A New Way of Being

Sam Harris, a neuroscientist and New York Times best-selling author, explores the illusion of self and its impact on psychological suffering. He argues that recognizing thoughts as independent can lead to profound personal growth. The conversation delves into how meditation and jiu-jitsu can challenge the ego, enhance self-awareness, and embrace humility. Harris also discusses the role of consciousness, the nature of suffering, and the idea of emptiness, encouraging listeners to foster a deeper understanding of their thoughts and emotions.

At Wimbledon this year, newcomer Emma Radacanu reached the fourth round, but had to withdraw with breathing difficulties.It was - it seemed - a 'bad' thing. There was concern for her welfare, and questions as to whether it would impact her future Grand Slam chances.Emma then proceeded to produce one of the all time great Grand Slam performances on the way to winning the US Open as a qualifier - without dropping a set. That experience at Wimbledon hadn't been 'bad' after all, it had been a learning experience. This is something we can all relate to. An event happens that seems 'bad' but later turns out to be anything but. Take John McAvoy - who was sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery - and said he would rather die than be arrested. How he says being sent to jail was the best thing that could have happened to him. The point is - we don't know whether something is good or bad, so better to avoid the temptation to rush to judgement and accept life as it is.**Full episode with John McAvoy here: https://play.acast.com/s/dont-tell-me-the-score-with-simon-mundie/howourenvironmentshapesus-johnmcavoyMy debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sally Gunnell is a British athletics Great; the only woman to be Olympic, World and European 400 metres hurdles champion while simultaneously holding the World Record. While she dominated her sport in the early 1990s – Sally admits she couldn’t have done it without the team she built around her. She was ahead of her time in seeking help with the psychological side of competing - but brought in experts in other areas too for example around nutrition. And so the theme of this episode is around asking for help, something lots of us are not good at doing. Whether it be simply opening up to a friend through to investing in yourself by seeking professional help in any area – Sally’s story shows it can make a huge difference and help you reach your potential.**Follow me:on instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/on twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and more than 150 of these interviews - head to simonmundie.comHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Shakespeare wrote, "there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."Albert Ellis - founder of Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) - ran with this idea and came up with a model to help identify the role belief plays in how we feel and subsequently act in the world.Sports psychologist Helen Davis explained how the model worksin our earlier episode on 'beliefs' and she steps up again in this bitezize episode.**My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What lessons can we take from the approach, attitude and outlook of Roger Federer?Helping me answer that question is Christopher Clarey – arguably the top tennis journalist in the world. Chris has written a book called ‘the Master – the Brilliant career of Roger Federer’, in this episode we talk about what anyone can learn from the Swiss maestro – and Chris shares many stories to illustrate Federer's lessons – including around treating people with empathy and authenticity, taking care of your own business, planning spontaneity and time to recharge - and choosing to let go of disappointment and resentment. We also talk about what traits Federer took from his parents Robert and Lynette – and how they helped nurture his talent.And crucially, how Roger has a rare ability to treat all moments somewhat equally. Whether it is playing on centre court or doing some of the less enjoyable parts of the job – Roger relishes it, and that is something we can certainly all learn from.**My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The importance of powering your brain down several times a day.Sir John Kirwan - the All Black's legend who was knighted for services to mental health - shared this golden nugget with me.His is a fantastic analogy - when your computer stops working and you ring IT - what do they advise you to do?Switch it off and then turn it back on again!It's something we all need to be doing - but with our brains. And scrolling through your phone doesn't count - we need to find activities that give our brain's a rest - or we risk burnout.**Follow me:on instagram https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/on twitter https://twitter.com/simonmundieAnd for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and more than 150 of these interviews - head to simonmundie.comHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Making good choices - even when you feel like you are missing out or not progresssing as quickly as you would like.This is something Josh has done throughout his life, even in the face of peer pressure and frustration.We also talk about getting perspective in your life, stopping complaining about things that are really unimportant in the big scheme of things and why having no regrets when you are older is something worth striving for.He also shares some compelling stories about the power of the mind and in particular the power of visualisation.Josh Warrington has arguably the most important fight of his career against Mauricio Lara on Saturday September 4th, at Headingly stadium.It’s a rematch after Josh suffered a shock defeat to the Mexican in February, the first of his career.We also discuss why switching off is so important – and why that was a big factor in his shock defeat to Lara during lockdown in February.**My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amor fati means "a love of fate". The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche quoted it as his formula for human greatness.In other words – whatever happens in your life – or whatever has happened in the past – accept it fully. Not begrudgingly and reluctanctly - but as if you had chosen it yourself. The question is - how? In this short episode we explore two ways of looking at it. Firstly, through the stoic approach - where everything is an opportunity to be or do your best. Ryan Holiday - author of 'The Obstacle is the way' - chips in to help on that front. The second way is by learning to distinguish between the 'thinking mind' and the 'aware mind', and learning to identify more with the latter and less with the former.**My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How smartphones and social media may be making us more anxious and distracted - and what to do about it. Cal Newport is the author of two seminal books: 'Deep Work' and 'Digital Minimalism'. He argues that our ability to perform undistracted work on something cognitively demanding is a vital skill to train. However, the ability to perform 'deep work' is increasingly rare - not least because of the impact of smartphones and social media. Cal says that IGen - people born between 1995 and 2012 - have been particularly impacted, because they came of age at a time when smartphone and social media use was ubiquitous. The rates of mental health issues in that generation are reported to have been rapidly and markedly impacted. Part of the problem - Cal argues - is that for the first time in human history, people don't ever have to be alone with their thoughts and feelings. With a smartphone, you always have a distraction tool within reach, and that's a problem. Without having to experience solitude in the same way as every preceding generation, people are struggling to experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings - and grow as human beings.***My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/***Other episodes mentioned in this one are: Sir John Kirwan: Mental health https://play.acast.com/s/dont-tell-me-the-score-with-simon-mundie/mentalhealth-sirjohnkirwanRyan Holiday: Stoicism https://play.acast.com/s/dont-tell-me-the-score-with-simon-mundie/stoicism-ryanholidayDr Sherylle Calder: Vision https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06sfg6jHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why self-sacrificing and people-pleasing can be selfish, while looking after yourself can be selfless.Ed Jackson suffered a devastating accident after diving into a shallow swimming pool and breaking his neck in 2017. He made a miraculous recovery despite being told he would never walk again. Ed first appeared on the show two years ago but this episode is very different. In this conversation we go deep exploring what Ed and his wife Lois have learned since his accident in 2017.They learnt to embrace hard and honest comversations in the transitional period after Ed's accident - and have lessons to share on that that can benefit anyone.We also discuss the importance of letting life happen and not being overly fixated on specific outcomes, and much more besides.If you could share this episode with anyone who might benefit from hearing it – we would both be incredibly grateful.@simonmundie***My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.