A Bit Of A Boost

Much as I love the holidays I know that I'm at my best when I have routine in my life!   In today's episode I share 5 of the key areas of my life I regularly reset. Not just after a break, but any time I sense they're starting to drift away.   1) Morning routine 2) Planning 3) Training 4) Evening routine 5) Goals   You may have other areas that benefit from a bit of a reset, but the principles I share in today's episode can be applied anywhere.   I'd love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions from today's episode - please get in touch by emailing me at george@bygeorgeanderson.com

The theme of today’s episode is happiness, and my guest is a man who knows a thing or two about the subject - Raj Nayak.   Raj left a high flying job in one of India’s largest media networks to launch his own business driving positive change and bringing happiness to workplaces around the world.   But how do you even begin to talk about happiness when there is so much devastation in the world right now, especially in India, where Raj is based?   We get to talking about this among many other topics in today’s episode of the podcast.   Raj spent over 3 decades in media. He was one of the founding members of Rupert Murdoch’s company Star TV in India, he launched India’s largest news network NDTV, and then joined Viacom where spent 8 years, ending up as the chief operating officer.   He shares how and why he quit his job to start his new mission, some of the challenges he’s faced already and those that he anticipates are up ahead and we talk about one of his old companies that had a tattoo allowance, and whether or not Raj took advantage of this unusual perk!   Raj has also started a ‘global happiness campaign’ which you can get involved in by filming a 45- 60 second video in horizontal mode about what happiness means to you, with your name and location and emailing  it to hello@happyness.me.   You can find out more about Raj and follow him on social media here: https://happyness.me https://www.linkedin.com/in/raj-nayak-53a15b69 facebook.com/Rajcheerfull  

In the world of ultra endurance, one thing I’ve come to realise is that no matter how much you’re doing or how far you’re going, there’s always somebody doing more or going further.   Logically then, there must be a person who is doing the most and going the furthest, and it’s quite possible that this person is my guest on today’s podcast, Adam Holland.   We recorded this episode on a Monday, the day after he had completed a 24 hour ultra marathon. I’ve done a couple of these in the past, and I can tell you I was good for nothing for more than a few days!   This particular ultra marathon - which he won with over 118 miles of running - was preceded by cycling over 500 miles as a part of another challenge.   He’s run over 1000 miles in 28 days, he holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon on a treadmill, and also the record for the fastest average time for 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days.   And he does all this whilst holding down a full time job and raising a family.   In our conversation we talk about motivation, comparing ourselves to others, how 10 back to back marathons becomes ‘easy’ after you’ve done it a few times, and how you would even start preparing for the next challenge he has his sights set on… which will be bigger than anything he’s done before, if you can imagine that such a thing exists!   You can find more inspiration from Adam over at his Facebook page.

We all know that feedback is valuable. It can lead to growth, accelerated improvement and see things from different perspectives.   But it can also feel uncomfortable and we put up defences that stop us from benefitting from it.    Whether it's solicited or unsolicited, the 6 steps I talk about in today's episode will increase your chances of getting the best from what's being offered.

It’s another podcast first for me today, as I welcome not just one but TWO guests to speak to! In 2019, Nigel Pattison, Steven Gregory & I completed the Frog Graham Round, a 42 mile ultra marathon in the Lake District that included swimming across 4 of the lakes.   These guys have been hugely inspirational to me both for a long time, and I gain a lot by watching their approach and attitude to whatever they take on. They’re both fitness industry pros (Steve runs a local gym (https://www.fitlife.co.uk) and Nigel is an exceptional personal trainer and class instructor) and they share their enthusiasm and passion for fitness and wellbeing with everybody around them.   They’re both currently  training for Iron-distance triathlons, and I wanted to ask them some questions about their sources of motivation, and what changes they’ve seen in the world of fitness over the last 14 months.   It’s quite possible that you’ll want to get up and go for a workout or sign up for a marathon after listening to these two guys, but for now get ready for a bit of a boost of motivation!   https://www.instagram.com/fitlife.steve https://www.instagram.com/nigelpattison

My guest today is a Katherine Blackler, CPO Certified Professional Organizer, a London-based decluttering expert who was the first certified professional organiser in the UK, and for the last 3 years has been president of the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers. Yes, such an organisation exists and has been enjoying a period of tremendous growth over the last few years. In our conversation we talk about the difference between tidying up and decluttering, why some people have tendencies towards hoarding or just general untidiness, and the reason I started folding my underpants in a ‘special way’ a few years ago. Katherine is a goldmine of life hacks and ideas to help create the systems that make it easier to maintain order and calm and she shares a ton of useful ideas in this conversation. If your life could do with a bit of extra order and little less ‘stuff’, you’re going to love today’s episode. You can find out more about Katherine on her website SortMySpace.co.uk and to find a helping hand in your area go to APDO Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers www.findanorganiser.co.uk   Katherine can also be found on social media here: Facebook: @sortmyspaceuk  Instagram: @sortmyspaceuk  Twitter: @sortmyspaceuk  LinkedIn: @katherine-blackler-sortmyspace

We’re returning for season 2 of A Bit Of A Boost after a short break, and I was delighted to speak to my first guest Jen Martin LLB MAaPPCP to kick things off. Jen is a Psychological Coach, Speaker and Facilitator. Through her research with business, government and sporting leaders, she specialises in vulnerability and psychological safety. In addition to her work in Ireland, Jen has spent the last decade working with non-native English speaking C-suite executives, politicians, diplomats, and actors, in Europe, Russia and Asia, where she leverages her vulnerability research to optimise their performance and communication.  Other areas of work and research interest include self-efficacy, imposter phenomenon, psychological capital and optimal performance. She is deeply passionate about human connection, belonging and inclusion. In our conversation today we talk about the impact that Covid has had on our collective vulnerability, and she explains more about what ‘psychological capital’ means. You can connect with Jen and follow her updates on her work over on LinkedIn.

My guest today is clinical psychotherapist Emma Reed Turrell, who I first heard being interviewed on one of my favourite podcasts, How To Fail with Elizabeth Day.   Emma was talking about her new book ‘Please Yourself’ - ‘how to stop people-pleasing and transform the way you live’.   In our conversation today we talk about the 4 people pleasing types that Emma has identified through her clinical practice, and how most of us will have tendencies towards each one in different situations.   I asked her about some of the steps we can take to start saying 'no' and set up firmed boundaries, but without swinging so far the other way that we end up throwing the baby out with the bathwater.   I was also interested in Emma's views on people pleasing in men, as this isn't just a female trait (I personally identified with many of the stories she shares in the book!).   I highly recommend reading the book, which is available from all good book stores.   Emma also puts out some great content on Instagram and you can find her here:   https://emmareedturrell.com https://www.instagram.com/emmareedturrell https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-reed-turrell-mbacp-accred-42328436 https://twitter.com/etcounselling  

I'm being completely self-indulgent today and dedicating this whole episode to giving myself a bit of a boost!   I have a goal for 2021 that I've been stalling at rather than starting, and need to draw a line in the sand and fully commit to doing what needs to be done.   As Jim Rohn once said, 'don't set a goal for what you will achieve but for what it will make of you in order to achieve it'. I know that working towards this goal will reveal some as-yet undiscovered aspects of my character. I know that it will teach me the answers to questions I haven't even been asked. I know that it'll help me grow and... look, I just need to get started!   In this episode I explain WHY I'm doing this, HOW I'm doing it (with my 8 session training program!) and what challenges I anticipate needing to overcome (including regulating my core temperature which was a surprise problem in a previous marathon treadmill run!)   Training starts on Sunday and I feel ready for it :)

We talk a lot about energy on this podcast, whether that’s physical, emotional, mental.   But my guest today works with energy in a very different way, in his role as a Pranic Healer.   I’ve known Mark Willis for over 15 years, and in that time I’ve watched him consistently apply his teachings to himself as well as his clients. It’s made a dramatic difference to his life, and also to the many others he works with.   Energy, life force, Chi, Prana… it can all sound a bit spiritual and unquantifiable, but in our conversation today Mark explains how it connects with more commonly held understandings and beliefs.   We talk about how you or I might notice a ‘block’ in our energy flow, and some of the things we can do about ourselves without necessarily having to see a healer, including meditation.   The session today ends with Mark leading us through a simple 10 minute meditation and if you would like more of these then head over to ukpranichealing.co.uk where you’ll find a number of similar resources.   Mark is a fascinating guy and he’s also incredibly down to earth. One of my favourite sayings from him is a reminder to be an ‘open minded skeptic’.   Don’t blindly believe everything you hear, but don’t close yourself off the possibility of different approaches either.   That applies not just for this podcast episode, but for any new information you encounter elsewhere as well.   You can follow Mark here: https://www.instagram.com/markdwillis https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdanielwillis https://www.facebook.com/MarkWillisPH http://www.ukpranichealing.co.uk/markwillis  

“Vague wishes to improve my work life balance which have been in my mind for the last 5 years, have now been clearly detailed and actioned”   This was part of a review somebody left on this podcast a few weeks ago and it really intrigued me.   How many of us have listened to a podcast, or read a book or watched a video and felt motivated or inspired to do something, but then nothing changes.   We can’t (and don't need to!) put absolutely everything that we learn into action, but I also know that the thing most of us struggle with is bridging the gap between knowing and doing. Doing things differently enough such that it brings about positive change.   I was delighted to track down the lady who wrote those words, Karen Gibson, and was even more grateful that she agreed to come on as a guest herself!   In our conversation she explains a little more about what she did, what had stopped her in the past, how she started to put the ideas into practice, and the difference it’s made to her.   Everybody’s situation is different of course, and there are plenty of general lessons in this that could be applied to yours.

This is a topic that's come up a lot lately, with many people saying that they either always or regularly struggle to switch off.   Lying in bed at night tired but wired, with thoughts from the day buzzing around your brain can really disrupt your sleep. Mulling over work problems in your mind when you're playing with the kids or socialising with your friends can take you away from the moment and lead to disengagement and a lack of deep connection.   Today's episode examines 3 questions: 1) What does 'switching off' really mean   2) Is it necessarily a bad thing if you can't switch off (and why we should be talking about switching gears instead)   3) What can we do to help avoid intrusive thoughts and the associated stress that goes with it

When it comes to physical wellbeing, one of the most important habits we can try to create is around getting a good night’s sleep. We all know that this is important, and I’m sure we’ve all experienced the fall out of a bad night’s sleep, but it’s easier said than done. My guest today is sleep expert and author of ‘Navigating Sleeplessness’, Dr. Lindsay Browning. We talk about how to improve the quality as well as quantity of your sleep, the different stages of sleep and some of the common myths. How Covid has affected our sleep patterns, caffeine, shift work, getting up in the night for the loo… It’s a packed session and if you do ever have trouble sleeping - that’ll be nearly all of us then! - then definitely make sure you have a pen and paper to hand as you listen. You can find Lindsay on her website and social media at the following links: https://troublesleeping.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08SMSPGX5/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbrowning https://twitter.com/DrBrowningSleep https://www.facebook.com/DrBrowningSleep https://www.instagram.com/drbrowningsleep

In 2014 I wrote the book 'Beginner's Luck Guide for Non-Runners' and since then it's helped thousands of complete beginners build the confidence to go out enjoy all of the benefits of running.   In today's episode I introduce 3 practical tips that many beginner runners seem to find useful, as well as 3 mindset tips and 3 common mistakes.   It's a bit of a niche episode and if running isn't your bag then you might want to skip over this one, but if you've secretly wanted to learn how to run for a while now, this could be just the start that you need!

My intention with this podcast has always been to try and give you a bit of a boost of positivity, or a boost energy, or a boost of motivation. But ultimately what I think we’re all trying to achieve, is to give ourselves a bit of a boost of happiness.   My guest today is Dr Vikki Barnes, a clinical psychologist and specialist in positive psychology and the science of happiness.   Vikki delivers workplace wellbeing programs, she runs retreats, and she’s just finished a book on happiness that will be published soon… and she’s promised to come back on the podcast when it’s released to tell us more about it!   In this conversation Vikki talks about what happiness means to her, why she thinks so many more people are practicing habits like gratitude, and how to do it in case you’re not familiar with this wonderfully simple yet effective happiness habit, and we also get into the prickly subject of what to do about ‘happiness guilt’, where some people have a tendency to deny themselves happiness because there’s so much other bad stuff going on around them.   https://www.drvikkibarnes.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvikkibarnes https://www.instagram.com/drvikkibarnes

Pat Divilly is one of Ireland's leading resilience and wellbeing coaches, a sought after corporate speaker and host of The Pat Divilly podcast. We've been friends for many years and for the last 5 have hosted the annual Momentum New Year kick off alongside Gerry Duffy.   Pat runs meditation, journaling and personal development programs, retreats, mountain expeditions, and puts on hugely popular sell-out events in the personal development space.   He's also in the process of finishing off his 4th book which will be published in December 2021, and we spend a bit of time getting into what it's about in our conversation today.   There's so much I could have spoken to Pat about, but I decided to keep it fairly broad and talk about the subject of personal development. When we've realised that it's possible to work on ourselves, the next obvious question is 'how?'   We explore this question and Pat being the natural teacher that he is, shares some real gems of wisdom right from the start of this podcast.   I highly recommend checking out Pat's website https://www.patdivilly.com, and subscribing to The Pat Divilly Podcast for a weekly dose of inspiration!   I hope that today's episode gives you a bit of a boost!

On today's episode I speak to mental health campaigner, adventurer, speaker and coach Dan Keeley. I almost met Dan recently at an event we were both speaking and was intrigued enough by the title of his talk to get in touch with him afterwards. After our initial 'virtual coffee' I knew I wanted to get him on the podcast to share his story, and also ask him a few questions about his work.   Dan had a 5 year battle with bipolar, and I realised that I knew embarrassingly little about this mental health issue, so I figured this was my chance to ask!   We talk about the power of vulnerability, what it was like to run from Rome to London in 63 days, and a shared favourite Viktor Frankl quote that made it into the title of this episode.   I also wanted to get Dan's opinion on HOW to ask for help or talk to somebody when we're not feeling great. We know that we SHOULD talk more, but I wanted to hear about some of the ways we can do this practically without the fear of being invalidated, judged or even worse (for me anyway!), fixed.   This is such an inspiring story and I know that you'll be drawn to Dan's openness and generosity with his answers to my questions.   You can find out more about Dan and the work he does to promote mental health awareness and action through his website https://www.dankeeley.co, or on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram at @iamdankeeley.

Most of us are familiar with the expression 'use it or lose it', but my guest today is a man who has been living by that mantra for almost a century.   I first met Garry Garretts at a Toastmasters speakers club meeting last year, which he had recently joined because he wanted to 'keep his mind active'!    In our conversation today Garry shares some of the other things he does to stay physically and mentally fit, and why at the age of almost 99 (it's his birthday next month!) it's even more important now than ever.   His stories of being blown up as he tried to put out a German fire bomb in the Blitz (before returning to work 3 days later once they had removed the 19 pieces of shrapnel from his legs!) and joining the RAF on his 19th birthday are both inspiring and grounding.   If I have half the spirit, energy and enthusiasm for learning new things when I'm nearly 100 years old as Garry does, I'll be more than happy!   If you want to find out more about Garry and his 30 year career in the RAF (including flying on the Berlin Airlift), Legasee have done a nice series of biographical videos you can access from here:   https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/garry-garretts/

One tool that's massively changed things for me in the last few months has been my approach to planning, which has elevated my sense of effectiveness and productivity from 40% to 80%. In today's episode I outline the different elements of my personal process and why I include them. My system may not be the perfect solution for you, but my hope is that there are a few elements you can take and experiment with, and experience some of the same benefits that I have enjoyed.

Chris is the race director for one of the UK's most popular ultra marathons, Endure24. With running events starting to look more likely to take place again this Spring, I wanted to get the inside scoop on what’s happening with events in the UK, what’s going on behind the scenes, and what we can expect to see with these races. He also gives some pretty eye-opening insights to what it’s like being the race director for an event like Endure. RaceSolutions.co.uk