I stumbled across mindfulness pretty much by accident. In a typically low moment when I felt like there were no options left for me, I did the only thing I hadn’t done and turned my attention inwards. After a while I noticed things beginning to change – both in myself and in the world around me. It was a revelation, and I eventually learned that I had discovered – among other things – mindfulness. “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change,” said Dr Wayne Dyer, and I had learned that by becoming aware of, and changing, my perspective I could not only affect the way I saw the world, but I could affect the world itself. If you smile at people, quite often, they smile back. Mindfulness is simple, but also powerful. I can be used to manage pain and stress. It can be used as a treatment for PTSD. And it is often seen as a near-panacea for a whole range of spiritual, mental and physical ills. It also offers the allure of other ways of being, and the exploration of other realms of imagination and existence. It’s not all sunlight and stardust, though. It can also become an escape from the responsibility of dealing with our emotions. Taken to extremes, we can lose ourselves in it, absolve ourselves from any culpability in this physical realm, and even step outside the moral contract we have with this world and the people we share it with. But it can also be a powerful tool for helping us gain ownership of our lives when, all too often, we can feel like life is dragging us along behind it, unwillingly and with no control or influence. I spoke to Mindfulness Man, Chris Manning, about this and other mindfulness-related topics. Chris is a meditation and mindfulness expert. He is the admin of a rapidly growing Facebook group called Mindfulness In Daily Life, and he has a variety of guided meditations on Insight Timer. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Useful links: Instagram: www.instagram.com/mindfulnessman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MINDFULNESSINDAILYLIFE/ Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/mindfulnessman/
I am a middle-class white man, born and raised near London, England, and I have found life to be hard to navigate. I have found it hard to navigate, despite living in a system that has been created and established by people who look like me, for people who look me, over a period of many hundreds of years. So, if I’ve struggled to get by, and to make sense of it all, what must it be like for people who don’t look like me? What must it be like to navigate this life when the very structure of the society we live in is not only not designed by people who are different to you, but in almost every circumstance it has been designed to make things harder for you, and have even profited and exploited that difference? Furthermore, what if it has been built with the sweat, blood and broken bones of your ancestors? Ancestors who were brutally taken from their homelands against their will, and treated little better than cattle, and whose descendants have only been offered, at best, nothing more than a passing acknowledgement of these injustices. And at worst resentment and aggression for daring to be, or worse, to be vocal about it. And what if, every day, you had to live a life where you were victimised because you are not a middle-class white male who looks like me? Opportunities taken away. Assumptions made about your character, your intelligence, your intentions, based on what you look like. I can’t even come close to understanding. But I want to try. And since the Black Lives Matter protest that have hit the streets around the world, if felt like I couldn’t avoid it any longer. It’s been too easy for me to hide behind my lack of perspective, my lack of knowledge on the subject. Call it white fragility, but I’ve been wary of being called out for not being clever enough, for not having educated myself enough, to have those conversations. It’s easy, as “well-meaning” white people, to voice our objections to the obvious hate that we see manifesting in the media, in racially motivated crimes, in politics. But what about our own racism? What about the biases programmed into u, by a biased education system, a biased culture and a bias society from very soon after birth? Can any of us really say “I’m not racist”? So, I reached out to meditation and yoga teacher Michael Ernest Nwah. He has been speaking about how we need to check ourselves for our own prejudice, identify where we are revealing our racism through microaggression, and start being part of the solution rather than part of the problem. If we, as white people, want to see a just society, where everyone is treated equally, we need to stop being afraid of the R-word. We need to accept that, in all likelihood we are racist. If we don’t, how do we ever hope to be the change we I hope you find this conversation useful. To find out more about Michael and his meditation and yoga classes, follow him on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/micernest.
Fear is a powerful thing. It can hobble us, preventing us from taking action and putting ourselves ‘out there’ when it manifests as “but what if I fail?” or “what will people think” or “what if I’m not good enough.” And it can cripple us in the form of phobias, anxiety or even fear of the unknown. And fear can also be used against us, as it has for many hundreds and hundreds of years. We are sold products on the promise that they will keep us safe from the bacteria on our kitchen surfaces. That they will stop us failing at life. That they will make us whole and happy, and prevent us from becoming nobodies with crappy lives instead of somebodies with all the shiny things we could ever dream of. But fear can be used for much more sinister purposes than just selling us stuff. It is regularly used to sell toxic ideologies. It is used this way by politicians throughout the political spectrum, and it has become a staple of modern campaigning – and more. Whole demographics of society can be demonized, and fear can be used to drive a wedge between us, to deny our humanity, and to keep us separated. That fear we feel when we think of people who are different to us as being the ‘enemy’ – people of different races, people on the other side of the border, people who need our help, who we are told might be a threat to our way of life – has been engineered intentionally over generations. And on the whole, this fear is false. When we encounter it in our personal lives, preventing us from getting on that plane, from asking for that pay rise, from asking that person out on a date, we are worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet, and we’re letting it hold us back from be better and having better lives. But worse, when we feel that fear when we encounter people who are somehow different to us – often manifesting in other forms such as anger, or disgust, or resentment – often it is a fictitious concept that has been planted in us by those who benefit from keeping us divided. In this episode of my podcast I speak to Fear Guru, Patrick Sweeney, author of the bestselling book “Fear is Fuel”. We talk about where fear comes from, how it holds us back, how we can overcome it and how we can use it to make ourselves stronger and our lives better. And we touch briefly on the role it has played in hundreds of years of oppression around the world, that is currently manifesting in the protests against injustice that we are seeing in cities across the globe. Patrick’s website: www.pjsweeney.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/pjsweeney Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefearguru Buy the book: Fear is Fuel
If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. That’s the oft quoted phrase intended to snap us out of our happy – yet ignorant – bubbles and make us take action. And right now it feels appropriate. The world is facing a health crisis in the form of COVID-19, we are being told by our leaders to stay indoors, yet people are taking to the streets to protest hundreds of years of wholesale oppression, injustice and racism, that has manifested in the killing of yet another unarmed black man by police officers. On the one hand, we have our own lives, and the seemingly unsurmountable challenges of getting by, making something of ourselves, and finding a sense of peace amongst the antagonism of commercialism, capitalism and success-porn. And on the other hand, we see a world on fire, the collapse of modern politics, and the voiceless taking to the streets and demanding to be heard. How can we balance our own inner peace and quest for happiness, with the anger that an unjust world demands of us now, in the quest to balance itself? This conversation with Nataly Kogan, the founder of Happier, touches on that juggling act. We talk about why its important not to sacrifice ourselves, but instead to nurture ourselves in order that we can be more effective in our actions. We talk about how, when hard work leads to personal sacrifice, the energy we bring to what we do is often accompanied by a side order of stress, resentment, and fatigue. I hope you enjoy this conversation, and find a way to bring your best energy to whatever it is that you do. And if you feel that it’s time to be better in yourself and your actions, and to demand better from the powers of be, that you will nurture your best energy by nurturing yourself. Right now the world needs the best you that you have to offer. For more information visit www.happier.com Check out Nataly’s TED talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKaCN0-kpVE Find her on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/natalykogan Find her on Twitter at: www.instagram.com/natalykogan
There is this notion that in order to get ahead in life, to be successful and to receive our just rewards, we must sacrifice ourselves somehow. Working all hours at the office to prove our worth. Constantly giving, giving, giving. In time, money, energy, emotion and attention, to show that we care, that we’re worthy, loyal, or that we’re moral or somehow superior. But sacrificing ourselves like this ultimately has the opposite effect. It wears us down, burns us out, lowers our frequency, harms our energy. Not only do we become tired and unable to properly fulfil the roles and obligations that we believe we must give part of ourselves to, but we can become resentful that life isn’t easier, that we are receiving nothing in return, that we are being drained. Slowly but surely, bit by bit, life is no longer working for us, but happening to us, and our power becomes diminished. The sacrifices we have made for the job, the role, the obligations, have made us less able to carry out those tasks. And that hurts us. But when we put ourselves first – when we care for ourselves, mentally, physically and spiritually – we don’t need to sacrifice in order to operate at a high level for ourselves and for others. By protecting our energy, we can give so much more than we could when our giving was about sacrifice. We remain stable, rested, energised, and ready. In times like those we face today – with much of the world in lockdown, with unrest due to broken leadership, and with dissatisfaction driven by materialism and capitalism, we must nurture ourselves and protect our energy more than ever. I spoke to Cheryl Richardson about how radical self-care can make us more compassionate, help us realise our potential and build lives we love. Cheryl was one of the first life coaches, has written many books and became a regular on the Oprah Winfrey show, helping television audiences around the globe understand that in order to heal the world, we must first heal ourselves. It was great speaking with Cheryl, and I started the interview with a quote from one of my other podcast guests, Leanne Pero: “The best thing you can bring to any relationship, is a healthy, happy you.” If you want to find out more about Cheryl, her books and her work, visit her website at www.cherylricharson.com, or find her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/coachoncall and Twitter at www.twitter.com/coachoncall.
We don’t perceive reality the way it is. We perceive it the way we are. Through the filters of our personality, our ego, our experiences, our circumstances, and myriad other factors, all influencing how we interpret our surroudings and our place in them. Many of these influences which affect our view of the world – and of ourselves – are not us, but baggage that we have acquired along the way. Humans have a natural tendency to focus on all the things that are going wrong, often to the point where we become blind to the positive things that surround us. The beauty, the abundance, the wealth. And we fuel this attention bias by feeding on negativity – the constant consumption of news media, the constant obsessing over our weaknesses and our faults, the constant comparisons and judgement, the constant striving, and the constant focus on everything that we don’t possess, instead of everything that what we do. And life reflects this negativity back to us. The more we focus on the negative, the more we bring it into our lives. The more we behave in a way that feeds it. Our anger breeds more anger. Our outer world becomes a mirror to our inner, and our insecurities become obstacles to our flourishing. But when we learn how to break down these obstacles, we get closer to our true authentic selves, and begin to walk a path through life that is more authentically ours. And as we do so, we get closer to fulfilling our potential, and living a life of joy, happiness and abundance. I spoke about this topic with Gordana Biernat, the author of Know Your Truth: Why Knowing Who You Are Changes Everything. Gordana describes herself as “a writer, a teacher, a keeper of wisdom” and was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as one of her SuperSoul 100 teachers. In this episode of the podcast we talk about how our perception shapes our world, how fear today is rarely reflective of the kind of danger that the emotion was originally designed for, and how we are spiritual beings here to explore the physical reality. Links: Gordana’s website: www.mypowertalk.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/mypowertalk Instagram: www.instagram.com/mypowertalk
We experience our own lives in high definition. The frustration when we’re already running late, and we can’t find our keys. The moment of irrational hurt when we allow a throwaway comment from a friend to get under our skin. The dissatisfaction of not being where we want to be in life. The taste of that first cup of coffee in the morning. Those sounds and smells that remind us of holidays. This vast patchwork of feelings, emotions, sensations, macro and micro, makes up our lives. Birth and death, television and toothpaste, allergies and habits, sorrow and joy. Such an intricate mesh of details that only we are aware of. Because when we see other people, we see them in low definition. What they say and what they do. We don’t see the nuance, the daily battles, the struggles and the confusion, the same things we enjoy and endure day to day, and minute to minute. This makes it easy to judge others, and hard to be compassionate. It makes celebrities the target of cruel attention when they reveal themselves to be only human. And it makes those whose values, politics or ways of life are different to our own, easy enemies. How much more powerful, valuable would it be – before we judge or go to war – to ask ourselves, what must it be like to be this person? Could this give us a way to understand where their pain, their anger and their hatred comes from? Could this gives us a way to find a constructive resolution instead of further conflict and pain? And what if we were to ask ourselves that same question, only this time pointing it in our direction? What must it be like to be us? Could we nurture a sense of awareness with enough objectivity that we might nurture some kind of compassion towards ourselves? To find a constructive solution to our own hurt – even if that is just to learn to let it be – so that we might live a more enriched life, with less suffering, and more acceptance for who we are, where we’ve been, and where we have the potential to go. This was just one of the topics that we got into when I chatted with Jason Garner, the author of "… And I Breathed: My Journey from a Life of Matter, to a Life that Matters." Jason was formerly the CEO of Global Music and Live Nation, and became one of America’s top paid executives. But after seeking therapy following the death of this mother, he realised that his whole life had been fuelled by fear. And this led him to a journey of introspection to find peace and balance in his life. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did. www.jasongarner.com
A few months ago, I was lucky enough to host Dr Maggie Gilewicz as a guest on my podcast, to discuss her book How to Make Sure Your Life Doesn’t Suck. Her book is unique and well worth reading, and it also share a few common themes with my last book, Shine Manifesto. So she decided to return the favour and invited me as a guest on her podcast, and has graciously allowed me to share the recording with my listeners, too. We spent nearly two hours discussing a wide variety of themes. We explored how how materialism Is driven by dissatisfaction. We touched on how, when we live life according to our own internal compass, instead of seeking approval, validation, affirmation or permission from others, we are much more likely to gain the success we crave. And we discussed how we need to abandon judgement and complaining in order to find beauty in life and lift each other up. Enjoy this wide ranging conversation, conducted via zoom under COVID-19 lockdown conditions. Maggie’s website: www.drmaggieg.com
I meditate every day. I sit still with my eyes closed. I try to relax and focus my attention on my breathing. When I notice that my mind has wandered and I’m thinking about something else, I bring my attention back to my breathing. And repeat. And repeat. And keep repeating until my timer beeps, or I feel that it’s time to stop doing this. I’ve been doing it for several years now and I’m not sure what I gain from doing this. But I do know that by doing it I get to take a break – even if it’s just for a moment or two – from the constant stream of thoughts that inhabit my head. I get a short rest from the constant push and pull or everything that I’m supposed to be thinking of at any given time. I wanted to speak to someone about meditation and why it’s such a healthy and worthwhile practice. So, I reached out to Nelli D and Jim Martin, the people behind The Unusual Buddha. Jim literally wrote the book about meditation – it’s called The Practical Meditation Journal – and you can get your copy here. We chatted for about an hour remotely, about why it’s good to take a break from our thoughts from time to time, how it can help us be present and find more depth to life. And we chatted briefly about how, when our mind wanders, sometimes it’s not just our daily worries that it wanders to, but fresh ideas, insights and even others worlds. Enjoy this conversation, with all its glitches and background noises. I gained a lot from it, and if you’ve never tried meditation, maybe this will convince you to give it a go! Some links: www.theunusualbuddha.com www.twitter.com/theunsualbuddha www.instagram.com/theunusualbuddha
After my previous conversation about mindfulness with Michelle Butler, I wanted to explore the topic further. So, I reached out to Neil Seligman. He’s a mindfulness expert and former barrister who works both with individuals and also organisations, encouraging them to bring mindfulness into the workplace through his Conscious Professional consultancy. A conscious visionary and inspirational speaker, Neil has travelled the world sharing his thoughts on mindfulness and encouraging others to bring it into their lives. Helping people find clarity, balance and resilience – particularly in challenging times – Neil’s insights and training have helped countless people reframe their perspective in order to live deeper, more meaningful lives. Our conversation took in Neil’s own story, and touched on a variety of different subjects. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown it was my first podcast conducted remotely, something I plan to do a lot more of, and I’ll be speaking with a lot of interesting people from around the world in the coming weeks. To find out more about Neil, visit his sites: www.neilseligman.com www.theconsciousprofessional.com
When we have a thought or carry out an action, we create a connection between neurons in our brains. If we repeat that action or thought, then the connection gets stronger. And the more we do this, the more we literally wire our brains in favour of that behaviour or action. If our thoughts are negative or undermining, then we move closer to creating beliefs that don’t serve us. If our actions don’t work in our favour, then we move closer to developing habits that can harm us. And considering that we usually think the same things, and follow the same patterns of behaviour, day in and day out, it’s not surprising that we get stuck into ways of thinking, beliefs and actions that, at best, don’t serve us and, at worst, actually harm us. But, as I discovered during my conversation with mindfulness practitioner Michelle Butler, if we change our routine and our thoughts, and introduce practices that are different to the harmful habits we normally follow, we can undo this mental wiring. We can literally reprogram ourselves to do better, to be better and, most importantly, to love and value ourselves. Michelle, like me, found mindfulness after years of struggling with a negative mental narrative that did her no favours. In her case the anxiety was nearly crippling, yet on the surface she managed to keep it all together. She knew something was wrong, and this led her on a journey of discovery that would ultimately see her welcoming mindfulness into her life in a major way – and sharing its benefits with others, too. I’ve been wanting to have this conversation for a long time – in part because Michelle and I have been friends for years, and in part because mindfulness has played a massive part in making my life worth living. I’m grateful that Michelle was able to spare the time, and I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. If you want to find out more about Michelle’s involvement with mindfulness, you can read her blog or join her closed Facebook group, both called My Little Place Of Calm. Here are the links: Blog: www.mylittleplaceofcalm.com Facebook: My Little Place of Calm
There is only this present moment. Our entire life – indeed the entire history of time – is made up of a long series of present moments. But we can only exist, and live, and take action, in one moment at a time. And then we find ourselves in the next moment. And the one after that. And in each moment, we have a vast array of choices. We can choose action or inaction (though inaction is still an action of sorts). We can choose love or fear. We can choose cowardice or courage. We can choose vanilla or chocolate chip. We can choose to get up when the alarm goes off, or to hit snooze. We can choose a life that happens to us, or for us. Fundamental to all of these choices is our perspective. Do we choose an ‘outside in’ perspective, where we are subject to our circumstances, to the things that happen to us, to all the things that are beyond our control? Or do we choose an ‘inside out’ perspective, where we understand that our situation, our circumstances, and our view of reality, are based largely on how we perceive the world, of how we view both our internal and external stimuli and processes? In this episode of my podcast, I speak with Dr. Maggie Gilewicz, the author of the book “How to Make Sure Your Life Doesn’t Suck.” Her book goes into great detail about how our experience of life is largely made up of the thoughts in our heads, and that we can influence these thoughts, and therefore the life we live. That by developing self-awareness we notice when we are reacting, and choose instead to respond with measure and, ultimately, that the way we feel is not the result of things beyond our control that happen outside us, such as our circumstances or the way other people behave, but a result of our internal processes. And we have a say over these processes. Enjoy this conversation, and hopefully it will encourage you to take ownership over how you feel, how you live, and how life shines on you. For more information: Maggie’s website at: www.maggiegilewicz.com Buy the book: www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Sure-Your-Life-Doesnt/dp/B083XVDZ9T/
When you step up to life, life will step up to meet you. But when you don’t engage with it or put the energy in, then life will happen to you. It will roll over you, drag you along behind it. You either take control of life, or it will take control of you. Life is like water flowing downhill. It will find its way to the sea – it’s essential destiny – one way or another. And you can either harness its energy, or you can be washed away. Admittedly, I was not the target audience, but when I read Leanne Pero’s self-help book, “Take Control” it really resonated with me. So much of what she wrote, inspired by the steps she took to take control of her life, seemed to reflect my own experiences. She talked about gratitude, about fixing yourself because no-one else can, and about being human. Having known her for years as a confident person – a leader – I suddenly saw her in a new light. And my respect for her grew almost instantly. I’ve always known Leanne as a dancer, and the businesswoman behind Movement Factory, which runs dance workshops for young people. But in the last couple of years I saw her as someone else – someone who starts movements, who brings people together, who is fully engaged in life, and who gives without expecting anything in return. But more than this, saw someone who can take the worst that life can throw at them, and turn it into a force for good. From an early age Leanne suffered the worst kind of abuse. As an escape she threw herself into dance, and flourished not just as a dancer, but as an entrepreneur and a community leader. And then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And again, after going through the horrific ordeal of cancer treatment, she rose up to own her experience. When must people would have simply thrown up their hands in surrender, Leanne used her experiences to take ownership of her life. At first it started as informal coffee mornings that she organised to bring women like her together, to share their experiences, and to find comfort in the company of people who had been through the same challenges as she had been through. Yet from this casual support group, a new movement was born. Black Women Rising, is helping people come to terms with the tragedy of breast cancer. And rather than just surviving the illness, she is inspiring women to thrive. To own it, to master it, to refuse to let it own them, but to wear it as a badge of strength, and of pride. To say, “If I can get knocked down by this, and rise up again stronger, then I am unstoppable.” I feel so lucky that Leanne joined me for a chat on my podcast. I wanted some of her magic to rub off on me. Because if I can harness just 1% of what Leanne has – that drive and talent for owning life, and for making things happen and for inspiring others – then I can’t go wrong. I hope that you’ll enjoy our conversation – but here’s a trigger warning: We get straight to raw stuff almost straight away. But I hope you’ll find her story as inspiring as I do. And I hope it will motivate you to take control of your life, to take ownership, and to build something amazing. To find out more about Leanne and her work, check out these links: Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/leanneperoofficial Black Women Rising Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/blackwomenrisinguk The Movement Factory: http://www.themovementfactory.uk.com Official website and blog: http://www.leannepero.com
For most of my life I was waiting to receive the rewards you get for keeping your head down and working hard. But they never came. Life was something that happened to me and not for me, and ultimately I felt powerless to steer it in a direction of my choosing. The result was that I ended up somewhere I hadn’t planned to be. But then I learned that if you change your perspective and your approach to life you can also change your results and the world around you. By engaging with life you can literally design it in a way that works for you. This is why I started writing my books and my blog, and recording my podcast. My latest guest was the photographer Ameena Rojee. She is living the values that I’ve talked about in so much of what I’ve written. She’s going out into the word and finding experiences that are transforming her life, and she’s documenting the process. This approach to life has seen her training at a Kung Fu school in China, walking thousands of kilometres across Europe on the Camino de Santiago, exploring the forest of Latvia, and finding herself in the process. Take a listen to the podcast or watch the video of our conversation. And if you want to find out more here are se handy links: http://www.ameenarojee.co.uk http://www.ofthelandandus.com
Caroline Millington and I have been friends for 20 years. We studied for our postgrad in Features Journalism together in London, and since then she gone to write for some of the best known magazines to grace the shelves of the newsagent, before moving behind the scenes in television. Most recently Caroline’s become an author. Her first book, Kindfulness, is about recognising that you’re not a robot but a gloriously imperfect human. Her second book, which was published recently, is The Friendship Formula, and is all about… friendship. We got together for a catchup, to talk about writing books, finding yourself, and lots more besides in this rambling episode of my podcast. We go all over the place with this one, so I hope it’s as much fun to listen to as it was to record. Her books, published by Head of Zeus, are in any decent bookshop or on Amazon.
I’ve been trying to get my neighbour Karl Morgan on the podcast for ages, because he has a really interesting story. He spent years as a professional dancer in the West End, appearing in musicals such as Cats, and Guys and Dolls. And then he founded Movement Warriors (https://www.movementwarriors.com) with his partner Janine, a company that teaches youngsters how to dance, instilling them with confidence and helping them keep fit. But he also has an amazing garden. It’s overflowing with greenery and amazing wonderful heritage vegetables. Karl is a permaculturist. He has adopted a low-effort approach to gardening that puts complimentary varieties of plants next to each other, to create an ecosystem that is gentle on the earth and self sufficient. Some plants are there to support others, some are to be eaten, and some are to feed the earth. And the results are astounding. But there are parallels in the garden with Karl’s on philosophies on life. Borrowing from the Buddhist traditions, Karl finds his garden as a place where he can let go, and he can often be found meditating there. Gardening has, after all, been considered a meditation in itself for thousands of years. After shooting some images of Karl among his amazing vegetables, we finally sat down for a short but very enjoyable conversation about gardening, dance, and the meaning of life. I hope you enjoy it as I much as I do, and don't forget to check out the pictures on my blog at http://www.chrisbrock.uk.
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” said motivational speaker Jim Rohn, and this is advice that has stood Pip Jamieson in good stead. As the founder of the dots (www.the-dots.com) she’s made it her job to surround herself with good people. Everyone on her team has been carefully chose not just for their skills - she rates her data and tech teams incredibly highly - but also for their attitude. When the shit hits the fan you want people around you who will keep a straight, positive head, and seek to fix things instead of complain or blame. More than this, though, it’s clear that if you want to build something - something bigger than you - and to succeed in that process, you have to work on yourself. On way to do this is to surround yourself with mentors. When you’re taking a leap out of your comfort zone into the unknown it’s good to have people on your side who have already made that leap. We all need mentors, and these days there’s no excuse not to be able to pick the brains of the world’s leading thinkers. And if you can’t sit down with them face-to-face, thanks to the internet we have the next best thing. Books, podcasts, websites, blogs. If we don’t know something we have google in our pocket. No more excuses. I was lucky enough to sit down with Pip for this latest episode of my podcast. I also tried something new - to video it - it was an experiment and a bit of a disaster, but you can watch the outcome on my blog at www.chrisbrock.co.uk. The audio version is better though.
Most of us live our lives according to what we think we are supposed to do. There are conventions and traditions, the well-worn paths of those who’ve gone before – and trying to do the things that will keep others happy – steering us throughout our lives. But the problem with these tried and trusted modes of living, is that they have been created and decided by other people. And what happens when we follow rules of engagement in this entirely made-up system which have been made up by others, is that we end up living a life that isn’t authentically ours. We exist within the parameters and values of others, and like wearing someone else’s shoes, we find that our life just doesn’t fit. Which is why it’s so important to find the empowerment to live our own lives, according to our values, and to speak our truth through the actions we take. Sometimes, though, finding a channel through which to express this truth isn’t always straightforward. That’s why it was such a pleasure to catch up with my friend Chrissa Amuah. She is a motivated and very inspiring person, whose love for textiles and design gave her a medium through which she was able to express her Ghanaian heritage. But breaking from the traditional stereotypes of ‘African’ design – a broad generalisation that, as we discussed, has been used for many decades to simplify and package an entire vast continent – her work is contemporary, innovative, and uniquely hers. And having found her voice through her work, she also went on to become the founder of Africa By Design. A platform to celebrate the work of emerging designers from across the continent, it has exhibited and celebrated the work of many ground-breaking creators in cultural epicentres from New York to Milan and Dubai. Through her own work and through Africa By Design, she is trying to smash the tired, conventional narrative of ‘African’ design. In this podcast we talk about a wide range of topics, from notions of being different to striving to be better, do more, and realise your potential. Take a listen. To find out more about Chrissa and her work, follow these links: AMWA Designs www.amwadesigns.com www.instagram.com/amwa_designs Africa By Design www.africabydesign.org www.instagram.com/africabydesign
When things get desperate, it can either lead you to the depths of despair, or it can lead you to take stock and fall back on something – anything – to keep you going. For some that might mean taking on a second job to pay the rent – for me that was working as a carer and a van driver. For Lorenzo Escobal it meant cleaning cars. He was broke, and when his job applications were met with rejection after rejection, there was nowhere else to go. Refusing to let pride get the better of him, he turned to the thing he’d done for his parents and neighbours growing up. Cleaning cars. But he didn’t just clean cars. He set in motion a chain of events that would lead to him scoring contracts with Google and Tesla. He would go on to be nominated Young Entrepreneur of the Year and his company would win numerous awards. He has since travelled the world building an international network and speaking to students and young business people around the globe. I got a chance to sit down with Lorenzo for this episode of my podcast. We spoke about the difference between having a good idea and putting it into action, overcoming the fear that holds us back, and what kind of belief you need in order to take the risks that lead to growth. There’s a lot of inspiring stuff in our short chat. And there’s also useful things about being yourself, freeing your personal brand from behind the facade of ‘business’, and where to draw the line on vulnerability. For more info, visit http://www.chrisbrock.co.uk
It’s always cool to get to chat with someone who calls themselves an encouragement leader. Not only because we all need more encouragement these days instead of criticism, but because it’s great to speak about the human potential, and how we can all do so much more if only we’d get out of our own way. So when Monique Hohnberg said she would be on the podcast, I was over the moon. She’s the person who started Rise Regardless, a movement to encourage people to achieve more, do better, and build a better life, regardless of all the things standing in their way. And she’s been inspiring people all around the world. We chatted for an hour about building a positive relationship with ourselves, how it’s this fundamental self-worthiness that can help us get everything out of life that we are capable of and that we deserve. In this episode of the podcast we go off on a lot of tangents, all of them interesting and inspiring so have a listen, and let me know what you think. A few links: Monique’s website: www.riseregardless.com Monique on Twitter: @moniquehohnberg Joe Dispenza: www.drjoedispenza.com Brene Brown: www.brenebrown.com