Stand Out Life

Dr Mel Taitimu has been a clinical psychologist for over 20 years and has spent the last decade working almost entirely on professionals experiencing burnout, including doctors, CEOs, school leaders, and business owners. Her expertise in burnout isn't just theory. It also comes from her own experience struggling at points while managing a growing business and motherhood. From hundreds of client hours Mel found that every burnout story shares three of the same things - and once you know them you can start working on yourself. In this episode, we also explore why chronic stress shrinks your capacity, why comparing yourself to who you were five years ago is a form of self-harm, and why compassion for ourselves in a key part of the picture. She walks through her four-dimensional stress map, her dental hygiene to mental hygiene reframe, and the resourcing menu of starters, mains, sides, desserts, and specials that you can print and use. If you feel stretched, stuck, or time and energy poor, this episode gives you a practical place to start. Key moments: 00:03:10 Mel’s Updates 00:07:00 Gold Star Collecting 00:17:00 Stress Minus Resourcing 00:20:50 Window Of Tolerance 00:29:05 Why Your Window Narrows 00:39:38 The Four Dimension Stress Map 00:51:50 Dental Hygiene To Mental Hygiene 01:05:45 The Resourcing Menu 01:16:59 Boundaries And Permission 01:27:30 Storm Versus Turbulence - 🟡About Dr Mel Taitimu Dr Mel Taitimu supports individuals and organisations to understand, prevent, and recover from burnout - so they can thrive and be successful without sacrificing wellbeing. Drawing from her signature approach, The MAIA Method, Mel supports people to reclaim energy, resilience, and connection in a demanding world. Burnout isn’t a personal failure - it’s a signal that something needs to shift. Dr Mel helps spark that shift, offering practical, sustainable tools for real world application. - 🟡Connect with Dr Mel Taitimu https://www.maiapsychology.com.au/dr-melissa-taitimu https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmeltaitimu/ https://www.instagram.com/drmelpsych/ - 🟡Subscribe and follow along for more meaningful conversations with extraordinary people about living a boldly, connected, standout life. - 👉Here’s how we can stay in touch https://pragmaticthinking.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alihill/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fromalihill/

Know that feeling when your spark just dims? In this solo episode I’m exploring the tool that I use to tune back into this spark and uncover what might be going on. I'm Ali Hill, and on this rare solo episode of Stand Out Life I share a framework from my early days as a registered psychologist in a multidisciplinary chronic pain program: The biopsychosocial model. It sounds clinical, but it’s one we can all tap into. It’s an incredibly useful 3-part framework that can you help you scan areas of your life to getting a picture of where your own ‘mental funk’ or low energy is coming from. We also discuss why big life changes stack up on you (even the good ones), how news and social media are built to keep your attention through fear (and drain you), and tools to explore where to reclaim your sense of agency. Tune in to hear about: • How to get out of a funk when you feel stuck or unmotivated • How the biopsychosocial model can help explain changes in mood, energy, and motivation • Two common habits that can make a difficult season feel even harder (stop doing these things ASAP) • How reconnecting with your values can help you feel more like yourself again • Why relationships, belonging, and social connection affect emotional wellbeing • How social media, news, cost-of-living pressure, and external stress can influence your mental state • The single most important thing to focus on so you can rebuild a sense of agency • Simple ways to reconnect with joy, creativity, motivation, and your spark Key moments: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:30 Finding ourselves in a funk 00:03:00 The biopsychosocial scan 00:07:44 Move your body first 00:10:50 Revisit your values 00:14:01 News feeds drain you 00:17:01 Follow your curiosity - 🟡Subscribe and follow along for more meaningful conversations with extraordinary people about living a boldly, connected, standout life. - 👉Here’s how we can stay in touch https://pragmaticthinking.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alihill/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fromalihill/

Everyone who loves us leaves a mark on us. As does everyone who leaves us. Which raises the questions, do we have the courage to look at those marks - both the pain and the joy? Bestselling Australian author Holly Ringland joins this conversation to explore her new novel, “The World Beneath Her Feet” - and the creative process behind it. Holly writes, in her words, from her veins. And in this chat, she opens up about exactly what that costs - and what it gives back. Holly shares how the idea for this, her third novel, ambushed her on a beach walk. It came the morning after she finished her second novel - a book that "nearly killed her" to write. She talks about spending 14-hour days back inside 1995, seeing the world as her teenage character Maggie. We chat about her latest book ‘The World Beneath Her Feet’, and she reveals why fiction gives grief, longing, and lost love a home like nothing else can. This is a conversation about creativity, courage, and the buried things we all carry. Holly's hope is simple: that you walk away feeling braver than you think you are, and far less alone. In this episode, we explore: • The idea that "barreled" at Holly on a beach walk - and why she didn't want it • What a baby magpie did on a balcony railing that named her main character • Why Holly will never write a memoir (and what fiction gives her that journaling can't) • Why we remember pain so clearly but forget that joy leaves a mark too • The one thing Holly's mum brought home in the early '90s that built an author • Why you'll never love anyone the way you do at 16 Key moments: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:20 Stepping into 1995 00:08:34 Fiction over memoir 00:11:59 The mum behind it all 00:16:20 The gift of observation 00:23:00 Put yourself in the way of beauty 00:26:20 The idea arrives 00:30:00 A magpie names Maggie 00:39:40 Rest without guilt 00:46:12 Trace fossils and the marks we carry 00:50:00 Love at sixteen - 👉About Holly Ringland Holly Ringland is the internationally bestselling author of the novels The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, and the bestselling non-fiction book The House That Joy Built. She writes a beloved and bestselling Substack, The Joy Rise, on the intersection of creativity and connection. Holly’s books have sold over 600,000 copies and have been published in over 30 international territories. - 👉Connect With Holly Ringland https://hollyringland.com/aboutme - 🟡Subscribe and follow along for more meaningful conversations with extraordinary people about living a boldly, connected, standout life. - 👉Here’s how we can stay in touch https://pragmaticthinking.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alihill/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fromalihill/

We are living in a global experiment consumed by life on screens. It’s difficult for adults to navigate, it’s near impossible for our kids. When it comes to screen time it’s more than social media, it’s the games, the school iPad, the tracking apps. And the big problem is, the rules are changing faster than any of us can keep up with them. Award-winning journalist and author Madonna King joins this conversation to share the findings in her new book, ‘Screenwise: Taking Back Control of Screen Time for Toddlers and Teens’. Madonna interviewed over 300 children, along with principals, teachers, police, and other experts - and what she uncovered goes well beyond ‘get the kids off Instagram’. This is a conversation about the bigger digital world our kids are growing up in; because technology is ultimately reshaping how children learn, make friends, and handle their failures. Madonna's message is simple: Understand the environment and make decisions accordingly. We don't need to remove technology to do it well, but we do need to know what's behind the screen. In this episode, we’ll explore: - Why the social media ban is a ‘tiny slice of the screen pie,’ and what it leaves out - What happens to a 13-year-old boy's feed within 30 minutes of listing his interests online - The one thing 300 kids said they want from their parents (it isn't more rules) - Why a year 7 and a year 12 child are a ‘generation apart’ from a technology perspective, and what that means for your parenting - The ‘friendship skills’ screens are erasing, and how to amplify this learning for our kids - The tracking app risk parents don't see - from Snap Maps to Life360, and the conversation to have before your teen turns uses them - The common threat most parents make that stops kids coming to them when something goes wrong - The "dinosaur" move that turned Madonna's daughter's friends into her allies Key moments: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:18 Screens aren’t just social media 00:08:50 Parenting two generations 00:13:40 Forgiveness and instant gratification 00:17:47 Kids copy what we do 00:24:43 The tracking app trap 00:28:09 What kids really want 00:31:20 Finding your child's mentors 00:41:02 The boundary chart 00:47:43 AI and algorithms explained - 👉About Madonna King Madonna King is an award-winning journalist and the author of Being 14, Fathers and Daughters, Ten-ager, and Saving Our Kids. Her latest book is Screenwise: Taking Back Control of Screen Time for Toddlers and Teens. Connect with Madonna: https://madonnaking.com.au/ - 🟡Subscribe and follow along for more meaningful conversations with extraordinary people about living a boldly, connected, standout life. - 👉Here’s how we can stay in touch https://pragmaticthinking.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alihill/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fromalihill/

Great writing rarely starts with a perfect sentence. In this episode, Guardian journalist and novelist Bridie Jabour dives into her writing process, creative routine, and her approach to chasing curiosity. You'll also hear what 20 years of journalism taught Bridie about noticing small things, sharing informed opinions, storytelling, and the lessons we encounter in motherhood, grief, and family. Together, we explore how journalism and fiction feed each other. Bridie shares her process of writing novels while working and raising kids. She also shares how she approaches and tackles many of the common roadblocks to writing, including perfectionism, self-doubt, and wrestling with the first draft. Tune in to discover: • Why curiosity and noticing small things are the storyteller's real superpowers • The line between having an opinion and having one worth sharing • A simple mindset shift that stops you overthinking your first draft • The 15-minute trick that ends procrastination • The permission every writer needs before they type a word • Why humour belongs right beside grief and hard subjects • How writers get through nerves and self-doubt • Bringing lightness to heavy topics • How creativity, career, kids, and ambition can be pieces of the same puzzle Bridie’s latest novel ‘Ordinary Funny Tragic’ covers themes of ambiguous motherhood, navigating complex grief, and the constant evolution of our identity. Key moments: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:15 Cadet at eighteen 00:07:40 Loving people first 00:14:00 Opinions need facts 00:17:40 Learning to change your mind 00:23:00 The maternal ambivalence idea 00:28:00 Writing brick by brick 00:31:30 Anne Lamott's permission 00:36:40 Discovering parental rage 00:50:50 The duck arrives 00:57:20 The Virginia Woolf cure - 👉About Bridie Jabour Bridie Jabour is a journalist and author with 20 years in Australian media. Her journey ranges from her cadetship at the Gold Coast Bulletin to The Guardian - where she spent five years as an opinion editor and is now based in the London office. Her writing covers feminism, family, and modern life, and her latest novel is “Ordinary Funny Tragic”. Connect with Bridie: https://www.instagram.com/bkjabour - *Credit to Alex Vaughan for the image of Bridie used in this artwork* 🟡Subscribe and follow along for more meaningful conversations with extraordinary people about living a boldly, connected, standout life. - 👉Here’s how we can stay in touch https://pragmaticthinking.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alihill/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fromalihill/