Work and Wellness

For episode 100, Liam joins me to debrief our Camino and answer the questions you sent through the Instagram question box. We talk about why we chose it, how we planned it, the brutal first day that taught us to respect the walk, and the moments that made us laugh, struggle and lean on each other.It’s honest, funny and in places very personal, including what it meant to walk in the months after losing both our dads. We also get into what being offline taught us about attention, social media and living for an audience, plus the practical side if you’re thinking about your own walk: training, kit and what we’d do differently. Thank you for being here for 100 episodes.KEY TOPICSWhy we do one hard thing every year, and what we hoped to get from this oneHow we planned the walk, and what the first day taught us about heat, water and foodThe hardest moments, and how we looked after each other through themWhat we learned about each other after about 20 days side by sideWalking and remembering our dadsWhat going offline revealed about attention, social media and living for an audienceWhat we’d pack, wear and do differently, and what to know before you try your ownThe biggest lesson we brought home: disconnect, slow down and enjoy the journeyKEYWORDSCamino, hiking, travel, disconnecting, digital detox, relationships, resilience, grief, rich life, slowing down

What if the best way to prepare for the future isn’t trying to predict it?In this episode, I sit down with Steph Clark, futurist, facilitator and founder of 28 Thursdays, to talk about how we can think harder about what’s next, at work and in life. Steph started out as an accountant, moved into learning and development, and now helps leaders and teams use strategic foresight to think differently about the future. She also runs the How to Friend project, which explores the art and science of friendship.We get into why so many organisations fail to think ahead, what is happening to trust and enjoyment at work, how your brain can rehearse a crisis before it happens, and which human skills matter most as AI changes work. Then we talk friendship, and some wonderfully simple ways to stay connected when life is busy.KEY TOPICSWhy reinvention is usually a gradual experiment, not a burn the boats leapWhat leaders get wrong about the future, and why “what if to the what if” mattersWhy the loss of entry-level roles today creates a problem down the trackWhat lean, restructured teams are doing to trust and enjoyment at workHow futures thinking works and why it is about preparedness, not predictionThe human skills that matter most as AI changes work: thinking, facilitation, feedback and discernmentWhy friendship is the foundation of everything else, and simple low lift ways to nurture itBackcasting: how to work backwards from the future you wantABOUT STEPHSteph Clark is a futurist, facilitator, lifelong learner and founder of 28 Thursdays, where she helps organisations challenge conventional thinking, explore emerging trends and prepare for the future. She began her career as an accountant before moving into learning and development, spending 15 years designing and facilitating leadership and learning experiences across industries and around the world. Today she combines strategic foresight, human-centred design, innovation and facilitation to help leaders and teams think differently about what’s next. She is also the creator of Steph’s Business Bookshelf Podcast and the How to Friend project.CONNECT WITH STEPHLinkedIn: Steph ClarkHow to Friend SubstackHow to Friend Podcast KEYWORDSfutures thinking, strategic foresight, future of work, friendship, connection, AI, leadership, career change, human skills, workplace culture

We talk a lot about what we eat, how we move and how we sleep. We talk far less about what we consume digitally.In this episode I sit down with Jocelyn Brewer, Sydney-based psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition, to explore what our digital diet is really doing to our brains. I had just come back from hiking the Camino with almost no access to technology, so this conversation was very much on my mind.Jocelyn has spent over a decade translating complex research into practical, human-friendly language. We get into why screen time is far more nuanced than “good” or “bad”, what technology is doing to loneliness and friendship, how short form content trains our attention, and why we need to think carefully about outsourcing our thinking to AI. We also cover simple, realistic ways to design a digital diet that works for your life, without going cold turkey.KEY TOPICSWhat digital nutrition is and why the “virtual vitamins” analogy keeps getting strongerWhy screen time is more complicated than the hours on your phoneWhat technology is doing to loneliness, friendship and our tolerance for human discomfortWhy short form content trains our brains for short bursts and how to rebuild attentionHow AI is changing the way we think, work and relate to each otherWhat leaders can do to reduce digital overwhelm in their teamsWhy digital detoxes often fail and what a healthy day to day digital diet looks likeThe one change Jocelyn would encourage everyone to make tomorrowABOUT JOCELYNJocelyn Brewer is a Gadigal Sydney-based psychologist and the founder of Digital Nutrition. With a master’s in cyber psychology, she is an expert on how people live, love and learn in a hyper-connected, AI-immersed world. Known for her practical, approachable style, Jocelyn translates complex research into clear language and cuts through the anxiety around screen time and tech habits.CONNECT WITH JOCELYNWebsite: https://jocelynbrewer.com/ KEYWORDSdigital wellbeing, screen time, attention, AI, loneliness, social media, sleep, burnout, leadership, mental health

We have more information, more advice and more technology available to us than ever before. But are we losing the ability to trust our own judgment?In this episode, I share something deeply personal — how grief quietly disconnected me from my own intuition for over a year without me even realising it. It wasn’t until I spent hundreds of thousands of steps walking the Via Francigena in Italy with almost no external input that I recognised what had been missing.This episode is about what intuition actually is, why we are outsourcing our thinking more than we realise, what constant input is doing to our judgment, and six practical ways to reconnect with the most valuable voice in the room — your own.Key TopicsWhat intuition actually is and why it is not woo-woo. It is neuroscienceHow grief, stress and overload quietly disconnect us from our own judgmentWhy outsourcing our thinking to AI and external sources is eroding a critical skillThe default mode network and why your brain needs space to wanderSix ways to reconnect with and strengthen your intuition and judgmentHow to distinguish true gut feel from fear, bias and old experiencesKeywords: intuition, self trust, decision making, leadership, grief, AI, judgment, self awareness, mental clarity, burnout

I just walked over 600,000 steps across Italy and one of the most powerful things I chose to do along the way was to go offline.In this episode, I share what that space brought up because within minutes of coming back online after one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life, I immediately felt behind. Nothing had changed. I had just checked social media.This episode is about what being offline reveals — about our identity, our attention, our relationship with comparison, and the question I kept coming back to on the road: how much of what we do are we doing because we truly want to, and how much are we doing because we want to be seen doing it?Key TopicsWhat going offline for four weeks actually revealed about identity and wellbeingWhy comparison hit the moment social media was back and the reframe that helpedHow fragmented attention is quietly costing us more than we realiseThe 2025 study that found blocking mobile internet for two weeks improved attention, wellbeing and mental healthWho are you when you are not performing for an audienceHow to be more intentional about what you consume and what you shareKeywordssocial media, identity, wellbeing, comparison, attention, digital boundaries, offline, mindfulness, authenticity, burnout