Wiser with Rob Bialostocki

Do you finish the week feeling flat, tired and done? If you’re in your 50s or 60s, it’s worth paying attention. In this episode of Wiser, Rob shares what a week of giving to everyone else taught him about running on empty, and why being constantly on the go isn’t a badge of merit. You’ll hear why we live from the inside out, how a depleted inner life shows up in the way we speak and act, and why s...

What mattered at 35 probably doesn't drive you the same way at 55. And that's not a problem — it's one of the most important things that can happen to you. In this episode, we dig into why your values and priorities are supposed to shift as you move into your second half, what tends to lose its appeal (and why), and what people who navigate this chapter well actually start prioritis...

Do our lives shrink as we get older, or do we let them? In this episode of Wiser, I look at the natural pull we all have towards comfort, quiet and familiarity. It helps us think less and feel safer, but the same pull can slowly shrink our lives without us noticing. Drawing on research into status quo bias, mere exposure and the Synapse Project, I share three practical ways to keep life rich in th...

Using the film Where'd You Go, Bernadette as a jumping-off point, Rob looks at how people quietly lose touch with themselves — not through one big decision, but through years of reasonable choices that add up to living a life built for other people. He explains why midlife is when this usually surfaces, why most of us cover the feeling back up rather than face it, and shares a simple practice...

When faith, marriage, family and health all fall apart in the same few years, how do you keep functioning?  Rob shares a genuinely relentless stretch of his own life — questioning a decades-long faith, separating after 29 years of marriage, his daughter's surprise pregnancy, and a new partner's cancer diagnosis, all within about five years.  He breaks down what actually helped him get th...

Most people confuse change with transition, but they're completely different processes. Change is external—you move cities, lose a job, get divorced. It's the obvious shift from point A to point B. Transition is the inner psychological journey of letting go of your old identity, spending time in uncertainty, then eventually embracing who you're becoming. Without proper transition, c...

Why Nature Always Wins: Life Lessons from a Fallen Tree That Will Change How You See Control, Humility & Your Place in the World During a routine morning dog walk, I noticed something I had walked past many times before. But this time, I stopped and contemplated a new perspective. There, in the middle of a beautifully managed bush reserve, a massive gum tree had crashed down, flattening everyt...

Are you interested in finding your passion? Well, the problem is popular advice to "find your passion" doesn't work; it's fundamentally flawed and can be very frustrating.  Research shows that over 80% of adults don't know what their passion is, yet we're told we should. The truth is passion isn't something you find - it's something you develop through exper...

In this episode, I talk about my trip to Great Barrier Island, about 95km from Auckland, visiting friends who ditched their corporate lives in their late 50s for a simpler existence. No TV, no news, no social media, and definitely no traffic noise – just the natural world around us. Walking along the coast on day two, I found myself sitting on rocks, watching the tide move seaweed around beneath t...

Personal growth advice often presents a single "right way" to approach life's challenges, but there are actually multiple valid paths for everything from relationships to career development to self-improvement. Key Points • The difference between "the way" versus "ways" of approaching life situations. • When people claim to have found "the way" it may b...

If you’re a human being - and I’m guessing you are - then you have lots of relationships. And while many might be healthy, enjoyable and good chances are there are one or two that have some kind of stress, or are not as good as you’d like. Maybe, there is one that has just broken and you’d still like to see it mended. In this episode, I talk about how important relationships with my birth mother a...

Do you feel discontent in your relationships, career, or daily life at times, despite outwardly having what you want? The answer often lies in a values problem - a misalignment between what we truly value deep down, and how we actually live. When our behaviours don't match our core values, we can experience tension, which can look like unhappiness, stress, or even physical symptoms.  In this...

As we go about life we inevitably move to a script, a narrative, an identity. You would think that this identity is consciously decided. But after many years on the road, the reality is that we’re shaped by the influences and expectations we have accumulated from who we’ve been with, what we’ve experienced, and messages we’ve seen/read/heard. In this episode, we explore what this feels like and lo...

Have you ever wished you were younger again? Many people do. However, in my case, that would NOT be a good idea. Because where I’ve gotten to now has been hard-won by time, experience, and masses of learning and change. I do not want to have to go through it again!! And I really like where I am now; who I am now. Going back would only feel like reversing time without any associated benefits. No, t...

We discuss the reality that life can be rugged, rough, surprising and wonderful. It's not straight and narrow and we shouldn't expect it to be. Instead, learning to navigate whatever comes with clarity, courage and determination is a much better toolkit for the journey. Rob also talks about the time he almost got hypothermia up on a mountain track. Any thoughts or questions? Send me a te...

We humans automatically categorise people as safe or not, friendly or not, ‘us’ or ‘them.’ While this helps us feel more secure and like we belong, it also puts up barriers where there may not need to be any. Rob calls us to consciously try to see people as similar rather than different. To want the best for everyone. Any thoughts or questions? Send me a text! Thanks for listening! See you again s...

Every day is precious, filled with possibilities like a blank whiteboard ready for the pen. Like an empty stage ready for the dance, or a lump of clay ready to be molded. For whatever art you want to create. Because your life is your art. But, do you make room for that in your busy life? Let’s talk about mindfulness in midlife and beyond.  Because the more we appreciate and enjoy the moment, the m...

Life has phases as we grow. If we don’t adapt to the requirements and capabilities of a new phase, we can get pretty frustrated. To flourish in our second half, we need to accept there are things we can’t do anymore. But that’s actually really good news! In this episode, find out why.  Any thoughts or questions? Send me a text! Thanks for listening! See you again soon. Rob PS Subscribe to Wiser an...

While I don’t advocate planning everything in your life out to the nth degree, I do think it’s wise to reflect on the past and distil a few key lessons and guidelines for the future. I mean, who wants to repeat the same mistakes or poor choices? Rob uses the idea of calling yourself 10 years ago for one minute. Any thoughts or questions? Send me a text! Thanks for listening! See you again soon. Ro...

There is a world of difference between someone who continues to grow as a person throughout their life and someone who gets stuck psychologically or emotionally and just grows older. Rob discusses the difference and suggests three ways to consciously progress as an adult towards greater maturity. Key points The story of a child growing up in two potentially different ways. Society expects certain...

Rob shares a more personal episode, talking about the experiences of his grandparents who were forced out of their Polish estate, sent to the Gulags, and then relocated to New Zealand. But the key insight is that while externals can be stripped from you, what’s on the inside cannot be taken away. That, and the reality that none of us have the control in life we think we do.  Any thoughts or questi...

Life is extremely busy, and it will periodically overrun us if we don't actively find ways to deal with it. Rob explains what happens in your brain and body when you rush, and discusses how we can practically manage these feelings of overwhelm. Rob describes a simple technique he teaches to calm your nervous system, improve your sense of control, and generate better relationships by being mor...

Developing your communication skills is one of the best ways to gain more influence, develop better relationships, and create presence and impact. However, most people think they’re pretty good at communicating. But in my experience of 10 years in radio and 25 years of corporate coaching, I think there’s one skill most of us need to improve on: listening. KEY POINTS Listening effectively is not as...

Today, let's dive into a powerful concept from the world of engineers, programmers, and data experts — forward modelling — and explore how it can boost your personal development. While many are familiar with the idea of priming (the technique of setting the stage with context before sharing more details — often used in sales and negotiations - to influence the direction of people's think...

Everyone has an opinion. That's because it's the way we are made. But not all opinions are useful, or even downright correct. So, we can deal with that by: Setting our compass - deciding what's important to us Setting up filters - to help us say no and free up our time and attention Turning off autopilot - and doing the work needed to find out what is best for us in our situation. A...