A New Way of Being

Is it time to stop striving for continual personal improvement?This episode is about challenging the idea that we always need to be better than yesterday. This continual striving to improve ourselves is such a pervasive idea – particularly in the so-called self-help industry. My guest is a performance psychologist of the very top order – the world class Katie Warriner**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Character is doing what needs to be done in spite of pressure and fatigue"In this episode we will be hearing from Bill Beswick, the highly acclaimed sports psychologist who worked at manchster United alongside Sir Alex Ferguson during Manchester United’s hayday. The topic we are talking about is character. What does it mean? And how can one develop character?**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is flow and what does it tell us about reality?Wimbledon has a different feel this year, because someone who has captivated the audiences here for two decades is missing – Roger Federer. Now Roger’s not this week’s guest, I’m still working on that, but I am talking about Roger as an example of someone who was so able to enter flow and be inspired when he played, to the delight of people watching. His play has been described as transcendent and akin to religious experience. So – flow is something that gets talked about a lot – and it is a state that people can chase, but – if you chase flow, you are blocking it from happening, because a key characteristic of flow is the absence of the sense of self, or the sense of 'me' doing the chasing.. I explored the idea with Rupert Spira, a philosopher of non-duality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is success about winning - or fulfilling your potential?Someone I see often at Wimbledon is Tim Henman – who I loved watching in the late 90s through to the early 2000s, and who I have had the pleasure of interviewing several times over the years. Tim used to get flack – and sometimes still does – for not winning Wimbledon. He was four-times a semi-finalist, but many people seemed to think that was a failure of sorts. I remember one interview with a Championship footballer in which he said he didn’t want to be a 'classic British loser' like Tim Henman, seemingly overlooking the fact that Tim was ranked as high as number four in the world, while this particular footballer wasn’t even the fourth best player at his club, which was in England’s second division. And so – I think Tim is a really great person to explore what success means. Many people tend to think in binary terms – in terms of winning and losing, but actually isn’t it about fulfilling your potential? Tim definitely did that – there wasn’t much expected of Tim as a junior, yet he took British tennis to new heights, laying the groundwork for Andy Murray to go on and reach the Wimbledon promised land.**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What price is worth paying for medals and success?Wimbledon is starting today , and the point of this episode is to challenge the idea that winning is the only thing that matters. In sport, and in life – it can be quite a pervasive idea. But if that was true, then out of the 128 people that entered the singles draws at Wimbledon, 127 of them would be – by definition – losers. And clearly that is not the case. Similarly, in life, the idea that if you don’t reach the very top or don’t change the world you are worth less is absurd. People’s value is inherent and intrinsic. This was an idea I explored with Cath Bishop – herself an Olympic silver medalist in rowing, also a former diplomat now author of the Long Win and a speaker.**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"There is nothing either good or bad, only thinking makes it so"One thing that is clear right now is that times are tough for many people. There is the cost of living, inflation, strikes, a war in Europe… the list goes on. So I thought it was worth revisiting how the ancient Greek philosophy of stoicism might help people to cope as best they can during these trying times. My guest is Ryan Holiday, author of numerous books on stoicism including the superb the Obstacle is the Way. In this bitesize episode – Ryan talks about the stoic idea that events are in fact neutral, nothing in nature is inherently good or bad, it is our view of things that dictate how we experience them. **Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"When you feel afraid, ask yourself - are you actually in danger?"Alex Honnold is the Oscar winning Free Solo climber who scaled El Capitan, a sheer rock face twice as high as the Empire State building, without ropes or safety equipment. Alex therefore knows a thing or two about fear and consequence.Alex explains how often when we feel afraid we are not in danger, it just feels like we are. We are simply experiencing a cluster of thoughts in the mind and sensations in the body. If we can recognise what's going on, we can stop being ruled by fear when we are in fact safe. Alex explains the power of preparation, and how his approach to climbing El Cap - a gradual expansion of your comfort zone - can be applied to things like social anxiety.**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone faces adversity and pain in life, but it's how we respond to it that counts. If we choose to give in to fear, the inclination is to hide our flaws and insecurities, which restricts our ability to be vulnerable and connect authentically. Often a sense of shame accompanies what is a fear of rejection. When we choose to project those feelings of shame outwards - by criticising, belittling and judging others - what may seem powerful is actually no more than an expression of our own fear of inadequacy.Dr Pippa Grange was credited with helping to transform the culture of the England football team prior to the 2018 World Cup. She helped to make the England camp a less fearful place by emphasising and modelling vulnerability, which enabled the side to reach the semi-finals for the first time in 28 years.**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.**A huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements are superb, and they are paving the way in the natural wellness market with their unparalleled range of products.CBD has been shown to have benefits for anxiety, inflammation, aches and pains - and it may even be good for long term brain and heart health.The good news is that Life Lessons listeners can get 20% off all full prices Puresport products with code Life20 at checkout.Head to www.puresport.co to check out their fantastic extensive range and get your 20% discount.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Chris Hoy is the most successful international track cyclist of all time, but things could have been very different but for a decision he made while still a junior. Hoy was initially a BMX rider, but the cost of competing was starting to bite and so he had a couple of choices: give his passion up and look for something more affordable - or put himself out there by seeking for financial help. He chose the latter option, and the rest is history. It's a lesson we can all learn from: if you don't ask, you don't get. Or, to use my favourite saying, 'It is the squeaky wheel that gets fixed' - in other words, the one that makes the noise is the one that will get the attention it is seeking.Full length ep: https://www.simonmundie.com/blog/chris-hoy-confidence**Follow/message me:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.**A huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements are superb, and they are paving the way in the natural wellness market with their unparalleled range of products.CBD has been shown to have benefits for anxiety, inflammation, aches and pains - and it may even be good for long term brain and heart health.The good news is that Life Lessons listeners can get 20% off all full prices Puresport products with code Life20 at checkout.Head to www.puresport.co to check out their fantastic extensive range and get your 20% discount.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Hamlyn is a world renowned neurosurgeon who operated on - and saved the life of - the boxer Michael Watson after a blood clot formed on his brain minutes after his infamous world title fight with Chris Eubank in 1991. Even though Michael's early prognosis was bleak, his recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. The Hamlyn family motto never give up, and Michael Watson further showed them just how powerful that outlook can be.Peter has also suffered a tragedy of his own, when his son Dominic died following a cardiac arrest from a previously unsuspected heart condition. Dominic was a rugby player, a rower, a cricketer… and the condition that took his life has several names, including sudden athlete death (SAD), because its victims are often extremely fit, just as Dominic was.Heart problems in young people are more common than many realise – at least 12 young people die of cardiac arrest each week. That’s something Peter is looking to address through his work with Podium Analytics, the NGO and charity committed to reducing the incidence and impact of injury in youth sport. Podiums founder is Ron Dennis CBE, the former boss of formula one team McLaren who oversaw 10 drivers championships and 7 constructors titles and was instrumental in the early career of Lewis Hamilton.Podium are working alongside Oxford University – and the work they are doing could have a profound impact on the health of the nation.Podium Analytics website: https://podiumanalytics.org/Safety in Sport Perception Survey: safetyinsportsurvey.org**Follow/message me:Website: simonmundie.comInstagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.**A huge thanks to my sponsors, Puresport. Their range of CBD and Nootropics supplements are superb, and they are paving the way in the natural wellness market with their unparalleled range of products.CBD has been shown to have benefits for anxiety, inflammation, aches and pains - and it may even be good for long term brain and heart health.The good news is that Life Lessons listeners can get 20% off all full prices Puresport products with code Life20 at checkout.Head to www.puresport.co to check out their fantastic extensive range and get your 20% discount.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.