"Purpose is about aligning yourself with what life wants to do through you"

Bernardo Kastrup is a scientist and philosopher who has worked for the European Organisation for nuclear research at CERN, inside the Hadron collider - and who has a PHD in computer engineering as well as a PHD in philosophy. He argues that, instead of thinking of ourselves as separate from life, if we can recognise that that we are a part of life, then that has some profound implications for the way that we live, set goals and find a sense of purpose.

Bernardo’s the author of a plethora of scientific papers and books – and he argues that the fundamental nature of reality is consciousness, not matter.

Full Length Episode: https://www.simonmundie.com/blog/challenging-the-mainstream-model-of-reality-bernardo-katdrup

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

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"Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time."

Most people are super busy and the rates of burnout are soaring. So, something has to give, but the question is what? One person who came up with a brilliant formula for working out how to spend his time is Ed Jackson. Ed was a professional rugby player who broke his neck and was told he would never walk again but has made a remarkable recovery.

Ed's formula for how to spend his time changed his life, and also changed the life of one of my other guests who listened to our conversation, and adopted Ed's formula in her own life. She is the 14 time Ironman Champion Lucy Gossage, who is an oncology doctor and founder of the 5K Your Way, Move Against Cancer co-founder. In this episode, we hear from them both.

Lucy's charity: https://5kyourway.org/

Ed's charity: https://www.millimetres2mountains.org/

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

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This a bit of a different episode of Life Lessons - a special episode to mark Roger Federer's retirement from tennis. As many of you know, I am a huge tennis fan, and have found Federer's play to be beautifully transcendent. I have been lucky enough to interview him on several occasions, and did the last ever one to one sit-down interview with him at Wimbledon at his last appearance in 2021. So, to mark his retirement, I am re-releasing this episode with the world's pre-eminent tennis journalist Christopher Clarey, author of The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer, to explore some of the life lessons anyone can take from Federer's approach to tennis and life.

(Ps. There will be another Bitesized episode along tomorrow.)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/tennis/57739072 - Federer being funny during our last interview

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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"With discipline, people don't need rules"

One of the best books I have read during the four years I have been recording this podcast is Legacy by James Kerr: about the strategies, attitudes and lessons that have enabled the New Zealand All Blacks to the most successful team in sporting history.

In this episode James is talking about the power of giving people responsibility, and the example he starts off with is about a community in London ravaged by gang crime that managed to create a sense of purpose, belonging, teamwork and personal responsibility. He goes on to explain how taking personal responsibility in our own life - by doing the right thing on a difficult day and acknowledging that the habits we have is the life we live - can have a profound effect in all areas of life.

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Kindness can have a profound impact on your health, your relationships, other people and the world at large - with Dr. David Hamilton

Dr. Hamilton is a leading expert on the power of kindness, having written several books on the subject, including "The Five Side-effects of Kindness"

He explains how even small gestures can have a profound effect, and the key role that 'the kindness hormone' oxytocin plays.

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Taping your mouth shut at night has gone mainstream.

I have been taping my mouth shut using microporous tape from Boots (for about £1.50) for about five years now. I used to hold my breath at night and suffered from brain fog - and this one hack had a transformative effect. Now the research is starting to show how powerful it can be.

Best-selling author of Breath - James Nestor - is another sleep tape advocate, and explains the dangers of mouth breathing and what to do about it.

So, if you rarely wake up refreshed, or you snore, or wake up with a super dry mouth and need to glug back water through the night – don’t rule out what a difference a bit of super cheap sleep tape from the chemist might be able to do for you.

**there is a video clip of the different techniques James and I use on my Instagram page @simonmundie**

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

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Here are two powerful techniques to tackle anxiety and stop uncomfortable feelings controlling you.

The first is about getting out of your head and into your senses - using the 5,4,3,2,1 method

The second is called the Sedona method - and is about truly welcoming anxiety, without an agenda to get rid of it. It is paradoxical - but powerful.

Chloe Brotheridge - coach, therapist and author of the Anxiety Solution - is my guest.

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference. Thank You.

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Are you someone who eats lunch in a hurry, perhaps while catching up on emails?

This might not sound hugely significant BUT it can come at a not insignificant cost, even if you have the cleanest, healthiest diet – as my guest Dr Rangan Chatterjee can explain.

He talks about the ritual of lunch, about taking our time, about stepping off the daily treadmill – to be able to slip into the all important rest and digest parasympathetic nervous system.

If we’re not in that state when we eat – no matter how healthy the food we are consuming is – we simply cannot digest properly.. and the repercussions on our physical and mental health can be serious.

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Are you someone who is better at giving other people advice when they are faced with a problem than you are at helping yourself? If so - don't worry - it’s a really common phenomenon.

Everyone has an inner voice. Sometimes the conversations people have with themselves can tip over into destructive rumination and self-criticism, which can affect our mood and negatively impact our physical health and overall wellbeing.

The acclaimed psychologist Ethan Kross calls this kind of destructive self-talk 'chatter'. In this episode Ethan shares a simple but powerful technique to calm the chatter down so that it has less of a negative hold over you. It’s about choosing the words we use when speaking to ourselves wisely - and embracing what he calls a distancing technique.

Ethan has done lots of research in this area, at least in part borne of his own experience of the destructive power of chatter, and his technique might just help you when you are drowning in rumination, and catastrophising self-talk.

**

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

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What are you like at having difficult conversations?

You know the type of thing, you have something you want to say, that needs saying – but rather than embrace the discomfort you decide it’s more bother than it’s worth and sweep it under the carpet. However – our ability to have difficult conversations and express ourselves truthfully, honestly and responsibly is one of the most important life skills anyone can have. Sweeping things under the carpet doesn’t make issues go away – they simply linger and fester and eventually contaminate relationships in one way or other.

One person who knows first hand the power of embracing difficult conversations is Ed Jackson, the former pro rugby player who broke his neck diving into the pool.

He wasn’t expected to walk again but has massively confounded the experts and there’s no way he could have achieved what he has without his wife Louis. She was a huge support to Ed after his accident – and enabled him to make such a tremendous recovery – but while she was putting on a brave face she was dealing with her own trauma. So, eventually, she decided to share her feelings with Ed. It wasn’t an easy conversation for either of them – particularly louis – but it was fundamental, and helped the two of them move through what they were going through and grow together.

Theirs is such a good example of having difficult conversations – but I know for a fact that this is something we could all get better at, and it can have a profound effect on how we grow, individually and in relationship.

"Turn towards the hard conversations, don’t run in fear from them"

**

Follow/message me:

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And for the 'Mundie on Monday' newsletter - featuring three of the best Life Lessons from three years and 200 of these conversations - head to simonmundie.com (where you can also drop me an email)

Please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. It makes a big difference and is hugely appreciated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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