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 Apr 09, 2023
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
On this show, we explore how success became a cult. I have been in the digital space since the beginning. There have always been gurus promising six-figure business models and setting their authority in the space with the trapping perceived wealth.
In the show, we explore how you can find and discover the true meaning of success, and it will be different for every one of us.
A story broke this week about a cult that was using coaching to entrap and convince members to pay them loads of money and leave their families. That is not coaching. It might be using tools, but it is manipulation on the deepest level.
But I can understand how it happened because it would tie into the Cult of success. Which has always been about having the toys and trapping that make us look successful
It is the glamorisation of overwork as the badge of success, the acquisition of stuff, cars, house, posh locations, the travel. While all of these things (apart from the overwork) are exciting, they are success metrics outside us. They are fun and addictive, but asking many who get there, it doesn’t feel like an achievement.
So how do we define success for ourselves?
It’s something that I have discussed on the podcast every single week when we talk to guests about their success model.
The thread that comes through from all the conversations I had over the last five years is.
When we can truly find our purpose, “The WHY” it will be the thing that we always do and are meant to be doing.
If we can express it in the world in a form that aligns with our values and the story that we believe to be true for our life.
That is the path to true success, happiness and wealth.
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 Apr 02, 2023
Sunday Apr 02, 2023
Exploring dreams to reality. I have been looking at this idea of the what if. And that what’s possible or wouldn’t that be amazing. Now when you do that kind of work, it creates a list of what could be considered dreams and wishes. Some will look like they are almost impossible and others are miracles. And yet there will be a way.
The point is with a list of amazing things completing one or two would feel more than amazing. In this podcast we’re going to explore what you do with your dream list, and how you begin to take something forward and make it a reality.
Now let’s be realistic if it’s a dream is never going to be easy and there’s no guarantee of success, but unless we try to move something forward, there will never be any success.
Plus it does expose an interesting question, how do we define success because that can lead us down some very strange rabbit holes. In this podcast, we are going to explore how you can start to move the needle on these amazing ideas you’ve had and how you can avoid the pitfalls of choosing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.
Dreams to Reality is a Springboard
The point is if we are choosing a dream because it would lead to something else, be the springboard to the next dream. Something else is definitely going to be more important than this dream we are trying to achieve.
Another exciting aspect of exploring dreams. When we create a list quite often some of the things are already part of our current plan and thinking big often resolves the small.
So there it is explore your dreams and everything else will fall into place nicely.
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 Mar 26, 2023
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Have you ever thought wouldn’t it be cool if? Or wouldn’t it be fantastic or even incredible? These are statements of possibility; they are the precursor to a dream or goal.
On this show, I am exploring the power of allowing the mind to wonder and open up to possibilities by using a simple question and following it through.
I speak to many people throughout my week, and one thing that stands out is how we have become blocked by the process of life. Try it with your friends, and ask about their dreams. They might have one or two, but most will shrug that aside or brush it off as silly. We have lost the ability to really wonder and explore crazy possibility.
Wouldn’t it be cool if, is the precursor to a dream or goal.
Scanning my bookshelf for inspiration this week, I picked up the book by Michael Neill, “Creating the impossible” it is a 90-day process to get dreams out of the head and into reality. It’s been on the shelf for a few years, I have read part one, but part 2 is like one of those courses you buy and never action.
That is not entirely true; I have dibbed in and out a few times but have yet to give it my full attention. The book uses the three principles, a philosophy that speaks to me, but is hard to describe. I have wanted to do a podcast on the subject many times, but I don’t have the words.
In part 2 of the book, the day 1 exercise is making a list of wouldn’t it be cool? That reminded me of Karen Darke and our conversation before her poles of possibility project. She has this phrase. Wouldn’t it be awesome?
She has been on the show once and was a guest at one of our events. The link to her podcast is here
The wouldn't list exercise is so worth a go; you never know what you might discover.
Here is a link to the book with Micheal Neill
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 Mar 19, 2023
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Belief and greatness, what has one got to do with the other? When we do not believe we will be great at the task in front of us, it will not run smoothly.
My reflection today is on the point of preparation. If there is something that we want to achieve, we got to put in the work to make that process go easy and go with the flow.
So on this show, we discuss what that looks like, why it is so important, and what happens when we don’t prepare.
It is funny how as adults, we tend to think that we can just do important stuff. Yet when we were in education and about to sit an exam, we would prepare, and we would revise.
When I’m standing at the start line of a race, I’m there because I know I’ve done the preparation. I cannot expect the results that I want unless I have done the work.
Now, what does preparation look like, particularly around the belief? It’s about bringing the energy of the future into the present.
Difficult tasks will need preparation; by breaking them into smaller steps, creating a plan, and staying focused and positive With belief and greatness, you can increase your chances of success.
If you need help, there is always focus coaching.
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 Mar 12, 2023
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
In tune with what? Are you in tune with life? The question for this podcast is, where do you sit with being in the flow of life, and are you using your intuition?
On this show, we are exploring the benefit of being in the flow, in tune with the energy of life. If that feels a bit woo-woo, consider this. A dog will get excited well before their owner pulls into the drive. Birds fly thousands of miles, even returning to the same location year after year. We don’t call that woo-woo or strange it is just nature.
What if your intuition was just nature?
Back in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the podcast was almost two years old, and I was reviewing the journey. There were patterns, so many guests would talk about intuition or having a gut feeling when making big choices or decisions in life.
They were connecting to something greater than the sum of its parts.
It was so common that my wife was inspired to create an event around the topic. We called it spiritdualty. It is a good piece of work with over 35 amazing conversations. ( check it out)
I have long said I live my life in flow, and I firmly believe that option is open to all willing to try. On the show, we explore some ideas on how you might connect with the flow of your life.
If you like to follow up on the shows mentioned
Lyn Robertson and lottery numbers
Jennifer Main Living in Alignment
Jennifer Main Empathic Initiator
The event Spiritduality is in the event tab at the website.
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 Mar 05, 2023
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
What is the AI question? In case you missed the news, Chatgbt arrived last month and, the potential of AI, went mainstream.
For those unfamiliar, ChatGBT (In its own words) is a large language model created by OpenAI. I am designed to understand natural language input and generate human-like responses in a wide range of topics.
It is a search engine that returns a human-like response to a question given. So why the fuss? Well, this is a learning system that will correct its mistakes so it can only improve.
In this shortcast, we explore how I see this technological development in the context of all that went before.
To be human is to communicate to share, to interact. For thousands of years, we have done this with stories, writing, books, music, and film. Each development eclipsed that past, but each required human input until now.
What is The AI Question
With AI’s growth, we enter a new phase of development where humans give up on creativity and become consumers of generated content.
We need to address the AI question before it starts to address us.
Am I overreacting? I put this question to Chat GBT, you can find its response at the website on this podcast page. But spoiler even chatGBT admits there are potential dangers.
No homework this week other than give this some thought, at some point, we are going to have to take some action lest we sleepwalk ourselves into extinction.
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 Feb 26, 2023
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Are you writing it down? Our conversation on this show is about the value of writing and journaling. It is also about discovering the gold when we have an established writing practice.
I was in a session with a coach/facilitator some 30 years back. I concluded our discussion, and he asked why I was not writing down my discovery.
“If you are not writing it down, you choose not to remember.”
“It’s Ok. I will remember it.” That led to an explanation as to why our brains or minds are not trusted to recall ideas, agreements or essential information. Particularly if those thoughts contradict our set ideas or regular patterns of thinking.
The point is we remember what we want and not what is always essential.
I have been journaling on and off for over ten years, starting with morning pages from “The Artist’s Way” (Julia Cameron) and moving through various forms and styles until my current process, which is just a page of journaling, the bullet style.
A journal is a place to process stuff, explore ideas and ask questions. The spark for this conversation was the discovery of “Jour-mining” which is journal mining.
I discovered on Friday that I had not maintained the index for the last 20-plus entries. So on going back to read and update the index, I found a cornucopia of ideas and workflows for the podcast and Events I had written and just forgotten.
It brought home the importance of solid writing practice. Without that discipline, these thoughts would have been lost.
So do you have a writing practice? Are you writing it down?
In this podcast, I mention the Journal Writers Companion by Alyss Thomas
Check out the new video for Focus Coaching.
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 Feb 19, 2023
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Who is the imposter? I discovered a piece in the Guardian new paper that was, considering procrastination; it led to our mid-week podcast. It also made me think about the other aspects of life that keep us from achieving what we want. One of those monsters is the imposter syndrome.
It is an internal conflict that stops us from deciding and holds us back from our goals based on the idea that we’re not good enough.
This show explores the syndrome’s basics, with examples from some of my insecurities.
We look at why it has become more of an issue in modern life and offer some simple solutions that can help get us through.
We all need to stretch beyond where we are to get what we want.
In the show, I mention how finding support from friends and colleagues is a good route through issues like imposters.
However, friends can only take you so far, so if you want to move beyond your comfort zone, external help will often make the difference.
Check out the new video for Focus Coaching.
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 Feb 12, 2023
Sunday Feb 12, 2023
Are you good at developing habits that support your life journey? And why is it so easy to pick up bad habits?
The point habits, good or bad, and mainly the bad, are maintained by homeostasis.
Our brains and our bodies like to take the easy path. The repetitive route maintains our status and uses the least energy of thought. And that’s how those nasty habits become stuck and ingrained, good or bad.
In the show, we are exploring habits, how you might choose to change them and the importance of looking at habits as a goal as inspiring.
Over the last few years, we had some amazing people on the show who explored the whole process of changing their lives by changing their habitual behaviour and moving towards a better life.
R J Singh had a drinking problem; he was a high-functioning alcoholic, and he went on to develop Ultra Running habits.
Dai Manuel had major addictive issues.
Jemma Ray had issues with drink and food and procrastination; She has written books on building habits and procrastination.
If you are looking to get stuff done, find some focus and get some accountability. Check out the link below for focus coaching.
If you have an issue that you are ignoring, ask for help before it is too late.
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 Feb 05, 2023
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Is there something in your life that you would rather not know about for fear of finding out? FOFO was an acronym that I came across this week. In this show, we explore the things we avoid for fear of finding out what we cannot solve, meet or stop. The point is fear of the unknown is often bigger than the fear of the actual problem.
I discover the phrase while reading a news piece about government policy and politicians refusing to investigate something or even look at something for fear of finding out and being duty-bound to take action.
FOFO was an activity that I am aware of but I never heard it coined in that way. We all have places or areas in life that we would rather ignore. Reading the article, I was surprised it had pervaded politics and government policy. And yet, in politics, there is more at stake here because, without investigation, there is plausible deniability.
When thinking about the subject, the first instance that comes to mind is in the health industry, and indeed there is an interesting article in the British Medical Journal BMJ. People will ignore symptoms and put off seeking medical advice rather than face what could be invasive tests or treatments. Now that I think about it, I remember people who ignored lumps marks or symptoms and paid the price for the delay.
The piece sent me on an exploration of the online world and my FOFO, and I concluded that fear of finding out is more common than I first thought. In the show, we look at examples and strategies you could employ to get through the problem.
In the final analysis, all of this is about fear at its worse. There is nothing quite like the paralysis of unknown fear because it will get bigger the longer you leave it.
Fears must be faced, and it is a bitter pill that can be sorted with support.
If you have an issue that you are ignoring, ask for help before it is too late.
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 Jan 29, 2023
Sunday Jan 29, 2023
How do we capture our dream energy? That is the energy and capacity we seem to have while sleeping and exploring the infinite possibility of dreamland. What are the secrets hidden in your dreamland?
I have been very conscious of my dreams this week. Not in any great place of revelation but in the feeling of power and infinite possibilities I experienced on waking.
In this podcast, I explore the power of my dreams and how they help me explore possibilities, give answers to questions and sometimes help me to choose a path of direction.
How do we ensure we have the best dreams, and how do we avoid troubled ones?
It is a shortcast; it will not take long, and who knows, it might help you discover the secret you have been looking for all along.
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 Jan 22, 2023
Sunday Jan 22, 2023
Are you emotionally aware? Could you count your feeling, and how many would you recognise?
I heard on a podcast this week that many people, if asked, could only identify three emotions while feeling them.
Happiness, Sadness and pissed off.
How did we become so disconnected?
In last week’s podcast, I was considering joy, and this week it has been an exploration of joy. I became aware of how much joy I experienced every day.
There was running across a field of dying snowmen; a conversation with my son connected me back to that event on the hill together.
The point is when we can connect with our emotions and are aware of what we are feeling. It gives us a whole new set of information, a new set of tools by which to make decisions and navigate the world.
In our shortcast, we are exploring just how you go about finding emotions and why it’s important, the value of it. Plus, there’s always that little homework I set for us all.
Could you count your emotions over the next 7-days?
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 Jan 15, 2023
Sunday Jan 15, 2023
Joy or joyful, how would you like to experience more joy in your life? Where do you get it from, and is there a difference between experiencing joy and being joyful? I was discussing it on a call, and someone reminded me that one is a noun and the other a verb. A thing and an action.
On the show, we are exploring this idea of happiness and expressing or experiencing it in the form of joy.
The conversation was sparked by returning to a book on my Kindle list. “Joyful The surprising power of ordinary things to create extraordinary happiness.” By Ingrid Fetell Lee
According to the book, we’ve made our lives too comfortable; we’ve taken away the surprise element of having to work with our environment, we’ve stripped out the colour, and in doing so, we stopped inspiring or stimulating ourselves. The process has cut us off from the ability to experience joy in its simplest form.
We explore those ideas, and I encourage you to find more joy in your life.
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 Jan 08, 2023
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Some final birthday thoughts
I was not a happy bunny when I started this show five years ago. I was searching desperately for answers to my life and how I could thrive rather than be so sad.
What I’ve learnt over those five years is that we are all living a story, and our belief in that story gives us the quality of life we experience.
This is my final wrap-up of the birthday celebrations and my thoughts on the journey over the last 5 years. We explore the concept behind this story, how happiness or sadness is a choice and how the power of the mind can take us to wherever we want to go.
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 Jan 08, 2023
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Here are the final three short catch-up interviews with past guests from the show.
One aspect of the podcast has always been about the whole person, not just the day job. I am interested in how the guest structure their entire life in terms of health, food, fitness and exercise all the things that keep us healthy and make for a good life.
If that was very common amongst so many of our guests was the use of mindset and meditation. I wanted to reconnect with one of our early guests, who was a master at the meditation process. Terry Sidhu's book Meditate and its connected resources are perfect for someone looking to bring meditation into their life.
Meditation, journaling and coaching are all paths that lead to self-discovery, another key on the way to a good life. It was great to catch up with Terry and hear about his work and how he is taking medication into the wider world.
January the time when many start to think about food. My next guest was someone who joined the show in 2019. Dominica Roszko was in marketing, but after ongoing health issues, she explored how food could be both the problem and the solution.
Dominica is back on the program, giving you a good starting point, what we need to do before changing our diet.
2022 was the year I became a Marathon Runner.
The final speaker in the show's third part is someone who had inspired me with her drive and determination. Nicky love is an ultra runner; this lady ran 63 marathons in 63 days. I had just completed a 10K at the time, which gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of her achievement.
So it was wonderful to reconnect with Nikki from the perspective of now being a marathon runner and share our experience and stories associated with running and looking for adventure.
Part 3 concludes the retrospective of the last five years.
Further details about this podcast, along with my Guest’s website and social links, are all available at:
https://www.lifepassionandbusiness.com/The-5th-Birthday
Life Passion & Business is dedicated to exploring what it takes to be Extraordinary, to face challenges, 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, real work begins by taking action in your own life.
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