mark, I think, yeah, yeah, but and.
Yeah yeah, I think I think the first female or the first Australian swimming to go. And you think about like the lifespan of a swimmer is not generally that long.
I mean it's a lot of chlorine, isn't it. That's a lot of.
It's a lot of head down and looking at a black line. I mean it takes a certain speaking of psychology and mentality and toughness like to be able to do that sport, which is for the most part quite lonely, even though you might be part of a club. Yeah, like I I don't know if i'd I admire them for what they do, but I'm definitely not envious of doing that actual work out.
If I haven't come up with it yet, you'll figure it out.
So when you just put your hand up when you find out. So I wanted to talk to you about obviously we're coming up to the Olympics there a minute away. Does it feel like it's almost quarter of a century since you won your gold Middle End Sydney. I was thinking about because I was thinking about, Oh, this is a good idea, we'll talk to you. The Olympics are coming up, and it's been a minute since Lauren won who medal, And then I went, oh, fuck, it's nearly
quarter of a century. It's twenty four years. Well, you're old, I mean, apart from everything else, you're old.
I know. I just turned fifty on the weekend too, which is pretty awesome. And that did make me think, oh my god, turning fifty. It's been twenty four years since the Games.
Wow.
Yes, but sometimes it feels like it was you know, I didn't even live that life. You know, training seven hours a day, the amount of the grueling training in Korea, Like we'd go to these martial arts universities and we'd be running up hills in the minus fifteen degree snow
and ice, and it was just crazy. And then other times, you know, when I catch up I mean obviously when I speak and sort of tell my story, or when I catch up with alumni, you know, other of teammates or in Olympic Games, it kind of brings back more of those detailed memories. Like the other day, I was
just thinking about that dining hall. Oh my god, like you know, and they say, and I was cutting for a weight division, so I wasn't really eating anything in the dining hall, but you know, just those things that it's just so the epic proportions of the Olympic Games and athletes who you know, I see a lot of Natcook, beach volleyball gold medalist is doing a lot at the moment around raising money for athletes trying to get to the Games, and that brings back a lot of memories too,
because we used to get forty two dollars a week on the Olympic Athlete Program and so many I know, we thought we'd hit the jackpot because we're an Olympic sport finally, but so many athletes, you know, they they just do it because they love it. There's a passion there. They're not funded, you know, they don't have you know, it's only really often the biggest sports, and even that's
the top level of those sports. But you know, it's such a passion project, you know, funding yourself and working towards an Olympic Games, and you know you're not doing it to be on TV or get the accolades from the wider community, because often as smaller sports you don't even expect to be on television or get any enclosure
or any sponsorship or whatever. So it's just that and I think that's what really the Olympic Games are meant to be about, that pursuit of physical endeavor, where it's the mind body here it being the best that they can be. And yeah, you trained for four years and you might go out and you might get a hamstring injury and warm up and then that's the end end of that. So there's high stakes.
It reminds me of the sprinters who trained for their one hundred meter event for four years and get who break twice, you know, and get dq God, yeah, you imagine, imagine, especially if you're number one, two or three, which has happened just quickly, Tiff, what did you find for us?
Emily sebam sebomb?
Is that Emily s bomb? Yeah?
Yeah?
Perfect? So can I just ask what? I know we're not meant to talk about people's weights, but I think it's quite pertinent when you have to make a weight for a sport. I feel like, was were you forty eight or fifty two or some nine, and so you had to get to forty nine. You know, I didn't intend to talk about this, but I wanted to talk about fucking weight cutting for sports is such a fucking stupid, unhealthy practice, so bad for the body. Potentially, it depends.
I mean, if you're walking around weight is fifty one not a big deal, right, But I mean, like I've worked with boxes, mixed martial artists, rowers, even a few jockeys, and some of the shit that they have to do to make a weight is and you think about what
is going on with your body. I mean when you are really dehydrated, which a lot of people are very dehydrated when they stand on the scales like that, you know your bloodsticker increased viscosity, less blood volume, greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and let's be honest, death, your brain doesn't work because you know, your brain's ninety per cent water, and your cognitive function plummets, and it's so unhealthy to meet this kpi. What was your walking around weight?
Generally, my walking around weight was fifty five. My training weight was fifty three, like a kind of lean training weight was fifty three. I always fought in the under fifty one kilo class, so that was there's normally eight weight divisions in taekwondo, and that's like world championship weight division, so I'd always cut into that fifty one, and that was tricky, but it was pretty safe. Forty nine they changed all their divisions for the Olympics, so instead of
having eight, they only had four. So then they were big gaps, ten kilo gaps. I either had to go under forty nine or under fifty seven. And so the fifty seven kilo girls that you know, they're dropping in from sixty two sixty five, it's a totally different game. So it took me a while to decide, and I mean, I probably always thought I'd do forty nine, but I did like dexa scan. We you know, went through the diet,
had dietitians. I was in at the vis. We did everything right, and they said it's pretty much you know, bone density. They said, it's unsafe for you to ever sit at forty nine, so let's just get you down as close as we can and just hit it on the day because normally they'd want me sitting there. So
I did it. It was actually really tricky, and it's something that I'm quite passionate about because I had done that running it off in the past, put the sweats on, you know, like in the sauna, skipping and jogging and all that stupid shit. And I just had found that and there's a real culture around it around you know, dropping weight, and it's like you've got to do it in that way otherwise you're not tough enough for something stupid.
So I didn't find that if I if I'd cutweight running or skipping or saunering or dehydrated, I didn't have the reaction time. I didn't have the decision making. You know, I might get through one or two fights, but if I made it to the final, I didn't have that ability to adapt when you know something had happened and I'd need to think more strategically, and there's nothing there. So for the Olympics, I decided that I'd do it really well, really safely. I would not sweat it off
at all, like zero sweating. So I increased my walking. That was probably the biggest thing, like just and because I couldn't run anymore because the aerobic sessions were so big. The load it was so big anyway, with the running and jumping and you know that we do in taekwondo kicking. So I just had to do it really really slowly. Took about three months, and then also to make sure that I was had strength, had power, had all that clarity.
So it was really very difficult. And especially my roommate Lisa, she was putting on weight, so she was like, oh my god, I can't eat anymore. She's going to the dining hole just like eating as much as she could.
But it's a good point and because I think, yeah, there's this real culture around it, and there's been there's been a few deaths actually, so in I know in taekwondo, in Mma, I think there was a young girl who died not that long maybe a year or two ago, So I think they're starting to put in some parameters around, you know, weighing after and things like that, so that you're not just trying to get down then refuel.
So when did you, Lauren, when did you weigh in? Like what day and what time of day did you weigh in compared to when you can in other words, what was the time gap between way in and stepping? You know, on the map.
It's probably four hours, four or five hours.
Normally it's not that's not long at all.
Yeah, normally it's earlier. So normally you weigh in about seven o'clock in the morning, and I'd probably usually fight around nine, but I had to buy, so I probably fought around eleven first fight. So yeah, you don't have long And also you can't just suddenly drink a litle of water or have a big bowl of pasta. You just be z like after Christmas lunch and you can't move. So it's just that, you know, re hydrating slowly, sipping
on things, little bites of food. But yeah, I did do it very well, and I actually felt, you know, I felt the strongest I'd ever felt in my life, even though I was forty nine killers and in the lightest weight division. I felt pretty strong that day.
It's amazing because when you think these things are kind of like almost counterintuitive because you've got to drop weight, but also you want to be strong and powerful and fast, and you want your brain to be working optimally. So I guess, you know, based on what you said, the way to do that most effectively is over a much longer time frame than trying to dump water in the last few days or something.
Yeah. And I mean I didn't have much the day before, but I was still able to drink a little bit. I wasn't much, but at that point, I'm really sort of you know, crafting that final final bit. And then even with all of the weight training and everything that I was doing, like I had a great strength coach and you know, he helped me with all of that, and I was stripping a lot off my upper body.
You know. So my legs were well, I thought they were giant forty nine kilos, but you know they were so strong and so explosive and so powerful and it was really all you know, legs driven and core and I was pretty pretty lean across my upper body.
Yeah. Wow. And so the most important question is not about the gold medals. What the fuck did you eat after?
Well? Yeah, I mean I so pasta mainly I love pasta. But afterwards all I wanted was pizza and beer, and I was obsessed. You know. My friends were like, oh, we'll meet you afterwards. And then I had like Royan HD the dream and media and all this stuff, and they're like, well, come back to our place. There was a friend was living in Sydney. We'll get you pizza and beer. But when I got there, you know, I could only have one piece of pizza, and I didn't
really feel like the alcohol. And I've had a lot of bruises. All the bruising was coming out because you know, it's a full contact martial art, so I've got bruises all over my arms and my legs and I had a massive kick to the groin that was pretty bad. So I didn't really want to drink anyway after that. But it was lovely. The thought was there that I could then have everything I wanted, but I just didn't. Went back and had some steamed broccoli the next day, which is what I was used to eating.
When you grow when you grown up and you were in the sport and I think your mum and dad had an academy, right or no?
No, but mum was a professional dancer, so I guess.
Right it was whom I thinking of someone. Sorry apologies but anyway, So you're growing up, you're in the sport, you're competing, and you're thinking about down the track, maybe the Olympics. So you've got this idea of being an Olympian and ultimately an idea of being an Olympic gold medalist. What was the difference between or the space between the idea, the dream, the vision, the hope and the reality, Like, now I am an Olympic gold medalist, how is it different? Either better or worse?
As in, how was it afterwards?
Like, Okay, now you're an Olympic gold medalist. Like people like I have an idea in my mind of what being an Olympic gold medalist would be, but how the fuck do I know? I'm just a fucking sixty year old in Bayside, Melbourne with fucking no talent. Yeah, what's the like when you become an Olympic gold medalist? What were the surprising things for you?
I think, well, firstly, leading up, there was a change when I knew you know, I think, and this is one thing you do see with athletes, especially sort of mastery level athletes, is a realistic optimism. And so as I was getting closer, I was like, you know, of course everyone wants to win a gold medal, but when I'd think about what where I could be, it was like, I reckon, I can do well. I actually think I've
got metal potential that's probably a bronze. In the year leading up, I was like, actually, I can beat all these other girls if I'm on on the day. I reckon, I can beat all these girls or I had beat them, you know, and it was like I could I can do this, And actually in that last year I was like, I know, I can win a gold medal if everything comes together on the day. So there was that that was a switch for me in mindset leading in and
then afterwards. The very first feeling was just like yep, I've done it, because it was very much like this is what I'm here to do, this is what I'm going to do. And so when I did win, it was like yep, and tick that off. But then I think over the past twenty four years, really what it's meant for me is that I felt like I can do anything, no matter how hard it is, and that it's not about again coming back to that natural talent.
It's just like I've just got to dig in. I've got to keep with the pro you know, turn up, show up, do the work, even do the hard things, you know, even if they're small, you know, the rehab at the consistency, the basics, you know, because that's what being an athlete is about as well. It's not always you know, it's not about being on the world stage. It's or you know, it's about turning up to training.
You know, when you're injured, you turn up and you do whatever you can do, if it's on the bike or stretching or you know, it's about being part of
that team and showing up. So, you know, say with the PhD, that was probably one of the hardest thing I ever done in my life, just because of all the changes that happened in my project and you know, things going wrong all the time, and so it was about that, like stay on the path, do the odd things, stick with it, do all the shit, do the rehab in a you know, essentially, So I think that's kind of a bit of that grit.
I just googled. Right then, I was thinking, like part of what I was thinking is like, okay, I'm Olympic gold medalist. Now I'm going to have fame and opportunities and money and this. Like I just googled what is the how much money does someone make for losing in the first round of Wimbledon? Right, So the first round loser in Wimbledon gets one hundred and five thousand dollars. So if you get it, if you get into the main draw and you lose, you get one hundred and
five grand for losing. Like, think about that compared to I'm pretty sure you didn't get one hundred and five grand for winning an Olympic gold.
No, we got about fifteen thousand, okay, and we were pretty well. I was pretty happy with that. But you know, then you look at other count Spain get some million dollars. The Iranian guy that won that year, he got an island. Well, Koreans get life pension, you know. So I but again, we weren't doing it. I mean, well, I wasn't doing it for the money, because you know, you never that's not something to bank on either.
No, no, no, but it's a lot of time, effort, energy, and also when you're competing, right when we're watching you all ourselves, he's are like, oh, look at our girl go like we had something to do with it, like we were part of your journey. And then when you win, we all walk around going fucking how good are we at taekwondo? No, your shit, you've never done anything. She's fucking amazing, but you've done nothing. And then five days later people can't remember your name.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah, you know.
So what are the emotions that if any of flying around as we come up to another Olympics, Like, do you do you start to get more work? Do you start to get media stuff that you've got to do or does it just is it just a time for reminiscing.
Oh, definitely getting more work. So I mean I've always i mean I've been speaking now for twenty four years or even longer. It's just grown and developed over the years, and especially yeah, since the PhD and a lot of stuff around lifestyle and mindset, but certainly getting more work. So, I mean it's always great, and often there's with the
Olympic Games, it's the same every quad. It's like, you know, there's a lot of last minute stuff like let's have an Olympic event, or we'll have an athlete come in. And I mean, taekwondo is great because I get people moving and yelling or breaking boards or doing whatever in the session. So it's always fun and it's always relatable to the audience and skills that they can apply in
everyday life. So that's been great. And yeah, whatever Olympic things that are going on, I'm always happy to be involved in because it is so nostalgic and I feel like that, you know, being part of the Olympic family. You know, it's pretty special.
Can you compare doing your PhD and getting your doctorate with doing your training and getting a gold medal at the Olympics? Like, is there a comparison in terms of effort, energy sacrifice? How is one? I know they're very disparate. I know they're very different, but could you say one was harder?
Yeah? The PhD was just so much harder. And I mean, I guess because I wasn't really in a lab or I didn't have a team I was. I mean, I don't know how much you were involved with your team, but I found it really isolating I wrote it up when I was in COVID and I had little kids at home doing remote learning and I need to be in my own space doing deep thinking, and I couldn't. My project changed all the time, and supervisors retired during
and had illnesses and it was really really difficult. And I think things were hard in sport and I had a lot of injuries and setbacks there, but I always had the endorphin rush of you know, moving my body and being physically active, and especially when you're at that level, you have such a high skill level that you know it's just you hit the sweet spot of just being
able to do these moves. And training was joyous even when it was hard and you get you know, I mean kicking out of things and punching things, and that's always fun. And yet yeah, because you're so good at what you're doing, there's a real kind of flow and joy that comes out of training. So I think no matter how hard it was, I always got that rush.
And there was more micro goals, you know, like competents and things like that, whereas you know the milestones in I guess there was papers and chapters and things like that, but it was really arduous and I understand now when people don't finish like I used to be, Like, you know, if people can just kind of dig in and get through it. But actually it's really it is very full on.
Especially most people are juggling work, family life, so whatever other things are going on in their life, and you know the journey of a PhD student, there's always highs and lows of their own life that are complementing and going along with that. So for me, it was the hardest thing I've ever done.
When you stand in front of a group, say a corporate group, and I know it's not like there's one presentation or there's a set path that you take, but what's the stuff that you talk about that's kind of transferable from your sporting background that without just standing up there telling the war stories of oh, when I as an athlete, when I won a gold medal, which quite a few people do, which is understandable and it's not bad.
But beyond that, beyond telling that this is my story story, what are the ideas and the concepts that you talk to individuals and teams about that help them be whatever the best team or the best group or the best version of themselves.
Yeah, so there's quite a few. And I've developed this what I call the Circle of Lifestyle, which really came from the PhD, is about lifestyle and mindset. And when I first looked at that topic, I was pretty overwhelmed. Like when you look at lifestyle, well, you know Mark Cohen, he's been my professor. He's like, look at lifestyle of athletes. I'm like, all right, that sounds good, and then I'm like, lifestyle,
Like that's so broad and huge exactly, jeez man. But yeah, so sort of there's nine elements that are within that, and that's you know, like connection, breathing, movement, value, self regulation, sleep planning. So all of those elements are really relatable from an athlete perspective, all the work that I did with elite athletes through the PhD, and then that relates
to the audience. So like a really simple one is mindset, so you know, getting people to think about how they can switch their mindset, how they can refocus their thoughts. I love that the element of action, like you know, how would I act if I was this person? Like, how would I act if I was a really productive student? How would I act if I was a really fun parent?
Or a good friend, and so looking at that action and then doing setting out a list of what are those actions that I would do, and then actually doing those things. I think there's a lot in movement, you know, that we can when we do the action, then it sort of matches up with our mindset rather than just thinking about all the things that we should do. Yeah, and then things like eating techniques and you know, sleep and how it affects us and planning values based decision making. Connection.
So connection was a huge part of the PhD, looking at how interpersonal relationships have a performance enhancing effect. And we just did this research with this Range Institute of Sport about what are the characteristics of gold medal winning support teams and that was really fascinating. So we coined the fray or I'd coined this phrase in my research around using the working alliance, which you'd be familiar with or the therapeutic alliance, and then you know, using the
terminology the performance alliance. So borrowing from that working alliance, which is the relationship between the practitioner and the client.
And so when you look at that in the case of sport, you know some health you know, allied health professionals are trained in that, So how do you build that relationship between therofessional and the client And so you know, like the physio might know that, maybe the strength and conditioning coach obviously the sports sites, but the coaches don't really get trained in that relationship building and the team
manager but they're you know, equally is important. So how do we then teach or what's a framework around teaching that relationship building and things like you know, so taking from that working alliance, you know, that agreement on shared goals and having agreement on shared tasks, developing a personal bond.
So I think that you know, and that's sort of coming from the self determination theory, so looking at having autonomy, competence, relationship, shared bond so and then also looking at who supports the coach out of that or who supports the support team. So I think connection and interpersonal relationships is just so powerful and there's a lot that we can do to to forge that. And you know, what we've sort of found was that quality attachment, quality relationships are performance enhancing.
But if you've also got things that go unsaid or crappy relationships or that are fraught with stress, and then
that can really have detrimental effects too. So encouraging people to have those difficult conversations and to you know, to strengthen relationships not always easy, but that's any In high pressure situations too, things get a bit more heated and fraud and you know, people, if you've got an athlete that's tied and run down and they're about to hit that sort of peak and everything, the pressure of everything. So yeah, having those personal connection and bond is really important.
So I want to jump back to I agree, like I think having greats well, I feel like I mean, now, even when we talk about health, right, and we we talk about food and exercise and movement and sleep, but we talk about one of the biggest impactors of physical health, mental and emotional health as relationships and the way that
we socialize. And let's say you tick all the boxes, great diet, great food, great sleep, all of that, but you are lonely, you are socially isolated, you don't feel loved, valued, or connected. That's going to impact your physical health and your lifespan and your health span. So yeah, I agree with you. I think we don't understand the collective we generally some people do, but I think more broadly, we don't understand what an impact on our immune system and
our cellular health and everything. Being in a toxic relationship or having unresolved issues, or being constantly in a version of conflict. That shit is so and we go, yeah, of course it's bad for your mental health. But dude, it's also bad for your physical health because there's a biological consequence to that shit, right, there's a physiological repercussion of anger and anxiety and conflict, and you know, and if you're just putting your head in the sand, thinking oh,
it'll work itself out, that's a bad strategy. So I'm with you, all right. I want to lean into one thing that you spoke about, mindset, right, So I think most of us would be included, would think that there are times where my mindset is not optimal. Now, I know there's no three step plan, right, but I want to I give you my thirty second theory, then I want your theory. So I feel like, you know, metacognition thinking about how we think, Like why do I think the way that I do? Why do I see the
world the way that I do? Why do I frame things these ways this way? Why do I tell myself these stories. Where does that all come from? But I also think that me sitting on the couch trying to
reprogram my mind doesn't work. But for me and I think a lot of people, what does work, which is I think what you're alluding to is when we go and do a different thing, like now I'm doing yes, and the bypro byproduct of the doing the different thing, not sitting on the couch thinking about my thinking, but doing the different thing, then there's a shift in mindset. Is that are you on that page?
Yeah, I'm really big on that the actions of doing those things and to be have that little you know, have that big that I guess higher order look at things where you're like, well how am I? What do I want to be? If I want to be that person? Or even when we plan into the future, whether it's ten years or one week or the every end of the day, you know, it's like, well, how do I
want to be if I'm this person? And we can even think about it in our relationships, like how do I want to be as a partner or a parent, or a friend, or a son or daughter or whatever it is, And then you just go, well, I want to be you know, I want to do these things, and so then you just do the things, because it doesn't matter if you don't feel like doing them, or it doesn't sometimes it doesn't even feel that aligned at that point. But if you just go or I feel uncomfortable,
I'm just going to do the things. And then that creates a really big shift. And same with language, like the way that we talk to ourselves, the way that we talk to others. And I had my son actually started saying there was one word he said to me a lot, and you know, he's fifteen, and god, I loved it so much. I really learned from him. And so he said. I'd say to him, you know, can you unstack the dishwasher? And he'd say, sure, I mean that that is gold. Sure, that's all he said. You know,
can you do this? You know, can you hang the washing out? Sure? That was so beautiful, like he didn't go oh, which you know often my kids roll their eyes at those sorts of chores, and I just thought, what a lovely response that is sure, And so I started using that when, you know, because I want to be that person too. And you know, when my kids say, oh, can I have a friend over you know, I get sure, and then later I can say, well, actually, how many
of them? You know, like whatever's going on? But you know, it's our language, the way that we communicate, like and so thinking about those things, having thought rather than just being on auto pilot. Also, I think the way we speak to ourself. I mean I have noticed a lot. I'm always I've been thinking a lot a bit about how I talk to myself. And I'm pretty encouraging, you know, I'm always like, just do it, just go, just do that, Lozzy, go,
you know you can do it. And I one more, you know, go and do the bands on your shoulder because you can't do anything else or whatever it might be. I mean, yesterday I went I didn't have my gym clothes with me. I was meant to go home. I had to be back for a sick kid, and I'm like, I've got this time though. I could go to the gym now, but I don't have my gear with me, and I was like, it doesn't matter as long as you go going to jeans. So I rocked up at training.
I mean, I was only doing arms. I had a single it on, but I had my jeans on on my boots, and I thought, you know what, fuck it, It's better that I come here and I do this work. So one I did the work, I felt fantastic and I'd done my workout. Did it matter that I was not in my perfect gym clothes. No, it didn't matter. But that was only my I guess me thinking about it. But you know, how do we talk to ourselves? How do we encourage ourselves the language that we use?
Yeah, I think one of the I love that I love it that you did that, and love it that you went, fuck it, I'm wearing jeans. Who can?
I'm like, your clothes stay in here because everyone's in there.
You know, it's legging well, unless you're doing a bloody taekwondo session or something, or a skill session of But I think also that you know, just that like starting to become aware of your own programming and thinking that's to me, like, that's that's opening the door on self awareness where you start to really think about how am I and not only how am I for others and who am I for others? But am I showing up for me? Like am I empowering me? Or am I
holding me back? You know? Because my monologue for a lot of my life was and periodically, if I'm being honest, still is. Sometimes you know you're a fraud, you're an impostor. And people wouldn't think that because I can string a few words together and I've got a podcast and I know the things that I'm good at, which there's a few, but I'm worse at more things, right, But that you know, like on a level, you're always going to have to coexist with a bit of self doubt because that's human.
But then recognizing that in a dialogue, that voice that's really quite self destructive, and then trying to counteract that. You know, is that been a thing for you?
Yeah? Well, and it comes back to that realistic optimism that we're talking about earlier with athletes, like you know, if you don't like I find you know, I don't there's a heat. I mean, there's more that I don't know than more that I know, no matter what I study all. You know, that's that whole thing. The more you look into something, the more you realize what you don't know. But putting yourself in situations where you go, I'm going to learn at this. You know, I'm a
good learner. I can get you know that you've got to put yourself in these situations, or saying yes to the MC job and then ten minutes before going, what the hell am I doing here? I wish I'd said no. I mean, I still have that guy. You know, I've been speaking for so long, and some speaking jobs, you know, I get really nervous beforehand. Sometimes I don't get nervous, and I think, Okay, I'm never going to do this ever again. This is a last one, I think now.
But now that I'm experienced too, I go, you'll be happy that you did this afterwards, You'll love it. You know, you'll be okay, it'll be over soon. And that's actually something else. I often say it'll be over soon because then you know, when I'm doing even doing weights or whatever, and I'm like, it'll be over soon. But it's just keeping you engaged in that process and not being hard on yourself like I'm bad at this, I'm shit at this,
I'm you know whatever. That negative, negative talking. And that's not to say that we don't feel scared, anxious, nervous. They're all natural feelings. That's normal. But I think sometimes we can shift even it's like putting music on changes our stuffing. Going for a walk, doing something physical, moving our body, our big muscles, you know, can have a huge on our mindset.
Yesterday I did a gig for fern Wood. Yeah, I've done a few things for fern Wood. I love them. They're great to me. They're really nice to me. And I turned up and I was mildly confident because I've been there before. I was pretty prepped, which is unusual for me. Their theme for the day was Irresistible Culture, and I hope I'm not giving away state secrets. But I actually wrote a whole presentation the night before. Very for me, that's way too organized. Anyway, I felt pretty good,
felt pretty good about myself. I got there, I sat up the back of the room and do you know who Donna Aston is? Donna So Donna Aston was presenting and she had one hundred women eating out of the palm of her hand, and she was fucking killing it. And I'm like, oh my god, part of me is like and she was brilliant. She was great. She had
everyone engaged and connected. And it's funny because that, I mean, it went fine, but just that that she was so good, I'm like Oh my god, couldn't we have someone shit up before me? Couldn't we have got somebody who's got no skill and no charisma? Would have made my job easier. But it's funny, like, I don't really get anxious, but yesterday, just for a moment and I'm sitting there, I'm like, I might just step out of the room for a
while and just look at my fucking Facebook or something. Yeah, but she did a great job.
Well, and that you go, well, I'm here because I'm me like, I'm not here because I'm Donna Aston and talking to women about whatever it is she was talking.
She killed, She was great, all right, So we're going to wind up. But speaking of speaking, tell us about how people I know you're doing a bit of one on one coaching. When you mentioned that to me, I'm thinking, how many people get an opportunity to be coached by not only someone with a PhD, but also somebody who's an Olympic gold medalist doctor. I mean, that's fucking great. How do people do that? How do they find out
more about it? And how do they maybe get you to come and speak with their team or organization?
Yeah, so they can just contact me through my website Lauren Burns dot com for any speaking inquiries through there, and yeah, same with coaching. So I've really taken all the work that I did as a that learned you know, so I'm a natural path nutritionist and then with all this lifestyle and mindset from the PhD and obviously the Olympic medal and sort of, I just work with people on wherever they're at, so whatever it is that they need support with, we go in that direction. I do
a full health assessment first and it's amazing. Yeah, I love that work. So yeah, just contact me through the website or socials. Instagram's probably the best Lauren Burns gold and yeah, keep in touch.
Can I ask you a question which I didn't intend to because I'm saying goodbye and we've got to going about but I'm being completely fucking selfish. Do you have a recommend Now? This is not for anyone else, so don't do this. This is Laurence not suggesting this as a prescription, but I want to know I don't have much vitamin C in my diet missus nature path.
Yep.
And I had a guy on what's his name, doctor Ian fucking Albright or something like that was like a thousand shows ago. He's from Brighton anyway, he recommended to me like four thousand milligrams a day of mega dosing vitamin C and I feel like, I won't explain why, but I feel like, because I have very little vitamin C, that's an issue. Can you recommend a dose for me?
Well, I mean I always like so. My philosophy really is around whole food. So the more that you can have it in food, it often has a synergistic effect with other things. So interest is great. You know, having lemon juice in a soururd dressing. Kackadoo plum is probably one of the highest sources. So if you can find something that has kackadoo plum in it would have one of the highest amounts of vitamin C. Would be a
great way to have it. And it's really readily absorbed and having it, yeah, having it with something else, you know, having yeah, like lemon juice, having an orange something like that would be fantastic.
Well, I'm going to do none of that, So tell me about how much to take.
Well, i'd probably have to look at everything else in your diet.
Yeah, I'm money kidding.
I'm just fucking with some and you some cacadar, some suggestions.
That'd be good. The answer, Craig is get more vitamin C in your diet. Don't be a dickhead. Lauren will say goodbye a fair but tiff. Thank you, Lauren, Thank you always great to catch up with.
You, awesome. Thank you so much for having me