The Freedom Project

You see the world through the lens of the story you believe. What you consider your truth distorts the information you take in, to fit in with your narrative. Believe the world is flat, and you’ll only see, hear, and feel things which confirm that opinion.   You’ll dismiss the very real evidence in order to prevent your inner world’s certainty from being disrupted. Experts become shills, friends become distant, and you become ever more convinced of your opinion despite the world telling you otherwise.   Of course, the world being flat is a extreme example, but for how long did the world believe that women shouldn’t lift weights, smoking had no impact on your health, and that our race denoted our worth?   Beliefs have real world consequences; Societally and personally.   Do you believe that you’re always going to be the victim? Do you believe the world has missed your genius and in fact owes you something? Do you believe you’ll never succeed, you’re worthless, you don’t deserve love, or you’re inherently weak?   And more importantly, are you blind to the bountiful truth which proves otherwise, just because some inner part of you seeks the certainty of your confirmation bias?   Your beliefs aren’t shaping your world in a metaphysical or hypothetical way. They’re shaping your world through filtering out aspects of reality, selecting your thoughts, crafting your emotions, choosing your behaviours, and dictating your success.   You are the only person who has the power to see through your internal bullshit and realise your potential, and that begins with making conscious decisions about how you’re going to interpret the world.   In this interview with the mindset coach to some of the best CrossFit athletes around, Brett Piperni, we’re going to explore the way you can consciously choose your interpretation of reality and therefore set yourself free from your limits.

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation I had with Dr. David Spiegel. Dr. Spiegel is one of the United States’ most respected experts in the clinical uses of hypnosis. He is associate chair of psychiatry and behavioural studies at Stanford University. He has over 40 years of clinical research. This conversation is all about hypnosis for two kinds of athletes, those who want to address their baseline mental health - so addressing sleep, stress, anxiety and the like - and those who want to unlock new levels of performance. What I discovered through researching this podcast and having this conversation is that many of the tools we dismiss instantly are hugely valuable assets. I had always considered hypnosis as some form of trickery. In Dr. Spiegel's words though, all we’re doing is accessing a different state of consciousness of intense absorption. You can use this pliable state of consciousness to enhance your mindset in ways that wouldn’t normally be accessible to you. We’ll also cover some of the foundations of hypnosis and what to look for in a good practitioner, as well as how to utilise self-hypnosis

We know coaches struggle with three main things: burnout, losing the love of training/being in the gym, and finances. All of these, and many other challenges have a mindset component to them. We know because we are coaches and we coach, coaches. Luckily, there's a path to fixing this and finding the career you always wished you had. This is the first in a three part series where we will teach you as coaches how to address these challenges.

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation I had with CrossFit Games athlete, Bethany Shadburne. Bethany’s vulnerability in this podcast was inspiring to see as she walked us through what it’s really like to be an elite level athlete, and the mindset struggles which go along with that. A large part of the conversation is focused on how Bethany has overcome various mindset challenges using mindset training including journaling and creating a supportive community. Our main topic is a discussion around the mismatch of physical and mindset fitness and how that stops you from accessing your full potential, can lead to overtraining, a lack of trust, and being overrun by fear-dominated scripts. Alongside this we discuss... How people pleasing can destroy a coaching relationship The value of friends who speak the truth Generating confidence The details of Bethany’s mindset training How the fear of getting fat and not being good enough push Bethany towards doing too much and therefore getting injured  

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation I had with Simon Jeffries. Simon Jeffries is a Mindset and Performance Coach with The Natural Edge. In a former life, Simon was in the UK Special Forces. In the conversation, Simon takes us through his life and how he wound up joining the Royal Marines, then enrolling in, and eventually successfully completing, selection for Special Forces.

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation Tom had with Jonas Kaplan - Cognitive neuroscientist at USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute and Co-Director at Dornsife Neuroimaging Center The theme of today is the structure of beliefs, and what creates them. Jonas & Tom stick to as broad an application of beliefs as possible, so they don’t talk much about applying to athlete specific examples. But they do discuss how this applies in general. By listening to this show, you can gain a deeper understanding of how beliefs are formed and the biological structures which are involved in the research behind them. Alongside the fundamentals of belief, they also touch on: The role of the gut in our beliefs What parts of our brain are responsible for beliefs How to challenge our beliefs The emerging research of psychedelics & beliefs The vagus nerve and its role in the way we feel  

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation between physiotherapist, breathwork practitioner and much more besides, Justin Ternes and Tom Foxley. Justin is passionate about helping patients address pain, injury and physical limitations through functional exercises, manual therapy skills, biopsychosocial education, pain science and mindfulness techniques. In this podcast, Justin gives a great introduction to the way our breath can be used as a kind of control dial for our mental state.

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation between author, and former Navy SEAL Commander, Rich Diviney and Tom Foxley. After spending over 20 years in the Navy SEALs, Rich wrote The Attributes, a book detailing what he believes are the attributes we all possess which lead to our success, or lack thereof. In Rich’s opinion, we all possess these attributes, but in different quantities. This podcast shows the necessity for an athlete of any caliber to get to know themselves. Self-knowledge is the foundation on which mindset growth can be built.

Today on the Limitless Athlete Podcast, you’ll be listening to a conversation between 25x powerlifting world record holder, Stefi Cohen, and myself, Tom Foxley. One huge topic we cover is the difficult balance of femininity and the masculine parts of athleticism. This one goes deep and we dive into appearance and social pressure to look like everyone else. Stefi is an incredible human. She is one of those rare breeds who seemingly excels in multiple areas of life. Plus, she's a lovely human being. Stefi is a 25x world record holding powerlifter and the first woman in the history of the sport to deadlift 4.4 times her bodyweight. She recently took a break from the platform and transitioned to professional boxing (1-0-1). She is also a doctor of physical therapy and exercise physiologist who is passionate about education and bringing her audience a "no B.S." evidence-based view of all things training and nutrition through her company, HYBRID Performance Method. Stefi is also the co-author of Back in Motion with Dr. Ian Kaplan and co-host of the HYBRID Unlimited podcast. The main topic of conversation: how a beneficial mindset is often found between two oppositional factors: Hard work and self-compassion Professionalism and relaxing Masculinity and femininity Force and passivity Recovery and work It’s a balancing act that we must seek to maintain. We also discuss: Self-doubt and how to deal with it Trusting the process Those moments of discovery which are uncomfortable Never loving powerlifting Femininity in a “masculine” sport, and identity challenges around that.  

Today on The Debrief, Coach Tom discusses Hunter McIntyre's appearance on the Limitless Athlete Podcast. The point in question is "when are you working too hard, and when are you not working hard enough?"