Summary: Connecting to Social Connections Mark [0:00] I’d like to welcome Tony McManus to the Heart of Connection podcast. Tony is a sought after speaker on many levels in the community for Beyondblue and RUOK across Southeast Australia. He was the first independent chairman of the headspace local consortium across 100 headspace centres across Australia. He then established the headspace Geelong fund. He focuses on identifying strategic mutual benefits and win-win outcomes. He’s also an active supporter of the establishment of the Lara and Community district bank. He operates a consulting service McManus Consulting Services. www.mcmanusconsultingservices.com.au https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-mcmanus-48a19010/ A Passion to Social Connections Mark [0:35] After selling his Lara based real estate business, Tony has been passionately being promoting Mental Health Solutions on Social Connections through mentoring and volunteering via his Facebook page – Grow 2 Connect after his brother Mick took his life. A passion for helping others deal with mental health issues began and resulted in, among other things, successful lobbying of the Geelong and Hawthorn football clubs to play annually for the AFL Beyond Blue Cup. As a vehicle to promote awareness and reduce stigma in the community about depression. Welcome, Tony. Tony [1:14] Thanks, Mark. We’ve been threatening to catch up with each other for a while so nice to finally put positive thoughts into action. Making time for Connection in our Busyness Mark [1:23] Yeah, it takes a bit of time in the busyness of the world to have a connection. Mark [1:28] So Tony, just by way of introduction is there anything I missed in your biographical that you could add to? Tony [1:34] Maybe I might add that I’m working three days a week with the Geelong Community Foundation. That nicely ties in with the work that I do in the space of social connection. As a mental health solution because a lot of the organisations that we fund are the types of organizations that I could also point people in the direction of to do some volunteering. So it’s quite a good synergy between what I do there for a job and also what I have is an interest on the side in terms of helping others through social connection. Men’s Connections lost in the busyness Mark [2:10] Men and connection. Where do we start with men and the connections to Self, Others and ‘All That Is’ – how do you connect yourself? What’s your process to connect to you and to connect to others? Tony [2:26] I suppose in answering that I was probably initially part of the problem in this space of not having much awareness of self. I was just too busy head down – bottom up at work, providing what’s the expression? ‘Bringing home the bacon’ and running a business. There wasn’t too much awareness about me I think. Probably over a period of time, that led to the classic midlife crisis burning out. All those kinds of things and getting through being in a pretty bad place you kind of do a lot of reflecting and is a lot more self-awareness now. Connecting to more Balance in my Life If I had my time over, I would have had a bit more balance. So I’ve actually created a six-point template where I highlight the importance of self and my own journey has been to find a lot of stimulation, rebuilding self-esteem, motivation whatever you want to call it. I did this by helping others. So the best way to kind of extend or elaborate on that basic way of looking at things is to maybe try and do it in a social situation. The old Rotary Club is as good an example as any in terms of a safe place. When I went through that period of time, I had a marriage breakup, I was essentially out of work. All of my equity was tied up in a lawyer’s trust ac
