Exploring the creativity of the human spirit with just five simple questions. Those questions give us a window to explore the journey and life story of people that look like they have it sorted.
Episodes
Sunday Sep 25, 2022
Sunday Sep 25, 2022
How do you Envision your future?
A few weeks back, on the reflection podcast Resilient or Hooked, we looked at resilience and some of the steps needed to keep us out of the madness of negative media and news.
The first step on the road to resilience is having a future that inspires you. On our show today, we are looking at the idea of searching for the secret inside using vision.
I was considering this topic yesterday while cooking, and the song “Search for the Hero” by M People turned up on my playlist. That song holds a lot of meaning for me I love the idea of searching for our hero inside. I have said many times that this life is a journey, a quest to find what is possible.
You can find the full song here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntuqTuc6HxM
That is the point: In order to lead the best life, we have to envision the one we want. But how? What is the process of searching inside how do you envision your future?
The Marathon Journey
Also, most of the time, the limits to our experience are all self-imposed. A good example is my Marathon journey, I have wanted to make that commitment for years, but there was always a reason not to do it until I stopped making excuses and just booked it.
By this time next week, I will have completed my first Marathon and know what it takes.
In this show, we explore techniques you can use to find your secret and what can come out when you drop the resistance.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying interested and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Sep 18, 2022
Sunday Sep 18, 2022
Where are you with beginnings and endings?
Early last week, I was thinking about the UK's reaction to the passing of Queen Elizabeth. Why has it affected so many people?
Because It is an ending and the Queen's passing is an opportunity to acknowledge our grief for endings
Life is about beginnings and endings when I spoke to the grief specialist Carole Henderson during our podcast interview. She was saying that we grieve the loss, and we can even grieve the last chocolate in the box as a sense of sadness for an empty box of chocolates.
That loss is momentary, but nether the less, it is real. I saw a post on Facebook recently where a friend mourned the end of a pot of jam. One of the last jars made by his mother before she died. That jam had significance far greater than its contents as its passing triggered a memory.
But endings are beginning new jam will be made a news story begins.
Perhaps the mourning is more poignant when we know what we are losing can never be replaced with more of the same.
The power of these feelings does need to be acknowledged, I was surprised last week to be going through them again. When I delivered my son and his stuff as he began his new life at university
In this show, we are discussing endings and beginnings as part of the journey of life.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying interested and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Sep 11, 2022
Sunday Sep 11, 2022
Do you do your duty? What does that mean to you?
Queen Elizabeth passed this week, and it is the end of an era. The media is full of recognition for her 70 years of service and duty to the role of British Monarch. I wonder given a choice, how many of us would take on a job where there was no leaving or retirement?
Yes, the job had some perks, but I imagine they wear a bit thin after the first 20 years…
I have a deep appreciation for the Queen and her achievements. She has been a steady hand, and I am sure, a significant influence on leaders worldwide.
Her passing has allowed me to consider the word duty and how it impacts my life and those around me.
It is a word that gets thrown around a lot in society; the Oxford English dictionary definition is
DUTY: Something that you feel you have to do because it is your moral or legal responsibility.
Where does duty fit into your life, and do you have expectations of others to be dutiful?
All interesting questions and worth consideration.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying interested and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Sep 04, 2022
Sunday Sep 04, 2022
How do we avoid getting hooked on the madness that is all around?
On this show, we discuss the strategy that will hold you firm and moving forward.
It is about vision, planning, commitment and accountability. But it is also about self-care and that recognition that this life is a journey to be lived.
The point is we can all get distracted and pushed into fear and inaction. The trick is to discover what it takes or what we need to keep us moving forward.
If you need direct help, focus coaching is there for you, the links are below
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Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Is love more than a feeling? On the shortcast, we're exploring love; it is the last big topic in our series on emotions.
So what is love? From my perspective, it really is more Than A Feeling.
Have you ever considered what love means to you?
It can be argued that love is the most misunderstood and misrepresented emotion. When you consider love songs, they're more like need songs than love songs. Because the expression is often not about love but of loss or desire?
That is the point love gets mixed up with desire and scratching the hormonal itch.
So join me in this conversation. We will explore how love can change your world. When we get past the passion and the sex, much more is to be discovered.
When we practice love in action, the world around us gets better; included in this episode are a couple of potent love exercises that you can try.
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Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life’s big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Monday Aug 22, 2022
Monday Aug 22, 2022
How do you deal with the icky stuff? I am talking about Shame, Guild, Embarrassment and Needs.
Our conversation is a whistle-stop tour of some of these debilitating feelings. But they have a purpose, which is to keep us safe.
Embarrassment is the glue that holds society together.
Shame and guilt and a bit more complex
Needs are the signal of unexpressed values.
Join me for this shortcast where we uncover the iky stuff and explore how you could be free of it all.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Aug 14, 2022
Sunday Aug 14, 2022
Are you feeling the fear? In this show, we touch on the power of media and the fear industry, phobias and the power of stepping through your fear.
FEAR! There is a lot of it in the air. The world is an uncertain place and the media delights in telling us about it. For many fear is the siamese twin of uncertainty.
Today in this shortcast I am exploring fear. It is another one of the powerful emotions that shape our lives and so much of the world. I've picked fear because it is another big impactful emotion which can drive and changes lives. As a force for change, we can choose to step up and overcome our fears and our world expands.
Reacting to Information
Like all of the emotions we've been talking about fear is an interpretation or reaction to information that we've received. The problem is those reactions are often about keeping us safe, and not always serving our best interests.
Yes, it is about safety feeling the fear is keeping us small, like everything in life the best bits are on the other side of something scary.
I have spoken on the subject of fear before and how it is used in the marketing world. When we are in fear we are more suggestive and more willing to take the quick fix solution that is being offered.
Where are you with your fear?
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Sunday Aug 07, 2022
Is there something that really gets you mad? Why, and have you ever unpacked it?
This show will cover where anger comes from and offer some simple techniques that you can use to deal with anger in everyday situations.
We all get angry from time to time; the modern world expects us to. I get riled by politics and social media and the stuff that life throws at me from time to time.
The media feeds on our anger and seeks to torment us because by feeding our righteous indignation, it creates promotes comments and continues the conversations. That means more opportunity to stoke opinions and show adverts.
But why do we get so angry?
Today's podcast is the first in the series I promised to look at Feelings and emotions last week. We start with a big one, anger, and wow, there is so much of it.
So its simplest form, we get angry because the world around us does not fit the picture we have of it. Or there is an unmet need inside of us. So anger does not come from the outside; it's generated from within you.
The exciting thing about anger is that it presents an opportunity to recognise that change needs to happen and can provide us with the fuel to make that change.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Jul 31, 2022
Sunday Jul 31, 2022
Were you aware of any strong feelings or emotions this week?
We are about to start a series of shortcast on the theme of feeling and emotion, and today I thought to explore why I have come to this.
I realised that I could go a whole week and not be aware of my emotions. Now the reality is I have them, but they are being experienced without my awareness.
There is every possibility that I am reacting to these triggered emotions and may be acting inappropriately, given the situation.
I got onto this thinking train because I had an emotional response to a piece of music on a playlist.
We live in a world designed to trigger our emotions. We are being pushed to react our feelings are a big part of our lives, and yet we give them so little thought.
Join me in this short exploration of why it is vital that we become aware of our thoughts and feelings.
And yes, there is a little bit of homework if you want it. ( Smile )
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Jul 24, 2022
Sunday Jul 24, 2022
It is time to look at your story and see if it still fits in a changing world because try as you might ignore what is happening it will still happen.
As someone who is passionate about moving people forward, I have been doing a lot of thinking about where I'm going and what I offer, and that is making me do is re-evaluate my story.
The podcast was born out of the same impulse, looking at change and finding role models that could lead me in my change.
It worked, here we are four years later, and I have discovered what it is that makes all of the difference. Your story, the narrative that you live and breathe.
In this show, we explore why having a living story is important and how you can develop a story, path or narrative that matters to you.
At the end of the day, we must do the work to build our resilience and create the life we want to live. In my opinion that is the power of the five questions.
Now you can use the questions on the home page of the website or you can go to the resources tab and buy the workbook that will take you through the process.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
Sunday Jul 17, 2022
I was slightly triggered this week when I saw a post about happiness. Some of these things can be made to look so simple, and the reality is they are not.
The question was, is happiness a choice.
The point is that our reaction to something triggers all happiness, which can come from the inside or outside.
Most people do not make that connection because the world is set up to make you believe that it is all external. So it is not as simple as a choice, and it is about becoming conscious of what makes you happy and how you can find that on the inside.
My point was telling someone that the choice is theirs while they have the weight of the world on their backs is unhelpful, and that is why I felt a little triggered.
The truth behind that question is a journey; many people have never had the support tools or resources to discover that.
I have interviewed hundreds of people, and we can all find our route to the question and its answer. In this show, I will offer five tools to demonstrate that happiness comes from the inside and to cultivate more joy in life.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Thursday Jul 14, 2022
Thursday Jul 14, 2022
Do you pick your challenges? Are you ready to make a break to get what you want?
My guest on the show today is one of those people. He tells me he has been lucky and life has treated him well, and it has, but I suspect that is because he was prepared to take the opportunities as they arrived.
Jürgen Strauss was born in Germany as a child; his family emigrated to Australia. In the late 1950s, Australia was a very English culture. As a German-speaking child with a funny name and accent, he experienced a lot of prejudice.
His father was an engineer looking for something practical and went to college and got a degree in chemistry. Staying in education, he used his language skills to find a post-doctoral fellowship at a German university.
It was amazing to be back in his motherland, and the work was challenging and exciting.
After two years, he left to work at the chemical company Agfa. At the time leading manufacturer of chemical film and processing. He was part of the team that developed some unique chemistry for a photographic paper that could develop slide images. It went to market simultaneously as the first digital cameras appeared.
Jurgen could see the writing on the wall. By now, he was married and with a young child. Taking his family's historical lead, I guess they chose to return to Australia.
Our conversation is a beautiful story of progression; we cover values, networking, relationships and being an introvert in business and the power of podcasting.
Further details about this podcast, along with my guest's website and social links are all available at:
https://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/jurgen-strauss-valued-relationships
Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges and rejoice in the opportunities they bring, and expand our vision into new ways of thinking and living.
There is a lot to gain from listening to other people's stories, however the real work begins by taking action in your own life.
For full details of Events, Resources and Services visit:
www.lifepassionandbusiness.com
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Another way you can support the Life Passion & Business podcast is with small donations: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Sunday Jul 10, 2022
Sunday Jul 10, 2022
Is gain without pain even possible? We've all heard those words no pain, no gain. What does not kill you makes you stronger.
But are they true? Is it possible to grow without trauma and discomfort?
I was on the road Friday meeting up with the wife for a weekend in the borders returning a lot later than I planned on Sunday. Five hours in the car is a lot of podcasts.
One show that I have been following lately is Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedanta he is an American journalist, writer, and science correspondent
His guest was a researcher Erand Jayawickreme, he was looking into the ideas behind the idea of post-traumatic growth and the science behind it. His experience of truma was growing up in Sri Lanka during political strife and terrorist attacks by the Tamil Tigers.
It is a good episode and makes some useful conclusions, one which was no surprise is that people who experience trauma tend to be more empathetic to those experiencing a similar fate.
You can find the full program on your podcast app, and I have posted a link to it on the web page for this podcast.
https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/what-we-gain-from-pain/
The question for me is still outstanding can we grow without trauma and suffering?
Join me on the short cast where I will explore my thoughts around gain without pain
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Jun 19, 2022
Sunday Jun 19, 2022
Do you Netflicks binge, are you hooked on the news cycle or social media?
I want to explore the balance between consumption and creation on the show today.
It is easy to get hooked into following the news cycle, plugging into the media circus. But I wonder if we are losing our sense of balance in this.
A friend remarked only yesterday that she often reached for the phone as a distraction, and 30 minutes will vanish in moments. To some extent, we are powerless to resist these distractions. The platforms have designed their systems to hook us in so that we keep viewing the adverts.
During the Lockdowns in the UK, many people found safety in the streaming services, retreating to the sofa and the latest box set. No judgement there; it was a choice, and where did it lead?
There is no doubt that a bit of downtime is healthy, but the question is how much and how long.
When we get hooked on social media drama or the hero's journey of the latest epic, we are stepping out of our lives and putting our dreams on hold. That means investing energy in a story or narrative that is not our own.
We could be writing, drawing, playing music or having conversations. I invite you to explore your balance between consumption and creation in this show.
The question we must all consider is what feels better, watching a story unfold or creating and living our own.
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Last Monday, I did the test, and COVID had come to visit after two years.
To be honest, it was pretty apparent by this point. But the journey to that test was eventful, and I thought it would make for an interesting reflection.
Before I realised it was COVID, my mind was playing tricks on me, and I thought I was started to have onset dementia, the narratives we create..
The story began the previous Wednesday; I decided to give my foot a test and do a hard effort session. For those not in the running world, a strenuous effort is running at max heart rate for a distance or time, followed by resting before going again.
I did 10 x 1 minute with 2 mins of rest.
It was a good session and it is hard on the body so it is not unusual to feel it the day after. I felt odd, but I put it down to the strenuous efforts.
I did a good warm-up on Friday and ran my fastest timed mile at 7.14. I felt fine, but I had a chest thing going on and put it down to the running. I did a 40-minute club efforts session and another high heart rate session on Saturday.
I went home tired, and it did not go away. I had a few naps, and it still did not go. I don't do colds; I push through, using mindfulness and bullying. Throughout the week, I was forgetful, absent-minded, daydreaming and just not present.
Monday did a test, and it practically lit up in seconds.
So I had COVID, but only when I had permission to stop did I take the time I needed to slow down and be gentle with myself.
It did make me realise that my mindset was in a hole last week, and it was not because of all the things I was calling myself for not pushing on. It was because I was ill.
I must remember to permit myself to be; the answer is not always to push through. When do you push when perhaps you need to be kind?
Life Passion & Business Podcast is about finding answers to life's big questions through weekly interviews with guest speakers. The Shortcast is my ongoing commitment to staying inquisitive and passionate about life with whatever is alive for me each week. Follow the links below to discover what else is on offer
The Five Questions eBook: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/the-five-questions
Focus Coaching: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/focus-coaching/
Support The Podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeandpassion
Midlife Survey: https://lifepassionandbusiness.com/midlife-challenge/