The You Project

At 17, Matt De Gruchy was legally blind, morbidly obese (over 150kgs at 170cm), on numerous drugs, dealing with a rare disease, trying to survive crippling anxiety and depression, becoming more and more isolated and socially disconnected and understandably, hating (his version of) life. To say that he has turned it all around, is a massive understatement but as you'll hear in this episode, he is indeed an inspirational young man with a great vision doing amazing things and helping countless people. I loved this chat and I loved meeting Matt.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retirement is an interesting idea. In our culture, it's seen as a good thing. A reward for decades of toil, work and sacrifice; the trophy at the end of the career marathon, with the idea being that our life will be better (and so will we) once we transcend the work phase of our existence. Without spoiling what's to come in this episode, I'm of the opinion that retirement is not arbitrarily 'good or bad' but I do think it's important to consider the 'when, how and why' behind our retirement and the potential physical, financial, emotional, social and psychological implications (good and bad) of what a post-work existence might be. My 'work' has never felt like a job, a slog, an anchor or something I want to escape. Over the decades, I have consciously created a paradigm that is (for me) an intersection of connection, fun, learning, unlearning, purpose, service, peaks, troughs, meeting awesome people, travel, sharing my passion, personal growth and making a few bucks. What I share here is not a recommendation but rather, a reflection. You might find something interesting in it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heston Russell has been through some horrible sh*t; physical, mental, emotional, personal and professional. Some of it he was highly trained for, some of it he wasn't. Some of it he chose, some of it he didn't. And while you might think his biggest challenges would have been as a Special Forces Officer in the middle of combat situations around the world, the reality is different. If you haven't watched the Channel 7 'Spotlight' doco that unpacks Heston's fascinating (and harrowing) journey to hell and back, I strongly suggest you do. I thought I’d share the channel 7 synopsis here because they did a great job. **With a proud lineage of military relatives, Heston Russell enlisted in the army at 17 and rose through the ranks to become a highly decorated officer with more than 10,000 hours of leadership in combat operations, including four combat deployments to Afghanistan and a fifth to Iraq to fight against ISIS. He proved fearless in battle, iron-willed in his personal convictions and prepared to put it all on the line. As a soldier, Russell led our troops into countless battles and when he retired, he kept fighting. He campaigned for the royal commission into veteran suicide, built charities for soldiers and even ran for a seat in the Queensland senate. But his toughest fight came several years after his discharge, when Russell became the target of a relentless attack launched by the investigations unit of the ABC alleging that he was the worst kind of soldier - leaving a trail of destruction in Afghanistan and involved in fraudulent behaviour back home. Russell's battleground this time: the Australian Federal Court, where he spent almost three years fending off the ABC's allegations of war crimes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just over four years ago, D'Andre Ricks was coming to the end of a lengthy prison sentence for selling drugs. Specifically, he went inside for being in possession of a kilo of cocaine. Today the guy who was fighting on the streets and involved in criminal activity from the age of twelve, is a dad (of three), a fiancé to Demi (hurry up and get married Mate), a business owner (Iron Monk Fitness), an Exercise Scientist (who topped his year at Uni), an Educator and one of the nicest blokes you'd ever meet. I loved him, so will you. @ironmonkfitSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patrick slices virtual targets in half with his virtual sword, in a virtual world, while wearing his virtual reality goggles and then wonders why I hesitate to pay him a visit. This was another hour of pseudo tech talk, laughter and mayhem. Proceed with caution.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we are revisiting one of my favourite chats with Dave Hughes. Hughesy is an Aussie icon, best known for his work on the telly, radio and comedic stage. And while I love Hughesy the performer, the bloke I got to chat with in this episode is a fascinating, deep-thinking, philosophical, meditating (twice a day), self aware human who is finding his calm in the chaos. And yes, he's still silly and funny but we already knew that. Enjoy :)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Radio host and TV personality Gus Worland is a ripper. I absolutely loved this chat with a great human who's doing great things to help other humans in need of someone to listen, care, support and occasionally, hug. Apart from being a well-known and highly-respected media performer (whose best Mate is Hugh Jackman), Gus is also the driving force behind Gotcha4Life; a charity working to prevent suicide and break the stigma around mental health issues. This was a warm, insightful and funny chat with one of the most inspired (and inspiring) people l've met in a long time. Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve spent most of my adult life turning theoretical 'somethings' in my head, into actual 'somethings' (businesses, programs, services, products, podcasts, books, speaking career) in the real world. In this episode of TYP, I offer ideas and strategies for those of you who might be considering turning that potential something in your head into an actual something that people can experience in the real world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I had intended to do an entire episode with Tiff around the concept of 'turning an idea into a reality' and by the time we finished our preamble, we had taken a left turn at "guess what I did this morning" and thirty minutes had evaporated. All I can tell you is that the unplanned chat revolved around health, movement and ageing, that it was broadly relevant and we had fun.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You and I are creatures of habit, good and bad. We don't always do things because they 'work', we do them because we did them Yesterday. Last week. Month. Year. We do them because, we're sleepwalking through (parts of our) life. We do them because they're familiar, not effective. Because our parents did them, so now we do. We do them because they are habits we unconsciously adopted, not actions we consciously chose. And then one day, we find ourselves trapped in a psychological, emotional and behavioural operating system that keeps us in holding pattern of... blah. Not optimising our time, talent, creativity, intellect or genetic potential. This is a chat about waking up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.