A New Way of Being

Jonny Wilkinson, Damon Hill, Frankie Dettori, Goldie Sayers and Jos Buttler share their experiences of flow. This follows on from the last episode in which Alex and I discussed how to get more moments of flow into your everyday life at will. Do listen back to that one if you haven't already - or if you need a reminder. During flow, times distorts and our sense of self disappears, which begs the qu...

Flow is “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow is when we feel and perform at our best, and while it frequently has something of a mystical quality to it, we are all familiar with it to various degre...

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. If we can refrain from making negative judgments about our daily life events, we can liberate ourselves from a significant amount of unnecessary psychological suffering. With Stoic author Ryan Holiday My book Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is now on general release. Drawing on some of my favourite in...

Having a positive and empathetic outlook can make a big difference to yourself and those around you. One man who knows this is legendary former Southampton manager Nigel Adkins. He secured back-to-back promotions from League One up into the Premier League, lifting the club 51 places in the process. Nigel is clearly one of football's most likeable characters, and his uplifting and distinctive outlo...

How can you make a difference in life, alongside other people? That is a question long pondered by Dame Commander Heather Rabbatts, who has a quite remarkable CV despite underachieving at school. She was the first woman to be appointed a director of the FA and she was also chief executive of Millwall football club, she’s also been a barrister, a BBC governor, the youngest ever chief executive of b...

Booze, sex, social media - what's your poison? Taking the time to consider when we have an unhealthy relationship with 'people, places, things and situations' is an extremely valuable process to go through. Former England and Arsenal footballer Tony Adams set up the Sporting Chance clinic, and is an expert at the process people gripped by addiction of any kind can go through to find freedom. He ta...

Why fulfilment is about releasing our attachment to becoming and recognising Being When we become a champion, we simultaneously become a 'somebody'. In this conversation, recorded on The Non-Duality Podcast with Nic Higham, we explore some of the questionable assumptions lying behind what is a widespread belief. How can 'success' and self-aggrandisation be frequently unfulfilling and empty, while...

Words can be extremely powerful tools, if used skillfully. Dave Alred, one of the most in-demand performance coaches in the world even goes so far as to say "language is the post powerful drug known to man". However, he argues that most people are not aware of this and as a result don't see the sort of results that could be possible if only they were able to adopt a few simple principles. This is...

"If I accept the fact that my relationships are here to make me conscious, instead of happy, then my relationships become a wonderful self mastery tool that keeps realigning me with my higher purpose for living."– Eckhart Tolle This is one of my favourite quotes, although it isn’t necessarily in line with how most people view relationships. We tend to be conditioned with an idea about meeting ‘the...

How important is humility in creating a 'winning' culture? Here to explain is James Kerr, author of the fantastic best-selling book Legacy. It is all about the key ingredients that have gone together to create the most successful team in sporting history – the New Zealand All Blacks. Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is now on general release. Drawing on some of my f...

"I don't mind what happens. This is the essence of inner freedom" - Jiddu Krishnamurti Acceptance is being in alignment with the present moment. When we do mind what happens, we have judged the situation – 'this should not be happening' – and are now reacting to it from that perspective. We really only have two options when it comes to  what is . We can either be aligned with it or against it. And...

"Can you connect with people without having to airbrush your flaws?" When we come from a place of fear, we seek to hide our flaws and insecurities, which restricts our ability to connect authentically. When we fear rejection, a deep-seated sense of shame may be lurking, and when we then choose to project those feelings of shame outwards - by criticising, belittling and judging others - it is simpl...

You are not your thoughts... you are aware of your thoughts. This is such a valuable and important recognition. Most people identify who they are through their thoughts about themselves. What they do, what they believe, which tribe they belong to. But thoughts are just pointers. As the saying goes, 'the finger pointing to the moon, is not the moon'. A key distinction is to recognise the difference...

Want to know how to overcome fear? Free solo climbing legend Alex Honnold can explain. Alex Honnold climbed a 3000 foot vertical cliff - El Capitan in America - without ropes, a feat described as ‘one of the greatest Athletic feats of any kind, ever’. It was so impressive, they made a film about it called Free Solo. Listen to this, then watch that - and change your relationship with fear. Champion...

Success evangelism - have you had your fill yet? This idea that hustling for success, in the belief that we will finally be content and fulfilled when we reach the promised land (which invariably stays out of reach) needs a rethink. Some of the most successful people on the planet have been left unfulfilled and empty after achieving their hearts desires. It's time for a rethink. It's time to consi...

Think about the people closest to you for a moment. Do you like them for what they achieve, or what they are like? (Hopefully it's the latter) Achievement is important, but not as important as being kind, thoughtful, compassionate and having integrity. My guest is Professor Steve Peters, author of the wildly successful book The Chimp Paradox My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success W...

Is it really about winning and trophies - or something altogether more profound? Matthew Syed is a Times Columnist, author, renowned thinker, consultant and former British number 1 table tennis player. My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is now on general release. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I w...

Success, addiction - and a new way of being. This bitesize episode is with the one and only Ronnie O'Sullivan. In it he talks about addiction, success evangelism and why giving can be more fulfilling than receiving. Ronnie very kindly gave me an endorsement for my book, now on general release. In it, I touch on the themes we discuss in this bitesize ep. 'This book captures the magic of being in fl...

Life Lessons special: Goldie Sayers interviews Simon Mundie. His debut book Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself is on general release from today. The following people have been kind enough to provide the following endorsements: 'This book captures the magic of being in flow . . . Highly recommend'  RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 'Entertaining and enlightening'  MATTHEW SYED 'Using hi...

What is our identity before psychology? This episode is about self-enquiry, a process you can do to explore what your fundamental identity is, before psychology. We tend to have an idea about who we are, based on thoughts about our roles in life, our beliefs, what has happened to us in the past, our relationships, tribal affiliations and so on. navigate the social world we live in - but it is cert...

Why resisting and battling uncomfortable thoughts and feelings doesn't work, but acceptance and self-compassion does. Dr. Russ Harris is the world's best-know teacher of Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) Experiencing emotions like anxiety is entirely normal. It is part of the human experience. If you DIDN'T experience them, then there may be a problem. However, it is not unusual to believe w...

What is ADHD? How does it manifest and display in people? Is it time to stop calling it a disorder? Dr Tony Lloyd is chief executive of the ADHD Foundation, which I am delighted and honoured to have become a patron of. I was diagnosed with ADHD last year, and it had a big impact on me. So much of my life, looking back, now makes more sense. And so i wanted to really dig deep into the topic with To...

How to produce work of value - and improve your mental health at the same time. Professor Cal Newport argues that our ability to do deep work, which is where we perform undistracted work on something cognitively demanding, is a vital skill to train. However, the ability to perform deep work is increasingly rare - not least because of the impact of smartphones and social media. So what can we do ab...

Embracing pressure with the England striker turned broadcasting behemoth Gery Lineker My debut book - Champion Thinking: How to find success without losing yourself - is available for pre-order now. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Pre-Orde...

"Why do you always have to be better than yesterday? If it's because you feel like you're not enough as you are - let's talk about that" In this episode, Psychologist Katie Warriner questions the whole narrative of what success is – and why achievement in and of itself isn’t impressive, it’s asking yourself – what are you motivated by? And how are you going to use that to contribute to the wellbei...