The You Project

Dr. Guy Winch has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, lives in New York, is a best-selling author (Emotional First Aid, How to Fix a Broken Heart, The Squeaky Wheel, How to Turn off Work Thoughts During Your Free Time), international speaker and super-successful TED presenter. I prepped for our chat by watching his TED talk: 'How to Fix a Broken Heart' and totally loved it. Enjoy.

My adopted son TOMMY JACKETT is back in the number 1 seat firing questions at me and we cover some interesting territory including.. the skill of making-shit-up as we go, dealing with constructive feedback, the need to be right, the security blanket of faith and belief, the impossibility of objectivity, confirmation bias, the value of good questions, being okay with uncertainty, our attachment to our opinions and lots more. Enjoy.

I know I say this a lot but this was a ripper. HE is a ripper. Such and interesting and relevant-for-so-many conversation. David Gillespie is a lawyer and the best-selling author of Sweet Poison, a book published in 2008 about how we are all poisoning ourselves with sugar, generally credited with starting the current wave of sugar awareness in Australia. He followed Sweet Poison up with 4 more books about nutrition and diet. Then, having upset the dietetics industry by writing about stuff in which he has no qualifications, he turned his focus to something else he is unqualified to write about, education with his book Free Schools. Detouring briefly back to nutrition in his 7th and 8th books (Eat Real food, 2015 and the Eat Real Food Cookbook 2016), his next target was Psychology with a book about surviving contact with psychopaths in the workplace and at home. His most recent work called Brain Reset explores the challenge of breaking the cycle of anxiety, depression, stress and addiction and restoring mental calm and stability. Enjoy. Website: davidgillespie.org Facebook: David Gillespie

Dean Karnazes is a freak in the best possible way. I don't often feel lazy or out of shape but next to this bloke, I'm Humphrey Bear in a hammock. If you're into human optimisation, developing resilience, exploring your potential, lowering your biological age and living healthy into old(er) age, you'll dig this episode. TIME magazine named Dean one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World." Men's Fitness hailed him as one of the fittest men on the planet. Stan Lee, of Marvel Comics fame, called him, "A real superhuman." An acclaimed endurance athlete and NY Times bestselling author, Dean has pushed his body and mind to inconceivable limits. Among his many accomplishments, he has run 50 marathons, in all 50 US states, in 50 consecutive days, he's run 350 continuous miles (563km), foregoing sleep for three nights. He's run across the Sahara Desert in 120-degree temperatures, and he's run a marathon to the South Pole in negative 40 degrees. On ten separate occasions, he's run a 200-mile relay race solo, racing alongside teams of twelve. His long list of competitive achievements includes winning the World's Toughest Footrace, the Badwater Ultramarathon, running 135 miles nonstop across Death Valley during the middle of summer. He has raced and competed on all seven continents of the planet, twice over. Like I said, freak. Enjoy.

When it comes to transforming your life (or part thereof), the actual project, is you (me, us). Because when you are different (thinking, choices, behaviours, habits, operating system), your life is different. Even in the middle of the same or a similar situation, our 'life experience' can be drastically different when we are physically, mentally, emotionally and/or behaviourally different. So, how do we turn our goals, dreams, ideas, potential and passion into a logical, strategic practical process that can transform our 'theoretical somethings' into actual measurable outcomes? And how do we step out of the Groundhog Day-ness of our current existence and into a new cognitive, behavioural and operational reality? This episode is a conversation about that.

Like many others, Nicole Monteforte has been through some messy, complicated, very un-fun shit in her life. As in, a lot of it. Despite that, I had a fun and relatable conversation with someone who has continued to find a way to work through the mess and pain, develop skills and resilience, ask great questions, roll up her sleeves, do the hard (but effective) stuff, manage her stress and anxiety (with some interesting techniques) and to empower others to do the same. Enjoy.

This episode was essentially an hour of me thinking out loud (with Tiff) about the idea of being open-minded (what it means and whether it's possible), confirmation bias, life in the echo chamber, recognising our programming, the subjective nature of being human, our need to be right, the process of unlearning, being unteachable, the psychology behind religion, our desire for certainty and much more. Enjoy.

There are so many conflicting ideas, protocols and messages, when it comes to optimal eating, what it means and how to execute it. Dietician Kate Save is back on TYP for a fun and informative chat and along the way we challenge a few theories, talk about my dad's drastic improvement with his blood sugar (he's a diabetic), discuss gut health, the impact of food on cognitive function, why I won't be giving up rice (despite Kate's advice), Zoodles, why almond milk is not milk, iron absorption (or lack thereof), I get an official 'rating' on my breakfast and lots more. Enjoy. befitfood.com.au

Christian 'Boo' Boucousis is an entrepreneur, business owner and executive leadership and performance coach. At the age of 19 he was recruited into the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot and completed over 11 years as an elite fighter pilot; one of only 400 trained over a 38-year period. The product of a $15 million dollar training program, Boo reached the pinnacle of his career as a Squadron Leader, before his medical discharge for a chronic auto immune disorder known as Ankylosing Spondylitis. At 30 Boo made a life changing decision, boarding a commercial flight to Kabul Afghanistan, where he founded CTG Global, a Humanitarian business delivering projects on behalf of United Nations agencies. Over a period of three years Boo cut his business teeth in one of the world's most demanding, challenging and dangerous environments on the planet, successfully growing the business until its sale four years later. Today CTG is a multi-million-dollar company with operations spanning the globe. I enjoyed this chat with the very-high-energy Boo and it's fair to say, I may have needed a lie down after we were done. Enjoy.

I knew I'd click with Dr. Stan Beecham when he showed up to the recording with a didgeridoo, while wearing an Akubra and then proceeded to play for me. And when I say 'play'... well, you know. Not totally weird considering we're an Aussie podcast but somewhat weird considering he's an academic, author, psychologist and leadership consultant living in Roswell, Georgia in the States, who's never been to Oz. I loved his energy, his personality and his ability to explain 'sciencey stuff' in a totally user-friendly (no BS) manner. Among other things, we spoke about fear of failure, being judged, why we care about what strangers think of us, our need to belong, identity and where it comes from, over-thinking, where our beliefs come from and why we are so attached to them (even when they're wrong), the value of curiosity, the conversations in our head, being present, work-life balance, the gift of mediocrity and our obsession with success and happiness. Enjoy. drstanbeecham.com

Investigating homicides, working a forensic expert and leading international teams into scenes of crisis and disaster is not your normal path to global keynote speaker, charity founder, business consultant and humanitarian but nonetheless, it is the path of Peter Baines. I've probably never spoken less in a podcast (and I'm chatty AF) but I didn't want to get in the way of this amazing human who's done (and continues to do) amazing things, helping people in the middle of the worst (life and death) situations, all around the world. Enjoy.

The theory of Personal Development (workshops, books, programs, products, podcasts, ideas, strategies, models) is not the practical process of it (work, effort, application, more work). Knowing is not doing, intentions are not actions and plans are not outcomes. Some people know lots, read lots, listen lots and even understand lots, while doing fuck-all to change their life for the better because, while the idea of Personal Development is sexy, appealing and marketable, the actual transformative process can be a messy, uncomfortable, inconvenient shit-fast of peaks and troughs, pain and pleasure, breakdowns and breakthroughs. And while everyone wants the destination, very few will take the journey. This is a conversation about you and your journey. Enjoy.

Dr. Jodi Richardson is a regular and popular TYP guest and I recently jumped on her new podcast (Well, Hello Anxiety) to chat about control, perspective, emotions, imposter syndrome, anxiety, self-doubt, the human experience and how I'm now her official unreasonable friend. Enjoy. drjodirichardson.com

Sam Powers fell in love with magic at three when he watched in awe during a magic show at his kindergarten Christmas party. By the age of five he was amazing his schoolteachers, at fifteen he made his first appearance on national TV and at eighteen he earned the coveted title of Australian 'Magician of the Year'. At twenty-two Sam became the youngest ever Australian to vanish and reproduce a sports car live on stage, with the audience just meters away. With five 'Magician of the Year' awards to his name, he has performed in 19 countries across the globe and appeared on television before 20 million viewers on programs including The Today Show, Sunrise, Mornings, The Footy Show, The Morning Show, A Current Affair, Nine News, Ten News, Seven News, the Disney Channel and MTV. He now stars alongside six of the industry's greatest illusionists onstage in the biggest magic show on the planet, 'The Illusionists 2.0' world tour. Enjoy.

Dawson Church, PhD, is an award-winning science writer with three best-selling books to his credit. 'The Genie in Your Genes' was the first book to demonstrate that emotions drive gene expression, 'Mind to Matter' showed that the brain creates much of what we think of as "objective reality" and 'Bliss Brain' demonstrates that peak mental states rapidly remodel the brain for happiness. I still pinch myself that most days of my life, I have the privilege of talking with brilliant people from all over the world, who are so generous with their time, knowledge and energy. Enjoy.