Mental Fitness - the Gateway to Success

In this episode, I take you on a very personal journey through 32 years of meditation — from living for a year at a meditation centre, to a deep 3-week solo retreat in a mountain hut, to multiple 10-day silent Vipassana retreats… all the way to where my practice lives today (spoiler: you’ll find me meditating while driving, cooking, working — even making love). I share the meditation system I desi...

In this episode, I’m joined by fellow Mental Fitness Coach Cheryl Robinson , who shares how strengthening her mental fitness has transformed her life in unexpected ways. Cheryl opens up about how her practice improved her relationships, inspired her to join a choir, and even helped her overcome a lifelong fear of rats. She also introduces a concept I instantly fell in love with— “Project Status” —...

In this episode, I take you back to the very beginning of my journey with meditation — more than 30 years ago — and explore how it’s shaped my life and my work as a coach for business owners and leaders. We look at the powerful connection between meditation and mental fitness , and why this ancient practice is still one of the most effective tools for building calm, clarity, and resilience in toda...

This episode is especially close to my heart. I’m joined by my wife, Kathy Menzies, who shares her powerful and deeply personal journey of struggle, transformation, and growth. Kathy opens up about: 💔 Losing her brother to suicide 💸 The pain and lessons of bankruptcy 🧠 The impact of poor mental fitness — and how she rebuilt it ❤️ Her remarkable transition from school teacher to Sex, Love &...

Episode 20 – Time for Something Completely Different! In this episode, I get personal — really personal — as we explore buttons . You know, those emotional triggers that get pushed by the people around us. I share my own journey of discovering what pushes my buttons, how I learned to react differently, and the surprising insight that allows you to “push” other people’s buttons without actually doi...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success , Jason Lennie shares his raw and honest journey through repeated cycles of burnout — and the powerful moment he finally recognised the destructive pattern behind it. That awareness led Jason to seek coaching support, helping him redefine how he lives and leads — creating a more productive, sustainable, and deeply fulfilling life and busine...

In this episode, we continue the powerful journey from episode 16: Triangulating Success. With you Life Purpose and Life Mission Statement in place (EP16), we take the next step in the Triangle Model: What is it that is truly important to you at this moment in your life. It is filtering your life purpose into every aspects of your life: Living Purposefully Download the free Action Guide that has t...

Former national triathlon coach, successful businessman, acclaimed motivational speaker, and cancer survivor—John Shackleton’s story is one of resilience and reinvention. But his most powerful transformation goes beyond any title or achievement. In this candid interview, John reveals the mindset and heartset that have redefined his life and continue to inspire thousands. John also shares practical...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, we move beyond the lighthouse concept introduced in Episode 12 and step into one of the simplest yet most powerful success models I’ve ever created: The Triangles . I’ll walk you through the general use of this model and then dive into its most profound application—using it to design your Life Purpose. Once defined, this becomes your perso...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, my guest Patrick Sherratt shares his remarkable journey from a challenging childhood to becoming a business owner dedicated to helping others manage stress and overcome trauma. Patrick opens up about the turning points that shaped his path, the tools that supported his transformation—including a powerful book and an ancient perspective on...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, we dive into one of the most overlooked performance tools for business owners and managers—your breath. Breathing is something we do more than 20,000 times a day, yet most of us are doing it wrong, without even knowing it. Discover how restricted breathing silently drains your energy, clouds your decision-making, and amplifies stress—and h...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, my guest Derek Hansen shares a deeply personal story of how the Covid pandemic shook him as a business owner and leader. At the time, he lacked the mental fitness to handle the unexpected stress and turmoil — until he reached a breaking point that led to powerful transformation. Derek opens up about the journey of rebuilding his resilience...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, my guest Derek Hansen shares a deeply personal story of how the Covid pandemic shook him as a business owner and leader. At the time, he lacked the mental fitness to handle the unexpected stress and turmoil — until he reached a breaking point that led to powerful transformation. Derek opens up about the journey of rebuilding his resilience...

In this episode of Mental Fitness – The Gateway to Success, I explore the power of building your own lighthouse—a personal beacon that guides you through the dark and stormy patches of life and business. I’ll walk you through the quickest method I know for creating this inner guide, the same approach that helped me navigate stress, anxiety, and frustration. Plus, I’m sharing a free Action Guide yo...

In this episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success, Tony Brooks introduces a powerful new term: Wholesale Transformation. He opens up about the hidden cost of his ongoing business success—neglecting himself and those closest to him—until everything came crashing down in his late 40s. Tony shares with raw honesty how asking for help became the turning point that shifted his mental fitness fr...

In this eye-opening episode of Mental Fitness: The Gateway to Success , we debunk the myth of time management and reveal why time itself doesn’t exist. Discover a transformative approach to managing what truly matters, leading to deeper fulfillment, higher productivity, and less stress. We break it down into three simple steps: Step 1: Realize the reality that time is an illusion. Step 2 : Replace...

In this raw and vulnerable episode, our guest, Lloyd Shand, opens up about reaching a breaking point, where burnout put his family and well-being on the line. He shares how he discovered the importance of mental fitness and how that eventually led him to sell his business and dedicate his life to helping other men navigate the world of business, family and purpose. Tune in for an honest conversati...

Struggling to manage your time effectively as a business owner or leader? The problem might not be your schedule—it could be the myths you’ve bought into about time itself. In this episode, we debunk seven common misconceptions that hold you back from mastering your time. By challenging these myths, you’ll unlock a fresh, more productive, and fulfilling approach to time management. What You’ll Lea...

When life falls apart, mental fitness becomes your greatest ally. In this powerful episode, guest Howie Clare opens up about the emotional turmoil of his marriage breakdown and the transformative journey that followed. Discover how cultivating mental fitness can turn pain into growth, offering profound lessons and unexpected gifts. We dive into two key areas impacted by mental fitness: understandi...

In this episode, Mikal Nielsen, author of bestselling book Time Management: A Complete Waste of Time, dismantles the myth that traditional time management is the key to productivity, efficiency, and work-life balance. Discover why conventional approaches fall short and explore Mikal’s transformative alternative to achieve success in business and beyond. Plus, get access to a free Action Guide—a pr...

In this compelling episode, finance expert Josh Allan reveals how stress silently infiltrated his life and kept him from being his best professionally and in his personal life. With raw honesty, Josh walks us through his journey from confusion to clarity, sharing how he transformed his life to achieve remarkable work-life balance. He offers practical tools that fueled his turnaround and introduces...

An unexpected and in the moment sharing while my face is blown up and I'm in pain, both physically and mentally. This new podcast is about sharing real life stories of how Mental Fitness affects how we deal with real life challenges, personally and professionally. I’m this episode I use my current painful situation to share how my mental fitness level has influenced how I am managing. Would you li...

In this episode, our guest, Russell Clark, owner and manager of one of the most successful renovation businesses in New Zealand, Licensed Renovations, shares a powerful story on how he ended up in serious trouble because of a lack of mental fitness. He also shares with us, that despite having had many sports and business coaches over the decades, it was only when he got himself a mind coach that t...

What is Mental Fitness? Is there a definition? Is it really the gateway to success? The answer to all of that is in this episode. I also mention my detailed - and free - Mental Fitness Guide to Enhance Performance. Download it here: https://mikal.nz/mental-fitness-guide Questions? Email me to coach@mikal.nz

In this first episode of Mental Fitness - the Gateway to Success, the host, Mikal Nielsen, shares why he created this podcast. He covers the Why, the Who, the What and the When and Where as a model for starting something new, like a product, a service, a business, etc. For more info on Mikal, go to www.mikal.nz or connect with him on LinkedIn or email him at coach@mikal.nz