A New Way of Being

At a time when all the knowledge in the world is little more than a mouse click away – the importance of learning how to learn is key. And one person who was a pass master was the late Anders Ericsson – who was best known for his work on deliberate practice and whose research led to the widely misconstrued '10,000 hours' rule popularised by Malcolm Gladwell. So this was Anders – talking all about...

"The two great risks are risking too much but also risking too little. That's for each person to decide. For me, not risking anything is worse than death. By far." - Jimmy Chin Jimmy is a pro climber, skier, photographer and Oscar winning Film director. The theme of this episode is about following your heart and taking risks. Committing to a path and working it out along the way. Jimmy picked up t...

Sometimes, what you need to survive and thrive in challenging times is age old wisdom. And my guest this week is full of it. Paul McGee – speaker and Sunday Times best selling author –has sold over a quarter of a million books, and spoken in more than 40 countries to date. He’s an expert in things like dealing with change, developing relationships, creating opportunies and performing under pressur...

So many of us are struggling to focus and pay attention to what we need to. It can feel like a moral failing – as if there is something wrong with us individually. But Johann Hari argues that is not the case. The problem runs much deeper. Teenagers now focus on one task for only 65 seconds he says, while office workers aren’t much better – managing only three minutes. It won’t surprise you to hear...

Often people think to achieve what they want in life is about finding a magic bullet, but as World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward explains – frequently it’s just about understanding the basics. Those things you absolutely have to get right to succeed in a particular project or goal. This might sound obvious – but actually it turns out it is incredibly common for people within teams, business...

What does success mean? Is the 'winner and losers' narrative too simplistic? Tim Henman reached six major tennis semi-finals - four at Wimbledon - and was ranked fourth in the world. And yet, in some quarters, there is a view that somehow Tim didn't deliver. If that were true, then almost all of us are failures. In this episode, we talk about exploring your potential, rather than setting a goal an...

Everyone is familiar with the phrase 'there are too few hours in the day' but one of my previous guests proved that emphatically wrong. In 2019 Jasmine Paris won the 268 mile Spine race – unquestionably one of the toughest endurance events in the world. Not only did Jasmine become the first woman to win the race, she smashed the men’s course record by 12 hours. Jasmine juggles her ultra running wi...

How to transcend needless suffering & discover true happiness - with 'the Mind Architect' Above everything else, people want to feel happy – and to experience freedom from suffering. It’s not the car, the promotion or the relationship we really want – it’s the happiness we believe we will derive from it. But what if the very act of seeking happiness is exactly what is stopping us from experien...

Are you a human being – or a human doing? Bill Beswick is one of the world’s most respected sports psychologists, having worked at Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s dominant reign as manager. Roy Keane and Gary Neville are among those who credited Bill with making a real difference to their ability to perform at the top. I talked to Bill during the covid pandemic – and he spoke about ho...

When I was the sports reporter for BBC Radio 1 for 8 years, I spent a lot of time talking to and hearing from an exhaustive list of Premier League managers. One of them stood out above the rest for entertainment value – and that was Ian Holloway when he was in charge of Blackpool FC. Ian Holloway is clearly a naturally funny man – and he also has a depth and emotional sensitivity that you can’t he...

There’s no doubt that meditation is good for body and mind, but a lot of people struggle with it. Perhaps they don’t think they’re doing it right – or just can’t turn it into a habit. But meditation is undoubtedly a hugely valuable habit to develop, and the research on its benefits is vast. And here to talk about the simple 'how-tos' of mindfulness meditation – is Headspace founder and former Budd...

Perfectionism is often seen as a desirable trait in modern society. But, the reality is, it leads to procrastination - and mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and burnout. In a world that celebrates the idea of your 'Best Self', and always being better than you were yesterday – this conversation is about considering a healthier approach, one that acknowledges we are fine as we are now,...

How often do we spend time continually looking to the future – while overlooking how far we have already come? Dr Dame Katherine Grainger is Britain’s most decorated female Olympian. She won rowing gold at London 2012 and silver at four other Olympic Games. We spoke about reflecting back on how far you’ve come – as well as what perseverance is all about ** MyTwitter: https://twitter.com/simonmundi...

Alberto Salazar was once the most revered running coach in the world, leading athletes including Mo Farah to the very top of their game. But, in 2019, Salazar was banned from athletics for violating anti doping rules. This week’s guest, Steve Magness, had worked alongside him at the Nike Oregon Project – and he was the whistleblower whose claims were followed up by a BBC Panorama and Pro Publica i...

Brad Smeele was a world champion wakeboarder – until he broke his neck performing a trick in 2014 which left him quadriplegic. Until that point, Brad had been pretty much living the dream, chasing summers around the world while earning money on the side as a model. His identity before the accident was closely bound up with his physicality, and coming to terms with the fact that that was no longer...

Why relationships are the key to success in sport and life, with former England captain Will Carling. Will was appointed captain aged just 22 and led England to their first ever rugby World Cup final in 1991. As well as reaching that World Cup final- England won three Grand Slams in the 90s under Will, and were undoubtedly the northern hemisphere’s best team during that period. The theme of this c...

There’s a lot to be said for truly empathetic leadership, where caring for and taking an interest in the individual comes first. Not only does this create an environment in which people can flourish, it makes winning and success more likely. And my guest this week, Ama Agbeze, undoubtedly proved that to be the case, when she led England to their greatest netball triumph – a historic Commonwealth G...

Would you like to know some tips for succeeding under pressure from someone who was one of the best in the business? Sir Nick Faldo is Britain’s greatest ever golfer – a six times major winner who spent 97 weeks as world number one in his pomp. During our full length conversation – I asked him about one of his strategies for success, which came down to being able to... slow down. ** MyTwitter: htt...

We tend to believe happiness is found when we accumulate money, success and status – but that’s actually wide of the mark. According to one of the pre-eminent happiness scientists in the world, real joy is found by tapping into the transformative power of Awe. Dacher Keltner is a bestselling author and psychology professor at the University of California. Twenty years into teaching people about ha...

Dame Heather Rabbatts trained as a barrister – but that barely gets her CV started. She’s also been a BBC Governor, the youngest-ever Chief Executive of Merton and Lambeth Councils, Head of Education at Channel 4, a Director of the Bank of England, a Board Member of the UK Film Council, and deputy chair of Millwall FC – and that’s just to name a few. I wanted to ask her about getting ahead in big...

"Flow is an optimal state of consciousness where we feel and perform our best". As many of you know, the topic of flow and its deeper implications are subjects I have spoken about on many occasions in this podcast – and in today’s episode we dive into what is a fascinating area. Steven Kotler is a New York Times best-selling author and executive director of the Flow Research Collective. Steven has...

What the experience of flow - particularly in sport - may reveal about the nature of reality. One theme that has arisen time and again while recording this podcast is the experience of flow, and numerous athletes in particular have spoken about the experience of "me" not being there in such moments. But what is that "me" that seems to disappear? That’s a big question and here to help address it is...

Understanding the cost of fear and how to face and replace it - with the former England football psychologist, who was credited with helping transform the team at the 2018 World Cup. Pippa explains the difference between 'in the moment fear', and 'not good enough fear', and it's the latter that is the focus of this conversation and which is lurking behind many of our self-defeating behaviours. MyT...

The ability to hack our health could be right inside us. That’s the view of Wim Hof - aka the iceman. Among other things, he has run marathons barefoot beyond the polar circle as well as climbing through the "death zone" of Mt. Everest in only his shorts. He puts his achievements down to the Wim Hof Method – which has three components, cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation. Wim speaks...

Would you like a proven pattern to tackle your most ambitious and challenging plans? Whatever it is you would like to do – whether it is starting a business, running a marathon or transforming a school – this episode is for you. My guest in Sir Michael Barber, whose career has straddled the world of elite sport and government. Since joining the government in 1997, he has advised 7 of the last 8 Pr...