The Whiteboard Project

Sex Slavery survivor, author, speaker and social advocate, Timea Nagy immigrated to Canada in 1998. Her nightmare unfolded in Toronto in that same year after arriving from Budapest, Hungary in the hopes of finding meaningful employment. The daughter of a Hungarian policewoman, Timea was held in a cheap motel at the hands of traffickers. She was forced to work in the sex industry. Thankfully, she escaped and started her healing journey. Throughout the healing process she gave back by helping law enforcement in the fight against human trafficking. Over time, she became a voice to a larger audience which includes law enforcement, community services, the financial industry, teachers, and parents. She is building an army of warriors in the fight against human trafficking. Nothing short of inspiring, Timea’s story speaks directly to the power of the human spirit and what we can overcome. In a raw and open interview, she recounts her experiences, how she got through it, and how she continues to deal with the triggers from the past. Timea has received hundreds of awards, the most notable ones from the Prime Minister of Canada, Queen Elizabeth and Free the Slaves International. In 2014, she launched Timea’s Cause , a social enterprise dedicated to helping survivors acquire the skills they need to build a new life for themselves. This is a complex multi-layered issue that has so many angles; we are in a ‘state of emergency’ as it relates to the complexities of human trafficking. But, we can all play a part in helping in the fight!

Fresh off his third place finish at the Eastern Ontario Strongman competition, RJ Kayser returns to the studio to discuss his new book “21 Mindset Challenges for Unlocking Your Maximal Potential: Tactics to Forge an Unbeatable Mind”. The book launched the day of the recording is available on Amazon for immediate download. RJ discusses how the book came to be and just what it means to develop an Unbeatable Mind. Anyone looking for advice on how to develop a stronger mindset for life, will enjoy this book as a starting to ground. As a society, we’ve lost touch with mindset as key to tackling life and these 21 Challenges will help everyone regardless of where they are. From the Greek philosophy pathei mathos - through suffering, knowledge - these challenges will help you discover who you really are. Notifications off. Give this one a complete listen!

A rockstar of a guest, Stephanie Atkinson shows us how to tackle adversity head on by staying in the moment and continuing to develop and explore the world. Stephanie's time is filled with an extremely busy schedule that includes being a volunteer firefighter, teaching emergency medical first aid, fitness training, motocross and travelling to volunteer with services such as LifeFlight of Maine. Through all of this she continues to face adversity head on and she tries to fulfill her life long dream of becoming a full time firefighter. There is a lesson in all of this for people aspiring to work in the emergency response world or just simply looking for inspiration from a young person doing it right.

With seven weeks of preparation behind them, Josh and John tackled the 50K Ultra at Bear Mountain State Park in New York as a part of the North Face Endurance Series. The guys discuss their training and preparation approach, the race itself, and what is next.

Are you using age as an excuse to not go after the things you want? Stop the excuses and listen to Jay Corcoran, who doesn’t use age as a deterrent from obtaining the goals he has! We call him ‘Benjamin Button’ because he ages like a fine wine getting better every year. When most people are retiring from their sport as professional, Jay was doing the opposite and walking through different doorways. He turned professional at the age of 45 after 70 plus amateur boxing fights where he holds two world titles in that realm. After three official professional boxing fights, he is tackling new challenges in his life. He’s recently become a father for the fifth time and is on the cusp of opening his own Boxing training facility with Elysia in the north end of Peterborough, where they will focus on youth development. For anyone looking for a blueprint on how to achieve what you want regardless of how old you are, take note of Father Corcoran. An extremely humble guy filled with compassion and wisdom that can serve us all with the inspiration we need to do better in life.

Mike Doherty, owner of Dohjo Muay Thai and athlete with over 30 fights to his resume, lives a principle driven life to structure the success of others. He is a proponent of the human growth mindset and in this podcast he imparts his wisdom on the importance of training in three areas: physical, mental, and technical. At the core, he continues to develop himself and believes that one must be committed to lifelong learning in all of these aspects. You are never physically ready unless you are mentally prepared. Through our discussion about fight camps, Mike talks about the purpose behind them and the techniques he has developed in them to ready himself for the battle. Mike is an avid reader, but throughout fight camp he reads even more to focus his thoughts. Fighting is high level problem solving with dire consequences, so it is necessary to continually train the neural pathways and turn weaknesses into strengths. Mike talks about his vulnerabilities and how he used cognitive behavioral therapy to prepare for upcoming fights and using that process as a driver to enable growth by managing fear and anxiety. We talk about ego about managing it grow. Throughout the cast, we unravel Mike’s tool belt for why he goes about placing himself in uncomfortable situations to develop. He has a go first mentality and belief that we need to talk positively to ourselves in order challenge our current thinking. He imparts on listeners a series of recommended reads (found below) and talks about why stoic philosophy is such a big part of his reading list. Recommended Reading: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations - One of the world's most famous and influential books, Meditations, by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121–180), incorporates the stoic precepts he used to cope with his life as a warrior and administrator of an empire. Find it here on Amazon. Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy - Draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to his­tory. We meet fascinating figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who all reached the highest levels of power and success by con­quering their own egos. Find it here on Amazon . Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Is a short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving. Its goal is to change patterns of thinking or behaviour that are behind people’s difficulties, and so change the way they feel. It is used to help treat a wide range of issues in a person’s life, from sleeping difficulties or relationship problems, to drug and alcohol abuse or anxiety and depression. Find a huge selection of books on this topic on Amazon.

Former pro motocross racer, Greg Poisson talks about growing up with a singular focus to live the lifestyle of being a top level athlete. The hyper-focus kept him away from broadening his sight lines to the world around him and from taking an introspective look at himself. After almost 20 years of dedicating his life to motocross, he walked away from the sport. This period of his life was confusing as he discovered he didn’t know who he was and that he was dealing with an undiagnosed mental health issue; bipolar disorder. Since being away from the sport, Greg has focused his life on living in the moment and learning how to enjoy the present. Greg has focused his personal battle with bipolar disorder to help young people recognize the signs related to mental health. He’s currently working on a project to highlight mental health in a real and honest way to reach young people within his community. After several years away from motocross, Greg returns to racing in 2018 with a healthy mindset and more well-rounded approach to balancing life as an athlete. He’s been working hard to get back in shape and is looking forward to getting back onto the local circuit. Greg’s love for bikes is undeniable and took an honest look inward to really understand what he loved.

Writer, blogger, nutritionist, avid reader, and national level strongman, RJ Kayser aka “Reggie King”, explains the mental game of strongman training and how it carries over into life. In order to develop yourself as a high-end athlete, it comes down to willing your mind to do anything. RJ mentions that improving this psychological aspect of your training can mean having the leading edge. What was once a method of documenting Strongman; blogging topics such as training logs, making implementations of how to train strongman, has transitioned into a much more polished, sophisticated and articulated approach. RJ has two articles published in Readers Digest and is a first time author with his book titled “Seasons of Strongman.” He has continuously fine tuned his skill set as a writer and has developed an authoritative presence on Google Search. He is on a lifelong path of self growth with a soft spot for his dog Meesh, loves spending time reading, reviewing podcasts and learning. He also is a provider, by being a nutrition backbone and cook for his family. From his emphasis on relationships, diverse training abilities, to the origin of his last name - RJ Kayser is Strongman. Learn more about RJ Kayser by visiting his website http://rjkayser.com/

Co-host of The Whiteboard Project podcast, John Witzing, dives into his beliefs behind how he continues to evolve himself as a human being. A big topic of discussion is about the limits of human potential and the mission to discover stories from people and uncover the insights they’ve used to strive for better. One big issue openly discussed is how society spends too much time tearing people down versus building people up. And, the concept that when we sell ourselves and others short we undermine the potential we all have. By focusing inward on making steady improvements over yesterday, we better ourselves and the people around us. In order to discover that untapped potential, John believes we need to approach each day with the attitude of ‘it’s a new day and a blank slate’. With that comes the ability to place ourselves in extremely difficult situations to challenge ourselves to overcome the obstacles in the way. When we face the elements, we grow through the adversity. To achieve success, we have to conquer that inner voice that tells us we are not capable of doing it. Success is in the doing. Model cars not included.

Co-host of The Whiteboard Project podcast, Josh Chessman, dives into his beliefs behind how he continues to evolve himself as a human being. Subscribing to the old adage that you become more like the people you surround yourself with, he’s used this approach to learn from the people he admires in order to achieve success. This approach comes from the realization that when people are better than you, do what it takes to learn from them because it is always going to pay out in the end. Through that process, even when you are going all out or stretching beyond the comfort zone, sometimes you are going fail, but that is just a part of it. Known as an ‘all in’ kind of guy, Josh illustrates how he uses this discipline to stay committed to never settling for the status quo. Coincidentally, he uses this approach to discover new ways to challenge himself and others he comes in contact with. Through his many physical pursuits, Josh talks about the things he’s learned to rewire the hardware in order to keep pushing the limits to grow. Episode two is simple introduction to one half of The Whiteboard Project to archive how this endeavor began and where his thinking was at the time. The journey is just beginning, and this is a good warm-up.

Amateur Strongman competitor, Josh Chessman and amateur Endurance athlete, John Witzing dive right into the first episode of their newly created podcast, The Whiteboard Project. No fancy introductions or slick music, the boys get straight down to discussing how this endeavour all began two years prior. At that time they were doing something they called the Whiteboard Workouts as a way to challenge themselves physically and mentally. Each workout began with a blank slate; regardless of the previous effort each new workout brought about a bigger challenge to endure. Through friendly competition and the camaraderie of suffering in training together, the boys set about creating The Whiteboard Project (TWP). The Whiteboard Project explores the topic of human potential and the people who’ve broken through the barriers to achieve their goals despite the obstacle. At the core of this endeavour is the inherent principle of adaptation by subjecting oneself to new problems to overcome. We are at an interesting time in our society, yet there are still so many places where we can do better as humans. The podcast will search for insights by interviewing people from all walks of life who have faced challenges and overcome them despite the circumstances. The belief is that by learning from others, we can all do infinitely more than we could alone. Despite the origins of this endeavour, “Whiteboards” are a place we visit to solve problems. They are a place where new ideas, strategies and plans can be brainstormed. They are a place where measurable objectives and timelines can be established to hold oneself accountable. Whether you want to improve your fitness, diet, finances, education, or relationships, writing your game plan down is a starting point for achieving success. To help you in your own personal journey, expect to hear from guests that come from all walks of life who have gotten from point ‘A’ to ‘B’ by overcoming something that stood in their path. Josh and John are interested in the perpetual pursuit of challenging oneself to grow from adversity. It’s a big field of play and our guests will help us all become better through their personal stories of overcoming challenge. It’s a New Day. Let’s begin.